Gk Sep 26 - Nov 13

Last Updated on : 21 June 2011

4. The Electronic Nose, which has the potential to diagnose tuberculosis (TB) in symptomatic patients, was awarded a $950,000 grant from Grand Challenges Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on 7 November 2011. The grant was given to enable Electronic Nose to support further development and testing of this ground-breaking technology.

The funding will help determine whether the Electronic Nose is able to detect TB immediately and non-invasively from the patient's breath, in order to replace time-consuming testing with sputum. It is estimated that up to 400000 lives a year can be saved in the developing world by early diagnosis, immediate treatment and reduced transmission of this killer disease.

5. The government prepared a draft  of Citizens Right to Grievance Redress Bill 2011 in the first week of November 2011. The bill aims at creating institutionalize mechanism to ensure delivery of public services in a time bound manner and redressal of public grievances.
 
Key recommendations in the Draft Bill are:
 
• There will be a Citizens Charter, and a protocol will be put in place.
• Bill can be enacted as a central legislation under the concurrent list Item 8 (actionable wrongs) and can cover Central Schemes and Central Government Departments.
• Provide a Platform to States to make this a Grievance Redressal Mechanism for State Schemes and Departments
• Bill will incorporate the institution of Information and Facilitation Centre in all public authorities to ensure that Citizens can be facilitated and grievances are systematically recorded and tracked using telephone, sms, web etc.
• First level Redress should be within concerned department as proposed. This should be done through a Grievance Redress Officer in each department
• The second level redress/ appeal will be at the level of Head of the Department of the public authority.
• State Grievance Commissions should be set up as second level appellate authorities.

6. India-Japan Defence Ministers’ Meeting was held in Tokyo on 2 November 2011. The delegation level talks, led by the Defence Minister AK Antony and his Japanese counterpart Yasuo Ichikawa, recognized the importance of sea lanes and decided to actively pursue consultations and cooperation in the field of maritime security both bilaterally and in association with all other countries in the region. India and Japan agreed to hold their first bilateral naval exercises in 2012.

Nicol defeated world No. 2 Jenny Duncalf of England 11-2, 11-5, 11-0 in just 29 minutes in the final of the World Open. David was five points ahead before Duncalf could score at all, won 11 of the first 13 rallies with frightening speed, and hurtled through the third game without losing a rally.

Nicol, who turned pro in 2000, won her other world titles in Hong Kong (2005), Belfast, Northern Ireland (2006), Manchester (2008), Amsterdam (2009) and Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (2010).

9. The Calcutta High Court on 3 November 2011 granted continuation of the stay of the trial court order validating the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act. The Act was challenged by the Tatas. A division bench of justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Mrinal Kanti Chaudhuri passed the order granting continuation of the stay until disposal of the appeal. 

On 28 September 2011, Justice I P Mukherjee while validating the Singur Act had stayed the operation of the order until 2 November 2011 so that any aggrieved party was able to file an appeal. While Kalyan Bandopadhyay appearing on behalf of the West Bengal government prayed that the stay be restricted to 645 acres of leased out land to the Tatas, the division bench rejected the appeal and said that stay would be applicable to the entire 997 acres.

In the first phase, CAG will conduct financial as well as performance audits in 12 states that get the most money from the programmes— Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. These States were selected for the first phase of audit as they accounted for the major share of the expenditure incurred during the past five years.

Apart from drawing up a checklist to monitor expenditure at the Central and State levels, an expert committee was also set up to prepare a common accounting format for all schemes in consultation with the CAG.

Cano had been the country's top target since September 2010, when the group's military chief was killed. The government offered up to $3.7m (£2.3m) for information that would lead to his capture.

About FARC

Cano’s killing is the latest in a series of blows delivered to Latin America's last remaining leftist rebel army that began in March 2008, when the FARC's foreign minister, Raul Reyes, was killed in a bombing across the border in Ecuador.

FARC's revered co-founder, Manuel Marulanda, died in a mountain hideout of a heart attack. Later, Mono Jojoy was killed in late 2010.

The SCO & India

The SCO was founded in 2001 at Shanghai. SCO has six full members and aims at strengthening mutual trust and good-neighbourliness and friendship among member states.

Earlier, former United States Vice-President Al Gore was conferred the People's Parliament Global Award for promoting awareness on climate change.

14. Legendary singer-composer  and Padma Bhushan awardee Bhupen Hazarika died in Mumbai on 5 November 2011. He is also known for his poetic compositions that covered a variety of subjects ranging from politics to society and from love to eroticism. Hazarika was a multi-talented personality. He was a poet, music composer, singer, actor, journalist, author and filmmaker.

Works of Bhupen Hazarika

At the age of 12, Hazarika sang his first song Biswa Bijoy No Jowan for an Assamese film Indramalati. He was involved with the Assamese film industry ever since its inception. He worked to bring tradition of Assamese music to a platform where the world could listen.

Awards conferred on Bhupen Hazarika

He was awarded the National Award in 1975 for Chameli Memsaab. He also won the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1992. The legendary composer was conferred the Indian Music Director award for best music Internationally for the film Rudaali at the Asia Pacific International Film Festival 1993 held in Japan.

16. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 4 November 2011 announced that transfer of shares between Indians and non-resident Indians (NRIs) would not require its permission in several key areas such as financial services. RBI initiated measures to ease foreign direct investment (FDI) procedures with an objective to woo global investors.
The central bank Amended the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations. It mentioned that prior permission would not be necessary where the company whose shares were being transferred was engaged in any financial service.

The RBI permission had also been done away with for transfer of shares between residents and non-residents in cases where the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had already given its clearances and the SEBI guidelines were met.

Net direct tax collection for the seven-month  period(April-October) of the fiscal 2011-12 stood at Rs.218850 crore and it marked an increase of a mere 7.1 per cent as compared to the previous fiscal 2010-11 owing to the huge outgo on refunds.

Although the direct revenue garnered during the April-October 2011 was higher than the Rs.236176 crore collected during the same period of 2010-11, the percentage-wise shortfall in collection has been attributed to the ongoing economic slowdown.

The India crude oil basket for the fortnight ended 31 October was recorded at $108.59 a barrel. the average exchange rate for the fortnight stood at Rs 49.36 to a dollar. The Indian basket of crude oil touched $ 108.40 a barrel on 3 November 2011.

A litre of petrol now cost nearly Rs 28 more than diesel. The gap was barely Rs 11 in the middle of 2010 but the government controls diesel prices and has not raised diesel rates. Diesel prices have risen barely 2% sice June 2010 thereby accelerating sales of diesel vehicles and dampening demand for petrol cars.

Demand for vegetables, milk, egg, meat and fish shot up in recent times due to rising incomes and changing dietary preferences. But despite promises of improving supplies, the situation on the ground has remained unchanged.

The index for food articles group rose by 0.7% to 202.2 from 200.8 due to higher prices for river fish (9%), chicken and sea fish (4% each), egg, condiments & spices and ragi (2% each) and gram, tea and bajra (1% each).

The study stated that In India, handsets are categorised as high, medium, low, and ultra low cost ASP devices. The medium ASP segment is likely to be the fastest growing segment in terms of volume.

The estimation that number of 3G subscribers is expected to cross 300 million by 2020 fuelled the growth of 3G-enabled handsets. A favourable policy and regulatory initiative conducive for handset manufacturing in India is expected to drive sustainable growth in this segment.

21. Anirban Lahiri became the first Indian golfer to shoot a spectacular round of 12-under 60 on home soil when he took a three-stroke lead on the second day of the Rs. one-crore BILT Open golf championship at the Jaypee Greens golf course on 3 November 2011.

The defending champion, Lahiri has a two-round aggregate of 13-under 131 that saw him jump to the top of the leaderboard. Lahiri smashed Jyoti Randhawa's previous course record of 64, recorded in the 2008 edition of the championship. Lahiri also matched the score recorded in the country by China's Liang Wen-Chong during the 2008 Indian Open in New Delhi.

Distributors earn a upfront commission from the mutual funds in the first year which is generally higher for selling equity schemes and lower for debt schemes. They also earn a Trail Commission, which is a percentage of total business brought by the distributor. This commission is paid in the subsequent years and accounts for a huge earning for the distributors.

SEBI board decided that as a first step towards regulating distributors of MFs, selected distributors will be regulated through Asset Management Companies (AMCs) by putting in place the due diligence process to be conducted by AMCs.

