DAILY GK-04.08.2011

Gowda set to assume charge as CM, disquiet in rival camp

• Bangalore: D V Sadananda Gowda is all set to assume charge as new Karnataka CM today even as there was disquiet in the rival camp which lost out in the bitterly fought secret ballot. Gowda, who defeated Jagadish Shettar in the secret ballot, is slated to be sworn-in by Governor H R Bhardwaj at 4.30 pm.

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DAILY GK-03-08-2011

769.68 cr scholarships for minority students in 4 yrs

• New Delhi: The Ministry of Minority Affairs today said it has granted over 12 lakh scholarships worth Rs 769.68 crores in the last four years and plans to target 20,000 fresh ones every year.

Shivaraj V Patil sworn in as new Karnataka Lokayukta

• Bangalore: Former Supreme Court judge Shivaraj V Patil was today sworn in as new Karnataka Lokayukta by Governor H R Bhardwaj.

Question hour reverted to normal slot

• Having failed to find acceptance among the major political parties for conduct of question hour in the afternoon, the Rajya Sabha on Monday reverted back to the original practice of conducting the same as the first business of the day.

• Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari took the initiative to shift question hour to the afternoon slot following continued disruption of House business in the morning. However, the experiment could not find favour with different political parties.

• Even as the House returned to the old practice, the Opposition forced adjournment on various issues soon after the Chairman read out the obituary statement on the opening day of the Session.

MCI amendment Bill tabled in Lok Sabha

• The government on Tuesday introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha seeking to increase the tenure of the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI) from one to two years.

• The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2011, provides for extending the board's tenure till May 2012. It was introduced by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare S. Gandhiselvan.

• The Indian Medical Council Act was amended after the MCI was dissolved in 2010 following the arrest of its then president, Ketan Desai, by the CBI on corruption charges.

• The MCI was replaced with a board, which was reconstituted in May this year by extending its term through an ordinance.

• The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill was necessitated by delay in enactment of legislation to set up a National Commission for Human Resources for Health (NCHRH).

Rangarajan favours decontrolling diesel prices

• C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, on Tuesday favoured decontrolling diesel prices.

• Addressing reporters on the sidelines of the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Indian Overseas Bank, Mr. Rangarajan said: “At some convenient point, we should really start the process of deregulation of diesel prices” as they should reflect international crude prices.

• Asked about the Index of Industrial Production that had a slower growth rate in the first quarter of this year, he said the IIP figures were expected to pick up later this year. “We expect it will pick up in the second half and reach about 7.5 per cent,” he said.

• To a query on whether the Reserve Bank of India would continue to hike the lending rates, Mr. Rangarajan said the RBI strategy would hinge on the behaviour of inflation.

• “If that [inflation] does not come down, then the present policy [by the RBI] will continue,” he said.

Award for Nirupama Rao

• Former Foreign Secretary and U.S. Ambassador-designate Nirupama Rao has been selected for the annual award instituted by the Sree Chithira Tirunal Trust for the year 2011. The award comprises Rs.1 lakh and a citation.

• Former U.S. Ambassador T.P. Sreenivasan, who was the chairman of the judging committee, said Ms. Rao was chosen for the award for her role in shaping the country's foreign policy and her deep understanding of the India-China border issues. The jury included educationist N.A. Karim, Cochin Port Trust trustee P.K.R. Nair, Sree Chithira Tirunal Trust chairman T. Raveendran Thampi, and managing trustee T. Satheesh Kumar. Mr. Sreenivasan said the date of the function would be announced later.

Audi to start used car business in India by year-end

• Gurgaon: German luxury car maker Audi today said it will start operations for its used car business in India by the end of this year, expecting it to account for up to 20 per cent of its new car sales in future.

Air India incurred loss of over 5,500 cr in 2009-10

• New Delhi: National carrier Air India incurred a loss of over Rs 5,500 crore during the 2009-10 fiscal, the government said today.

