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Friday, 31 August 2012

APPSC GROUP-I SERVICES (18/2011) CUT OFF MARK

Posted on 09:17 by Unknown
APPSC GROUP-I SERVICES (18/2011) SCREENING TEST 

  Answer Key for 4 Series & Cut Off Mark

CUT OFF MARK IS : 88

SERIES: A
Q.Nos. 6,8,10,69 & 104 Cancelled. Five marks added to each candidate.
Q.No. 17 having two answers (1&2) as per Commn's Orders in C.No. 298/CD/2012, dated: 13/06/2012.


SERIES: B
Q.Nos. 14,36,38,40 & 99 Cancelled. Five marks added to each candidate.
Q.No. 47 having two answers (1&2) as per Commn's Orders in C.No. 298/CD/2012, dated: 13/06/2012. 


SERIES: C
Q.Nos. 9,74,126,128 & 130 Cancelled. Five marks added to each candidate.
Q.No. 137 having two answers (1&2) as per Commn's Orders in C.No. 298/CD/2012,dated:13/06/2012. 
 

SERIES: D
Q.Nos. 39,96,98,100 & 134 Cancelled. Five marks added to each candidate.
Q.No. 107 having two answers (1&2) as per Commn's Orders in C.No. 298/CD/2012, dated:13/0/2012.
  
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Tuesday, 28 August 2012

Cabinet nod for ban on child labour below 14

Posted on 11:29 by Unknown
The Union Cabinet on August 28 approved a proposal for amending the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, to ban employment of children aged up to 14 in any form of industry.
It will be an offence to employ such children not only in factories or industries but also in homes or on farms, if their labour is meant to serve any commercial interest.
The Ministry of Labour is likely to introduce the amendment bill in Parliament soon.
Quoting the National Sample Survey Organisation’s figures, official sources said the amendment would benefit 46 lakh children, who have been working in various industries now, and they can concentrate on education.
The Cabinet also approved another amendment to define children aged 14-18 as “adolescents” and prohibit their employment in mines, explosives industries, chemical and paint industries and other hazardous establishments.
The government’s decision is in line with the convention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which prohibits any form of child labour until the age of 14.
Since the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or RTE now stipulates compulsory and free education of children up to the age of 14, the upper age limit in the Child Labour Act has been kept at 14.
The RTE, which makes education the fundamental right of a child, was passed by Parliament on August 4, 2009. It sets forth the modalities of free and compulsory education for children aged 6-14. The Act came into effect on April 1, 2010.
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Monday, 27 August 2012

APPSC ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN A.P TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING EXAM G.S. SOLVED PAPER

Posted on 01:23 by Unknown

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MPSC ASSISTANT PRELIMINERY EXAMINATION- 2012 SOLVED PAPER

Posted on 01:18 by Unknown
                                                           
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Wednesday, 22 August 2012

Reservation to Women in the Legislature

Posted on 03:26 by Unknown
During the years several steps have been taken for empowerment of women and one such step was to provide reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies. The Government put a step forward and introduced a Bill, namely, the Constitution (One Hundred Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008 in the Rajya Sabha on the 6th May, 2008 to provide inter alia for, as nearly as may be, one-third (including the number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election to the House of People and to the State Legislative Assemblies and the Legislative Assembly of National Capital Territory of Delhi shall be reserved for the women. Afterwards, the Chairman, Rajya Sabha on the 8th May, 2008 referred the Bill to the Departmental Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, and Law and Justice for examination and report. Giving this information in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of Law & Justice, said that the Committee presented its 36th Report on the Bill to the Rajya Sabha/ laid in the Lok Sabha on the 17th December, 2009. The Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on 9th March, 2010. The Bill is to be passed by the Lok Sabha and is also required to be ratified by the Legislatures of not less than one-half of the States by resolution.
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Schemes for Slum Dwellers and Urban Poor

Posted on 03:25 by Unknown
The Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja has said that the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) is implementing the following schemes for slum dwellers and urban poor across the country:

(i) Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) launched on 3rdDecember, 2005, the Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programmes (IHSDP) are being implemented which focus on basic services to the urban poor and integrated development of slums. Under BSUP, 65 select cities in the country are covered and the remaining cities are covered under IHSDP. Under BSUP scheme, 527 projects have been approved with total project cost of Rs. 30188.69 croresfor construction of 1017252 Dwelling Units (DUs). Under IHSDP scheme, 1084 projects in 928 cities have been approved with total project cost of Rs. 12048.50 crores for construction of 570951 Dwelling Units (DUs).