24. Legendary Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle on 20 October 2011 entered the Guinness World Records for the most number of single studio recordings. Asha recorded up to 11000 solo, duets and chorus backed songs and several others in over 20 Indian languages since 1947.

The 78-year-old was conferred with the Guinness honour at the Asian awards function held in London.
Asha has evergreen numbers like Dum maro dum, Mehbooba mehbooba (Sholay), Piya tu ab to aaja (Caravan) and Chura liya hai tumne jo dil ko (Yaadon ki Baraat) to her credit.

On an average, a Delhiite earns Rs.1.16 lakh a year, owns 2.5 mobile phones, watches nearly two movies annually, gets a supply of 50 gallons of water each day and consumes over a case and quarter of liquor in a year.

Delhi CM pointed out that it was rapidly acquiring a very urban look and noted that the rural population declined by over 55 per cent over the past decade. Of Delhi's total population of 1.68 crore, the urban population constitutes 1.65 crore. Delhi registered a 26 per cent growth in urban population over the past decade with North-West Delhi recording the highest growth rate of 21.79 per cent and New Delhi district the lowest at 0.80 per cent.

The number of vehicles rose sharply from 6451883 in 2009-10 to 6932706 in 2010-11, an addition of 5 lakh vehicles to the city roads.

About the Handbook

27. The Supreme Court of India directed Motor Accident Claims Tribunals to award just and adequate compensation to the victims. The bench ruled that in cases involving partial or total disablement, the term compensation used in Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act will cover not only the expenses for immediate treatment but also for future medical treatment.

The Supreme Court bench including Justice GS Singhvi and Justice SS Nijjar gave the ruling. The bench observed that the majority of accident victims can’t engage lawyers for proving negligence on the part of the wrongdoer.

Italian Massimo Constantini was India’s TT coach before Kucharski  and his contract expired after the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010.

29. Pakistan on 2 November 2011 decided to grant India most-favoured-nation(MFN) trade status. The Pakistani cabinet voted unanimously to grant most-favored-nation status to India, which in effect gives Indian businesses lower tariffs and fewer trade barriers.  It will allow Pakistan to start removing formidable barriers to sales of Indian goods. 

The report highlighted India's Human Development Index (HDI) value for 2011 was 0.547 positioning the country in the medium human development category. Between 1980 and 2011, India's HDI value increased from 0.344 to 0.547, an increase of 59 per cent or an average annual increase of about 1.5 per cent.

The report pointed out that the India's HDI of 0.547 was below the average of 0.630 for countries in the medium human development group and below the average of 0.548 for countries in South Asia.

 In terms of gender inquality index, the report highlighted that in India, 10.7 per cent of Parliamentary seats are held by women and 26.6 per cent of adult women have reached a secondary or higher level of education compared to 50.4 per cent of their male counterparts.
 For every 100000 live births, 230 women die from pregnancy-related causes and the adolescent fertility rate is 86.3 births per 1000 live births.
 Female participation in the labour market is 32.8 per cent compared to 81.1 per men, the report says.
 The gender inequality index reflects gender-based inequalities in three dimensions - reproductive health, empowerment and economic activity.

Human Development Index (HDI)

S. Venkatraman, Director (Business Development), GAIL (India) Ltd took over as the Chairman of IGL
Ravindran, a mechanical engineering graduate from NIT Kurukshetra and Diploma in Management has over 31-years' experience in the fertilizers, petrochemicals, gas pipelines, transmission and city gas business. Prior to joining the current assignment, he served as Chief Executive Officer of GAIL Gas Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of GAIL (India) Limited.

IGL is the supplier of Compressed Natural Gas and Piped Natural Gas in Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad.

A debut novel won The Hindu's Literature Prize in the Lit for Life literary festival for the second successive year. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh.

In his book The Sly Company of People Who Care, Rahul Bhattacharya captured the heady adventures of travel, the overheated restlessness of youth, and the paradoxes of searching for life’s meaning in the escape from home. The book narrates a young Indian's Caribbean adventures in the company of a Guyanese diamond-hunter.
Rahul Bhattacharya has been working as a cricket journalist since 2000. He is currently a contributing editor with Wisden Asia Cricket and has been writing for the Wisden Almanack since 2003, when he compiled the series overview of India in England, 2002. He also writes for the Guardian.

35. Bangladesh and Russia on 2 November 2011 signed a deal to build a nuclear power plant at Rooppur in Pabna district.  It would be Bangladesh’s first nuclear plant.  Russia will provide technical support for setting up two generators each capable of producing 1000 megawatts of electricity. Russia will also supply fund and fuel rods for safe storage. The new safety features will also be implemented in the plant.

Bangladesh’s junior science and technology minister Yeafesh Osman and Russia’s State Atomic energy corporation director-general Sergei Kiriyenko signed the agreement. Bangladesh relies heavily on gas-fired plants for power. Power generation falls 2000 megawatts short of its daily requirement, which hampers its industrial production and economic growth.

Under the traditional system of government transactions, payments to employees and vendors are made through cheque, cash and demand draft or by Electronic Clearing Service (ECS) in a few Ministries. Ministries in the past few years used the RBI's facilities of Real Time Gross Settlement and National Electronic Funds Transfer to make payments through the banking channel.

Besides revolutionizing payments to individual beneficiaries, the government's e-payment gateway (GePG) - linking 1.3 lakh agencies down to the level of panchayats - has been developed to capture all data on receipt, payments, borrowings and deficit real time.

In September 2010, the core sector had grown 3.3%. In the first six months of 2011-12, cumulative growth rate of core industries stood at 4.9%, slower than the 5.6% registered in the same period in 2010-11.

The core sector growth was hit by rising cost of credit as the RBI has been making money expensive by raising key interest rates 13 times since March 2010 to contain inflation.

Inflation measured on the consumer price index for industrial workers (CPI-IW) touched the doubledigit mark at 10.06% for September 2011.

38. Czech tennis player Petra Kvitova defeated Victoria Azarenka 7-5 4-6 6-3 to win the WTA Championships on 30 October 2011 in Istanbul. Kvitova took home $1.75 million and Azarenka collected $775000.

Istanbul’s ability to host the tournament was perceived as integral to the national campaign to host the 2020 Olympics.

39. China launched its unmanned spacecraft, Shenzhou-8 on 1 November 2011. Long March-2F rocket propelled the unmanned spacecraft into orbit in the next step towards China's ambitious plans for a manned space station by 2020. Shenzhou-8 carried an experimental facility developed by German and Chinese scientists.

40. Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma was re-appointed to the coveted post on 30 October 2011. The Commonwealth Leaders agreed to re-appoint him at the 21st Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth in Australia. Sharma who served as a veteran Indian diplomat was re-appointed for a four-year term beginning in April 2012.

Kamlesh Sharma’s Background

Sharma was first elected to as the Secretary General of Commonwealth during the biennial summit of the 54-nation grouping in Kampala, Uganda, in 2007. He took over from Sir Don McKinnon of New Zealand on 1 April, 2008.

Kamalesh Sharma previously served as India's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, where he was closely involved in Commonwealth activities. In that capacity, he served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation. He was associated with the Commonwealth since 2004 when he was a member of the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation.

From 2002 to 2004, Mr Sharma served as the special representative of the United Nations secretary-general to Timor Leste, with the rank of Under Secretary-General. He helped building up a newly independent Timor Leste by strengthening internal security and public administration, including justice, financial administration, policing and protection of human rights.

From 1988 to 1990, he was India's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva. There he acted as the spokesperson for developing countries in the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks. During his tenure as an Ambassador and the Indian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, from 1997 to 2002, Kamlesh Sharma chaired the Working Group on Financing for Development, which led to the Monterrey Consensus

41. TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) extended the 100 sms per day limit to 200 sms per day, per sim. Earlier, TRAI had restricted the number of commercial non-commercial sms that can be sent from a sim, to 100.

India's imports also registered growth in September, rising by 17.2 per cent in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year leaving a trade deficit of 9.7 billion dollars.

44. Andhra Pradesh Government on 1 November 2011 launched one rupee a kilo rice scheme in the state. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy launched the scheme at a special programme held in Hyderabad on the occasion of the 56th State Formation Day.

The honour was bestowed upon Dhoni and Bindra for their outstanding contribution to sports and their commitment to the Indian Army on various occasions. They were pipped-in by Army chief General V K Singh.

The three honorary officers became brand ambassadors of the Indian Army after the grand honour.