Brahmasree Malliyoor Sankaran Namboothiri passed away

• Eminent Sanskrit scholar and Bhagavatham proponent Malliyoor Sankaran Namboothiri passed away in Kuruppanthara,near Kottayam‘Bhagavata-Hamsam’ Brahmasree Malliyoor Shankaran Namboothiri (91) was a well known proponent of ritual narration of Bhagavatam-stories. 
• Obama Signs Bill To Raise Debt Ceiling
  US President Barack Obama signed an agreement raising the US Government’s debt ceiling The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 74 to 26 The new law instantly authorized the Treasury to borrow an additional $400 bn, with additional borrowing allowed later The Bill also planned to reduce the nation’s $14.3 trillion deficit by at least $2.1 trillion over 10 years After an intense debate for weeks, the House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 269 to 161 As per the bill, a bipartisan committee in Congress to work in order to find further savings in federal budgets..
• New Chairperson of NCW: Mamta Sharma
  New chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW): Mamta Sharma Succeeded Ms Girija Vyas Ms Sharma was a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly and President of Rajasthan State Women Congress Committee.

26th Asian Men’s Elite Boxing Championship starts in South Korea

• The 26th Asian Men’s Elite Boxing Championships starts in Inchio, South Korea 160 boxers from 23 nations entered the Asian Boxing Confederation’s biggest event of the year 10-member Indian squad is participating in the tournament The Indian squad consists qualified athletes such as Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Amandeep Singh, talented Santosh Harijan, Asian Championships silver medalist Jai Bhagwan Singh, Beijing Olympian Dinesh Kumar and Commonwealth Games winner Paramjeet Samota .

NSSF: National Social Security Fund

• NSSF approved by the Union Cabinet of India NSSF intended for unorganized sectors, likely to profit 43.3 crore workers in the unorganized sector.

 

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DAILY GK-02.08.2011

Ace Shooter Ronjan Sodhi ranked No.1 by ISSF

• Ronjan Sodhi : Champion double-trap shooter and Asian Games gold medalist Sodhi ranked No.1 in the world by the International Shooting Sport Federation(ISSF) Sodhi won gold in the World Cup Finals in Turkey in 2010

• He recently won the silver medal in the Beijing World Cup to reserve a seat in the Olympics.

India-Japan CEPA comes into Force

• India- Japan CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) entered into force.
• India’s 3rd CEPA (after Singapore and South Korea)
• India’s 1st CEPA with a developed country
• India Japan CEPA was signed on 16th Feb, 2011 in Tokyo 

2010TK7 : The 1st Trojan Asteriod of Earth Discovered

• Astronomers discover 2010TK7 using WISE Telescope.
•  2010TK7 – First known Trojan Asteroid in Earth’s Orbit.
• Trojan asteroids were anticipated but never discovered yet.

New Director (Finance) of Power Grid Corporation of India: R.T.Agarwal

• New Director (Finance) PGCIL (Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd): R.T. Agarwal

FM asked Industrialists to recommend ways to revitalize Indian Economy
The Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee asked the Indian industry to give explicit recommendations to the government for revitalizing the Indian economy As per Mr. Mukherjee the journey on the road of reforms will continue and the weakening of business sentiment is somewhat due to an uncertain global environment and partly due to rising cost of domestic credit, but the fundamentals of the economy remain strong. The pessimism regarding deficiency of movement on policies and institutional process is based more on perception than facts.

Rajiv Awas Yojana anticipated to envelop about 250 cities across country by the end of 2017

• The Rajiv Awas Yojana is anticipated to cover about 250 cities nationwide by the end of 2017

• The scheme was launched in pursuance of the Government’s vision of creating a slum-free India in June 2011
• The States to select the cities in consultation with the Centre.
• States to include all cities with over 3 Lakh population as per the 2001 Census
• Scheme meant to benefit slum-dwellers and the urban poor

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DAILY GK-01.08.2011

August 1, 2011: The monsoon session of the Parliament commences

Government decided to introduce 32 new bills including the Lokpal Bill
Other key bills to be introduced include Land Acquisition Bill, Food Security Bill,
the Benami Transactions Bill and the Mines and Minerals Bill..

Payment dispute of crude oil resolved b/w Iran and India

Iran and India resolved the payment disagreement that was bullying to arrest the
Iran’s crude exports to India As per the National Iranian Oil Company the two sides agreed to settle the bill as
soon as possible Earlier, Iran had jeopardized to cut off supplies to India in case of payments not made by India till August 1, 2011US sanctions on Iran made it hard to send International bank payments About 12% of India’s oil demand is met by crude from Iran.

