National Award 2012

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award : Vijay Kumar (shooting), Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestling). Arjuna award : Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi (all archery), Sudha Singh, Kavita Raut (athletics), Ashwini Ponnappa, Parupalli Kashyap (badminton), Aditya Mehta (billiards and snooker), Vikas Krishan (boxing), Yuvraj Singh (cricket), Sardar Singh (hockey), Yashpal Solanki (judo), Anup Kumar (kabaddi), Samir Suhag (polo), Annu Raj Singh, Omkar Singh and Joydeep Karmakar (all shooting), Deepika Pallikal (squash), Sandeep Sejwal (swimming), Ng. Sonia Chanu (weightlifting), Narsingh Yadav, Rajinder Kumar and Geeta Phogat (all wrestling), M. Bimoljit Singh (wushu), Deepa Mallick, Ramkaran Singh (Paralympics-athletics). Dronacharya award : Virender Poonia (athletics), Sunil Dabas (kabaddi-women), Yashvir Singh (wrestling), Harendra Singh (hockey), B.I. Fernandez (boxing), Dr. Satyapal Singh (Parasports-athletics); Life-time Achievement : J.S. Bhatia (athletics), Bhawani Mukherjee (table tennis). Dhyan Chand award : Jagraj Singh Mann (athletics), Gundeep Kumar (hockey), Vinod Kumar (wrestling), Sukhbir Singh Tokas (Parasports). Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar : Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL), Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) and Air India Sports Promotion Board (AISPB).

DAILY GK UPDATE: 6-7 SEPTEMBER

1.India and Tajikistan signed six agreements India and Tajikistan signed six agreements in the field of sports, health, culture, education, labour, textiles and energy.The President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Mr. Emomali Rahmon, was on a State Visit to India from 1 to 4 September 2012 at the invitation of the President of the Republic of India.This was the President's (Mr. Emomali Rahmon),fifth visit to India. 2.Union cabinet approved interest subsidy for farmer loans The Union Cabinet gave its approval to continue interest subsidy to Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Cooperatives Banks and NABARD enabling them to provide short-term crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakhs to farmers at 7% p.a. during the year 2012-13. 3.12th Plan GDP growth target cut to 8.2% In view of fragile economic recovery, Plan panel has decided to lower annual average economic growth rate to 8.2 per cent in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) from 9 per cent envisaged earlier. 4.Kaushik Basu Appointed World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu appointed as chief economist and Senior Vice President of World Bank by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on 05th September 2012.He take charges from 1st October 2012. 5.New Nepals Army Chief Gaurav Shumsher Rana took over the position of Nepals Army Chief. 6.Business Excellence Award Managing Director of Kunnath Pharmaceuticals and the producer of world famous Musli Power X-tra won Switzerland Business Excellence Award 2012 7.AN Purohit awarded with Shiksha Ratna Award The University of Petroleum and Energy on the occasion of teachers day Awarded Dr. AN Purohit with siksha ratna award.He was also awarded Padmashree in 1997 by the President. 8.India falls 3 place in WEFs global competitiveness index Indias ranking declined by three places to 59th position in the World Economic Forums (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index 2012-2013 9.Indian Indu won bronze at World Junior Championship Indu Choudhary, the Indian grappler won Bronze in the womens 44 kg category in the World Junior Championship at Pattava. She won bronze after defeating Turkish Evin Demirhan. This was the first medel of India in this Tounament.

10.India slips to 169th in world rankings of Football

FIFA released the latest World Rankings in which India has lost one spot to be now ranked 169th amongst the 209 ranked nations and territories, while within Asia India remains 32nd Positions

