Decline in oilseeds production, appreciation of rupee against dollar and zero import duties during most of 2009 has made India the largest edible oil importer in 2009, a slot it took surpassing China. Import of crude edible oil to India saw a huge jump of 35% to a record 8.4 million tonne (mt) in 2009. India's edible oil imports comprise almost 80% of palm oil.

Reserve Bank of India, along with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed recognised stock exchanges to launch futures currency trading in euro-rupee, pound sterling-rupee and yen-rupee. Futures trading in dollars-rupee was already allowed.

With an economic freedom score of 53.8, India has been rated the 124th freest economy in the world, according to the 16th Annual Index of Economic Freedom, released by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. Hong Kong and Singapore finished 1st and 2nd in the rankings for the 16th straight year. With Australia in 3rd place and New Zealand moving up to number 4, the Asia-Pacific region boasts a clean sweep at the top. Europe registered three top 10 placements: Ireland, Denmark and Switzerland. The United Kingdom dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in Index history. The United States also dropped significantly, to 8th place.

The fiscal deficit for 2009-10 was budgeted at a 16-year high of 6.8% of GDP. The high fiscal deficit is blamed on the measures the government took to address the demand slump that followed the global financial crisis. The high fiscal deficit is a concern as high government borrowing to meet the expenditure in excess of revenues creates competition for funds and interest rates going up due to this. High interest rates hurt rate sensitive sectors such as autos, real estate and consumer goods. Investment activity also then slows down, depressing the overall economy. At macro level, inflation goes up, currency weakens and growth is depressed. Increased interest payments leave less money with the government to make productive expenditure.

He Pingping of China, at 2 feet 5 inches is the world’s shortest man and Sultan Kosen of Turkey, at 8 feet 1 inches is the tallest man.

The International Lunar Geographic Society, a New York-based organization devoted to the study of the moon, has declared that a lunar crater in the moon's Sea of Tranquillity has been christened after Shah Rukh Khan. This has been approved by the International Astronomical Union, which has a final say with regard to the naming of craters on the moon. With a crater named after him, Shah Rukh now joins the ranks of eminent personalities like Nobel laureate C.V. Raman, father of the Indian space programme Vikram Sarabhai, father of the Indian nuclear programme Homi Bhabha and other luminaries like Meghnad Saha after whom craters have been named.

India and China rank 123rd and 121st in pollution control, respectively, reflecting the strain rapid economic growth imposes on the environment, according to the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI). Iceland leads the world in addressing pollution control and natural resource management challenges, according to the index produced by a team of environmental experts at Yale University and Columbia University. The EPI ranks 163 countries on their performance across 25 metrics aggregated into ten categories including environmental health, air quality, water resource management, biodiversity and habitat, forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and climate change. Occupying the bottom five positions are Togo, Angola, Mauritania, the Central African Republic, and Sierra Leone—countries that lack basic environmental amenities and policy capacity. The US ranks 61st, significantly behind other industrialised nations like Britain (14th), Germany (17th), and Japan (20th). President of South Korea Lee Myung-bak was the Chief Guest of the Republic Day, 2010. The Pravas Bharatiya Divas was celebrated in New Delhi on January 6, 2010. The theme this year was: “Engaging the Diaspora: The way forward”. Ashok Leyland has launched India’s first electric plug-in CNG hybrid bus, named Hybus. Recovery from the global economic downturn is faster in India compared with other countries in the world as consumers here are more willing to spend, according to the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence survey. India ranked second with 117 points in the fourth quarter of 2009, behind Indonesia, which has 119 points. Globally consumer confidence has remained stable at 87 per cent. Apart from India and Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Brazil are where recovery is accelerating. About 17 per cent Indians think that job prospects in the country would be 'excellent' and 66 per cent think that it would be 'good' in the next 12 months. Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar mission has been set-up to create an enabling policy framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW of solar power in 2020. The other objectives are: (a) Promote programmes for off-grid applications, reaching 1000 MW by 2017 and 2000 MW by 2020; (b) to create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability for indigenous production and market leadership; (c) to achieve 15 million sq metres solar thermal collector area by 2017 and 20 million by 2022; (d) to deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022. Army Day is celebrated on January 15. India’s human and gender development record is improving, with the latest government report showing a significant increase in country’s position on human (HDI) and gender related development indices. India’s HDI, which was 0.530 in 1996, rose to 0.605 in 2006, while GDI score improved from 0.514 in 1996 to 0.590 a decade later. A concern, however, is the country’s Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) score, which judges women’s participation in politics and decision-making, their representation in Parliament and legislatures and their control over economic resources. Gendering Human Development Index in India, released by Women and Child Development Ministry, claims GEM score of 0.497 in 2006 against 0.416 in 1996. Delhi has the highest GEM score and Nagaland the lowest. The highest GEM scorers in India are Andaman and Nicobar, Puducherry, Goa, Andhra and Himachal. The best performers on political participation of women are Punjab, Andaman and Nicobar, Himachal and Haryana. On economic empowerment of women, Chandigarh, Goa, Delhi and Punjab are the best, but in terms of control of economic resources, Meghalaya stands on top. The Indian School of Business (ISB) is the only one from India to find a place on the list of top 20 B- schools in the world, published by the Financial Times. ISB has improved its position to bag the 12th spot on the list of top 100 B-Schools across the globe in 2010. The London School of Business topped the list, followed by the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School. Stanford University GSB and Insead have been ranked at the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. The revised estimates of the national income that took into account 2004-05 prices have calculated the per capita income of India at Rs 40,14,1 in 2008-09. The old method of income calculation had pegged per capita at 37,490 for 2008-09. On an annual basis the new per capita income rose 13.3 per cent compared to the previous year (2007-08). The new series of calculating the national income changed the base year to 2004-05 from 1999-2000 earlier. Solar Mission launched Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched India’s Solar Energy Mission (named Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission) on January 11, 2010. The main aim of the mission is to help generate 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022. New adult literacy mission gets under-way The Union government has chosen 19 States to start adult literacy classes under the all-new Sakshar Bharat Mission, which the Prime Minister launched in September 2009. Visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister On January 11, 2010, India committed one billion dollars line of credit for developmental projects in Bangladesh and transformed its bilateral ties by signing five accords, including three key security pacts to expand counter-terror cooperation, during the visit of Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina. “This visit has opened a new chapter in India-Bangladesh relations, reflecting the unity of minds and hearts,” Manmohan Singh told Sheikh Hasina. Visit of Prime Minister of Malaysia On January 20, 2010, India and Malaysia y signed an extradition treaty and two other accords during the visit of Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak. The extradition treaty will enable India to seek the transfer from Malaysia of Indians who commit crime on the Indian soil and take refuge in the South East Asian nation CONFERENCE: Commonwealth Speakers’ Conference, 20th The 20th Commonwealth Speakers’ Conference was held in New Delhi from January 5, 2010. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: Google, China face-off over Internet On January 13, 2010, Google threatened to shut down its operations in China after uncovering “highly sophisticated” hacking attempts into e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. In an indication of sustained economic growth, the per capita income in Delhi has increased to Rs 78,690 in the financial year 2007-08 as against the national figure of Rs 33,283. Delhi's per capita income is the third highest in the country with Chandigarh having per capita income of Rs 110,676 topping the list and closely followed by Goa at Rs 105,582. India has signed an agreement for Rs 10,500 crore Official Development Assistance from Japan. This includes Rs 1,648 crore for the second phase of Delhi Metro project. World Water Day is observed on March 22 every year to focus attention on the importance of fresh- water and advocating for the sustainable management of fresh-water resources. Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) hosted a conference in Manila, Philippines, in March 2010, on indigenous peoples, climate change and rural poverty. From April 1, 2010 consumers in 13 cities of India, including Delhi and Mumbai, shifted to use of environment friendly Euro-IV complaint petrol and diesel. According to the Liveability Index 2010, prepared jointly by the CII and the Institute for Competitiveness, Delhi is the best city to live in, followed by Mumbai. A liveable city, according to the report, is not just an urbanised area in an urbanised region defined by the presence of a municipality. Liveability refers to an urban system that contributes to the physical, social and mental well being and personal developments of all its inhabitants. The ceiling for payment of gratuity to private sector employees has been raised from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to declare Andaman and Nicobar set of Ports as a major port and establish the Andaman and Nicobar Port Trust with its HQ at Port Blair. The UAE has become the world’s fourth biggest weapons importer. China, India and South Korea are the top three arms importers, in that order.

What is Avionics? (Posted by admin on July 25th, 2010)

Avionics Related to the the electronic instrumentation and control equipment used in airplanes and space vehicles.

Avionics (ā’vēŏn‘ĭks), electronic instruments used in air or space flight; also the design and production of such instruments. Early planes had few instruments, but as aviation and aircraft became more complex, so did instrumentation. Most of the new technology was electronic; hence, the expression “aviation electronics” arose and was later shortened to “avionics.” After World War II, the increasing sophistication of military avionics helped spawn a proliferation of electronic applications to commercial and private aviation. Avionics includes numerous types of devices, including those used for navigation control instruments that aid in steering and controlling the craft; and performance indicators, such as altimeters and velocity gauges.

Sports Today-Pakistan registered their first Test win against Australia in 15 years at Headingley

Posted by admin on July 25th, 2010

SPORTS Pakistan win by 3 wicket: Pakistan registered their first Test win against Australia in 15 years at Headingley

ABBREVIATIONS Starting with the Alphabet M

Posted by admin on July 25th, 2010 MAT: Minimum Alternative Tax MER: Mars Exploration Rover MBBS: Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery MCF: Master Control Facility MEP: Minimum Export Price MES: Military Engineering Service METSAT: Meteorological Satellite MFA: Multi-Fibre Agreement MFN: Most Favoured Nation MIP: Moon Impact Probe MMS: Multimedia Messaging Service MMTC: Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation of India MNC: Multi-national Corporation MNIC: Multi-purpose National Identity Card MODEM: Modulator-Demodulator MRI: Magnetic Resonance Imaging MRTPC: Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission MRTS: Mass Rapid Transit System MSA: Maritime Safety Agency MSCF: Maritime Security Cooperation Framework Mss: Manuscript MTCR: Missile Technology Control Regime MTO: Multilateral Trade Organisation MVC: Maha Vir Chakra MUNO: Maha Vir Chakra

More Quiz-Miscellaneous Questions (Posted by admin on July 25th, 2010)

Speaker in Hindi at the UN Atal Bihari Vajpayee(1977)

Speaker of Lok Sabha Ganesh Vasudeo Mavalankar(1952- 1957)

Test-tube baby Baby Harsha or Indira(1986)

Vice-President S.Radhakrishnan( 1952-1962)

Viceroy of India Lord Canning (1858-1862)

Woman (Muslim) Ruler of India Razia Sultana(1236- 1240)

Woman Advocate Cornelia Sorabji(1894)

Woman Ambassador Vijayalakshmi Pandit(U.S.S. R., 1947-1949)

Woman at Antarctica Meher Moos(1976)

Woman Central Minister Rajkumari Amrit Kaur(Health)

Woman Chief Justice(of High Court) Leila Seth(Himachal Pradesh, 1991)

Woman Chief Minister Sucheta Kriplani(Uttar Pradesh, 1963-1967)

Woman Foreign Minister Lakshmi N. Menon(1957-1966)

Woman Secretary General of Rajya Sabha V.S.Rama Devi(1993)

Woman Governor Sarojini Naidu(Uttar Pradesh, 1963-1967)

Woman IAS Officer Anna Rajam George(1950) Woman IPS Officer Kiran Bedi(1974)