47.. East India Hotels inducted Nita Ambani on its board on 31 October 2011. Nita Ambani is the wife of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. RIL had bought a 14.9 percent stake in EIH in August 2010.  East India Hotels runs the Oberoi Hotels chain.

Gamlin had taken over as chief minister on 5 May 2011 following the death of Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu in a helicopter crash. Arunachal Pradesh went through political instability since July 2011 after a group of Congress legislators led by Tuki revolted against Gamlin's leadership. Prem Khandu Thungan (Indian National Congress) was the first chief minister of Aruncahla Pradesh.

50. Palestine won the membership of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) on 31 October 2011 with 107 votes in favour and 14 votes against. There were 52 abstentions. Eighty-one votes were required for approval with 173 UNESCO member delegations present. The USA, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia and the Czech Republic voted against. Britain, Italy and many Pacific and Caribbean island nations absented themselves from the voting. India, Russia, Brazil, China, South Africa and France voted in favour.

 Petro helped uncover a bid-rigging scandal in Bogota in 2010 that sent its previous elected mayor, Samuel Moreno, to jail for corruption charges. The voting in the capital was part of nationwide regional and municipal elections, with 32 governorships and more than 1,100 mayoral and municipal council post being contested.

What is M-19 Movement

The Features of Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill
As per the bill, the Lokayukta will have a chairperson and five members. The number of members could be increased to seven as per the requirement. The bill envisioned that the members of Lokayukta should have legal background and should possess integrity and outstanding ability. The term of the chairperson of the Lokayukta would be of five years or upto the age of 70 years whichever is earlier.

The bill says that once the investigations are over, the chargesheet will be filed by the Lokayukta in a special court set up under the Prevention of Corruption Act for a speedy trial. The bill further adds that the period of investigation should not exceed twelve months. The Lokayukta will be empowered to recommend punishment of dismissal, removal or demotion against government servants after giving them full opportunity of being heard. The recommendation will be binding on the appointing or disciplinary authority of the government. For any act of corruption, the punishment will not be less than six months of rigorous imprisonment and could be extended upto 10-year imprisonment. In the rarest of rare case, the punishment could be extended upto life imprisonment.

Government enhanced the allocation under TUFS from Rs. 8000 crores to 15404 crores rupees under the 11th Five Year Plan. The new Textiles Parks would leverage an investment of over 9000 crores rupees and provide employment to 4 lac textiles workers. Government would finance common infrastructure with a subsidy upto Rs. 40 crores per Textiles park.

Considerable demand for Textiles Parks in India and given the success of the Scheme in the 11th Five Year Plan, Textiles Ministry would be seeking a higher allocation under the 12th Five Year Plan. Of the 40 textiles parks sanctioned under the 11th Five Year Plan, 24 Textiles Parks have started operations and have attracted investments of 18880 crores rupees, with a Government subsidy of 1420 crores rupees.

He wrote many satires like Angad Ka Paanv, Yahaan Se Vahaan, Meri Shreshtha Vyangya Rachnayein (1979), Kuchh Zameen Mein Kuchh Hava Mein (1990), Jahaalat Ke Pachaas Saal (2003), Khabron Ki Jugaali (2005) and many more. Yeh Ghar Mera Nahin, Suraksha Tatha Anya Kahaaniyan, Iss Umra Mein, Dus Pratinidhi Kahaaniyanare his short story collections. Mere Saakshaatkaar (2002) and Kuchh Saahitya Charcha Bhi (2008) are his memoirs. His detective novel entitled Aadmi Ka Zaharwas serialised in the weekly magazine Hindustan. His works throw light on the falling moral values of society in post-independence era. Raag Darbaari portrayed a feudal, crumbling Shivpalganj- the archetypal village of the Hindi heartland with its politico-cultural tensions and administrative neglect. Shukla delved upon almost everything that was decadent in the system, but stopped short of making a moral statement.

Noted Hindi writer, Shrilal Shukla was born in Atrauli village of Lucknow district on 31 December 1925. He had graduated from Allahabad University. He began his career as a state civil servant (UPPCS) in 1949. Later on, he was inducted into the IAS but in 1983 he left the services and continued to pursue his literary dreams. Shrilal Shukla was presented the India’s highest literary honour Jnanpith award on his hospital bed by Uttar Pradesh Governor B L Joshi on 18 October 2011. He and another Hindi author Amar Kant were chosen on 19 September 2011 for the Jnanpith award for the year 2009. He was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for novel Raag Darbari for the year 1969. He was also a recipient of Vyas Samman (1999), Lohia Sammaan (1994) of Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthaan, Sharad Joshi and Maithili Sharan Gupta Sammaan of Madhya Pradesh Government. He was awarded with national civilian honour Padma Bhushan in 2008.

Film, television and radio are our common heritage. They help to maintain the cultural identity of a people but countless documentary treasures have disappeared since the invention of image and sound technologies that permit the peoples of the world to better share their experiences, creativity and knowledge.

59. India won 5 matches one-day series by 5-0 by defeating England in 5th and final match played in Kolkata on 26 October 2011. India scored a challenging 271 for eight and stopped England at 176 in 37 overs in the day-night match at the Eden Gardens. Ravindra Jadeja grabbed 4-33 and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 3-28.

•  India beat England by eight wickets in 2nd ODI. The match was played at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, Delhi on 17 October 2011.

•  India won 1st ODI by 126-run in Hyderabad on 15 October 2011.

The International Press Institute (IPI) is an active forum of editors, publishers and senior executives of newspapers, magazines and news agencies committed to promotion of free exchange of accurate and balanced news among nations. The IPI was founded in October 1950. Its members are spread in over120 countries.

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Kynurenine is a by-product of metabolism of essential amino acid tryptophan.

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Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, won re-election on 22 October 2011.  He is a member of the Republican Party. Jindal won 66% of the vote with his nearest challenger, Tara Hollis of the Democratic party, got 18%. On 20 October, 2007, Jindal was elected governor of Louisiana for the first time.

The official name of the planet is 2007 OR 10. It is red in colour and half of its surface is covered by water ice. The planet is red because of the thin layer of the methane. Snow White had broken off long ago from another dwarf planet, called Haumea.

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Jammu and Kashmir topped among them which has utilized over 74 percent of the allocated fund of about six crore rupees. Five other States including Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka West Bangal and Haryana have also reported over 60 percent expenditure of the fund released to them. The average percentage of the expenditure of the 20 States under this Programme is about fifty percent. MSDP is a Special Area Development Programme for the welfare of the Minorities. It was implemented in 90 Minority Concentration Districts identified on the basis of substantial minority population and relative backwardness.

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Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for over 40 years, was killed on 20 October 2011 while trying to flee from his hometown, Sirte. Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya autocratically for 42 years after coming to power in a coup.

Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi was born to nomadic parents in the desert region of Sirte in 1942. He went to study history at the University of Libya in 1961 and then entered the Benghazi Military Academy.  He remained the autocratic ruler of Libya from 1969, when he seized power in a bloodless military coup that overthrew King Idris I until 2011 when his government was overthrown in a civil war. His 42-year rule prior to the uprising made him the fourth longest-ruling non-royal leader since 1900, as well as the longest-ruling Arab leader.
He pinned several titles to himself-  the Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution, in 2008 a meeting of traditional African rulers bestowed on him the title King of Kings.

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Data released by the commerce and industry ministry on 20 October 2011 showed food inflation stood at 10.6% in the week ended 8 October 2011 up from 9.32% recorded in the week ended 2 October 2011. It stood at 15.72% in the same period in 2010.

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A new report from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank titled- Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World was released on 20 October 2011.

The report claimed that at a time when persistent unemployment and the need for job creation are in the headlines, governments around the world continue sought ways to improve the regulatory climate for domestic business. Small and medium businesses that benefit most from these improvements are the key engines for job creation in many parts of the world.

The report noted that Indonesia's ranking on regulatory environments for local entrepreneurs dropped three levels from 123 to 126. In spite of the fall, Indonesia is still ranked better than India (132) and the Philippines (136th).

The government announced the support price for more than 20 crops just before the sowing season. The government buys wheat and paddy from farmers at the MSP to ensure assured returns to growers. The MSP also acts as benchmark price for the market.

The Ministry recommended a significant hike in wheat MSP in view of rising input cost of labour, electricity, diesel and fertilisers.

The Ministry of Rural Development decided to revive sports for the tribal boys and girls in the 60 left-wing extremist-affected districts where the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) has been implemented.

The idea was not just to spread the scope of sports and games to cover all the tribals but also to wean them away from being tapped by the Naxalite outfits in these districts.

