RAPID GK SERIES
QUESTIONS
1. The World Red Cross Day is observed on
2. This National Leader has composed the National Patriotic Song ‘Vande Mataram’
3. This American Nobel Laureate Leader (1964) who fought for the Black People in the non-violent way
4. The National Game of Spain is
5. This Personality was the First Deputy Prime Minister of India
6. Akbar established Mansab System in the year
7. Article 14 to 18 in the Constitution of India cover
8. The Protection of Civil Rights in India was passed in this year
9. The Raghavan Committee is associated with this
10. The Tourism Phrase ‘Paradise Unexplored’ is associated with this Indian Part
ANSWERS
1. 8th October
2. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
3. Jr Martin Luther King
4. Bull Fighting
5. Sardar Vallabhai Patel
6. 1565
7. Right to Equality
8. 1955
9. Anti-ragging Measures
10. North East India
India, US discuss ways to expand their strategic partnership
Strengthening their military ties further, India and the US have discussed ways of expanding their growing strategic partnership and cooperation at the 12th Defence Policy Group meeting held in New Delhi.
The meeting was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and US Acting Under Secretary of Defence for Policy Jim Miller. Miller also called on Defence Minister A K Antony and Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma to discuss bilateral defence issues. He also held meetings with National Security Advisor
Shivshankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai addressing a range of regional and global issues. In a statement, Miller said, the US sees India as a partner in advancing stability and security in the region and globally. He said, the US looks forward to continuing to strengthen its partnership on defence and security with India.
The next meeting of the Defence Policy Group will be held in the US next year.
India and the US have enhanced their cooperation in defence and have held a series of exercises involving their defence forces in the last decade. India has also emerged as one of the major importers of US defence equipment and has spent close to 10 billion US Dollar in procuring systems such as C-130J Hercules and C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft, P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft for the Navy.
It is also in negotiations with the US Government for the procurement of 145 ultra light howitzers and Javelin anti-tank guided missiles.
NSG will become country's premier force to fight terrorism: Chidambaram
The Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram asserted that National Security Guards will become country's premier force to fight terrorism and hijacking activities. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the NSG regional hub in Mumbai this evening, the Home Minister said that setting up of four NSG regional hubs will boost people's confidence and allay their concerns about security.
Mr. Chidambaram informed 1266 crore rupees have been earmarked for NSG to improve infrastructure facilities in the 12th five year plan. Our Mumbai correspondent reports that this is the first permanent NSG hub set up after the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008. About 21 acres of land have been allocated by the Maharashtra government for setting up of the hub.
Over 25 agri activities included in new MGNREGA
More than 25 agriculture and allied activities have been included in the new version of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gaurantee Act, MGNREGA, which will be implemented from 1 st of April this year.
Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said that new version of MGNREGA will lead to better farm output. Rebutting the claims that MGNREGA is leading to fall in agricultural productivity, he said, on the contrary the studies done by independent bodies suggest the rural job scheme has led to better farm output.
After recieving a report on revised Operational Guidelines for MGNREGA, Mr. Ramesh said the new guidelines will also respond to demands of the states for location specific flexibility in permissible works as valuable suggestions from the states are incorporated in the guidelines. The Report was prepared by a committee headed by Planning Commission member Mihir Shah.
BSE launches 1st environment friendly equity index
The first environment friendly equity index 'BSE-Greenex' was launched in Mumbai. Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily inaugurated the Bombay Stock Exchange’s new initiative by striking the gong.
The BSE-Greenex is a first of its kind benchmark index, which includes top 20 companies based on Green House Gas Numbers, Free Float Market capitalization and turnover.
This index has been developed by BSE in association with ‘gTrade’ so as to promote green investing, with emphasis on financial performance and long-term viability of companies.
India seeks 5 million tons more crude from Saudi Arabia
India on Feb 23 sought 5 million tons of more crude oil from Saudi Arabia next fiscal as its refiners look at replacing at least 10 per cent crude oil imported from Iran.
Minister of state for petroleum and Natural Gas R P N Singh said he sought 5 million tons of more crude oil from Saudi Arabia in 2012-13.
India currently buys 27 million tons of crude oil per annum from Saudi Arabia while its annual imports from Iran is about 17 million tons.
The Saudi Minister said his country has a spare production capacity of 2.5 million barrels per day beyond current output of 9.8 million barrels a day.
India also sought more LPG from Saudi Arabia to meet growing energy needs.
Vice President releases book titled "Sufism and Indian Mysticism"
Vice President Md. Hamid Ansari today on Feb 23 released a book titled "Sufism and Indian Mysticism" at his residence in New Delhi this evening. Speaking on the ocassion he said, Sufism in Islamic tradition has for centuries been a source of inner peace, spiritual awakening and enlightenment for millions.