Woman Jet Commander Saudamini Deshmukh

Woman Jnanpithpith Award Winner Ashapurna Devi, Prathama Pratishruti( 1976)

Woman Judge of Supreme Court Meera Sahib Fatima Beevi(1989)

Woman Minister of State Vijayalakshmi Pandit(Uttar Pradesh, 1937)

Woman Missionary Sanghamitra, daughter of King Ashoka (Sri Lanka, 3rd C.BC)

Woman Pilot (Commercial) Prem Mathur(Deccan Airways, 1951)

Woman Pilot (Indian Airlines) Durga Banerjee(1966- 1988)

Woman President of Indian National Congress Annie Besant(1917)

Woman President of UN General Assembly Vijayalakshmi Pandit(1953)

Woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi(1966- 1977, 1980-1984)

Woman Sahitya Akademi Award Winner Amrita Pritam, Sunehre(1956)

Woman to climb Mount Everest Bachendri Pal(1984)

Woman to perform a solo Flight Harita Kaur Deol(1944)

Woman to swim across English Channel Arati Saha(1959)

Woman to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar Arti Pradhan

Woman to win an Asian Gold Kamaljit Sandhu(1970)

Woman to go in Space Dr.Kalpana Chawla(November 1997)

General Knowledge Questions and Answers (Posted by admin on July 25th, 2010)

Olympic Medal Winner Norman Pritchard, Silver(1900) Oscar Winner Bhanu Athaiya

Patricide Ajatshatru’s killing of Bimbisara(494 BC)

Physically handicapped mountaineer Baba Manindra Pal

Pilot J.R.D.Tata, Tata Airlines(1929)

Presentation of Budget R.K.Shanmugham Chetty, Finance Minister(1947)

Presentation of General Budget C.D.Deshmukh, Finance Minister(1952)

President Rajendra Prasad(1950- 1962)

President of Indian National Congress W.C.Bannerjee( 1885)

President of International Court of Justice Nagendra Singh(1970)

President to die in harness Zakir Hussain(1967- 1969)

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru(1947-1964)

Prime Minister to be assassinated Indira Gandhi(1984)

Prime Minister to die in harness Jawaharlal Nerhru(1964)

Prime Minister to head a minority government Choudhary Charan Singh(July 28, 1979-Jan,14, 1980)

Prime Minister to resign from office Morarji Desai(1979)

Prime Minister who did not face Parliament Chaudhary Charan Singh(July 28, 1979-Jan 14, 1980)

Raman Medal Winner Salim Moinuddin Ahmed Ali(1979)

Raman Magsaysay Award Winner Vinoba Bhave(1958)

Recipient of Stalin Peace Prize Saifuddin Kitchlew(1954)

Recipient of World Food Prize M.S.Swaminathan( 1987) S..Ramanujan Medal Winner S.Chandrashekhar( 1962)

S.S.Bhatnagar Medal Winner Atma Ram(1959)

Scientist Uddalaka Aruni(560 BC)

Slave Ruler of India Qutb-ud-din Aibak(1206-1210)

Current Affairs-Sports 2010-Saina Nehwal becomes World Ranked 2. (Posted by admin on 1st July 2010)

Badminton-2010

Three Super Series for Saina Nehwal-Wins Indonesian Open beating Japanese Sayaka Sato in the finals at Jakarta-Saina becomes World Ranked 2. With her newly-added victory, Saina has collected a hat-trick victories at the international badminton tournaments three weeks in a row. Prior to Indonesia Open she had claimed India Open and Singapore Open.

BOXING Asian Women’s Championship The Asian Women’s Championships were held in Astana, Kazakhistan, in May 2010. Kazakhastan topped the medals tally with eight gold medals. China won the most medals in total—10, followed Korea and India amassing eight medals each.

CHESS World Title, 2010 Viswanathan Anand held his nerve and focus better than his opponent, Veselin Topalov, to win the 12th and final game to retain his World Championships title. The 40-year-old Indian beat the local man from Bulgaria in the closing game with black pieces, to emerge a 6.5-5.5 winner and seal his place as a dominant player of his era. Anand first won the world title in 2000 and held it till 2002 when the chess world was still split. He became the undisputed World champion in 2007 and then retained the title in 2008 when he beat Vladimir Kramnik.

Commonwealth Championship Grandmaster R.R. Laxman clinched his career best win and bagged the gold after beating GM Pablo Lafuente of Argentina at the Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess Championship. In the open category, Grandmaster Maletin Pavel of Russia signed peace with International Master Lalith Babu on the top board to win the title. Both Pavel and Laxman had nine points after 11 rounds, but the former had the better tie-break record on Bucholz count. The Russian was not in contention in the Commonwealth category. In the women’s category, D. Harika outwitted IM Tania Sachdev on account of superior tie- break.

CRICKET T20 World Cup, 2010 Chasing a challenging target of 148 runs, England defeated Australia by seven wickets to win the T20 World Cup. The tournament was held in West Indies.

Australia’s women held their nerves in a low-scoring final as they beat New Zealand by three runs to lift the Women’s T20 World cup title.

West Indies-South Africa One-Day series South Africa defeated West Indies by 67 runs in the third match to win the series. They went on to win the fourth match also. South Africa beat West Indies by seven wickets. England-Bangladesh Test series England beat Bangladesh by five wickets in the first Test of the series, played at Lords, to be one-up in the two-Test series.

FOOTBALL Premier League Chelsea has won the title by a single point. They have swept back the trophy after four years.

Champions League, 2010 A goal in each half by Argentina striker Diego Militi helped Inter Milan overcome Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League final.

HOCKEY Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, 19th India and South Korea were named joint champions after the final match was abandoned following heavy rains in Malaysia. For defending champions India it was their fifth win, matching Australia, while for Asian champions South Korea this was their second title win; they had last won the cup in 1996.

TABLE TENNIS World Team Championship Chinese fans were left in shock after their women paddlers failed to win the gold medal at the World Team Table Tennis Championships for the first time since 1991.

The Chinese trio of Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Guo Yan fell to their Singaporean counterparts 3-1 in the final in Moscow as Singapore claimed their first title in the event.

WRESTLING Sushil, Narshing win gold in Asian Wrestling Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar lived up to his reputation as he bagged a gold in men’s 66kg freestyle in the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships held at New Delhi. Narshing Yadav won a gold in the 74kg freestyle category.

Current Affairs -2010 (Posted by admin on 29th June 2010)

AWARDS National Technology Award, 2010 A pioneers in processing rice bran oil, A.R. Sharma, who comes from dusty town of Dhuri in Sangrur district, has been honoured with the national award by the Technology Development Board of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Dan David Prize Noted Indian author Amitav Ghosh has won the prestigious Dan David Prize for his remarkable reworking of the great tradition of the western novel in transnational terms.

PM’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration Gulshan Bamra has been given the award for his initiative to involve community in the Naxal-affected areas of Madhya Pradesh.

First Indian to sail solo around the world On May 22, 2010, Commander Dilip Donde of the Indian Navy became the first Indian ever to circumnavigate the globe solo on a sail-boat when he steered into the Mumbai harbour after his arduous effort spanning a little over nine months.

PERSONS Kapadia, Justice Sarosh Homi He has been appointed as the 38th Chief Justice of India. Hailing from a poor family, Justice Kapadia replaced Justice Balakrishnan. Singh, Gen V.K. Gen V.K. Singh is the Chief of Indian army. A third generation officer from the Rajput regiment, Gen Singh is a graduate of the Wellington-based Defence Services Staff College as well as the Rangers Course at Fort Benning, USA and the US Army War College, Carlisle.

Commonwealth Prize, 2010 British-Indian author Rana Dasgupta (38) has won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for ‘Best Book’ on for his second book Solo. Rana won a prize of £10,000 (Rs 8.5 lakh).

INS Shivalik—India’s first indigenous stealth warship On April 29, 2010, India affected a generational shift in its warship-building capability by commissioning INS Shivalik—the first indigenously built stealth frigate that is the biggest in its class in the world. The ship, which is 143 metres long, can tactically fire weapons even before the enemy detects it.

SPACE RESARCH IKAROS—First solar powered spacecraft Japanese scientists have developed a kite-shaped ‘space yacht’ that uses only solar power for propulsion. The spacecraft—IKAROS—would be launched into the space for a six-month mission to Venus. It is the first spacecraft to use such technology.

Census 2010 The 15th national census exercise, the biggest census ever to be attempted in human history to cover India’s 1.2 billion populations began on April 1, 2010 with President Pratibha Patil being the first to be enumerated in the decennial exercise.

National Population Register The NPR would be a register of usual residents of the country. The NPR will be a comprehensive identity database that would help in better targeting of the benefits and services under the government schemes/programmes improve planning and help strengthen security of the country. This is being done for the first time in the country.

Unique Identification (UID) number christened Aadhaar Aadhaar, or the 12-digit unique identification (UID) number that will identify the 1.2 billion residents of India on the basis of their biometrics, will have an additional four digits that will be hidden from the common man.

World’s smallest 3-D map Scientists claim to have created the world’s smallest three dimensional map—a map of the Earth so small that 1,000 of them could fit on one grain of salt.

A team at computer giant IBM accomplished this through a new, breakthrough technique which uses a tiny, silicon tip with a sharp apex—1,00,000 times smaller than a sharpened pencil—to create patterns and structures as small as 15 nanometre at greatly reduced cost and complexity.

Official Song Selected for World Cup Football 2010 (South Africa )?

World renowned Latin American pop singer, Shakira will perform the official song of 2010 Football World Cup accompanied with the South African band Freshlyground. Waka Waka is the official song, selected by FIFA and Sony.

Vivek Sahai takes over as chairman of Railway Board

Sahai, an Indian Railway Traffic Service officer, who was the Railway Board (member) traffic, has taken up the top job from S S Khurana upon his superannuation.

Saina Nehwal wins the Indonesian Open 2010 (Posted by admin on 27th June 2010) India’s Saina Nehwal made her country proud on Sunday as she won the Indonesian Open Super Series for her third straight badminton title in three weeks, including two successive Super Series titles. The World No.3 defeated a fighting Sayaka Sato of Japan 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 in the final here on Sunday, a win that is expected to take her to No.2 in the World rankings.

Current Affairs -June 2010 (Posted by admin on 22nd June 2010)

New Chief of National Human Rights Commission: On June 7, 2010, Former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan formally took charge as the chairperson of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Justice Balakrishnan will hold the post for a period of five years. He retired from the post of the Chief Justice of India on May 12 and was succeeded by Sarosh Homi Kapadia.

AMIR: ‘AMIR’ is the name of India’s first art market review quarterly. It has been launched by non profit organisation IACEI Council for Indian Arts, Culture, Education and its Infrastructure (IACEI) and Osian’s.

Garuda IV ‘Garuda-IV’ is the name of an Air Forces Exercise scheduled from June 14-25 at Istres Air Base, France.

Ranbir Kapoor. Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor has been appointed the brand ambassador of Nissan Motor India Private Ltd (NMIPL).

Radhika Plakkot-Winner of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science (Posted by admin on 22nd June 2010)

Radhika Plakkot, an Indian American science teacher has been named among one of the 103 mathematics and science teachers for the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching by the United States President Barak Obama.

Archive for the 'Current Affairs Club' Category

Saina Nehwal clinches Singapore Open Super Series (Posted by admin on 21st June 2010)

Singapore, Jun 20 (PTI) Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal put behind a nervy start to clinch the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over qualifier Tzu Ying Tai in the finals here today. Top seed Saina took just 33 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei’s Tai 21-18 21-15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium here. The world number six, who was the lone Indian left if fray after others crashed out by the semifinal stage, had bagged her maiden Super Series title in June last year when she claimed the top honours at the Indonesian Open. “I never expected to reach the finals as there were two good Chinese players in the draw but I believed in myself and got the result I wanted,” the jubilant 20-year-old said.

