Ch in a

Nepal

Bhutan INDIA AND HER Myanmar Bangladesh NEIGHBOURS

Sri Lanka

Our Neighbours

 Name the South Asian regional grouping of and north west. countries of India in which India is a member.  The Indian State that shares the maximum frontier (a) ASEAN (b) SAARC (c) APEC (d) D-8 with China is Arunachal Pradesh. Ans: (b) SAARC  The Indian States which touch Pak border are  The 8 members of South Asian Association of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Regional Co-operation (SAARC) are India, Gujarat in the order from north to south. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka,  PoK is Pak occupied Kashmir. Maldives and Afghanistan. Its 8th member Afganistan was admitted to SAARC in 2006.  Muzaffarabad is the capital of Pok.  India is the 7th largest Country and 2nd most  LAC : Line of Actual Control. populous in the World.  Area of Jammu and Kashmir 2,22236 Sq.km. This  Westernmost State of India is Gujarat, includes 78,114 sq km under illegal occupation Northernmost State of India is Jammu & Kashmir; of Pakistan, 5180 sq.km illegally handed over by Eastern most State is Arunachal Pradesh and Pakistan to China and 37,555 sq.km under illegal Southernmost State is Tamil Nadu. occupation of China.  South easternmost State of India is Mizoram  The States which surround Bangladesh are West  South easternmost part of India is Nicobar Island. Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and  India is the second largest Peninsula in the World. Mizoram.  The largest Peninsula is Arabia.  The States which share border with Myanmar are Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and  Rajasthan is one of the border States of India Mizoram. sharing India’s frontier with Pakistan on the west

433  Tripura is bounded on the North west and South by Bangladesh.  Teen Begha Corridor has been leased to Bangladesh by India for 999 years out of humanitarian consideration. The corridor belongs to West Bengal.  The Indian States which surrounded Nepal are Uttarkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim.

 The States which share border with Bhutan are KING JIGME SINGYE WANGCHUCK Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh.  Sir Creek is at Rann of Kuch in Gujarat. Talk The smallest neighbouring country of India is Bhutan. Its capital is Thimpu. between Indian and Pakistan is going on to Bhutan is a Monarchy but its recent resolve dispute of territory at Sir Creek. development points to its transformation to  New Moore Island situated in Bay of Bengal democracy. In 2005 march King Wangchuk belongs to India. released a draft of a new constitution which outlines plans for the country to shift from an  Nine Degree Channel is in Lakshadweep. absolute monarchy to a two party democracy. In  Nathula Pass is in Sikkim. This pass was opened 2006 the king stepped down from throne to pave in 2006 for trade between India and China. way to appoint his son as the new king.  Earlier China removed Sikkim from its website Afghanistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh  Maldives lies south of Lakshadweep. and Myanmar.  Diego Garcia is the American naval base in the  In December 2004 Bhutan became the first nation Indian Ocean. in the world to ban the sales of tobacco and  The Indian Sub-continent includes India, smoking in public. Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.  A few months ago Bhutan Royal Army helped  McMahon Line separates India from China. India by driving out and destroying military  The Radcliffe Line separates India from Pakistan. campus run by some of the extremist group like ULFA, to work against India.  The Gulf of Mannar, Adam’s Bridge and the Palk Strait separate India from Sri Lanka. China Bhutan  India continue to view bilateral relations with  Bhutan and India share extensive and mutually China in a positive spirit, seeking friendly, Co- beneficial relations. There is free movement of operative, good-neighbourly and mutually people and goods between two countries, and beneficial relations on the basis of the Five the Indian rupee is a legal tender in Bhutan.  Tara mega project of 1020 mw is a joint hydro electric project between India and Bhutan which Mao -Tse- Tung was commission in 2006.  Capital : Thimphu  Currency : Ngultrum. It is fixed at par with Indian rupees which is also legal tender in Bhutan.  Bhutan is known as land of Thunder Dragon.  India has common borders with Pakistan,

434 became a republic in 1911, under Sun Yat Sun. Chinese President Hu Jintao was in India in November 2006 for a four days visit to strengthen  Sun-Yat-Sen is known as father of Chinese relationship between the countries. Republic. China is the biggest neighbour of India  Peoples Republic of China was proclaimed on Capital : Beijing (Peking) Oct 1, 1949 under Mao-Tse-Tung. Mao-Tse-Tung Currency : Yuan died in 1976. Principles of peaceful Co-existence  In Late 1978, the Chinese leadership began (Panchasheel), mutually sensitive to each other’s moving the economy from a Soviet style centrally concerns and aspirations and equality. planned economy to a more market oriented  Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and economy. This result in the accelerated growth Chinese premier Chou-en Lai signed of economy. Panchasheel in 1954.  Chinese government follows one child norm and  Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Yaxis claim it targets zero population growth by 2010. that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of China in 2006  Lhasa is the capital of Tibet which is an created resentment among India. autonomous region of China.  China overtook Japan in 2006 to become the  India has provided political assylum to Dalai Country with World’s largest foreign reserve. Lama, the Spiritual leader of Tibet.  Tiananmen Square is in china. It was the venue  Three Gorges at Yangtze (Chang) river of student uprising in 1989 for political reform, commissioned in 2006 is the largest Hydro liberalisation and democracy which was put electric project in the World. down by the government.  The highest railways in the World was inaugurated at Lhasa in 2006. It is 5000 meteres above sea level. The highest railway in the World, Qinghani-  Natu La Pass in Sikkim was opened for trade Tibet Railway was between India and China in 2006. launched in Golmud city in north west China’s  China became the third country in the world to Qinghai Province in send a man in space after Russia and USA. First July 1, 2006. Chinese in space is Yangliwi and the second Chinese in space is Fei Julong & Niel Haisheng  It was on october 26, 1971 China was admitted a on October 17, 2005. member of UN, displacing Taiwan.  India and China has started serious negotiations Nepal to solve their dispute through bilateral  Capital : Kathmandu negotiation. Recently China has dropped Sikkim  Currency : Nepalese Rupee from their official map. Moreover a Chinese  Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha is in Nepal. delegation visited India in 2006 and they held discussion to solve the dispute at Kumarakam  An open border of 1860 kilometers between India (Kottayam) in Kerala. and Nepal. Facilitates free movement of goods  China is the most populous Country in the World (1,306, 313, 812) and third largest in area. Nepal adopted a new constitution in 2006. Now it is a secular country. Formerly it was the only  The language spoken by largest number of Hindu country in the world. Moreover it has people in the World is Mandarin (Chinese) drastically cut down the powers of King. Now parliament has an upper hand over the king who  The Peoples Republic of China was established was reduced to a mere rubber stamp. on October 1, 1949 under Mao -Tse- Tung. China

435  Durand Line separates Prachanda Pakistan from Communist Party of Nepal Afghanistan while (Maoist) chairman Radcliff Line separates Pushpakumar Dahal also known as Prachanda. His India from Pakistan. main task will be to re-  Major rivers are Indus, constitute Royal Nepal Sutlej, Chenab, Ravi, Army with a mix of both maoists and the existing Jhelum all these rivers soldiers furthermore, flows from India to making the poverty stricken Pakistan. Nepalese realise their Pervez Musharraf dream of economic  Major cities in Pakistan development will be the top most on Prachanda's are Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, agenda. Multan and Peshwar.  It become a muslim State from Partition of British and people. Indian rupee is a legal tender in India in 14 August 1947 comprising Eastern half Nepal. of Bengal Provinces & parts of Assam.  After years of turmoil and uncertainity the seven  Pakistan became an Islamic republic on 23 march party Alliance (SPA) and Maoist rebels signed a 1956. landmark agreement in 2006 to herald a new era  On May 28, 1998 Pakistan tested five nuclear of peace in the Himalayan kingdom. devices and this was followed on a sixth one on  The Maoist who have been waging an armed May 30 at Chagai Hills. struggle have decided to end their fight and share  Mohammed Ali Ginnah is known as the Father power. of Pakistan.  The former King Birendar the Queen and Six other  Khan Abdul Ghafer Khan is known as frontier members of the royal family were assasinated on Gandhi. June 1, 2001 by the Prince.  Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)  India and Nepal signed two agreements in 1996 is known as the Daughter of East. for sharing of water and electricity from the  The missiles the Pakistan feel proud of includges Mahakali River. Ghori. These missile are modelled on South Pakistan Korean Nodong missile.  Agra Summit was help in July 2000 between  Capital : Islamabad Musharraf and the then India PM Vajpayee to  Currency : Pakistan rupee find a peaceful formula for the disputes between  Pakistan shares boundaries with India, China, the India and Pakistan. Afghanisthan and Iran. South of Pakistan is  Vajpayee made his historic visit to Lahore and Arabian Sea. signed Lahore declaration in 1999.  India and Pakistan fought two war (1) 1965 Samjotha Express and Thar Express are the two (2)1971. trains which runs between India and Pakistan.  Tashkent agreement was signed by Lal Bahadur The first Lahore-Amritsar bus service began on Shastri and Ayub Khan in 1966 January 10. Death January 20, 2006 by the Pakistan Tourism of Lal Bahadur Shastri at Thashkant Development Corporation. (January 11).

436  Birth of Bangladesh and Simla Agreement were  President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam recently (2006) the outcome of 1971 war. visited Myanmar.  Simla agreement was signed in 1972 July by Mrs.  Myanmar is a member of ASEAN from 1997. Indira Gandhi and Sulfikur Ali Bhutto. Sri Lanka  Official language of Pakistan is Urdu. Pakistan  Capital : Colomba became independent on 14th August 1947.  Currency : Rupee  Siachen Glacier is the highest battlefield in the World where Army of India and Pakistan guard  Sirimavo Bandaranaike their territories with high vigilance. is the first woman Prime  Pakistan is at present under military rule and its Minister of a Country President is General Pervez Musharraf who is in the World. also the Military Chief.  Liberation Tigers of  Indian Air Force began air strikes to flush out Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants from Kargil on May26, 1999. aims to establish an independent country  Pakistan forms the lengthiest continuous border of India. for ethnic Tamilians in Sri Lanka.  India has live boundary dispute with two of our President of main neighbours (1) Pakistan (2) China.  On 29 July 1987, Indian Sri Lanka Prime Minister Rajiv Mahinda Raj Pakse Myanmar Gandhi and Sri Lankan  Capital : Pyinmana president Jayawardene signed an accord to end  Earliest the capital was Yangoon (Rangoon) the ethnic crisis in Sri lanka.  Currency : Kyat  Point Pedro lies in the northern tip of Sri Lanka. Jaffna is also situated in the northern part of Sri  Military Junta (Council) rules the country. Lanka. Elephant Pass connect Jaffna to Sri Lanka.  Myanmar (Burma) was separated from British India in 1935. Maldives  Capital : Male Remember Myanmar is  Currency : Rufiya ($1 = 12.8) not a member of SAARC.  The Republic of Maldives is a group Capital of Myanmar - of 1200 small coral Islands in the Indian Pyinmana Ocean. Currency - Kyat Date of Independence -  Tourism is the Major income earner for 4th January 1948 the country. Myanmar is known as the  After tourism Bonito (Maldive fish) is ricebowl of the fareast Nobel Peace the main prize winner 1991 leader of national league for democracy e x p o r t Aung San Suukyi Myanmar (still in house arrest) commodity & source of foreign  Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League exchange. for Democracy (NLD) is presently under house  President : Maumoon arrest. She won Nobel Prize for peace in 1991. Abdul Gayoom  Myanmar is known as the Rice Bowl of the Far  An attempted coup Maumoon Abdul Gayoom East.

437 took place in November 1988. India carried out Mohammad Yunus an army operation named Operation Coctus to the winner of rescue the government. 2006 Nobel Prize for Peace Bangladesh and Founder of Capital : Dhaka Bangladesh Currency : Taka Grameen Bank.  Bangladesh became independent on 16 December Yunus has launched 1971. new political  Bangladesh was formerly known as East party named Pakistan. Nagorik  Sheik Mujibur Rahman is known as the Father Shakthi of Bangladesh.

 Begum Khaleda Zia is the leader of Bangladesh Mother Language Day National Party (BNP). She was the Prime Minister February 21 of the country in 2006.  Sheikh Hasina Waged is the leader of Awami 21st February every year is observed as League. She is the opposition leader. Mother Language Day. In order to secure same status for Bengali with Urdu and  Bangladesh is the second largest muslim country English, the people of East Pakistan gave a in the world. The largest is Indonesia. strike call on 21 February 1952. On that day  Population wise the second largest muslim police fired a student rally and several population is in India. But second largest muslim students died. To remember the sacrifice country is Bangladesh since India is not a muslim every year on 21 February is observed as country. Mother Language Day.  Dhaka is known as City of Mosques (There are 2000 mosques ).

438 INDIA : BASIC FACTS

 Official Name : Republic of India (1000 km). Second largest maritime State is Capital : New Delhi Andhra Pradesh. Area : 32,87,263 sq. km  Most populated state ...... Uttar Pradesh  Least populated state ...... Sikkim Population : 1027 million (2001 census)  The design of the flag was orignally mooted by Position : Latitudes : 80 4/ N and 370 6/ N Madame Bhikaji Rustom Cama in 1907 and was Longitudes : 680 7/ E and unfurled for the first time in stuttgart (Germany) 0 / 97 25 E  Foodgrain production (2004-05) - 210.44 million Land Frontier : 15,200 km tonne. Coastline : 7,516.6 km (it includes the  Foodgrain production in 2003-04 – 213.46 million coast line of Islands as well) tonnes.  Milk production 2003-04 – 88.1 million tonnes. North-South distance : 3214 km latitude  Per capita availability of milk (2003-04) – 231 East-West distance : 2933 km longitude gram/day  India is the seventh largest and the second most  India is the leading producer of milk in the World. populated nation of the World. It lies entirely on  Egg production (2003-04) : 40.4 billion currently the northern hemisphere. India ranks fifth in egg production in the World.  India is the largest democracy in the World.  Percentage of geographical area under forest  India has a land frontier of 15,200 km and a (2005) : 20.55% coastline of 7516.6 kms. India : Social Indicators  India is a Union of 28 federal States and 6 Union Population (million - 2001 Census) ...... 1028 Territories and one National Capital Territory (New Growth Rate ...... 1980-2001 Delhi) 1.9%  The largest State in area ...... Rajasthan 2002-2015 (Projected) ...... 1.2%  The smallest State ...... Goa Density (per sq.km)...... 324  The largest Union Territory: Andaman and Sex Ratio (Females per 1000 males) ...... 933 Nicobar Islands in Bay of Bengal. or Female population ...... 48.1%  The smallest Union Territory : Lakshadweep in Literacy Rate ...... 64.84% the Arabian Sea. (Male : 75.85%, Female: 52.1%, Rural : 59.40%, Urban : 80.30%)  The southernmost State: Tamil Nadu. Life Expectancy at birth  The southernmost tip of India: Indira Point Male ...... 63.9 (Pygmalion Point) in Nicobar Islands. Female ...... 66.9  The north-eastern most State of India: Arunachal Infant-Mortality (per 1000 live births) ...... 69 Pradesh. Crude birth rate (per 1000 people) ...... 25  The State known as the heart of India: Madhya Crude death rate (per 1000 people) ...... 8.1% Pradesh. National Poverty Ratio (Projection for 2007) . 19.3%  The State with the longest coastline is Gujarat Rural...... 21.1%

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441 Urban ...... 15.1%  In order to get the help of overseas Indian for Access to drinking water (of population) ...... 90% the development and welfare of the Country the Access to Sanitation facilities ...... 28% Government has decided to allow dual citizenship Health Expenditure (of GDP) 2000 ...... 4.9% to NRIs in some countries. Expenditure on Education (2003-04) ...... 3.74%  Brain Drain : Migration of professional from Total Labour Force (2001) ...... 460 million developing countries like India to developed Countries like USA for better opportunities Projected (2010) ...... 543 million and Professional growth is termed brain Growth rate per annum ...... 2% drain. Labour Force Women ...... 32%  IPO Card : People of Indian Origin Card. This Indians Abroad scheme was introduced from April 1, 1999.  Those who possess IPO Card can visit India  January 9 : Pravsi Bharatiya Divas without a VISA.  It was on January 9, 1915 Gandhiji ended his Pravasi life in South Africa and left for India permanently. India and Gulf  First Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was observed on  Since the mid 1970s a large number of Indian January 9, 2003. workers have migrated to the West Asian Countries for employment.  UPA government has created ministry for overseas Indian Affairs to serve the overseas  The Report on high level committee has estimated Indian in a better manner. the total Indian migrants in the Gulf Countries viz Bahrain, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi  Mr. Vayalar Ravi is the present Cabinet Minister Arabia, UAE and other as 30 Lakh in 1999. Overseas Indian Affairs.  Saudi Arabia had the largest number of Indian  Around 25 million Indian are living outside India. migrants - 15 lakh among the Gulf region (2000) Roughly two third of them are Non Resident Indian (NRI) who opted for the passport of the  The largest number of migrants to gulf countries country they live, the rest one third still carry is from the State of Kerala. It is followed by Tamil their Indian passports. Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Punjab.  The Indian American Community is now the 3rd  The largest NRI migrants in Gulf is in Saudi Arabia largest Asian American group in the US behind 15 lakh which is the 7% of the Country's Chinese and Filipino Americans. population. Percentage wise UAE has the largest  There are four well known diasphora in the World percentage of NRI migrants. UAE has 9 lakh NRIs - the Jewish, the Irish, the Chinese and the Indian which is 32% of the country’s population.  The Indians are found in 136 countries. In forty Countries Indian population exceeds 50,000.  People of Indian origin constitutes more than 30% population in Fiji (47.75%), Mauritius (70.10%), Guyana (30.30%) and Suriname (35.90) Trinidad & Tobago (35.25%).  Mauritius has the largest percentage Indians living abround - 70.10% numbering 701.000 people.  But the largest number of Indian living on oversea’s is in Nepal - 3900000 which constitutes 27.12% of Nepale population.

442 National Symbols National Emblem  The cloth of National Flag of India is The National Emblem of India is an (a) silk (b) pure silk adaptation from the (c) cotton poplin (d) khadi Saranath Lion Capital of Ans: (d) Khadi Ashoka as preserved in the Saranath Museum. The words Satyameva Jayate (meaning `Truth alone Triumphs') from the Mundaka Upanishad are inscribed below the emblem in Devanagari script.

governed by the provision of the Emblems & Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1950 Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act 1971.

 The design of the Flag was originally mooted by Madame Bhikaji Rustom Cama in 1907 and was  National Flag unfurled for the First time in Stuttgart (Germany) for the second International Socialist Congress The National Flag of India is a horizontal tri- held on August 22, 1907. It was adopted by the colour of deep saffron (kesari) at the top, white Constituent Assembly of India on July 22, 1947. in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportions. The ratio of width of the flag  Its use and display are regulated by a code. It to its length is two to three. In the centre of the can now be flown by citizens atop their houses white band is a wheel in navy blue, which on August 15 & January 26 and even during represents the Charkha. Its design is that of the other days but only from the sunrise to the sun- wheel (chakra) which appears on the abacus of set period. the Saranath Lion Capital of Ashoka. It has 24  In the State emblem the animals Lion, Horse and spokes. The design of the flag was adopted by Bull can be seen. The lion is a symbol of majesty the Constituent Assembly and disciplined strength, the bull of on July 22, 1947. steadfastness and hardwork, and the horse of  Saffron colour signifies energy, loyalty and speed. courage and sacrifice.  Before accepting Tiger as National Animal of India, White signifies truth and which of the following was National Animal? purity. (a) Panther (b) Cow (c) Bull (d) Lion  Green is the symbol of life, Ans: (d) Lion abundance and prosperity.  When was our National Anthem first sung and where? Chakra is the symbol of (a) January 24, 1950 in Calcutta progress and movement. Pingali Venkayya (August 2, 1876 - (b) January 20, 1950 in Delhi  The National flag of India July 4, 1963) was was designed by Pingali the designer of the (c) January 24, 1950 in Calcutta Venkiah. Indian national flag (d) December 27, 1911 in Calcutta  The National Flag is Ans: (d) December 27, 1911 in Calcutta

443  How many Lions are visible in the State Emblem of India ``Sare jaham se accha....'' (a) Four full (b) Three full is composed by (c) Two full and one half (d) Four half only Mohammed Iqbal. Ans: (b) Three full It was originally  Which of the following statements is correct in composed in Urdu. respect of National Emblem of India?

