Current Affairs Magazines Current Affairs PDF Magazine March 2013 1
Current Affairs Magazines Current Affairs PDF Magazine March 2013 1
Current Affairs Magazines Current Affairs PDF Magazine March 2013 1
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Table of Contents
Preface ............................................................................................................................................ 9 Pick of the Month ......................................................................................................................... 10 5th BRICS Summit held in Durban, South Africa: Highlights................................................. 10 Second India-Afghanistan-United States Trilateral Dialogue ............................................... 12 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died at 58 due to Cancer............................................. 12 RBI Slashed Repo Rate by 25 Base Points; Kept CRR Unchanged ......................................... 13 India won Border Gavaskar Trophy 2013 by 4-0 .................................................................. 15 Tiger Woods Won Arnold Palmer Invitational 2013 ............................................................. 16 Jorge Bergoglio the New Pope Chose Francis his Papal Name ............................................. 16 Xi Jinping Took Over As the New President of China............................................................ 18 Number of High Courts went up to 24 from 21 .................................................................... 18 Govt decided to Introduce National Policy on Drug Abuse .................................................. 19 Half of Africas Lions Facing Extinction Threat: Study .......................................................... 19 BARC Developed Largest Magnet of the World.................................................................... 20 India & US agreed on Cooperation in Moon & Mars Missions ............................................. 20 International ................................................................................................................................. 22 India and Portugal Signed a Social Security Agreement ....................................................... 22 India-United Kingdom Summit 2013: Agreements Reached ................................................ 22 India & UK Signed MOU to Co-Operate on Earth Sciences .................................................. 24 Pakistan Government completed its Historic Five Year Term .............................................. 25 Nepal and US to Conduct Joint Military Exercises ................................................................ 25 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill 2012-2013 approved in Britain ....................................... 26 President of Egypt Visited India: Major Deals Signed ........................................................... 26 Lebanon PM announced Governments Resignation ........................................................... 28 www.jagranjosh.com
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FAA to close 149 Air Traffic Towers due to Budget Cut........................................................ 29 US and Afghanistan reached Agreement on Prison Transfer ............................................... 29 South Australia rolled out 10-year Plan to Enhance Trade .................................................. 30 US President Barack Obama Signed Short-Term Budget Bill ................................................ 31 India and Liechtenstein Signed TIEA ..................................................................................... 31 BRICS Summit 2013: South Africa and Russia signed Agreement ........................................ 32 International Quizzes ............................................................................................................ 33 World Dairy ................................................................................................................................... 36 National ......................................................................................................................................... 40 Electronics Project Proposal System e-PPS launched ........................................................... 40 Charges Framed against Irom Sharmila for Attempting Suicide .......................................... 40 CCS approved Flexible Use of Airspace................................................................................. 42 Union Cabinet cleared Bill to Tackle Crimes against Women............................................... 43 Indias First All Women Post Office Inaugurated by Kapil Sibal ........................................... 43 Union Cabinet approved Electronic Services Bill .................................................................. 44 Govt approved Changes in Bill to Tackle Bribery by Foreigners ........................................... 44 Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2013 Passed in the Lok Sabha ........................................... 45 Union Cabinet cleared National Food Security Bill ............................................................... 46 Standards of Quality of Service Amendment Regulations: Notified .................................... 47 Govt. cleared 1500 crore Rupees Proposal for Pinaka Rockets ............................................ 47 National Quizzes ................................................................................................................... 48 India Dairy ..................................................................................................................................... 51 Economy........................................................................................................................................ 58 MOU for Setting up of Memu Coaches Manufacturing Facility ........................................... 58 Government approved Export of Additional Wheat ............................................................ 58 Financial Regulators signed pact to Monitor Conglomerates .............................................. 59
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Coal India signed Fuel Supply Pacts with 56 Power Plants ................................................... 59 Union Government to launch 10 Rupees Plastic Notes........................................................ 60 Government granted aid to protect Pashmina Goats .......................................................... 60 HPCL and Rajasthan Govt Signed a MoU for Setting up Refinery ........................................ 60 CCI approved Five Oil, Gas Blocks for Operations ................................................................ 61 Economy Current Affairs Quizzes ......................................................................................... 62 Corporate ...................................................................................................................................... 64 Welspun commissioned Asias largest Solar Power Project ................................................. 64 REC Signed Bilateral Term-Loan Agreement with SBI .......................................................... 64 TSMC Acquired Stake in Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Ltd. ................................................ 65 Infosys Inked Deal with India Post ........................................................................................ 66 SBI to Open 1200 Branches in India & 8 Overseas Offices ................................................... 66 Nokia won Patent Infringement Suit against HTC in Germany............................................. 67 Prudential, Insurance Giant fined 30 Million Pound by FSA ................................................. 67 Apple bought Indoor Mapping firm WiFiSlam ...................................................................... 68 IT Department slapped 2000 crore Rupees Tax Notice to Nokia ......................................... 68 Educomp Solutions sold 50 percent stake in Eurokids ......................................................... 69 Google launched Google Play Movies in India...................................................................... 69 Corporate Current Affair Quizzes ......................................................................................... 70 State .............................................................................................................................................. 72 State Budget of Haryana 2013-14: Highlights....................................................................... 72 State Budget of Haryana 2013-14: New Initiatives .............................................................. 72 Andhra Pradesh Budget 2013- 14: Highlights ....................................................................... 74 Delhi Budget 2013-14: Sheila Dikshit presented the Budget ............................................... 74 Tamil Nadu Budget 2013-14: Presented by O. Panneerselvam ........................................... 76 Arunachal Pradesh became First State to introduce e-GPF ................................................. 77
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State Budget of Madhya Pradesh: 2013-14 Presented ........................................................ 78 Raghuraj Pratap Singh resigned from the State Cabinet ...................................................... 84 President of India appointed Judges in the High Court of J&K ............................................. 84 UK opened Mobile Visa Application Facility in Goa .............................................................. 85 MP bagged Two National Tourism Awards........................................................................... 85 Single Phase Assembly Elections in Karnataka on 5 May ..................................................... 86 Oommen Chandy Commissioned a Biogas Plant in Secretariat ........................................... 86 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed Eight Bills ................................................................. 87 Sports ............................................................................................................................................ 88 Novak Djokovic won ATP Dubai Open Tennis Title 2013 ...................................................... 88 Sahmim Khan won t PGTI Players Championship Title 2013 ................................................ 88 Services Clinched 67th Santosh Trophy ................................................................................ 88 Rafael Nadal won ATP Mexican Open 2013 Tennis Tournament ......................................... 89 Manorama & Deborah won Bronze in HACC ........................................................................ 89 Smriti Mehra Won Second Title in Hero Womens Pro Golf Tour ........................................ 89 T. Baun Won All England Open Badminton Championship .................................................. 90 Neha Tripathi Won BT Pro Am of Champions Golf Tournament .......................................... 90 David Beckham Named Richest Footballer of the World ..................................................... 91 India Won Eight Medals in Inaugural AGPAC ....................................................................... 91 Bhullar Finished Second in Avantha Masters Golf Tournament ........................................... 91 Muradian Khalmuratov won Gold in Men's Category of HACC ............................................ 92 Team Lotuss Kimi Raikkonen Won Australian Grand Prix 2013 .......................................... 92 Australia Won Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2013 ............................................... 93 Nadal & Sharapova Won Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open 2013 ........................................... 93 Harmanpreet Named Captain of Indian Women's Cricket Team ......................................... 93 Sports Current Affairs Quizzes .............................................................................................. 94
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Environment Ecology .................................................................................................................... 96 Okhla Compost Plant Received Carbon Credits .................................................................... 96 New Zealand Declared Worst-Ever Drought in 30 Years ...................................................... 96 Mass Death of Prawns Due to Unexplained Reason in Coronel ........................................... 97 Two Woodlizard Species Called Enyalioides Discovered ...................................................... 97 Great Indian Rhinoceros Population Increased in Kaziranga ............................................... 98 Science & Technology ................................................................................................................. 100 NASAs Swift Satellite Discovered Supernova Remnants ................................................... 100 India Ranked Third on List of Spam Spewing Nation in World ........................................... 100 Japan Extracts Natural Gas from Methane Hydrate ........................................................... 101 Exact Distance to Our Neighbouring Galaxy Calculated ..................................................... 102 Abundant Active Bacteria Community Discovered............................................................. 103 Herschel Observatory discovered Protostars ..................................................................... 104 Unknown Huge Radio Galaxy Discovered ........................................................................... 105 Jeff Bezos Recovered Two Apollo Rocket Engines .............................................................. 106 Science and Technology Quizzes ........................................................................................ 107 One Liners ................................................................................................................................... 109 News Capsule .............................................................................................................................. 111 Vice Admiral Thapliyal is New DG of Indian Coast Guard ................................................... 111 Walking With Lions: Tales from a Diplomatic Past: Released ............................................ 111 Women of Courage Award to Delhi Gangrape Victim ........................................................ 111 Commemorative Postage Stamp on Sahir Ludhianvi Released .......................................... 112 Nicolas Maduro sworn in as Interim President of Venezuela ............................................ 112 Five Writers honoured with SAARC Literature Award 2013 ............................................... 113 Sanjay Dutt Sentenced to 5-Years Jail Term by SC ............................................................. 113 Swedish Princess Lilian Davies Died At the Age of 97 Years ............................................... 114
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Delhi Among Five Indian Hotspots of Illegal Trade of Tigers .............................................. 114 5th CIDC Vishwakarma Award 2013 ................................................................................... 115 Coffee Table Book Titled Indian Saga of Steel Released ..................................................... 116 Laureus World Sports Awards 2013 ................................................................................... 116 ACI Placed Three Indian Airports among Top Five of the World ........................................ 117 Entertainment and Media Sector to Double by 2017: Report ........................................... 118 Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards for the Year 2011 ................................................... 119 Tan Twan Eng Declared Winner of Man Asian Literary Prize ............................................. 120 India Ranked Low on Gender Inequality Index: UN Report 2013 ....................................... 122 World Consumer Rights Day Observed Across the World .................................................. 122 B. Ghosh is First non-American Editor of Time International ............................................. 123 Universal Periodic Review Report on Human Rights in Lanka ............................................ 123 UNDP Report: South Asia Lead the World .......................................................................... 123 60th National Film Awards ................................................................................................. 125 Sugatha kumari Selected For Saraswati Samman 2012...................................................... 126 Toyo Ito, Declared As Winner of Pritzker Architecture Prize ............................................. 127 Army Got the First Indigenous Chopper Called Rudra........................................................ 128 S. Venkata Mohan won National Bioscience Award for 2012 ............................................ 128 Hamid Ansari Released a Book on Former President of India ............................................ 129 World Forestry Day Observed Across the World ................................................................ 129 The President of Bangladesh, Zillur Rahman Passed away at 84 ....................................... 129 Anil Ananthaswamy Won Inaugural Physics Journalism Prize ........................................... 130 UN announced 20 March as International Happiness Day................................................. 130 FSLRC Suggested Constitution of UFSR; reduced role of RBI .............................................. 131 Asian Business Awards 2013 ............................................................................................... 132 Navneet Kaur Dhillon Crowned Ponds Femina Miss India 2013 ....................................... 132
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Italian Foreign Minister resigned over Marine Case .......................................................... 133 Questions of the Month.............................................................................................................. 134
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PREFACE
The Current Affairs PDF Magazine March 2013 includes the happenings of March Month. The PDF magazine available on jagranjosh.com plays an important role in making people aware of the happenings of the world and it also acts as a guide for candidates engaged in preparations of different level of competitive exams. The magazine being provide is drafted to meet the requirements of different level of exams including IAS|PCS, SSC, Banking, MBA as well as Board Exams of CBSE and State Boards. The events happening across the world following the series of their occurrence and importance has been compiled with fineness by the team of experts. The events before being included for the final packaging are evaluated on different standards to make sure that it helps the readers and keep them informed in the best way. The presentation of the events is planned to stay for a longer period in the memories of the reader to ease their way of preparation for the exams they will appear in. Fine perception of the stories allows a candidate to apply the theories behind the making of the event and face the challenges during the exams everywhere. Within the magazine one can find the events and happenings of National and International importance, daily affairs of Corporate world and Economy, advancements on the frontiers of Science and Technology as well as Environment And Ecology, Sports happenings and Issues of different States of the country.