(ii) Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) aims at providing gainful employment to the urban unemployed and under-employed poor, through encouraging the setting up of self employment ventures by the urban poor living below the poverty line, skills training and also through providing wage employment by utilizing their labour for construction of socially and economically useful public assets. This scheme is applicable to all cities and towns in the country. During the 2011-12, 353,803 beneficiaries were covered under   skills training and 79,804 beneficiaries under urban self employment programme components of SJSRY.

(iii) In pursuance of the Government’s vision of creating a Slum-free India, a new scheme ‘Rajiv AwasYojana’ (RAY) has been launched on 02.06.2011.Under the Scheme financial assistance is being provided to States that are willing to assign property rights to slum dwellers for provision of decent shelter and basic civic and social services for slum redevelopment, and for creation of affordable housing stock. The scheme is expected to cover above 250 cities, across the entire country by the end of 12th plan (2017).The States would be required to include all the mission cities of JNNURM, preferably cities with more than 3 lakh population as per 2001 Census; and other smaller cities, with due consideration to the pace of growth of the city, of slums, predominance of minority population, and areas where property rights are assigned. Funds have been released to 34 States/UTs under Slum Free City Planning Scheme - the preparatory phase of Rajiv AwasYojana. The list of 185 cities in which preparatory activities are being undertaken are as per Annexure-I.In addition, 8 pilot projects with total project cost of Rs. 446.22 Crores involving Central Assistance of Rs. 197.09 Crores have been approved under RAY for construction of 8400 dwelling units. The first installment of Rs. 65.69 Croreshas been released to the concerned states as per Annexure-II.

 (iv) The Affordable Housing in Partnership Scheme, which is intended to encourage public private partnerships for the creation of affordable housing stock has been dovetailed with RAY. Under this scheme, central support will be provided at the rate of Rs 50,000 per unit of rental/affordable dwelling unit or 25% of the cost of civic infrastructure (external and internal), whichever is lower. Under this Scheme, which is applicable to all cities covered under RAY, 8 projects have been sanctioned with a central assistance of Rs. 7.2 Crore for construction of 5776 Affordable dwelling units.

(v) To enable the urban poor to obtain credit for home loans at affordable rates, the Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP), which provides 5 % interest subsidy on loans up to Rs. one lakh, is being implemented. This scheme has been dovetailed with RAY.  As on date, 10,215 beneficiaries have been benefitted.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha  Kumari Selja said, for proper utilization of funds under these schemes, the Ministry of HUPA is regularly monitoring the progress through quarterly/monthly physical and financial reports, periodic review meeting at state/regional/city level and field visits by Ministry’s officers and monitoring agencies.

Click here to see Annexures
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Implementation of SJSRY in Andhra Pradesh

Posted on 03:24 by Unknown
The Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) Kumari Selja has said that the revamped SwarnaJayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) has five major components:-
(i)           Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP)-Targeting individual urban poor for setting up of micro-enterprises.
(ii)        Urban Women Self-help Programme (UWSP)-Targeting urban poor women self-help groups for setting up of group-enterprises and providing them assistance through a revolving fund for thrift & credit activities.
(iii)      Skill Training for Employment Promotion amongst Urban Poor (STEP-UP)-Targeting urban poor for imparting quality training so as to enhance their employability for self-employment or better salaried employment.
(iv)      Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP) -Assisting urban poor by utilizing their labour for construction of socially and economically useful public assets, in towns having population less than 5 lakhs as per 1991 census.
(v)        Urban Community Development Network (UCDN)-Assisting the urban poor in organizing themselves in self- managed community structures so as to gain collective strength to address the issues of poverty facing them and participate in the effective implementation of urban poverty alleviation programmes.

          In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha  Kumari Selja said,the scheme is implemented through the State Governments. Ministry monitors their performance regularly to ensure that benefits of the scheme reach to all sections of the urban poor. Regular training of the functionaries of State, District and Urban Local Bodies are held to orient them towards better implementation of this scheme. Statement showing year-wise, State-wise achievement of SJSRY during the last two plans are at Annexure-I & II. The Statement showing physical targets set and achieved under the SwarnaJayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) in the State of Andhra Pradesh during the last five years is at Annexure-III.  The Ministry does not set district-wise targets.

