Current General Knowledge ABBREVIATIONS TIN: Tax Information Network
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SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT Round-up of Current General Knowledge ABBREVIATIONS TIN: Tax Information Network. immigrant Australian-Mexican cartoonist ADAMS: Anti-Doping Administration and USO: Universal Service Obligation. with a history of hard core drugs taking, Management. US VISIT: United States Visitor and debts, gambling and unapologetic theft, has ADC: Access Deficit Charge. Immigrant Status Indicator Technology. been given the award for his novel Vernon AJT: Advanced Jet Trainer. WADA: World Anti-Doping Agency. God Little. DBC, short for “dirty but clean”, is ASIMO: Advanced Step in Innovative WMD: Weapons of Mass Destruction. the pseudonym of Peter Finlay. Mobility. Cannes Film Festival, 2003: Golden AUM: Assents Under Management. AVIATION palm for best picture: Elephant. Best director: BPO: Business Process Outsourcing. First Indian civilian plane: Saras, Van Sant (Elephant). Best actress: Marie-Josee CAS: Conditional Access System. India’s first civilian aircraft, rolled out of the Croze (The Barbarian Invasion). Best actor: CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access. hangar in mid-February, 2003, to take part in Muzaffer Ozdemir and Mehmet Emin Toprak CERT: (Indian) Computer Emergency the Bangalore air show. The 14-seater light shared prize for their role in Turkish film Response Team. multi-role transport aircraft is mainly intend- Distant. CRDi: Common Rail Direct injection. ed for use in far-flung, remote and hilly areas Communal harmony award, FRBM: Fiscal Responsibility and Budget of the country. Saras has been built indige- 2002: Begum Syeda Chishti. The award, Management. nously by the National Aerospace carrying a cash prize of Rs one lakh, was GEAC: Genetic Engineering Approval Laboratories (NAL), Bangalore, in collabora- instituted in 1996 by the National Foundation Committee. tion with Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and for Communal Harmony, set up by the gov- GPRS: General Packet Radio Service. several private enterprises. ernment as an autonomous organisation. HHTI: Hand-held Thermal Imager. Dada Saheb Phalke Award, HITS: Headend In The Sky. AWARDS 2001: Noted director-producer Yash IBF: Indian Broadcasting Foundation. Arjuna awards, 2003: Anju B. Chopra. The award is the top honour of film INXFAC: Indian Naval Extra-Fast Attack George (athletics), Virender Sehwag (cricket), industry of India. The award carries a cash Craft. Gagan Ajit Singh (hockey), Mamta Kharab prize of Rs 2 lakh, a shawl and a Swarna ISAF: International Stabilisation and (hockey), I.M. Vijayan (football), Ravikant Kamal. Assistance Force (in Afghanistan). Reddy (volleyball), T.M. Muthu (weightlifting), Dewang Mehta award for inno- IYFW: International Year of Fresh Water. Nitin Mongia (sailing), Suma Shirur (shoot- vation in IT: The first award, instituted by MAI: Multilateral Agreement on ing), Anwar Sultan (shooting), Alok Kumar the department of information technology, Investment. (billiards & snooker), Md Ali Qamar (boxing), has been given to the Simputer Trust team. NCA: Nuclear Command Authority. K. Sasikiran (chess), Shiv Kapur (golf), Ram The award comprises Rs 5 lakh, a trophy and NHDP: National Highways Development Mehar Singh (kabaddi), Mantu Ghosh (table certificates. Project. tennis), Palawinder Cheema (wrestling), Dr B.C. Roy Award, 2002: Eminent NPSM: National Programme on Smart Sujeet Mann (wrestling), Saraswati Saha (ath- surgeon and head of PGIMER, Chandigarh’s Materials. letics), Inder Pal Singh (rowing), Ramesh general surgery department, Prof J.D. OBU: Offshore Banking Unit. Tikaram (disabled athlete). The winners got Rs 3 Dronacharya Awards, 2003: Renu SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. lakh each, statuette and a scroll. Kohli (athletics), Jaswant Singh (athletics), SDCA: Short Distance Calling Area. Ashoka Chakra, 2003: Paratrooper M.K. Kaushik (hockey), E. Prasad Rao SFC : Strategic Forces Command. Sanjog Chhetri of 9 Para (Special Forces) has (Kabaddi) and H.D. Motivala (yachting) have SMART: Small Missions for Advanced been posthumously awarded the country’s won the award. The prize consists of Rs 3 Research and Technology. highest peacetime award, Ashoka Chakra, for lakh each, statuette and a scroll. SMS: Subscriber Management System; Short single-handedly killing three militants dur- Dhyan Chand Trophy, 2003: Ram Message Service. ing Operation Sarp Vinash in the Surankote Kumar (basketball), Dharma Singh Mann SPIN: Software Process Improvement area of J&K. (hockey), Charles Cornelius (hockey), Om Networks. Bihari Puruskar, 2002: Noted writer Prakash (volleyball), Smita Shirole Yadav (row- SPOT: Smart Personal Objects Technology. Vijaydan Detha for his work Sapanpriya. The ing). SSN: Social Security Number. award