THE FIRST WORLD CUP FOOTBALL WINNER (Posted by admin on 11th June 2010)

The FIFA World Cup, also called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men’s national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport’s global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of World War II.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month – this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

Winners List

Here are the full list of winners of the previous FIFA World Cups. Click on the highlighted text for more information about each host city and participating country. Are you looking for results for South Africa 2010? Year Host Country Winner Score 1930 Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay 4-2 Argentina 1934 Italy Italy Italy 2-1 Czechoslovakia 1938 France Italy Italy 4-2 Hungary 1942 not held 1946 not held 1950 Brazil Uruguay Uruguay 2-1 Brazil 1954 Switzerland Germany Germany 3-2 Hungary 1958 Sweden Brazil Brazil 5-2 Sweden 1962 Chile Brazil Brazil 3-1 Czechoslovakia 1966 England England England 4-2 Germany 1970 Mexico Brazil Brazil 4-1 Italy 1974 Germany Germany Germany 2-1 Holland Argentina 1978 Argentina Argentina 3-1 Holland 1982 Spain Italy Italy 3-1 Germany 1986 Mexico Argentina Argentina 3-2 Germany 1990 Italy Germany Germany 1-0 Argentina 1994 US Brazil Brazil 3-2 Italy 1998 France France France 3-0 Brazil 2002 Japan / S. Korea Brazil Brazil 2-0 Germany 2006 Germany Italy Italy 1-1 (5-3) France 2010 South Africa

Q? : WHO WON THE FIRST WORLD CUP FOOTBALL Ans: URUGUAY

India’s First Smoke Free State (Posted by admin on 1st June 2010)

Sikkim has become India’s First state to be declared as “Smoke Free State” in India.

Sahara India has retained the sponsorship rights of the Indian cricket team (Posted by admin on 1st June 2010)

Sahara India has retained the sponsorship rights of the Indian cricket team for a whopping Rs.30.34 million per match (ODI and Twenty20 matches) for the next three years till 2013.

Xingyun” is the name of the fastest super computer of China (Posted by admin on 1st June 2010)

Xingyun” is the name of the fastest super computer of China which runs at more than one quadrillion (one thousand million million) calculations per second. Tianhe-1″ was the previous fastest machine in China. and Xingyun works at a speed double than its speed.

Lakshmi Mittal richest Asian in Britain in 2010 (Posted by admin on 28th May 2010) Lakshami Niwas Mittal is richest Asian in Britain for the year 2010 with an estimated wealth of 17 billion pound as per the latest Asian Rich List 2010, brought out by Eastern Eye. He is followed by Hinduja Brothers.

What is sibutramine and what is wrong with it (Posted by admin on 28th May 2010)

Sibutramine which is usually marketed as sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate salt is a drug used for oral administration for treatment of obesity. It is basically an appetite suppressant. around 20 drug companies are marketing this drug under different brand names. Administration and usage of this drug has invited serious concerns about its safety. This has been suspended from use in the UK and EU. European Medicine Agency (EMA) has recommended complete withdrawal of the drug from European markets due to serious side effects. Now India’s Top Drug Regulator, DGCI (Drugs Controller General of India ) initiates steps to ascertain the safety profile of the medicine. It asks the pharmacovigilance committee to take note of the EMA decision.

First Indian Refinery to Produce Euro IV compliant Diesel (Posted by admin on 28th May 2010)

Reliance Industries Ltd is becoming the first Indian refinery to produce Euro-IV compliant diesel as the first cargo of 25,000 tonnes of Euro-IV grade diesel from RIL’s refinery at Jamnagar was shipped by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd on January 22, 2010. This is also the first coastal supply of Euro-IV diesel for the Indian market

MPL is the first state run League in India (Posted by admin on 28th May 2010)

CottonKing Maharashtra Premier League (MPL) is the first state run League in India, which is being organized by Maharashtra Cricket Association

Google TV-Google officially announced the Google TV Project(Posted by admin on 28th May 2010)

On May 20, 2010, Google officially announced the Google TV Project at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, USA. What is Google TV? Google TV is a search technology that will provide an easy and fast way to navigate to television channels, websites and applications, all on televisions. The Google TV device will include Google software including Android and Chrome Web browsers, a Sony television with an Intel microprocessor and a special remote control and wireless keyboard from Logitech. In technical terms, Google TV is a software platform for Set Top Boxes and HDTVs and is based upon Android Operating System.

Who are co-partners? The project is being co developed by Google, Intel, Sony and Logitech. Intel, Sony and Logitech together with Best Buy, Dish Network and Adobe have announced their support for Google TV.

GK Quiz for UPSC Exams (Posted by admin on July 25th, 2010)

Field Marshal S.H.F.J.Manekshaw( 1973)

Film Star Chief Minister M.G.Ramachandran( Tamil Nadu, 1977)

Financial Minister to present the Budget three times in a row Manmohan Singh (1933, 1994, 1995)

Finix Award Winner Sr.P.C.Sorcar

Geometer Baudhayana, Sulva Sutras(800 BC) Governor General of British India Warren Hastings(1774- 1785)

Grammarian Panini, Ashtadhyaayi( 6th C. BC)

Helms Award Winner Kunwar Digvijay Singh Babu(1952)

Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel(1946)

ICS Officer Satyendranath Tagore

Indian Chief of Air Staff S.Mukherjee( 1954-1960)

Indian Governor General of Indian Union M.Rajendra Singh(April 1, 1955-May 14, 1955)

Indian Woman President of Indian National Congress Sarojini Naidu(1925)

J.C.Bose Medal Winner V.Ramalingaswami( 1977)

Jain Tithankara Rishabha Dev

Jananpith Award Winner G.Sankara Kurup, Odakuzhal(1965)

Lady of the Indian Film Devika Rani Roerich

Lata Mangeshkar Award Winner Naushad(1984)

Lawgiver Manu, Manu Smirti(3100 BC)

Man to climb Mount Everest without oxygen Phu Dorjee(1984)

Man to climb Mount Everest Tanzing Norgay(with Edumund Hillary, 1953)

Man to make solo Flight(from US to India) Satish Soman(1994)

Man to swim across English Channel Mihir Sen(1966)

Man to swim several Straits in one calender year Mihir Sen(1966)

Managing Director of World Bank Gautam Kaji(1995) Member of British Parliament Dadabhai Naoroji(1862)

Member of Viceroy’s Executive Council Sir S.P.Sinha(1909)

Miss Universe Sushmita Sen(1994)

Miss World Reita Faria(1966)

Musician to get Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushana M.S.Subbulakshmi( 1954,1975)

Musician to get Ramon Magsaysay Award M.S.Subbulakshami( 1974)

Naval Pilot Y.N..Singh(1941)

Nishan-Eey-Pakistan Award Winner Morarji Desai(1991) Nobel Prize Winner Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali(1913)

Quiz Time -July 26,2010 (Posted by admin on July 25th, 2010)

Actress of the Talkies Zubeida, Alam Ara(1931)

Actress to win Padma Shri Award Nargis Dutt(1958)

Architect Maha Govinda(5th C.BC)

Aryabhatta Medal Winner K.R. Ramanathan(1977)

Bharat Ratna Award Winner C.Rajgopalachari( 1954)

British Governor General of Indian Union Lord Louis Mountbatten( Aug. 15, 1947-June 20, 1948)

Captain of Test Cricket C.K.Nayudu(1932)

Century in Test Cricket Lala Amarnath(1933- 1934)

Chairman of Rajaya Sabha S.V.Krishnamoorthy( 1952)

Chevalier Award Winner Sivaji Ganesan

Chief Election Commissioner Sukumar Sen(1950-1958) Chief Justice of India Hiralal J.Kania(1950- 1951)

Chief of Air Staff Sir Thomas Elmhirst(1947- 1950)

Chief of Army Staff to die in harness B.C.Joshi(1994)

Chief of Coast Guard V.A.Kamath(1978- 1980)

Chief of Naval Staff R.D.Katari(1958- 1962)

Commander-in- Chief K.M.Cariappa( 1949-1953)

Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma(1984)

Cricketer to have battled in all positions(1 to 11) Vinoo Mankad

Dada Saheb Phalke Award Winner Devika Rani Roerich(1969)

Dancer to perform abroad Uday Shankar

Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel(1947-1950)

Deputy Prime Minister to die in harness Vallabhbhai Patel(1950)

Elected President S.Radhakrishnan( 1962-1967)

Emperor of Mughal Dynasty Babar(1526-1530)

Difference between Covalent bonds and Ionic bonds (Posted by admin on July 23rd, 2010)

Covalent bonds are chemical bonds between two non-metals, for example between H and O in water (H2O). As they are both non-metals—which need to gain electrons—they have to share, so their outer shells cross over in order to have a full outer shell. A full outer shell has eight electrons. With water the oxygen atom shares one electron with each hydrogen atom and the hydrogen’s also share one: this means that the hydrogen atoms have two each and the oxygen atom has 8. Covalent bonds are mostly weaker than ionic bonds, and have a lower melting point in comparison. They are also thought to be poor conductors of electricity. Most scientists cannot figure out why these bonds happen. They say that John Mendel discovered them in 1867.

Ionic bond: An ionic bond is the bonding between a non-metal and a metal that occurs when charged atoms (ions) attract after one loses one or more of its electrons, for example berries and chloride. This makes the bond stronger and harder to break. in other words, it is the attraction between 2 oppositely charged ions. The positive ion is called cation, and the negative ion is the anion.

The phenomenon of Chemical bonding (Posted by admin on July 23rd, 2010) Chemical bonds are what join together atoms. When two or more atoms are in a chemical bond they stay joined unless the needed amount of energy or more is transferred to the bond. Something different can then happen. Chemical bonds can be explained using different theories. Some of these theories try to explain chemical bonds in a simple way that can be used by chemists to imagine what could happen when they try to make molecules. Some explain how the atoms are bonded together with more detail and are used by chemists and physicists.

What is a Plastic,Who invented the Plastic (Posted by admin on July 23rd, 2010)

A plastic is a material that can change its shape, so many things can be made of plastic. There are many types of plastic. Some can be shaped only when they are freshly made; then they become hard afterwards. Others can be changed by heating them up or even by melting them. Most plastics are man- made; they do not occur in nature. They are often made from oil that comes out of the ground. The process of making plastics is usually quite complicated. Most of the materials that are called plastic are polymers. Polymers are long chains of atoms bonded to one another. People experimented with plastics based on natural polymers for a very long time. Alexander Parkes, an English inventor (1813-1890), created the earliest form of plastic in 1855. It was hard but flexible and transparent, and he called it “Parkensine.”

Viswanathan Anand retains World Chess Championship title (Posted by admin on 11th May 2010)

Vishwanathan Anand has retained his World Chess Championship title after a dramatic end to one of the closest matches in the one hundred and twenty four year history of the competition at Sofia. The forty year old Indian grandmaster, the fifteenth world champion, secured a further two year tenure and a prize of 1.2 million Euros after the challenger, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, cracked in the twelth and final game played in front of his home fans.

Current Affairs -April 2010 (Posted by admin on 29th April 2010)

Mr.S.C.Sinha is appointed as the Director-General of the national Investigation Agency(NIA) (INDIA)

The World Health Organisation and World Health Day

Posted by admin on 21st April 2010 April 7 is observed all over as World Health Day. This commemorates the First World Health Assembly in 1948. However the observance started from 1950. WHO provides resources on particular theme of the World Health Day every year 2010 theme is “Be part of a global movement to make cities healthier” The World Health Organization regards urbanization as an urgent public health concern.