Click here to See Annexure
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Thorium Reserve in the Country

Posted on 03:21 by Unknown
Exploration activities carried out by Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constituent unit of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), has resulted in establishing 3.74 million tones of Monazite in Andhra Pradesh which contains about 3,36,600 tonnes of thorium oxide equivalent to 2,96,000 tonnes of thorium metal. 
These reserves are explored and established. 
Indian three stage nuclear power programme is aimed at long term energy independence including use of thorium resources in the third stage. In order to realize this goal, presently, the first stage of programme is accomplished through the nuclear reactors based on natural uranium fuel. The second stage envisages setting up of Fast Breeder Reactors. A Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor is planned at Kalpakkam. The utilization of thorium would be technically possible only in the third stage. Since the country is still in the first stage of the nuclear power programme, the requirement of Thorium by 2020 is quite modest.
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Location of Nuclear Reactors in India

Posted on 03:20 by Unknown
In India, nuclear power reactors are set up and operated on twin unit concept with dedicated safety and process systems, operating personnel and the management for operating these units. Each reactor has independent safety and process systems. At the same site, additional twin units module with independent safety and security of operating island are considered to reduce requirement of land for exclusion zone. This also helps in meeting the objective of minimizing the displacement of population.

The nuclear reactors planned to be set up at Jaitapur are the Evolutionary Pressurized Water Reactors (EPRs). The EPR design has been based on the proven design, safety principles and manufacturing technologies employed in “N4” reactors in France and “KONVOI” reactors in operation in Germany. N4 & KONVOI reactors are under successful and safe operation for the last many years. The EPRs planned at Jaitapur incorporate the operational feedback from “N4” & “KONVOI” reactors. Currently, EPRs are under construction in Finland, France and China which may become operational in the next 2 to 4 years. The operational experience from these reactors will also be available before the commissioning of Jaitapur nuclear power project. As regards the cost, the discussions on the techno-commercial offer of AREVA. France are focused on arriving at mutually acceptable capital cost and tariff levels.

Following the Inter-Governmental Agreement between India & France in 2008, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and AREVA, France signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up Nuclear Power Reactors at Jaitapur on February 4, 2009. A General Framework Agreement (GFA) and Early Works Agreement (EWA) were signed between NPCIL and AREVA on December 6, 2010. The GFA covers installation of the initial set of 2x1650 MW EPR including scope of work, division of responsibility, design, materials, technology, services and life time fuel supplies. The EWA relates to preliminary works related to design, engineering and regulatory aspects.
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Tuesday, 21 August 2012

PJ Kurien elected the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha

Posted on 10:29 by Unknown
PJ Kurien was unanimously elected the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh moved the motion for the election of Kurien.
Kurien has been the member of national parliament for the last three decades representing Idukki, and Mavelikkara Lok Sabha constituencies. Since 2005 he is a member of the Rajya Sabha.
The Deputy Chairman is elected in the meeting of the Rajya Sabha as decided by Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from amongst the members of the Rajya Sabha. He is supposed to resign from his original party because as a Deputy Speaker, he has to remain impartial.
Deputy Chaiman of Rajya Sabha acts as the Presiding Officer in case of leave or absence of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, the Vice-President of India.
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Monday, 20 August 2012

PERSONS IN NEWS 2012 (International)

Posted on 21:34 by Unknown

(Useful for UPSC Civil Services Mains)

Alana Seebarran

Alana Seebarran of Guyana has been crowned as the Miss India Worldwide 2012 in the 23rd edition of the pageant held in Suriname capital of Paramaribo. 

Alberto Contador

Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador on February 6, 2012 Received a two-year ban for doping during the 2010 Tour de France and was stripped of his victory in the race. Contador tested positive for the banned anabolic agent clenuterol.

Bosusco Paolo

Italian tour operator Bosusco Paolo was finally released by te Odisha State Organising Committee of the outlawed Communist Party of India  (Maoist) in Kandhamal district on April 12, 2012

Chandra Bahadur Dangi

Nepal's Chandra Bahadur Dangi was declared the world's shortest living  man at a ceremony in Kathmandu on February 26, 2012 Dangi, who measured at just 21.5 inches (54.6 centimetres), snatched the title from Junrey Balawing of the Philippines.