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The BRICS Nations fully support the efforts of their respective governments at the G20 that has emerged as the premiere forum to address critical global economic and financial issues. We shall work collectively to carry forward the work agenda set by the G20 leaders for promoting stronger, sustainable and more equitable growth. They reiterate that the world economic order is changing and that the process of developing economic policy agenda at the global level should reflect this. While there is a realization even amongst the developed countries about the increasing economic weight of emerging economies, this is not fully reflected in the governance model of global institutions such as the IMF and World Bank. We shall continue to work alongside our governments to gradually usher in governance reforms at multi-lateral institutions. The BRICS nation urges their respective governments to deepen their consultative engagements on economic policies to bring about stability and certainty in global financial markets. The BRICS nations encourage their respective governments to take steps to deepen economic engagement amongst the BRICS countries. The establishment of the BRICS Business Council is, therefore, supported as a practical measure that will deepen economic engagement amongst BRICS countries. Trade and investment are the two pillars of economic engagement amongst BRICS countries. We should look to continue enhancing intra-BRICS trade to achieve at least US$ 500 billion by 2015 as per agreement from previous Business Forum in India. It is essential to improve the quality of trade by focusing on more value added trade in all the three sectors namely manufacturing, services and agriculture. Likewise, we should capitalise on opportunities in sectors such as but not limited to agriculture and agro-processing, energy, sustainable development, infrastructure, mining beneficiation, pharmaceutical and information and communication technology. There is agreement that support for industrialisation projects on the African continent will contribute to the expansion of trade and investment links between BRICS and Africa. The Countries are encouraged by the discussions that are taking place amongst our respective governments towards greater cooperation in the financial sector. The possibility of setting up of a development bank and investment fund and promoting trade within this group in local currencies are particularly encouraging and progress in finalising these.
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died on 5 March 2013 at a military hospital in Caracas at the age of 58 due to Cancer. He died after battling from cancer for two years during which he underwent several surgeries and chemotherapy in Cuba. With his death his 14 year rule of Venezuela came to an end and bringing a challenge of electing a new President for the country within 30 days as per Constitution of Venezuela. Till then the Presidency will be assumed by the Vice-President of the country, Nicolas Maduro. The Foreign Minister of Venezuela Elias Jose Jaua Milano announced seven days mourning for the country.
HUGO CHAVEZ
Hugo Chavez was the President of Venezuela from 1999 till his death in 2013 He was the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela He was responsible for the promotion of the Bolivarian cause of social revolution and started the secretive Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement-200 (MBR-200) in early 1980s He served the Venezuelan army as a officer before entering into politics and initiation the secretive Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement200 (MBR-200) He was a former leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007 He led a coup attempt in 1992 and landed in jail for his act and was further he launched his political career Served as the President of Venezuela for three times
A coup attempt was made in Venezuela in April 2002 to overthrow Hugo Chavez from his office. During this coup attempt, Hugo was ousted from his office for 47 hours and further the situation was restored by the support of public that was seeking his government and the military loyalists.
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It is for the second time since the start of the year RBI has cut down the repo rate in a bid to help revive flagging growth in Asia's third-largest economy. RBI has also warned that its scope for further policy easing is limited. The RBI will continue to actively manage liquidity through various instruments, including open market operations, so as to ensure adequate flow of credit to productive sectors of the economy. With the change in Repo rate, the Reserve Bank of India also announced infusion of 10000 crore rupees into the financial system by purchasing government securities as part of its liquidity injection measure. The Indian economy expanded at a 25-quarter low of 4.5% in October-December 2012 quarter, and the 2.4% rise in industrial production in January 2013 after two months of contraction suggests the recovery is still weak. The current account deficit hit a record-high 5.4 per cent in the September quarter and is expected to end the 2012/13 fiscal year at its highest level ever.
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SERIES REPORT
1st Test: 22-26 February 2013 - India vs Australia at Chennai - Australia 380 and 241; India 572 and 50/2. India won the match by 8 wickets remaining. 2nd Test: 2-5 March 2013 - India vs Australia at Hyderabad (Deccan) - Australia declared its innings 237 at the fall of 9 wickets and 131; India 503. India won by an innings and 135 runs. 3rd Test: 14-18 March, 2013 - India vs Australia at Mohali - Australia 408 and 223; India 499 and 136/4. India won the match by 6 wickets. 4th Test: 22-24 March 2013 - India v Australia at Delhi Australia 262 and 164; India 272 and 158/4. India won the match by 6 wickets. Some Records of the Series Prgyan Ojha, the left arm spinner from India completed his haul of 100 wickets in Test Cricket on second day of fourth test against Australia and became the third fastest Indian to achieve the milestone. Ojha reached the milestone, in 22nd test and is placed in the list after Erapalli Prasanna (who did this in 20 test matches) and Anil Kumble (who achieved the sport in 21 test matches) Off-Spinner from India, R Ashwin became the leading wicket-taker for India in a series of four test matches; he finished with 29 wickets in this series. To make this record Ashwin Current Affairs PDF March 2013
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surpassed the former Indian Captain Anil Kumble, who took 27 wickets in a series of four test matches. India never in the 81 year test history won more than two matches against Australia in a single series, but with this clean sweep India secured wrote a new history in test cricket Shikhar Dhawan slammed fastest hundred by a debutant in test cricket, by scoring a century in 85 balls
JORGE BERGOGLIO THE NEW POPE CHOSE FRANCIS HIS PAPAL NAME
Jorge Bergoglio: He is the 266th Pope (head of the Roman Catholic Church) The cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church chose Argentine Jorge Bergoglio on 13 March 2013 as the new Pope. The new pope chose Francis as his Papal Name and he replace Pope Benedict XVI. He is the first non-European pope in almost 1300 years and first pontiff from the Americas. A Pope sits in the Vatican City. Before Jorge Bergoglio, no other Pope took the Papal Name Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi. Saint Francis of Assisi was the reformer of 13th Century, who lived in extreme poverty and preached his followers to preach the Gospel always, if necessary use words. After being elected as the Pope, Pope Francis waved his hands to the huge crowd gathered at St. Peters Square. The cardinals elected Jorge Bergoglio as the new pope after completion of the fifth ballot, but in all these ballots there existed no clear front-runner into the vote. For being elected to the position of the Pope, a winner must secure 77 votes or two-thirds of the 115 votes.
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Before this in the year 2005, Pope Benedict XVI was the front-runner in the fourth ballot. In 1978 Pope John Paul II was elected after eighth ballot and was the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years. Pope Benedict XVI, who was appointed pope in the year 2005 resigned from his position in February 2013 claiming that he was infirm to carry. He was the first pope in past 600 years to resign after Pope Gregory XII, who resigned from the position in 1415 to put an end to the Great Western Split among competing papal claimants.
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A Cardnal, who had attended the age of 80 years before the Papacy day is not allowed to participate in the Conclave. Any contestant, who is able to win more than two-third of the votes is elected as the Pope The ballot is conducted twice in morning and afternoon continuously for four days, before declaring the result In case, the cardinals fail to elect a Pope with 12 or 13 days, they can impose a majority vote and select the new Pope with simple majority
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threats such as retaliatory killing by the herders, fragmentation and habitat loss as well as overhunting of the lion prey. In context with the study, Panthera, a US-based wild cat conservation organisation declared that the study highlighted the degree of lion conservation crisis as well as the limited choices for safeguarding their future. The lion biologists declared that fencing or some kind of alternative physical boundary like intensely managed buffer zones was important to separate lion population from humans in order to ensure the survival of the species. There was a need for decreasing the lion-human conflict.
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The value of mutual cooperation was well reflected, it can be supported from the fact that with the addition of two NASA instruments on the successful Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission, led to significant discoveries about lunar surface characteristics. The existing cooperation, in the use of US and Indian earth observation satellite data, helped in producing information yielding a broad range of societal benefits including improved weather and monsoon forecasting, disaster management and response, improved agricultural and natural resource use and better understanding of climate change.
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INTERNATIONAL
INDIA AND PORTUGAL SIGNED A SOCIAL SECURITY AGREEMENT
A Social Security Agreement (SSA) was signed between India and Republic of Portugal on 4 March 2013 at New Delhi. The agreement was signed by Vayalar Ravi, the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Paulo Sacadura Cabral Portas, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs of Portugal. The bilateral social security agreement would help in taking advantage of the emerging employment opportunities and strengthening the trade and investments between the two countries. At present about 75000 Indians are living in Portugal and it includes self-employed people as well as working professionals.
India has signed the Social Security Agreement with 17 countries of the world and they are Belgium, Germany (Social Insurance), Hungary, Switzerland, France, The Czech Republic, Republic of Korea, Germany (Comprehensive SSA), Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Canada, Sweden and Austria.
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In the official visit, the progress which was made between the two countries since previous Summit in 2010, was reviewed and discussed. The issues which were discussed included:
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It was agreed to encourage Indian Public Sector Undertakings and UK oil and gas companies for exploring possibilities of upstream oil and gas sector investment in India, the UK and in third countries. The issue of cyber security was also discussed. The two nations also agreed to work towards security of nuclear weapons. It was agreed that regular consultations on disarmament and non-proliferation issues would be held. UK Prime Minister David Cameron committed to facilitate India with cutting edge British technology, civil and military, in accordance with the international obligations. International security matters such as conflict in Syria and Irans nuclear programme were also discussed during the visit. Both the nations agreed to deepen the existing India-UK strategic consultations on developments in West Asia / Middle East. Establishing a new Joint Working Group was also agreed upon. This was done for regular bilateral dialogue on peace, security and development in Afghanistan.
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The Memorandum of Understanding will help India in improving the forecasting capability of various weather and climate-related phenomena by sharing the expertise and knowledge. This advance forecasting will help people associated with the agriculture sector, which is the main sector of the Indias economy.
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The field training exercise on the other hand, will be conducted by the armies from Nepal, Philippines, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Rwanda, Paraguay, Indonesia, Japan and Jordan. This training will be offered by international cadre of instructors who have wide training experience in peacekeeping. Also the personnel from the US Pacific Command will facilitate the training. The purpose of the training would be enhancement of basic skills which are required while conducting the peacekeeping operations like convoy operations, checkpoint operations as well as patrolling.
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The MoU will help in sharing information, meeting between the enterprises, technology transfers as well as provision of consultation services for enhancing abilities of business enterprises of both the countries.
MOU FOR COOPERATION IN THE FIELDS OF PROTECTION, PRESERVATION, PROMOTION AND MANAGEMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE
This MoU was signed between Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and Ministry of State for Antiquities Affairs, Arab Republic of Egypt. This helps in facilitating joint activities, sharing information as well as exchange of expertise through joint projects, workshops and conferences. The MoU will also help in cooperation in the field of protection of intellectual property rights and prevention of illicit traffic of antiquities.
Agreement between the Government of Egypt and the Government of India for Up gradation of a Vocational Training Centre at Shourba El Kheima, Cairo, Egypt. An agreement was signed between the Government of Egypt represented by Industrial Development Authority and the Government and Government of India represented by National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC), New Delhi. As part of the MoU, NSIC will be upgrading the Vocational Training Centre at Shoubra El Kheima, Cairo especially in the technological upgradation required in the area of spinning, weaving, knitting and dyeing technology.
Letter of Intent on launch services of the Egyptian Nano Satellite EGYCUBESAT-1 on board the Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) by Antrix Cooperation Ltd This Letter of Intent was signed between Antrix Corporation Ltd., the commercial wing of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Egyptian National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS).
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The dispute was mainly created by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah that dominates the Parliament of Lebanon. The resignation of the Government still awaits its acceptance by the President, Michel Suleiman. With the resignation of the Government, Lebanon has entered into the political crisis and it has been suffering from the protests in Syria. The Syrian conflict had affected Lebanon by the emigration of the refugees from Syria to Lebanon, which was also responsible in the slowdown of the countrys economy and a surge of 67 percent in its budget deficit in 2012.
