September 2013

• Noble laureate Seamus Heaney , who died recently, was a famous poet of > Ireland

• Rao Committee > was mooted the idea of setting up Bullion Bank or Bullion Corporation of India. Rao committee suggested the Bullion Bank can be set up by the RBI with 51% equity and should have Rs 1, 000 crore paid up equity, financial institutions and bank could be 49% equity holders.

• Geeta Phogat > is a wrestler who won India’s first ever gold medal in women’s wrestling in the 55 kg freestyle category at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

• The government of India is implementing the Catalytic Development Programme (CDP) for > Sericulture. It aims to promote adoption of improved technology;activities like host plantation, seed production, rearing of silkworm, reeling and twisting, weaving and printing as well as upgradation of the quality of silk

• The Rakhine state riots are a series of conflicts between Buddhists and Muslims in _"Mynamar"

• RBI has decided to open a forex swap window to meet the daily dollar requirement of three public sector oil marketing companies viz., IOC, HPCL and BPCL.

• The Kyoto Protocol aims to mitigate following greenhouse gases > four greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and sulphur hexafluoride.

• Hyedrabad HotShots > has won the inaugural “Indian Badminton League".

• USA > has recently launched an investigation into the trade policies of India.

• Currently, India has observer status in > Only Arctic Council & CERN.

• Vietnam has enacted a law banning online users from discussing current affairs

• Bharat BioTech > has unveiled the world’s first clinically proven conjugate Typhoid vaccine “Typbar-TCV"

• Jose Manuel Barroso of Portugal is the current president of the European Commission.

• Kerala > has proposed to launch a pension scheme for workers under MGNREGS scheme.

• The “Paduvalapalya” and “tenku tittu” are two main forms of Yakshagana.

• Rakesh Sood > has been appointed as PM’s Special Envoy on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.

• Mahatma Gandhi edited several newspapers including Harijan in Gujarati,

in Hindi and in the English language. Indian Opinion and Young India, in English and Navajivan in Gujarati and Hindi.

• Example of Invisible trade > 1.Consulting2.Income from foreign investment3.Shipping services4.Tourism.

• India announced an aid of Rs 5000 crore as economic stimulus package to BHUTAN.

• Delhi has highest Per Capita Income in the country.

• Textile industry is not a core industry.

• Core Industries are 8 > 1. Coal 2.Cement 3.Crude Oil 4. Electricity 5. Fertilizers 6. Steel (Alloy+NonAlloy) 7.Refinery Products and 8.Natural gas.

• Keratoplasty is plastic surgery of the cornea.

• Yahoo > has closed its news and community services in China.

• Some of the gharanas well known for singing khayals are: Agra, Gwalior, Patiala, Kirana, Indore, Mewati, Sahaswan and Jaipur.

• Prime Minister launched a heritage portal dedicated to Gandhi ji.

• Human papillomavirus (HPV) > is a DNA virus from the papillomavirus family that is capable of infecting humans.

• Panipat is famous by the name of “City of Weaver”.

• In the Second ASEAN Defence minister’s meeting (August,2013) it has been decided to set up an additional Expert Working group on Humanitarian Mine Action which will be co-chaired by India & Vietnam.

• Common human diseases caused by viruses include the common cold, influenza, chickenpox and cold sores.

• Many serious diseases such as ebola, Avian influenza, AIDS and SARS are caused by the viruses.

• Prime Minister’s relief fund >1.PM’s relief fund is a private body and not a government entity2.Any contribution to the PM’s relief fund is exempted from income tax3.PM’s relief fund is audited by an independent firm outside the government.

• Diana Nyad has become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage or swim fins, becoming the first person to do so. She is from __USA.

• World Economic Forum >

1. The Global Competitiveness Report is published from time to time by World Economic Forum.

2. Since 2010, Switzerland has led the ranking as the most competitive economy in the world. India is at 60th position.

3. The report assesses the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens. This in turn depends on how productively a country uses available resources.

• India’s ranking among the top coffee producing countries slipped to seventh despite a marginal rise in production in 2012, from sixth in the previous year.