World Health Organisation Established : April 7, 1948, Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland, Head : Dr. Margaret Chan Constitution Objective: “The attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health” Constitution of WHO : Came into force on the first World Health Day, April 7, 1950

The 2010 Pulitzer Prizes -Award Winners (Posted by admin on 21st April 2010)

The 2010 Pulitzer prizes were awarded on April 12, 2010. The Washington Post has won four awards while The New York Times has won 3. For the first time this award has been given to ProPublica, an online source. Following are the winners of the Pulitzer prizes 2010: Journalism Public Service - Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier Breaking News Reporting - The Seattle Times Staff Investigative Reporting - Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of the Philadelphia Daily News and Sheri Fink of ProPublica, in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine Explanatory Reporting - Michael Moss and members of The New York Times Staff Local Reporting - Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel National Reporting - Matt Richtel and members of The New York Times Staff International Reporting - Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post Feature Writing - Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post Commentary - Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post Criticism - Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post Editorial Writing - Tod Robberson, Colleen McCain Nelson and William McKenzie of The Dallas Morning News Editorial Cartooning - Mark Fiore, self syndicated, appearing on SFGate.com Breaking News Photography - Mary Chind of The Des Moines Register Feature Photography - Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post Letters, Drama and Music Fiction - Tinkers by Paul Harding (Bellevue Literary Press) Drama - Next to Normal, music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey History - Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press) Biography - The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf) Poetry - Versed by Rae Armantrout (Wesleyan University Press) General Nonfiction - The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy by David E. Hoffman (Doubleday) Music - Violin Concerto by Jennifer Higdon (Lawdon Press) Special Citations Hank Williams – press release on the Special Citation awarded to Hank Williams

Intel introduces Intel Core i7 processor (Posted by admin on 18th March 2010)

Intel Corp. has introduced its most advanced desktop processor ever, the Intel Core i7 processor. The core i7 processor is the first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximise data throughput. The Core i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular internet and computer activities by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption. Each Core i7 processor features an 8 MB level 3 cache and 3 channels of DDR3 1006 memory to deliver the best memory performance of any desktop platform. Intel’s top performance processor, the Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition, also removes over-speed protection allowing Intel’ knowledgeable customers or hobbyists to further increase the chip speed.

First Double Century in the history of One Day Cricket (Posted by admin on 18th March 2010)

Sachin Tendulkar celebrates his 200 at Gwalior, the first double century in the history of one-day internationals. Sachin’s classic 200 not out (off only 147 balls, 25×4, 3×6) at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium againg South Africa. He became the owner of highest score in one day international beating 194 runs of Saeed Anwar( Pak ).

50th Grammy Awards Winners (Posted by admin on 9th March 2010) Record Of the Year: “Rehab”, Amy Winehouse Album Of the Year: “River: The Joni Letters”, Herbie Hancock Song Of the Year: ”Rehab”, Amy Winehouse Best New Artist: Amy Winehouse Best Hard Rock Performance: “The Pretender”, Foo Fighters Best Metal Performance: “Final Six”, Slayer Best Rock Song: “Radio Nowhere”, Bruce Springsteen Best Alternative Music Album: “Icky Thump”, The White Stripes

The World’s Richest Top Ten : (Posted by admin on 9th March 2010) 1. Warren Buffet (USA) – $62 billion 2. Carlos Slim Helu (Mexico) – $60 billion 3. Bill Gates (USA) – $58 billion 4. L N Mittal (India) – $45 billion 5. Mukesh Ambani (India) – $43 billion 6. Anil Ambani (India) – $42 billion 7. Ingvar Kamprad (Sweden) – $31 billion 8. K P Singh (India) – $30 billion 9. Oleg Deripaska (Russia) – $28 billion 10. Karl Deripaska (Russia) – $27 billion The PMEGP and PMAGY Schemes (Posted by admin on 9th March 2010)

1. What is Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP)?

Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is a scheme of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. It is a credit linked, Central Sector Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme which was approved in August 2008.The two erstwhile schemes of the ministry Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) and Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP) were merged to launch this scheme which continued till March 31, 2008

2.What is Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Yojana (PMAGY)? There are about 44,000 villages in which the population of Scheduled castes is above 50 per cent. A new scheme called Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Yojana (PMAGY) has been launched in July 2009 on a pilot basis, for the integrated development of 1000 such villages. An allocation of Rs. 100 crore for this scheme was proposed by Prime Minister. Each village would be able to avail gap funding of Rs. 10 lakh over and above the allocations under Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation Scheme

Vyomnauts and ISRO (Posted by admin on 1st March 2010)

3.What are Vyomnauts? India’s First space mission is scheduled for 2015. In this mission three-person vehicle will initially carry two astronauts into 275-kilometre low-Earth orbit. The ISRO is in process of choosing four astronauts from a pool of 200 fighter pilots. the media has coined a new term for Indian astronauts – Vyomnauts. Vyoma is space. The correct sanskrit term is Vyomagami yet

First Infosys Prize (Posted by admin on 1st March 2010)

First Infosys prize: Infosys prize has been instituted by Infosys to reward and recognise outstanding inventions or discovery or a cumulative body of work done in India in five major disciplines: engineering and computer science, life sciences, mathematical sciences, physical sciences and social sciences. Recently these awards were distributed.

US Postal Service stamp on Mother Teresa (Posted by admin on 1st March 2010)

US Postal Service stamp on Mother Teresa: Nobel Prize winner Mother Teresa & legendary Hollywood actress Katharine Hepburn has been chosen by US Postal Service for 2010 stamp programme. The stamp will go on sale on August 26, 2010, the birth day of Mother. She was an honorary US Citizen. The stamp features a portrait ofMother Teresa, painted by award-winning artist Thomas Blackshear II.

First Yuva Train (Posted by admin on 1st March 2010)

First Yuva Train: Howrah Railway Station. 2249/2250 Howrah-New Delhi ‘Yuva’ Express (weekly) has been launched. This is the first yuva Train of the country.

What are Yuva trains? Yuva Trains were announced in the Railway Budget 2009-10 by the Railway Minister and they are targeted mainly for the unemployed youths of the country. The objective is to ensure that the youth and low income groups can travel at low rates between major cities.

Heads of Various World organizations–Latest who’s who–Quiz (Posted by admin on 9th February 2010)

Heads of Various World organizations–Latest who’s who–Quiz Here is an update of the heads of Various World organizations. Secretary General, UN—Ban ki moon Director General,WHO—Margarret Chan Head, UNICEF—-Ann Veneman Head, FAO—Jacqueous Diouff Head,IAEA—Mohammed El Baradei President, World Bank–Robert Zoellik Managing Director, IMF–Dominique Strauss Kahn Secretary General, NATO–Jaap De Hoop Scheffer Secretary General,ASEAN–Surin Pitsuwan Secretary General ,OPEC–Abdellah Salim El Badri Chairman,SAARC—–Mahindra Rajapakse Secretary General ,Commonwealth–Kamlesh Sharma

The biggest newspaper market in the world (Posted by admin on 3rd February 2010)

With a sale of 107 million newspapers daily, India is the biggest newspaper market in the world. Together with China and Japan, it accounts for over 60 per cent of the global newspaper sales.

Visa on Arrival Scheme (Posted by admin on 3rd February 2010)

Government of India has introduced for the first time ‘visa on arrival’ scheme for tourists from five countries—Singapore, Finland, New Zealand, Luxembourg and Japan.

The Copenhagen Treaty – Environment Summit (Posted by admin on 3rd February 2010)

The Copenhagen Accord, the first global agreement of the 21st century to comprehensively influence the flow and share of natural resources, was agreed upon by 26 most influential countries in the wee hours of December 19, 2009, in the capital of Denmark.

Major Highlights of the treaty

The final draft after the Copenhagen summit has agreed to cuts in emissions and hold increase in global temp below 2°C.

A proposal attached to the accord calls for a legally binding treaty by the end-2010.

Developed countries to provide adequate financial resources and technology to support developing countries. A goal of mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries has been set.

Details of mitigation plans are included in separate annexure, one for developed countries and one for voluntary pledges from developing countries. These are not binding, and describe the current status of pledges—ranging from ‘under consideration’ for the United States to ‘adopted by legislation’ for the European Union.

Emerging economies have been asked to monitor their efforts and report the results to the United Nations every two years, with some international checks to meet transparency concerns of West but ‘ensure that national sovereignty is respected’.

The accord agrees to provide positive incentives to fund afforestation with financial resources from developed world

Carbon Markets are mentioned in the accord, but not in detail. The deal promises to pursue various approaches, including opportunities to use markets to enhance the cost-effectiveness and promote mitigations actions. Ranganath Commission report on Religious and Linguistic Minorities 9Posted by admin on 3rd February 2010)

Ranganath Commission report: Two years after it was submitted to the government, report of the National Commission on Religious and Linguistic Minorities is ready to be tabled in the Parliament. Accordingly, the recommendation is to reserve 15 per cent of posts in all cadres and grades under the Central and State governments for the religious and linguistic minorities. Of this, 10 per cent quota is recommended for Muslims and the rest for other minorities.

Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (Posted by admin on 3rd February 2010)

India, Japan sign agreements on Rs 360-kcr DMIC project: India and Japan signed two agreements on December 28, 2009 for implementing the ambitious Rs 3,60,000-crore Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project that seeks to create integrated investment regions and industrial areas across six States. The agreements include collaborating in the development of eco-cities, that is cities that are environmentally and ecologically sustainable, along the corridor and setting up of a project development fund to undertake activities like master planning and feasibility studies, preparing project reports and obtaining approvals and bid process management for projects.

Chief Minister of Jharkhand (Posted by admin on 3rd February 2010)

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren has been elected as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand after successful conclusion of the Assembly pools in December 2009. The JMM, which won 18 seats, garnered the support of the BJP-JD(U), the All Jharkhand Students Union and Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch led by Bandhu Tirkey, taking up the tally to 44 MLAs in a house of 80.

13th Finance Commission of India (Posted by admin on 3rd February 2010)

13th Finance Commission: The 13th Finance Commission, which makes recommendations on sharing of tax revenues by the Centre and States, has suggested a new path for fiscal prudence in its report submitted to President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil on December 30, 2009.

The Commission was headed by Vijay Kelkar. Other members of the Commission were B.K. Chaturvedi, Indira Rajaraman, Atul Sarma and Sanjiv Misra. The recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said “would get reflected in the 2010-11 Budget”. The report, Kelkar said, dealt with the sharing of tax revenue between the Centre and States, distribution of funds among States and support to local bodies. The Finance Commission report assumes significance in view of the ongoing reforms in indirect and direct taxes, which will have a bearing on the tax collections.

Latest Current Affairs-New Appointments (Posted by admin on 3rd January 2010) Hamid Karzai: He has been re-elected as the President of Afghanistan. Herman Van Rompuy: Prime Minister of Belgium, he has been appointed as the first President of European union (EU). J. B. Patnaik: Former Odissa (Orissa) Chief Minister, he has been appointed as the Governor of Assam. D.Y. Patil: Noted educationalist from Maharashtra, he has been appointed as the Governor of Tripura. Kamla Beniwal: She has been appointed as the Governor of Gujarat. Subir Gokarn: Chief economist (Asia-Pacific) of global rating agency Standard & Poor, he has been appointed as the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

RESIGNED: Anil Kakodar: Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) of India.