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The Parwan Detention Facility was turning up to be a point of increasing friction between the two countries and thus the US Defence Secretary; Chuck Hagel spoke to Hamid Karzai the president of Afghanistan. The Afghan President made a commitment to carry on the transfer of power ensuring safety of the Afghan people and the coalition forces and keep the detained individuals secured with a humane approach, following the guidelines prescribed under Afghan Law. Earlier the negotiations were reached and an agreement of transferring the Parwan Detention Facility was agreed upon in September 2012, when US agreed to hand over the responsibility of more than three thousand detainees to Afghanistan. After the transfer ceremony, the U.S. troops remained at the prison to control the area around it.
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(Executive Director SMR Automotive), Andrew Downs (Group Managing Director Sage Automation), among others.
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There was also a specific provision that the requested Party will make use of the information gathering measures to obtain the requested information, despite the fact that the Party does not need any such information for its tax purposes. A specific provision was incorporated in the agreement wherein it was decided that ownership and banking information shall be provided. The TIEA facilitates the representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to enter the territory of the requested Party in order to interview the individuals as well as examine the records. The Agreement also includes specific provisions for protecting the confidentiality of the information obtained under the Agreement. It was decided that the information has to be kept secret or should be disclosed only to specific people and authorities, which are its oversight body or tax authorities. The Agreement will be effective one month after the letter of notification. It is possible to exchange the information if it pertains to taxable periods beginning on or after 1 April 2013. TIEA additionally also facilitates exchange of documents or information created in or derived from a date preceding 1 April 2013.
ABOUT RADIOASTRON
The RadioAstron satellite was launched by Roscosmos on 18 July 2011. It carries a radio telescope that will obtain images and coordinates of various radioemitting objects. The idea is to complement the capability of ground-based very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) instruments with a space-based VLBI instrument.
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The project is an international collaboration led by the Astro Space Centre of the Lebedev Physical Institute (Russian Academy of Sciences) in Moscow. Other partners include the European Space Agency, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (USA), the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (India), and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Australia).
INTERNATIONAL QUIZZES
1. Cyprus Presidential Elections and Nicos Anastasiades, which of the below mentioned statements in relation to the two are true? I. II. III. IV. Nicos Anastasiades, won the Presidential elections of Cyprus with 57.5 percent votes Nicos Anastasia is the party leader of the centre-right DISY (the Democratic Rally) party Nicos Anastasiades had a very easy-going victory over Communist-backed Stavros Malas who secured 42.5 percent votes in the election. Nicos Anastasiades replaced the former President of Cyprus, Dimitris Christofias who served the office from 28 February 2008 onwards
a) Statements I, II and IV are true b) Statements II, III and IV are true c) Statements I, III and IV are true d) All the four statements are true Answer. (d) All the four statements are true 2. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India and UK to strengthen their cooperation in Earth Sciences and environmental research at New Delhi. Which of the statements related to the MoU true? I. The MoU inked between India and UK will allow the two to share information on meteorology, hydrology and climate variability.
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The MoU will also help in promoting exchange of scientific and technical capabilities. The MoU will facilitate India and UK to identify new opportunities for collaborative activities as well as co-funding new environmental research but the researches will be conducted only in UK with no provisions for them to be conducted in India. The MoU was signed between the Earth System Science Organisation of the Ministry of Earth Sciences and Natural Environment Research Council of UK. Science and Technology Minister of India, S Jaipal Reddy was also present.
IV.
a) Statements I, II and IV are true b) Statements II, III and IV are true c) Statements I, III and IV are true d) All the four statements are true Answer. (a) Statements I, II and IV are true 3. During the visit of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron to India India-UK Summit 2013 was held. Which of the following statements in relation to the summit and its discussions true? I. II. III. IV. Decisions were made to boost the trade and investment between the two countries would be increased. During the meeting, recommendations in context with advance manufacturing and R&D, education and skills, healthcare, and infrastructure and energy were taken Leaders of both the countries met with the members of the UK-India CEO-Forum and the group failed in making any decision on security of nuclear weapons UK extended co-operation with India for development of a new Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC)
a) Statements I, II and IV are true b) Statements II, III and IV are true c) Statements I, III and IV are true d) All the four statements are true Answer. (a) Statements I, II and IV are true 4. Which of the below mentioned statements true? I. Social Security Agreement (SSA) was signed between India and Republic of Portugal in March 2013 at New Delhi Current Affairs PDF March 2013
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The bilateral social security agreement would help in taking advantage of the emerging employment opportunities and strengthening the trade and investments between the two countries. The provisions of the agreement will be helpful for the self-employed Indians in Republic of Portugal would also be entitled to export of social security benefit on their relocation to India. Indian workers are not entitled to export of the social security benefit from Portugal, if they relocate to India after the completion of their service in Republic of Portugal.
III.
IV.
a) Statements I, II and III are true b) Statements I, II and IV are true c) Statements II, III and IV are true d) All the four statements are true Answer. (a) Statements I, II and III are true 5. In which city does the Hot air balloon crashed in February 2013 because of mid-air gas explosion that killed 19 European and Asian tourists. The blast took place at 1000 feet (300 metres). The deceased were from Hong Kong, Japan, France and Britain. a) Melbourne b) Yarra Valley c) Mansfield d) Luxor Answer. (d) Luxor For More International Quizzes
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WORLD DAIRY
25 February 2013 Nicos Anastasiades won Cyprus presidential elections with 57.5 percent votes.
26 February 2013 Jelena Jankovic won WTA Copa Claro Colsanitas Cup 2013.
27 February 2013 First smartphone into space launched successfully from India.
28 February 2013 Somdev Devvarman crashed out of ATP Dubai Tennis Championship 2013.
1 March 2013 India and UK signed MoU on strengthening co-operation in earth sciences.
2 March 2013 Vijitha Bandara of Sri Lanka won Eighth NCR Cup Golf Tournament.
3 March 2013 World number one Novak Djokovic won the ATP Dubai Open Tennis title 2013. Sahmim Khan won the PGTI Players Championship Title 2013.
4 March 2013 India-United Kingdom Summit 2013: issues discussed and agreed upon.
5 March 2013 India and Republic of Portugal signed a Social Security Agreement.
7 March 2013
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8 March 2013 Barack Obama signed into law the Violence against Women Act Reauthorization 2013.
10 March 2013 World Bank barred Larsen &Turbo for six months over forgery.
11 March 2013 US and South Korea started joint annual military drills. China unveiled government restructuring plan; Ministry Of Railways to be dissolved. India and Bhutan signed Currency Swap Agreement worth 100 million dollars.
12 March 2013 45th Independence Day of Mauritius celebrated; Pranab Mukherjee was the chief guest. Iran and Pakistan launched Gas Pipeline Project.
13 March 2013 India clinched gold and a bronze medal in Asian Archery Grand Prix.
14 March 2013 Peter Banks, the original guitarist for rock band YES died at 65. Jorge Bergoglio elected as the new pope; chose Francis as his Papal Name.
15 March 2013 Khil Raj Regmi to head the interim Government of Nepal; sworn-in as the Prime Minister. India and Britain signed pact to support research and development projects. Xi Jinping took over as the new President of China.
16 March 2013 Eurozone and IMF agreed for 10 billion Euros Cyprus bailout deal. Parliament rejected Pakistan's resolution on Afzal Guru and claimed it interference.
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18 March 2013 UAE inaugurated worlds largest solar power plant named Shams 1. Nepal and United States decided to conduct joint military exercises called Shanti Prayas2. China became the world's fifth-largest arms exporter.
19 March 2013 Australia won Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2013 for the seventh time.
20 March 2013 The British House of Commons approved Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill 2012-2013.
21 March 2013 President of Egypt Dr. Mohamed Morsy visited India: major deals signed.
22 March 2013 Neha Tripathi won sixth leg of Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour 2013.
23 March 2013 Lebanon PM Najib Mikati announced resignation of his government amid cabinet dispute. Federal aviation administration to close 149 air traffic towers due to budget cut.
25 March 2013 South Australia rolled out 10-year plan to enhance trade with India.
26 March 2013 Tiger Woods won Arnold Palmer Invitational 2013; regained world number 1 ranking.
27 March 2013
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Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi resigned over marine case. Three NRIs honoured by Indian High Commission in London on World Hindi Day 2013.
28 March 2013 US President Barack Obama signed Short-Term Budget Bill to avert government shutdown. Brazil and China signed the Currency Swap Agreement: BRICS Summit 2013. 5th BRICS Summit held in Durban, South Africa.
29 March 2013 India and Liechtenstein signed the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA). BRICS Summit 2013: South Africa and Russian space agencies signed agreement. Angelo Mathews named captain of the Pune Warriors India for IPL 6.
30 March 2013 Mercedes-Benz and Sahara Force India signed a long-term agreement.
31 March 2013 Americas Serena Williams won Miami Masters open Tennis Tournament 2013.
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NATIONAL
ELECTRONICS PROJECT PROPOSAL SYSTEM E-PPS LAUNCHED
Union Minister Kapil Sibal on 6 March 2013 launched the Electronics Project Proposal System (e-PPS), developed by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, through the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) during a round table discussion with Academia, Industry and R&D Organisation. The e-PPS system will initially start as a pilot project.
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Under IPC 309 her indefinite fasting is regarded as the attempt to commit suicide. IPC 309 Attempt to commit suicide-- Whoever attempts to commit suicide and does any act towards the commission of such offence, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year 1 (or with fine, or with both.)
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Organization, Airport Authority of India and Directorate General of Civil Aviation. It can co-opt new members in future depending upon requirement. The Ministry of Defence has agreed with the proposal for implementation of FUA, subject to ensuring adequate safeguards in the system to prevent inadvertent leak of Military information and dissemination of any information on Military Aviation activities strictly on need to know basis.
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As per the proposed Bill, the government can attach, seize and confiscate property of offenders. In addition it also has a provision for extradition of an accused official. The Bill, besides having a provision to punish both bribe taker and giver, also help empowering the government to enter into agreements with other countries or contracting states for enforcing this law and for exchange of investigative information. The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 25 March 2011 and referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee in the month of April 2011. A report on the bill was given by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice on 29 March 2012.
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BACKGROUND
In light of the gang rape of female physiotherapy student on 16 December 2012 in Delhi, the judicial committee which was headed by Justice J. S. Verma was appointed by the Government of India on 22 December 2012 for submitting the report, suggesting amendments in criminal law for dealing with sexual assault cases. The Justice Verma panel, which is a 3-member commission created to review the laws for sexual crimes submitted the report to the Government of India on 23 January 2013. As a result, the Cabinet Ministers approved the bringing of ordinance on 1 February 2013 for bringing into law the suggestions of Verma Committee Report. Subsequently, the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 3 February 2013 agreed to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 for sharpening the laws against sexual assault.
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crore Antyodaya Anna Yojna beneficiary households will continue to get their quota of 35 kg grains a month under the public distribution system.
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It was also decided by Ministry's Department of Defence Production to hike the allocation from 583 crore Rupees during the 11th Plan period to 15000 crore Rupees for modernisation of the production capabilities of OFB during the current Plan. The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) list includes upgrading of 130mm M46 field artillery guns to 155mm 45 calibre standard, development of 155mm 52 calibre mounted howitzers and integration of the 105mm field guns on BMP combat vehicles.
NATIONAL QUIZZES
1. Name the newly appointed Director General of Indian Coast Guard? a) Vice Admiral V.A. Kamath b) Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal c) Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan d) Director General Dr. P Paleri Answer. (b) Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal 2. Name the Interceptor Boat that was commissioned by the Indian Coast Guard in February 2013. a) Arneson Surface Drive Based Interceptor Boat C-164 b) Arneson Surface Drive Based Interceptor Boat C-401 c) INS Saryu www.jagranjosh.com
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3. Which of the following statements related to Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is true? I. II. III. Joint Parliamentary Committee is an standing Parliamentary Committee that is constituted by the Indian parliament. The JPC is constituted only after a motion is adopted in one house of the Parliament and accepted by the other house. A Joint Parliamentary committee can also be formed when the presiding chiefs of both houses communicates with each other in writing for the formation of the joint parliamentary committee. The strength of JPC can be different every time it is constituted but the number of members from the Lok Sabha is always double to the members from Rajya Sabha in the committee formed.