DAILY GK UPDATE: 8th SEPTEMBER

1.India and Pakistan sign new liberalized visa agreement India and Pakistan today signed the much-awaited liberalized visa agreement, introducing for the first time group tourist and pilgrim visas, separate visa for businessmen and visa on arrival for those over 65 years of age.The new pact, signed between external affairs minister SM Krishna and Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik 2.India celebrates International Literacy Day Today. The international Literacy Day is being observed today. The objective of this day is to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies. This year the theme of this day is Literacy and Peace. 3.Andhra Pradesh gets "Shakshar Bharat Literacy Award In Lucknow, the best "Shakshar Bharat Literacy Award" for the state was given to Andhra Pradesh by union Human resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.Vice President Hamid Ansari and Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav were also present.Sarguja of Chhattisgarh was awarded with best district for literacy mission, while village Anantapur of Andhra Pradesh was awarded as best gram panchayat. 4. US Open: Paes-Stepanek lost finals India's Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek have lost the Men's Doubles title clash of the US Open Tennis tournament in New York. The fifth seeded Indo-Czech lost to the second seeded Bryan brothers - Bob and Mike - of America Gold hits new high of Rs 32,450 on firm global cues Tracking strong global cues, gold today soared by Rs 540 per ten grams to fresh all-time high of Rs 32,450 in the national capital. 5. Kaushik Basu will be chief economist and Vice president of World Bank. 6.Bhupen Hazarika's 86th birthday celebrated across Assam The 86th birth anniversary of legendary poet, singer, director Dr Bhupen Hazarika is being observed across the state on Saturday.The Dadasaheb Phalkee award winner Dr. Hazarika died last year in Mumbai.

DAILY GK UPDATES: 9th SEPTEMBER 2012

1. India successfully launches 100th space mission India today reached a milestone in the fifty years of space program by a landmark of 100th space mission. A PSLV-C-21 carrying the heaviest French satellite SPOT 6 and 15 Kg Japanese satellite PROITERES was lifted off successfully at 9.51 hours from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota. 2.Dr. Verghese Kurien, father of India's White Revolution passes away Dr. Verghese Kurien, the Father of the White Revolution, passed away in the early hours today, after a brief illness. He was 91. NOTE:- Dr. Kurien was the architect of Indias White Revolution, which helped India emerge as the largest milk producer in the world. 3.UP govt launched unemployment allowance scheme Uttar Pradesh ruling Samajwadi party government today launched unemployment allowance scheme at a special programme organized in Lucknow. The Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav distributed cheques to 10500 unemployed youth hailing from 7 districts of Lucknow, Unnao, Hardoi, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Raibareilly and Kanpur Nagar. 4.Govt plans to interlink 24000 post offices in 2 years Union Government is planning to inter-connect 24,000 post offices within two years that will allow customers to access their accounts from any of these branches and enjoy ATM facility. NOTE:- In this connection, Department of Post will soon start a three-month pilot project across 122 Post Offices on the lines of core banking technology. 5.Govt invites bids for stake sale in NALCO, NMDC Stakes of two State owned Navratnas - NMDC and NALCO - are to be further disinvested. The Department of Disinvestment has invited bids from merchant bankers for further divesting the governments. 6. India and Pak sign new liberalised visa agreement India and Pakistan on Saturday signed the much-awaited liberalised visa agreement, introducing for the first time group tourist and pilgrim visas, separate visa for businessmen and visa on arrival for those over 65 years of age. 7. Cabinet gave a nod to two subsidiaries of Air India: AIESL and AITSL To split off the ground handling and engineering services of Air India, Union cabinet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh approved a proposal of Rs 768 crore. Now the two units Air India Engineering Services