Christian Wulff

Germany's President Christian Wulff resigned on February 17, 2012 in a scandal over favours he allegedly received before becoming head of state, creating a major domestic distraction for Chancellor Angela Merkel as she grapples with Europe's debt crisis.

Charles Taylor

A U.N. –backed war crimes court sentenced the former President of Liberin, Charles Taylor, to 50 years in jail on May 30, 2012 for arming rebels in Sierra Leone in return for "blood diamonds" Taylor, 64 was earlier convicted of all 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for aiding and abetting Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front during the country's brutal 1991-2001 civil war.

Fernando Lugo

Paraguay's Senate on June 21, 2012 voted to impeach left-wing President Fernando Lugo, forcing him to step down. Both houses of congress had voted to begin impeachment proceedings over his handling of the recent clashes between farmers and police in which at least 17 people died. Vice-President Federico Franco has already been sown in as president and will serve the remainder of Lugo's five-year term, which ends in August 2013.

Gunter Grass

Israel declared Gunter Grass persona non gratia on April 8, 2012, deepening a spat with the Nobel-winning author over a poem that deeply criticized the Jewish state and suggested it was as much as danger as Iran. He was awarded the Nobel Prized for literature in 1999.

Khalil Chisti

Pakistani virologist Mohammed Khalil Chisti, who was handed a life sentence for a murder that took place in the premises of the eum of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in 1992, was released on bail from Rajasthan's Ajmer Central Jail in April 11, 2012 following a Supreme Court's order on April 9.

 Liu Yang

Liu Yang, a former Chinese air force pilot, became the country's first female astronaut as she along with two male colleagues blasted off into space aboard the Shenzhou IX Spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satyellite Launch Centre on June 16, 2012. 

Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney clinched the Republican Presidential nomination on May 29, 2012 with a resounding victory in Texas to face Demoractic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election. Romney finally cleared the benchmark of 1,144 delegates needed to become the Republicans' presidential candidate after a lone, bitter primary battle with a host of conservative rivals.

Rajat Gupta

Rajat Gupta, one of the most successful Indian American on Wall Street, was found guilty on June 15, 2012 of passing confidential market information to Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam in one of America's biggest in sider trading cases. A Manhattan court held the 63-year-old former Goldman Sachs director guilty of providing insider information to his former friend, Rajaratnam, who was sentenced last year to 11 years in prison for insider trading.

Snigdha Nandipati

Indian American Snigdha Nandipati won the Scripps National Spelling Bee at National Harbor in Maryland on May 31, 2012 Nandipati (14), an eight-grade student from San Diego, California, correctly spled the French word 'guetapens' to be declared the national champion for the year 2012.

Sarath Fonseka

The former Sri Lankan Army Chief, Sarath Fonseka walked out of a prison in Colombo on May 21, 2012 following a presidential pardon. He was arrested by the military police on February 8, 2010 on unspecified charges and sentenced to Jail by a court-material.

Sheikh Hasina

Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari on January 12, 2012 conferred the honorary Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) of Tripura University on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Agartala. 

Thomas Lubanga

The International Criminal Court on March 14, 2012 convicted Congolese militia Chief Thomas Lubanga of ware crimes for conscripting children into this army, the tribunal's first ever verdict. Lubanga was fouynd guilty in the Hague of enlisting child soldiers as young as 11 to fight during a bloody four-year war in a gold-rich region of the Demoractic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Tamae Watanabe

A 73-year-old Japanese woman Tamae Watanabe climbed to Mount Everest's peak on May 19, 2012 smashing her own record to become the oldest woman to scale the world's highest mountain. Tamae Watanabe reached the Everest's 8,850-metre-high (29,035 feet) summit from the northern side of the mountain in tibed with four other team members. The oldest person to climb the Everest is a Nepalese man, Min Bahadur Sherchan, who scaled the peak in 2008, at 76.

Yusuf Raza Gilani

Pakistan Supreme Court on June 19, 2012 disqualified Pakistan People's Party Yusuf Raza Gilani as Prime Minister after his conviction for contempt in May 2012. Gilani had refused to follow the court's directive to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari. 

Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali

Tunisia's ousted president Zine al Abidine Ben Ali was on June 13, 2012 given a life sentence in absentia by a military court in Tunis over the killing of protesters in the country's revolution in 2011. Ben Ali is now in exile in Saudi Arabia, where feld with his wife in January 2011 after weeks of protests against his rule of more than 20 years.
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SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

Posted on 21:31 by Unknown
(Useful for UPSC Civil Services Mains)

OPEC Meet
The 160th Meeting of the Conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) convened in Vienna, Austria, on 14 December 2011, under the Chairmanship of its President, HE Eng Rostam Ghasemi, Minister of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Conference reviewed recent oil market devel-opments, as presented by the Secretary General, in particular supply/ demand projections, as well as the outlook for 2012. The Conference noted, further, that, although world oil demand is forecast to increase slightly during the year 2012, this rise is expected to be partially offset by a projected increase in non-OPEC supply. The Conference decided that its next Ordinary Meeting will convene in Vienna, Austria, on 14 June 2012.

International Conference on climate change, Sustainable agriculture and Public leaderhsip
A two-day International Conference on Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture and Public Leadership was held in New Delhi. The main objective of this conference was to bring scientists, teachers, researchers, economists, managers and policy makers from around the w orld on a single platform to discuss various aspects of climate change, sustainable agriculture and public leadership and develop a consensus containing a set of valuable recommendations, as a way forward for addressing the issues related to the future climate scenario, Indian agriculture and food security.

First Interpol Global Programme on Anti-Corruption and Asset Recovery
The first Global Programme on Anti-Corruption and Asset licovery for Investigators and Prosecutors (13-18 February,-2012) hosted by the CBI, was at-tended by 39 police officers, Birvestigators and prosecutors from various INTERPOL member countries from across the world, including Australia, Afghanistan, China, Hongkong, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, jfcrcenesia, Fiji, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Philippines and facia
The main purpose of the Global Programme was to enhance knowledge and skills of investigators and prosecutors in nc icing assets of mass corruption, and making effective use rf 1 egal assistance in international and trans-border investigations. Of India Dr. Manmohan Singh, UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, and former Governor of California Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger.


The Regional Anti-Corruption Conference for Asia and the Pacific
The ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific, and the Government of India, have organised this conference to help governments, businesses and citizens in Asia-Pacitic find holistic approaches to the corruption problem. On 28-29 September 2011, the ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific and the Government of India co-hosted the 7th Regional Anti-Corruption Conference for Asia and the Pacific. 

First APEC Forest Ministry Meet
Forest Ministers from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum’s 21 member economies met for the first time in Beijing on Sept. 6-8, 2011. China’s President Hu Jintao opened the event in the Great Hall of the People signalling high level support for cooperation on forestry in the Asia-Pacific economic region.

East Asia Summit, Bali
The sixth East Asia Summit was held on 19th November member, 2011 in conjunction with the 19th ASEAN summit, where two new members, the United States and Russia, joined for the first time in the 16-nation grouping. In October 2010, ASEAN leader agreed at the end of the 17th ASEAN Summit to invite the US and Russia to join the EAS in 2011, which increased the number of ASEAN dialogue partners to eight. The East Asia Summit (EAS) is originally an annual gathering of 10-member ASEAN and six other East Asia countries, including Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

10th Basic Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change
The 10th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in New Delhi on February 13-14,2012. Inline with ‘BASIC-Plus’ approach, besides the BASIC’S Enviromnent Ministers, Qatar (as incoming President of COP-18), Swaziland (as Chair of Africa Group of negotiators and as a member of LDCs) and Singapore (as member of AoSIS) were also participated in the meeting as observers. Algeria (as Chair of G-77 & China) was also invited.

Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2012
The 12th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) with the focus on the theme “Protecting the Global Commons: 20 years post Rio”. DSDS 2012 is the first important meeting of global leaders preceding the June 2012, Rio+20 Summit.

EU Summit
The European Council opened its doors again to the political elite the 14th crisis summit in 21 months. A meeting of the bloc’s leaders is first, followed by a gathering of the heads of the 17 euro zone countries. In this summit held in Brussels, Euro zone leaders had reached a three pronged agreement - private banks holding of Greek debt accepted a loss of 50 per cent, approved a mechanism to boost the euro zone’s main bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), to about It Euros and recapitalization of European banks.

Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries
The Fourth United Nations Conference on the least Developed Nations was held in Turkey from May 7-13. The 10-year Programme of Action adopted at the close of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Development Countries gave new momentum to global efforts to improve the lot of the world’s most vulnerable, impoverished nations, Cyan Chandra Acharya, (Nepal), Chair of the Group of Least Developed Countries said. With vigorous partnership, it can help half of the LDCs (least developed countries) meet the criteria of graduation by 2020, a mutual compact between LDCs and development partners, aimed overall at erasing poverty, overcoming structural challenges, and promoting equitable, rapid, sustainable development in those countries. There are 48 nations on the United Nations-identified list of least developed countries. Building on the 2001 Brussels Programme of Action which, among other things, introduced good governance principles the new plan focused on increasing the productive capacities of least developed countries in such areas as infrastructure, energy, science, technology and innovation, agriculture and trade, while promoting human and social development.

G-20 Agriculture Ministers Meet
G-20 Agriculture Ministers Meet held on 22nd and 23rd June at Paris. The meeting was convened by the French Presidency, the current chair of G-20 countries in response to the growing concern about the food price volatility, particularly in the context of very high food prices in recent times and an assessment that the prices were likely to remain high.

5th Conference of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians
The Fifth Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians which was inaugurated the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi on 9-came to a close on 11 July, 2011. The Conference deliberated on two themes, namely r^olidating Democracy: Strengthening Trust between : anient and the People” and “Sustainable Development SAARC Countries: The Way Forward” in six sessions :ning over two days.
There was consensus on a host of issues in the Conference jod it was an educative experience for the Speakers and parliamentarians from all the SAARC countries to come together and exchange views on topical subjects of common concern for the South Asian region. Smt. Meira Kumar stressed that it was the onerous responsibility of Parliaments and parliamentarians to strengthen the roots of democracy in the region. She further emphasized that parliamentarians must work together to strengthen democratic values of protection of indi-vidual rights, Rule of Law, justice and to meet the aspirations of the people.
Smt. Meira Kumar expressed satisfaction over the Speakers’ Council amending the Charter of the Association to include at least one woman member in every Delegation to enable them to meet in the Forum of Women Parliamentarians of the Association on the sidelines of the Conference of the Association. Speakers and parliamentarians deliberated and came closer to work out the feasibility of setting up a permanent Secretariat of the Association.

58th World Statistics Congress
58th World Statistics Congress of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) was held in Dublin from the 21st to the 26th August 2011. The ISI has held biennial Congresses since 1853 and recent sessions have attracted over 2,500 delegates. Participants include academics, government and private sector statisticians and related experts from various institutes. The biennial meeting of the ISI is probably unique in bringing together statisticians from across the disciplinary spectrum - official statistics; business, financial, environmental and industrial statistics; surveying and sampling computational & mathematical statistics; probability and stochastic modeling and statistical education. Moreover, it brings together statisticians from both developing and developed nations to share experiences, expertise and challenges. The Scientific Programme of the 58th Congress .offered delegates innovative and stimulating topics with well-balanced presentations. The theme of the; Congress was ‘Sta-tistical Issues retating to Water and Water Quality’.

G-8 Summit
The G8 Summit 2011 was held in Deauville, France on May 26 and 27. On the agenda was security, development, climate, nuclear energy and the Arab Spring. This was 37th G8 Summit. The summit is a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult eco-nomic decisions. The G-8 has become a forum for political and strategic discussions, and as a caucus within the G-20. The summit brings together the world’s seven richest nations and Russia and discussions were topped by issues like the nuclear meltdown in Japan, the pursuit of hostilities in Libya, the Arab revolutions in Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia and elsewhere. The G8 is comprised of the eight main industrialised countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

15th World Sanskrit Conference
The 15th World Sanskrit Conference organized by Ministry of Human Resource Development and the International Association of Sanskrit Studies (IASS) in New Delhi.
During the six-day event scholars and delegates from around 32 countries deliberated on a diverse range of topics like poetry, drama and aesthetics, scientific literature, Buddhist studies, Jain studies, Sanskrit and regional languages and literatures, and Vedas.