IV.
a) Statement I is only true b) Statements I, II and IV are true c) Statements II, III and IV are true d) Statements I, III and IV are true Answer. (c) Statements II, III and IV are true 4. Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in last week of February 2013. Which of the statements in relation to the Bill is true? I. The bill seeks protection for women in all type of organised, unorganized as well as Private Sectors, including the sexual harassment of domestic help as well as agricultural workers. The bill had made it mandatory for every organization with 40 or more employees to form an internal complaint committee to deal with the complaints of sexual offences. The committees should be disposed of within 90 days and organizations that fails to follow the guidelines, would be penalized with 50000 rupees. Organisations that repeatedly violate the provisions of the bill would be penalized to a greater level and the offence may lead to the cancellation of the licenses or registration of the business conduct. Under its list of offences, the bill covers sexual remarks, sexual favour demands, any act of unwelcome touch and physical advance and showing pornography. Current Affairs PDF March 2013
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II.
III.
IV.
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Interceptor Boat C-154 is 28 metres in length with 75 tonnes displacement has the capability of achieving a maximum speed of 35 knots. The vessel has state-of-the-art navigation as well as communication equipment along with medium range armament. The purpose of designing the Interceptor Boat C-154 was for achieving close-coast patrol, high speed interception, Search and Rescue, low-intensity maritime operations as well as maritime surveillance. This IB also has the capability of operating in the shallow water along with the deep sea.
IV.
a) Statements I, II and IV are true b) Statements II, III and IV are true c) Statements I, III and IV are true d) All the four statements are true Answer. (d) All the four statements are true For More National Quizzes
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INDIA DAIRY
24 February 2013 Silver Linings Playbook won Four Awards at the Independent Spirit Awards
25 February 2013 CBI Registered Case against Airtel and Tata Communications for Violating DoT Norms
27 February 2013 Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill approved by Rajya Sabha Delhi Emerged As Worst Place in Environmental Performance Index
28 January 2013 Joint Parliamentary Committee formed to Probe into the VVIP Helicopter Deal Changes in Civil Services Exam Patterns Approved; General Studies to Have More Weight
1 March 2013 Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal is the New Director General of Indian Coast Guard Indian Coast Guard Commissioned Arneson Surface Drive Based Interceptor Boat C-154
2 March 2013 Vice President of India Released Walking With Lions: Tales from a Diplomatic Past
3 March 2013 Second India-Afghanistan-United States Trilateral Dialogue held in New Delhi
4 March 2013 Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Sanctioned Remote Village Electrification for 6033 Villages Patiala House Court framed Charges against Irom Sharmila for Attempting Suicide SK Varma, the former news editor of The Indian Express died in New Delhi following a cardiac arrest Mukesh Ambani retained his title as the richest person of India for the sixth consecutive year with the net worth of 21.5 billion US Dollars. Current Affairs PDF March 2013
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Microsoft, the Software giant launched new version of Office 365 for the businesses running in India President of India, Pranab Mukherjee conferred with the Liberation War Honour Award by the President of Bangladesh, Zillur Rahman.
5 March 2013 Cadbury India Ltd, was slapped with a 250 crore Rupees notice by the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence on the grounds of excise duty evasion The Foreign Investment Promotion Board on 6 March 2013 cleared the investment proposal of AirAsia to launch the new airline in India Mukul Manda Sangma of Congress was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya for the second term. He took oath as 26th CM of the state. Neiphiu Rio 63, of Naga Peoples Front (NPF) was sworn in as Chief Minister of Nagaland for the third straight term along with 11 ministers by the Governor Nikhil Kumar at the Raj Bhavan in Kohima.
6 March 2013 The Parliamentary Award Committee selected Arun Jaitley, Karan Singh and Sharad Yadav for Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for 2010, 2011 and 2012 resp. At the ABP News-IPSOS Best City Survey and Awards 2013 event in New Delhi , Nagpur won the award for most liveable Indian city
7 March 2013 Indias Deborah won a Bronze medal in the final of women's juniors of 500m cycle event in Asian Cycling Championship in New Delhi. The GoM approved export of additional 5 million tonnes of wheat from FCI. Private Exporters are only permitted to export the additional quantity of Wheat Ministry for Information & Broadcasting constituted a committee to check sexual harassment allegations made by the news presenters at FM Gold AIR.
8 March 2013 The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee released the Commemorative Postage Stamp on Sahir Ludhianvi at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Blackberry India Managing Director Sunil Dutt, who joined the company in December 2011, resigned from the company.
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The World Bank barred Larsen & Toubro (L&T) from doing any business with it or the projects funded by it for a period of six months
9 March 2013 86 years old Former West Bengal Governor and industrialist Viren J Shah died in Jordan after a heart attack Former CBI Director, Ashwani Kumar appointed as Governor of Nagaland C J George the Managing Director of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd, elected chairman, CII Kerala State Council for 2013-14
10 March 2013 The country's top four financial regulators signed an agreement among each other for co-operation on consolidated supervision and monitoring of financial groups The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) cleared Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA) by civil and military users, which was unsettled for last few years
11 March 2013 Union Minister of Communications & IT, inaugurated the First All Women Employees Post Office of India at Shastri Bhawan in New Delhi. Ministry of Tourisms new film Find What You Seek received first prize at the 11th Golden City Gate Tourism Media Awards Ceremony held in Berlin 5th CIDC Vishwakarma Award 2013: Tapas Kumar Lahiry Won Achievement Award for Public Officer
12 March 2013 The Union Minister for Steel, Beni Prasad Verma released a Coffee Table Book titled Indian Saga of Steel in New Delhi 76 years old legendary painter Ganesh Pyne died after a heart attack at a city hospital in Kolkata. IGI Airport was placed at 2nd position in the category of airports that handles 25 to 40 million passengers per year (MPPA) by ACI.
13 March 2013 Prof Veer Bhadra Mishra, the noted environmentalist died at Sir Sundarlal Hospital of Banaras Hindu University. He was aged 75 years.
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The Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, announced Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards for the year 2011. Soumitra Bhattacharya and Sandeep Kumar Maini elected as the Chairman and ViceChairman of CII Karnataka for 2013-14.
14 March 2013 The Union Cabinet cleared a Bill providing for severe punishment for rape, acid attack, stalking and voyeurism Kallam Anji Reddy, the main behind Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, the second-largest drugmaker of India died at Hyderabads Apollo Hospital.
15 March 2013 The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee released a commemorative postal stamp at XXXIII Convocation of PGIMER at Chandigarh B Ashok Reddy, the Infotech Enterprises President was elected as the new chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Andhra Pradesh, for 2013-14.
16 March 2013 The Union ministry of social justice and empowerment for the first time instituted national awards to prevent Alcoholism and Drug abuse India ranked fifth in the world in terms of number of High Net worth Individuals (HNIs), according to the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2013.
17 March 2013 Sugathakumari, the Malayalam poetess was chosen for the Saraswati Samman 2012 for the poetry collection Manalezhuthu Bobby Ghosh was appointed as the Editor of Times International. He is the first nonAmerican to be appointed at the post in the 80 years history of Times.
18 March 2013 60th National Film Awards Announced; Irrfan Khan Won Best Actor Award for Paan Singh Tomar S. Venkata Mohan a scientist of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology won the National Bioscience Award for 2012. The Union Government approved a bill that is directed towards providing access to all central and state government services.
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Hamid Ansari released a book titled The First Woman President of India, Reinventing leadership, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil. Union Government approved changes in a proposed legislation according to which accepting or giving bribe by foreign public officials is a criminal offence. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2013 was passed in the Lok Sabha on 19 March 2013. Now the bill will be the tabled in the Rajya Sabha.
20 March 2013 The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the National Food Security Bill. Bhaichung Bhutia, the former India captain of the football team was appointed as the chairman of the All India Football Federations technical committee. India successfully test fired its submarine-launched version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile of the over 290 km-range in the Bay of Bengal
21 March 2013 The Supreme Court of India, sentenced Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt to 5 years jail in connection with 1993 Mumbai bombing. Baba Kalyani, the Chairman and MD of Bharat Forge Limited was nominated as the Chairman of India-Japan Business Leaders Forum (IJBLF).
22 March 2013 Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) Amendment Regulations: 2013 was notified by TRAI Three High Courts opened in Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya
23 March 2013 Nikhil Kumar on 23 March 2013 took oath of the office and secrecy as the Governor of Kerala at Raj Bhawan. Earth Hour was observed across India
24 March 2013 Navneet Kaur Dhillon was crowned Ponds Femina Miss India 2013 in the grand finale of 50th edition of the beauty pageant in Mumbai.
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The CCI was nominated for the Global Competition Review (GCR) Awards 2013 in the category Agency of the Year-Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa.
25 March 2013 Union government approved a 1500 crore Rupees proposal for production of more than 2000 rockets for the Pinaka multi- barrel weapons system. The Union government decided to introduce a National Policy on Drug Abuse and has formed an expert committee to suggest guidelines for it. The CCI was nominated for the Global Competition Review (GCR) Awards 2013 in the category Agency of the Year-Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa.
26 March 2013 Income Tax department served a 2000 crore notice Rupees on Nokia for suspected evasion of taxes in its business transactions in the country. Educomp Solutions Ltd, announced completion of the sale of its entire 50% stake in Eurokids International Commercial production of oil and gas started at Aishwarya Oil Field in Barmer, Rajasthan. It was inaugurated by Veerappa Moily and Ashok Gehlot.
27 March 2013 SPMCIL signed the growth-oriented MoU with the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance on 25 March 2013. Indias international financial liabilities increased by 10.5 billion Dollars to 723.9 billion Dollars as at end- of December 2012 as per the RBI Report.
28 March 2013 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) have made the norms stricter for reinsurers. Vineet Jain of Times Group was conferred with the Contribution to News Television Award 2013 at the Sixth News Television Awards in New Delhi.
29 March 2013 The 2nd National Photo Awards for the year 2011-2012 were given away at New Delhi. The Union Government decided to set up 2000 telecom towers in tribal areas with a cost of around 3000 crore Rupees.
30 March 2013
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Rajan Bharti Mittal appointed as the President of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) India. The production of eight core sector industries decreased by 2.5 percent in the month of February 2013, for the first time in 2012-13 financial year.
31 March 2013 Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, re-inducted into the Central Parliamentary Board, top decision-making body of BJP. M F Farooqui took over charge as the secretary of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
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ECONOMY
MOU FOR SETTING UP OF MEMU COACHES MANUFACTURING FACILITY
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 25 February 2013 between Indian Railways and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) for setting up of Greenfield MEMU coaches manufacturing facility by BHEL at Bhilwara in Rajasthan. Main Line Electric Multiple Unit Trains, popularly known as MEMU trains were first introduced in Indian Railways in the Year 1994-95, as a mode of rapid transit system, to cater to nonsuburban passengers, residing in small towns and villages surrounding urban and industrial centres. MEMU trains have higher passenger carrying capacity and higher average speed as compared to conventional loco hauled passenger trains due to faster acceleration and braking characteristics. These rakes are now being manufactured with toilet facilities to take care of passenger needs. MEMU trains increase the line capacity utilisation, and therefore are more suitable for running on high traffic density routes. These MEMU trains have gained rapid popularity over the years. Currently, there are about 160 MEMU services running. There are demands coming from all over the country for running more and more MEMU trains. The demand for these coaches will further increase as Indian Railways have plans to Electrify approximately 15000 route kilometre during the next 10 years, in addition to the existing 22000 route kilometre of electrified track. There was a shortfall in acquisition of 800 MEMU coaches during XIth Plan Period due to capacity constraints at Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, where these MEMU coaches are produced. Overall it is expected that the requirement of MEMU coaches will grow to nearly 9000 coaches during the next 10 year period. Setting up of factory for conventional MEMU coaches will go a long way in meeting this demand. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is a Maharatna Central Public Sector Unit (CPSU) company, which is a partner of Indian Railways for a period spanning more than 40 years. It has been manufacturing and supplying electric rolling stock including EMUs and MEMUs; as well as sub-assembly and equipment for rolling stock being manufactured at IRs own production units. The proposed facility for production of MEMU coaches will be set up by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) at Bhilwara in the State of Rajasthan. The entire cost will be borne by BHEL. Government of Rajasthan will provide land to Railways, for setting up the project. In order to make the project viable, Ministry of Railways will give Assured Off-Take orders to BHEL.