He is the recipient of many awards including Padma Bhushan and the Ravindranath Tagore award and has over 125 publications to his credit. He was awarded honorary Doctorate of Science from several universities. Mani became well-known after he gave a fresh lease of life to Jairakash Narayan, who was suffering from kidney ailment.

The prestigious award, which recognises contribution in medical science, is being awarded annually since 1972. The other recipients include Dr Denton A Cooley from Houston and pioneer heart transplant surgeon Dr Christian Bernard from South Africa.

The water division bagged INR 59.31 crore for the Muzaffarpur water supply project in Bihar.

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India and Vietnam also decided to launch a biennial Security Dialogue between their home ministries. The two nations also decided to increase the trade target to 7 billion US dollars by 2015 from the present mark of 2.7 billion US dollars. Both nations also agreed to work towards early finalisation of the India-Asean Free Trade Agreement in Services and Investment. India and Vietnam also discussed the situation in the Vietnamese Eastern Sea (South China Sea).

Vietnam’s Importance for India
This is the first visit by the Vietnamese President outside the Asean region and shows the importance attached by both sides to the relationship. Developing close relations with Vietnam is an important component of India’s Look East Policy. The Chinese claim on the South China Sea was rejected by both India and Vietnam, saying as per the UN, the blocks belong to Vietnam.

The record for the shortest book ever to win a Booker remains Penelope Fitzgerald's Offshore which won in 1979. 
The other contenders were : Carol Birch (Jamrach's Menagerie), Patrick deWitt (The Sisters Brothers), Esi Edugyan (Half Blood Blues), and debut authors Stephen Kelman (Pigeon English) and AD Miller (Snowdrops).

Julian Patrick Barnes born on 19 January 1946 in Leicester, England is a contemporary English writer. His first novel, Metroland (1980), is a short, semi-autobiographical story of Christopher, a young man from the London suburbs who travels to Paris as a student, finally returning to London.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted Indians who have non-resident accounts in the country to hold them in any currency which is fully convertible. The move is expected to help NRIs/Persons of Indian Origin as it will give them more options in the holding of accounts, and lessen the risk from fluctuations in major currencies.

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Eminent Malayalam novelist George Varghese Kakkanadan who was one of the pioneers of modern Malyalam literature breathed his last on 19 October 2011 in Kollam. Known simply as Kakkanadan, he was one of the harbingers of modernism in the genres of Malayalam novel and short story.

He published his first work, Kachavadam, in 1963.

Kakkanadan's major novels include Sakshi (1967), Ezham Mudra (1968), Vasoori (1968), Ushnamekhala (1969), Kozhi (1971), Parankimala (1971), Ajnathayude Thaazhvara (1972), Innaleyude Nizhal (1974), Adiyaravu (1975), Orotha (1982), Ee Naaykkalute Lokam (1983) and Barsaathi (1986).

He won the Central Sahitya Akademi Award, the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and other awards. His work,Orodha won him the 1984 Kerala Sahithya Akademi award.

Ushnamekhala, Vasoori, Ajnathayude Thazhvara, Japana Pukayila, which won him Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and Saakshi are some of his famous works.

In the book, Srivastava, who retired from PTI as Editor in the late 80s recalled his days as a journalist covering political developments from the time of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru till coalition era.

K.P. Srivastava, a veteran journalist and media adviser to former prime minister Chandrasekhar mentioned in his book the bygone era of Indian journalism, politics and social life.

Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra won the air rifle silver behind Asian Games champion Zhu Qinan of China in the fourth Asian airgun shooting championship in Kuwait 19 October 2011. shot 594 in qualification and 103.6 in the final. He was 2.6 points behind the Chinese who shot 598 in qualification.

Bindra had outdone Zhu Qinan in the Beijing Olympic Games by grabbing the gold.

The Hindu's Chhattisgarh correspondent, Aman Sethi on 19 October 2011 was awarded the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) award for the best Indian print media article on humanitarian issues at the India Islamic Cultural Centre.

His article on three Chhattisgarh villages ruthlessly torched by police commandos in March 2011 was selected as the best of nearly 80 entries from across the country. About 300 homes and granaries were burnt in the five-day police operation which left three men dead, and three women sexually assaulted. Sethi's coverage initiated the local administration to probe the incident and send aid to the affected villages.

In all, 100 entries were received by the ICRC of which 44 were shortlisted for further consideration.

85

86The Sense of an Ending: Julian Barnes

British novelist Julian Barnes on 18 October 2011 won the Man Booker prize for his novella, The Sense of an Ending. Barnes' eleventh novel, The Sense of an Ending, published by Jonathan Cape, was released on 4 August 2011.

87The Rajasthan Government launched a web based Social Security Pension System on 19 October 2011 at Jaipur. This is an e-Governance initiative for effective and timely disbursement of pension and it would accelerate the whole process from sanction to disbursal of the pension under various schemes. This online system is a web-based solution to facilitate and maintain information pertaining to application, verification, sanction and disbursement of pension under various social security pension schemes. The system would be used by all SDOs, BDOs, Tehsildars, Treasury Officers and Sub Treasury Officers.

The state government is providing Social Security Pension to aged people, widows and disabled persons of deprived and weaker sections of the society. Currently in the state, more than 12 lakh pensioners are getting benefit of the Social Security Pension scheme and 700 crore rupees are being disbursed to beneficiaries. The pensioners in the age group of 75 years and above are being provided 750 rupees while pensioner in the age group of below 75 years is being given 500 rupees per month.

Ranganath was also the speaker of the Karnataka state assembly.

90The union government of India decided to ban the use of infertility drug Letrozole which is mainly recommended for treating Cancer patients. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a directive to ban the use of Letrozole completely with immediate effect.

I-League clubs Mohun Bagan, Dempo, Mumbai, HAL and East Bengal skipped the tournament for various reasons like having to play in other tournaments, to prepare for the I-League.

COSCO Platina FIFA approved football was the official ball of the tournament.

I-League clubs Mohun Bagan, Dempo, Mumbai, HAL and East Bengal skipped the tournament for various reasons like having to play in other tournaments, to prepare for the I-League.

COSCO Platina FIFA approved football was the official ball of the tournament.

Her last effort was though below her personal best of 63.69m recorded in April in 2010 at Chula Vista in California, United States.

94The state government issued an order to raise the age limit from 35 years to 40 years to fill around 70000 posts of primary school teachers lying vacant.

 For BTC selection in 2007 and 2008 the age limit of 40 years was made mandatory. The B.Ed degree holders demanded to increase the maximum age limit for the appointment of primary school teachers on the basis of that.

The express delivery service (EDS) industry was valued at Rs.10,000 crore and was growing at around 25 per cent annually.

96GVK Airport Holdings Private Limited, a subsidiary of GVK Power & Infrastructure Limited (GVKPIL) on 18 October 2011 acquired 108000000 equity shares worth Rs10 each (amounting to a 13.5% equity stake) in Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL). The stakes were acquired from Bid Services Division (Mauritius) Limited for a sum of US$231 million.

MIAL is executing an airport modernisation project worth Rs 9800 crore. The construction of the integrated passenger terminal is underway and will be complete in mid-2013.

In the first quarter of 2011-12, MIAL made a net profit of Rs 57.8 crore, against Rs 40.1 crore in the same period in 2010. The airport handled 29 million passengers last year and sees around 700 flight movements daily.

98Bharti Airtel on 12 October 2011 announced the launch of its special Formula One Race Pack for F1 fans in Bangalore. Bharti Airtel is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa.

Bharti Airtel which is the title sponsor for the 2011 Formula One Airtel Grand Prix of India introduced this pack as a prelude to the forthcoming Grand Prix slated to be held in Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh) on 30 October 2011.
Any new Airtel pre-paid customer in Bangalore would receive a 30 days trial offer on F1 value-added services like watching free Formula One race clips on mobile TV and playing exciting racing games.

FICs are small boats, with a crew of five to seven sailors at top speeds of 40 to 50 knots, and are equipped with light machine guns. These 80 FICs will be in addition to the 15 similar boats being acquired from French shipyard Chantier Naval Couach, three of which have already been inducted at Mumbai.

After 26/11, several steps have been taken to boost coordination in intelligence-sharing and operational matters, with fully-networked joint operation centres being set up in different locations. With 1,000 well-armed personnel, the SPB will be tasked with the protection of naval and other assets, bases and harbours on both west and east coasts.