UN declares July 18 as Nelson Mandela Day (Posted by admin on 3rd January 2010)

UN declares July 18 as Nelson Mandela Day: The UN General Assembly has declared July 18 “Nelson Mandela International Day” to mark the South African anti-apartheid leader’s contribution to peace. A resolution adopted by consensus by the 192-member world body calls for commemorations every year, starting on July 18, 2010, Mandela’s birthday, to recognise the Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s contribution to resolving conflicts and promoting race relations, human rights and reconciliation. Mandela led the fight against apartheid in South Africa as head of the African National Congress’ armed wing. He was convicted of sabotage and other crimes and served 27 years in prison. When freed in 1990, he helped lead South Africa’s transition toward democracy.

The Present Governor of Reserve Bank of India (Posted by admin on 3rd January 2010) 1.Who is the present Governor of Reserve Bank of India ? (a) Bimal Jalan (b) Sriprakash Jaiswal (c) D. Subbarao (d) Y.V.Reddy Ans: (c)

GK UPDATES (Posted by admin on 13th February 2009)

1.Who is the chief secretary of kerala ? K.J .Mathew

2. Who is the Miss Universe 2008 ? Sania Sukinova of Russia

3. Who become the first Runner Up in recently held Miss Universe 2008 contest ? Parvathy Omanakuttan

4.Director of India’a Federal Intelligence Agency ?

Radha Vinod Raju

5.Top News Feed in the Year 2008 ? Barrak Obama’s Victory in the US Presidential election

Comptroller & Auditor General of India (Posted by admin on 8th July 2010)

Article 148 of the constitution of India provides for an independent office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India. He is the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Departments. Generally a person with long administrative experience and knowledge of accounts is appointed as Comptroller & auditor General by the President of India. He / she hold the office for 6 years or till 65 years of age. President can remove CAG from office on grounds of proved misbehaviour and incapacity, however removal order are issued by the president on recommendation of two houses of parliament. Salary of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India is drawn from Consolidated Fund of India.

The main accounting functions of CAG prior to 1976 were maintenance of state and central government accounts, making their annual summary. CAG was relived from accounting functions in 1976 and the main duty now is auditing functions only. The current CAG is Vinod Rai, a 1972 batch Kerala cadre officer of IAS since 2008.

National Advisory Council of India (Posted by admin on 1st June 2010)

National Advisory Council: -Ms Rita Sharma, IAS has been appointed as Secretary, National Advisory Council (NAC). -Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appoints 14 members to the National Advisory Council in consulation with its chairman Sonia Gandhi. The members are Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze, N C Saxena, A K Shiva Kumar, M S Swaminathan, V Krishnamurthy, Narendra Jadhav, Mirai Chatterjee,Farah Naqvi,Pramod Tandon,Harsh Mander, Ram Dayal Munda,, Anu Aga, Madhav Gadgil,

Chiefs of Defence Forces India-Airforce,Army,Navy (Posted by admin on 1st June 2010) Chief of Air Staff:Air Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik, PVSM, VSM, ADC Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik is the current Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. He took office on May 31, 2009, becoming the nineteenth Chief of Air Staff following the retirement of Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major.

Chief of Army Staff: General Vijay Kumar Singh PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC General Vijay Kumar Singh is the 26th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army. He assumed command on 31 March 2010. His unit of Commission was Infantry – Rajput Regiment.

Chief of Naval Staff: Admiral Nirmal Verma, PVSM, AVSM, ADC Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma is the current Chief of the Indian Navy, having taken office on August 31, 2009

Chief of Integrated Defence Staff: Air Marshal Suresh Chand Mukul, PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM

Government of India-Council of Ministers-Cabinet Ministers (Posted by admin on 14th May 2010) Serial Portfolio Name of Minister Number Prime Minister and also In-Charge of the Ministries/Departments viz: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions; 1. Ministry of Planning; Dr. Manmohan Singh Ministry of Water Resources; Department of Atomic Energy; and Department of Space 2. Minister of Finance Shri Pranab Mukherjee Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Consumer Affairs, 3. Shri Sharad Pawar Food & Public Distribution 4. Minister of Defence Shri A.K. Antony 5. Minister of Home Affairs Shri P. Chidambaram 6. Minister of Railways Km. Mamata Banerjee 7. Minister of External Affairs Shri S.M. Krishna 8. Minister of Steel Shri Virbhadra Singh 9. Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh 10. Minister of Health and Family Welfare Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad 11. Minister of Power Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde 12. Minister of Law and Justice Shri M. Veerappa Moily 13. Minister of New and Renewable Energy Dr. Farooq Abdullah 14. Minister of Urban Development Shri S. Jaipal Reddy 15. Minister of Road Transport and Highways Shri Kamal Nath 16. Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Shri Vayalar Ravi 17. Minister of Textiles Shri Dayanidhi Maran 18. Minister of Communications and Information Technology Shri A. Raja 19. Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Murli Deora 20. Minister of Information and Broadcasting Smt. Ambika Soni 21. Minister of Labour and Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge 22. Minister of Human Resource Development Shri Kapil Sibal Minister of Mines and Minister of Development of North 23. Shri B.K. Handique Eastern Region 24. Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Anand Sharma Minister of Rural Development and Minister of Panchayati 25. Shri C.P. Joshi Raj Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and 26. Kum. Selja Minister of Tourism 27. Minister of Food Processing Industries Shri Subodh Kant Sahay 28. Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Dr. M.S. Gill 29. Minister of Shipping Shri G.K. Vasan 30. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pawan K. Bansal 31. Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Mukul Wasnik 32. Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Kantilal Bhuria 33. Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri M.K. Alagiri

Governors in Indian States -May 2010 (Posted by admin on 14th May 2010) State Governor Andhra Pradesh Shri E.S Lakshmi Narasimhan Arunachal Pradesh General (Rtd.) J.J. Singh Assam Shri Janaki Ballav Pattanaik Bihar Shri Devanand Konwar Chhattisgarh Shri Shekhar Dutt Goa Dr. Shivinder Singh Sidhu Gujarat Dr. Kamla Beniwal Haryana Shri Jagannath Pahadia Himachal Pradesh Smt. Urmila Singh Jammu and Kashmir Shri N. N. Vohra Jharkhand Shri M.O.H Farook Karnataka Shri H.R. Bhardwaj Kerala Shri R.S. Gavai Madhya Pradesh Shri Rameshwar Thakur Maharashtra Shri K. Shankarnarayan Manipur Shri Gurbachan Jagat Meghalaya Shri Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary Mizoram Lt. Gen. (Retd.) M.M. Lakhera, PVSM,AVSM,VSM Nagaland Shri. Nikhil Kumar Orissa Shri Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare Punjab Shri Shivraj Patil Rajasthan Shri Shivraj Patil, Governor of Punjab (Additional Charge) Sikkim Shri Balmiki Prasad Singh Tamil Nadu Shri Surjit Singh Barnala Tripura Shri Dnyandeo Yashwantrao Patil Uttar Pradesh Shri B.L. Joshi Uttarakhand Smt. Margaret Alva West Bengal Shri M.K. Narayanan

National Symbols-Fact about National flag of India (Posted by admin on 24th April 2009) The cloth of National Flaf of India is :Khadhi The National Flag of India was designed by Pingali Venkiah The first person to raise Indian flag was Madem Bhikjaji Rustom Cama in 1907. Colors used in the National Flag are Saffron,White and Green Saffron color signifies courage and sacrifice .White signifies truth and purity.

Man in the news Today (Posted by admin on 23rd July 2010)

In the final Test match of his career, Sri Lankan international cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan (pictured) becomes the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets.

Sports GK Today-Sporting Terms (Posted by admin on 22nd July 2010)

Terms used in Various Sports:

Cricket: Ashes, Banana, Boundary, Bowling, Caught, Chinaman, Cover Drive, Crease, Doosra, Duck, Duckworth-Lewis Rule, Fine Leg, Follow On, Full Toss, Gardening, Googly, Gully, Hat-trick, Hit Wicket, Inswinger, l.b.w., Leg-break, Leg-bye, Leg Glance, late Cut, maiden Over, No Ball, Off Break, On Drive, Out, Outswinger, Over, Mandatory Over, over Pitch, Popping Crease, Rubber, Run Down, Run Out, Short Pitch, Silly Point, Slip, Square Leg, Stone Walling, Straight Drive, Stumped, Short leg, Spin, Swing, Thirdman, Yorker.

Football: Advantage Clause, Blind Side, Centre Forward, Corner Kick, Dead Ball, Direct Free Kick, Dribble, Goal kick, Golden Goal, Hat-trick, Marking, OffSide, Penalty Kick, Penalty Shootout, Red Card, Striker, Throw In, Tripping.

Golf: Best-ball Foursome, Bogey, Bunker, Caddie, Dormy, Fairway, Fourball, Foursome, Greed Holes, Links, Niblic, Par, Put, Rough, Stymied, Tee, Threesome.

Gymnastics: A-bars, Ariel, Blocks, Cone of Swing, Dish, Flairs, Giants, Inlocate, Kip, Planche, Tariff, Tumble, Virtuosity, Wrap.

Hockey: Advantage, Back-stick, Bully, Cary, Centre Forward, Corner, Dribble, Flick, Free-hit, Goal Line, Green Card, Halfway Line, Hat-trick, Off-side, Red Car, Roll -in, Scoop, Short Corner, Sixteen- yard hit, Square Pass, Stick, Striking Cirele, Tackle, Tie-breaker, Zonal Marking.

Wimbledon 2010 Results-Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams wins singles titles (Posted by admin on 4th July 2010)

Wimbledon 2010: Rafael Nadal wins Wimbledon Open 2010 Mens Singles, Rafael Nadal defeat Tomas Berdych

Serena Williams wins Wimbledon Open 2010 :- Serena Williams defeat Vera Zvonareva Wimbledon 2010 Women’s Final

Current Affairs-Sports 2010-Saina Nehwal becomes World Ranked 2. (Posted by admin on 1st July 2010)

Badminton-2010: Three Super Series for Saina Nehwal-Wins Indonesian Open beating Japanese Sayaka Sato in the finals at Jakarta-Saina becomes World Ranked 2. With her newly-added victory, Saina has collected a hat-trick victories at the international badminton tournaments three weeks in a row. Prior to Indonesia Open she had claimed India Open and Singapore Open.

BOXING Asian Women’s Championship: The Asian Women’s Championships were held in Astana, Kazakhistan, in May 2010. Kazakhastan topped the medals tally with eight gold medals. China won the most medals in total—10, followed Korea and India amassing eight medals each.

CHESS World Title, 2010: Viswanathan Anand held his nerve and focus better than his opponent, Veselin Topalov, to win the 12th and final game to retain his World Championships title. The 40-year-old Indian beat the local man from Bulgaria in the closing game with black pieces, to emerge a 6.5-5.5 winner and seal his place as a dominant player of his era. Anand first won the world title in 2000 and held it till 2002 when the chess world was still split. He became the undisputed World champion in 2007 and then retained the title in 2008 when he beat Vladimir Kramnik.

Commonwealth Championship Grandmaster R.R. Laxman clinched his career best win and bagged the gold after beating GM Pablo Lafuente of Argentina at the Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess Championship. In the open category, Grandmaster Maletin Pavel of Russia signed peace with International Master Lalith Babu on the top board to win the title. Both Pavel and Laxman had nine points after 11 rounds, but the former had the better tie-break record on Bucholz count. The Russian was not in contention in the Commonwealth category. In the women’s category, D. Harika outwitted IM Tania Sachdev on account of superior tie- break. CRICKET T20 World Cup, 2010 chasing a challenging target of 148 runs, England defeated Australia by seven wickets to win the T20 World Cup. The tournament was held in West Indies. Australia’s women held their nerves in a low- scoring final as they beat New Zealand by three runs to lift the Women’s T20 World cup title.

West Indies-South Africa One-Day series: South Africa defeated West Indies by 67 runs in the third match to win the series. They went on to win the fourth match also. South Africa beat West Indies by seven wickets.