Modified Atmospheric Packaging of food products

4. MA package consists of Nitrogen, Oxygen and Carbon dioxide.

5. It is the altered ration of these gases that prolongs the shelf life.

6. By reducing the oxygen level and increasing the carbon dioxide level ripening of the fruits and vegetables can be delayed, respiration and ethylene production rates can be retarded and various compositional changes associated with ripening can be slowed down.

• In Barmigham, Europe’s largest public library has been inaugurated by Malala Yousafazai.

• Eastern Mediterranean region, which includes Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

• Syria is the only significant crude oil producing country in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

• Refrigerator system works on the principle of Second law of Thermodynamics.

• The Afghanistan government > has restored a seat for the representative of Hindus and Sikhs of Afghan origin in the lower house of the Parliament.

• The Chembur-Wadala corridor in Mumbai will be the country’s first monorail route.

• Measures taken by RBI to shore up the currency >

1.Issue of Quasi-sovereign bonds2.Hiking the import duty on gold and silver3.Tighting of liquidity4.Liberalisation of Bank deposit schemes.

• International Day of Charity > 5th September every year (Death anniversary of Mother Teresa).

• Chief Information Commissioner > Mrs. Deepak Sandhu (in Sepetmber 2013)

• RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has announced the setting up of an external committee to screen applicants for new bank licences. The committee will be headed by___Bimal Jalan.

• The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee drafted the Syria war resolution which permits up to 60 days of military action against the Bashar al-Assad regime.

• LADEE is the name of NASA’s new spacecraft on Moon.

• Baseball and Polo not included in Olympic. Baseball was discontinued after the 2008 Summer Olympic.

• Microsoft bought Nokia’s devices and Services business.

• In Jainism, the “perfect knowledge” is referred to as "Kaivalya".

• China > holds world’s largest foreign exchange reserves. With $3.31 trillion foreign exchange reserves china tops the list.

Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of India

7. CIC of India is appointed for a term of 5 years or till he / she attains the age of 65 years.

8. CIC is not eligible for reappointment.

9. Salary will be the same as that of the Chief Election Commissioner.

• ICICI bank claimed to have become the first private sector lender to launch a ‘branch-on-wheels’ drive.

• Brazil’s lower house has voted to end the system of secret voting in the national legislature.

• Franck Ribery won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for 2012-13.

• BRICS > Leaders of the Brics group of nations-Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have said they will set up a $100bn fund to guard against financial shocks.

• The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, 2011 allows at least _26_ per cent FDI in pension sector.

• Punjab National Bank won five RBI Rajbhasha Awards organized by Reserve Bank of India.

• “Tatapani” power project which is said to be nation’s first geo-thermal power project is coming up in "Chhattisgarh" in the newly-formed Balrampur-Ramanujganj district.

• Recently (September, 2013), the largest volcano on Earth and one of the largest in the entire solar system has been discovered under Pacific Ocean.(1000 miles South-east of Japan).

• September 8 > International Literacy Day by UNESCO. It was first celebrated on 1966.

• USA, India, China and Israel are not states parties to the Statute of International Criminal Court.

• The first non-African country to be found among the world’s poorest nations is ___Afghanistan.

• Kapurthala > Rail Coach Factory has been selected for “Par Excellence Award”.

• Largest producer of Limestone: Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and MP.

• Eligible to acquire shares on stock exchanges in compliance with FEMA regulations >

• 1.Foreign Institutional Investors2.Qualified Foreign Institutions3.Non-resident Indians. but they are not permitted to acquire shares on bourses under the FDI scheme.

• Recently (September, 2013), RBI has increased the amount of rupee that individuals can carry while travelling abroad. The new increased amount is ___10,000.

• Diego Garcia Island is > is a tropical, footprint-shaped coral atoll located south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean. It is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

• As per the latest report, Tripura has beaten Kerala to achieve the first position in literacy rate. Tripura achieved the first position in literacy with 94.65 per cent, beating Kerala (93.31%).

• Tony Abbott’s > New PM of Australia since Sepetember 2013.