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The Union Government of India on 7 March 2013 approved export of extra five million tonnes of Wheat from its Godowns. The group of ministers in its meeting also decided that the added quantity of 5 million tonnes of wheat shall be exported by the private traders. It also cleared that the public sector trading firms will not be a participant in export of the additional quantity of wheat. The GoM (Group of Ministers) have also decided that bidding process would be used by the Private traders to export the 2011-12 crop and the floor price decided for per quintal is 1480 rupees. For the present fiscal, the permitted export of wheat from the godowns of the Food Corporation of India now stands at 9.5 million tonnes.
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Minister of state for coal stated that there is a proposal to engage an independent third party sampling agency by CIL for consumers having FSAs.
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cum-petrochemical complex in Barmer, Rajasthan. The project will be a joint venture between HPCL and Rajasthan State Refinery Limited, apart from other equity partners. The MoU was signed by Subhash Pant, Secretary Mines and Petroleum, Government of Rajasthan and K.Murli, Director (Refineries) of HPCL.
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A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Central Cottage Industries Corporation of India Ltd (CCIC) and Ministry of Textiles, Government of India in March 2013. The MoU envisaged a turnover target of 9700 lakh Rupees for 2013-14 financial years.
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4. Which of the financial regulator is not included among four financial regulators who signed an agreement on 8 March 2013 among each other for co-operation on consolidated supervision and monitoring of financial groups? a) RBI b) SEBI c) Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority d) IMF Answer. (d) IMF 5. What growth percent is estimated by World Bank for the Indian Economy during 201314? a) 6 Percent b) 7 Percent c) 8 Percent d) 4 Percent Answer. (a) 6 Percent For More Quizzes
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CORPORATE
WELSPUN COMMISSIONED ASIAS LARGEST SOLAR POWER PROJECT
Welspun Energy, the countrys biggest developer of solar projects on 12 March 2013 commissioned Asias largest Solar Power Project of 50 MW at Jodhpur district in Rajasthan. The solar power project commissioned is being counted among the largest solar project developed by Welspun Energy till date and is also the largest photovoltaic (PV) power plant in India. The project is known by the name utility-scale solar project and was commissioned just an astonishing five months; well ahead of schedule, creating a new benchmark for the industry. Welspun Energy won the 50 MW solar projects through a competitive bid under Batch-2, Phase-1 of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission . Welspun, earlier in year 2013 started a 15 MW unit at the site, and with short span of it now has commissioned two more units of 15 MW and 20 MW solar generators. The PV project is supposed to generate total electricity of 90 million kWh or units annually and supply clean energy to power 25 million families. It is estimated that with the commissioning of this project, an approximation of 83220 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will be mitigated each year.
Welspun Energy is part of the 3.5 billion dollar Welspun Group, which has interests in power generation, infrastructure, exploration and production of oil and natural gas, steel pipes and textiles.
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Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) on 11 March 2013 signed a bilateral term-loan agreement worth 250 million US Dollars or 1350 crore Rupees approximately, with the State Bank of India at Hong Kong. The funding for the agreement will be done by the offshore branch of State Bank of India, which is also the only lender. The bilateral term-loan agreement was exchanged between REC Chairman Rajeev Sharma and the officials of SBI. Proceeds of this loan will be used by Rural Electrification Corporation Limited for Infrastructure Power Sector. The loan will also have a floating interest rate to 6 -month LIBOR. It also has door-to-door maturity of 3 years. LIBOR means the rate of interest charged by the top-quality banks on each other for the loans. With the signing of this bilateral term-loan agreement, REC has completely made use of the External Commercial Borrowings equal to 750 million US dollars, which was sanctioned by Reserve Bank of India under approval route in 2012-13 financial year. At present, Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) is involved in financing the power projects in primarily rural India.
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It is important to note that Tata Steel had laid its footprints in Canada already after buying 27.7 percent in the New Millennium Iron Corporation.
Additionally, Infosys also partnered with India Post in August 2012 for transformation of financial services operations such as banking and insurance of India Post, as well as the enduser experience under its Financial Services System Integration program.
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that South Korea already has SBI branch and now there are plans to upgrade the existing representative office into full-fledged branch. SBI aimed to open offshore branches for catering to the Non-Resident Indians as well as Indian businesses. By starting these eight offshore branches, the network would increase to 59. SBI is said to be the largest bank of India with 14677 branches spread across India. In the meanwhile, SBI is also in the process to recruit 1500 Probationary Officers for managing the increasing operations.
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FSA announced that this deal would have created an impact on confidence as well as stability of financial sector of UK as well as abroad. However, Prudential was not able to strike a 35.5bn US dollar attempt for buying AIA because the shareholders vetoed this deal on the grounds of fear of too high purchase price. The Chief Executive of Prudential on the other hand, argued that this deal should have gone ahead because it would then lead to doubling of market share of the company in Asia. However, the Chief Executive was not able to convince AIG for accepting the lower offer of 30 billion US dollar.
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The notice has been issued by the I-T department after it completed its investigation and had conducted a survey operation on the company's factory in Chennai and offices in Gurgaon, Haryana, earlier this year. The tax evasion, according to these sources, relates to royalty payment which is made against supply of software by the company's parent company which attracts a 10 per cent tax deduction under the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) category.
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one has ordered content that is defective, unavailable or does not perform as stated, he may request a refund at anytime. To Read More Stories
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STATE
STATE BUDGET OF HARYANA 2013-14: HIGHLIGHTS
Finance Minister of Haryana on 1 March 2013 presented his second budget as the Finance Minister of the State.
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The State Government proposes to launch an ambitious housing scheme name Priyadarshini Awaas Yojna (PAY) in the budget for the year 2013-14 to facilitate the housing delivery in rural areas. Each of the beneficiaries, under the scheme (PAY), will be given financial assistance of 81000 rupees by the State as grant for the construction of a new house. In order to cater to the requirement of affordable housing for the weaker sections residing in the Urban Areas, the Government proposes to construct 1.50 lakh houses during the next financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15 through Housing Board Haryana, Urban Local Bodies and Town & Country Planning Department. Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) is being started during 2013-14 for which 37 crore are being provided. In order to cater to the requirement of affordable housing for the weaker sections residing in the Urban Areas, the Government proposes to construct 1.50 lakh houses during the next financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15 through Housing Board Haryana, Urban Local Bodies and Town & Country Planning Department. For effective and efficient implementation of the District Plan Scheme, the Government has constituted the District Development and Monitoring Committee in each district under the chairmanship of the Minister in-charge of the District Grievances Redressal Committee. State Government has set up four permanent Commissions in this financial year in public interest. State Government has also approved the constitution of 21 Fast Track Courts, one in each district, to expedite the trial in crime against women. Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) is a new umbrella scheme which is being started during 2013-14 and will strengthen the Panchayati Raj System across the State and address critical gaps that constrain it. 85 crore of rupees have been allotted to this scheme. For investment in Sports Infrastructure and promotion of sports through a multipronged approach, an outlay of 100 crore rupees was allocated under Plan side giving an increase of 100% from last year. Under the National River Conservation Programme, two projects for augmentation of sewerage facilities and construction of Sewage Treatment Plants for Sonepat and Panipat towns have been approved at a cost of 88.36 crore and 129.51 crore rupees respectively to be completed by 2015-16. The State Government has approved NABARD assisted project of 68 crore for construction of 6095 separate toilets for girls along with 2910 hand pumps for water in 2910 Government High/Higher Secondary Schools in rural areas of the State. State Livestock Mission is being set up with a provision of 1 crore during 2013-14 to provide support for conservation of genetic resource, improvement of valuable native breeds, their health and nutrition etc. To set up Gau-Sewa Ayog, 1 crore has been provided in 2013-14. Extension of Delhi Metro to YMCA Chowk Faridabad with the corridor length of 13.875 KMs is being executed at a cost of `2494 crore. For this, Government of Haryana is contributing 1557.40 crore. Current Affairs PDF March 2013
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Cashless medical facility will be implemented from the year 2013-14, for the employees of the Government of Haryana, its PSUs, Local Bodies, Cooperative Institutions, Autonomous Bodies, etc. to fulfill their expectation.
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Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit on 20 March 2013 presented 15th consecutive budget of 37450 crore rupees with launch of new schemes in different arena and launch of infrastructural development and with no fresh taxes.
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Substantial improvement in the availability of housing through a series of measures, Boost facilities for formation and upgradation of skills to enhance employability by setting up high class Institutes. Ensure substantial improvement in health infrastructure and delivery toensure global standards, Ensure availability of 11000 buses on Delhi roads which along with additional network of Metro will make travel within Delhi safe, convenient and pleasurable Qualitative and quantitative improvement in the road infrastructure, Strengthen Bhagidari to institutionalise regular dialogue with RWAs and community groups and making them active partners in the development process from planning to execution and post-execution, and Further strengthen service delivery and bring most government services within ambit of time bound delivery system.
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The allocation to agriculture is 5189 crore Rupees (4829 crore rupees) of the total Rs 17,220 crore to the primary sector. Following the 1517-crore Rupees relief package to the Cauvery Delta farmers, the Government is readying a relief package for the other districts. Horticulture will be expanded with 8.2 lakh acres brought under vegetable cultivation against the present 7.25 lakh acres. Infrastructure in agricultural markets will be upgraded and markets integrated with commodity exchanges. The objective is to increase processing, farmers revenue and stabilise incomes. Crop loan target from the cooperative sector is pegged at 4500 crore rupees for 2013-14 against 4000 crore rupees in the current year. To improve water use efficiency, the State Government decided to do away with the one-acre limit on small and marginal farmers to make use of subsidy for micro irrigation. Farmers can choose their suppliers and the subsidy will be released to the farmers account. Over 520 crore Rupees will be available as subsidy to cover over 1.30 lakh acres.
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accounts through its redesigned Web site, which was launched by Chief Minister of Arunachal Pardesh Nabam Tuki.
The Web site is developed by the department with technical assistance from NIC. It is interactive with facilities to download forms such as medical reimbursement, GPF Final Payment, which would be quite beneficial for Government employees, particularly pensioners.
The presented budget for the financial year 2013-14 is a 5214.83 crore rupees revenue surplus budget. The proposed fiscal deficit for the financial year 2013-14 was estimated to be 12218.53 crore rupees and revenue receipts was estimated to be of 79603.47 crore rupees. The budget aims at meeting the targets set under the Madhya Pradesh Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2005.