(a) It is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion  Playing time of the short version consisting of Capital of Ashoka the first and last lines of the stanza is (b) Only three lions are visible, the fourth is approximately 20 seconds. Usually, it is played being hidden from the view on ceremonial occasions. (c) Was adopted by the Government of India on  The song ‘Jana gana mana’ was first published 26-1-1950 in1912, under the title ‘Bharat Vidhata’ in the (d) All the above Tatva Bodhini Patrika. Ans: (d) All the above  The National Anthem was translated into English  What is common in Indian National Flag and by Tagore in 1919, under the title Morning Song National Emblem of India? of India. (a) Both are important symbols of the country  Tagore composed National Anthem of Bangladesh (Amar Sonar Bangla) also. (b) Both are symbols of freedom and democracy (c) Dharma Chakra  National Anthem was originally composed in Bengali. (d) Two main colours Ans: (c) Dharma Chakra  National Song  Which part of the Ashoka’s Pillar at Sarnath has Vande Mataram, composed by Bankim Chandra been taken for National Emblem of India? Chatterji, is the national song of India. It was (a) Central Portion (b) Bottom portion first sung at the 1896 at Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress. The song is taken from (c) Capital (top part) the book Anand Math published in 1882. (d) Complete pillar  The song ‘Vande Mataram’ composed by Bankim Ans: (c) Capital (top part) Chandra Chatterji in Sanskrit language.  In the State emblem the animals Lion, Horse (left)  The National Song of India was adopted by the and Bull (right) can be seen. Constituent Assembly on January 24, 1950.  The State emblem was adopted by the  Its English translation was rendered by Sri. Government of India on 26 January, 1950. Aurobindo.  National Anthem: The song Jana-gana-mana  National Calendar composed by Rabindranath Tagore is the National Anthem of India. The song was first sung at the The national calendar of India is based on the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress Saka Era. Chaitra and Phalguna are the first and on December 27, 1911. It was adopted by the the last months in the calendar. Saka Era began Constituent Assembly of India on January 24, 1950. in 78 AD at the time of King Kanishka. It was earlier known as Bharat Vidhatha. The  The days of Saka Calendar permanently complete song consists of five stanzas but only the correspond to the Gregorian Calendar and Chaitra first stanza constitutes the full version of the National falls on March 22nd in a common year and March Anthem. The playing time of the full version of the 21st in a leap year. It was introduced in the year National Anthem is about 52 seconds. 1957 from March 22nd, the day on which

444  The National Anthem was first published by  National Animal: Royal Bengal Tiger Tagore in (Panthera tigris) (a) Swaraj (b) Tattvabodhini Patrika Since November 1972 tiger has been adopted (c) The Hindu (d) Anand Math as the national animal. Ans: (b) Tatvabodhini Patrika  National Bird: Peacock (Pavo cristatus)  Who gave the English Translation of our The Government of India declared peacock National song? as the national bird in 1964 and its hunting (a) Subhash Chandra Bose has since been banned. (b) Rabindra Nath Tagore  National Flower: Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) (c) Aurobindo (d) Mahatma Gandhi It symbolises the truth that a person can rise Ans: (c) Aurobindo above the worldly evils and keep himself high above them.  Which of the following rivers is mentioned in the National Anthem of India?  National Fruit : Mango (Mangifera Indica) is the National Fruit of India. (a) Narmada (b) Krishna (c) Cauveri (d) Jamuna  National Tree: Pepal (Ficus bengalensis) Ans: (d) Jamuna The tree is considered to be immortal.  National Game: Hockey Corresponding Saka Months No. of days  National Fruit : Mango Gregorian Dates Chaitra 30 March 22 Kanishka came to the throne. (31 in leap year) (21 in leap year)  Chakra is the symbol of progress.  White colour is the symbol of purity and peace. Vaishaka 31 April 21  Lotus is the symbol of culture and tradition. Jyaistha 31 May 22  Tiger stands for Power and gorgeousness. Asadha 31 June 22  National Language: Hindi in Devanagiri script Sravana 31 July 23 is the official language of the Govt. of India. Bhadra 31 August 23  The word Satyameva Jayate inscribed in our Asvina 30 September 23 State emblem is taken from ------Upanishad Kartika 30 October 23 Ans: Mundaka Agrahayana 30 November 22  The word Satyameva Jayate inscribed below the Pausa 30 December 22 abacus of the State emblem is in ------script Maha 30 January 21 Ans: Devanagari Phalguna 30 February 20

National Animal National Bird National Flower National Fruit National Tree TIGER PEACOCK LOTUS MANGO PEPAL

445 POPULATION & CENSUS

 In terms of the number of population India is the second largest Country in the World; only China 2001 Census Highlights is the largest.  The Most populous state - Uttar Pradesh (16  The population of the World as on August 1, crores)  The least populous State - Sikkim (5.4 lakhs) 2001, was 6,163,890,100 (6163 million) and the  The most literate State - Kerala (90.92%) growth rate was 1.3%.  The least literate State - Bihar (47.53%)  The most densely populated State - West Bengal  India's population constitutes nearly 16.89% of (904) the total world population in 2.4% of the world  The least densely populated State - Arunachal area. China supports 20% of the world population. Pradesh (13)  The State with highest sex ratio - Kerala  The first regular all India census was conducted (1,058) in 1881 during the period of Lord Ripon and  The State with lowest sex ratio - Haryana (861) thereafter every 10 years. The last census was taken in 2001. Next census will be held in 2011.  The United States with 281.4 million and Indonesia with 212.1 million are the third and fourth most  First Census was held in 1872. populous nations in the World.  On May 11, 2000 Indian population crossed the  The average daily increase in the World's 1 billion mark. World population crossed 6 billion population has been estimated at about 210,327 mark on October 12, 1999. World population in or an average of approximately 247 per minute. 2000 was 6080 million.  ''A Passage to Hope: Women and International  According to 2001 census Indian population is Migratin'', is World Population report 2006 by 1,02,87, 37, 436. UNFPA.

 The other name of census - Kaneshumari

 First Census held in USA in 1790. Thomas Malthus is  World Population Day : July 11. credited with the  The 5 billion population mark was reached on July 11, 1987 when the first World Population well known Day was celebrated to build awareness of Theory of population issues and to highlight the impact they population. have on development and the environment.

446  The state with the lowest sex ratio is Haryana Religious break up of Indian 861/1000. In 1991 it was Arunachal Pradesh (859 Population females/1000 males).  Decadal growth Religion Population Percentage  The decennial growth rate of population was Hindus 82.7 crore 80.5% 21.54% during 1991-2001. Muslims 13.8 croree 13.4%  It was 23.86 percent during 1981-91. Christians 2.4 crore 2.2% Sikhs 1.9 crore 1.7%  The annual average during 1991-2001 is 1.93% Buddhist 79 lakh .71% as against 2.14 during 1981-91. Jains 42 lakh .38%  The State with the lowest decadal population Others 66 lakh .58% growth rate is Kerala 9.42%. In 1991 it was 14.32%. The 2001 census report on religion released on  The State with the highest decadal population September 6, 2004 shows that while Hindu growth growth rate is Nagaland 64.41%. In 1991 it was rate declined from 25.1% during 1981 - 91 to 20.3% 56.86%. between 1991 - 2001, that of Muslims increased  Literacy (2001) from 34.5% to 36% during the same comparable  Total Literacy rate in India- 65.38% period. The growth rate of Christians increased Male Literacy ...... 75.85% from 21.5% to 22.6% during the period. Female Literacy...... 54.16% 2001- Census Features  The State with the highest literacy rate is Kerala 90.92 (2001)  The census moment, the referral time at which the  On April 18, 1991 Kerala was declared India's snapshot of population is taken was 00.00 hours first fully literate state. (94.20% men and 87.86% of march 2001. women). Kerala is also the first state to have total  Total Population ...... 1,0287,37,436 (1.027 million) literacy among the tribals. Males ...... 531,277,078  The second most literate State is Mizoram 88.80%. Females ...... 495,738,169  The district with highest percentage of literacy Rural Population ...... 742 million (72.2%) is Aizwal (Mizoram) 96.64%. Urban Population ...... 285 million (27.8%)  The State with the lowest literacy rate is Bihar  Sex Ratio (47.13%) in 2001.  Sex ratio at present (2001) in India is 933.  Density of Population  The sex ratio according to the 1991 census was  The average density of population in India is 927 females per 1000 males. 324. In 1991 it was 267 persons / sq. km.  The sex ratio is the number of females per 1000 males.  The most densely populated state in India is West Bengal 904 (in 1991 it was 767). It is followed by  The state with the highest female population rate Bihar 880 and Kerala 819. is Kerala, 1058 females per 1000 males.  The least densely populated state is Arunachal In 1991 it was 1036 females / 1000 males. Pradesh. 13 persons per sq.km. (In 1991 it was 10  Kerala is the only state in India in which females persons / sq. km). out number males.  The least densely populated Union Territory is  Puthucherry is the only union territory in India Andaman and Nicobar. 43 persons per sq. km. In in which females out number males (1001 females 1991 it was 34 persons / sq. km. per 1000 males)

447  Birth Rate & Death Rate Population-India 2001  During the period 1981-91 the State Population Sex Ratio Density of Literacy average birth rate was 31.7 Population against the death rate of 11. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––  During 1991-2001 the crude birth India 1,02,87,37,436 933 324 65.38 rate is projected at 24.8 as against Uttar Pradesh 16,61,97,921 898 690 57.36 the crude death rate of 8.9 in 2001. Maharashtra 9,68,78,627 922 315 77.27 Bihar 8,29,98,509 921 880 47.53  Life expectancy West Bengal 8,02,21,171 934 904 69.22  Child mortality rate was 146 per Andhra Pradesh 7,62,10,007 978 275 61.11 thousand birth in 1951. In 2001- Tamil Nadu 6,24,05,679 986 478 73.47 2002 it is only 68. Life expectancy Madhya Pradesh 6,03,85,118 920 196 64.11 has also risen from 37.2 (male) Rajasthan 5,65,07,188 922 165 61.03 and 36.2 (female) to 63.87 (male) Karnataka 5,28,50,562 964 275 67.04 and 66.9 (female) in 2001-02. Gujarat 5,06,71,017 921 258 69.97  The most populated State in Orissa 3,68,04,660 972 236 63.61 India is Uttar Pradesh, followed Kerala 3,18,41,374 1,058 819 90.92 by Maharashtra and Bihar. Jharkhand 2,69,45,829 941 338 54.13  The least populated State is Assam 2,66,38,407 932 340 64.28 Sikkim. The least populated Punjab 2,43,58,999 874 482 69.95 Union Territory is Lakshadweep. Haryana 2,11,44,564 861 477 68.59  The year 1921 is known as the Chattisgarh 2,08,33,803 990 154 65.18 `Year of Great Divide', with Jammu & Kashmir 1,01,43,700 900 99 54.46 regard to population. After that Uttaranchal 84,79,562 964 159 72.28 period there was a continuous Himachal Pradesh 60,77,900 970 109 77.13 and rapid growth in India 's Tripura 31,99,203 950 304 73.66 population. Manipur 23,88,634 978 107 68.87  Demography is the study of Meghalaya 23,06,069 975 103 63.31 population. Nagaland 19,90,036 909 120 67.11 Goa 13,47,668 960 363 82.32 SC and ST Population Arunachal Pradesh 10,97,968 901 13 54.74 Mizoram 8,91,058 938 42 88.49 (2001) Sikkim 5,40,493 875 76 69.68  The Scheduled Castes Delhi* 1,37,82,976 821 9,294 81.82 constitute 16.20% of Indian Pondicherry 9,74,345 1,001 2,029 81.49 population. Chandigarh 9,00,914 773 7,903 81.76  Punjab has the highest Andaman & percentage of Scheduled Caste Nicobar Islands 3,56,265 846 43 81.81 28.85% in its population. But Dadra & Nagar Haveli 2,20,490 811 449 60.03 Uttar Pradesh has the highest Daman & Diu 1,58,059 709 1,411 81.09 number of Scheduled Castes Lakshwadeep 60,595 947 1,894 87.52 (35148000) which constitutes 21.15% of its population. * National Capital Territory  Nagaland, Mizoram,  Number of Metropolitian cities in India : 35 Lakshadweep and Andaman  In Metropolitan cities population is above 10 lakh Nicobar Islands have no Scheduled Castes in their

448 populations. Town & City Population  Scheduled Tribes constitutes 8.20% of Indian There are 178,224 towns in India with more than population. 1 lakh population (2001). There are 35 million plus  Madhya Pradesh has the largest number of cities in India. Among them Greater Mumbai has Scheduled Tribes (12233000) which is 20.27% of its population. But percentage wise the States the largest population. Kochi (135,5406) is the which has the largest percentage of population only million plus city in Kerala. is Mizoram 94.46% of its population is Scheduled Tribes. Villages  SC and ST together Constitute 24.40% of Indian There are 593,643 inhabited villages in India. Uttar Population. Pradesh has the largest number of villages 97,942. The number of villages in Kerala is 1364. Rural and Urban Population  The district with highest population in India is 72.2% of Indian population is rural while 27.8% Medinapur (West Bengal) - 9638,473 people. is urban. Lalu Prasad Yadav (Management Pandit !) The politician and now Union Minister for Rail- ways presented his fourth consecutive railway budget (2007-08). He had set a record of not rising passenger fares. MBA Students from American Universities trying to figure out the secretes of Lalu's Success:

2005-þ2006\jvS-¯n  HmSn-s¡m-­n-cp¶20,000 tImSn cq] C´y³em`-¯n-te¡v sdbnÂthsb \n§fpw DbÀ¯n-b-Xnsâ Kp«³kv temI-¯nse amt\-Pvsaâ v hnZ-Kv²-·msc hsc A¼-cn-¸n-¨n-cn-¡p-I-bm-Wv. emep-hns\]Tn-¨p-sIm-ÅpI I­v Hcp kZ-Ên ]{X-te-J-IÀ Bth-i-t¯msS emep-hn- t\mSv Xnc¡n. CXnsâ cl-ky-sa´v? cmjv{So-b- Apply your common ¡m-¡n-bn-cp¶¡mcpw _p²n-Po-hn-Ifpw emep samgnªp hnÍn Ipjvam-­-ambn IW- sense at the right time, in right degree and in right direction and get a ‘‘Application of common Sense’’ big Job

449 Services.  A.K. Antony (former Chief Minister of Kerala) is the Defence Minister of India.  On July 1, 2002, the Defence Ministry was given the new name of Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence.  The administrative and operational control of the armed forces is exercised by the Department of Defence and the three services Headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The three serv- ices - Army, Navy and Air Force - function DEFENCE through their respective service Headquarters headed by Chief of Staff.  Today, India has the 2nd largest army in the  Army has seven Commands -Navy has three world, the 4th largest Air Force and the 6th largest Commands and Air Force has seven Commands. Navy.  DRDO -Defence Research and Development Or-  Recently government has set up Integrated De- fence Staff, Defence Intelligence Agency, De- ganization is in Hyderabad fence, Acquisition Council, Defence Technology  Field Marshal is the highest Rank in Indian Army. Council, Andaman and Nicobar Command, Stra- S.H.F.J. Manekshaw was the first Field Marshal of tegic Force Command etc to improve the inte- India. K.M. Kariappa is the second Field Mar- gration of the Indian military set up. shal of India.  Andaman Nicobar Command is the first tri serv-  Naval Academy is being set up at Ezhimala in ice command in the country. Kannur district in Kerala  The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces  The headquarters of Army, Navy and Airforce in India is the President of India. are located in New Delhi.  The responsibility for national defence,  A separate post of Chief of Staff Committee was however, rests with the Cabinet. set up in the light of Kargil infiltration.  All important questions related to defence are  The present Chief of Staff Committee is Admiral decided by the Cabinet Committee on Political Arun Prakash. Affairs which is presided over by the Prime Min-  The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) - ister. The Defence Minister is responsible to Par- formed Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) in liament for all matters concerning the Defence 2003. The NCA renamed as Strategic Forces

First Armed Forces  First Marshall of the Air force : Arjun Singh  Commander in Chief of Independent India - Gen- eral Sir Rob Lokhart. Saras  Indian Commander-in-Chief of Independent In-  India's first Light Transport Aircraft has rolled out of dia - Field Marshal K.M. Kariappa. the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) Bangalore  Chief of Army Staff - General Maharaj Rajendra on February 4, 2003 has been named as Saras Singhji  Seating capacity - 14  Chief of Naval Staff - Vice Admiral R.D. Katari Tejas  Chief of Air Staff - Air Marshal C S. Mukherjee.   First Field Marshal - SHFJ Manekshaw India's Light Combat Aircraft has been named as Tejas.  Second Field Marshal : K.M. Cariappa

450 Commissioned Ranks  Counter Insurgency & Jungle Warefare school ...... Vairengte (Mizoram) Army Navy Air Force  Army Airborne Training School ...... Agra General Admiral Air Chief Marshal  Army Sports Institute ...... Pune Lieutenant  Army Cadet College ...... Dehradun General Vice Admiral Air Marshal  Days of Defence Major General Rear Admiral Air Vice-Marshal  Navy Day ...... December 4  Army Day ...... January 15 Brigadier Commodore Air-Commodore  National Security Day ...... March 4 Colonel Captain Group Captain  Vijay Divas ...... December 16  Infantry Day ...... October 27 Lieutenant  NCC Day ...... November 24 Colonel Commander Wing Commander  Armed Forces Flag Day...... December 7 Major Lieutenant  Kargil Victory Day...... July 26 Commander Squadron Leader  Air Force Day ...... October 8

Captain Lieutenant Flight Lieutenant  Air force Training Centre Lieutenant Sub-  Airforce Adminitrative College .... Coimbatore Lieutenant Flying Officer  Airforce Academy ...... Hyderabad  Air force Technical College...... Jalahalli Command (SFC) is responsible for managing Nu-  Flying Instructor’s School ...... Tambaram clear Weapons.  Elementary Flying school ...... Bidar  Institute of Aviation Medicine ...... Bangalore  Air Marshal Avinash Devdutt Joshi the present Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Forces Com-  Paratroopers Training School ...... Agra mand.  Overseas military Base  Military Training Institutes for India’s first air military base is located at Farkhor, Defence Service 10 miles outside Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe.  National Defence Academy ...... Khadakvasla  Indian Military Academy ...... Dehradun Army  National Defence College ...... New Delhi  The Chief of Army Staff is the head of the Army  Defence Services Staff College ...... in India. The headquarters is in New Delhi...... Wellington (Tamil Nadu)  Army is organised into 7 commands.  Armed Forces Medical College ...... Pune  The seventh command named south western  Rashtriya Indian Military College ..... Dehradun command was formed on 15April , 2005 with  Indian Naval Academy ...... Cochin Jaipur as its headquarters. Out of this 7 com-  College of Military Engineering .... Kirkee (Pune) mands six of them are operational command and one is a training command with its headquarters  College of Defence Management...Secundrabad in Shimla. Apart from this seven command, In-  Officers Training Academy ...... Chennai dian army has a Nuclear and Strategic Force  Army War College ...... Mhow Command.  Infantry School ...... Mhow  Kerala comes under Southern command and its  High Altitude Warfare School ...... Gulmarg headquarters is in Pune.  School of Artillary ...... Deolai  India’s first indigenously made Main Battle Tank  Army Air DefenceCollege ...... Gopalpur (MBT) : Vijayanta.

451 Staff with headquarters at New Delhi.  The Navy is organised into 3 Naval Commands - Western Command, Mumbai; Eastern Command, Visakhapatanam; and Southern Command, Kochi.  The Navy has two fleets - the Western Fleet and the Eastern Fleet.

 Naval Training Centres I.N.S Venduruthy ...... Cochin I.N.S Circars ...... Visakhapatnam I.N.S. Garuda...... Cochin I.N.S. Hamla ...... Mumbai I.N.S Shivaji ...... Lonavala (Maharashtra) The first woman who I.N.S Angre...... Mumbai reached the post of Lt: General and Vice Admiral Punita Arora I.N.S Valsura ...... Jamnagar INS Chilka...... Orissa  T-55, T-72 are Russian made MBTs which are INS Satavahana ...... Vishakhapatnam also in use INS Kunjali ...... Mumbai .  India’s Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun It was INS Hansa ...... Goa designed and built by DRDO. INS Asvini ...... Mumbai  Apart from these India is inducting another tank  Sea Bird : India’s biggest naval base being built Karan and a self propelled gun Bheema. at Karwar in Karnataka.  The first indigenously built missile inducted to  I.N.S Jarwa : A naval organisation at Port Blair Indian Army is Prithvi. in the Andaman Nicobar Islands.  'Samyukta' - an indigenous, state of the art  India’s first submarine museum was established Integrated Electronic Warfare (IEW) system. at Visakhapatnam.  'Bhishma' - the newly assebled inducted T-90 tank. Indian Air Force  The first woman who reached the post of a Vice Admiral - Punita Arora.  Air Force is headed by the Chief of the Air Staff with headquarters in New Delhi. Navy  Air Force is organised into seven commands. Out of this 5 are opertional command and 2 are  Indian Navy is headed by the Chief of Naval functional command. Kerala comes under the Southern Command with its headquarters at February 28 & May 11 Trivandrum.  National Science Day is observed on February 28. It was on this day in 1928 the Raman Effect Padma Bandopadhyay was announced by Prof. C.V. Raman. He was subsequently awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics has been appointed (1930) for this discovery. India's first woman Vice Air  National Technology Day is observed on May Marshal. She was the first 11. It was on this day in 1998 India carried out the woman officer to complete second set of nuclear explosions and proclaimed Defence Services Staff College to the world that we are a nuclear power. course.