England-Bangladesh Test series: England beat Bangladesh by five wickets in the first Test of the series, played at Lords, to be one-up in the two-Test series.

FOOTBALL Premier League: Chelsea has won the title by a single point. They have swept back the trophy after four years.

Champions League, 2010: A goal in each half by Argentina striker Diego Militi helped Inter Milan overcome Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League final.

HOCKEY Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, 19th: India and South Korea were named joint champions after the final match was abandoned following heavy rains in Malaysia. For defending champions India it was their fifth win, matching Australia, while for Asian champions South Korea this was their second title win; they had last won the cup in 1996.

TABLE TENNIS World Team Championship: Chinese fans were left in shock after their women paddlers failed to win the gold medal at the World Team Table Tennis Championships for the first time since 1991. The Chinese trio of Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Guo Yan fell to their Singaporean counterparts 3-1 in the final in Moscow as Singapore claimed their first title in the event.

WRESTLING Sushil, Narshing win gold in Asian Wrestling: Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar lived up to his reputation as he bagged a gold in men’s 66kg freestyle in the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships held at New Delhi. Narshing Yadav won a gold in the 74kg freestyle category.

FIFA World Cup History (Posted by admin on 29th June 2010)

From its humble beginnings in Uruguay in 1930 to a global phenomenon, the FIFA World Cup (WC) has grown as a passion for both foot-ballers and fans. With Uruguay, the football champion in the 1924 and 1928 Olympics, along with celebrating 100 years of Independence in 1930, FIFA decided to give the country the hosting rights for the first World Cup.

Only 13 nations participated in the first World Cup and Uruguay won. FIFA then asked teams to qualify for the following World Cup, held in Italy. Uruguay did not defend its title, miffed with the non-appearance of European nations on its soil. Italy went on to win in 1934.

The succeeding edition saw the host nation and defending champion given direct entries into the finals. Italy retained the title while many South American nations boycotted the event because of the finals staying in Europe. The next two tournaments were cancelled because of World War II.

The 1950 World Cup in Brazil saw England participating for the first time. The competition did away with knockouts and had two group phases.

A 17-year old Pele, displaying skills beyond his age, became the youngest player to win the WC. With the likes of Garrincha by his side, Pele and Selecao again won the World Cup in 1962. England hosted the 1966 event and won, and it would be remembered for many things. The Jules Rimet trophy was lost and found, South Africa was banned for apartheid, the first WC mascot was unveiled, and North Korea became the first Asian nation to enter the last eight.

In 1970, Brazil coasted to a dominating triumph, with Pele becoming the first and till now only player to win three WCs. The team, which also had the likes of Gerson and Tostao, is widely recognised as the best ever football team.

Now in its 80th year, the world cup touches down in Africa. The African nation, riddled with economic strife and racial tensions, has done all the spadework for the quadrennial event.

Saina Nehwal clinches Singapore Open Super Series (Posted by admin on 21st June 2010)

Singapore, Jun 20 (PTI) Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal put behind a nervy start to clinch the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over qualifier Tzu Ying Tai in the finals here today. Top seed Saina took just 33 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei’s Tai 21-18 21-15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium here. The world number six, who was the lone Indian left if fray after others crashed out by the semifinal stage, had bagged her maiden Super Series title in June last year when she claimed the top honours at the Indonesian Open. “I never expected to reach the finals as there were two good Chinese players in the draw but I believed in myself and got the result I wanted,” the jubilant 20-year-old said.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES,ASIAN GAMES,SAF GAMES (Posted by admin on 20th June 2010) After Olympics, Commonwealth Games is the second largest sports festival in the world. The Games are held once in four years but only in between the Olympic years. The Games were originally known as the British Empire Games. The first Commonwealth Games were held in 1930 at Hamilton, Canada. The 10th Commonwealth Games were held at Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974, the 11th in Edmonton (Canada) in 1978, the 12th in Brisbane (Australia) in 1982, the 13th in Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1986, the 14th in Auckland (New Zealand) in 1990 and the 15th in Victoria (Canada) in 1994, where about 3,350 athletes from a record 64 nations (including South Africa, which joined the family of Commonwealth athletes after 36 years) participated. Namibia also, which gained its independence in 1990, made its debut while Hong Kong made its final appearance in the Games before being ceded to China in 1997.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES S. No Venue Year No of Countries

1 Hamilton, Canada 1930 11

2 London, United Kingdom 1934 16

3 Sydney, Australia 1938 15

4 Auckland, New Zealand 1950 12

5 Vancouver, Canada 1954 24

6 Cardiff, United Kingdom 1958 35

7 Perth, Australia 1962 35

8 Jamaica, West Indies 1966 34

9 Edinburgh, United Kingdom 1970 42

10 Christchurch, New Zealand 1974 38 11 Edmonton, Canada 1978 48

12 Brisbane, Australia 1982 47

13 Edinburgh, United Kingdom 1986 26

14 Auckland, New Zealand 1990 55

15 Victoria, Canada 1994 64

16 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1998 70

17 Manchchester, United Kingdom 2002 72

18 Melbourne, Australia 2006

19 New Delhi, India 2010

ASIAN GAMES: India played a leading role to organise sports festival for Asian countries on Olympic lines. ‘Ever Onward’ is the motto of the Asian Games and ‘a bright full rising sun with interlocking rings’ is its emblem. The first Asian Games were held at New Delhi in 1951 followed by Manila, Philippines (1954); Tokyo, Japan (1958); Jakarta, Indonesia (1962); Bangkok, Thailand (1966, 1970, 1978 & 1998); Teheran, Iran (1974); New Delhi, India (1982); Seoul, South Korea (1986); Beijing, China (1990); Hiroshima, Japan (1994); Bangkok, Thailand (1998); Busan, South Korea (2002); Doha, Qatar (2006). The next editions of the Games is scheduled to be held in and Guangzhou, China (2010).

SAP GAMES: The South Asian Federation Games (SAP Games) is a sport festival of South Asian countries. The South Asian Sports Federation comprising India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives was formed in New Delhi in November, 1982. The first SAP Games were held in Kathmandu in 1984 followed by Dhaka (1985), Kolkata (1987), Islamabad (1989), Colombo (1991), Dhaka (1993) and Chennai (1995). The Eighth SAF Games (September 25-Octobcr 4, 1999) were held in Kathmandu. Three new events— badminton, rowing and karate were introduced for the first time in the 9th SAP Games.

New Name For SAF Games: The SAP Games have been rechristencd as South Asian Games, according to a decision taken by the South Asian Sports Federation at its 32nd meeting held in Islamabad (Pakistan) on April 2, 2004.

THE FIRST WORLD CUP FOOTBALL WINNER (Posted by admin on 11th June 2010)

The FIFA World Cup, also called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men’s national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport’s global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not contested because of World War II.

The current format of the tournament involves 32 teams competing for the title at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about a month – this phase is often called the World Cup Finals. A qualification phase, which currently takes place over the preceding three years, is used to determine which teams qualify for the tournament together with the host nation(s).

Winners List

Here are the full list of winners of the previous FIFA World Cups. Click on the highlighted text for more information about each host city and participating country. Are you looking for results for South Africa 2010? Year Host Country Winner Score 1930 Uruguay Uruguay Uruguay 4-2 Argentina 1934 Italy Italy Italy 2-1 Czechoslovakia 1938 France Italy Italy 4-2 Hungary 1942 not held 1946 not held 1950 Brazil Uruguay Uruguay 2-1 Brazil 1954 Switzerland Germany Germany 3-2 Hungary 1958 Sweden Brazil Brazil 5-2 Sweden 1962 Chile Brazil Brazil 3-1 Czechoslovakia 1966 England England England 4-2 Germany 1970 Mexico Brazil Brazil 4-1 Italy 1974 Germany Germany Germany 2-1 Holland 1978 Argentina Argentina Argentina 3-1 Holland 1982 Spain Italy Italy 3-1 Germany 1986 Mexico Argentina Argentina 3-2 Germany 1990 Italy Germany Germany 1-0 Argentina 1994 US Brazil Brazil 3-2 Italy 1998 France France France 3-0 Brazil 2002 Japan / S. Korea Brazil Brazil 2-0 Germany 2006 Germany Italy Italy 1-1 (5-3) France 2010 South Africa

Q? : WHO WON THE FIRST WORLD CUP FOOTBALL Ans: URUGUAY

Sports GK Updates-June 2010 (Posted by admin on 5th June 2010)

Who won the WISPA Indian Challenger squash tournament held at Calcutta Racket Club squash courts on April 17, 2010?

Dipika Pallikal. She defeated Emma Beddoes of England 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6 in the final; it was her first WISPA (Women’s International Squash Players Association) title.

1. Which team win the 3rd ICC T20 World cup in West Indies? England beat Australia by 7 wickets Man of the Match – Craig Krieswetter 63 (49), Man of the Series – Kevin Peterson

Who is appointed as brand ambassador for the ‘Mega Tennis Event’ organized by All India Tennis Association (AITA) which is aimed at the development of sport in the country? Sania Mirza.

Sri Lankan Cricketer who has won the parliamentary general election under the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) from his native Matara district recently: Sanath Jayasurya.

Government of India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, who resigned recently over allegations of corruption in winning a cricket league franchise (IPL Kochi team)? Shashi Tharoor.

Who claim title at the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix held in Shanghai? Jenson Button, McLaren’s British driver.

Who won the Monte Carlo Masters Tennis Title defeating Fernando Verdasco( 6-0, 6-1)in the final? Rafael Nadal. This is his 6th straight Monte Carlo Masters title

President of the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001, who has died in Barcelona recently? Juan Antonio Samaranch. He was heading the IOC for 21 years for the longest tenure after that of the body’s founding father, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

Which team won the third edition of Indian Premiere League (2010)? Chennai Super Kings. They defeated Mumbai Indians by 22 runs in the final held in Mumbai. Man of the Match: Suresh Raina( He scored 57 runs from 35 balls and took one wicket.)

Which state emerged overall champions in the seventh National Junior Youth Athletic Championships at the Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore? Haryana, Haryana won six gold, six silver and one bronze medals to relegate Maharashtra (6-5-3) to the runners-up position. Hosts Tamil Nadu with six gold, four silver and six bronze medals were overall third.

Who has been named the new interim chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL)? Chirayu Amin. BCCI suspended Lalit Modi from his post as chairman and commissioner of IPL, over allegations of financial irregularities, match-fixing and rigging of bids.

Manchester United and England striker who won the Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year award? Wayne Rooney.

Who has become the first woman to climb the world’s peaks over 8,000 metres when she scaled Mount Annapurna in Nepal? Oh Eun-sun. She is a South Korean female mountaineer. Italy’s Reinhold Messner was the first man to achieve the feat. Which city of India will host the 12th edition of South Asian Games (SAF Games) in 2012? Delhi

Which country won the African Cup of Nations soccer tournament for the third consecutive time with a 1-0 victory over Ghana in the final in Luanda, Angola? Egypt. Egypt won African nations cup for the seventh time.

Who won 72nd Corus Chess Tournament held in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands? Magnus Carlsen, This 19 year old Norwegian chess player is coached by former world champion Gary Kasparov. He is currently ranked number one in the world. On 26 April 2004 Carlsen became a Grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 148 days, making him the third youngest Grandmaster in history. At the age of 19 years, 32 days he became the youngest chess player in history to be ranked world number one, breaking the record previously held by Vladimir Kramnik.

