IAS / IPS STUDIES - 6

RAPID GK SERIES

1. Who is the father of Geometry?
2. The Homolographic projection has the correct representation of
3. Who invented the BALLPOINT PEN?
4. B. C. Roy Award is given in the field of
5. Who wrote the famous book - 'We the people'?
6. Which of the following is not a chief organ of the United Nations Organisations?
7. The Battle of Plassey was fought in
8. The name of the Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi islands was changed to Lakshadweep by an Act of Parliament in
9. Development expenditure of the Central government does not include
10. The Paithan (Jayakwadi) Hydro-electric project, completed with the help of Japan, is on the river
11. The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology is situated at
12. Rabindranath Tagore's 'Jana Gana Mana' has been adopted as India's National Anthem. How many stanzas of the said song were adopted?
13. The first death anniversary day of Sri Rajiv Gandhi was observed as the
14. Brass gets discoloured in air because of the presence of which of the following gases in air?

ANSWERS

1. Euclid
2. Area
3. Biro Brothers
4. Medicine
5. Nani Palkhivala
6. International Labour Organisation
7. 1757
8. 1973
9. Defence expenditure
10. Godavari
11. Hyderabad
12. Only the first stanza
13. Anti-Terrorism Day
14. Hydrogen sulphide


CURRENT AFFAIRS

Antony calls for global efforts to uproot threat of piracy

The Defence Minister A K Antony has called for global efforts to uproot the threat of piracy. Inaugurating the Annual National Maritime Foundation Conference in New Delhi , Mr. Antony said, India has already submitted certain proposals at the United Nations. He said, if ever there was a need for consensual and cooperative effort, it is in relation to piracy and India has put forward certain proposals at the United Nations.
The Defence Minister pointed out that the Indian Navy has made significant contribution to the global anti-piracy efforts in the Indian Ocean Region, IOR, since 2008. Mr. Antony said that the challenge of piracy is yet to be effectively quarantined.
The Defence Minister also voiced concern at the military presence of world’s major powers in the IOR despite the waters being far from their shores.



DERC decides to introduce smart metering system

Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, DERC, has decided to introduce a smart metering system in the national capital to bringing next-generation reforms in the power sector. Through the initiative, consumers can make informed choices about electricity use based on varying cost and availability during the course of a day.
Informing this in New Delhi, the Chairman of the Commission, P D Sudhakar said that under this service consumers will get real-time information about price of power depending on availability and procurement cost.
He said for this service Advanced Metering Infrastructure which is widely used in US and European countries, will be installed. Mr. Sudhakar said the advanced metering system will empower the consumers to voluntarily decided on their power consumption.



Indian men's Hockey team qualifies for London Olympics

India beat France 8-1 in the final of Olympics Qualifier at the Major Dhyanchand National Stadium in New Delhi.
With this spectacular win India qualified for Olympics men's hockey after eight years. India's ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh slammed five goals, including a hat-trick. He was the highest scorer with the sixteen goals in the tournament.
Both India and France earned seven penalty corners each, but the visitors failed to utilise a single one while the hosts converted six.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has congratulated Indian Men's Hockey team for qualifying for London Olympics, and announced the bonanza of cash rewards included five lakh rupees per goal scored by each player of Haryana.
In addition, 11 lakh rupees per player would be given to each player hailing from Haryana. Mr Hooda also announced to give 2.51 lakh rupees to each player of Indian team.
The Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has congratulated Indian Hockey Team and announced that the Madhya Pradesh government will give reward of one lakh rupees each to every player of the winning Indian team.



WikiLeaks begin release of e-mails from Stratfor Global Intelligence

The whistle-blower website WikiLeaks says, it has begun releasing more than 5 million e-mails from Stratfor Global Intelligence, a private U.S.-based firm providing strategic analysis.
WikiLeaks said on its website that the e-mails reveal the company's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods. It said the e-mails also contain privileged information about the U.S. government's attacks on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Stratfor's own attempts to subvert WikiLeaks.
The WikiLeaks said, the e-mails date from July 2004 to December 2011 and include more than 4,000 e-mails mentioning WikiLeaks or Assange, who is currently fighting extradition from Britain to Sweden on sexual assault charges.