452  The Air Force combat fleet is made up of 45 Shipyard Ltd. entered the service in 1990.

squadrons.  INS Ghariyal : It is an indigeneously built  Retired Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh has been warship commissioned in 1997. made the first-ever Marshal of Indian Air Force.  INS Tillanchang : Commissioned in 2001. It is  Air Force Training Centres the second indigenous warship in the Trinkat class fast attack craft series. Air Force Academy ...... Hyderabad Air Force Administrative College .. Coimbatore  Submarines Helicopter Training School ...... Avadi I.N.S Shalki: First indigenously built College of Air Warfare ...... Secunderabad submarine commissioned in 1982. Air Force Technical College ...... Jalahalli I.N.S Chakra : First nuclear powered submarine based in Visakhapatnam  Aircraft Carriers I.N.S Shahkul : Second indigenously built sub- I.N.S Vikrant : India’s first aircraft-carrier, it was marine of India commissioned in 1994. the Flagship of the Navy. It was decommissioned INS Sindhuvir : Indian submarine, which was in 1997. reassembled from Russia. I.N.S Viraat: The second aircraft carrier of In- dian Navy INS Sindhushastra: India’s first missile firing submarine. It is the first submarine to be armed  Admiral Gorshkov : India's new aircraft carrier from Russia. with the anti-ship Klub missile.  Missile Boats  Warships  I.N.S Vipul : Second missile boat of India  INS Shivalik : India's first stealth warship was launched in Mumbai on April 18, 2003.  I.N.S Prabal : Indigenously built Indian missile boat commissioned on April 11, 2002.  INS Delhi : Indian Navy's largest and most so- phisticated warship.  I.N.S Prahar : The fastest missile boat of India.  INS Ranvir : A frontline destroyer of  I.N.S Vibhuthi : India’s indigenously built first Indian Navy. missile boat.  INS Mysore: The second of the most powerful  INS Jalwa : The first high - tech stealth frigate, class of warship. built by Russia for the Indian Navy.  INS Kulish : India’s frontline warship commis-  INS Nashak : India's third missile boat launched sioned in August 2001. in 1993.  INS Brahmaputra:Indian Navy commissioned  INS Prahar : It packs a powerful punch in the the 3600 tonne frigate on April 14, 2000. form of ship-to- surface KT 138 missile.  Frigates : Small fast moving escorting ships.  INS Prabhat : Launched in 2000. It belongs to  INS Talwar : India's first hightech Stealth Frig- Nashak class of boats. Its weapon package in- ate. INS Talwar commissoned in St. Petersburg cludes surface-to-surface missiles with associ- (Russia) on June 18, 2003. Its main attack weapon ated surveillance system. is the vertical launch club - N missile system.  INS Tarangini : The first Indianship which cir- cumnavigated the world. The ship set out with  INS Thrissul is the second stealth frigate com- missioned on June 24, 2003. the theme of 'bridging friendship across the oceans.'  INS Savitri : First warship fabricated at the Hindustan

453 Missiles

 A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is the Father of Indian Mis- sile Programme. He is behind the development of Prithvi, Agni etc.  Prithvi : India’s surface-to-surface missile- range 250 km.  Agni : Long range surface-to-surface missile. Dhanush : India’s first India’s first Intermediate Range Ballistic Mis- indigenously sile (IRBM)-Range 2500 km. Now different ver- developed sions of Agni I, Agni II etc. are being devel- ship- to-ship oped. missile testfired from off the  Trishul : Short range surface-to-air missile- coast of Orissa Range 9 km. – 150 km range.  Akash : Medium range surface-to air missile - Range 25km, designed to destroy 5 or more tar-  Patriot : Anti-missiles used by U.S.A. during gets at a time. the Gulf war (1991) to destroy Iraq’s scud mis-  Pinaka : India’s multi-barrel rocket launcher. siles. Which is used for ‘saturation fire. Pinaka can  Astra : India's air to air missile. Its range is from fire 12 solid missiles within seconds. 10-25 km.  Nag : Anti-tank missile; Range 4 km.  Ghori and Shaheen are missiles developed by Others Pakistan.  Phalcon Radar : India has bought Phalcon radars  Arrow Missiles are missiles developed by Is- from Israel. rael.  Vajra Squadron : The name given to the squad- Indian Research and Development Organisations Name of Organisation Location Name of Organisation Location Central Building Research Institute .... Roorkee (UP) Indian Agricultural Research Institute ..... New Delhi Central Drug Research Institute ...... Lucknow (UP) Indian Institute of Science .... Bangalore (Karnataka) Central Food Technological Research Institute...... Indian Textile Institute ...... Kanpur Mysore (Karnataka) Indian Dairy Research Institute ...... Bangalore Central Institute of Fisheries Technology ...... National Aeronautical Laboratory ..... Bangalore Ernakulam (Kerala) National Dairy Research Institute .. Karnal (Haryana) Central Leather Research Institute ...... Chennai National Environment Engineering Research Central Marine Fisheries Institute ...... Institute ...... Nagpur (Maharashtra) Mandapam Camp (South India) National Institute of Oceanography...... Panaji (Goa) Central Mining Research Station ...... Dhanbad All India Institute of Medical Sciences...... Central Road Research Institute ...... New Delhi New Delhi Central Rice Research Institute ...... Cuttack National Institute of Communicable Diseases.. Delhi Central Coconut Research Station ...... Indian Cancer Research Centre ...... Mumbai Kayamkulam (Kerala) National Institute of Virology...... Pune Indian Institute of Petroleum ...... Dehra Dun National Institute of Mental Health ... Bangalore (Uttaranchal) Pasteur Institute ...... Koonoor

454 ron of Mirage 2000 fighter planes received from France. ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’  Gajraj : Name given to the long range heavy is the new theme song of the transport aircraft acquired by the IAF from former Indian army. USSR.  Arjun : India’s Main Battle Tank (MBT)  PoW is Prisoner of War  Lakshya : Pilotless target aircraft developed by  Russian built surface-to-air missile OSA was suc- India cessfully testfired from the Interim Test Range at  Nishant : Indigenously built unmanned air ve- Chandipur, Orissa. hicle of India for surveillance.  Darshak, an indigenously built hydrographic sur-  INS Aditya : Indigenously built fleet replenish- vey ship, has been commissioned in Indian Navy. ment tanker of Indian Navy.  The strength of the Indian Navy has increased  The highest galantry award in India is Param with the induction of two new ships namely, INS Vir Chakra, while the highest civilian award is Mumbai and INS Kirch. Bharat Ratna.  The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is the smallest,  India bought Mirage -2000 fighter planes from lightweight, supersonic fighter aircraft. France, Jaguar fighter planes from England and  The Supersonic Cruise Missile which was jointly MIG-29 from Russia. Sukhoi-30 was bought test fired by India and Russia from Russia. USA has offered to India its war  Rani Padmavathi : The second ship which was plane F-16. built by the ship building yard of Kochi. (First  F-16 is the fighter plane Pakistan bought from ship was 'Rani Padmini.') USA.  Hatf -V is the indigenously developed medium  India is manufacturing Sukhoi Engine at HAC range surface-to-surface ballistic missile testfired factory at Sunabeda (Orissa). by Pakistan.  ISI -Inter Service Intelligence is the spy agency  Lt. General Pankaj Joshi is India’s first ever of Pakistan. RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS). and Mossad are spy organizations of India and  AWACS - Airborne Warning and Control System. Israel repectively. KGB was the Russian spy agency and MI5 (Ministry of Information De-  The World’s highest airfield is situated in Leh. partment No.5) is the British spy agency. CIA -  The indigenously built missile vessel, INS Central Intelligence Agency is the secret police Pralaya, was commissioned in the Indian Navy of USA. Gestapo was the secret police of Nazi on the eve of the Goa Liberation Day on Germany. December 18, 2002.  AK-47 is the name of Soviet made machine gun  India’s first naval academy being built at Ezhimala in Kannur. It is said to be the biggest academy in  RDX (Research Department Explosive) is the Asia. name of powerful explosive.  HARAM - High Speed Anti - Radiation Missile.  PETN (Penta Erythritol Tetra Nitrate) is more le-  The indigenously built multi-role light transport thal and dangerous than the RDX. vehicle has been named Saras.  Interpol is the International Criminal Police Or-  ICBM : Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile. ganization. Its headquarters is in Lyons, France.  IRBM : Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile. Formerly it was in Paris. CBI represents Interpol in India. Established in 1923.  Star war was the American defence programme for destroying missiles of the enemy country in  K. Subramanyam Committee probed the Kargil the space when they are launched. intrusion by Pak-backed militants.

455  NMD National Missile Defence is a new pro-  Sarojini Naidu : The coast Guard has inducted a gramme to replace star war programme earlier new fast vessel Sarojini Naidu for its operational. scrapped by the NASA.  India’s missile launching pad is at Chandipur - Paramilitary Forces on-sea (Orissa); rocket launching centre is at Thumba and satellite launching centre is at  Assam Rifles (1835) is the oldest paramilitary Sriharikotta. force in India and the youngest is Rashtriya Ri-  Brahmos cruise missile is jointly developed by fles (1994) India and Russia. Brahmos is the short form for Brahmaputra and the Mosaka River in Moscow.  The only paramilitary force which has an exclu- Its range is 300 km. Brahmos is the first and only sive Mahila Battalion is CRPF (Central Reserve supersonic cruise missile that uses liquid ram jet Police Force) Batch -88. technology.  Police is a state subject under the constitution.  As part of Indo US defence co-operation Indian vessels have started escorting US ships through  CRPF is Central Reserve Police Force. It was raised the Malacca Strait. in 1939. Its headquarters is New Delhi and pri-  India has decided to buy the firefinder battery mary objective of the force is maintenance of law radar from USA. Firefinder can locate artillery and order. guns at a maximum range of 50 km.  CRPF was raised at Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh  National Defence University and called ‘Crown Representative’s Police’,  World’s third Defence University only China and which after independence became the Central USA have such universities. Reserve Police.  Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) was passed by the Parliament 2002 aims to suppress terrorist  The paramilitary force of India set up to provide activities in India. security to industrial undertakings owned by the  TADA [Terrorist and Disruptive Activities government was (Prevention Act] was passed in 1987. (a) CRPF (b) CISF  Smerch is a longrange Russian rocket system presently in trial in India. (c) BSF (d) ITBP  LCA is India’s Light Combat Aircraft. Ans : (b) CISF  SU-30 MKI has been inducted to the Indian Air  CISF is Central Industrial Security Force was Force on setember 27, 2002. created in 1969  The Technology Demonstrator-version of the Light Combat Aircraft, 'Tejas' , achieves milestone  Protection of Taj Mahal VIPs, airports now rests by crossing Mach 1.4 at a speed of 950 kmph with CISF. approximately at 11 km altitude.  The objective of BSF (Border Security Force)  Hawk : The Government has decided to acquired vigilance of international border in the northeast the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer from Britain. and countering insurgency in Northeastern  INS KADAMBA : The Navy’s long awarted, fu- turistic, state of the art operational base on the States. BSF was established in 1965. western seaboard at Karwar (Karnataka) was Coast Guard commissioned on May 31, 2005. It is the 3rd op- erational base after Mumbai and Vishakapatnam.  Indian coast Guard was set on 19 August1978.  Nilgiri : India launched the first of its indigenuos  Indo - Tibetan Border Police was formed in 1962 stealth warship Niligiri. It was built at the Protection of Indo-Tibetan Border as well as VIPs Mazgaon Dock. now rests with ITBP.  Which of the following is a voluntary part-time

456 force? of industrial production in the event of an attack.

(a) Coast Guard (b) Home Guard  World’s highest warfare school was opened at (c) Territorial Army (d) NCC Tso Morriri by ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Ans : (c) Territorial Army Police).  Territorial Army was formed in 1949.  FPV - Fast Patrol Vessel.  NCC (National Cadet Corps) was established  Intelligence Bureau (IB) was established in 1920. in 1948. (IB was originally set up as Central Special  The motto of NCC is 'Unity and Discipline.' Branch (CSB) in 1887 and renamed Intelligence Bureau in 1920).  To protect the maritime and other national inter- ests in the maritime zones of India for this pur-  The objectives of IB is to collect secret informa- pose the Coast Guard was constituted as an tion relating to country’s security. armed force of the Union under the Coast Guard  National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) was Act 1978. established in 1986.

 Home Guards was Formed in 1962 its main objec- What is the number of the Mahila Battalian of tive as to help Police Force when Natural Disas- the Central Reserve Police? ter occurs and epidemic diseases spread out. (a) BN 81 (b) BN 85  Civil Defence: It aims at saving life, minimising (c) BN 88 (d) BN 28 damage to property, and maintaining continuity Ans: (c) BN 88

457  Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) was set up in 1971 at Kalpakkam.  Dhruva, India's fifth Research Reactor, was com- missioned in 1985.  FBTR is Fast Breeder Test Reactor. FBTR at Kalpakkam was commissioned in 1985.  Today, India is the 7th Country in the World and the first developing nation to have the distinc- tion of mastering fast breeder technology. The Atomic Research other six nations are the US, the CIS, France, Britain, Germany and Japan.  The Atomic Energy Commission was set up in  India's first presurised Heavy Reactor (PHWR) 1948 with Dr.H.J.Bhabha as its first chairman. Its is Rajasthan Atomic Power Station -1 (RAPS-1). present Chairman is Anil Kakodkar.  Indo - US nuclear Pact Atomic Power Plants India and USA signed a historic nuclear agree-  Narora Atomic Power Station ... Uttar Pradesh ment when the US president visited India in  Kakrapara Atomic Power Station ...... Gujarat March 2005.  Kaiga Atomic Power Station ...... Karnataka  Kota ...... Rajasthan  India’s first underground nuclear explosion was  Rana Pratap Sagar Atomic Power Plant is in Kota carried out on May18, 1974 at Pokhran in in Rajasthan. Rajasthan (Thar) desert. With this India became  Kalpakkam ...... Tamil Nadu the sixth nuclear power in the world.  Koodamkulam ...... Tamil Nadu  The code name used to convey the success of  Koodamkulam is being built with the help of Russia. the test to the then Prime Minister, Indira Gan- It is the second atomic power project in Tamil Nadu. dhi, was 'Buddha is Smiling'.  India’s first Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion  The second and third nuclear explosions were also plant (OTEC) is being set up at Tuticorin. carried out at Pokhran on May 11 and 13 in 1998.  The tests conducted were with a fission device, Atomic Power Production a low yield device and a thermonuclear device. the code name of these tests was 'Operation Shakti'. Currently (2006 April 1) the total power gener- ated from 15 operating atomic reactor in the coun-  Pakistan carried out its nuclear explosions in May try is 3300 MW. 1998 at Chagai Hills.  With the commissioning of Tarapur Atomic Power  BARC - Bhabha Atomic Research Centre was station - 3rd unity in May 2006 (Capacity - 540 set up in 1957 at Trombay and it is India’s larg- MW) it will increase to 3840 MW. est atomic research centre. There are five research  The Russian aided 1000 MW light water reactor reactors in operation. at Koodamkulam (TN) will become operational  Apsara is India’s first atomic reactor. Functioned in 2007 and 2008. at 1956 Apsara was Asia’s First research reactor. Nuclear Research Institutions  'Circus' is a 40 MW research reactor. 'Zerlina' is a zero energy experimental thermal reactor  Atomic Energy Commission ...... Mumbai 'Purnima-II' is a homogeneous reactor which  Indian Rare Earths Ltd...... Alwaye uses Uranium-233 fuel in the form of a solution.  Radio Astronomy Centre...... Ottacamund  Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics ..... Kolkatta  Kamini is India’s first fast breeder neutron reac- tor at Kalpakkom.  Tata Institute of Fundamental Research .. Mumbai 458 man into space on April 3, 1984. Space Programme  Dr. Kalpana Chawla, an Indian or Indian Ameri- can woman, became the first Indian woman to go  Indian Space Research started in 1961 under Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. Indian Space Research into the space on November 19, 1997 on a 16 day Organization (ISRO) was set in 1969 with mission on NASA’s Columbia shuttle as a Mis- Bangalore as the headquarters. In 1972 Space sion Specialist to study the outer atmosphere of Commission was established. Sun But on her second space mission in January 2003 abroad Columbia, she was killed along with  India launched its first satellite ‘Aryabhatta’ in 6 other astronauts on February 1, 2003 due to 1975, April 19. breaking up of the space shuttle minutes before  Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) - landing. In the memory of Kalpana Chawla India Trivandrum -established in 1963 for development has renamed METSAT, its first meteorological of satellite launch vehicles such as SLV, ASLV, satellite as Kalpana - I. PSLV and GSLV. (A = Augmented ; P = Polar : G =  Columbia Space Shuttle Commander - Eleen Geosynchronous) Collins. She was the first woman commander of  Sriharikotta Rocket Range - A satellite a space shuttle. lauching station set up in Andhra Pradesh.  The first sounding rocket was launched from  Space Application Centre - Ahmedabad. Thumba in 1963.

 India’s Space Missions  TERLS is Thumba Equitorial Rocket Launching Station. TERLS dedicated to united nations in SLV 3 : India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle, 1968. launched Rohini Satellite, on July 18, 1980, from Sriharikotta. It was fabri-  Aryabhatta, India's first satellite was launched cated at Vikram Sarabhai Space Cen- in April 19, 1975 and Bhaskara I was launched on tre., Trivandrum. June 7, 1979. Aryabhatta and Bhaskara - I were launched from the Soviet Union. ASLV : Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle - pay load capacity: 50-150kg  With the launching of APPLE on June 19, 1981 India entered the domestic satellite communica- PSLV : Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle tion era. GSLV : Geosynchronous Space  APPLE : Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment. Launch Vehicle  First and Second Generation INSAT series were INSAT : Indian National Satellite mainly aimed at improving Indian telecommunica- IRS : Indian Remote Sensing satellite tion and telecast services and remote sensing. INSAT -2A : India’s first indigenously built  IRS -IB, the second remote sensing satellite, second generation communication launched by the Russian Mostok rocket from satellite Baiknour Cosmodrome in 1991.  Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma was the first  First Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-IA) Indian to go to space . He was launched abroad was launched on March 19, 1988. Soyuz T-II space ship from Baikonour  IRS-P4 was put into orbit on May 26, 1999 by Cosmodrome in Kazhakhstan (former USSR). In- PSLV-C2. Along with IRS-P4, PSLV-C2 carried one dia is the 14th nation in the world to have sent a Korean Satellite (KITSAT) and a German Satel- 459 ??? ????????? ??? How do you rate yourself?

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461 lite (TUBSAT) and this heralded the commer- handling liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as cialisation of Indian space programme. propellants.  INSAT-3B launched the first of India’s third gen-  METSAT now known as Kalpana I is India’s eration satellite. INSAT-3B was successful. first climate satellite.

 The second third generation satellite INSAT-3C  India’s First Full - Fledged meterological satel- was launched on January 16, 2002 on board an lite METSAT was successfully launched on Sep- Ariane -4 launch vehicle from the French tember 1, 2002 from the Satish Dhawan Space Guayanese Space Port Kouru. Centre at Siharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

 INSAT-3E, the communication satellite of the  INSAT-3C launched on ...... 2002 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was  INSAT-3A launched on ...... April 2003 launched from Kourou, by a European Ariane 5 launch vehicle on September 28.  INSAT 3A is India’s biggestspace craft with a 12 year mission life.  ISRO is getting ready to launch its newest In- dian Remote Sensing Satellite, the IRS-P6 or  ISRO’s second master control facility Resourcesat. ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair inagurated the  Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicles newly set up master control facility (MCF) of (GSLV-D1). put GSAT-I into orbit on March 28, ISRO at Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) on April 2001. 11,2005.  Indian Scientific Satellite Project - Bangalore This is India’s second MCF after the First in  The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Hussan in Karnataka. launching centre at Sriharikotta has been re-  Edusat : India’s exclusive satallite for educa- named as Sathish Dhawan Space Centre. tional purpose was launched on September 20,  On October 22, 2001, ISRO’s Polar Satellite 2004 by GSLV - FO1 from Sriharikota. Launch Vehicle (PSLV) successfully launched  Carto Sat - 1 India’s first satellite for mapping three satellites - Technolgy Experiments Satel- was launched on may 5, 2005 by PSLV -C6 from lite (TES) of India, Bispectral Experiments,De- Sriharikota. PSLV - C6 also carried HAMSAT tection Satellite (BIRD) of Germany and Project along with Catro Sat - 1 for on Board Autonomy (PROBA) of Belgium.  INSAT - 4A - India launched first of the fourth  The high altitude space telescope of India has generation satellite used for communication from been set up at Hanle in Ladak. Kourou, French, Guyana on December 22, 2005.  SITE - Satellite Instructional Television Experi- It is the heaviest satellite, India has launched ment. so far (3080 kg)  STEP - Satellite Telecommunication Experiment Project. Chandrayan -1

 G. Madhavan Nair is the Chaiman of ISRO. The Chandrayan is India’s first unmanner ISRO successfully test fired an indigenously built moon exploration. The project is being cryogenic integrated engine at its Liquid Pro- unplemented by ISRO in association with pulsion System Centre (LPSC), Mahendragiri. other countries space agency including The Cryogenic engine is a very complex system NASA.

462 cal mile for each Country, where it has sovereign Oceanographic Research right over natural resources both living and non  The first Antarctic expedition was launched in living. December 1981 under the leadership of Dr. S.Z.  India’s Arctic Expedition Quasim. So far India has undertaken 24 expedi- After Antartica, India is now planning an Arctic tions to Antarctica. expedition. The National Centre for Antartica &  The 25th expedition is on its way to Antartica in Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa has been fasted January 2006. It leader is Dr. M. Sudhakar. to set up an observation facility and possibly a Malayalee member of the team is Dr. N. Anil station in Arctic in collaboration with Norway. Kumar.