Which pairs clinched their first ATP World Tour doubles Tennis title after a hard-fought 2-6, 6-3, 10-5 victory over Karol Beck and Harold Levy in the final of $4,42,500 South African Open in Johannesburg? Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi

Which country emerged triumphant at the 11th South Asian Games Women’s football tournament, beating Nepal 3-1 to win the gold medal at the event? India

Which country won the men’s football gold medal in the South Asian Games held in Dhaka? Bangladesh. They thrashed Afghanistan 4-0 to clinch their second men’s title.

Former Wimbledon and Australian Open champion who retired from professional tennis recently? Amelie Mauresmo.

Who won award for Cricketer of the year as well as test batsman of the year in Ceat cricket awards 2008 /09? Gautham Gambhir

Who won the Sony Ericsson Open title held in Miami beating Venus Williams 6-2, 6-1in the final? Kim Clijsters, This is her second Sony Ericsson Open title in Miami.

Who defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi 6-2, 7-5 to clinch the Sony Ericsson Open doubles tennis held in Miami? Leander Paes(India) and Czech Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic).

Who won the Miami Sony Ericsson ATP Masters title? Andy Roddick, He beat Czech Tomas Berdych( 7-5, 6-4) in the final.

Who won Formula one’s Malaysian grand prix held in Sepang, Malaysia? Sebastian Vettel. (Germany), He is Red Bull Formula One driver

Who has clinched Australian Masters Golf Title held in Melbourne? Tiger Woods.

Former Wimbledon and Australian Open champion who retired from professional tennis recently? Amelie Mauresmo.

Who won award for Cricketer of the year as well as test batsman of the year in Ceat cricket awards 2008 /09? Gautham Gambhir

Who has clinched Australian Masters Golf Title held in Melbourne? Tiger Woods.

New partner of Mahesh Bhupathi in doubles for next tennis season? Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

Which country won gold medal in men’s kabbadi, in the 3rd Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam? India. Which country leads medals in the 18th Asian Athletics Championships held in Guangzhou? China in 2009? China (47 Medals,18 Gold,19 Silver,10 Bronze)

Country hosted South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup In 2009? Bangladesh.

First Indian and the 2nd player after Pakistan’s Javed Miandad to have played in ODIs for 20 years? Sachin Tendulkar

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting(CHOGM),leaders from 51 Commonwealth countries began 3-day summit started on 27-11-09,held in? Port of Spain

12year-old boy who made a World record in inter-school cricket by smacking a mammoth 439 in the prestigious Harris Shield tournament? Sarfaraz Khan.

Who won WTA championship-2009 held in Doha?Serena Williams. Winner of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2009 Race? Sebastian Vettel

Which athletes were crowned as Male and Female World Athletes of 2009 by International Athletic Foundation? Usain Bolt, Jamaica Sanya Richard, USA

Who has been named European Footballer of the Year to win prestigious Ballon d’Or award? Lionel Messi.

New CEO of I-League? Mr.Sunando Dhar.

Who is re-elected unopposed as president of Asian Athletic Association (AAA) in China, to serve his 3rd consecutive term at office? Suresh Kalmadi

Who was named Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of Year-2009? Saina Nehwal.

African nation which has been admitted into Commonwealth of Nations, becoming 54th member of organization of mostly former British colonies? Rwanda

Sahara India has retained the sponsorship rights of the Indian cricket team (Posted by admin on 1st June 2010)

Sahara India has retained the sponsorship rights of the Indian cricket team for a whopping Rs.30.34 million per match (ODI and Twenty20 matches) for the next three years till 2013.

Posted by admin on 28th May 2010: CottonKing Maharashtra Premier League (MPL) is the first state run League in India, which is being organized by Maharashtra Cricket Association

Measurements of Sports Fields (Posted by admin on 24th May 2010)

Badminton Court: 13.40 m x 5.18 m

Net: 1.524 m high

Shuttle: 4.73 to 5.50 gms

Cricket Pitch: 20.12 metres

Bat: 96.5 cm length and 10.8 cm width Ball: 155.9 to 163 gms

Derby Course Route length: 2400 metres (or) 11/2 miles

Football Field: 100 x 64 m to 110 x 75 m

Hockey Field: 100 x 55 yards to 100 x 60 yards

Ball: 5.50 ounces to 5.75 ounces

Kabaddi Field: 13 x 10 meters

Khokho Field: 34 x 10 m to 34 x 16 metres

Lawn Tennis Court: 23.77 x 8.23 metres

Ball: 56.7 gms to 58.5 gms. (weight); 6.35 cm to 6.67 cms (diameter)

Marathon Race Route Length: 42,195 m-26 miles, 385 yards

Table Tennis Table: 275 cm x 152.5 cm, 76 cm above the ground (floor)

Ball: 37.2 to 38.2 millimeter (diameter); 9.40 to 9.53 gms.

Volleyball Court: 18 m x 9 m

Net: 9.5 m x 1 m x 2.43 m

Famous Sports Personalities (Posted by admin on 24th May 2010)

Field Person

The first Indian woman to swim across the English Channel Miss. Arati Shah

The first Indian to win world Billiards Trophy Wilson Jones

The first to cross the Damelles by swimming Mihir Sen

The first to conquer Everest Sherpa Tenzing (1953)

The first to sail round the world Megellan

The first person to win Wimbledon title five times Bjorn Borg

The first woman who conquered Everest Jungo Table (Japan)

The first person to reach North Pole Robert Peary

First woman Olympic Medallist (Weight Lifting) Karnam Malleswari (2000) The first person to reach South Pole Amundsen

The first Indian to win All England Badminton Championship Prakash Padukone

The first Indian woman to conquer Everest Bichendri Pal

The first an to climb Everest twice Nawang Gombu

The first person to complete solo walk to magnetic North pole David Hempleman Adam (UK)

The first woman to reach North pole Ann Bancroft

The first woman to sail non stop around the world alone Kaycottee

The first deaf & dumb to cross the strait of Gibraltar Taranath Shenoy (India)

The first woman to climb Mt. Everest twice Santosh Yadav (India)

The first black player to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title Arthur Ashe (US)

The first person to win the Palk Strait ocean swimming contest Baidyanath

Viswanathan Anand retains World Chess Championship title (Posted by admin on 11th May 2010)

Vishwanathan Anand has retained his World Chess Championship title after a dramatic end to one of the closest matches in the one hundred and twenty four year history of the competition at Sofia. The forty year old Indian grandmaster, the fifteenth world champion, secured a further two year tenure and a prize of 1.2 million Euros after the challenger, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, cracked in the twelth and final game played in front of his home fans.

SPORTS AND THE TERMS ASSOCIATED WITH THEM (Posted by admin on 22nd March 2010)

Badminton Angled Drive Serve, Backhand Low Serve, Bird, Deuce, Double Droup, Fault, Flick Serve, Forehand Smash, Let, Lob, Love All, net Shots, Rush, Smash. Baseball Base, Battery, Bunting, Catcher, Diamond, Hitter, Home Infield, Outfield, Pinch, Pitcher Plate, Pullout, Short Stop, Strike. Basketball Ball, Basket, Blocking, Dribbling, Free Throw, Held Ball, Holding, Jump Ball, Multiple Throws, Pivot. Billiards Baulk Line, Break, Bolting, Cannon, Cue, Hazard, In-off, Jigger, Long jenney, Pot, Scratch, Screw Back, short Stop, Strike. Boxing Ausiliary Point System, Babit Punch, Break, Cut, Defence, Down, Hook, Jab, Lying On, Knock, Seconds out, Slam, Upper Cut, Weight In, Win by Knock-out. Bridge Auction, Bid, Chicane, Cut, Declarer, Doubleton, Dummy, Finesse, Grand Slam, Little Slam, Notrumps, Over-trick, Revoke, rubber, Ruff, Shuffle, Suit, Vulnerable. Chess Bishop, Capture, Castling, Checkmate, En Passant, Gambit, Grand Master, King, Knight, Pawn, Queen, Rook, Stalemate, Under Promoting. Cricket Ashes, Banana, Boundary, Bowling, Caught, Chinaman, Cover Drive, Crease, Doosra, Duck, Duckworth-Lewis Rule, Fine Leg, Follow On, Full Toss, Gardening, Googly, Gully, Hat-trick, Hit Wicket, Inswinger, l.b.w., Leg-break, Leg-bye, Leg Glance, late Cut, maiden Over, No Ball, Off Break, On Drive, Out, Outswinger, Over, Mandatory Over, over Pitch, Popping Crease, Rubber, Run Down, Run Out, Short Pitch, Silly Point, Slip, Square Leg, Stone Walling, Straight Drive, Stumped, Short leg, Spin, Swing, Thirdman, Yorker. Croquet Hoops, Mallet, Peg Out. Draughts Huff Football Advantage Clause, Blind Side, Centre Forward, Corner Kick, Dead Ball, Direct Free Kick, Dribble, Goal kick, Golden Goal, Hat-trick, Marking, OffSide, Penalty Kick, Penalty Shootout, Red Card, Striker, Throw In, Tripping. Golf Best-ball Foursome, Bogey, Bunker, Caddie, Dormy, Fairway, Fourball, Foursome, Greed Holes, Links, Niblic, Par, Put, Rough, Stymied, Tee, Threesome. Gymnastics A-bars, Ariel, Blocks, Cone of Swing, Dish, Flairs, Giants, Inlocate, Kip, Planche, Tariff, Tumble, Virtuosity, Wrap. Hockey Advantage, Back-stick, Bully, Cary, Centre Forward, Corner, Dribble, Flick, Free-hit, Goal Line, Green Card, Halfway Line, Hat-trick, Off-side, Red Car, Roll -in, Scoop, Short Corner, Sixteen-yard hit, Square Pass, Stick, Striking Cirele, Tackle, Tie-breaker, Zonal Marking. Horse Racing Jockey, Punt, Steeplechase, Thorough Bred. Judo Ashi-waza, chui, Dan, Dojo, Gyaku, Hajime, Ippon, Jigotai, Kaeshiwaza, Koka, Makikomi, Nage-waza, O-goshi, Randori, Scarf, Tani-Otoshi, Uchi-komvi, Waki-gatame, Yoshi, Yuko. Karate Age Zuki, Ai-uchi, Aka, Chakugan, Dachi, Encho Sen, Fudotachi, Gedan, Geri, Hajime, Ibuki, Jion, Kakato, Koka, Makiwara, Nidan, Obi, Rei, Sanbon, Shiro, Tobigeri, Ude, Waza-ari, Yoko-geri, Zanshin, Zen-no. Polo Bunker, Chukker, Mallet. Rowing Bow, Bucket, Cow, Ergometer, Feather, Paddle, Regatta. Rugby Football A Trackle, Lines, Scrum, Touch, Try. Shootng Bag, Bull’s Eye, Marksmanship, Muzzle, Plug. Skiing Tobogganing. Swimming Breast Stroke, Crawl. Table Tennis Anti Loop, Backspin, Chop, Loop, Penhold Grip, Push, Spin, Twiddle. Tennis Ace, Backhand Stroke, Deuce, Deep Volley, Deuce, Double Fault, Fault, Ground Stroke, Half Volley, Let, Love, Slice, Smash, Volley Volleyball Ace, Base-line, Blocking, Doubling, Foot Fault, Heave, Holding, Jump Set, Lob Pass, Love All, Point, Quick Smash, Scouting, Service, Spike, Tactical Ball, Volley, Windmill Service. Wrestling Half-Nelson, Head Lock, Heave, Hold, Rebouts, Scissor.

First Double Century in the history of One Day Cricket (Posted by admin on 18th March 2010) Sachin Tendulkar celebrates his 200 at Gwalior, the first double century in the history of one-day internationals. Sachin’s classic 200 not out (off only 147 balls, 25×4, 3×6) at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium againg South Africa. He became the owner of highest score in one day international beating 194 runs of Saeed Anwar( Pak ).