IBSA leaders described terrorism as one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. At their summit meeting, the IBSA leaders said the United Nations should play a central role in co-ordinating international action against terrorism within the framework of the UN Charter and in accordance with the international law.

103Capital market regulator SEBI approved share sale guidelines for insurance firms. The norms once cleared by the government will ensure the entry of the insurance industry to revive the dormant primary market as the novelty value of the sector could attract more investors.

Insurers planning IPOs will have to disclose their economic capital as well as the embedded value to the regulator.
They have to first seek formal approval from IRDA and then the final approval from SEBI. Typically, under the disclosure norms, insurance companies will have to disclose their balance sheet, premiums, commission expenses and operating expenses on a quarterly basis.

Apart from this the guidelines are expected to follow the usual norms, like individuals holding more than 10 per cent stake would be considered as promoters and the company will have to maintain a solvency ratio of 1.5.
IRDA will not have any mandate on the extent of dilution, and it is up to individual companies to decide on the size of the issue. SEBI guidelines mandate 25 per cent of the shares of a listed company be retained by the public.

105Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata was honoured with the Swiss Ambassador's award for exceptional leadership and his contribution to strengthening bilateral ties between India and Switzerland on 16 October 2011. Switzerland's Ambassador to India Philippe Welti conferred the award to Tata at a ceremony at the Swiss embassy in New Delhi.

Ratan Tata had transformed Tata Group into a global conglomerate while retaining its strong roots in the group's traditions and ethics. Ratan Tata became chairman of Tata Sons in 1991. Under the chairmanship of Ratan Tata, the group had acquired several international brands like Land Rover, Jaguar, Tetley and Corus.

10 leading types of cancer that women in urban cities suffered from between 2006 and 2008 were looked at and it was found and found that breast cancer accounted for a high percentage in each city. In Mumbai, 30% of cancer cases among women were that of the breast, in Delhi and Bangalore it was almost 26.9% while the incidence in Chennai was marginally lower at 26.5%. In Kolkata, it accounted for 27.2% of cancer cases among women and in Pune it was 28.9%.

ICMR has also come out with the possibility of one in number of people developing cancer of any site score. The calculation is age specific—0-64 and 0-74 years. In Mumbai and Kolkata, one in 14 women runs the risk of developing cancer before they reach 64 years.

Singh, who completed the first of his eight marathons as an 89-year-old, has a personal best of five hours, 40 minutes, set back in 2003. The 2003 record made him the world record holder at the distance for a man aged 90 or over. Singh also holds eight sprint bests in his age category.

108Actor/director Amol Gupte's son Partho Gupte, who delivered an excellent performance as the quick-witted Stanley in his father's Stanley Ka Dabba won the best actor award at the Schlingel International Film Festival that concluded in Chmnitz, Germany on 16 October 2011.

The annual rally which is an off-road racing spectacle in the rugged, inhospitable Himalayan terrain had begun on 9 October 2011 from Shimla before ending at the Royal Springs Golf Course on the banks of the Dal lake. The rallyists went via Manali-Leh-Rangdum (Zanskar), which comprises of one of the world's most dangerous roads.
The results are subject to change if any motorist or biker lodges a protest and is proven right in the scrutiny.

110Scientists claimed to have reconstructed the genome of the bug that caused the bubonic plague (often referred as black death) in Europe. The bug was discovered to be an ancient strain of a bacterium called Yersinia pestis and not so much different from today’s.   

111The first ever prisoner swap between Israelis and the radical Palestinian group Hamas took place at the Rafah crossing on 18 October 2011. Israel’s abducted soldier Gilad Shalit was handed over to Egyptian authorities and in exchange, 477 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel.

Israel and the radical outfit Hamas had signed the deal in the second week of October 2011.

112Scientists identified two genes, which increase a person’s risk of getting dengue. Dengue is the most common mosquito-borne infection after malaria. It causes 100 million infections worldwide annually.

 For their research, the scientists conducted the first ever genome-wide association study to compare genomes of children with severe dengue against population controls. Scientists found changes in the DNA code located in two genes; MICB on chromosome 6 and PLCE1 on chromosome10. This increases a person’s susceptibility to dengue shock syndrome. MICB plays a role in the human body’s immune system and any variation in this gene can affect the activation of natural killer cells or CD8T cells. These cells play a key role in combating viral infection. PLCE1  contribute to the normal functioning of the vascular endothelium, the thin layer of cells that lines interior surface of blood vessels with some variants of PLCE1 predisposing an individual to leakage from the blood vessels, the hallmark clinical feature of dengue shock syndrome. 

Initially, they compared 2008 patients against 2018 controls. They then replicated the findings in an independent follow-up sample of 1737 cases and 2934 controls, the latest edition of the Nature Genetics  journal reported.

114Delhi state cabinet on 17 October 2011 hiked monthly pensions of senior citizens who are 70 years old and above from 1000 rupees/month to 1500 rupees/month. The hike in pension will be effective from 1 October 2011.

The pension will be sanctioned under the Old Age Financial Assistance Scheme of Social Welfare department. The hiked pension is likely to benefit more than 1.6 lakh senior citizens in the mentioned group. The government will release an additional budget allocation of 34 crore rupees to implement the scheme.

115President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on 15 October 2011 announced the creation of an ad hoc committee tasked with preparing a new Constitution within four months. President Assad issued a decree establishing the national committee to draft a new Constitution in a period not exceeding four months from the date of its creation. The 29-member committee is headed by former Justice Minister Mizhar al-Annbary.

The first guideline on base capital criteria, which mandated funds to have a minimum capital of Rs 3 crore, came out in 1993. Sebi increased the net worth criterion to Rs 6 crore and then to Rs 10 crore after CRB Mutual Fund collapsed in 1996-97.

The mutual fund advisory committee had in 2010 also recommended a higher net worth requirement to protect investors and funds from short-term liquidity stress. Well-capitalised funds, the committee argued would be better placed to handle unforeseen redemption and issues arising from lower market liquidity.

Since 1981, World Food Day has adopted a different theme each year, in order to highlight areas needed for action and provide a common focus. Most of the themes revolve around agriculture because only investment in agriculture together with support for education and health can ensure food security.

The objectives of World Food Day are to:

119The Save Sarmila Campaign was flagged off by Magsaysay award winner Sandeep Pandey on 16 October 2011. The campaign was launched in Srinagar demanding the revocation of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from  Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast.

The campaign, in which 20 persons are participating with an objective to express solidarity with Irom Sharmila, who has been on fast for the last 10 years demanding revocation of the AFSPA. The campaign is headed by noted social activist Medha Patkar. The team started its march from Srinagar and will proceed to Imphal to bring the demand into focus.

•    Fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death, against any person who is acting in contravention of any law against assembly of five or more persons or possession of deadly weapons.
•    To arrest without a warrant and with the use of necessary force anyone who has committed certain offenses or is suspected of having done so
•    To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests.

It gives Army officers legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law.

She was awarded the 2007 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights, which is given for an outstanding person or group, active in the promotion and advocacy of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights. She shared the award with Lenin Raghuvanshi of People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, a northeastern Indian human rights organization. In Addition the largest monetary prize the first Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize was given to her in 2010 by the New Delhi IIPM. She was awarded the Sarva Gunah Sampannah  Award for Peace and Harmony aka the 12th Signature Women of Substance award (Assam) also in 2010. she is the recipient of the first Mayillama Award (Kerala). in 2010 she was awarded in absentia a lifetime achievement award in Bangalore.

120Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 October 2011 voiced the Finance Ministry’s decision to to recapitalise State Bank of India (SBI).  Funds would be provided to the PSU lender to enable it to achieve compliance with capital adequacy ratio (CAR) norms. Fresh capital is to be infused in SBI. The government will inject Rs 3,000-4000 crore into SBI during the current fiscal 2011-12 to help it achieve an 8 per cent capital adequacy ratio (CAR).

121Red Bull sealed the constructors’ title at the Korean Grand Prix on 16 October 2011. Red Bull sealed the 2011 season with 558 points. McLaren with 418 points was second and ferrari with 310 points was third.

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull who won the world championship at the Suzuka in Japan notched up his 10th victory of the 2011 season. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was second while another Red Bull driver Mark Webber finished third.

Born in Bhaini Maraj village in Sangrur district of Punjab, Dr. Singh holds a Ph.D. in Agronomy. He specialises in developing alternate approaches to a sustainable use of soil resources. He is the reviewing referee for several peer-reviewed international journals including the Journal of Professional Association of Cactus Development, US, Acta Horticulture and Geoderma.