 The first permanent station of India at Antarc- Medical Research tica, `Dakshin Gangotri', was established in 1984.  An International panel in 2000 declared India a India's second permanent station, `Maitri' was guineaworm free country. constructed in 1989.  India’s first successful liver transplant was car-  The 3rd permanent station is being set up at ried out at the Apollo Hospital, Chennai. Larseman Hill by the Antartican expedition  India’s first skin bank is proposed to set up at which left India in January 2006. the government Medical College, Chennai.  Thrishna-the fibreglass yacht-sailed around the  India’s first organ bank was set up at the All world in 1985. This was the first expedition un- India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). dertaken by Indian sailors to circumnavigate  NACO is National AIDS Control Organisation. Earth.  Pulse Polio Immunisation Programme aims at to-  National Institute of Oceanography is at Panaji tal eradication of polio from the country. (Goa).  Elisa Test is done to detect AIDS.  Sirohi Point: Sirohi Point or the peak of  Shanvac -B is India's first genetically engineered Beardmore glacier is named after Dr. G.S. Sirohi, vaccine for Hepatitis B. former head of physiological division of IARI, for the contribution to physiological science.  The expedition to Antartica is organised every Major Ports of India year by National Centre for Antartica and Ocean Research (NCAOR) which is situated at Goa. 1. Kandla 2. Mumbai  National Insitute of ocean Technology : Chennai 3. Nhava Sheva  Indian National centre for ocean and Informa- 4. Goa tion services - Hyderabad 5. Mangalore 6. Kochi  Centre for marine living Resources and Ecology 7. Tutucorin : Kochi 8. Chennai  The oceanographic Research Institute : Panaji, Goa 9. Ennore 10. Vishakapatnam  Every country has the complete sovereignity 11. Paradweep over its territorial sea up to 12 nautical mile. 12. Kolkatta  Exclusive Economic Zone extends to 200 nauti-

463  World Diabetes Day is on November 14. born on April 6, 1986 in Mumbai.  Alzheimer's Day is on September 21.  International Nurses Day : May 12.  Plague affected Surat in Gujarat and dengue Fe-  World Heart day -It Falls on last Sunday of Sep- ver affected Delhi. tember.  World Leprosy Day is on January 30.  2006 World Heart Day - September 24  Batistia Operation is a radical procedure that  The infant motality rate in India has cosiderably could help heart patients avoid transplants. For reduced from 134 in 1946 - 1950 to 63 in 2002. the first time it was done in India at the Institute  Child death rate has declined from 25 per 1000 of Cardiovascular Diseases, Madras Medical population in 1951 to 8.1 in the year 2002. Mission.  The National Rural Health Care Mission  Aspirin is a one hundred year old analgesic, (NRHM) was launched on 12 April 2005. which was discovered on August 10, 1897 by Felix Hoffman. The chemical name of aspirin is  Crude birth rate was 40.8 in 1951 and in 2002 it is acetyl salicylic acid. only 25.  India’s first heart transplantation was carried out  Avian Flu finally arrived in India. The virus was at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, first detected in Nandurbam in Maharashtra,and New Delhi, by Dr. P. Venugopal in August 3, 1994. later in Gujarat its virus is termed H5NI.  The Former Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, has  The national Institute of communicable diseases declared August 3 every year as the Heart : New Delhi. Transplantation Day.  The National Institute of virology : Pune (Maharashtra).  India's first test tube baby, Baby Harsha, was

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464  'e-Rail' is the online railway reservation system launched by the State Bank of India (SBI). The facility allows internet banking customers to make online booking of railway tickets.  Railway Production Units Chittaranjan Locomotives Works ...... Chittaranjan Integral Coach Factory ...... Perambur (Tamil Nadu) Diesel Locomotive Works ...... Varanasi Wheel and Axle Plant ...... Bangalore Rail Coach Factory ...... Kapurthala Diesel Component Works ...... Patiala (Punjab)

 Important Trains Railways Shatabdhi Express ...... Bhopal - Delhi Maveli Express ...... Mangalapuram - Trivandrum  Indian Railway is the biggest emoployer in the Gurudev Express ...... Nagercovil - Howra World. Netravati Express ...... Trivandrum - Lokmanya Tilak  Indian Railways is Asia’s largest and the World’s (Mumbai-Kurla) second largest railway system under single man- Pink City Express ...... Delhi - Jaipur agement. It is the biggest public sector under- taking and the largest single employer in India. Kerala Express ...... Delhi-Trivandrum Marusagar Express ...... Jaipur - Cochin  The first train in India steamed off from Bombay to Thane, a stretch of 34 km in 1853, during the Amritha Express ...... Palakkad - Trivandrum reign of Lord Dalhousie. The first electric train Taj Express ...... Delhi - Gwalior in India, ‘Deccan Queen’, was introduced in 1925 Mangala Express ...... Nizamuddin - Ernakulam between Kalyan and Pune. Indian Railways is Purushottam Express ...... Delhi - Puri the second biggest electrified railway system in Coromandal Express ...... Howrah - Chennai the World after Russia. Himasagar Express ...... Jammu Tawi - Kanyakumari  Indian Railways operate in three different gauges - Sarvodaya Express ...... Ahmedabad-Jammu Tawi broad gauge (1.676 metre width) metre gauge (1.m) narrow gauge (0.762 m and 0.610 m). On July 3, Gitanjali Express ...... Howrah-Mumbai 1992, Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao dedicated Project Unigauge to the Indian Railways .The Railway Zones project envisaged to convert total gauge rail track Zone Headquarters to broad gauge under the 8th Plan. 1. Southern ...... Chennai  Indian Railways till 1996 was divided into 9 zones 2. South-Central...... Secunderabad in India. The Government later formed seven new 3. Central ...... Mumbai CST zones. With this total number of Railway zone is 4. Western ...... Mumbai Church Gate 16 and there are 67 railway divisions. 5. Northern ...... New Delhi  Headquarters of the newly formed south west- 6. Eastern ...... Kolkatta ern railway is Bangalore. 7. North-Eastern ...... Gorakhpur 8. North-East Frontier .... Maligaon (Guwahati)  Central Eastern zone was formed in 1998 Sep- 9. South-Eastern ...... Kolkatta tember 9. Headquarter of the Central Eastern zone 10. East Coast ...... Bhubaneswar is Bilaspur. 11. East Central ...... Hajipur  Vigyan Rail : This is a special train designed by 12. North Central ...... Allahabad the Science and Technology ministry in collabo- 13. North Western ...... Jaipur ration with the Railway ministry to create public 14. South Western ...... Bangalore awareness on the progress made by India in 15. West Central ...... Jabalpur science and technology. 2004 is observed as 16. Central Eastern ...... Bilaspur 'Science Awareness Year by Indian Railway 465 August Kranti Express ...... Mumbai-Delhi Calcutta. G.T. Express ...... New Delhi-Chennai  The second metro rail system was built in 2002 in Charminar Express ...... Chennai-Hyderabad Perl City Express ...... Chennai to tuticorin New Delhi. Ahilyan Agari Express ...... Indore-Trivandrum Dr. Manmohan Singh laid the foundation for the Cannanore Express ...... Trivandrum - Cannanore 3rd Metro Rail Project at Mumbai on December Kaveri Express ...... Mysore - Chennai 22nd 2006 it was commence function from 2011. Himagri Express ...... Howra - Jammu Tawi  Mass Rapid Transit System was introduced in Nilgiri Express...... Chennai - Mettupalayam Chennai in 1995.  Railway Staff College is at Baroda.  The Konkan Railway, the 760 km rail system, was  Shatabdi Express running between New Delhi dedicated to the nation in 1999. It links and Bhopal is the fastest train in India with a Mangalore with Roha in Maharashtra. speed of 140km/ hr.  The year 1999-2000 was declared by the Govern-  A number of trains connecting different destina- ment as ‘Passengers Year.’ tions are running in India in the name of Shtabdi  India’s longest railway tunnel so far 6.5 kms long Express Train, Janshatabdi Express Train, Rajadhani Express Train, Samparak Kranti Ex- falls on Kharbude in Konkan railway. press train are Super Fast Trains.  World longest railway platform Kharagpur Sta- tion in West Bengal. 833 m (2,733ft)  In 1991, Indian Railways introduced the world’s first hospital on wheels called ‘Life Line Ex-  Himasagar Express running between Jammu Tawi press’ (Jeevan Rekha) to provide medical aid in and Kanyakumari is the longest distance travel- rural areas. ling train in India (3,730 Km).  ‘Palace on Wheel’ is the first private train in  Prayagraj Express running between New Delhi India. and Allahabad is the longest train with 24 Com- partment.  First metro rail in India was opened in 1984-85 in  'Baaz' India's first indigenously air conditioned Golden Quadrilateral

Jammu Delhi  Golden Quadralateral Golden Quadralateral is a project under taken under Na- tional Highway Development Silchar Chennai Project to link the four metro (Assam) cities of India with four to six lane highway. The city get Jhansi linked by Golden N Quardralateral are Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai. Porbandar W E  The Red Fort was under the control of the Indian Army for 56 years. Now its control has S been taken over by the Tour- Cape Camorine ism Department of India.

466 low engine. It is going to be introduced in the Konkan Railway. Its fastest speed is 150 kmph. Ocean Transport  Meghalaya and Sikkim are the two States in  Shipping play a vital role in India with a vast India which have no railway. coastline of about 7516km and over 2 million  Computer Railway Reservation System was in- sq.km of exclusive economic zone (EEz) troduced by the Indian Railways in 1988. Approximately 90% of the country’s trade vol- ume (77% in terms of value) is moved by sea.  India’s first online rail reservation facility was inaugurated in New Delhi.  There are 12 major ports in public sector and one major port in private sector in the country. Ma-  Fairy Queen is the World’s oldest working steam jor ports on the West Coast - Kandla (Gujarat), locomotive engine. Fairy Queen runs in India for Marmugao (Goa) tourism promotion.  Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru Port earlier called  The Mascot of Indian Railways, which celebrated Nhava Sheva Port (Maharashtra), Cochin its 150th anniversary on April 16th 2002 is an (Kerala), and Mangalore (Karnataka) on the East elephant called Bholu which represents the work Coast -Tuticorin, Chennai and Ennore (Tamil of a guard. Nadu), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Paradeep (Orissa), Kolkatta (West Bengal) are  The first rail archives was inaugurated at the Na- the twelve major ports in public sector. Ennore tional Rail Museum in New Delhi. Port is the only major port in the country in pri-  Northern Railway is the largest Railway zone. vate sector. It is the 12th major port of India.  Baroda House is the headquarters of Indian Rail-  There are 4 major shippyards in India. ways in New Delhi. (1) Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers Ltd., Kolkatta.  Project Unigauge was launched on Ist April 1990 to develop backward regions and to connect (2) Mazagaon Dock Ltd., Mumbai. important places with broadgauge network. (3) Hindustan Shippyard Ltd., Vishakapattanam (4) Cochin Shippyard, Cochin.  Skybus Project  Mumbai is the biggest port, handling one fifth of World's first commercial prototype skybus tech- nology demonstration project was launched in Margao (Goa), which is expected to revolution- First to visit India ize the mass rapid transport system. The eco- friendly project was developed by the Konkan First US President to visit India ...... Dwight Railway Corporation at a cost of Rs. 7 crores. Eisenhower  Deccan Odyssey First Pope to visit India ...... Pope Paul VI Maharashtra Tourism Department and Indian First Pope to visit India twice .... Pope John Paul-II railway jointly started Deccan Odyssey the luxu- First Chairman of People’s Republic of China rious Train for Tourism purpose...... Mao Tse-tung  Indian Rail is the monthly magazine of Indian Railways. First European invader ...... Alexander  The Nehru Setu over the Zone river is the long- First Chinese Pilgrim to visit India ...... Fa-hien est rail bridge in India. First British Ruler to visit India ...... Queen Victoria  The longest railway tunnel in India is on the First Russian Prime Minister to visit India ...... Bulganin Konkan Railway runs to 6.5 km.  The name given to Railways drinking water First British Prime Minister to visit India ...... Project - Railneer. Harold Macmillan

467 Vishakhapattanam harbour is Institutes protected by a rocky head land National Institute of Ayurveda ...... Jaipur called “Dolphin’s Nose’’ National Institute of Homoeopathy ... Kolkatta National Institute of Unani Medicine ..... Bangalore the total traffic of all the ports. It is a natural National Institute of Siddha ...... Chennai harbour. National Institute of Naturopathy ...... Pune  Kandla is a tidal port and a free trade zone.  Marmugao is a natural port and an important Ans : (d) Vishakhapattanam naval station.  In 1906, one of the greatest freedom fighters of  India's most modern sea port is Nava Sheva. India, Mr. V.O. Chidambaram Pillai launched the  Calcutta is the largest terminal port in South Asia. first Swadeshi Ship 'S.S. Gaelia' in British India.  Visakhapatnam is the deepest port. It has a big  The Hindustan Shipyard Limited, ship building unit Vishakhapattanam was set up in 1941 and it be-  Chennai is one of the oldest ports in India. It is came the first ship building yard in the country an artificial harbour and third largest in India. to get the ISO : 9001 certification.  Submarine building yard in India is at  The total length of India’s coastline in 7,516.6 km. Visakhapatnam.  The Lal Bahadur Shastri College of Advanced  Kochi is a natural harbour built with financial Maritime Studies and Research is situated in assistance from Japan. Mumbai.  Kandla (Gujarat) is the first port developed soon  Marine Engineering and Research Centre after independence. (MERI) is situated in Kolkatta.  In the year 1936, Cochin port declared as a major port.  Name the only state in India having three major ports - Tamil Nadu  Which of the following is the oldest ports on the east coast? (a) Vishakapattanam (b) Chennai (c) Paradeep (d) Kolkatta Ans : (b) Chennai Which one of the following major port of India handles maximum traffic? (a) Kandla (b) Cochin (c) Vishakapattanam (d) Mumbai Ans : (d) Mumbai Sethumamudram Project  Which of the following part specially developed The Sethusamudram project aims to build for expert of Kundermukhi iron ore? up a shipping channel between India and (a) Mormugao (b) New Mangalore Sri Lanka so that big ships can travel from (c) Cochin (d) Vishakapattanam western coast of India to Eastern coast Ans: (b) New Mangalore without travelling around Sri Lanka. It can  National Ship Design and Research Centre save time and fuel. (NSDRC) is situated in  International Container Transhipment Termi- (a) Kolkatta (b) Mumbai nal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam (c) Cochin (d) Vishakhapattanam On February 16, 2005 the Prime Minister had

468 ¯n C´y³ FbÀsse³knsâ hnam\w Aar laid the foundation stone for the construction (A^vKm-\n-Øm³) X«n- ICTT at Vallarpadam, in kochi. XvkÀ hgn I­-lm-dn-te¡v s¡m-­p-t]m-bXv.  The Dubai Port International will built up, the  Port Blair airport has been renamed Veer Savarkar project on (build, operate Transport) BOT Basis Airport.  National Waterways NH-3 aims to link kollam to  Dum Dum Airport (Calcutta) is renamed Subhash Kottapuram (168 km) Chandra Bose Airport.  NW - 1 links Allahabad to Haldia (1620km)  Mumbai domestic airport (Santa Cruz Airport) is now known as Jawaharlal Nehru Air port.  Highest Airport - Leh Airport in Ladakh. Civil Aviation  Busiest Airport - Mumbai Airport (Sahar [In- ternational] and Santacruz [Domestic] )  JRD Tata was the first to make a solo flight from  IATA - International Air Transport Association. Bombay to Karachi in 1931.  “Wings of Freedom” is a new scheme intro-  Indian Airline dropped the word Airlines and duced by Indian Airlines. now it is known as Indian from the 2005. The log  For which year Air India was established - 1953 of the orange tail (IA) has been replaced by a partly visible blue ‘wheel’ inspired by the Sun  In which Pakistani city was the hijacked Indian Temple at Konark. Blue wheat in orange surface. Airlines plane blown upon 30 January 1971? Lahore  There are 19 International airports, 88 domestic aerodromes and 28 Civil enclaves in the Coun-  National Institute of Aviation Management and try. The International Airports are Ahmedabad, Research (NIAMAR) is situated at Delhi. Amritsar, Bangalore, Chennai (Meenambakom)  Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited is the public sector Coimbatore, Delhi (Indira Gandhi) Gaya, Goa, helicopter company of Government of India. Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata (Dum Dum)  The Open Sky Policy came into operation in 1990. Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai (Sahar), The policy allowed air taxi operators to operate Tiruchirapalli, Thiruvananthapuram and flights from any airport, both on a charter and Varanasi. Nagpur airports is also being upgraded non charter basis. as International Airport.  Bangalore, Coimbatore, Gaya, Jaipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Tirunchirapalli, Varanasi are the new International Airports. Road Transport  The operation, management, maintanance, plan-  The Indian road network is one of the largest in ning and development of international Airports Au- the world. The total length of roads in India was thority of India (IAAI). Which was set up in 1972. 33,19,644 km in 1996. Longest system of road is in  The functions of domestic aerodromes are now the state of Maharashtra. (3,59,262 kms) looked after by the National Airport Authority  G.T. Road (Grand Trunk Road) originally built by of India (NAAI) which was set in 1986. Sher Sha Suri is India’s longest road. Now it runs from Calcutta to Amritsar  The Government has already gave sanctions for the privatisation of Mumbai and New Delhi airport  NH-7 is the longest national highway (2369km). It connects Varanasi and Kanyakumari.  Amritsar airport is called Raja Sansi.  The shortest national highway is NH 47 (A)  Kandahar airport is in Afghanistan. which links Wellington Island with Kochin By-  Thribhuvan airport is in Kathmandu in Nepal. pass (6 km) ImTva-WvUp-hnse Xr`p-h³ hnam-\-¯m-h-f-¯n   NH1 connects Delhi with Amritsar. \n¶mWv ]mIn-Øm³ `oI-cÀ 1999 Unkw-_À amk-

469  The Central Road Research Institute is in New dum, between Sukinda mines and Paradweep, Delhi. NATPAC - National Transportation Plan- between Durgapur and Kolkatta. ning and Research Centre.  PMBJP: Pradhan Mantri Bharat Jodo  Government has planned to link major metropoli- Pariyojana. tan cities with super highways. The scheme is  It will cover the entire nation, particularly State known as Golden Quadralateral. Capitals and trading centres, in a comprehen- sive way with four-lane highways. It converts  The new super high way linking India, North- 10,000 km of high density roads into four lane South and East - West will have the following routes. terminals.  Border Roads Development Organisation (BRO) North-south: Kanyakumari - Srinagar was set up in may 1960. East-West : Silchar (Assam) - Porbandar (Gujarat)  These two Super Highways meet at Jhansi in  Asian Highway Network Madhya Pradesh. India signed a historic agreement for complet-  Pradhanmanthri Gram Sadak Yojana, a new rural ing a 140,000km long Asian Highway Network development scheme aims to connect all habita- (AHN) which is projected to be completed by tion with 500 plus population through roads. 2010 AD. Pakistan, China, Iran, Indonesia, Ja-  National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) set pan, Mongolia, Kazakhistan, South Korea, Tur- up in 1989. It is an autonomous body entrusted key and Vietnam are other signatories. with the responsibility of development, mainte-  The Amritsar - Nankana Sahib Bus was flag off nance and operation of National Highway. on March 24, 2006, in king the two holiest Shrines  At present, India has 5 express highways. They of Sikhs the Golden Temple and Nankana Sahib. are Western, Eastern, between Kolktta and Dum-

Classical Dances Important Regional Dances Manipur ...... Manipuri  Bihu (Assam) A post harvest folk dance. Tamil Nadu ...... Bharatnatyam  Ottam Thullal (Kerala) Solo dance known as poor Kerala ...... Kathakali man’s kathakali - Kunjan Nambiar evolved it. Mohiniattam Orissa ...... Odissi  Yakshagana : Well known dance form of Karnataka. U.P ...... Kathak Dr. Shivarama Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal ...... Chchau Karanth revived it Karnataka ...... Yakshagana in modern times.  Bhangra: Folk Folk Dances dance of harvest season in Punjab. It Gujarat ...... Garba / Rasa coincides with the Maharashtra ...... Tamasha festival of Baisakhi Rajasthan ...... Thumar or Gangore  Tamasha - (Maharashtra), Nautanki (U.P) Garba Uttarpradesh ...... Notanki (Gujarath), Chow (Orissa, Bihar) are other well known West Bengal ...... Kathi folk dances. Assam...... Baisakhi Bihu/Khel Gopal  Gidda - Punjab Kummi - Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu ...... Kolattam/Kummi/Kavadi Kerala ...... Kaikottikali/Tattam kali  Khayal - RajasthanLota - Madhya Pradesh Andhra Pradesh ...... Ghanta Mardala  Ruslila - Gujarat

470 Environment

 UNEP : United Nations Environment Programme  UNEP was established in 1972 with H.Q. at Nai- robi. World Environment Day : June 5  UNEP provides machinery for International Co- operation in Matters relating to Human Environ-  Jala Sahodariyam ment. Jala Sahodariyam a new project introduced by  The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) was estab- famous environmentalist Rajendra Singh for rob- lished in 1890. Its headquarters is in Kolkatta. bing drinking water by multinational company.  The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) was estab-  Biosphere Reserve Network Programme was lished in 1916. Headquarters: Kolkatta. launched in 1971 by UNESCO under the aegis of  Botanical Survey of India (BSI) was established its Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme, to on 1890. Head quarters at Kolkatta. provide a global network of protected areas for conserving natural communities.  Mashelkar Committee This committee was formed  India posses 60 to 70% of worlds biodiversity. under the chairmanship of R.A Mashelkar, Di- Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972. rector General, Council for Scientific and Indus- trial Research (CSIR), New Delhi to recommend  Chipko movement was started in 1973 in the an auto fuel Policy for the Country together with Chamoli district of Uttaranchal. Sunderlal a road map for its implementation. Bahuguna was the leader of the movement.  Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). A movement against the construction of Dam over Narmada HEALTH INDICATORS which will ultimately results in flood and water 1. Crude Birth Rate 25.0 (2002) logging. (Per 1000 population) 2. Crude Death Rate 8.1 (2002) (Per 1000 population) FINE FOR 3. Total Fertility Rate 3.2 (1999) HIMACHAL PRADESH (Per women on average) India’s Supreme Court has imposed its highest 4. Maternal mortality Rate 407 (1998) ever fine for ecological damage on the State of (Per 100,000 live birth) Himachal Pradesh for allowing advertisements 5. Infant mortality Rate 63 to damage spectacular Himalayan scenery. The (Per 1000 live birth) court imposes penality on the State for permit- ting rocks to be defaced by advertisement for 6. Life Expectancy at Birth (Years) Pepsi and Coco Cola and local firms. The ad- Males 63.87 (2001 - 2006) vertisements are spread along more than 50 Females 66.91 (2001 - 06 kilometres of highway in the Manali - Rohtang  India is committed to become polio-free coun- Pass, destroying morass which support a sen- try by 2007 sitive eco systems.

471 Bt. Cotton Approved  National Forest Policy envisages to increase the forest cover upto 33% of the geographi-  On March 26, 2002 the Genetic Engineering Ap- cal area. proval Committee (GEAC) under Union Environ-  Project Tiger in 1973 was the biggest wild life ment and Forest Ministry approved the use of Project ever launched in the World. the genetically modified Bt. Cotton in India  Wild Life Institute of India - Dehradun Bt : Bacillus thuringiensis.  Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural His- The first genetically modified. Cottonseed in In- tory : Coimbatore dia Bt. Cotton has been introduced to address  Forest Research Institute : Dehradun American bollworm infestation incotton plants.  The National Museum of Natural History : Not only did the Bt. Seed not project the plant New Delhi from holloworm attack but the plant was subject  Afforestation : turn into forest to attacks by non-target pests Bt. Plants also Fell pery to Fungal disease, Apart from low yield the  Deforestation : to remove forests Fibre harvested was very short and fetched poor  Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy is lo- prices. This leads to heavy loss to poor Farmers. cated at Dehra Dun.  Headquarters of World Wild Life Fund - Morges Biosphere Reserves (Switzerland).  The Biosphere Reserves are multi-purpose pro-  Institute of Arid Zone Forestry Research in tected areas to preserve the genetic diversity in Jodhpur (Rajasthan). representative eco-system.  World Day for Save Animal: April -24.  So far 14 Biosphere Reserves have been set up  The place of Garden Tourism Festival is at in India. They are Nilgiri, Nanda Devi, Nokrek, Talkatara Gardens in Delhi. Great Nicobar, Gulf of Mannar, Manas,  The Supreme Court has directed all the State Sunderbans, Similipal, Dibru Daikhowa, Dehong Governments and educational agencies to in- Deband, Pachmarhi, Kanchanjanga and troduce environment as a compulsory subject Agasthyamalai and Anchamukmar Amartakantak in schools up to the higher secondary level from (Madhya Pradesh). Out of this 14, four have been the academic year 2004-05. recognised on world Network of Biosphere Re- serves by UNESCO. They are Nilgiri, Wild Life Conservation Sunderbans, Gulf of Manar and Nanda Devi.  Project Tiger launched in 1973, is the most suc-  Out of this 14, there is only one Biosphere re- cessful wild life conservation project ever un- serve in Kerala and it is Agasthyamalai. dertaken by the World.  Mangroves Plants are those that survive high  Project Elephant - 1992 salinity, tidal extremes, strong wind and velocity  Gir Lion Project - 1972 high temperature and muddy anaerobic soil.  Crocodile Breeding Project - 1974  National Botanical Garden - New Delhi  Rhino Conservation - 1987  India’s first Biological Park will set up in Agastyar Koodam.  Sansar Chand, the notorious tiger part smug- gler and trader was arrested in 2005. Forest Area  Veerapan the notorious elephant poacher and  The total estimated forest area in India is Sandalwood smuggler was gunned down in 678,333sqkm million hectares. This is only late 2004. 20.64% of the Country’s geographical area  Salmankhan is the Hindi Film star who was sen- (2005). tenced to 4 years imprisonment for killing a deer  The total Forest area in Kerala is 10,33 sqkm. for hunting down a deer. This is only 26.59% of the States geographical area.