Limited (AIESL) and Air India Transport Services Ltd. (AITSL) will be operational as two completely owned subsidiaries and treated as separate profit centers. 8. Padamshree Dr. AN Purohit awarded with Shiksha Ratna Award by Petroleum University The University of Petroleum and Energy Studies on the occasion of teachers day felicitated Dr. AN Purohit with Siksha Ratna Award. NOTE:- Dr. Purohit is a former vice-chancellor of HNB Garhwal University. Dr Purohit has widely worked in the Himalayan belt, particularly in Uttarakhand, on specific subject of plant physiology, ecophysiology of trees and the environment. He was awarded Padmashree in 1997 by the President. 9. Dr. KC Abraham awarded with Business Excellence Award Managing Director of Kunnath Pharmaceuticals and the producer of world famous Musli Power X-tra won Switzerland Business Excellence Award 2012 at Zurich, Switzerland. He got shortlisted for the award because of his visionary leadership skill, hard working nature and dedication. 10. Union cabinet approved interest subsidy for farmer loans Union Cabinet gave its approval to continue interest subsidy to Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Cooperatives Banks and NABARD enabling them to provide short-term crop loans of up to Rs 3 lakhs to farmers at 7% p.a. during the year 2012-13. It was also decided to provide additional interest subsidy of 3% p.a. to those farmers who repay loans within one year of disbursement in the current fiscal year also the release of 10901 crore Rupees as interest subvention for 2012-13 was allowed. 11.India ranked to be 59th in the report released by World Economic Forum India slipped down with 3 ranks to 59th position from its previous year ranking in the Global Competitiveness Report 20122013 released by the World Economic Forum. The identified reason for this downfall is Indias disappointing performance in satisfying competitiveness for the basic factors. Switzerland managed to be on top of the list for consecutive four years followed by Singapore that ranked second and Finland was placed at third position. Among the members of BRICKS Nations, Russia was placed at 67th Position, South Africa got 52nd position and Brazil remained to be the 48th Nation. 12. ICICI Bank to extend its net banking services through social media platform Facebook ICICI Bank announced that it is going to launch its services on social media platform Facebook in order to expand its internet banking services. ICICI is among the first banks to start its online presence and the only bank that allows non-cash transactions i.e. requests for cheque books, account statement enquiry and more. The bank has plans of allowing debit and credit transactions in the near future. 13. Sachin Pilot commissioned as a Lieutenant in Territorial Army Indian Union Minister of state for Telecommunication and Information Technology is commissioned to be a Lieutenant in Territorial Army. With this he has turned up to be a part of 124 TA (Sikh) Battalion the one also known by the name of Urban Concept battalion. 14. Mamta Banerjee listed among 50 most influencing finance personality he Bloomberg Markets magazine has included West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee in the list of 50 most influential people in the finance category. The other leading personalities included in that category were Business Tycoon Warren Buffet, Founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and Hyundais chairman Chung Mong Koo. Mamta Banerjee is included in the policy-makers section and is sharing space with US federal chairman Ben S Bernanke, European Central Banks President Mario Draghi and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 15. Government cleared Rs 808 crore FDI proposal by Cloverdell Mauritius based, Cloverdell Investments Ltd. got a clearance for their foreign direct investment proposal of investing Rs 808 crore.

DAILY GK UPDATES: 10th SEPTEMBER 2012

1. Basel-III norms require govt. to infuse up to Rs 90,000cr into state-owned banks: RBI The government will have to pump Rs 70,000-90,000 crore into state-run banks by the year of 2018 if it wants to maintain its shareholding in the banks at the current level, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has estimated to meet the new global prudential capital requirements as set by Basel-III norms. 2. NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Summit 2012 held in Tehran 16th NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) summit was held at Tehran, Iran.The theme of the summit was Lasting Peace through Joint Global Governance.

NOTE:- Venezuela was selected the host for the 17th NAM Summit in 2015. 3. West Bengal signed an agreement with TCS to monitor MGNREGA Fund West Bengal government signed an agreement with a leading IT firm TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) to monitor management of the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) fund. The agreement will facilitate in plugging wastage and leakage of funds under the scheme in the state. 4. Serena Williams won Women's Singles US Open 2012 Serena Williams of USA won her 4th Women's Singles US Open title in New York after beating the top seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. Besides the fourth US Open title, this was Serena's 15th Grand Slam singles crown. Italian duo of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci won the Women's Doubles trophy by defeating the Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. 5. "Pieta" the South Korean Film won Golden Lion Venice Top Prize Golden Lion Prize for best movie was given to the South Korean Movie, Pieta directed by Kim Ki-duk at the 69th Venice Film Festival. The Master by Paul Thomas Anderson walked off with two major awards namely, Special Jury Award and Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix. 6. Lewis Hamilton became the winner of Italian Grand Prix 2012 Lewis Hamilton, the driver of McLaren's became the winner of the Italian Grand Prix 2012. Ferraris Fernando Alonso extended his overall lead after finishing at third position in the event. 7. HSBC agrees to sell banking business in Pakistan Banking giant HSBC today said it had agreed to sell its operations in Pakistan comprising 10 branches to the Asian country's JS Bank Limited for an undisclosed sum. 8. AHEAD OF POLICY REVIEW, RBI SAYS LIQUIDITY POSITION COMFORTABLE The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said the liquidity situation currently is comfortable and indicated that monetary policy action in the mid-quarterly review next week would depend on latest developments in the money market. NOTE:- The central bank, in its mid-quarterly review of monetary policy to be announced on September 17, is expected to take steps to promote growth and also contain inflationary expectations. 9. 2012 London Paralympic Games conclude in London London's 2012 Paralympics has ended with a fiery finale and official handover to 2016 host, Rio de Janeiro. Indian Paralympic team consisted of 33-member including silver medallist Girisha Hosanagara Nagaraje Gowda who finished second in the Men's High Jump F-42 event. 10. Ktaka agrees to release 10K cusecs of water from Cauvery river to TN In a goodwill gesture, the Karnataka government today agreed before the Supreme Court to release 10,000 cusecs of water from Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu till September 20.