He is the alumnus of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the founder-President of the Indian Society of Soil Salinity and Water Quality.

In security, India and Myanmar agreed to increase the effectiveness of coordinated operations on either side of the border through better intelligence sharing. Both nations will jointly work out a schedule for repairing boundary pillars in a time-bound manner. India also agreed to increase training slots for Myanmar students and establish more I.T. training centres. India and Myanmar discussed the Moreh-Mae Sot road that would connect India and Thailand via Myanmar. This will open a direct road link between India and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). This direct road link will also accelerate the plans of ASEAN for the Mekong-Ganga corridor. India welcomed Myanmar's progress towards an open and democratic framework.

Why Myanmar is Important for India

Scientists stated that intense cold in the upper atmosphere of the Arctic activated ozone-depleting chemicals and that resulted in ozone hole ever recorded over the high northern regions.

What is Ozone?
Ozone is a pollutant on the earth’s surface. However, in the stratosphere it forms a protective layer that reflects ultraviolet radiation back out in space and protect us from the damaging ultra-violet rays.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alons had become the previous youngest double world champion when he had won for Renault aged 25 in 2006.

128Vinod Kumar of RSPB (Railway Sports Promotion Board) on 14 October 2011 won the 55 kg freestyle gold medal in the 56th Senior National wrestling championships at Nandininagar, Uttar Pradesh. Anil won the gold medal in 60 kg Greco Roman category.

131India and United States agreed to explore new models for educational institutions to take knowledge partnership to a higher level. This will also help in further deepening the bilateral strategic  cooperation. In a Joint Statement issued at the end of the India-US Higher Education Summit in Washington, the goals of the partnership were outlined. 

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, during discussions in the summit, made it clear that India is keen to strengthen teacher exchange programmes to promote development of human resources. India intends to sponsor initially up to 1500 faculty and junior scholars to leading universities and research institutes in the United States

The approval of the ordinance means that all customers must have a set top box whether they want to receive free-to-air or pay channels. They could watch high quality channels of their choice and will get access to internet and telephone through the same digital cable. Broadcasters will generate more revenue directly from subscribers, and it could reduce their dependence on TRPs and advertisers.

134Supreme Court of India slashed the amount of compensations to the Uphaar theatre fire tragedy victims awarded by the Delhi High Court. A bench headed by Justice R V Raveendran reduced the amount of compensation from 18 lakh to 10 lakh rupees to the families of deceased where the victims were above 20 years of age and for the victims below 20 years, it was reduced to 7.5 lakh rupees from 15 lakhs. The bench also drastically reduced the punitive damages to be paid by Uphaar Cinema owners, Ansal brothers to the Centre from 2.5 crore rupees to 25 lakh rupees.

The mission will use hot water to melt its way through the 3-kilometer thickness of ice to reach Lake Ellsworth.

137The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on 13 October 2011 announced introduction of a new Niryat Bandhu scheme for international business mentoring for young turks in international business enterprises. The officer (Niryat Bandhu) would function in the mentoring' arena and would be a handholding experiment for the young turks in international business enterprises. Under the scheme, officers of DGFT will be investing time and knowledge to mentor the interested individuals who want to conduct the business in a legal way.

138Union Commerce and Industry Ministry on 13 October 2011 announced a Rs. 900-crore package for exporters taking the total Diwali bonanza to Rs.1,700 crore with an objective to support exporters exporters against slowdown in the U.S. and Europe.

The package was announced as part of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) released by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma. The announcement of the 900 crore package followed notifying the interest subsidy of 2 per cent for labour-intensive industries such as handicrafts, handlooms, carpets and small and medium exporters by the RBI. The benefits will largely accrue to exporters of engineering goods, pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
The policy announced reward for all those scouting for markets in Latin America, Africa and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). The new measures will be incorporated in the annual supplement of the Foreign Trade Policy (2009-14).

139All central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) were on 13 October 2011 elegated with more powers for acquisition of raw material assets abroad. The Union Cabinet approved a new policy for acquisition of overseas raw material assets which would be applicable to CPSEs in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and power sectors with a three year track record of making net profits.

With an intention to address the issue of acquisition of raw materials before global raw material assets were no longer available or were available at exorbitant prices, the government vested the CPSEs with the responsibility to acquire raw material assets abroad.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes mental health as a state of well being in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

According to an estimation, around 450 million people worldwide have a mental health problem. By the year 2020, the WHO has projected that depression will be the second leading cause of disability in the world. Mental health is an important factor in the overall health of a person. Without good mental health, a person will be unable to fulfill its full potential.

India has an estimated 2.4 million living with HIV, making it one of the largest infected populations in the world.

142RBI’s data published on 8 october 2011 showed that India’s foreign exchange reserves fell for the second consecutive week, going down by $1.23 billion to $311.48 billion, for the week ended 30 September 2011.

Olympian Sandeep Sejwal and Arjuna awardee Virdhaval Khade opened with a gold each in the 7th Asian Age Group Swimming Championship in Indonesia. Sejwal who had won a silver in the last edition of the championship, clinched the gold in 50m breaststroke with a timing of 28.36 secs. Khade swept 100m butterfly with a timing of 54.86. Khade later combined with Aaron D Souza, Anshul Kothari and Rehan Poncha to fetch another gold in 4x100 free style relay.

Karnataka’s Rehan Poncha won the bronze in the 200m backstroke with a timing of 02:07:76secs. Saurabh Sangvekar, too, bagged the bronze in the 200m freestyle boys group with 01:52:77 secs. Saurabh also won a silver medal in 800m free style, clocking 08.18.40.

Friend.ly designed an app for Facebook that helped users pose questions to online friends.

146The Union Cabinet of India on 13 October 2011 approved the introduction of the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011in the winter session of Parliament.

India fielded around 40 troops of its elite 21 Para (Special Forces) battalion for the exercise while the Bangladesh Army deployed one of its Para Commando battalions. Around 40 to 50 troops took part in the exercise.

148Sistema Shyam TeleServices on 12 October 2011 announced the launch of High Speed Data (HSD) connectivity across the 350 km long Chennai-Bengaluru stretch of National Highway, one of the business stretches in India.

 Judge Rodion Kireyev declared Tymoshenko guilty of exceeding her authority as premier when she signed a natural gas imports contract with Russia in 2009. He also banned her from occupying government posts for three years after the completion of her prison term and fined her 1.5 billion hryvna ($190 million) for the damages her actions cost the state. As a convicted criminal, she would be unable to participate in Ukraine's next presidential elections in 2012.

In May 2010, Ukraine's state prosecutor launched a criminal case relating to misuse by Tymoshenko’s govt of about $290 million in cash received for selling carbon quotas. Prosecutors mentioned that the deal saddled Ukraine with an exorbitant price for supplies of Russian gas.

151

According to a report by Crisil, increase in equated monthly installments (EMIs) due to rising interest rates and reset of teaser loans is expected to put additional annual burden of about Rs 6000 crore on home loan borrowers. Higher EMIs and slowdown in economic growth is also likely to increase bad loans for lenders.

Economists who met RBI governor D Subbarao on 11 October 2011 suggested that central bank continue with its rate increases as inflation continues to be high. However the bankers and corporates have asked the central bank to halt rate hikes. While bankers have pointed out to a moderation in demand, corporates have highlighted the industrial slowdown as the need for measures to revive the economy. Corporates specified that steep inflation is owing to international factors and rate hikes will do more harm than good to the Indian economy.

152The finance ministry in October 2011 revised the Budget estimate of direct tax collection upwards by Rs 53000 crore to Rs 5.85 lakh crore. The higher target marked an increase of 31% over last year’s collection of Rs 4.46 lakh crore. The Budget estimate of direct tax collection was revised upwards to bridge the shortfall that might occur due to reduction in customs duty on crude oil to offset price rise.

153The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on 11 October 2011 appointed Dutchman Robert Baan as the Technical Director (TD) for a period of two years.

Baan has a 46-year experience in football management and was involved in a similar capacity with the Australia Football Federation. Baan is one of the most high profile coaches to have worked in India having been an assistant coach at PSV Eindhoven from 1995-98 and also the TD at Feynoord Rotterdam from 1998-2004.

The award was constituted by Congress in its centenary year to give recognition to outstanding contribution to the cause by an individual or institution.

It carries a citation and cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh. The award will be presented by committee chair and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on 31 October 2011, the anniversary of Indira Gandhi's death.