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d) 14944.79 crore rupees of Central Grants States own Tax Revenue estimates are 17.91 percent higher in 2013 -14 balance estimates as compared to 2012-13 (balance estimates) Revenue Expenditure of 74388.64 crore rupees estimated for the year 2013-14, which is 10845.14 crore rupees more than 63543.50 crore rupees for the year 2012-13 (balance estimates) Opening balance of (-) 195.33 crore rupees is estimated for the year 2013-14. Net transaction during the year is estimated to be 72.24 crore rupees. Hence, closing balance at the end of the year is estimated to be (-) 123.09 crore rupees Plan expenditure for the year 2013-14 is estimated to be 37608.17 crore rupees as against 31473.48 crore rupees for the year 2012-13, which is an increase of 18 percent Budget estimates in Tribal Sub-plan have increased from 6109.88 crore rupees for the year 2012-13 to 6907.15 crore rupees for the year 2013-14, which is a n increase of 13.05 percent Budget estimates in Scheduled Caste sub-plan have increased from 4241.82 crore rupees for the year 2012-13 to 4889.99 crore rupees for the year 2013-14, which is an increase of 15.28 percent increase
FISCAL INDICATORS
Fiscal Deficit estimated at 2.98 percent of GSDP Revenue Surplus estimated at 1.27 percent of GSDP Interest payments estimated at 8.19 percent of Revenue Receipts Total net debt of the state has come down to 14.30 percent of GSDP
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Provision of 9 crore and fivefold increase in the goals of State Micro Irrigation scheme Provision of 32 crore rupees to establish 250 custom hiring centres for young entrepreneurs and agricultural graduates Provision of 4 crore rupees for semen transplantation lab to rear superior breed Provision of veterinary doctors at door-step extended to 89 tribal blocks Initiation of core banking facility in Central Cooperative Banks Provision of assistance in RBC 6(4) for damage of crops by black buck and blue bull. Provision of 12 crore rupees for proper storage of Wheat/Rice. Provision of 18 crore rupees for establishment of 50 new and upgradation of 123 Veterinary Hospitals. Provision of 55 crore rupees for integrated cooperative development projects. Provision of 350 crore rupees for the year 2013-14 under Annapurna Scheme. Provision of 27 crore rupees for fish farming for Plan expenditure which is 50 percent more than the last year. Short term working capital loan to fishermen at 0 percent interest rate.
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
Provision of 8856 crore rupees in the energy sector for the year 2013-14, which is 1146 crore rupees more than 2012-13. Provision of 2681 crore rupees for upgradation and strengthening of electricity distribution and sub-distribution Provision of 405 crore rupees to enhance power generation capacity Provision of 29 crore rupees to promote non-conventional energy Provision of 4970 crore rupees for road construction and maintenance Provision of 501 crore rupees for Mukya Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana Provision of 4765 crore rupees for irrigation schemes 2 large and 10 medium irrigation schemes to be started in 2013-14
DRINKING WATER
Provision of 1743 crore rupees for drinking water schemes Provision of drinking water through handpump/water supply schemes in 13200 rural habitats Provision of 432 crore rupees to initiate Kshipra-Narmada link project Provision for drinking water facilities in 5794 Aanganwadis Current Affairs PDF March 2013
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EDUCATION
Provision of 13763 crore rupees in education sector which is 1644 crore rupees more than last year Provision of 71 crore rupees for reimbursement of fees for 2.65 lac students belonging to weaker sections Extension of Gaon Ki Beti and Pratibha Kiran Yojana Establishment of new engineering colleges at Nowgaon, Chhatarpur Increase of 500 for stationery and 1500 for books to students of SCs and STs Two fold increase in scholarship for research work to students of SCs and STs Establishment of ITIs at Deosar in Singrauli District, Kasravad in Ujjain, Patan in Jabalpur and Majhgawan in Satna district. Stipend of ITI apprentice of SCs and STs Students rose from 140 per month to 235 per month
HEALTH
Provision of 4147 crore rupees for health sector which is 551 crore rupees higher than 2012-13 100 additional vehicles for 108 ambulance services (renamed as Sanjeevani-108) Establishment of G.N.M. schools at Dewas, Mandsaur, Vidisha, Raisen, Jhabua, Sidhi, Rajgarh, Narsinghpur, Satna and Seoni Sanction for operation of 150 additional ambulances Provision of stipend of 2500 to A.N.M., 3000 to G.N.M. and 3500 to B.Sc. Nursing trainees Decision to enhance the daily diet allowance from 30 to 40 for patients
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State of M.P. awarded with National Award for excellent work as employer of disabled persons on reserved seats Constitution of State Senior Citizen commission
URBAN ADMINISTRATION
Provision of 5168 crore rupees for urban administration and development which is 22 percent higher than last year Provision of 258 crore rupees for Mukhya Mantri Shahri Peyjal Yojana, Mukhya Mantri Shahri Swachhata Mission and Mukhya Mantri Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme Initiation of schemes for conservation and development of ponds and lakes. Provision of 1 crore rupees made New Urban Reform Scheme for reforms in urban bodies for financial, administrative, egovernance, wealth tax and consumer tariff Initiation of Valmiki Yojana to inspire cleanliness drive Provision of 150 crore rupees for Simhastha-2016
SPORTS
Provision of 126 crore rupees for 2013-14 which is 21 percent higher than last year Players of the state have achieved glory for the state by winning 1586 medals at national and international level in 2012-13 New scheme Olympic - 2020 from 2013-14 Provision of 3 crore rupees to lay down Hockey astroturf in 15 cities Tourism and Culture Provision of 158 crore rupees for tourism activities for 2013-14 which is 31 percent higher than last year Provision of 11 crore rupees to develop tourist centres in each district Provision of 141 crore rupees for culture which is 22 percent higher than last year Allocation of 10 crore for establishment of Sanchi Baudh Bharatiya Gyan Adhyayan Vishwavidyalaya Decision to establish Atal Bihari Bajpai Centre for Art and Culture at Morena Provision of 1 crore for celebration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekanand Industry and Mining Provision of 907 crore rupees for industrial sector which is 40 percent higher than last year Provision of 340 crore rupees for Industrial Investment Promotion Assistance Decision to award Dattopant Thengdi Prize of 5 lac, 3 lac and 2 lac respectively to first three units creating opportunities for maximum employment as against capital investment in MSME sectors Provision of 54 crore to benefit 50,000 youths under a new scheme Mukhya Mantri Swarojgar Yojana
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Provision of 2013-14 is 1447 crore rupees higher than the last year More than two fold increase under the provision of SC and ST Atrocities Act Relief amount enhanced from 2 lacs to 5 lacs Decision to provide laptop to first year students of engineering and medical colleges belonging to SCs and STs. Provision of 14 crore rupees in 2013-14 Upgradation of 40 High Schools to Higher Secondary Schools, 20 Middle schools to High schools and 20 primary English medium schools to middle schools in tribal areas in 2013-14 Proposal to open 20 new girl education centres (parisar) Proposal of additional faculty in 20 Higher Secondary schools Proposal of new 20 post matric hostels, 10 pre-matric hostels and 10 ashram schools Proposal to begin two new sports centres(parisar) for students of STs Decision to enhance per day diet allowance from 25 to 100 and sports kit allowance from 850 to Rs. 3000 for players residing in sports centres (parisar) Establishment of 119 new hostels for SC students and proposal of increase of 3000 seats in the existing hostels Provision of 24 crore rupees for Vimukt, Ghumakkad and Ardh Ghumakkad communities Backward Classes and Minorities Development Provision of 749 crore rupees for different welfare schemes for the backward classes and minority sections which is 37 percent higher than last year. Necessary resources have been made available to all districts for monitoring and implementation of different schemes for the welfare of minorities and backward classes
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS
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No ban imposed on purchases in the year 2013-14 which is the living testimony of the efficient financial management Decision to enhance the relief amount by 50 percent in road accident cases to the victims family by raising assistance from 10000 to 15000 in death case and 5000 to 7500 for serious injuries Decision to enhance the monthly honorarium of elected representatives and office bearers of 50 zila panchayats, 313 Janpad Panchayat and 23006 Gram Panchayat
EMPLOYEES WELFARE
Payment of 72 percent D.A. to state government employees and pensioners as Central Government employees as per promises made by the state government Decision of 725 kit allowance per year for constables and head constables of police forces Decision to enhance the allowances of part time sweepers, part time peons and part time clerks in schools by 300, 400 and 500 respectively. Their allowances will respectively now are 1000, 2000 and 2500 Read More on State Budgets
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these additional judges will serve the Court for a period of two years and from the day when they will assume the charge of their respective offices. Article 370 of Constitution of India grants temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir. (1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, (a) The provisions of article 238 shall not apply in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir; (b) The power of Parliament to make laws for the said State shall be limited
The service is delivered by the UK Border Agencys commercial partner, VFS Global. Earlier in the month of February, the UK prime minister had announced a new same day visa service for businessmen.
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The state received the award in category-B city for Municipal Council of Mandu in Dhar district. It also got another award for most innovative and unique tourism project-Air Taxi. The state has pioneered in the country to launch the first intra-state Air Taxi services through MPSTDC, in a joint venture with M/s Ventura Air connect Pvt Ltd.
Apart from the biogas plant, incinerator was also scheduled to come up in the campus. The site for establishing this 18 lakh Rupees project was identified near this biogas plant. The work would finish by April 2013. This incinerator is like the one which is already functioning at Shanthi Kavadam. www.jagranjosh.com
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Current Affairs PDF March 2013 JAMMU AND KASHMIR ASSEMBLY PASSED EIGHT BILLS
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Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on 28 March 2013 passed eight bills the major of which is associated to juveniles in conflict with law. A Bill to consolidate and amend the law related to juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection was moved by Minister for Social Welfare Sakina Itoo, which was passed by voice vote after minor changes.
All three bills were passed by Voice Vote after discussion. A bill to amend Jammu and Kashmir Employees' Provident Funds (and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1961 to increase PF from 10.33 per cent to 14 per cent was moved by Labour and Employment Minister Ajay Kumar Sadhotra. The Bill was initially passed with amendments from 12 per cent to 14 per cent, but after the House spotted the mistake, it passed the original Bill by voice vote after discussion. The other bill was passed by Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Mir Saifullah who moved a Bill to amend the Salaries and Allowances of Member of the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature Act, 1960. A bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Transfer of Property Act, Samvat 1977 and the Jammu and Kashmir Alienation of land Act, Samvat 1995 was also moved by Minister of state for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Ajaz Ahmed Khan A Bill to provide better management, administration and governance of Mata Sukhrala Devi and Mata Bala Sundari shrines and its endowments including the land and buildings, was also passed by voice vote by Minister of State of Tourism. To Read More Stories
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SPORTS
NOVAK DJOKOVIC WON ATP DUBAI OPEN TENNIS TITLE 2013
World Number one Novak Djokovic on 2 March 2013 won the ATP Dubai Open Tennis title 2013. He defeated third seed Czech Republics Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-3 in the finals in Dubai. Indias Mahesh Bhupathi and his French partner Michael Lloldra bagged the doubles crown defeating SerbianSwedish duo of Nenad Zimonjic and Robert Lindstedt 7-6, 7-6 in straight sets.
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Santosh Trophy is the yearly Indian football tournament that is played among states and government institutions. This tournament was initiated in 1941. The Santosh Trophy is named after late Maharaja Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh.
SMRITI MEHRA WON SECOND TITLE IN HERO WO MENS PRO GOLF TOUR
Smriti Mehra, the veteran golfer, on 6 March 2013 won her second title in the fourth leg of Hero Women`s Pro Golf Tour 2013 in Mumbai. www.jagranjosh.com
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Smriti played a round of one under 64 and finished with an overall score of 194 at the Willingdon Sports Club. At the second position was Neha Tripathi who completed with the final round score of one over 66 and an overall score of 200. Sharmila Nicollet achieved third position with lowly six over 71 and a total score of 202. Pallavi Jain came at the fourth position with par 65 and an overall score of 205. At the fifth position were Vani Kapoor and Saaniya Sharma who tied at a total score of 209.
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Neha Tripathi defeated Thailand's Pennapa Pulsawath to win BT Pro Am of Champions Golf Tournament 2013 in Manesar on 10 March 2013. After initially tying up at a score of 141, Neha won the match in second playoff on 18th hole. At the third position was golfer Smriti Mehra from India who got the total score of 142. Thai golfer Tiranan Yoopan finished at the fourth position with a score of 143. Tang Ni Nhung of Vietnam came at the fifth position with an overall score of 148. It is important to note that Neha Tripathi had won the first tournament of Hero Women Professional Golf Tour on 31 January 2013. This is her third title in the Women Tour.