is given for a literary work in Hindi Economic Times Awards for STB: Set Top Box. authored by a writer from Rajasthan. It car- Corporate Excellence, 2002-03: ET TDSAT: Telecom Dispute Settlement ries a cash prize of Rs one lakh. Award for Lifetime Achievement: Deepak Appellate Tribunal. Booker Prize, 2003: DBC Pierre, an Parekh of HDFC. At 57, he is the youngest- 583 ! JANUARY 2004 ! THE COMPETITION MASTER SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT ever to receive the award, following the likes stoves got the Award for Food Security money of Rs 1 lakh each. of Dhirubhai Ambani and Verghese Kurien. and Moel Moelegan who developed an Kirti Chakra, 2003: India’s second ET’s Business Leader of the Year: Kumar innovative wind farm received the Ashden highest peace-time gallantry award, has been Mangalam Birla, chairman of AV Birla Group. Award for the UK. awarded to Havildar Rudal Prasad (posthu- At 36, he is the youngest-ever to receive this Hero India Sports Awards, 2003: mously) of the Indian Army’s 4 Bihar regi- award. Company of The Year: Ranbaxy, Kabaddi: B.C. Ramesh. Weightlifting: N. ment, alongwith Naik Tarlok Singh of Mahar India’s pharmaceutical pioneer. Emerging Kunjarani Devi. Shooting: Anjali Bhagwat. (30 Rashtriya Rifles) and commando Surjan Company of The Year: I-flex Solutions, whose Golf: Jyoti Randhawa. Hockey: Dhanraj Singh of NSG. banking software product has been tried and Pillay. Football: Baichung Bhutia. Chess: Macgreagor Medal: Group Capt R.K. tech-ted around the globe. Entrepreneur of Vishwanathan Anand. Badminton: P. Makker, Squadron Leader R.T.S. Chhina and the Year: V.G. Siddhartha, for creating a Gopichand. Tennis: Mahesh Bhupathi. Cue Lt Col N.J. Kargaonkar, for undertaking pio- national brand and lifestyle chain Café Coffee Sports: Geet Sethi. Cricket: Rahul Dravid. neering reconnaissance in Siachen glacier and Day from a commodity business. Athletics: Neelam J. Singh. Other Sports: the icy frontier in Karakoram facing China. Businesswoman of The Year: Ela Bhatt, for Palwinder Cheema (Wrestling). Male young Magsaysay awards, 2003: For creating the mammoth business network that achiever: Shiv Kapur (Golf). Female young government service: Chief Election is SEWA. Global Indian of the Year: Amar achiever: Koneru Humpy (Chess). Best team: Commissioner of India, J.M. Lyngdoh, for Gopal Bose, the legendary creator of the Women’s hockey team. Sportsman of the “his convincing validation of free and fair world’s greatest sound systems. Corporate year: V. Anand. Sportswoman of the year: elections as the foundation and best hope of Citizen of The Year: The Godrej Group, for its Anjali Bhagwat. Lifetime achievement: Kapil secular democracy in India”. long and proven contribution to the social Dev. For community leadership: Indian social sector. Indira Gandhi Peace Prize, 2002: worker Shantha Sinha, for “guiding the peo- G.D. Birla award for scientific Former Commonwealth Secretary-General ple of Andhra Pradesh to end the scourge of research, 2002: Dr P.P. Majumdar, Sir Shridath Ramphal, for the “great services child labour and send all of their children to Professor and Head of Anthropology and rendered for peace, disarmament and devel- school”. Human Genetics at the Indian Statistical, for opment in the last three decades.” For public service: Dr Gao Yaojie, a his significant contribution to the field of Indira Gandhi award for National reitred Chinese gynaecologist, who received human genetics and evolution. Integration, 2003: Acharya Mahaprajna the public service award for “her fervent per- Gandhi Peace Prize, 2003: Vaclav has been selected for his contribution to the sonal crusade to confront the AIDS crisis in Havel, former President of Czech Republic, cause of non-violence, communal harmony China and to address it humanely”. has been selected for the Prize, for his out- and national integration. For peace and international under- standing contribution towards promoting Jamnalal Bajaj awards, 2003: For standing: Japanese physician Tetsu peace and defending human rights. outstanding contribution in the field of con- Nakamura, a leading volunteer health work- Grammy awards, 45th: Record of structive work: Ravindranath Upadhyay, er in Afghanistan and Pakistan, for “his pas- the year: Don't know why, Norah Jones. who lives in Kumarikata, Assam. For appli- sionate commitment to ease the pains of war, Album of the year: Come Away with Me, cation of Science and Technology for Rural disease and calamity among refugees and the Norah Jones. Song of the year: Don’t know Development: Vinayak Patil of Satpur, Nasik. mountain poor of the Afganistan-Pak border- why, Norah Jones. New artist: Norah Jones. For Uplift and Welfare of Women and lands”. Pop vocal album: Come Away with Me, Norah Children (instituted in the memory of For emergent leadership: Aniceto Jones. Rock album: The Rising, Bruce Jankidevi Bajaj): Alice