Civil society groups’ demand had the support from revenue intelligence agencies which have been grappling with the menace of counterfeiting.

A recent report prepared by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in association with the Intelligence Bureau, RAW and CBI had pointed out that fake Indian currency notes in circulation in India could be as high as worth Rs 6000 crore and it seriously undermined the credibility of the rupee.

Before his stint in the Supreme Court, Justice Katju served as a Judge of the Allahabad High Court in 1991 and as its acting Chief Justice in August 2004. He was then appointed as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court in November 2004 and went on to become the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in October 2005.

He was appointed as the Judge of the Supreme Court in April 2006 and he retired on 19 September 2011. 
Katju has written several books which include publications such as Law in the Scientific Era and Interpretation of Taxing Statutes, among others.

While the US is ranked as the world’s most prosperous country, with 31 million affluent households, UAE and India appear in the top five countries where the affluent have more than USD 1 million investable assets on average, alongside Singapore and Hong Kong. The only Europeans to feature in top five were the Swedish. According  to the study, UK and France were least likely in Europe to have these levels of investable assets.

The study also highlighted that while incidence of affluence would be higher in small, wealthy countries like Luxemburg (29 per cent) and Singapore (20 per cent), this falls to around (1 per cent) in India and China.

Due to the sharper-than-expected global slowdown and the impact of high interest rates on the domestic economy, the overall growth was observed to be slowing down at a faster clip than anticipated earlier.
The overall trend is in line with expectations that the Indian economy will grow at less than 8% during 2011-12. The economy expanded 8.5% in 2010 prompting the government to predict 9% growth in 2011. However, as the global economic situation deteriorated and higher interest rates slowed down the growth momentum the government lowered its forecasts.

The survey also showed that employment fell as awell increasing worries for policymakers, who want rapid economic growth to take care of the growing population that is joining the workforce.

It signifies the confidence of various countries in India and the efforts of the Indian government in the promotion of tourism in the country as well as across the globe in a responsible and sustainable manner to achieve inclusive growth.

162Myanmar on 11 October 2011 announced an amnesty for more than 6,300 prisoners.This follows an appeal by the government appointed Human Rights Commission in Myanmar to free prisoners. Earlier, Myanmar's National Human Rights Commission chairman Win Mra  had called for the release of prisoners. 

It should be noted that Indian citizens need the Schengen visa to visit the 25 countries in the Schengen area in European Union. At present, approximately 13 million Schengen visas are issued every year by the 25 countries of the Schengen area. The EU said that it was not always easy to prevent frauds and abuses and the application process was burdensome for those who seek legitimately a short stay visa for travel within the EU.

The Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five European countries that have implemented the Schengen Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985.

168The Election Commission of India raised the cap of minimum votes a political party must secure in election to get the status of a State party or maintain it further. The new minimum limit is 8 per cent of total valid votes polled in State Assembly or Lok Sabha polls. Earlier, the limit was 6 per cent. In addition, the party must have returned at least two members to the Legislative Assembly in case of Assembly polls or at least one member in Parliament from the State in case of Lok Sabha elections.

To make these changes, the Commission amended its Election Symbols reservations and allotment order 1968 and issued a new order on 16 September 2011, the Election Symbol reservations and allotment amendment order 2011.  The amended order was sent to all States and Union Territories.

The discovery provides more information on the members of the Zeidora genus and their geographic distribution. The group is made up of 14 species of which very few specimens were found.

171Russia and China on 5 October 2011 vetoed UN Security Council draft resolution recommending sanctions against Syria for the ongoing crackdown on Protesters.The resolution was moved by EU (European Union) member countries and backed by USA.

Assam produces over 51 per cent of the total tea in the country and 13 percent to the global tea production. The state has 64 thousand small tea estates spread over 14 districts. The annual turnover of this industry in Assam is Rs five thousand crore and it employs over 10 lakh workers.

173Egypt's military council on 8 October 2011 amended a contentious election law to allow parties to contest a third of the seats in Parliament reserved for independents. Egypt’s military decided to cancel Article 5 of the election law, which reserved a third of seats for independents. The three-round Parliamentary election will start on 28 November 2011, which will be the first since an uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February 2011.

 While In commercial vehicles, the debutants comprise the Tata Venture, a multi-purpose vehicle, Tata Super ACE, the latest 1 tonne mini-truck, Tata LPO 1823 commuter bus, Tata Xenon 2.2 L Cargo Box, Tata Xenon 2.2 L Double Cab 4x4, Tata LPO 1623 CNG bus and the Tata Xenon CNG.

175The world’s highest webcam was installed on Kala Patthar, a smaller mountain facing the Everest. It is a solar-powered camera and set at 18618 feet (5675 metres). The webcam can withstand temperature as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius and operates from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Web cam will send live images of Mount Everest back to scientists studying the effect of climate change on the planet’s tallest peak. Earlier, scientists had set up a webcam at the base camp of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina.

177Delhi state government on 8 October 2011 launched a micro-finance project for women. The project aims at providing financial support to over one-lakh vulnerable women in the capital. The project will be implemented by the Samajik Suvidha Sangam(SSS) in collaboration with Delhi chapter of SEWA. SSS is a Delhi government entity set up to provide various services to the poor.

Under this project, loans will be given to women at a nominal interest rate of 1.5 percent. The women from economically-weak sections will be given access to funds and other financial services through a cooperative society called Mahila Sewa Urban Cooperative thrift and credit society limited.

180Godrej Properties (GPL) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Godrej & Boyce (G&B) whereby GPL will act as development manager and be responsible for the conceptualisation, sales, designs and marketing of all future development on the G&B-owned land in Vikhroli in suburban Mumbai. Godrej Properties is the real estate development arm of the Godrej Group.

 GPL will get a fee equal to 10 per cent of the total revenue generated from the development for its services. The cost for design and construction of the development will be incurred by Godrej & Boyce in its role as owner-developer whereas the cost for sales and marketing will be borne by Godrej Properties in its role as development manager.

182Project Management Institute (PMI) on 7 October 2011 signed a MoU( Memorandum of Understanding) with the Engineering Society for advance mobility land, sea, air and space( SAEINDIA) to collaborate in advancing the mutual objectives of promoting the profession of project management by both these institutes.The MoU was signed by SAEINDIA President and Maruti Suzuki Executive Officer R. Dayal and PMI India Managing Director Raj Kalady.

Under the MoU, the institutes agreed to utilise complementary capabilities of both the organisations to advocate, promote and institutionalise  the profession of project management, across organisations within the mobility sector.

Congress legislator Agnelo Fernandes tabled the Bill, which was passed after a brief discussion. 

184India and Iran on 5 October 2011 agreed to set up a mechanism for payment of crude oil and ensure bilateral trade.  Both sides agreed that the mechanism will cover the payment to Indian exporters and some other areas. The two countries have decided to continue their dialogue on the issue. Earlier, Iran had threatened to stop crude oil supplies to India if a mechanism to pay for imports is not found quickly. India has to pay Iran 9 billion dollars, which is now seven months in arrears.

186The Asian Development Bank (ADB) extended 200 million US dollar loan to Assam to improve the water supply and other urban services in two of the Assam’s major cities, Guwahati and Dibrugarh. The projects were aimed to be completed by December 2017.

The funds were meant for providing clean piped water to about 3,50,000 residents in the capital city of Guwahati. Besides this, major upgrades in sewerage and solid waste systems in the two cities were also planned to be done.

The required water for the water supply scheme was set to be drawn from the Brahmaputra. A water treatment plant was also be set up in the Sunsali area on the banks of the river, Brahmaputra.

At least seven to eight reservoirs were to be constructed on elevated areas including the hillocks so that the advantage of the natural elevation can be utilized to ensure free flow of water to the households.

The drainage and solid waste management schemes of Dibrugarh town, which were planned to be parts of the ADB scheme, were also scheduled to be completed in five years.

187Former Bihar Chief Minister Bhagwat Jha Azad died on 4 October 2011 at the age of 89. He was a six-time member of the Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur, Bihar. He was a veteran Congressman who served as the Chief Minister of Bihar from February 14, 1988 and March 10, 1989. However, a little before his death he joined the BJP.

Azad superceded the boards of three apex cooperative institutions namely Bihar State Co-operative Bank, Bihar State Co-operative Marketing Union and Bihar State Co-operative Land Development Bank.