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Gaganjeet Bhullar won a total prize money of 2 lakh Euros or 1 crore 34 lakh Rupees. Thomas Aiken won by three-stroke margin, claiming 3 lakh Euros or 2 crore Rupees. The score of Gaganjeet Bhullar was 20 under 268. On the other hand, Thomas Aiken scored 23-under 265. Among other Indians who gained good position was, Himmat Rai who finished at ninth spot. His tally was 14under 274. Jeev Milkha Singh also claimed limelight in the event with 23rd position in the tournament.
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Kimi Raikkonen, the Australian driver of Formula One team Lotus won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix 2013 on 17 March 2013. Kimi Raikkonen started at the seventh spot in Finland and adopted just two pit stops technique for winning the race. In the Australian Grand Prix 2013 opening season, Ferraris Fernando Alonso and Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel finished at the second and third position respectively. Brazilian Felipe Massa, the Ferrari driver and Britains Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes driver finished at the fourth and fifth positions respectively.
NADAL & SHARAPOVA WON INDIAN WELLS BNP PARIBAS OPEN 2013
Rafael Nadal of Spain won Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open 2013 on 17 March 2013. Nadal defeated Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the final. After winning Tokyo Open in October 2010, this is the first hard court victory of Nadal. With this, Nadal became number 4 in the world ranking. Apart from this, Maria Sharapova won the first title of 2013 in womens final of the tournament by defeating Caroline Wozniacki 6 -2, 6-2.
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Bangladesh will start in India from 2 April 2013. She replaced Mithali Raj to be the captain of the Indian women's Cricket team. Opener Poonam Raut was named as the Vice-Captain of the team. Senior Indian batswoman and Captain Mithali Raj was not named in the 15-member Indian women's Cricket team by the All-India Women's Selection Committee. There will be three T20 matches as well as three OneDay International matches in the series to be played against Bangladesh. To Read More Stories
Ground on 2 March 2013 by defeating Sailors team? a) Sona Polo Team b) Jaipur Riders c) Elestina Gold Team d) Garcha polo team Answer (a) Sona Polo Team
2. Which top seeded tennis player Defeated David Ferrer to Win ATP Mexican Open 2013
Tennis Tournament? a) Rafael Nadal b) Roger Federer c) Novak Djokovic d) Mahesh Bhupati Answer (a) Rafael Nadal
3. Name the Female Indian Cyclist won a Bronze medal in the final of women's juniors of
500m cycle event in Asian Cycling Championship on 7 March 2013 in New Delhi. a) Kamaljeet Sandhu b) Neha Agarwaal c) Poulomi Ghatk d) Deborah
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4. Which Indian female veteran golfer, on 6 March 2013 won her second title in the fourth
leg of Hero Women`s pro golf tour 2013 in Mumbai. a) Smriti Mehra b) Sharmila Nicollet c) Ankita Das d) Saba anjum Karim Answer (a) Smriti Mehra
5. Which female top seeded Badminton player won the womens singles title in the All
England Open Badminton Championships 2013 at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England on 10 March 2013? a) Tine Baun b) Saina Nehwal c) Jwala Dutta d) Ashwini Ponaapa Answer (a) Tine Baun For More Sports Quizzes
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ENVIRONMENT ECOLOGY
OKHLA COMPOST PLANT RECEIVED CARBON CREDITS
The composting plant of South Delhi Municipal Corporation in Okhla, New Delhi became the first in India to receive the carbon credits from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The civic body was given 25 lakh Rupees as an advance against the Carbon Emission Reduction (CER) earnings from this plant. The Okhla plant became operational in 2008. Since 2008, around two lakh tonnes of the waste has already been processed. In the future, the amount of waste processed everyday would be increased. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has outsourced this operation to IL&FS (Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd), which in turn is also working on the programme for upgradation of this plant.
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According to a few scientists, dry climatic conditions hint towards an overall climate change. Climate scientists from Victoria University of Wellington forecasted that more summers and drought conditions like these were on their way in New Zealand because of global warming. The scientists explained that dry subtropical weather, which leads to the formation of deserts in countries like Australia and Africa, was inching closer towards the poles of the world. There were increasing risks of drought in the country, leading to stretching of water resources.
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The two newly discovered lizard species have body with distinct green patterns before the black and dark brown background. The researchers assumed that the species have common territory with an only difference in the altitude ranges. This slight difference of the altitude ranges made their biological difference fascinating from the perspective of evolution. The two lizards were discovered from Cordillera Azul National Park, which is the third largest national park in Peru. This area includes least explored forests in Peru. The river basins of Pauya and Pisqui in this National Park are said to be remarkable in terms of the diversity of amphibians and reptiles. The fieldwork on Enyalioides increased recently with three out of ten known species described in past 5 years. New members of Enyalioides species were discovered during the expeditions on Andes' slopes which are said to be the parts of Ecuador and Peru. The success of the discovery suggested that there were other undiscovered lizards in these areas.
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Poaching basically means unlawful activities for taking wild animals or plants through trapping, fishing, harvesting and hunting. The concerned law may be that of wildlife management of international conversation. When poachers violate the hunting laws, they are usually punishable by law. These violations of the hunting laws are called poaching. Poaching causes adverse affect on the wildlife population.
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India ranked third on list of countries, which distribute spam all over the world, after US and China, as per the new report of SophosLabs. SophosLabs is the Sophoss global network of threat analysis centres. In the study, US was single highest ranking country, but Asia ranked at number 1 position in the list of the continents with 36.6 percent of overall spam of the world. US sent 18.3 percent of the junk emails overall in the world. In last few months of 2012, India topped the spam spewing nations list, but eventually fell back to the third position. Seco nd position was held by China. In the study, the spam sent from December 2012 to February 2013 was tracked. China and India took second and third positions respectively with 8.2 percent and 4.2 percent of the spam of the world. Other countries which ranked high included South Korea, France, Italy and Peru. Peru was ranked at fourth position with 4.0 percent of the spam. With 3.4 percent each, France, South Korea and Italy ranked fifth. Russia and Taiwan shared eighth position with 2.9 percent. At tenth, eleventh and twelfth position were Spain (2.8 percent), Germany (2.7 percent) and Iran (2.6 percent). In order to prevent spamming, the PC users can keep the anti-virus software updated and regularly run the malware checks. Apart from this, updating passwords regularly can also help.
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The engineers made use of the depressurisation method which converts the methane hydrate into the methane gas. The production tests will continue till the end of March 2013. The government officials of Japan announced that now their aim was establishment of methane hydrate production technologies for the purpose of practical use by 2018.
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rate of expansion of the universe is called Hubble Constant, which is named after an astronomer Edwin P Hubble who discovered in 1929 that the Universe was growing continuously. Determination of the Hubble Constant is highly important for finding out the age as well as size of the universe. Exact distance of Milky Way to LMC has always remained one of the hugest uncertainties which affected the past measurements.
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respiration, therefore it is possible to find out the amount of microorganisms living in an area by checking the tallies on what quantity of ambient oxygen is missing from the sediments. The team of researchers used the device for sampling the sediments at two sites with depths of 35476 and 35488 feet. It was found that large quantity of oxygen consumption took place. This indicated that there were ten times more bacteria at the ultra-deep site than the shallower site which was sampled just for reference around 37 miles away, at a depth of merely 19626 feet.
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It has been observed that dense envelopes of gas and dust surround the fledging stars known as protostars, making their detection difficult. The 15 newly observed protostars turned up by surprise in a survey of the biggest site of star formation near our solar system, located in the constellation Orion. The finding of these new stars is giving scientists a glance into one of the earliest and least understood phases of star formation and it can be a witnessing moment of the phases when a star begins to form. Astronomers long had investigated the stellar nursery in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex, a vast collection of star-forming clouds, but had not seen the newly identified protostars until Herschel observed the region.
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are kind of radio galaxies which have huge physical size, indicating towards the fact that either they are very old or very powerful. LOFAR is one of the most efficient tools for exploring the GRGs because it is very sensitive to the large objects. LOFAR operates at low frequencies which are very much suitable for observation of the old sources. The team of astronomers which is performing this ongoing MSSS comprises of 50 members from different institutes, most of which are in Italy, Poland, France, Netherlands and Germany.
WHAT IS ASTRON?
ASTRON stands for Dutch Stichting ASTRonomisch Onderzoek in Nederland. It is actually the Dutch foundation that conducts research in radio astronomy. Radio astronomy is basically the subfield of astronomy which conducts study of the celestial objects located at the radio frequencies.
WHAT IS LOFAR?
LOFAR stands for Low-Frequency Array for radio astronomy. It was built as well as designed by Netherlands astronomical foundation called ASTRON. Its operations are managed by the ASTRON's radio observatory. LOFAR is basically the largest connected radio telescope built by making use of the new concept based on range of omni-directional antennas.
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Saturn V first-stage engines were recovered by the Bezos Expeditions from 3 miles beneath Atlantic Ocean. Around 40 years ago, NASA had sent a total of seven missions to Moon out of which six had carried astronauts successfully. Jeff Bezos announced that the serial numbers on these engines were not found, which made it difficult for them to identify the mission for which they were used. Restoration work will now be carried out on the engines which will continue to remain a US Government property, after which they would be put on the public display. One of these engines would be at public display at Washington DC's Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Other one would be displayed at Museum of Flight in Seattle. NASA, in the meanwhile announced that this was a historic recovery that would allow in exploring the important artifacts about its first efforts of sending human beings out of the Earths orbit.
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2. A team of researchers discovered abundant active bacteria community in the deepest spot of the Earth. What is the name of deepest point on Earth? a) Mariana Trench b) Mariana Islands c) The Challenger Deep d) None of these Answer. (c) The Challenger Deep 3. Astronomers at the Herschel space observatory in the Month of March 2013 found some of the youngest stars ever seen in the Universe. What were these youngest stars called? a) Dwarf Stars b) Protostars c) Minute Stars d) Young Stars Answer. (b) Protostars 4. An unknown huge radio galaxy was discovered by an international team of astronomers in the month of March 2013. Which telescope was used to discover this radio galaxy? a) ASTRON b) MSSS c) All-sky model d) LOFAR Answer. (d) LOFAR 5. Mass death of which species occurred on the beach in Coronel city, around 530 km from Santiago, Chile, in the third week of March 2013 likely because of the power generation plants- Bocamina 1 and 2 as well as Colbun? a) Blue Whales b) Crabs c) Prawns d) Turtles Answer. (c) Prawns For More Science and Technology Quizzes
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ONE LINERS
The CMD, of NLC (Neyveli Lignite Corporation) who was conferred with the CEO with HR Orientation Award at the World HRD Congress 2013 in Mumbai - B Surender Mohan The book released by the Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari which is written by K. Natwar Singh, the former Union Minister for External Affairs - Walking with Lions: Tales from a Diplomatic Past The Surface Drive Based Interceptor of Indian Coast Guard Commissioned by the Chief Secretary to Government of Maharashtra- Interceptor Boat C-154 The Congress MP from Banaskantha who passed away on 1 March 2013 in Ahmadabad because of multiple organ failure- Mukesh Gadhvi The place where the second meeting of India-Afghanistan-US trilateral dialogue was held New Delhi Famous Italian musician and composer who had written the scores for about 300 films died at the age of 95- Armando Trovajoli The former news editor of The Indian Express who died on 3 March 2013 in New Delhi following a cardiac arrest- SK Varma The person who was appointed as the new High Commissioner to Maldives replacing D M Mulay- Rajeev Shahare The Business tycoon who retained his title as the richest person of India for the sixth consecutive year with the net worth of 21.5 billion US Dollars- Mukesh Ambani The author who was selected for the Bihari Puraskar for 2012 for Hindi novel Dhooni Tape Teer- Hariram Meena The Venezuelan President who died due to cancer on 5 March 2013 at Caracas- Hugo Chavez The Person who conferred with the Liberation War Honour Award by the President of Bangladesh, Zillur Rahman- Pranab Mukherjee The Person who was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya for the second term by taking oath as 26th CM of the state- Mukul Manda Sangma The Pollitical leader of Naga Peoples Front (NPF) was sworn in as Chief Minister of Nagaland for the third straight term on 5 March 2013- Neiphiu Rio The chairman of local organising committee of the 2015 World Cup who died at the age of 68- James Strong The Person who took over as the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) - MRP Rao The people who was selected by the Parliamentary Award Committee for Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively- Arun Jaitley, Karan Singh and Sharad Yadav
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The city which won the award for most liveable Indian city by IPSOS Best City Survey and Awards 2013 event in New Delhi -Nagpur Venezuelan Vice- President who was sworn in as Venezuelas acting president- Nicolas Maduro 86 years old Former West Bengal Governor and industrialist who died in Jordan after a heart attack- Viren J Shah Former CBI Director, who was appointed as Governor of Nagaland- Ashwani Kumar The Managing Director of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd, who was elected as the chairman, CII Kerala State Council for 2013-14- C J George The India Tourism Film, which claimed First Prize at 11th Golden City Gate Awards - Find What You Seek 76 years old legendary painter who died after a heart attack at a city hospital in KolkataGanesh Pyne The new leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), who was appointed as the President of China- Xi Jinping The Chief Justice who was sworn-in as the new Prime Minister of Nepal by taking over the office from Baburam Bhattarai- Khil Raj Regmi The winner of the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize for his novel The Garden of Evening Mists- Tan Twan Eng The person who was elected as the Chairman of CII Karnataka - Soumitra Bhattacharya The date on which World Consumer Rights Day was observed for creating awareness in terms of consumer protection measures as well as consumer rights 15 March 2013
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NEWS CAPSULE
VICE ADMIRAL THAPLIYAL IS NEW DG OF INDIAN COAST GUARD
Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal on 28 February 2013 took over as the twentieth Director General (DG) of the Indian Coast Guard. He is the successor of the outgoing Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan.