Mr. Ansari hoped the book would prove as a source of knowledge for students to understand Sufism and the Indian contribution in this regard. The volume having 29 well researched papers presents a wide spectrum of perspectives and in depth studies on different aspects of Islamic Sufism and Indian Mysticism.
Delhi Metro installs AEDs to handle cardiac arrests
The Delhi Metro installed Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) at two stations to provide emergency treatment if a passenger suffers a cardiac arrest.
The AED is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses a potentially life-threatening cardiac arrest in a patient. The medical equipment treats patients through defibrillation -the application of electrical shock to allow the heart to re-establish an effective rhythm.
To start with, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) along with Opto Circuits (India) Ltd, a manufacturer of medical equipment and interventional devices, has installed AEDs at the two biggest interchange stations - Central Secretariat and Kashmere Gate.This will be followed by training for a group of DMRC staff.
The AED`s have already been installed at all the six stations on the Delhi Airport Metro Express line.
As per medical experts, an estimated 40 million Indians suffer from at least one cardiovascular disease or disorder, making them susceptible to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).
"If cardiac arrest patients are not attended to immediately, they can lead to irreversible brain damage within three to five minutes. Defibrillation systems such as AEDs enable the detection and identification of life-threatening arrhythmias and when appropriate, deliver a shock to restore the normal heartbeat," Vanita Arora, senior consultant cardio electro physiologist, Max hospital added.
India concerned over piracy menace from Somalia
India on Feb 23 pledged to help Somalia in its economic development as New Delhi underlined the need for stability in the war-torn nation which has become a breeding ground for pirates.
Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said India desired stability in the Horn of Africa state which has been hit by protracted crisis.
He said piracy was the "most obvious example of the lack" of stability there, and hoped the Conference will reflect India's concerns on the issue.
Indians constitute 7 per cent of all the world's seafarers and a manifestation of the Somali predicament has been the tremendous human cost that these seafarers pay.
The conference is being attended by British Prime Minister David Cameron, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN chief Ban Ki-moon among officials from about 50 countries and organisations to discuss a roadmap for Somalia.
National competition policy will lower prices: Minister
A National Competition Policy will be ready by March 31 with several positive benefits for the country's economy, including lowering of food prices, says Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily.
"It has lots of benefits, because all the monopolies and anti-competitive forces will have to be dismantled," Moily said, after a Corporate & Investor Meet.
He said monetary policy alone would not be able to rein in inflation.
"The National Competition Policy, by targeting cartelization, will go a long way in moderating prices, especially the food prices," Moily said, referring to the US, where such a policy had resulted a cut of petroleum products prices.
"The forthcoming National Competition Policy is an instrument capable of triggering second-generation of economic reforms," Moily said.
CERN to re-run Einstein tests in May after cable
Physicists are to run new tests in May after the CERN research institute said that its startling findings appearing to show that one of Einstein's fundamental theories was wrong could have been caused by a loose cable.
The CERN lab near Geneva appeared to contradict Albert Einstein's 1905 Special Theory of Relativity last year when they reported that sub-atomic particles called neutrinos could travel fractionally faster than light.
Einstein's theory, which underpins the current view of how the universe works, says that nothing can travel faster than light, and doing so would be like traveling back in time.
CERN said two possible effects had been identified that could have an influence on its neutrino timing measurement during its OPERA experiment. "New measurements with short pulsed beams are scheduled for May," it said in a statement.
One effect concerned an oscillator used to provide the time stamps for GPS (Global Positioning System) synchronizations, which could have led scientists to overestimate the neutrino's time of flight.
However, the other effect appeared to be more significant in the faster-than-light finding of the original OPERA experiment.
The second concerns the optical fiber connector that brings the external GPS signal to the OPERA master clock, which may not have been functioning correctly when the measurements were taken. If this is the case, it could have led to an underestimate of the time of flight of the neutrinos.
The faster-than-light finding was recorded when 15,000 neutrino beams were pumped over three years from CERN to an underground Italian laboratory at Gran Sasso near Rome.
Physicists on the experiment said when they reported it last September that they had checked and rechecked over many months anything that could have produced a misreading before announcing what they had found.
Edward Blucher, chairman of the Department of Physics at the University of Chicago, said the original finding would have been breathtaking if it had been true. As it was, the research inspired many spirited discussions, if few believers.
Men's hockey Qualifiers: India beat Canada
India rode on Sandeep Singh’s brilliance to virtually seal its place in the final of the men’s hockey Olympic Qualifying tournament after defeating Canada 3-2 at the Major Dhyanchand Stadium in New Delhi on Feb 22.
Sandeep converted two penalty corners to not only see India through in the pulsating encounter, but also increase his goal-tally to nine in the tournament. With four wins out of four matches, India more or less are through to the summit clash of the tournament.
In another match Poland defeated Singapore 11-3 while France beat Italy 3-0. In Women's section South Africa beat India 5-2.
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