Various projects to be undertaken by Railways in next five years

High Speed trains, Dedicated Freight Corridors and modernisation of 19000 kilometres of track, are among the ambitious projects to be undertaken by the Indian Railways in the next five years at a cost of over 8.2 lakh crore rupees. These are the recommendations of the Expert Group Chaired by Sam Pitroda, submitted to Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi in New Delhi. These also include a High speed railway line between Ahmedabad and Mumbai with 300 kilometers per hour speed.
Modernisation of 100 major stations and Radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking systems for wagons, coaches and locomotives are also on the anvil. Speaking on the occasion, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi said, to ensure safety, modernisation is a requirement and the roadmap laid out by the Expert Group looks at a future where the Indian Railways contributes to two per cent of the country's GDP.
Mr. Trivedi said, for various ambitious plans of the government including the Food Security Bill, fast movement of goods is a necessity. The Expert group has also recommended to develop Public-Private Partnership models to attract private investment to augment core capabilities including High speed railway lines, elevated rail corridors, private freight terminals and Loco and coach manufacturing.
Mr. Sam Pitroda, the Chairman of the Expert Group who attended through video conferencing from Chicago, said the Railways would strengthen 11,250 bridges to sustain higher load at higher speed, eliminate level crossings and implement automatic signalling system. He said, 15 focus areas of the Railways have been identified for revamping. He further said, the recommendations include that the Railway Board be reorganized along business discipline and reflect the Chairman as CEO.



The European Union slaps new sanctions on Syria

The European Union has slapped new and stricter sanctions on Syria. These include sanctions on the Iran’s Central bank, cargo flights, precious metal trade and seven ministers.
Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said in Brussels that EU foreign ministers may also consider a peacekeeping mision to Syria. However the EU Ministers have insisted that military intervention is ruled out.
EU's new round of sanctions slaps travel bans and asset freezes on the ministers of health, education, presidential affairs, communications and technology, oil and mineral resources, industry, and transport.
The Syrian Central Bank will also no longer have access to any funds it may hold in the EU. Syrian-operated flights carrying only cargo will not be allowed to land in the 27 member bloc. EU businesses will be banned from trading in gold, precious metals and diamonds with Syrian public bodies.



Tourism Ministry introduces three new categories of awards

The Ministry of Tourism has introduced three new categories of awards from this year as part of National Tourism Awards.
A new award called the Best State for Campaign Clean-India has been introduced to encourage states to put into place effective mechanisms for maintaining cleanliness at tourist destinations. Apart form this, two new categories of awards are introduced for Best Heritage City and Best Heritage Walk.
According to an official release, the President Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil will give away these awards on Wednesday in New Delhi. AIR Correspondent reports that the Ministry presents these national awards to various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry in the country.



Italian vessel not to be let off until 27th :Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court on Feb 27 directed that the Italian vessel Enrica Lexie should not be allowed to leave the Cochin coast till 5 pm on Feb 28. The Court was considering the Admiralty petitions moved by the relatives of the two deceased fishermen, who were shot dead by the armed naval personnel on board the vessel on the 15th of this month. The Court also ordered that the petitions be heard by an appropriate Bench of the High Court.
Meanwhile, the Matsya Thozhilali Aikya Vedi President Charles George petitioned the High Court that the Captain of the Italian vessel be made an accused in the case. He also demanded that a Special Investigation Team should be formed comprising Indian Navy, Coast Guard, Police and officials of the Mercantile Marine Department to probe the case.
On Feb 28 the Kerala High Court will consider a petition moved by the Marines accused of killing the fishermen and the Italian Consul General in Mumbai, seeking to quash the FIR registered in connection with the case.



SC directs centre to implement rivers-interlinking project

The Supreme Court directed the centre to implement the ambitious interlinking of rivers project in a time-bound manner. Observing that the project has already been delayed resulting in an increase in its cost, a three judge bench, headed by S H Kapadia, appointed a high-powered committee to chart out and execute the project.
The committee will comprise of Union Minister of Water Resources, its Secretary, Secretary of Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and four expert members appointed by Water Resources Ministry, Finance Ministry, Planning Commission and MoEF.
Representatives from state governments, two social activists and senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who has been assisting the court in the case, will also be members of the committee.



Indian special envoy holds talks with Norway’s Foreign Minister

India's special envoy M. Ganpathy had positive discussions with Norwegian Foreign Minister in Oslo regarding early return of the children, taken away from an NRI couple there.
Mr. Ganpathy was rushed to Norway as a special envoy and met Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store to find an expeditious and amicable solution to the custody row of Aishwarya and Abhigyan who were taken away by child welfare officials in Norway and placed in foster care.
An official spokesperson in the MEA, Syed Akbaruddin, said in a tweet that the Indian special envoy has had positive discussions with the Norwegian Foreign Minister in Oslo. He also tweeted that Special Envoy will meet Norway's Minister of Children, Equality And Social Inclusion, Audun Lysbakken later.
Meanwhile, BJP and CPI-M joined the grandparents of the two children and held a sit-in near the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi, launching a four-day protest demanding Norwegian government to send the kids back to India immediately.