DAILY GK UPDATE: 11th SEPTEMBER 2012

1.Americans mark the 11th anniversary of the attacks on 11th September, 2001 Americans mark the 11th anniversary of the attacks on 11th September, 2001 today with relatively low key ceremonies that reflect a gradual dampening of passions around the emotional day. 2.India extends $10m development aid to Palestine; three pacts inked. India today extended development assistance of 10 million US dollars to Palestine and extended support to its bid for a full United Nations membership. Both countries also signed three pacts to enhance bilateral cooperation. 3. Andy Murray clinches US Open Title for Men's singles. Andy Murray of Britain finally claimed his maiden grand slam title after defeating defending champion Novak Djokovic, of Serbia in a five set marathon in the Men's Singles final of the US Open Tennis today. 4.Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) published its annual publication- Indias external debt: a status report 2011-12. As per the published report, Indias external debt in the end of March 2012 was $345.8 billion, which is 13% high than the previous years debt or $ 39.9 billion from where India stood at the end of March 2011. 5. Production Sharing Contract inked in between BHP Billiton and BG Group Production- Sharing Contract (PSC) was signed by Australian BHP Billiton and UKs BG Group on 10 September 2010. The duo won the bid on the deep waters of Mumbai Basin with the government in the ninth round of the bidding that was conducted under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). 6. Jal Satyagraha came to an end after 17 days demonstration on a victory note The most outstanding demonstrations of its own kind in Khandawa district of Madhya Pradesh named Jal Satyagraha continued for 17 days at Omkareshwar Dam Project came to an end on 10 September 2012. Across 1000 acres of cultivatable land has been submerged into water with at least 60 odd villages that will not be visible in the map of India any more. The Satygrahis demanded land for the land compensation following the ruling of Supreme Court. 7. Researchers discovered Two Proteins that can Protect against Diabetes A five member expert committee of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has begun the review of loading of fuel in the Unit one of Koodankulam Nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. Its Site Director R S Sundar said, the process of loading enriched Uranium will start once the expert committee submits its final report. After a series of protests in which one person was killed in police firing, the situation is limping back to normal. 8. India's Virender Singh wins a bronze at the World Deaf Championship at Sofia in Bulgaria. India's Virender Singh won the bronze medal in the Men's 84 kgs free style category in the third World Deaf Championship at Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The Indian team ended up at the seventh place in the championship overall. 9. Supreme Courts Notice to Tamil Nadu on the petition that challenged 69% quota in the state

In a petition filed against 69 per cent quota in educational and employment institutions of Tamil Nadu by ten meritorious students, Supreme Court of India issued a notice on 10 September 2012 as the granted quota exceeds the limits decided by the judgement issued by Mandal Commission. 10. Supreme Court directed the Government to re-fix the Pay Scale of Army Officers Supreme Court of India directed the Union Government of India to re-fix the pay scale of army officers affected by the Fourth Pay Commission. It would now entail a payout of 1600 crore rupees to the exchequer. The Supreme Court also directed the government to pay interest at the rate of 6 per cent from 1January 2006, to all the officers, whether or not they have filed any petition before any of the High Courts or Benches of Armed Forces Tribunal. 11. Welspun finds the lenders for its 50 MW solar Project in Rajasthan Welspun Energy declared that it was successful in finding the funds of Rs 355 crore for its 50 MW Solar Power Project in Rajasthan on 10 September 2012. Three public sector banks along with an infrastructure finance company came together to issue the loan for this long term project to the company. The project is expected to be commissioned by the first quarter of 2013.