• 2020 Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo.

• The Banking Ombudsman is a person appointed by the Reserve Bank of India redresses the customer complaints against the banks.

• Serena Williams > has won women's single title in the US Open Tennis Championship 2013.

• The Union Government of India gave one more million dollars to the United Nations Relief and Working Agency for providing food and medicines to Palestine refugees.

• Only the front transparent portion of the eye, the cornea is transplanted during eye donation.

• “Kurdistan Workers Party” > Turkey.

• Recently (September, 2013), International Olympic Committee has voted to reinstate in Olympic 2020 > Wrestling.

• The author of the book “India and Malaysia: Intertwined Strands” > Veena Sikri.

• “Rajiv Rinn Yojana” scheme >Interest subsidy scheme for Housing and Urban poor and , which will be implemented as a stand alone Central

Sector Scheme

• Ryan Campbell of Australia became the youngest person to fly a single engine aircraft, solo around the globe.

• Blood doping is a technique to increase ones __RBC__ count.

• Recently (September, 2013), the presence of Arsenic in rice including basmati variety of India raised international concern.

• “Harike Wildlife Sanctuary" > Punjab.

• Next version of Android operating system> Kitkat

• PM is the Chairman of “National Ganga River Basin Authority”

• First Sree Narayana Guru Global Secular and Peace Award 2013 > Dr. Shashi Tharoor Minister of State for Human Resources Development.

• Muhammad Yunus, the microfinance pioneer and Nobel prize laureate, > belong to Bangladesh

• Urjit Patel committee > to examine the current monetary policy framework.The committee would be headed by the Deputy Governor Urjit Patel.

• The Akhaurah check post is one of the most important international trading land ports at Akharauh in Tripura with Bangladesh would be open in November this year.

• RBI has decided to create a central repository on large borrowers both individuals and entities with exposure of more than ten crore to help banks deal with credit risks.

• The Acaranga Sutra is related to___Jainism.The Acaranga Sutra is the first of eleven Angas and is compilation based on teachings of Mahavira.

• As per the latest data released by RBI, top investment destination in India > Odisha

• Japan > giving financial and technical aid for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project.

• The International Day for the preservation of Ozone is observed on ___ 16 September.The theme of this year is “A healthy atmosphere, the future we want”.

• Anil Kaushal committe > to examine the recommendations made by the TRAI on pricing of spectrum.

• Scientists from University of Madrid developed the first vaccine against MERS virus.

• Lifetime Achievement Award at UK’s House of Commons > Jawaharlal Darda

• Regional Rural Banks are not yet established in > Goa & Sikkim

• “Centre for Excellence and Ethics” has been proposed to be set up > at Ajmer

• Permanent observer states of Arctic Council > India, China, Poland & France

• The best fishing grounds in the world is located in> Continental Shelves

• Voyage 1 is the first human-made object to leave the solar system.

• Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet > at Colombo

• System of Shadow Banking in India comprises :1.Hedge fund

2.Structured investment vehicles3.Money market funds4.Special purpose entity conduits.

• Jupiter is called Lord of Heaven.

• Siddiqa Parveen from South Dinajpur in West Bengal was declared the world’s tallest woman.

• “Epsilon” new cheaper rocket tested by > Japan.

• Major basins in India with shale gas potential :

1.Krishna Godavari2.Cauvery3.Damodar4.Indo Gangetic

• Rajaji National Park is famous park in Uttarakhand

• Operation Polo > was the code name of the military operation conducted in september 1948 to annex Hyderabad into the India Union and thus overthrew the Nizam from Hyderabad.

• Bill gates is the richest American for the 20th year in a row. Earliar Carlos slim was richest.

• For the Green Energy Corridor, Germany will help India.

• Death Valley is a desert in the Mojave Desert , it is the lowest, hottest and driest area in North America.

• Gulf Cooperation Council states comprises>

1.UAE 2.Bahrain 3.Saudi Arabia 4.Oman

• Paddy is the largest cultivable crop in India.

• Mars is the only planet in the solar system on which deserts have been identified.