Rajan Mathai: New Foreign Secretary of takes charge

Rajan Mathai: New Foreign Secretary of India took charge Mr. Mathai was India’s former ambassador to France To hold office for a two-year term He succeeds Nirupama Rao, who has been named India’s ambassador to the US Mr. Rakesh Sood, India’s ambassador to Nepal, will succeed Mathai as New Delhi’s envoy in Paris.

Export restrictions from cotton lifted by Government

Government lifted export restrictions on cotton Now Cotton is allowed to be shipped under Open General Licences for the rest of the cotton season Restrictions lifted as there is ample stock of cotton in the country
After registering themselves with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Exporters free to export any quantity for the remaining 2 months of the season.Government placed a cap on cotton exports at 55 Lakh bales in October 2010 in order to check spiralling prices and ensure availability of the raw material for the
domestic textiles industry As per the Cotton Advisory Board, due to low industry demand over 50 Lakh
surplus bales to be available at the end of the current season.

Country’s Growth forecast 8.2% this fiscal year: PMEAC

PMEAC (Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council)PMEAC lowered country’s growth forecast to 8.2% this fiscal while revising the inflation projection upward to 6.5% till March 2012.As per PMEAC Chairman Dr C.Rangarajan, Inflation to continue to hover around 9% in July-October period and is expected to moderate only after November, 2011

SEBI: Mandatory for Promoters to Disclose Share Dealings

SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) decided to make it mandatory for all promoter entities to disclose any considerable purchase or sale of shares by them.Objective: To rein in insider trading by promoters without investors’ knowledge Currently, the Directors and the Top executives of listed companies are needed to make these revelations After SEBI’s decision in this regard however, all the promoters and persons who
are part of the promoter group of a listed company would also be required to reveal their share dealings It would be essential for the promoters to make initial disclosures relating to their shareholding at the time of becoming promoter or part of promoter group.Continuous disclosures also be required whenever there is a change in their holdings exceeding 5 Lakh in value or 25,000 shares or 1% of total shareholding
or voting rights, whichever is lower, At present, alike disclosures are obligatory to be made by the directors andofficers of the company.

New Air Chief Marshal: Norman Anil Kumar Browne

New Air Chief Marshal: Mr. Norman Anil Kumar Browne.He took charge as India’s 23rd Chief of the Air Staff.He succeeded Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik.In Air Force Circles, Nick-named: Charlie Browne Currently appointed as one of the Honorary Aides De Camp to the President of India Built the Indian Defence Wing in Tel Aviv in 1997 and served as the Defence Attache till July 2000 Param Vishist Seva Medal, Ati Vishist Seva Medal, Vayu Sena Medal bestowed upon him in the past.

New Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs: Naved Masood

Naved Masood took over as the New Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Naved Masood: 1977 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre Mr. Masood substituted Mr. D.K.Mittal who was appointed as Secretary Department of Financial Services in the Ministry of Finance Mitul Desai (An Indian-American) appointed as Senior Adviser in the U.S. State Department.Mitul Desai (an Indian-American), appointed as Senior Adviser in the U.S. State.Department’s South and Central Asia Bureau to strengthen ties with the Diaspora groups Mr. Mitul in charge for working out means to facilitate the US Government to put
together an alignment of groups to make it comfortable for Indians in the Diaspora as well as other Diaspora communities to make contributions to growth Diaspora: “movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland” or “people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location” or “people settled far from their ancestral homelands”.

Journalist-turned-Polotician Mr. Inder Jit passed away

Veteran journalist-turned-politician Mr. Inder Jit passed away In 1948, Mr. Inder Jit commenced his career as a journalist with the Hindustan Times and worked with The Times of India, India News, Feature Alliance and even with many Foreign Newspapers including London’s Daily Telegraph and The Times In 1988, Mr. Inder Jit was implemental in negotiating the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill.

Council (DGHC) agreement b/w the Gorkha National Liberation Front’s Subhash Ghisingh and the Centre

On August 22, 1988, the agreement was signed in Kolkata After inking of the landmark agreement, Mr. Jit was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Darjeeling constituency in West Bengal in 1989 and 1991 on the Congress
ticket.

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