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The earlier interim president of Venezuela was Ramn Jos Velsquez who served as acting president of Venezuela between 1993 and 1994 as a result of the crisis produced by the impeachment of President Carlos Andrs Prez.
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renewed in 1989, 1991 and 1993. Because of allegations of abuse of TADA, the Act was lapsed in 1995.
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Kolkata and areas spanning south to the edge of the Sunderbans in Bengal and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghats. Also as per the report, the National Capital Region is an exception among the hot spots as it is not located in or near to any tiger landscapes. The shocking part of the report concluded after an examination on trade of leopard parts and products is that Delhi accounts for more than 26 per cent of all leopards seized, making it the most important hub of illegal trade in the country.
A total of 654 seizures of tiger parts ranging from skin to bones, to teeth, claws and skulls took place during this period, an average of 110 tigers killed for trade per year or just over two per week. The report was launched on 8 March 2013 at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Bangkok.
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turnover is 6952 crore Rupees with a profitability of 1093.69 crore Rupees in 2010-11. Lahiry has also remained associated with mining industry of America, China and Australia. CIDC Vishwakarma Awards are held annually for recognising the achievements as well as work of the organisations and individuals.
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the Year Award. Daniel Dias, the multiple Paralympic champion swimmer of Brazil was awarded with the title of World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability. This was the second time he won the award. Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian skydiver was named as the World Action Sportsperson of the Year Award. Michael Phelps, the American swimmer won the Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement Award. The Laureus World Team of the Year Title was acclaimed by the European Ryder Cup Team, which featured 7 UK golfers.
ACI PLACED THREE INDIAN AIRPORTS AMONG TOP FIVE OF THE WORLD
Airports Council International (ACI), the global body of Airports on 12 March 2013 declared Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport as second best airport of the world in the category of airports that handles 25 to 40 million passengers per year (MPPA). The Council placed Seoul's Incheon airport as the best airport of the world in the same category. Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport was placed at the third position in the same category.
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For service quality in the category of five to fifteen MPPA, the Council ranked Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International airport (RGI) at second position placing Japan's Nagoya airport at the best position in the ranking.
RANKINGS OF AIRPORTS IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION (WITH LESS THAN TWO MILLION PASSENGERS PER YEAR)
1. 2. 3. 4. Seouls Incheon Singapores Changi Bejing Airport Delhi Airport
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Digital advertising at present accounts for 2170 crore Rupees, which will increase to 8720 crore Rupees by 2017.
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Name of the Organisation Ultra Tech Cement Limited, Gujarat Cement Works, Kovaya, Gujarat Limited,
Large Scale Manufacturing Industry Electrical & Sanmina-SCI India Private Electronic Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu
Large Scale Manufacturing Industry Engineering Tata International Limited (Finished Leather & Others Business), Dewas, Madhya Pradesh Large Scale Manufacturing Industry Food & Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Drug Producers Union Limited, Palanpur, Gujarat Large Scale Metallurgical Manufacturing Industry Durgapur Steel Plant, Durgapur, West Bengal
Large Scale Service Industry Health care Large Scale Service Industry Others Small Scale technology Manufacturing Industry
Jehangir Hospital, Pune, Maharashtra L&T Construction, Mumbai, Maharashtra Bio- Hi Media Laboratories Private Limited, Nasik, Maharashtra
Small Scale Manufacturing Industry Engineering Bangalore Biotech Labs Private Limited & Others Biozeen, Bangalore, Karnataka Small Scale Manufacturing Industry Food & Pharma Synth Formulations Limited, Haridwar, Drug Uttarakhand
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Tan Twan Eng won the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize for his novel The Garden of Evening Mists. This is only a second time that the prize has been given to the novel written originally in English. The previous winners had won the award as English translations. The Garden of Evening Mists set during aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Malaya won 30000 US Dollars from the shortlist of five novels which spanned over the Asian continent.
The judging panel of the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize was award-winning literary critic and journalist Dr. Maya Jaggi, novelist Vikram Chandra and Vietnamese-American novelist Monique Truong.
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given 5000 US Dollars. The submissions for the best novels are invited by the jury through publishers in any country.
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World Consumer Rights Day was observed on 15 March 2013 for creating awareness in terms of consumer protection measures as well as consumer rights. The theme for 2013 World Consumer Rights Day was Consumer Justice Now. This day was first observed on 15 March 1983. In 1962, the former US President John F. Kennedy, declared four basic consumer rights- right to choose, right to be heard, right to safety and right to be informed.
BOBBY GHOSH
Bobby Ghosh joined TIME in 1998 after serving India as a journalist for 10 years He served two years on the staff of the Far Eastern Economic Review in Hong Kong
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revealed that South Asia leads the world in improvements in human development. The report clarified that the South Asian Countries achieved widespread gains in terms of human development across the developing world from 2000 to 2012. The report titled The Rise of the South Human Progress in a Diverse World also identified investment in Education and taking care of the environment as the two key factors that can contribute in the making of the healthy development. It also indicated that although Afghanistan experienced several rapid gains but it lagged far behind in the race of development. The progress in human development in context of India, Bangladesh and the other South Asian nation helped in driving a historic shift in global dynamics due to which millions of people have raised themselves out of poverty and billions are at the edge of joining the fast growing middle class.
The findings of the report are based on the analysis of more than 40 developing countries that achieved striking human development gains in recent past. The term South and North in the report is used to denote developing countries and developed countries respectively. National Commitments that are attributed to be the reason for the achievements made by the developing countries included Better public health and education services Innovative poverty eradication programs Strategic engagement with the world economy
The report in its findings also defined that the speed and scale with which the South had risen was dramatic and stressed that never in the history, living conditions of the people changed in such a dramatic condition and have driven the global economic growth and societal change for the first time in centuries.
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The report also summed up that the combined economic output of the three nations namely Brazil, India and China will cross the aggregate production of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States
THE LIST OF WINNERS CHOSEN BY THE JURY IN NATIONAL FILM AWARDS 2013
Best actor: Irrfan Khan for Paan Singh Tomar and Vikram Gokhale for Marathi film Anumati Best film - wholesome entertainment: Vicky Donor Best film on social issues: Spirit (Malayalam) Best Animated Film: Delhi Safari Best Children's Film: Dekh Indian Circus Best Supporting Actress: Dolly Ahluwalia for Vicky Donor Best supporting actor: Annu Kapoor Best original screenplay: Sujoy Ghosh for Kahaani Best screenplay (adapted): OMG Oh My God Best actress: Usha Jadhav for Marathi film Dhaag Best actor: Irrfan Khan for Paan Singh Tomar Current Affairs PDF March 2013
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Best Playback Singer - Male: Shankar Mahadevan for Bolo Na from the film Chittagong Best Playback Singer - Female: Aarti Anklekar Tikekar for Marathi film Samhita Best Choreography: Pandit Birju Maharaj for Vishwaroopam (Tamil) Best Editing: Namrata Rao for Kahaani (Hindi) Best Special Effects: Eega (Telugu) Best sound recording: Gangs of Wasseypur Special Jury Award - Actress: Parineeti Chopra for Ishaqzaade Special Jury Award - Actor: Nawazuddin Siddiquie for four films Special Jury Award - Film: Rituporno Ghosh for Chitrangada
ABOUT SUGATHAKUMARI
Sugathakumari has 15 volumes of poetry credited to her. She also has six collections of prose. Her career spans over a duration of five decades. The themes of her poems revolve around moral alertness, emotional empathy as well as humanist sensitivity. Her poems also include social themes such as women oppression, failures of the ideals which inspired India as well as ecological crisis. Sugathakumari is also the passionate environmentalist. She was also the head of Keralas State Womens Commission. Manalezhuthu, the poetry collection for which she was chosen, is actually a collection of 27 different poems. This was published in 2006. The poetry collection is said to be a representation of best of contemporary Malayalam poetry.
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The award carries cash prize of 10 lakh Rupees, a plaque as well as a citation. This award is given every year to the literary work in any Indian language which is the part of Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Apart from this award, K. K. Birla Foundation also constituted other two awards which include Bihari Puraskar for Hindi and Rajasthani writers and Vyas Samman for Hindi.
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The prize is sponsored by Hyatt Foundation. This prize was established by late entrepreneur Jay A Pritzker along with his wife Cindy. The business interests of the Pritzker family were headquartered in Chicago. The winner receives an amount of 100000 US Dollars as well as a bronze medallion. The bronze medallion is based on the designs of Louis Sullivan.
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development work carried out in India during the last 5 years of the career. The award is considered almost equivalent to the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize given by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of India.
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Speaker Abdul Hamid became acting President of Bangladesh now. According to the Article 54 of the Constitution of Bangladesh, if a vacancy occurs in the office of President or if the President is unable to discharge the functions of his office on account of absence, illness or any other cause the Speaker shall discharge those functions until a President is elected or until the President resumes the functions of his office, as the case may be.
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The United Nations on 20 March 2013 declared 20 March as the International Day of Happiness. This was the first edition of the happiness day observed by the world. 20 March was declared as the International Day of Happiness with an aim to acknowledge the importance of happiness and encourage Governments of different nations to consider well-being of its citizens as the common agenda other than focusing on the economic growth only. All the 193 members of United Nations voted in favour of the International Day of Happiness.
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Conversion of the Appellate Tribunal into Financial Appellate Tribunal for hearing the appeals of both unified regulators and RBI is also suggested in the report The committee in its suggestion has recommended doing away of the multiple agency structure for foreign capital inflows, at present the work is done by Department of Industry Policy and Promotion and clearance to the proposals of investments is done by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board
The Resolution notifying the FSLRC was issued by the Government on 24 March 2011. The FSLRC is required to submit its findings within a period of 24 months. FSLRC was set up two years ago for reviewing and harmonizing the financial sector legislations, rules and regulations that have gone obsolete or outdated in about a centurys time since when it was written.
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John Abraham, Chitrangda Singh and Asin Thottumkal, cricketer Yuvraj Singh and fashion designer Ritu Kumar. Auditions for the beauty pageant were held in Chandigarh, Delhi, Indore, Kolkata, Pune, Goa and Bangalore. The semi-finalists were Gail Nicole Da Silva, Navneet Kaur Dhillon, Vijaya Sharma, Zoya Afroz, Apurva Lonkar, Sagarika Chhetri, Srishti Rana, Swati Kain, Anukriti Gusain and Sobhita Dhulipala. Karan Johar crowned Sobhita Dhulipala as Femina Miss Itimes Digital Diva. She also received one Lakh Rupees.
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