SBI had a shortage of capital to cushion bad loans or contingencies and thus started weakening asset quality. High interest rates in a slowing economy results in shorthand for loans that do not yield interest. This led Moody’s to adopt a negative view on SBI’s creditworthiness. As a result, the borrowing companies suffer. Rating downgrades usually are caution signals to bond investors. The Banking customers do not have encounter risk.

Tier-I capital stood at 7.6 % which was a little below the 8 % desired by the government. Tier-I capital broadly refers to shareholder equity.

190Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited on 3 October 2011 announced the launch of its Chola Critical Healthline Policy, which provides for a reasonable amount on being diagnosed with any of the named critical illnesses.  The Company is a joint venture between the Murugappa Group and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Japan.

Some of the key features of Chola Critical Healthline are as following:
• Entry upto 65 yrs 
• No medical check-up upto 55 yrs 
• Lifetime renewal facility. 

This policy does not need any proof of hospitalization or even treatment. The claim will be settled on the basis of the proof of diagnosis of a critical illness and the necessary survival period.

The premium paid for Chola Critical Healthline Policy is eligible for tax exemption up to  20000 rupees under section 80(D) of Income tax act. 


The list of diseases covered under the policy are, Stroke, First heart attack, Open Chest CABG, Cancer, Kidney Failure, Major Organ / Bone Marrow Transplant, Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, , Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Surgery of Aorta and Motor Neuron Disease. 

192Weiss Umwelttechink of Germany on 2 October 2011 launched its Indian subsidiaryWeiss Technik India Pvt. Ltd. with the objective of catering to the growing needs of the Indian market. Weiss Umwelttechnik GmbH is a subsidiary of the Shcunk Group and a manufacturer of testing chambers and systems for environmental simulation. The company already has over 700 installations in India.Weiss at present has a manufacturing facility in China with technology from Germany. A facility in India would focus on a different range of products.

The market size for environmental simulation chambers and systems in India is about 100 crore  rupees and Weiss has 45 per cent market share in it. The company's customers include DRDO, ISRO, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki. The market size is likely to reach Rs 200 crore in the next five years.

The products are used by vehicle manufacturers, pharmaceutical, electronic, aviation, aerospace and defence industries. The company has 450 customers in India. The company will have branch offices at Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata with Hyderabad as its headquarters.

A total of 2202 Gram Panchayats under 219 Blocks will be covered under the audit. On the first day one panchayat each in 219 Development Blocks will be audited at public meeting where citizens can raise objections on implement of various rural development schemes.

196For the first time in India, the genome and coding parts of multi-utility neem plant, Azadirachta indica, was sequenced and analyzed. The process was disclosed in Bangalore on  29 September 2011. The project funded jointly by Government of India and Government of Karnataka, has helped bare most useful biological information of Indian neem varieties that has received prominence in our traditional medicines.

Scientists informed that understanding the molecular architecture of neem genome and its various coding parts, will enhance the knowledge of this wonder species further. They further noted that they are currently building an information knowledge portal to store, retrieve and share neem data. Scientists felt that open information portal is key to sharing knowledge openly and empowering young people to utilize the information and come up with newer innovation.

The government allowed overseas investment in bee-keeping and share-pledging for raising external debt. The FDI policy highlighted that liberalisation will bring in international best practices to upgrade the product in these sectors.

Research and development in biotechnology, pharmaceutical and life sciences sector would be covered under the industrial parks scheme, where 100 per cent FDI is permitted under automatic route.

Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) chairman C Rangarajan  pointed out that the target to cut fiscal deficit to at 4. per cent of the GDP for the current financial year would be missed. The government's decision to borrow Rs 52872 crore more from the market, over and above Rs 4.17 lakh crore estimated earlier for the current year, put pressure on the deficit number.

The net tax revenue receipts for April-August period stood at Rs 1.44 lakh crore, which is 21.8 per cent of the budget estimates. On the other hand, total expenditure was at 37.5 per cent of the target at Rs 4.72 lakh crore.

Important Days

Books & Authors related Quiz for All Exams

1. Who is the author of “The Kalam effect: My years with the president”?
(a) P.M.Nayar (b) Sonia Gandhi
(c) L.K.Adwani (d) Arun Shaurie
ANS (a)

2. Who is the author of the book “Superstar India : From Incredible to Unstopable”?
(a) L.K.Adwani (b) Arundhati Roy
(c) Shobha De (d) Vikram Seth
ANS (c)

7. Man-The Maker of His Own Destiny’ “ book was written by
(a) V.S. Naipaul (b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Guenter Grass (d) Swami Vivekananda
ANS (d)

8. Find out the odd one
(a) Louis Fischer (b) Ibsen(c) William Shakespeare (d) Sherlock HolmesANS (d) Others are writers. Sherlock Holmes is a character 9.One among the following is not written by Kalidasa
(a) Saakunthalam (b) Raghu Vamsam
(c) Rith Samharam (d) Kaavyadooth
ANS (d)

14. “Does IT matter” is a book written by
(a) Bill Gates (b) N. R. Narayanan (c) Nicholas Carr
(d) Thomas D. Harris (e) None of these
ANS (c)

15. ’Beyond time’ is the book written by
(a) Namita Gokhale (b) Ruskin Bond
(c) William Balrymple (d) Josef Korbel
(e) None of these
ANS (e)

20. Sirr-i-Akbar was the Persian translation of fifty-two Upanishads by which son of shah Jahan?
ANS – Dara Shikoh

21.In “The Travels of Gulliver”, what is the first things two Lilliputians discuss when they meet in the morning?
ANS – The health of the sun

27. ’Beyond the Last Blue Mountain’ is R.M Lala’s biography of which Indian?
ANS – J. R. D. Tata

28. Which of Agatha Christie’s books was the first to be serialised in the Evening News under the title ’Anna the Adventure’?
ANS – The Man In The Brown Suit

33. ’Economic History of India’ was written by
ANS – R. C. Dutt

34.The oldest of the vedic literature is
(a) Sama Veda (b) Yajur Veda
(c) Rig Veda (d) Atharva Veda
ANS (c)

39. Who is the author of the book ˜Anna Karenin
ANS – Leo Tolstoy

40.Who is the author of the book ˜The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
ANS – Mark Twain

45. Who is the author of the book, ˜Through the Looking-Glass?
ANS – Lewis Carroll

46. Who is the author of the book, ˜Allâs Well That Ends Wellâ?
ANS – William Shakespeare

51. Who is the author of the book “Jyoti Punj”?
(a) L.K.Adwani (b) Atal Bihari Vajpeyi
(c) Narendra Modi (d) Vikram Seth
ANS (c)

National Parks in India

Bandhavgarh National Park
Check out the place where firstly and formostly the white Tigers of Rewa were discovered Bandhavgarh. This park is some of the left out preserved wild pockets of Madhya Pradesh of what were once splendid forests that extended across the whole of Central India.

Manas National Park
Assam is the state of the Great One Horned Rhino. Beside the Kaziranga there’s Manas another habitat of the Rhino’s, located in one of the remotest region among the foothills of Himalayas.

Bandipur National Park
Lies halfway down the Mysore-Ooty highway became one of the first of India’s Tiger Reserves and the southernmost of the nine reserves specially established under Project Tiger.

Dudhwa National Park, U.P.
Also popular as a Tiger Reserve, this national park is located in the district of Lakhimpur, along the Indo-Nepal border. Another major attraction of this wild reserve is the Barasingha or the Swamp Deer, found in the southwest and southeast region of the park.

Bandipur & Nagarhole National Parks, Karnataka
Two of the most attractive national parks of Karnataka are Nagarhole and Bandipur. Even if separate entities, they are a part of a large neighboring wildlife reserve that also includes Madumalai Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu and Wynad Reserve of Kerala.

Namdhapha National Park, Arunachal
Tucked away in the northern most state of Arunachal, is the Namdhapa National Park, famous for the extremely elusive snow and the clouded Leopard. The park is also a Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger.

Velvadhar Blackbuck Sanctuary, Gujarat
Popularly known as the home of the Indian Black Buck, has attracted worldwide attention for the successful conservation of the fastest of the Indian Antelopes – Black Buck.

Milroy or Pabha Sanctuary, Assam
This splendid wildlife reserve even if doesn’t have many faunal varieties to offer, still it possesses the most coveted one, the Wild Water Buffalo.This sanctuary has been exclusively built for the protection of the wild water buffalo.

Nameri National Park, Assam
Nameri is the second Tiger reserve of Assam, situated at the foothills of eastern Himalayas. The hilly backdrop, deciduous and the river Jia Bhoroli have added a unique natural charm to it.