Saturday, March 10, 2012

IAS / IPS STUDIES - 11





RAPID GK SERIES

QUESTIONS

1 The first Prime minister of Bangladesh was
2 The longest river in the world is the
3 The longest highway in the world is the
4 The longest highway in the world has a length of About
5 The highest mountain in the world is the
6 The country that accounts for nearly one third of the total teak production of the world is
7 The biggest desert in the world is the
8 The largest coffee growing country in the world is
9 The country also known as “country of Copper” is
10 The name given to the border which separates Pakistan and Afghanistan is

ANSWERS:

1. Mujibur Rehman
2. Nile
3. Trans-Canada
4. 8000 km
5. Everest
6. Myanmar
7. Sahara desert
8. Brazil
9. Zambia
10. Durand line

India pushes for increased collaboration with Vietnam in various sectors

India keen on expanding oil, gas explorations in Vietnam.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, who is on a two-day visit to the South-East Asian nation, pushed for increased collaboration with Vietnam in energy, mining and infrastructure sectors. The minister said that both onshore and offshore drilling in Vietnam can become a win-win situation for both the economies.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp's overseas arm ONGC Videsh accounts for much of India's investment in Vietnam. It has 45 per cent stake in one gas field Block 06.1 in the Nam Con Son basin off Vietnam's south coast.
It won a contact in 2006 to jointly explore with PetroVietnam in Blocks 127 and 128 in the Phu Khanh basin further north.
At present, the bilateral trade between the nations stood at USD 3.7 billion.
Indian exports to Vietnam includes pharmaceuticals, cotton and electrical machinery, while imports iron and steel and mineral fuels.

Doctors with unrecognized foreign degrees cannot practice: SC

The Supreme Court has ruled that Doctors possessing medical degrees from an off-shore overseas campus cannot practice in India if the certificate awarded to them is not recognised by the country in which the college is located.
A bench of justices R M Lodha and H L Gokhale passed the ruling dismissing a bunch of appeals by students of Tamil Nadu-based Vinayaka Medical Research Foundation , VMRF challenging refusal of the Medical Council of India to recognise their degree from the varsity's off-shore campus in Thailand.
The MCI had refused to recognise the degree on the ground that the same was not recognised by Thailand and, hence, did not constitute a primary degree for the purpose of according recognition in India.
A division bench of the Madras High Court had earlier upheld the MCI's appeal against a single judge's order who had directed the regulatory body to permit the students to write the screening test.

India’s NGO chosen for America's 1st Innovation Award for Empowerment of Women and Girls

An Indian NGO has been chosen for America's first Innovation Award for the Empowerment of Women and Girls. The Award funded by the Rockefeller Foundation through the Secretary's International Fund for Women and Girls, would be formally announced by the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and the Rockefeller Foundation President Dr Judith Rodin. The awardees were chosen by a panel of experts including.
Mohammed Yunus (Grameen Bank), Cherie Blair (Cherie Blair Foundation), Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook), Beth Brook (Ernst and Young) and Noeleen Heyzer (United Nations).
In a statement in Washington, the State Department said the Secretary's Innovation Award is given to 'Chintan' in support of its work to reduce ecological footprints and increase environmental justice amongst the informal sector through green jobs, advocacy and community organising. Chintan has been selected for the award along with NGOs from Kenya and Tanzania.

Govt should impose regulations on social media

IT major Infosys Executive Co-Chairman Krish Gopalakrishnan said government should impose regulations to check media players like Google, Yahoo and Facebook from hosting objectionable contents on their websites.
"The government should regulate social media websites from hosting objectionable contents. It is vital to establish jurisdiction over citizens' data for security reasons," he said at the Knowledge Summit organised by All India Management Association here.
Gopalakrishnan noted that this was a global problem and it was being dealt differently by different countries. "The European Union is trying to set up its own guidelines, while the US is doing it in its own style," he said.
He said social media had become powerful in terms of opinion making and publishing positive and negative stories.
“Sometimes, deliberately or by mistake, such stories could be twisted to create needless problems," he added.
Facebook, Google, Yahoo India and Microsoft have been accused of hosting anti-religious or anti-social contents on their websites.
The controversy over monitoring social networking websites arose after Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal had asked them to 'screen' their contents.
A Delhi court had recently directed several social media players including Facebook India, Google India Pvt Ltd and Youtube to remove objectionable contents from their websites.

India-US true partners in strategic, economic & development : Nirupama Rao

Indian Ambassador to the US, Nirupama Rao said that India and the US are true partners in strategic, economic and development context.
In her address to the Emory University on India-US Strategic Relations in Washigton, Ms. Rao said, both the governments realise the critical importance of innovation to address new challenges and generate economic growth.
She said, energy security and the supply of clean and sustainable sources of energy are a common challenge for both the countries. Ms. Rao informed that the third India-US Strategic dialogue would be held in Washington in the next few months.

Sudan, South Sudan talks continue over border issues

Talks between Sudan and South Sudan are continuing in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa as the two countries try to resolve simmering disputes over oil, borders, and citizenship issues.
Reports said the talks are focusing on border issues, while the African Union mediation team seeks common ground on the more contentious issues of citizenship and oil revenues. South Sudan has accused Sudan of charging excessive fees for the use of oil pipelines that run north to the Red Sea.

The two sides met late to discuss whether it was worth continuing the dialogue, which was scheduled to last 10 days, but devolved into a shouting match. Earlier South Sudan said it is considering building a temporary pipeline along the Nile river to the capital, Juba. The oil would then be transported on trucks to ports in Kenya and Djibouti.
This dispute over fees has prompted South Sudan to shut down all oil production, a move analysts say is likely to financially hurt both countries.The south took over most Sudanese oil production when it became independent last July, but relies on pipelines through the north to get the oil to market. The two sides also disagree on borders of the oil-producing Abyei region, and accuse each other of supporting the other's rebel groups.

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