472 National Parks & Wild life Sanctuaries  There are 92 existing national parks in India covering an area of 37,921.66 sq.km which is 1.15% of the geographical area of the country (2004)  Madhya Pradesh (9) and Andaman Nicobar (9) have the largest numbers of National parks.  There are 4 national parks in kerala  There are 492 existing wildlife sanctuaries in In- dia covering an area of 117077.41 sq.km which is World Alzheimer's Day - September 21. Its slogan is ('In Perfect Partnership'.) 3.5% of the geographical area of the country.  Andaman Nicobar (96) and Maharashtra (36)  B C G have the largest numbers of wildlife sanctuaries  Measles in India.  Diphtheria Tetanus (DT)  Tetanus Toxoid (TT)  Hepatitis B. Health and Family Welfare Gähpw Ah-km\w DÄs¸-Sp-¯n-b-XmWv   The National Anti-Malaria Programme is the Hepatitis B. world’s biggest Health Programme against a  World Yoga Day : September 2 single communicable disease.  Japanese Encephalitis is caused by virus and is  World Health Day : April 7 spread by culex group of mosquitoes.  Universal Health Insurance Scheme is a commu-  Dengue fever is caused by the bites of female nity based scheme that would offer health pro- Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. tection and good medical services to be less privi-  The National Tuberculosis Control Programme leged, It provides medical cover for a premium of (NTCP) was launched in 1962. Re. 1 a day.  The National Filaria Control Programme is being  The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) implemented in the country since 1955. : New Delhi.  The National Leprosy Eradication Programme  The National Population Policy of 2000 aims to (NLEP) was launched in 1988. stabilise Indian population by 2045.  The following vaccines are included in the im- munization programme:-  The Chairman of National Population Commis-  Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) sion is the Prime Minister.  Diphtheria Pertussis and Tetanus (DPT)  The largest number of AIDS cases in India is in

Some important N ewspapers and places of publication The Statesman ...... Kolkata The Anand Bazar Patrika...... Calcutta The Times of India ...... Mumbai, New Delhi etc. The Patriot ...... New Delhi The Hindustan Times ...... New Delhi The Tribune ...... Chandigarh The Pioneer ...... Lucknow The Times ...... London The Bombay Samachar ...... Mumbai Al Ahram ...... Cairo Dawn ...... Karachi The Daily News ...... New York Izvestia ...... Moscow Merdeka ...... Jakarta Pravda...... Moscow Le Monde ...... Paris Peoples Daily ...... Beijing The New Indian Express .. Mumbai, New Delhi, Kochi, The Hindu ..Chennai, Coimbatore, Trivandrum etc. Kozhicode, Trivandrum etc.

473 Tamil Nadu. India by Dr Mammen Chandy at CMC, Vellore.  NACO is National AIDS Control Organisation. Dr Chandy performed four such operations  World AIDS Day : December 1 in 1992. November 14 : World Diabetes Day.  The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) an autonomous organization under the Minis- Medical Research and Advancement try of Health and Family Welfare, is the apex First Test Tube Baby: body for the formulation, co-ordination and pro- Born on - August 6, 1990 motion of biomedical research in India. Hospital - King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai  The Medical Council of India (MCI) was estab- Doctor - Indira Hinduja lished as a statutory body and the main func- Name of the Baby - Baby Harsha tions of the council are maintenance of uniform Parents - Mani (mother) and standard of medical education both at the un- Shyamji Chawla der graduate and the post graduate level. First Heart Transplant  The Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Date of operation - August 3, 1994 (CSSM) Programme introduced in 1992 has Hospital - All India Institute of brought about great improvements in the field Medical Science of immunization. (AIIMS) New Delhi at  Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and druglles therapies Cardio-Thoracic Vascu- lar Surgery Department. like Yoga and Naturopathy are the Indian Sys- Doctor - P. Venugopal tems of Medicines.  Janani Suraksha Yojana: Under this yojana, First Kidney Transplant the mother gets Rs. 1000 on the birth of a girl Date of Operation - December 1, 1971 and Rs. 500 on the birth of a boy for supporting Hospital - Christian Medical Col- better nutrition for the mother and the child. The lege and Hospital, Scheme aims to reduce death rate and take care Vellore of pregnant women it also give Free medical Name of Patient - Shanmugham (35 years) check up for pregnant woman below poverty

line. April 11 is celebrated as 'Janani Suraksha Open Heart Surgery: Divas'. It is the birthday of Kasturba Gandhi. Date of Operation - July 6, 1959  AIIMS- All India Institute of medical sciences Hospital - N. Gopinath and P.H. Betts is in New Delhi. Name of Patient - Beulah (now Mrs Beulah  The National Rural Health mission (NRHM) was Samuel) launched on 12 April 2005. The operation was performed when Beulah was a  The Universal Immunisation programme (UIP) 12 year child. was launched in 1985 to reduce infant, child and  First Test Tube Calf- NDRI, Karnal created maternal mortality by protecting against six vac- cine preventable diseases namely Tuberculo- history in December 1990 with the birth of the sis, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio and World’s first test tube calf name ‘Pratham’. Measles.  First Thalassemia Operation : The bone mar-  Vande Mataram Scheme was launched on 9 Feb- row transplant, the only medical treatment for ruary 2004. The scheme aims to reduce maternal thalassemia was performed for the first time in mortality and improving health of women

474 particualrly during pregnancy and child birth.  Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)  Iodine is an essential micronutrien with an aver- was launched in 1975. It is a centrally sponsored age daily requirement of 10 - 150 micro grams for scheme. normal human growth - and development.  According to 2001 census 15.37% of population  Deficiency of Iodine may cause goitre. WHO has is below 6 years (157.86 million) childrens. certified India as guinea worm disease free coun-  Minorities Right Day (India) : December 18 try in February 2000.  Government has decided to set up a National  In 1952, India was the first country to launch Commission for Children, a statutory body for Family Planning Programme in the World. the protection of children's right.  National Population Policy : 2000  The ministry of welfare was constituted on 25  National AIDS Control Programme 1999. September 1985 and was renamed as minis- try of Social Justice and Empowerment on 25 New Generation Diseases may 1998.  AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is  Help-Age India: It is a centrally sponsored caused by HIV virus which destroys human im- programme instituted in 1978 and its head munity quarters is in New Delhi.  Ebola virus : The disease only reported in Africa. Housing  SARS : Severe Acute Respiration Syndrome. This  VAMBAY is Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yogana. It virus affect lungs. is a new centrally sponsored housing scheme  Avian Flue or Bird flue : H5N1 virus cause dis- announced on 15 August 2001 to help urban slum eases in poultry. dwellers living below poverty line.  The disease struck in the state of Maharashtra  National Building Organisation (NBO) was es- tablished in 1954. and Gujarat in 2006.  HUDCO is Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited. Social Welfare  CPWD is Central Public Works Department.  Day of the Elderly : October 1  World Habitat Day is observed on October 6, 2003.  International Year of the Elderly : 1999 2006 - October 2 falls on First monday of Octo-  2001 was observed in India as the Year of ber. Women’s Empowerment.  On February 1, 2003, Prime Minister Vajpayee  International Day of Disabled Persons : launched the National Mission for Manuscripts. December 3 Its objective is to locate, enumerate and preserve  The Government has notified five communities manuscripts and to increase their access. namely, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and  Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas Zoroastrians as minorities at the national level. þse sk³kkv A\p-k-cn¨v C´y-bn (PURA) Programme to be implemented in 5000  2001 \yq\]£ kap-Zm-b-§-fpsS iX-am\w P\-kw-Jy- rural clusters across the country in the next 5 bpsS 17.17 BWv. ]«n-I-PmXnþ]«n-I-hÀ¤w Hcp- years. an¨v C´y³ P\-kw-JybpsS 24.40 iX-am\w hcpw. Labour  The National Commission for Women (NCW)  May 1 : World Labourers Day (Worker’s Day) was set up in 1992 by an Act of Parliament.  Minimum Wages Act 1948  Chairperson; National Commission for women is Girija Vyas.  The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965  Bachawat Award is related to wages of journalists.

475  The first National Commission on Labour was constituted in 1966. Cultural and Literary Activities  The Second National Commission on Labour  Akademies : Three Akademies -Sangeet Natak was set up under the chairmanship of Akademi (1953), Lalith Kala Akademi (1954), Ravindra Varma. Sahitya Akademi (1954) are located in New Delhi.  On January 14, 2004, India and International The National School of Drama was set up by Labour Organisation jointly launched 50 new Sangeet Natak Akademi in1959. National Child Labour Projects. India had 13.6 million child labourers in 1981 and 11 Lalit Kala Akademi million in 1991. According to the latest sur-  Established : 1954 : Headquartered in New vey, the number had come down to 10 mil- Delhi. Since its inception, the Academi has lion. By the end of Tenth Five Year Plan in been a nerve centre of creative and cultural 2007, India hopes to free all child labourers from discussions and there is hardly any artist or hazardous occupations and equip them with artistic impulses, conflicts, contradictions and vocational skills. limitations, the Akademi has been functioning  GOI enacted the law for the abolition of child with a panoramic view to involve genres of crea- labour on 2006. tivity in its activities.  National Safty Day : March 4  Regional Centres : Chennai, Lucknow, Kolkata  According to NSSO survey 1999 - 2000, of the and Bhubaneshwar and Garhi Artist Studies, total labours in India 8% are in organised sector Delhi. while 92% are in unorganised sectors.  Function : Promotion and development of lit-  Prime Ministers Shram Awards are given to best erature in all the 22 languages of India. Also worker of public sector units. gives Sahitya Akademi Awards for outstand-  Per cent of female population as workers to to- ing literary work in Indian languages. The tal female population - 25.6% (2001). Sahitya Akademi ceaselessly endeavours to  Chief justice Rajkumar Manisan Singh was ap- develop literary culture through the publica- tion of journals, monographs, individual crea- pointed to Chair the wage Boards for the work- tive works of every genre, Anthologies, Ency- ing journalist. clopaedias, Dictionaries, Bibliographies, Who’s who and Histories of literature. Deemed University Under the section 3 of the UGC Act, an institution Sangeet Natak Akademi of higher education “doing work of very high Established : It was established on January standard in a specific area’’ be declared Deemed 28, 1953 by a resolution of the Ministry of Edu- University. Such institution will enjoy the cation headed by Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad academic status and previleges of a university and signed on 31st May 1952. Headquarter – New be able to strengthen the activities in the area of Delhi; The Sangeet Natak Akademi - India’s their specification instead of becoming a multi- National Academy for Music, Drama – is the faculty university. first Academy of the Arts, set up by the Re-  The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research public of India. It encourages the forms of - Mumbai Dance, Drama and Music, offers Scholarships  Symbiosis International Education Centre - to Artists and Teachers of Traditional arts and Pune gives awards to outstanding Artists. The  Rashtriya Sanskrit Samsthan - New Delhi Akademi Awards are the highest National rec- ognition conferred on participating artists. The

476 Akademi also confers Fellowships and Schol- ology, Zoology and Botany. ars, their numbers being restricted to 30 liv- ing recipients. The Fellowship and Awards carries a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 a shawl and Nehru Memorial Museum and Library ‘Tamrapatra’. It maintains a Personalia museum on the life and times of Jawaharlal Nehru. The library has National School of Drama a pre-eminent position among Social science It is one of the foremost theatre institutions libraries in the Country. of the World and the only one of its kind in India. It was set up by Sangeet Natak Acad- emy in 1959, later in 1975 it became an au- Allahabad Museum tonomous body, totally financed by Depart- Established : 1931 (declared as an institution ment of Culture. The objective of NSD is to of national importance by Central Government train students in all aspects of theatre, includ- in 1985) ing Theatre History Production, Scene Design, It preserves and displays Historical Art and Costume Designs, Lighting, Makeup etc. Archaeological objects like sculptures, paint- ing, Rare coins of gold, Silver, Copper and Museums Lead. It also has paraphernalia and family heir- National Museum looms of the Nehrus, including manuscripts Established : 15th August 1949,functioning in Persian, Arabic and Urdu. as a subordinate Office under Ministry of Cul- ture since 1960, formally inaugurated on 18 Literature December 1960. National Book Trust Location : In the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Established in : 1957 Bhawan, New Delhi. Headquarters : New Delhi Activities Acquisition of art objects, their exhi- Functions Its main function is to encourage bition and conservation. Coordinates the ‘Fes- the production of good literature and make tival of India’ in various countries. It has now books available at moderate prices to libraries 26 galleries with new addition of Buddhist Art educational institutions and the public. The gallery, Decorative Arts gallery, Jewellery Gal- Ministry of Information anal Broadcasting is lery, Tanjore and Mysore School of Painting, the principal publishers of the trust. Evolution of Indian Scripts and Coins, Gallery  National Library The National Library is lo- etc. cated in Calcutta. It is India’s largest library Indian Museum with a collection of over 190 million volumes Established : 2nd February 1814, Location: of reading and information material. Kolkata  National Educational Resources Centre It is the ninth oldest regular museum of the (NERO) The centre was established in 1972 world, a second oldest Institution its kind in and is also known as ‘Raja Rammohan Roy’ Asia Pacific Region and repository of the larg- National Educational Resource Centre. Its est museum objects in India. It has more than main function is to promote Indian Author- 1 million exhibits having the richest collec- ship, Indigenous production of University tion on Art, Archeology, Anthropology, Ge- Level Books and to provide Documentation

477 and Statistical analysis of printed material. It stitutions of India. Its historic importance was ranks 3rd in the world after USA and UK in recognized and the government declared it an the publishing of English books. institution of ‘‘National Importance’’ in 1984. Asiatic Society Asiatic Society, Kolkata, was The soceity maintains a museum which con- founded in 1776 by Sir William Jones (1764 - tains approx. 47000 manuscripts in various lan- 1794) an eminent indologist, with the objec- guages. With its library of printed books, ar- tive of inquiring into the History, Science, Arts chives and the collection of manuscripts, it is and Literature of Asia. It has contributed to one of the leading centres of study of the growth and development of most of the indology in the world. major Antiquarian, Scientific and Literary in-

Important Monuments : India Name Location Featurers Ajanta Caves Aurangabad, Maharashtra Originally Budhist monasteries having unique architecture, sculpture and paint- ing Elephanta Caves Island near Mumbai Consisting of seven caves famous for the Trimurti and other scultptures Ellora Caves Aurangabad, Maharashtra Ancient cave temples especially famous for ‘Temple of Kailash’ Jalianwala Bagh Amritsar, Punjab Famous for indiscriminate firing by Gen -O Dyer on April 13, 1919 on Congress meeting demanding independence. Lothal Gujarat Archaeological excavations revealed exist- ence of Indus Valley civilisation Nalanda Near Patna, Bihar Ruins of ancient Buddhist University founded by Kumaragupta in 427 AD Sanchi Near Bhopal Ancient Buddhist monastery famous for Madhya Pradesh ‘Great Stupa’ Sarnath Varanasi Famous for Stupas where Buddha Uttar Pradesh preached his first sermon

Nalanda Jalianwala Bagh

478 Name Location Featurers Memorials and Monuments

Akbar’s Tomb Sikandra, Near Agra Famous for its carvings and architecture Uttar Pradesh of Hindu and Mughal art. Anand Bhawan Allahabad Ancestral house of the Nehru family which Uttar Pradesh Mrs. Indira Gandhi gifted for conversion into a national memorial. Bibi-ka-Maqbara Aurangabad, Mausoleum built by Aurangzeb in 1660 Maharashtra AD in memory of his wife Rabia Durrani. Gandi Sadan in 1948 New Delhi Birla House where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated Jamia Milia Delhi Muslim University founded by Dr Zakir Hussain Kranti Maidan Mumbai Historical venue where Gandhiji gave Quit India call in 1942. Rajghat New Delhi Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi on the banks of the Yamuna. Shakti Sthal New Delhi Situated on the banks of Yamuna where Mrs. Indira Gandhi was cremated Shantivana New Delhi Near Rajghat where Pt Jawaharlal Nehru was cremated. Teenumurti House New Delhi Residence of the first Prime Minister of India, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru now converted into a national memorial. Tomb of Ahmed Shah Ahmedabad, Gujarat Domed structure famous for paving of mul- ticoloured marble. Tomb of Sher Shah Suri Sasaram, Bihar Domed structure Vijay Ghat New Delhi Samidhi of Lal Bahadur Shastri on the bank of the Yamuna. Important Temples and Mosques Ahmed Shah’s Mosque Ahmedabad Built in 1414 AD, its pillars have Hindu emblems. Bodh Gaya temple Bodh Gaya, Bihar 60 m high temple built by Ashoka the Great, site where Buddha attained enlight- enment.

Rajghat Ahmed Shah’s Mosque

479 Name Location Featurers

Bhubaneswar Temples Bhubaneswar, Orissa Stone temples Dilwara Temple Mt. Abu, Rajasthan Lavishly decorated with carvings, Jain temples. Golden Temple Amritsar,Punjab Sacred shrine of the Sikhs Jagannath Temple Puri, Orissa Dedicated to Lord Jagannath, an incarna- tion of Vishnu Jama Masjid Delhi Biggest mosque in India built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan Khajuraho Temples Khajuraho, Famous sculptures depicting art of love built some time. Madhya Pradesh in 950 AD – 1050 AD Mahabalipuram Temples Mahabalipuram Tamil Nadu Also called ‘Seven Pagodas’ Mahakali Temple Ujjain Shiva Mandir Meenakshi Temple Madurai, Tamil Nadu Dedicated to the Goddess Meenakshi Moti Masjid Agra, Uttar Pradesh Built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan Sun Temple Konark, Orissa The mythological conception of the Sun God riding a Konark Temple twenty - four wheeled chariot drawn by seven horses, carved in stone. Omkar Temple Omkarji, Madhya Pradesh Shiva Temple on an island in the Narmada river, also called ‘Black Pagoda’. Other Structures - Gates / Towers / Pillars Buland Darwaja Fatehpur Sikri, Agra 38 m high gate built by Akbar, is India’s highest gate Gateway of India Mumbai, Maharashtra Built in 1911 AD to commemorate the visit of King George V of UK Qutab Minar New Delhi 72.5m high stone tower, tallest minaret in India built by Qutab-ud-din Aibak as a Victory Tower Gol Gumbaz Bijapur, Karnataka India’s largest dome built on the tomb of Sultan Mohammed Adil Shah covering an area of 1630 sq m

Gateway of India Qutab Minar

480 Name Location Featurers

Sanchi Stupa Sanchi, Bhopal One of the earliest stupas, 17 m high and 36.5 m in diameter, made of bricks and sand- stone. Samath Stupa Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 22m high and 28 m in diameter, stone struc- ture built on the spot where Lord Buddha delivered his firs sermon. Forts, Gardens Agra Fort Agra, Uttar Pradesh Originally built by Akbar and additions made by Shahjahan containing famous buildings like Royal Palace Shish Mahal, Moti Masjid, Diwan-i-Aam and Diwan -i- Khas Gwalior Fort Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh One of the biggest forts containing famous building like Man Mandir, Palace of Man Singh, etc. Hawa Mahal Jaipur, Rajasthan Multi-storeyed pink coloured building Hindodla Mahal Mandu, Madhya Pradesh The walls sloping at an angle of over 770 create an illusion that the entire building sways. Jantar Mantar New Delhi Ancient observatory Red Fort New Delhi Built by Shahjahan, made of red stone Rashtrapati Bhawan New Delhi India’s biggest residential building Moghul Gardens New Delhi Garden of Rashtrapati Bhawan Shalimar Gardens Srinagar, J & K Pleasure resort in Kashmir Vrindaban Gardens Mysore, Karnataka Unique gardens adjacent to the Krishnarajasagar Dam Ramanathaswamy Rameshwaram, India’s longest corridor - 1,220 m long Corridor Tamil Nadu Gomateswara Sravanabelagola India’s tallest stone statue of the Jain

Statue Karnatak Sage Gomateswara

Rashtrapati Bhawan Gwalior Fort

481  Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library estab-  Swati Puraskaram is given to musicians in lished in 1891 in Patna has a rich collection of memory of Swati Tirunal, the King of Travancore. Arabic and Persian manuscript and Rajput and  April 29 : International Dance Day. Mughal paintings.  The Asiatic Society was founded by Sir William Jonas in 1776. Musical Instrumentalists  World Heritage Day is observed on April 18. Mridangam: Palakkad Mani Iyer, T.R. Murthy,  World Tourism Day is on September 27. Guruvayoor Doraiswami, Karaikudi  "Incredible India'' is the new slogan coined by R.Mani, Umayalpuram Shivaraman, the Union Tourism Ministry to attract overseas Velloor A. Ramabhadran, Mavelikara and domestic ministors. Krishnan Kutty Nair.  ‘Athithi Devo Bhava' is the logo of Tourism De- partment. Sitar : Ravi Shankar, Mushtaq Ali Khan, Vilayat Khan, Uma Shankar Mishra, Nikhil Classical Dances Banerjee, Raiz Khan, Harashankar  Bharatnatyam : (Tamil Nadu) follows the princi- Bhattacharya, Budhaditya Mukherjee, ple of Natya Shastra. Rukminidevi Arundale Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan. gave it a new life and revived it by establishing Sarod : Amjad Ali Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Rajiv ‘Kalakshetra’ at Adayar, Chennai. Taranath  Bharatnatyam is popularly called Poetry in Motion. Violin : V.G. Jog, Lalgudi Jayaraman, T.N.  Famous personalities of Bharatnatyam : Yamini Krishnan, Yehudi Mennuhin, M. S. Krishnamurthy, Sonal Mansingh, Padma Gopalakrishnan, Kunnukkudi Subramanyam, Mirnalini Sarabhai, Santa Rao. Vaidyanathan, Kalyana Krishna Indrani Rehman, T. Bala Saraswathi, Leela Bhagavatar, L. Subramaniam, Samson Chandayya, Kantha Devi, Gajannan Rao  Mohiniyattom dancers : Bharati Sivaji, Rangini Joshi (Hindustani), Zubin Mehta Devi, Shanta Rao, Gita Nayak, Kala Devi, Hema (Western). Malini Santoor : Shiv Kumar Sharma, Tarun Bhattacharya,  Manipuri dancers : Savitri Mehta, Uday Shankar, Bhajan Sopperi. Rita Devi.  Kathakali & Mohiniyattam : (Kerala) Poet Flute : N.Ramani, Hariprasad Chaurasia, T.R. Vallathol revived Kathakali and Mohiniyattam by Mahalingam, Pannalal Ghosh, T. S. establishing Kerala Kalamandalam at Shankaran, Sikkil Sisters Cheruthuruthi, Thrissur in 1930. Mandolin : U. Srinivas, S. Balamurali Krishna.  Kathak : North Indian classical dance form. Piano : Surojeet Chatterji, Kaikhosh Shapurji,  Birju Mahraj, Gopi Krishna and Shambu Maharaj Sorabjee. are the famous exponents of Kathak. Shehnai : Bismillah Khan, Bagheshwari Gamar,  Odissi : Classical dance form of Orissa. Bade Gulam Ali.  Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra is at the forefront of Tabla : Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussian, Shankar the greatest of Odissi exponents. Sonal Mansingh, Ghosh, Abad Mistry, Rimba Shiva, Samyukta Panigrahi are other dancers. Santha Prasad, Sheikh Dawood,  Kuchipudi is the dance form of Andhra Pradesh. Sharafat Ahmed Khan, Kishan Maharaj,  Vendantham Sathyanarayan, Swapna Sundari Ahmed, Tirkuva, Pt. Samta Prasad. Rao are exponents of Kuchipudi.