• Committees related to Pachayat Raj system > 1.Balwant Rai Mehta Committee2.Ashok Mehta Committee3.G V K Rao Committe

• Theme of International Day for Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2013 > "A healthy atmosphere, the future we want".

• Golden Rice is a fortified food to be grown and consumed in areas with shortage of ____Vitamin A

• Kanoon Lugat is the first Urdu law dictionary released recently.

• As per the New Pension scheme, if a subscriber exists after age of 60 years, the subscriber would be required to invest at least 40 % of pension wealth to purchase an annuity. The remaining 20% may be withdrawn as lump sum.

• Isarel > has decided not to supply weapon systems to Pakistan

• “Mount Sinabung” volcano > Indonesia

• India and China will observe 2014 as the year of Friendly Exchanges.

• Dr Arup Roy Choudhury, Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC.

• As per the latest announcement made by RBI, domestic scheduled commercial banks are now allowed to open branches in _Tier 1__ centres without RBI permission.

• Pico hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power generation of under __0-5 KW

• Recently (September, 2013), Tata group has planned to set up new full-service airline in India with Singapore where TCS hold 51% share and rest is for Singapore airlines.

• The National Early Childhood Care and Education Policy is to promote inclusive, equitable and contextualized opportunities for promoting optimal development and active learning capacity of all children below six years.

• “Muzzle" > related to Shooting.

• Food irradiation is the process of treating food with a specific dosage of ionizing radiation. This treatment slows or halts spoilage by retarding enzymic action or destroying microorganisms and it can also inactivate foodborne pathogenic organisms. Irradiation treatment can be achieved by exposing the food items to electronic beam, Gamma rays and X-rays.

• “Direct Bank” system > 1.It is a bank without any branch network and offer its service via online banking and telephone banking2.Most direct banks offer only online savings accounts and these bank typically offer higher interest rates.

• France senate has approved the ban on beauty pageants for children below 16 years.

• Fischer-Tropsch conversion is the modern method of production of synthetic petrol.

• Infosys launched Finacle 11E – An advanced universal banking solution to simplify banking transformation.

Google has decided to set up a company called Calico, to develop technologies to tackle health issues related to aging.

“Sipat Thermal Power Plant” (NTPC) > Chattisgarh

Humayun’s Tomb > UNESCO world heritage site of India

“Murrah” is the most important and well known buffalo breed indigenous to > Haryana.

“Information Technology Investment Region" to be set up in Hyderabad.

Swedish defence firm Saab firm of Russia has won a 1,900 crore order from India to supply self-protection system for Dhruv, indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter.

There are four rhino-bearing states in India viz.Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Wajahat Habibullah is the current Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities.

The Good Road > has been nominated to represent India in the best foreign film category at next Oscar awards.

union government gave its approval for setting up refinery-cum-petrochemical complex in Rajasthan which would be developed by > HPCL

“Luzon Strait” separates Taiwan & Philipines

The strait thereby connects the Philippines Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean.

Typhoon Usagi, > the most powerful storm of this year, unleashed torrential rain and ferocious winds in Taiwan and Philippines. Usagi which means rabbit in Japanese packed winds of 165 km/h hits.

The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Morocco left AU’s predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity in 1984, when majority of the member countries supported the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, resulting on SADR admission to the AU.

Justice V Eswaraih > has appointed Justice Vangala Eswaraih, former acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh as the chairperson of the National Commission for Backward Classes.

The National Commission of Backward Classes has been set up under the National Commission for Backward Classes Act 1993.

“Naseem Al Bahr” is a 9th biennial Naval Exercise between India and Oman since first was excercised in 1993.

National Integration Council set up in early 1960s by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the NIC held its first meeting in 1962. Currently chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the NIC has 147 members including >

10. Union Ministers,

11. leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,

12. Chief Ministers of all the States and Union Territories with Legislature.

• Indus water commissioners of India and Pakistan began discussion on four power projects that are coming up in Jammu and Kashmir. The commissioners will discuss objections raised by Pakistan on India’s four hydrothermal projects in Chenab basin, being constructed under Indus water treaty 1960. Three of the projects, namely

• 1) Ratle (850 MW), 2 ) lower Kalnai (48 MW), and 3) Miyar Nallah (120 MW) are run of the river projects, while the 4) 1000 MW Pakaldul project involves very insignificant pondage.