Modern Olympics-Host Countries and Venues (Posted by admin on 19th February 2010)

City Year Country

London 2012 United Kingdom Beijing 2008 China Athens 2004 Greece Sydney 2000 Australia Atlanta 1996 United States Barcelona 1992 Spain Seoul 1988 South Korea LosAngeles 1984 United States Moscow 1980 U S S R Montreal 1976 Canada Munich 1972 Germany Mexico City 1968 Mexico Tokyo 1964 Japan Rome 1960 Italy Melbourne 1956 Australia Helsinki 1952 Finland London 1948 United Kingdom

Berlin 1936 Germany(No Olympics was held for 12 years due to Second World War) Los Angeles 1932 United States Amsterdam 1928 Holland Paris 1924 France Antwerp 1920 Belgium Stockholm 1912 Sweden(No Olympics was held for 8 years due to First World War) London 1908 United Kingdom St Louis 1904 United States Paris 1900 France Athens 1896 Greece

The first Indian boxer to clinch a gold medal at the inter-continental President’s Cup (Posted by admin on 3rd February 2010)

Suranjoy wins gold at President’s Cup boxing: Asian champion Suranjoy Singh has become the first Indian boxer to clinch a gold medal at the inter-continental President’s Cup. He out-punched Frenchman Nordine Oubaali 8-1 in the flyweight (51kg) final, in Baku, Azerbaijan. The 22-year-old Manipuri’s triumph also fetched him US $3,000 at the prestigious season-ending event, where confederations from Asia, America, Africa, Europe and Oceania are pitted against each other.

Sports GK-Indian Cricket (Posted by admin on 17th January 2010)

1. The Biography of Mohammed Azharuddin, “Azhar” was written by— (A) Azharuudin (B) Harsha Bhogle (C) Harbhajan singh (D) Azhar’s Mother. Ans : (B) 2. India played its first one day in— (A) 1970 (B) 1971 (C) 1972 (D) 1974 Ans : (D)

3. Yuvraj Singh scored his first one-day century against— (A) Bangladesh. (B) Sri Lanka (C) Australia (D) New Zealand Ans : (A)

4. India-Srilanka world cup semi final in 1996 played in— (A) Mumbai (B) Calcutta (C) Chennai (D) Hyderabad Ans : (B)

5. ______led India in more than 150 one-day matches. (A) Dravid (B) Kapil dev (C) Sachin (D) Azharddin Ans : (D)

6. ______opened the bowling in India’s first One-day International. (A) Kapildev and Abid Ali (B) Abid Ali and Eknath solkar (C) Eknath solkar kapildev (D) None of the above. Ans : (B)

7. ______won the finals of 2000 ICC Knock out Trophi in Nairobi. (A) India (B) New Zealand (C) Pakistan (D) Austarlia Ans : (B) ( New Zealand won against India)

8. Sachin Tendulkar made his One-day debut in— (A) India (B) Australia (C) Pakistan (D) Sri Lanka Ans : (C)

8. ______was the fastest Indian bowler to reach 100 wickets in One-day internationals. (A) Kapil dev (B) Anil Kumble (C) Ajit Agarkar (D) Zaheer Khan Ans : (C)

9. India has been involved in three tied matches against— (A) Zimbabwe (B) West Indies (C) Australia (D) Both A and B. Ans : (D)

10. ______Team won the Titan cup in1996. (A) Indian (B) Australian (C) Pakistan (D) Australian Ans : (A)

11. In ______, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath involved in a famous 52-run Partnership at Bangalore against Australia. (A) 1994 (B) 1990 (C) 1992 (D) 1996 Ans : (D)

12. Vinod Kambli suffered a freakish ankle injury in a one day match at cuttack against— (A) Zimbabwe (B) Australia (C) New Zealand (D) Pakistan Ans : (A)

13. ______won the four consecutive “Man of the Match” award. (A) Sachin (B) Gilchrist (C) Rahul Dravid (D) Sourav Ganguly Ans : (D)

14. ______was kapil dev’s final one day victim. (A) Adam Gilchrist (B) Vivian Richards. (C) Zahid fazal (D) None of the above. Ans : (D) (It was Hashan Tillakaratne)

15. Kapil dev played his final One day Match against— (A) Sri Lanka (B) Australia (C) Pakistan (D) New Zealand Ans : (A)

16. One-day Hat-trick was registered by— (A) Chetan sharma (B) Kapil dev (C) Both A and B. (D) Dravid Ans : (C)

17. Imran Khan was the first one day victim of— (A) Sunil Gavaskar (B) Kapil Dev (C) Parthiv Patel (D) Vishwanath Ans : (B)

18. Sunil Gavaskar scored his first one day century against— (A) Pakistan (B) England (C) West Indies (D) New Zealand. Ans : (D)

19. ______appointed as an interim coach of the Indian team at Sharjah at 1994. (A) Sunil Gavaskar (B) Mohammed Azharuudin (C) Kapil dev (D) Vengsarkar Ans : (A)

20. ______is India’s most successful wicket-keeper in One-day cricket. (A) Nayan Mongia (B) Rahul Dravid (C) MS Dhoni (D) Kiren More Ans : (A)

21. Who is India’s present Test captain? (A) MS Dhoni (B) Anil Kumble (C) Rahul Dravid (D) Virender sehwag. Ans : (B)

22. ______was the captain of the Under 19 team, which won the world cup. (A) MS Dhoni (B) Virot Kholi (C) Anil Kumble (D) Rahul Dravid Ans : (B)

23. India Played its first one-day international match at home in— (A) 1981 at Ahmedabad. (B) 1981 at Calcutta (C) 1982 at Chennai (D) 1981 at Chennai Ans : (A)

24. ______was India’s first One-day captain. (A) Sunil Gavaskar (B) Kapil dev (C) Manoj prabhakar (D) Ajit Wadekar Ans : (D)

Windows Management Shortcuts-Windows 7 Shortcut Keys (Posted by admin on 18th July 2010)

Windows 7 Shortcut Keys ~ Interesting !

* Win+Home: Clear all but the active window. * Win+Space: All windows become transparent so you can see through to the desktop. * Win+Up arrow: Maximize the active window. * Shift+Win+Up arrow: Maximize the active window vertically. * Win+Down arrow: Minimize the window/Restore the window if it’s maximized. * Win+Left/Right arrows: Dock the window to each side of the monitor. * Shift+Win+Left/Right arrows: Move the window to the monitor on the left or right.

You can also interact with windows by dragging them with the mouse:

* Drag window to the top: Maximize * Drag window left/right: Dock the window to fill half of the screen. * Shake window back/forth: Minimize everything but the current window. * Double-Click Top Window Border (edge).

Taskbar Shortcuts

You can use any of these shortcut combinations to launch the applications in their respective position on the taskbar, or more:

* Win+number (1-9): Starts the application pinned to the taskbar in that position, or switches to that program. * Shift+Win+number (1-9): Starts a new instance of the application pinned to the taskbar in that position. * Ctrl+Win+number (1-9): Cycles through open windows for the application pinned to the taskbar is that position. * Alt+Win+number (1-9): Opens the Jump List for the application pinned to the taskbar. * Win+T: Focus and scroll through items on the taskbar. * Win+B: Focuses the System Tray icons

In addition, you can interact with the taskbar using your mouse and a modifier key:

* Shift+Click on a taskbar button: Open a program or quickly open another instance of a program. * Ctrl+Shift+Click on a taskbar button: Open a program as an administrator. * Shift+Right-click on a taskbar button: Show the window menu for the program (like XP does). * Shift+Right-click on a grouped taskbar button: Show the window menu for the group. * Ctrl+Click on a grouped taskbar button: Cycle through the windows of the group.

Here’s a few more interesting hotkeys for you:

* Ctrl+Shift+N: Creates a new folder in Windows Explorer. * Alt+Up: Goes up a folder level in Windows Explorer. * Alt+P: Toggles the preview pane in Windows Explorer. * Shift+Right-Click on a file: Adds Copy as Path, which copies the path of a file to the clipboard. * Shift+Right-Click on a file: Adds extra hidden items to the Send To menu. * Shift+Right-Click on a folder: Adds Command Prompt Here, which lets you easily open a command prompt in that folder. * Win+P: Adjust presentation settings for your display. * Win+(+/-): Zoom in/out. * Win+G: Cycle between the Windows Gadgets on your screen.

Technology News-The first Indian web browser Epic launched (Posted by admin on 18th July 2010)

Bangalore-based firm launches first Indian web browser ‘Epic’: Bangalore: Indians have a new cause to celebrate with the launch of the first Indian made web browser aptly called ‘Epic’. Released by a Bangalore-based software firm, Hidden Reflex, Epic is based on the Mozilla platform. The unique feature that sets Epic apart from other browsers is that it has a built-in antivirus protection. The integrated antivirus and antispyware has been powered by ESET. The web browser can be customized as per the user’s desire. You can change the background and themes according to your preference. And there are over 1,500 free themes to choose from. The browser’s has a number of apps in its sidebar like Twitter, Facebook, Orkut etc. You can directly launch them from the sidebar.

The Epic is highly Indian in its look and feel. The ‘Indic’ app in the browser lets you type in 12 Indian languages. The browser makers claim maximum privacy by giving features such as one-click private data deletion, flash cookie deletion built-in and no storage of browsing history. Faster downloads and browsing are some of the other claims made by the Epic developers. So what are you waiting for? Go check and experience it for yourself. After all such innovations reinforce our feelings of being a proud Indian.

Computer GK (Posted by admin on 9th June 2010)

1. An intentionally disruptive program that spreads from program to program or from disk to disk is known as a: A. Trojan horse. B. virus. C. time bomb. D. time-related bomb sequence. Answer: B

2. The thing that eventually terminates a worm virus is a lack of: A. memory or disk space. B. time. C. CD drive space. D. CD-RW. Answer: A

3. What is the name of an application program that gathers user information and sends it to someone through the Internet? A. A virus B. Spybot C. Logic bomb D. Security patch Answer: B

4. Hardware or software designed to guard against unauthorized access to a computer network is known as a(n): A. hacker-proof program. B. firewall. C. hacker-resistant server. D. encryption safe wall. Answer:B

5. The scrambling of code is known as: A. encryption. B. a firewall. C. scrambling. D. password-proofing.

Answer:A

Intel introduces Intel Core i7 processor (Posted by admin on 18th March 2010)

Intel Corp. has introduced its most advanced desktop processor ever, the Intel Core i7 processor. The core i7 processor is the first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs and is the most sophisticated ever built with new technologies that boost performance on demand and maximise data throughput.

The Core i7 processor speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular internet and computer activities by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption. Each Core i7 processor features an 8 MB level 3 cache and 3 channels of DDR3 1006 memory to deliver the best memory performance of any desktop platform. Intel’s top performance processor, the Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition, also removes over-speed protection allowing Intel’ knowledgeable customers or hobbyists to further increase the chip speed.

COMPUTER ABBREVIATIONS (Posted by admin on 26th November 2009)

• CDMA – Code Division Multiple Access • GSM – Global System for Mobile Communication • TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access • PC – Personal Computer • RAM – Random Access Memory • CPU – Central Processing Unit • WWW – World Wide Web • UPS – Uninterruptible Power Supply • LAN – Local Area Network • WAN – Wide Area Network • MAN – Metropolitan Area Network • TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol • DOS – Disk Operating System • ROM – Read Only Memory • PROM – Programmable Read Only Memory • HTML – Hyper Text Markup Language • HTTP – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol • FTP – File Transfer Protocol • ATM – Automatic Teller Machine