482 Veena : Chitti Babu, Mysore Doraiswami force on November 23, 1997. The well known jour- Iyankar, Azad Ali Khan (Hindustani), nalist Nikhil Chakra-varthy was the first Chairman of Prasar Bharathi. Badik Ali Khan, Kumara Swami Iyer  Now Brijeswar Singh is the Chairman of Prasar (Carnatic), Kalpakkom Swaminathan, Bharathi. Kalyana Krishna Bhagavatar, S.  Radiocity, India’s first private F.M. radio station, Balachander. promoted by Music Broadcast Private Ltd, is Sarangi : Pandit Ram Narayan, Sultan Khan, Sabri launched in Bangalore.  International Children's Day of Broadcasting - Khan. December 10 Clarnet : Sheikh Mohammed Arif.  The first University in India to have a radio sta- tion of its own is Sardar Patel University. It has Indian Vocalists received permission from Prasar Bharati, and the Gujarat Govt. Carnatic : M.S. Subbulakshmi, Balamurali Krishna, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, Doordarshan Semmangudi Sinivasa Iyer, M.L. India’s first television centre came into being on Vasantha Kumari, M.D. Ramanathan, September 15, 1959 as a pilot project. It was an G.N. Balasubra-maniam, Ariyakudi experimental service organised as a part of All India Radio. Ramaniya Iyyengar. August 1965 that the first general service started Hindustani : Bhimsen Joshy, Mallikarjun Mansur, from Delhi on a regular basis. In 1976, television Pandit Jasraj, Parveen Sultana, Naina set up delinked from the AIR and given a sepa- Devi, Siddheswari, Girija Devi, Kumar rate status and name of Doordarshan. The Asian Gandharva. Games in 1982 saw another landmark in the his- tory of Doordarshan when colour television was Radio And Television introduced in India. Now Doordarshan has gorwn into one of the biggest television networks in  Radio Broadcasting started in India in 1920’s. the world. Doordarshan - India the International The first programme was broadcasted in 1923 by Channel is in operation from 1995 and reaching the Radio Club of Bombay. about 50 Countries in Asia, Africa and Europe  Radio broadcasting started in India in 1927 with and has plans to have a round - the clock trans- privately owned transmitters at Mumbai and Cal- mission reaching the entire World cutta. In 1930 Government took over the trans-  ASC Enterprises has become India's first Direct- mitters started operating them under the name to-Home (DTH) television service provider, with Indian Broadcasting Service.It was named All In- the Information and Broadcasting (I & B) Minis- dia Radio (AIR) in 1936 and it has become known try issuing it the necessary licence. The licence as Akashvani since 1957. is valid for 10 years.  The experimental telecast of  Doordarshan (DD Direct Plus) has been launched Doordarshan started in Delhi on December 16th 2004. It presently covers 33 in September 15, 1959. The TV changes & 12 Radio Channels. national programme and  New Satellite Channel like DD Lok Sabha & DD other transmissions started Rajya Sabha has also started. in 1982. Doordarshan Com-  The I & B Ministry allowed uplinking rights for a mercial Service started in decade to Rupert Murdoch's 'Star News'. It is the 1986. first wholly foreign owned News Channel to  The Prasar Bharathi giving uplinked from India. autonomy to AIR and Brijeswar Singh  Asianet is India’s first Private Channel. Doordarshan, came into

483 Hindustan Samachar. PTI and UNI supply news in English and the other two are operating through the medium of Hindi and other Indian languages.  PT1 was founded on August 27, 1947. It began functing from February 1, 1949.  It has bilaterial news exchange arrangement with Several news agencies of Countries of Asia, Af- rica, Europe & Latin America.  The Press Trust of India was the first news agency in India.  R. Lakshmipathi is the Chairman of Press Trust of India.  Fourth estate means the Press.  Tushar Kanthi Ghosh is known as the Grand Old Man of Indian Journalism.  Father of Indian Journalism is Chalapathi Rao.  Justice G.N. Ray is the Chairman of the Press Council of India.  PIB - Press Information Bureau. Indian Newspapers  ABC - Audit Bureau of Circulation.  Chairman ABC Ms. Shobhana Bhartia  The first newspaper in India was James A. Hickey's  Anand Bazar Patrika has the largest circulation Bengal Gazette published in 1780 in Kolkata. among single edition dailies.  The largest number of newspapers are published  Press Freedom Day : May 3 in the State of Uttar Pradesh and the language in  India’s first ever distance electronic journal has which the maximum number of newspapers are been inaugurated by IGNOU. published is Hindi.  Manisana Singh Wage Board recommendations  The financial daily 'Business Standard' will be- are related to press. come the first Indian newspaper to secure For-  The 125th anniversary celebrations of 'The Hindu' eign Direct Investemt (FDI). daily were held in Chennai. The editor-in-chief of  The first Electronic News Paper Booth in India The Hindu is N. Ram. was opened at Hotel International Park Royal.  United News of India started functing from March  The oldest existing newspaper in India is Bombay 21st 1961. It was incorporated under the Compa- Samachar published in 1822 in Gujarati. The oldest nies Act on December 19, 1959. existing English daily is the Times of India (1838).  Mr. Ravindra kumar, Chairman United News of  'Dainik Bhaskar' published in Hindi (18 editions) India. had the largest claimed circulation. For single edition dailies 'Hindustan Times', claimed top Postal System in India most position.  There are four main news agencies in India. They  Postal system was established by Robert Clive are (1) Press Trust of India (PTI), (2) United News in 1766, & it was further developed by Warren Hastings by establishing G.P.O Calcutta in 1774. of India (UNI), (3) Samachar Bharati and (4)  PIN - Postal Index Number: The system was in- No newspapers are published from troduced in 1972. The postal index number con- Arunachal Pradesh and Lakshadweep. sists of six digits. The extreme left first digit rep-

484 resents the zone in the country, the second rep- Gramin Dak Sewaks. resents the sub-zone, the third the sorting dis-  Bombay & Madras Presidencies started the trict. The first three digits together indicate the GPO’s is the year 1786 & 1793. precise sorting district. The last three digits indi-  The Act of 1837 first regulated the Post Office cate the delivery post office. There are 8 postal on an uniform basis & united the 3 presidencies zones in India. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and into one all- India Service. Lakshadweep are included in Zone No: 6.  The Post Office Act of 1854 reformed the entire Postal  EMS - Emergency Mail Service, SATMO is system, & Post Office of India on the present form Satellite Money Order and E-Mail is Electronic came into existence from October 1, 1854. Mail Service.  Money Order Service was introduced in 1880.  The first telegraph line in India was between Calcutta and Diamond Harbour during the ten-  Upto Rs. 5000 can be made through each money ure of Lord Dalhousie in 1851. order.  TELEX is Teleprinter Exchange, STD is  Satellite Based Money Order Service was intro- Subscriber Trunk Dialling and ISD is duced in 1994 for speedy transmissions of Money International Subscriber Dialling. Order.  EPABX is Electronic Private Automatic Branch  VSAT - Very Small Apeture Terminals were es- Exchange. tablished for Satellite MOS.  World Post Office Day is observed on October  ESMO’s - Extended Satellite Money Order sta- 9. But National Postal Day is on October 10. It tions. was on October 9, 1875, the UPU (Universal  TMO’s - Transit Mail Offices. Postal Union) was set up become a specialised  The Postal Department introduced two Internet agency of UN since 1947. The headquarters of based value added service named e-Post, e-Bill UPU is in Berne, Switzerland. APPU is Asia Post. Pacific Postal Union.  e-Post electronic message are booked at any Post  India become the member of UPU since 1870 & office in the Country and are downloaded at an the APPU in 1964. identified Post Office & delivered to the recipi-  TRAI - Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ents as hard copies. was established in 1997 under Telecom Regula-  e-Bill Post allows the customer to pay their util- tory of India Act 1997. ity bills like Telephone, Mobile phone. Electric-  The first telephone exchange in India was set up in ity, Water Supply etc at one window through Mumbai. Post Office Counters.  The first automatic telephone exchange in India  Speed Post system was introduced on 1 August was set up in Shimla in 1914. 1986.  First State to issue a stamp was Kathiawar in  International EMS was started in 1986. Saurashtra (now Gujarat State)  Postal Life Insurance (PLI) was introduced in  First Post Office outside the country set up by 1884. India was at Dakshin Gangotri in Antarctica.   First stamp designer was Captain H.L. Thuillier, Electronic Fund Trnasfer (EFT) was launched in Deputy Surveyor General, Calcutta. 2001.  First stamp honouring a national leader, Ma-  World's first Postage Stamp was issued in 1840 hatma Gandhi, was issued on August 15, 1948. by great Britain.  First airmail service from Allahabad to Nainital  In USA the first stamp appeared in 1847, July 1. on February 18, 1911.  In India it was in 1852.  ‘Meghdoot’ is the Mobile Postmen Scheme which  Rowland Hill of England is considered as the was introduced by BSNL recently. Father of Philately.  The ‘Extra Departmental Agents (EDA’s) work-  Philately - Collection of stamps. ing in the Department of posts is to be known as  1850, stamp collection began as a hobby. 485 Indian Languages  The Eighth Schedule of our Constitution con- tain 22 language of India. In 2004 besides 18 lan- guages 4 languages was added by the 92nd amendment Act 2003. These are Bodo, Dogri, Maithili & Santhali  India has 22 Officially recognised languages. Which are included in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.  India is the Country where largest number of lan- guages are spoken. The Fact that as many as Azim Premji 1,652 languages and dialicts including 63 non- is the chairman of WIPRO. He has been Indian languages are Spoken in India. identified as the richest man in India.  The languages of India have two major linguis- tic divisions which are Aryan and Dravidian.  The original silicon valley is in California, the USA. The outstanding languages of the Dravidian group are Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and  India’s first technopark was inaugurated in Trivandrum. Malayalam.  Computer Networks are LAN, MAN, WAN.  Tamil, the State language of Tamil Nadu, is the oldest among the Dravidian languages and the  LAN - Local Area Network gained performance youngest among them is Malayalam. in 1980.  Telugu, the State language of Andhra Pradesh,  MAN - Metropolitan Area Network. is the most spoken Dravidian language.  WAN - Wide Area Network  The most spoken Indian language is Hindi, fol-  C-DAC is Centre for the Development of lowed by Bengali and Telugu. Advanced Computing. It is a Central Government  Hindi in Devanagari script is the Official lan- organisation based at Pune. India developed its guage of India. own super computer technology. They are PARAM (for CDAC) ANUPAM (BARC) MTPPS  Urdu is the State language of Jammu and Kashmir (BARC) PACE (Anurag) CHIPPS (CDOT) and and the mother tongue of Nagaland is English. FLOSOLVER MK 5 (NAC) India’s only cray  Sanskrit is the Classical language of India and XMP is used for Climatic research. also the oldest in the World.  ISP is the Internet Service Provider.  Malayalam language was derived from Tamil.  VSNL is the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited. It  Mani Pravalam is a mixture of Malayalam and was the first ISP in India. Tamil Languages.  Satyam was the first private ISP in India.  Mandarin (Chinese) language is spoken by the  STPI is Software Technology Park of India. largest number of people in the World.  The Centre of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Computer Technology in India is in Bangalore.  Computer technology has opened new avenues  The Biggest robot in India - Natraj for the hard working Indian youth.  India’s first Cyber Crime Police Station was set  Hi-tec city of India is Hyderabad. up in Bangalore.  Silicon valley of India is Bangalore.  Computer literacy programme started by Madhya

486 Pradesh Government is named Headstart.  Pol Net - Polnet is a satellite based communica-  Global Internet firm, Yahoo is to set up its first R tion channel, exclusively for the use of Police & D Centre outside USA in Bangalore in Aug. related organisations. Messages/Fax are sent to 2003 with focus on production innovation and various State/ District Police Headquarters. cutting edge technology for the Company's cus- Extenson of Polnet phones has been provided tomers World wide. to all the divisional heads and most of the branch  Madhya Pradesh plans to open the country's heads of NCRB. They can talk to various States/ maiden University on Information Technology, districts over the Polnet. in collaboration with NIIT.  The 64 bit power Mac G5, Apple's latest per-  The Krishi television channel was launched on sonal computer the most powerful and arguably the platform of the satellite cable television chan- the World's fastest desktop `machine, was nel on IGNOU. launched in India on Aug. 20, 2003. The Sure Way to SUCCESS

The greatest truth is that success doesnot have a short cut. Once you realise this truth you will understand the depth of effort, hard work, and involvement to create success. Learn every bit of infor- mation provided in this rank file. It will help you to build up your confidence and also provide you a strong foundation of knowledge. You have the great opportunity to prepare and write more than a dozen of competitive exams in 2007. If you prepare with care, con- centration, devotion and dedication you can be one of the winners. A win here means a job, that too a permanent job. You are trying to get one of the best job available for graduate in Kerala. The job provide you a vital role to play in life and work. So never, ever allow this opportunity to miss. Try every possible means to get this job, that too with a very high rank. If you need support and help e-mail: [email protected]

487 to study about Primary and Secondary education.  Radhakrishnan Commission (1948-49) was appointed to reform the University Education in the Country. It recommended 12 years of Pre- University Education.  Which Commission was responsible for the introduction of 10 + 2+ 3 education scheme? Ans : Radhakrishnan Commission  Which Commission was responsible for three languages formula for education? Education in India Ans : Kothari Commission  Kothari Commission (1964-66) was set up to advices on the national pattern of education. It  Education is included in the Concurrent list by recommended free, universal and compulsory the Constiutional Amendment of 1976. Before education upto age of 14; three language formula 1976 Education was a State List. - Mother tongue, Hindi and English and  Lord Macaulay’s Minute (1835): This Made English development of Regional languages. the medium of instruction in government schools  In 1976 Education was placed on concurrent list. and colleges. New policy of Education was announced in 1986.  Which of the following educational initiatives  University Grants Commission was set up in 1953 is called the Magna Carta of English Education as recommended by in India? a) Kothari Commission a) Macaulay’s Minute b) Radhakrishnan Commission b) Wood’s Despatch c) Hunter Commission d) None of these c) Hunter Commission d) Kothari Commission Ans : (b) Radha Krishnan Commission  DPEP - District Primary Education Programme Ans : b) Wood’s Despatch was launched in 1994. Sarva Shiksha Abliyam  Wood’s Despatch of 1854 was the first (SSA) launched in 2001 replaced DPEP. comprehensive plan for the spread of education in India. It made medium of instruction English  NEEM is National Elementary Education Mission. Formed in 1995 aims at Universalisation of for Higher studies and vernacular at school Elementary Education. levels.  IGNOU is Indira Gandhi National Open  The Universities of Calcutta, Bombay, Madras University. It was set up under an Act of were set up in 1857. Parliament in 1985.  Punjab University was set up in 1882.  UGC will soon be renamed as Higher Education  Allahabad University was set up in 1887. Development Council.  Hunter Commission (1882-83) was appointed  NCERT is National Council for Educational

488 Where they rest Place...... Person Place...... Person Rajghat ...... Mahatma Gandhi Veerbhoomi ...... Rajiv Gandhi Santhivan ...... Jawaharlal Nehru Abhyaghat...... Morarji Desai Chaithrabhoomi ...... B.R. Ambedkar Narayanghat ...... Gulzarilal Nanda Samathasthal ...... Jagjivan Ram Shakthisthal ...... Indira Gandhi Vijayghat ...... Lal Bahadur Shastri Ekthasthal ...... Zail Singh Nigam Bodhghat ...... Kishan Kant Kisanghat ...... Charan Singh Udayabhumi...... K.R. Narayanan

Research and Training. Formed in 1961.  World Book Day : April 23.  SCERT- State Council for Educational Research World Literacy Day is observed on and Training. (a) September 5 (b) September 8  National Book Trust (NBT) was set up in 1957. (c) February 28 (d) June 5  There are 7 Indian Institute of Technologies Answer: (b) September 8 (IITs) in India. They are at Mumbai, Chennai,  September 5 - Teacher’s Day Kanpur, Delhi, Kharagpur, Roorkee and  February 28 - National Science Day Guwahati.  NLM was launched in the year  There are 6 Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs). They are at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, (a) 1988 (b) 1980 (c) 1995 (d) 1992 Calcutta, Lucknow and Kozhikode. Answer: (a) 1988  Operation Blackboard was launched in 1987-88  NLM - National Literacy Mission was launched to bring about substantial improvement in on May 5, 1988.

Primary Schools by providing all basic amenities.  First town to achieve full literacy was Kottayam  Three Rs in education are Reading, Writing and (1989) and the first District to achieve full literacy Arithmetics. was Ernakulam (1990) and the first State to  The 86rd Constitutional Amendment Bill has been become fully literate was Kerala (1991) introduced in Parliament to make the right to  Literacy rate in India 52.21% (1991) elementary education a fundamental right and a Literate in India is 65.38% (2001) fundamental duty. DPEP was launched in  The Central Institute of English and other (a) 1990 (b) 1994 Foreign Languages is in Hyderabad. (c) 1993 (d) 1995  University Grants Commission (UGC) was Answer: (b) established on December 28. It became a Statutory Organ by an Act of Parliament in 1956.  District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) 1953. The present Chairman is Mr. Sukhadeo was launched in 1994 as a major intiative to Thorat. achieve the objective of the Universalisation of Primary Education.  ISBN is International Standard Book Numbering. It was started in 1985 in India.  Operation Black Board aims to improve  International Mother Language Day is on February (a) the primary education 21. 489 (b) pre-primary education (90.92%). Second place goes to Mizoram. (c) upper primary education  The National Green Crops Programme which aims (d) informal eduaction to set up echo clubs in schools to strengthen envi- Answer: (a) ronmental education was launched in the State of  Swami Vivekananda founded the Rama-krishna Kerala. Mission.  President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam gave his as-  Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded Brahma Samaj sent to the Constitutions 86th Constitutional in 1828. Amendment on December 14, 2002 which man-  Swami Dayananda Saraswathi founded Arya dates Free and Compulsory Education. For all Samaj. Children in the age group of 6-14 as a Funda-  Kesab Chandra Sen founded Prarthana Samaj. mental Right.  Madan Mohan Malaviya founded Banares  EDUSAT - The Educational Satellite designed to Hindu University. beam down programmes in different languages  Sir Syed Ahmed Khan started Aligarh to students at all levels in all Fields, the concept Movement in 1875. of Education to Home (ETH) became a possibil-  Jaya Prakash Narayan started Sarvodaya ity on September 20, 2004. It would open up a Movement. new age in which a learner whether aspiring for a  Vinobha Bhave started Bhoodan Movement. technology degree or basic literacy could just  The Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) is a switch on the television and learn at home itself. Programme launched by the State of Madhya  IGNOU launched a Technology Education TV Pradesh. Channel for disseminating IIT Programme to dis-  Netaji Subhash Saksharata Mission was tant learners. launched to eradicate illiteracy in the Country.  Gyan Darshan is the educational TV Channel of  The controversial District Primary Education IGNOU telecasting two 24 hours Channel. Programme (DPEP) was replaced by the Sarva  The Central Advisory Board of Education Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). SSA was launched on (CABE) the highest Advisory Body established October 10, 2001. The SSA is a World Bank aided in 1920. project aimed at the Universalisation of Elemen-  CABE advice the Central & State Govt. in the tary Education and improving the quality of ba- field of Education. sic education.  The Resolution on National Policy on Educa-  The first step taken by the Government in the tion was adopted in 1986, which was revised in spread of Modern Education was in 1992 aims at Universlisation of Elementary Edu- (a) 1757 (b) 1813 (c) 1854 (d) 1857 cation populary known as Sarva Shiksha Ans : (b) 1813 Abhiyan.