• “Angela Merkel” who won the German election for the third time belongs to > Christian Democratic Union

• Almora > hill stations located in the Kumaon ranges

• “Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU)” Coach factory is being coming up in Rajasthan.

• “Gateway to Tiger Reserves” called > Nagpur

• “Helina” is an upgraded version of Nag.Helina is HELIcopter launched Nag.Nag is a third generation “fire-and-forget” anti-tank missile developed in India. It is one of the five missile systems developed by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.

• SURYA KIRAN > India and Nepal armies have come together for a joint military exercise at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand , which focuses on counter-insurgency operations. The exercise is codenamed as SURYA KIRAN.

• Bo Xilai the former party chief of Chongqing was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was found guilty of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.

• Union government has launched a new skill development scheme “Seekho aur Kamao” for the youth of _____ Minority communities.

• Tiger reserves are located in Madhya Pradesh > 1.Bandhavgarh2.Bori-Satpur3.Sanjay Dubri

• Nagarahole tiger reserve is in Karnataka

• Jawaid Akhtar (the chairman of Coffee Board of India) >has been elected as Chairperson of “International Coffee Council”.

• “London Whale” scandal, which is in news recently, is related to J P Morgan Chase.

• Recently (September, 2013), Fairfax (owned by Prem Vats) has decided to acquire BlackBerry for $4.7 billion.

• China has decided to ban the export of weapon-related technologies to North Korea.

• Iraq > become the latest country to ratify “Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty".With this number of countries that have fully adhered to the treaty rose to 161. The accord, however, cannot enter into force until the US, China and six other states follow suit. The CTBT must be signed and ratified by 44 specific states, only 36 of which have done so including France, Russia and Britain.

• The salary of Chief Election Commissioner of India is equal to the salary of Supreme Court Judge.

• In India, Foreign Exchange Reserves are the foreign assets held or controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The reserves are made of gold or specific currency. They can also be special drawing rights (SDR) and marketable securities dominated in foreign currencies like treasury bills, government bonds, corporate bonds and equities and foreign currency loans. 1. Gold2. Special Drawing Rights3. Foreign Currency loans4. Reserve Position in the IMF

• Ministry of Tourism launched the “777 Days of Incredible Indian Himalayas” campaign.

• The G4 nations include India, Brazil, Germany and Japan.

• Skimmed milk is milk with an extremely low percentage of fat, also called fat free milk.

• Recently (September, 2013), RBI has decided to allow all types of companies to avail of trade credit not exceeding _$20_ million up to a maximum period of five years for import of capital goods.

• The Raghuram Ranjan panel report on “Special category” criteria for providing additional assistance to poorer states, ranked Goa and Kerala as the most advanced state and Odisha and Bihar least developed states.

• Twitter launched a system for emergency alters which can help spread critical information when other lines of communications are down.Ex-natural disasters

• Britain > will host “NATO summit-2014”.Britain last hosted the summit in 1990, when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister.

• The Union government has recently set up a committee for evaluation of research and ranking in the country. The Chairman of the committee is ___ K Vijay Raghavan

• Swaran Singh Virk is an Indian rower . He clinched gold at the 15th Asian Senior Rowing Championship in China.

• China launched its first free trade zone (FTZ) in Shanghai .

• In September 2013, “Sarah Outen” became the first woman to row solo from Japan to Alaska. She belongs to Britain.

• "TomTato" A plant produces both tomatoes and potatoes.

• Ruchir Kamboj> has been appointed as the next Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO, Paris.

• For Foreign Institutional Investors, following are eligible to register > 1.Pension Funds2.Insurance Companies3.Investment Trusts4.Banks

• “Miss World 2013”> Megan Young (Philipines)

• Under the Mahatma Ghandi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) Scheme the wage and material ratio should be maintained at 60:40.