 In 1813, through the Charter Act, the British gov-  There are 7 IITs and 6 IIM in India. ernment sanctioned to the Company a lakh of  Worlds first Petroleum & Energy studies Uni- rupees for educational development. versity is at Uttaranchal. Set up by the Hydro-  65.38% is the literacy rate of 2001 census. carbons Education & Research Society New

 Kerala is the highest literate State in India Delhi.

490  National Council for Teacher Education was es- dren of transferable Central Govt. employees tablished in 1995 to achieve planned & Co-  NCERT an apex institution which provides tech- ordinated development of teacher Education nical resources support for school education. system.  Central Institute of English & Foreign Lan-  National Bal Bhavan was founded by Pt. guage (CIEFL) is at Hyderabad. Jawaharlal Nehru in 1956, it is under Ministry of  Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Human Resource Development for Children in Prathisthan, Ujjain. the age group 5 - 16 years.  Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi estab-  The National Programme of Nutritional support lished by Government in 1970. of Primary Education (NPSPE) popularly known  Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, Thirupathi. as Mid-Day Meal Scheme was launched in Au- gust 15, 1995 to give a boost to Universalisation  Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit of Primary Education. Vidyapeetha , New Delhi.   ‘Lok Jumbish’ in a Swedish International Devel- Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) opment Agency project launched in Rajasthan New Delhi set up in 1972. to achieve education for all through peoples  The Indian Council of Philosophical Research mobilisation & their participation. (ICPR), New Delhi functioned from 1977.  Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Introduction  The Indian Institute of Advanced studies (IIAS) of Yoga in Schools was launched in 1989 -90. Shimla, Set up in 1965.  Co-educational residential schools called  The Indian Council of Social Science Research Jawaharlal Navodya Vidyalaya was established (ICSSR) New Delhi. by the National Policy on Education in 1986.  The National Council of Rural Institute (NCRI)  Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangham was approved by Set up in 1995. Govt. in 1962 in the reccommendation of II Pay  IGNOU was established in 1985 for the pro- Commission. motion of Open University & Distance Edu-  In 1962, of antonomous body called kendriya cation. Present Vice Chancellor of IGNOU Vidyalaya Sangatham was established with the V.N. Rajesekharan Pillai object to cater the educational needs of the chil-

491 Indian Presidents PRESIDENTS OF INDIA

 Longest serving President: Ist 2nd 3rd Dr. Rajendra Prasad (12 years 2 months, 18 days)  First Elected President : Dr. S. Radhakrishnan became the President of India in 1962.  President for shortest term : Dr. Zakir Hussain. (May 13, 1967 to Dr. Rajendra Prasad Dr. S.Radhakrishnan Dr. Zakir Hussain 26.1.1950 - 13.5.1962 13.5.1962 - 13.5.1967 13.5.1967 - 3.5.1969 May 3, 1969)  First President to die in harness: Dr. 4th 5th 6th Zakir Hussain (on May 3, 1969)  First Vice President to die in harnes: Krishan Kant (on July 28, 2002)  Oldest President of India: R. Venkataraman (at the age of 76 years, 7 months, 21 days) V. Venkatagiri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Neelam Sanjiva Reddy  Youngest President of India: 24.8.1969 - 24.8.1974 24.8.1974 - 11.2.1977 25.7.1977 - 25.7.1982 N. Sanjeeva Reddy (at the age of 64 years) 7th 8th 9th  Philosopher President : Dr. S. Radhakrishnan  First M alayalee to become Indian President : K.R. Narayanan  The Kerala Governor who later be- Giani Zail Singh R. Venkataraman Dr. S.D. Sharma came the President of India: V.V. Giri 25.7.1982 - 25.7.1987 25.7.1987 - 25.7.1992 25.7.1992 - 25.7.1997  First President to vote in the Legis- 10th 11th lative Assembly is A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.  First President to travel in fighter jet and in a submarine Dr. APJ. Abdul Kalam  Lok Sabha Speaker who became the President Neelan Sanjeeva Reddy. K.R. Narayanan A.P.J. Abdul Kalam 25.7.1997 - 24.7.2002 25.7.2002 - ......  The First Acting President - V.V. Giri Books Written by Indian Presidents ern thought : Dr. S. Radhakrishnan  India Divided , Satyagraha at Champa  Indian Philosophy : Dr. S. Radhakrishnan ran,Atmakatha, Bapu ke Kadmoncin: Rajendra  A Million Jobs : V.V. Giri Prasad  My Presidential Years, A million years  A Hindu View of Life, The Ethics of Vedanta, : R. Venkataraman Essentials of Psychology, East and West Reli-  The Wings of Fire, Guidng Souls, India 2020, A gion, Freedom and Culture, Contemporary In- vision for the new Millennium, Ignited minds, dian Philosophy, Eastern Religious and West- India - My dreams.: Dr. APJ. Abdul Kalam.

492 A.B. Vajpayee Indian Prime Ministers  Who was the Prime Minister of India at the time  Prime Minister for the longest period : Jawaharlal of Kargil War? Nehru (17 years) A.B. Vajpayee  The first woman Prime Minister:Indira Gandhi  First Indian Prime Minister to speak in Hindi in  Prime Minister for shortest term : Charan Singh UN General Assembly (5 months, 16 days) A.B. Vajpayee  The oldest Prime Minister to assume office :  Who is the 14th Prime Minister of India Morarji Desai (at the age of 81) Dr. Manmohan Singh  The youngest Prime Minister to assume office :  The RBI Governor who become the Prime Min- Rajiv Gandhi (at the age of 40) ister of India  The first Prime Minister to lose election : Indira Dr. Manmohan Singh Gandhi (in 1977)  The first Prime Minister from Sikh Community  The first Prime Minister to resign : Morarji Desai Dr. Manmohan Singh  The first Prime Minister to die in harness : Books written by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru  Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru : ‘The Discovery of  The first Prime Minister to die in harness abroad: India’, ‘Glimpses of world History’, ‘An Autobi- Lal Bahadur Shastri (at Tashkent in 1966) ography’, ‘A bunch of old letters’.  The first Prime Minister to get assassinated :  Indira Gandhi : My Truth, The Eternal India. Indira Gandhi (1984)  Chandra Sekhar : Dynamics of Social Change  The first acting Prime Minister of India : Gulzarilal  P.V. Narasimha Rao : The Insider, Ayodhya 6th Nanda December 1992.  The Prime Minister who never faced the Parlia-  Atal Bihari Vajpayee : ‘New Dimension of In- ment : Charan Singh dia’s Foreign Policy’.  The first Prime Minister to lose a vote of confi- dence: V.P. Singh  The Prime Minister of the second shortest term S. Chandrasekhar  The Prime Minister of the shortest term in one spell A. B. Vajpayee (16 May 1996 - 01 June 1996)  First Indian Prime Minister from Karnataka Deva Gowda  Who became the Prime Minister of India after the resignation of Deva Gowda who lost the con- fidence Motion in Parliament I.K. Gujral  First Prime Minister from BJP A.B. Vajpayee  How many times Vajpayee became the Prime Minister of India Three Times (1996, 1998, 1999)  The Prime Minister who made Lahore bus journey A.B. Vajpayee  The Indian Prime Minister to attend Agra sum- mit

493 Important Projects  ANERT : Agency for Non Conventional En-  Chipko Movement - Launched by Sunderlal Bahuguna, a save-the- tree movement. ergy and Rural Technology.  Telugu Ganga Project: Brings drinking water  VAMBE : Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana. Hous- to Chennai from Krishna River in Andhra ing project for the poor in the Urban area. Pradesh.  Sagar Mala Project for expansion and up-  Project Unigauge - Launched by Indian Rail- grading of maritime infrastructure. This will ways to convert all metergauge rail tracks to supplement the on-going Prime Minister's broadgauge. Rural Roads Programme and the National Rail  Operation Flood - Development of dairy farm- Vikas Yojana. ing for the supply of milk to metropolitan  National Horticultural Mission launched with cities. the objective of encouraging cultivation of  Antyodaya Programme - Started by Jaya fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices etc. The Prakash Narayan and aimed at the upliftment missions target would be to double horticul- of the rural poor. It aims to help the poorest of ture production by 2010. the poor.  Chandrayan -1  White Revolution - Increased production of Chandrayan is India’s first unmanner moon milk; initiated by Varghese Kurian, the father of White Revolution in India. exploration. The project is being implemented by ISRO in association with other countries  Garland Canal Project - It was launched to space agencies including NASA. connect North-South rivers in India. Its tar- get year is 2016.  Sethusamudram Project  Operation Blackboard - Gives essential mini- The Sethusamudram project aims to build up mum education to children up to the age of 14 a shipping channel between India and Sri and improvement of primary education, incor- Lanka so that big ships can travel from west- porated in the New Education Policy. ern coast of India to east coast with out trav- elling around Sri Lanka. It can save time and  Project Elephant - A wild life protection pro- fuel. gramme under the Eighth Plan period.  Golden Quadrilateral  Project Tiger - The most successful wildlife protection programme ever undertaken. It was Golden Quadralateral is a project under taken launched in 1973. under National Highway Development Project  Enron Project - 740 MW gas based Dabhol to link the four metro cities of India with four Power project located in Maharashtra. to six lane highway. The city get linked by Golden Quardralateral are Mumbai, Delhi,  Bhoodan - Acharya Vinobha Bhave launched the Kolkata and Chennai. Movement to provide land to the landless labourers.  Operation Oliver was launched by the coast  Sreeniketan Project - Started byRabindranath Guard for protecting the Oliver Ridley Turtles Tagore. which came to three different sites in Orissa.  Sevagram Project-Started by Mahatma Gandhi. Gahirmatha, Debi river coast in Kendrapara  Nirmithi Kendra : Provides low cost construc- district and the Ruskilya coast for mass tion technology. nesting.  IREDA : Indian Renewable Energy Develop- ment Agency. 494 COMMITTEES AND COMMISSIONS

Atomic Energy Commission ordinating in consultation with state govern- Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was set up ments, schemes for control, conservation and in August 1948 to look after atomic energy ac- utilisation of water resources for purposes tivities in the country. of irrigation, navigation flood control the throughout the country.  The government of India has set up a separate department - Department of Atomic Election Commission Energy (DAE) for promotion of atomic Election Commission is a statutory body es- research. It has five research centres tablished under article 324 of the constitu- 1. Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), tion. The functions of the Election Commis- Mumbai sion include Preparation of electrol rolls, the 2. Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, conduct of election to Parliament, State leg- (IGCAR) Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu islatures and election to the offices of presi- 3. Centre for advanced Technology (CAT) Indore dent and Vice President of India. The EC has also (i) to lay down generals rules of election 4. Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) (ii) to determine constituencies (iii) to give Kolkata recognation to political parties (iv) to allote 5. Atomic Minerals Directorate for Explora- election symbols etc. tion and Research (AMD) Hyderabad.  EC consist of 3 member including Chief Elec- Commissions for Agricultural Costs tion Commissioner. and Prices (CACP)  The present Chief Election Commissioner -  CACP was earlier known as Agricultural prices N.Gopalaswami. Commission  Election Commissioner's Navin B Chawla &  CACP advices the government about the minimum S.Y. Quaraishi support prices for the agricultural produce. Finance Commission Census Commission Under Article 280 of the Constitution, a Fi-  Census Commission functioned on temporary nance Commission is to be constituted every basis till 1964. It was in that year the office of fifth year to make recommendation to Presi- the Registrar General and census commis- dent as to distribution between the Union and sioner of India was established. the States of the net proceeds of taxes and  The first All India census was taken in 1872. sharing of other revenues so far 12 Finance  Regular census began from 1881 onwards Commissions have been constituted. Centre Water Commission (CWC)  The Chairman of the XII FC is Dr. C. Rangarajan.  CWC is responsible for initiating and co-  Indo - Bangladesh joint Rivers Commission 495 was established in 1972 for sharing of water The Union Government has constituted The between two countries. Central Information Commission (CIC) under  Khadi and Village Industries Commission the Right to Information (RTI) Act, which came (KVIC) , was established in 1957. It plan or- into force on October 13, 2005 Wajahat ganise and implement programme for the de- Habibullah is its Chairman. velopment of Khadi and village industries.  State Chief Information Commissioner is Palat  Law Commission : The Law Commission was Mohandas. fist constituted in 1955. Volcker Committee : was appointed by UN  17th Law Commission was constituted in Sep- Secretary General on April 21, 2004 to look tember 2003 with Justice Jagannadha Rao as into the irregularities found in Food for Oil its Chairman. Vice Chairman Dr. N.M. Ghatate. Programme for Iraq ( 1996 - 2003) Indian For- eign Minister Natwar Singh resigned from the  Mandal Commission was appointed to look post due to adverse reference in Volcker Com- into the grievances of the backward classes. mittee Report. It has recommended 27% of seats in academic institutions and job in government organisa- Basal Committee : was set up to look into the tions for these classes. matter of taking bribe to ask question in Par- liament by MPs. Based on the Basal Commit- The recommended reservation is in addition tee Report MPs were expelled from the Parlia- to the existing 22.5% per cent job reservation ment (10 MPs from Lok Sabha and one MP for the Scheduled Casts and Scheduled Tribes. from Rajya Sabha) National Commission on Farmers University Grants Commission (UGC) M.S. Swaminathan heads the National Com- The UGC was set up in 1953 to promote and mission on Farmers. co-ordinate University Education and to de- National Knowledge Commission termine and maintain standard of teaching ex- National Knowledge Commission has been amination and research in the Universities. constituted with Sam Pitroda as its head. The  Subramanyan Committee : To probe in to Commission will advice the Prime Minister on events leading to the Kargil War. issues concerning institutions of knowledge  Justice Jain : into the conspiracy aspects of production and the use and dissemination of Rajiv Gandhi assassination. knowledge.  J.S. Verma : in to the security lapses that led Vice Chairman - P.M. Bhargava to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. National Statistical Commission  Dr. D.R. Karthikeyan : led the special inves- As per the recommendations of the Rangarajan tigation team of the Central Bureau of Investi- committee the union cabinet approved on may gation (CBI) which enquired into the assassi- 19, 2005. The setting up of National statistical nation of Rajiv Gandhi. Commission.  Vohra Committee : Studied about the nexus Planning Commission between criminals and politicians in India. The Planning Commission at the centre is the  Murari Committee : Reviewed Deep Sea Fish- apex body in the planning machinery of the ing Policy. country. The Planning Commission was set  Leila Seth Commission : Probed into the up in March 1950 by a Resolution of Govern- death of Rajan Pillai in Tihar Jail. ment of India. Information Commission  Nanavati Shah Commission: Godhra riot.  Justice S.N. Phukan: Tehelka probe. Justice 496 Venkataswami first enquired about Tehelka.  Dhebar Committee-To enquire into the tribal ar-  Kelkar Committee : Direct and Indirect Tax eas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.  Sen Committee - Decentralisation of power  Nanawati Commission : Enquires into anti to Panchayati Raj Institutions in Kerala. Sikh riot of 1984 in Delhi. BJP lead NDA govern-  Banu Pratap Singh Committee - Policies and ment appointed the enquiry Committee in 2000. Programmes of Agriculture.  Justice Venkitachallaih Panel was appointed  C.V.K Rao Committee - Strengthening Block to review the Constitution of India. Level Administration.  Indrajit Gupta Committee: State Funding of  Asoka Mehta Committee - Suggested reforms election. in Panchayati Raj.  Balwant Rai Mehta Committee - Panchayati  K.J. Joseph Committee - was appointed to Raj was introduced in the country on the ba- find the creamy layer in Kerala. sis of this report.  K.K. Narendran Commission is also ap-  Raja Chellaiah Committee - Tax Reforms sug- pointed to identify creamy layer in Kerala. gested various means for eradicating black  Liberhan Commission - Enquiring into money. Ayodhya issue.  Kudal Commission - It was set up to look into  Y.K. Alagh Committee - Redesign the recruit- the affairs of Gandhi Peace Foundation. ment to the elite All India Services.  Justice Ram Nandan Prasad Committee - To  Nanavati Commission - Anti Sikh riot of 1984 identify the creamy layer among the socially in New Delhi. and economically weaker sections of the back-  Parikh Commission - To enquire into clinical ward classes to be excluded from Mandal ben- trails on cancer patients at the Regional Can- eficiaries. cer Centre at Thiruvananthapuram.  Narasimham Committee-Banking sector re-  Mashelkar Committee - Recommendation on forms. auto fuel policy to control pollution.  Malhotra Committee - Prepared report about  N.K. Singh Committee - Foreign Direct the insurance sector reforms. Investment.  Yaspal Committee - Suggested the abolition  Justice K. Venkataswami first probed Tehelka rev- of admission tests and interviews for the ad- elations. Later when he resigned the post S.N. mission to pre-primary classes. Phukan was appointed to head Tehelka panel.  Goswami Committee-It is related to sick indus-  Chandra Sekhara Das Commission : has tries. been appointed to investigate the liquor trag-  Sri Krishna Commission - It enquired into edy in Kollam district. the communal riots in Mumbai.  L.C. Gupta Committee has been appointed  Railway Safety Committee - Headed by to probe into the trading of shares. M.L.C.L. Kaw, it recommended expeditious  Naresh Chandra Committee has been ap- grant of relief to victims of railway accidents. pointed to suggest further amendments to the  Commission on Labour Standards - Headed Companies Act and the creation of a new cat- by Dr. Subramaniam Swamy. It recommended egory of companies. a National Policy on child labour and sug-  Rakesh Mohan Committee has been ap- gested a comprehensive labour law. pointed to review the disparity of payment  R.S.Sarkaria Committee-Centre-State Relations. among sailors of ships.  Dinesh Goswami Committee-Electoral Reforms.  A.N. Mukherjee Committee : To enquire into  Udayabhanu Commission-Jail reforms in Kerala. Netaji's mysterious disappearance.  Swaminathan Committee - Population policy.  Lakdawala Commission studied about the

497 percentage of people living Below Poverty Sectors of Jammu and Kashmir. Line (BPL) in India.  Operation Blue Star : Launched in Punjab. It  K. Sukumaran Commission probed into the Idamalayar corruption case in Kerala. was the military action in Amristar at the Golden  Saikia Committee consider the proposal Temple. to make free and compulsory education a  Operation Riviresa (Sunshine) : Sri Lankan fundamental right. Government took control of Jaffna, the LTTE  Wancho Committee : (Direct taxes Enquiry base after this massive military campaign. Committee ). set up in 1971.  Operation Desert Storm : Military action of  Chakravarthy Committee : (1982) : RBI ap- pointed a committee under the Chairmanship America and allied countries against Iraq dur- of Prof. Sukhamoy Chakravarthy to review the ing Iraq-Kuwait war. working of Indian Monetary system. The Com-  Operation Desert Fox : Military action against mittee submitted its report in 1985. Iraq by USA and it allies for not allowing arms  The Chairman of the first Finance Commis- inspection. sion : 1952 K.C. Neogy (1952-57)  Operation Enduring Freedom: Military Opera-  Chair of Ninth Finance Commission : 1987 N.K.P. Salve (1990 - 95) tion launched by America, UK and its allies to  Chairman of Tenth Finance Commission - dislodge Taliban from power in Afghanistan. 1994 : K.C. Pant (1995 - 2000)  Operation Anaconda: The extension of Op-  Chairman of Eleventh Finance Commission : eration Enduring Freedom. 1998 - A.M. Khusro (2000 - 2005)  Operation Sarpvinash: The code name given  Chairman of Twelth Finance Commission : to the operation carried out in the Surankote 2002 : C. Rangarajan. hills of Jammu to flush out militants.  Dr. Radhakrishnan Commission (1948) : It is also known as University Education Com-  Operation Pawan: This was started to wipe mission. out LTTE establishment in Sri Lanka in the  Kothari Commission (1964 ) : Education re- year 1987, by Indian Army. forms it is headed by Dr. D. S. Kothari.  Operation Black Thunder: On May 18, 1988, it was started to free 'The Golden Temple' from Various Military Operations the anti-national forces and terrorists.

 Operation Cactus : In November 1988, the  Operation Vajrashakthi: The code name timely action of Indian Army in Maldives given to the commando operation by National saved the democratic government which was Security Guards in the Akshardham temple dismissed by the military coup. complex.  Operation Red Dawn : It was launched by US  Operation Black Sea: The code name given army to capture Saddam Hussain. by the Intelligence Bureau to gather evidence of corruption against former Chattisgarh Chief  Operation All clear : It was launched by the Minister Ajit Jogi. Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) on December 15, 2003 to clear terrist. camp of ULFA, NDFB and  Operation Duryodhan : Operation carried out KLD operated in the territory of Bhutan. by Aaj Tak : Cobra Post. Com to expose MPs receiving bribe to ask question in the Parlia-  Operation Vijay : Launched (1999) to flush ment. out Pakistani infiltrators from Kargil and Dras

498 World Records Held by India

Industry andTrade largest river barrage.  Indian Railways is the World’s largest em- Miscellaneous ployer 1. The Ganges and Brahmaputra Delta  Largest exporter of Tea (Sunderbans) form the World’s (7,500sq km)  Largest manufacturer of cycles (Hero cycle) largest Delta.  Largest exporter of cut Diamonds (World’s 2. Indira Gandhi National Open University 68% cut diamonds come from India) (IGNOU) has emerged as the world’s largest  Largest producer of Sugar by achieving a Open University. production of 85 lakhs tonnes. 3. India has the World’s largest reserve (approxi-  India tops the World in film production mately one-fourth of the World’s known re-  Reliance Group of companies in India has more serves) of iron. number of shareholders than any other com- 4. India has the largest deposits of mica in the pany in the world. World and contributes about two-third of Agricultural/ natural resoruces World’s production. 1. Largest producer of millet in the World. 5. South Point High School, Kolkata is the 2. Largest producer of Tea World’s largest school. 3. Leads in the world in irrigated area (56 million 6. World’s highest Post Office at Spiti Valley in hectares) HP (15000 ft height) 4. Leads in the World in Cattle population. Individual achievements 5. Largest producer of Cardamom: Kerala pro-  Lata Mangeshkar holds the World record for duces 60% of the total World production. maximum number of song recordings. 6. Largest exporter of Spices  Mrs Shakuntala Devi holds the World record 7. Largest Turmeric production, 76% of fastest computing - faster than a Computer. 8. Highest yield of Potato 46, 797 kg/ha  Dr. Rajinder Singh of Himachal Pradesh holds 9. Largest Ginger production 64% the World record of accurate and fastest typ- 10. Largest Sugarcane production ing (96.8 words per minute, 1988) 11. Largest grower of Pulses, 23%  Dr. M.C. Modi holds the World’s record for 12. Productivity of Grapes 22 tonnes/ha performing maximum eye operation @ 40 op- 13. Highest Rice yield 17,862 kg/ha erations per hour.  Mihir Sen of Kolkata holds the World record Buildings / roads/ bridges for long distance swimming.  First hospital on wheels in the World - Jeevan  Capt Durba Bannerjee is the World’s first Rekha (Life Line) express. woman air pilot holdings the record of maxi-  Khardungla Road at Leh Manali sector is the mum flying hours. World’s highest road (5,602 m above sea level)  Dicky Dolma from Manali holds the World  All India Radio, Leh, is the World’s highest record as the youngest Mount Everest climber radio station. at the age of 19.  Qutab Minar is the world’s tallest minaret.  Ms Santhosh Yadav holds the record to climb  Mahatma Gandhi Setu (over the Ganga at Mount Everest twice (among women) Patna) is the World’s longest river bridge. Indian Superlatives  Kharagpur Railway Platform is the World’s Structures longest railway platform (833 m) Highest Tower (Minaret) ...... Qutab Minar  Farakka River Barrage (Kolkatta) is the World’s Highest Gateway ...... Buland Darwaja(Fatehpur Sikri) 499 Highest Dam ...... Bhakra Dam State with maximum Forest Area ...... Madhya Pradesh Highest Bridge ...... Chambal Bridge State with Highest Cattle Population .... Uttar Pradesh Largest City...... Kolkata State having Maximum Paper Mills ...... Uttar Pradesh Largest Lake ...... Wular Lake State producing Maximum Sugar .... Uttar Pradesh Largest Residence ...... Rashtrapati Bhawan State with Highest Mineral Output ...... Jharkhand Largest Cinema Hall ...... State having Highest Literacy Rate ...... Kerala Thangam (Madurai) - capacity over 2500 seats Union Territory having Highest Literary Rate ...... Largest Museum ...... Indian Museum, Kolkata ...... Lakshadeep 87.52% Largest Tunnel ...... Jawahar Tunnel Most Populous State ...... Uttar Pradesh Largest River Barrage ...... Farakka Barrage Longest Dam ...... Hirakud Dam Important Tribes and Their Habitat Largest Zoo .... Zoological Garden, Alipur (Kolkata) Name of Tribe Found in Largest Cave Temple ...... Ellora Abors Assam, Arunachal Pradesh Angami Nagaland, Assam Largest Gurudwara ...... Golden Temple, Amritsar Ao Nagaland, Assam Largest Auditorium ...... Apatamis Arunachal Pradesh Badagas Tamil Nadu (Nilgiri Hill) Sri Shanmukhanada, Mumbai (3012 seats) Baiga Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh Largest Church ...... The St Cathedral, Goa Bhils Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Largest Mosque ...... Jama Masjid, Delhi Gujarat Bhotias Uttaranchal (Garhwal and Largest Dome ...... Gol Gumbaz, Bijapur (Mysore) Kumaun) Largest Cantilever Bridge ...... Howrah Bridge Birhor Hazaribagh, Jharkhand Chenchus Andhra Pradesh, Orissa Longest River Bridge...... Mahatma Gandhi Setu, Patna Gaddis Himachal Pradesh Longest Corridor .... Rameshwaram Temple Corridor Gallong North - East Himalayan Tract Garos Meghalaya Longest Platform (Rly) ...... Kharagpur (World’s longest) Gonds Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Longest Road Bridge ...... Sone Bridge, Bihar Chhatisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh Longest Road ...... GT Road Khas Uttar Pradesh Largest Desert ...... Thar (Rajasthan) Khasis Assam, Meghalaya Biggest Fort ...... Red fort, Delhi Khonds Orissa Kol Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh Tallest Light House ...... Prongs Reef, Mumbai Kolam Andhra Pradesh Tallest Statue...... Gomateshwar Statue, Mysore Kotas Tamil Nadu (Nilgiri) Kuki Manipur Tallest ChimneyThermal Power Station of Tata Elec- Lahora Nagaland, Assam tric Co.Mumbai (275m high) Lepchas Sikkim Largest man- made Lake ....Govind Sagar (Bhakra) Lushais Tripura Mina Rajasthan Largest Delta ...... Sunderbans (West Bengal) Mikirs Assam Monpa Arunachal Pradesh States Mundas Jharkhand Largest State ...... Rajasthan Murias Madhya Pradesh Smallest State ...... Goa Oaraons of Kurukh Jharkhand, Orissa Largest Union Territory ...... Onges Andaman and Nicobar ...... Andaman and Nicobar Islands Santhals West Bengal, Jharkhand and Smallest Union Territory ...... Lakshadweep Orissa Sema Nagaland and Assam State having Maximum Cities ...... Uttar Pradesh Sentinelese Andaman and Nicobar Most densely populated State ...... West Bengal Shoemens Andaman and Nicobar Tangkhul Nagaland, Assam

500 First In India

 Architect: Maha Govinda (5th B.C) (1974)  Aryabhatta Medal Winner K.R. Ramanathan (1977)  Field Marshal : S.H. F.J Manekshaw (1973)  Bharat Ratna Award winner : C. Rajagopalachari  Film Star Chief Minister : M.G. Ramachandran (Tamil (1954); Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (1954) ; Dr.C. V. Raman Nadu, 1977) (1954)  Finance Minister of Free India : R.K. Shanmugham  Actress of the talkies : Zubeida, Alam Ara (1931). Chetty (1947)  Actress to win Padma Shri Award : Nargis Dutt  Finance Minister to present the Budget three times (1958) in a row : Manmohan Singh (1993, 1994, 1995).  British Governor - General of Free India : Lord Louis  Finix Award winner : Sr. P.C. Sorcar ( ) Mountbatten (Aug. 15, 1947 - June 20,1948)  Geometer : Baudhayana, Sulva Sutras (800 BC)  Captain of Test cricket : C.K.Nayudu (1932)  Governor - General of British India : Warren  Century in Test cricket : Lala Amarnath (1933 - 1934) Hastings (1773 - 1785)  Chairman of Rajya Sabha : Dr. S. Radhakrishnan  Grammarian : Panini, Ashtadhyaayi (6th C. B.C) (1952- 1962)  Helms Award winner : Kunwar Digvijay Singh Babu  Chevalier Award winner : Sivaji Ganesan (1995) (1952)  Chief Election Commissioner : Sukumar Sen (1950-  Home Minister : Vallbhbhai Patel (1946) 1958)  ICS Officer : Satyendranath Tagore (1864)  Chief Justice of India : Hiralal J. Kania (1950 - 1951)  Indian Chief of Air Staff : S. Mukherjee (1954 - 1960)  Chief of Air Staff : Sir Thomas Elmhrist (1947 - 1950)  Indian Chief of Army Staff : M. Rajendra Sinhji  Chief of Army staff to die in harness : B.C. Joshi (April 1, 1955 - May 14, 1955) (1994)  Indian Governor - General of Free India : C.  Chief of Air Staff to die in harness : S.Mukherjee Rajagopalachari (june 1948 - Jan. 1950) (1960 in Japan)  Indian Woman President of Indian National Con-  Chief of Coast Guard : V.A. Kamath (1978 -1980) gress : Sarojini Naidu (1925)  Chief of Naval Staff : R. D. Katari (1958-1962)  J.C. Bose Medal winner : V. Ramalingaswami (1977)  Commander-in-chief. K.M. Cariappa (1949 - 1953)  Jain Trithankara : Rishabha Dev (300 B.C)  Dada Saheb Phalke Award winner : Devika Rani  Jnanpith Award winner : Govind Sankara Kurup, Roerich (1969) Odakkuzhal (1965 ; Malayalam)  Deputy Prime Minister : Vallabhbhai Patel (1947-  Lady of the Indian film : Devika Rani Reoerich 1950)  Lata Mangeshkar Award winner : Naushad (1984)  Deputy Prime Minister to die in harness :  Lawgiver : Manu, Manu Smriti (3100 BC) Vallabhbhai Patel (1950)  Managing Director of World Bank : Gautam Kaji  Elected President: Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1950 - 1962) (1995)  English Song : My Heart is Beating ... from Julie

501  Marshal of the Air Force : Air Chief Marshal Arjan Choudhary Charan Singh (July 28, 1979 - Jan. 1980)

Singh)  Prime Minister to resign from office : Morarji Desai  Member of British Parliament : Dadabhai Naoroji (1979) (1862)  Prime Minister who did not face Parliament :  Member of Viceroy’s Executive Council : Sir Chaudhary Charan Singh (July 28, 1979, Jan. 14, S.P.Sinha (1909) 1980)

 Miss Universe Sushmita Sen (1994)  Ramon Magsaysay Award winner : Vinoba Bhave  Miss World : Reita Faria (1966) (1958)

 Musician to get Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan  Recipient of Stalin Peace Prize : Dr. Saifuddin and Bharat Ratna : M.S. Subbulakshmi (1954, 1975 Kitchelew (1954) &1998)  Recipient of World Food Prize : M.S. Swaminathan  Musician to get Ramon Magsaysay Award : M.S. (1987) Subbulakshmi (1974)  Speaker in Hindi at the UN : Atal Bihari Vajpayee  Missile - firing Submarine : INS Sindhushastra (july (1977) 19, 2000)  Speaker of Lok Sabha : Ganesh Vasudev  Nishan -i-Pakistan Award winner : Morarji Desai Mavalankar (1952-1957) (1991)  Test-Tube baby: Baby Harsha or Indian (1986)  Nobel Prize winner : Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali  Vice President : S.Radhakrishnan (1952 - 1962) (1913)  Woman (Muslim) Ruler of India : Razi Sultana (1236  Olympic Medal winner : Norman Pritchard, Silver - 1240) (1900)

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

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

 President of International Court of Justice : Nagendra Singh (1970)

 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 to die in harness : Zakir Hussain (1967 - 1969)

 Prime Minister : Jawaharlal Nehru (1947 - 1964)

 Prime Minister assassinated : Indira Gandhi (1984)

 Prime Minister to die in harness : Jawaharlal Nehru (1964)

 Prime Minister to head a minority government : 502 First men in India First Indian to swim across the English Channel ...... Mihir Sen (1966) First to climb Mount Everest ...... Tenzing Norgay(1953) First to climb Mount Everest without oxygen ...... Phu Dorjee(1984) First India to join I.C.S. (ICS now is IAS) ...... Satyendra Nath Tagore (1864) First Indian to get Nobel Prize ...... Rabindra Nath Tagore(1913) First Indian in Space (first Indian cosmonaut) ...... Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma (1984) First British Governor General ...... William Bentinck (1828) First Governor General of Free India...... Lord Mountbatten (1947) First Viceroy of India ...... Lord Canning (1956) First and the last Governor General of free India ...... C. Rajagopalachari (1948 - 1950) First President of India ...... Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1950) First Vice-President of India ...... Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (1952) First Muslim President of India ...... Dr. Zakir Hussain (1967) First Sikh President of India ...... Giani Zail Singh (1982) First Speaker of Lok Sabha ...... G.V. Mavlankar (1952) First Dalit Speaker of Lok Sabha ...... G.M.C. Balayogi (1998) First Chief Justice of India ...... Justice H.L. Kania (1950) First President of Indian National Congress ...... W.C. Bannerjee (1885) First Indian to become member of Viceroy’s Executive Council ...... Lord S.P. Sinha (1909) First Emperor of Moghul Dynasty: ...... Babur (1526) First Field Marshal ...... S.H.F.J. Manekshaw(1973) First Indian Commander in chief of India ...... Gen. K.M. Kariappa (1949) First Chief of the Army Staff (Indian) ...... Gen. Maharaja Rajendra Singhji(1955) First Chief of the Naval Staff (Indian) ...... Vice-Admiral R.D. Katari (1958) First Chief of the Air Force Staff (India) ...... Subroto Mukherjee(1954) First Indian in British Parliament ...... Dadabhai Naoroji (1862) First Indian to circumnavigate the globe ...... Lt. Col. K.S. Rao ( ) First Indian to reach the South Pole ...... Col. J.K. Bajaj (1989) First Indian High Court Judge (1878) ...... Justice Syed Mehamood (1878) First Indian to make a solo air flight ...... JRD Tata (1931) First Indian to visit England ...... Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1832) First Indian Member of Houseof Lords (British) ...... Lord S.P. Sinha (1909) First Chairman of Rajya Sabha (1952-62)...... Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (1952 - 62) First Indian Test Cricketer ...... K.S. Ranjit Singhji ( ) First Air Chief Marshal ...... Arjan Singh (1964) First Judge to face impeachment in the Lok Sabha (1993) ...... Justice V. Ramaswami (1993) First Governor General of Indian Union ...... C. Raja Gopalachari (1948) First Indian to get an Oscar ...... Bhanu Athaiya (1982) First Magsaysay Award winner ...... Acharya Vinobha Bhave (1958) First Nobel Prize winner ...... Rabindra Nath Tagore(1913) Man to reach south pole...... J.K. Bajaj (1989) Man to climb Mount Everest without oxygen ...... Phu Dorjee (1984) Man to climb Mount Everest ...... Tenzing Norgay (with Edmund Hillary, 1953) First Man to make solo flight (from US to India) ...... Satish Soman (1994) First Man to reach South Pole ...... J.K. Bajaj (1989) First Man to swim across English Channel ...... Mihir Sen (1966) First Man to swim several Straits in one calendar year ...... Mihir Sen (1966) Man to win individual Olympic Medal ...... K.D. Jadhav (Bronze in Wrestling - Helsinki Olympics, 1952)

503 First women in India

First woman Prime Minister ...... Mrs. Indira Gandhi First woman Chief Minister of a State...... Mrs. Sucheta Kripalani (Utter Pradesh 1963 - 67) First woman Minister of a state...... Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit (Uttarpradesh 1937) First woman Central Minister ...... Rajkumari Amrit Kaur First woman Governor of a State...... Mrs. Sarojini Naidu (Uttar Pradesh) (1947) First Indian woman president of Indian National Congress ...... Annie Besant (1917) First women Ambassador ...... Vijayalekshmi Pandit (USSR - 1947-49) First woman President of UN General Assembly...... Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit (1953) First Muslim woman to sit on the throne of Delhi ...... Razia Sultana (1236 - 1240) First woman to swim across the English Channel ...... Miss Arti Saha (1959) Woman to swim across the strait of Gibraltar...... Arti Pradhan First woman to climb Mount Everest ...... Bachhendri Pal (1984) First woman to circumnavigate (sail round the world) ...... Ujwala Rai First woman IAS officer ...... Anna George Malhotra (1950) First woman IPS officer ...... Kiran Bedi (1974) First woman Advocate ...... Cornelia Sorabji First woman Judge ...... Anna Chandi First woman Judge of High Court ...... Anna Chandi First woman Judge of Supreme Court ...... M. Fathima Beevi (1989) First woman Chief Justice of High Court ...... Leila Seth (Himachal Pradesh -1991) First woman Doctor ...... Kadambini Ganguli First woman Chief Engineer ...... Mrs. P.K. Thresia First woman to receive a Sena Medal ...... Constable Bimla Devi (88 BN of CRPF)-1990 Youngest woman to Climb Mount Everest ...... Dicky Dolma from Manali - 1993 Youngest woman to Climb Mount Everest two times ...... Santosh Yadav (ITBP Officer)-1993 First Lady Magistrate ...... Mrs. Omana Kunjamma First woman to win Nobel Prize ...... Mother Teresa (1979) First to be crowned Miss India ...... Reita Faria First to be crowned Miss Universe ...... Sushmita Sen (1994)

504 First to be crowned Miss World ...... Reita Faria (1966) First woman mayor in India ...... Tara Cherian First woman pilot ...... Prem Mathur First woman Judge of Supreme Court ...... Fathima Beevi First woman won Bharat Ratna ...... Indira Gandhi First woman won the Magsaysay Award ...... Mother Teresa First woman to win the Booker Prize...... Arundhati Roy (1997) First Actress of the talkies ...... Zubeida (Film : Alam Ara - 1931) First Actress to win Padma Shri Award ...... Nargis Dutt (1958) First woman to receive the Sahithya academy Award ...... Amrita Pritam - (Sunebre 1956) First woman speaker of Lok Sabha ...... Susgula Nayyar First woman to win an Asia Gold ...... Kamaljit Sandhu (1970) First woman to go into space ...... Kalpana Chawla (1994) First woman to win Jnanpith Award ...... Asha Purna Devi (1976) First woman to win Urvasi Award ...... Nargis Datt First woman Election Commissioner ...... V.S. Rama Devi First woman to win an olympic gold medal ...... Karnam Malleswari (Bronze weight lifting sidney 2000) First woman olympic finalist ...... P.T. Usha First woman Speaker of State Assembly...... Shanno Devi Indian Women President of Indian National Congress ...... Sarojini Naidu (1925) Woman (muslim) Ruler of India ...... Razia Sultana (1236 - 1240) Woman advocate ...... Cornelia Sorabji (1894) Woman at Antartica ...... Meher Moos (1976) Woman (Deputy) Foreign Minister ...... Lekshmi N. Menon (1957 - 1966) Women DGP...... Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattachariya (Uttaranchal) Woman Lt. General ...... Punita Arora Woman Secretary General of Rajya Sabha ...... V.S. Rama Devi (1993) Woman Jet Commander ...... Saudamini Deshmukh Woman Missionary ...... Sanghamitra, daughter of King Ashoka (Sri Lanka 3rd BC) Woman pilot (commercial) ...... Prem Mathur (Deccan Airways 1951) Woman Pilot (Indian Airlines) ...... Durba Banerjee (1966 - 1988) First Woman Mayor of Delhi ...... Aruna Asif Ali

505 Hm¿a-bpt≠ m Cu apJw? HmÀ½n¡mXn-cn-¡n-Ã. Hcp tX§-embn F¦nepw Cu HmÀa \n§-fpsS kvarXn ]Y-¯n Fhn-sS-sb-¦nepw ImWpw. F§ns\ ad-¡m-\m-Ipw. kml-kn-I-X-bpsS s\dp-I-bn ]qÀ®-ambpw a\Êpw Nn´bpw XmXv]-cyhpw Bhm-ln¨v, Gsä-Sp¯ IÀ½-§Ä Bthi XnanÀt¸msS \nd-thän HmÀ½-bpsS Aa-c-Xz-¯n-te¡v bm{X-bmb kml-kn-I-\m- W-t±-lw. Gsä-Sp¯ Htcm {]hr-¯n-bnepw kzbw ad¶v Pohn¨ AXpÃy {]Xn-`. F{X X·-b-Xz-t¯m-sS-bmWv A]-I-S-Im- cn-I-fmb No¦-®n-I-sf-bpw, ]m¼p-I-sfbpw Cu arK-kvt\ln t\cn-Sm-dp-Å-Xv. Im«n-epw, \m«n-epw, NXp-¸n-epw, acp-`q-an-bn- epw, Imb-en-epw, \Zn-bnepw, kap-{Z-¯nsâ ASn-¯-«nepw Aiz-ta[w \bn¨v arK-kp-lr-¯p-¡sf temI-¯n\v ]cn- N-b-s¸-Sp-¯n- Ahsb kvt\ln¨v, klm-bn¨v Ah-bp- ambn can-¨v, ckn¨v A\-iz-c-X-bn-te¡v \o§nb Ìohv C¶pw Pohn-¡p-¶p. F¶pw Pohn-¨n-cn-¡pw. kap-{Zm-´-c-¯n Ìohn- t\ä B{I-aWw a\-¸qÀÆ-am-Im³ CS-bn-Ã. Adn-bmsX kw`- hn-¨-Xm-bn-cn-¡pw. Ìohns\ ASp-¯-dn-bm-am-bn-cp-s¶-¦n B kvInUv Hcn-¡epw At±-ls¯ B{I-an-¡n-Ãm-bn-cp-¶p.

Hcp hn-P-bn-¡p-­m-bn-cn-t¡­ Gähpw {it²-b-amb Hcp KpWw sIm­v A\p-{K-lo-X-\m-b-ncp¶p Ìohv. Perfect loyalty to his work, spontaneous enthusiasm in his actions and dynamic spirit in doing his duty.

508 {]hÀ¯-\-¯nse\n§fpw Ìohns\ I­v BßmÀ°-X, ]Tn-¡-Ww. F´pGsä-Sp-¡p¶ sN¿p- t¼mgpw a\-Êpw, Nn´-bpw, {]hÀ¯nbpw ]qÀ®-

§-fnÂambpw AXnÂ\n§Ä Cgp-In-t¨-À¡m\mhpI.CXv \S-¸n-em-¡-Ww. H¶v c­v Cu Øe- ]co- £-bpsS X¿m-sd-Sp-¸n ]cn-]qÀ®-ambpw apgpIn BßmÀ°-X-tbmSpw DÕm-l-t¯m-Spw-IqSn hkvXp- X-IÄ ]Tn-s¨-Sp¯v Adn-hns\ sacp-¡n, hnÚm- \s¯ ab-s¸-Sp-¯n, kml-kn-I-am-sbmcp apt¶-ä- ¯n-eqsS BZy dm¦p-I-fn H¶v sh«n-¸n-Sn-¡m³. ]ns¶ kÀ¡mÀ DtZymKw kz´-am¡n tkh-\-¯n- \mbn kzbw kaÀ¸n-¡p-t¼mgpw Ìohnsâ work \n§Ä Hcp Bbn DÄs¡m-Åp-I. spirit role model

Steve Irwin in action

Low ambition is a crime - Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Remember the great adage - fortune favours the bold. Be bold and agressive to grab knowledge, empower yourself and get the badly needed job. FÃm {]Xn-_-Ô-§-sfbpw kml-kn-I-X-tbmsS t\cn«v hnPbw km[y-am-¡p-I.

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