World Economic Forum
The Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (25- 29 January) held in Davos. The Annual Meeting provided participants with strategic insights from each of the four thematic clusters- growth and employment models leadership and innovation models, sustainability and resource models and social and technological modela- with the development of a Risk Response Network among its defining legacies. The theme and vision of the summit was “The great transformation: shaping new models”.
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NEWSMAKERS 2011-12

Posted on 21:23 by Unknown
(Useful for Civil Services Mains Exam)
 
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, the renowned Indian-American scientist whose pioneering work in Molecular Biology won him the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has been knighted in the New Year Honours List 2012. He has been conferred knighthood “for services to Molecular Biology”. Ramakrishnan, a US citizen, is based at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. He was awarded Padma Vibhushan in 2010.

Jordan Romero
Jordan Romero, a US teenager became the youngest person to successfully climb to the summit of the seven tallest mountains on Earth’s seven continents. He beat the record previously held by British climber George Atkinson, who completed the ascents at age 16.

Neha Shekhawat
Flight Lieutenant Sneha Shekhawat is the first woman pilot to lead an Air Force contingent at the 63rd Republic Day parade. She was assisted by three other women Flying Officers Heena Pore, Anupam Chaudhary and Pooja Negi. Shekhawat, from Sikar in Rajasthan, is at present posted with the IAF squadron at Hindon in Ghaziabad air base.

Sebastian Edathy
Indian-origin MP in Germany Sebastian Edathy will head 11- member parliamentary inquiry committee that will investigate the racist-motivated murders across the country by a neo-Nazi cell evading detection for more than a decade. It will be the highest assignment in the political career of Edathy, who became a Social Democratic Party (SPD) member of Bundestag in 1998.

Mae Jemison
Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to go into space in 1992, has been chosen to head the 100-year Starship project. Jemison's project will explore what it would take for a multi-generational mission beyond the solar system.

 

Satyendra singh Huja
Satyendra Singh Huja, a Sikh American, has been unanimously elected as the Mayor of Charlottesville, in Virginia. Incidentally, Huja is the only Sikh resident of Charlottesville, nearly 120 miles south west of Washington, having a Population of 43,000.

Souraitra Dutta
IIT-Delhi alumnus Soumitra Dutta has been named the new Dean of the Ivy League Cornell University’s business school. Dutta, 48, is the first Indian-origin and the 11th Dean at the 66-year old Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Aamir Khan
UNICEF appointed Padma Bhushan award-winning actor and producer Aamir Khan as its ambassador for promoting nutrition among children. As a representative of UNICEF, Aamir Khan will build on his personal interest in children’s issues to support UNICEF’s mission to ensure that every child in this country survives and thrives.

Lucas Papademos
Senior banker Lucas Papademos was named as the Prime Minister of the New Greek interim government, charged with keeping the debt-strapped country out of bankruptcy and firmly in the 17 nation eurozone. He replaces outgoing Socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou midway through his four-year term.

Kofi Annan
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, 73, has been appointed as the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria tasked with engaging with all relevant interlocutors within and outside the troubled country to end the yearlong violence and humanitarian crisis.
 
Baltasar Garzon
A court in Madrid acquitted Spain's renowned human rights judge Baltasar Garzon of breaching the terms of an amnesty by trying to investigate atroci-ties committed during the Franco era. Six members of the seven-panel bench came out in favour of acquitting the 56-year-old. 

V.K. Singh
Former army Chief General VK Singh had to back down in his confrontation with the government on the controversy over his date of birth. Recently he raised issues regarding corruption in defence deal.

Lt Ge Bikram Singh
Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Bikram Singh is the Chief of Staff of the 1.3 million-strong Indian Army. He has succeed General Vijay Kumar Singh, who retired on May 31. 

Jawhar Sircar
A three-member selection panel headed by Vice-President Hamid Ansari zeroed upon Culture Secretary Jawhar Sircar to be appointed as the next Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati. Sircar is due to retire from his present job in March, and will take over from Acting CEO Rajiv Takru, the Additional Secretary in Information and Broadcasting Ministry who also happens to be the government’s nominee on the Prasar Bharati Board.

Waheed Hassan
Following Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation Vice-President Waheed Hassan took oath as the new President of Maldives. Former President Mohamed Nasheed resigned on 7 February 2012. Swiftly then Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik was sworn in as the 5th President of the Maldives. 

Shanti Tigga
Shanti Tigga became the first lady jawan in the 1.3 million strong defense forces joining the 969 Railway Engineer Regiment of the Territorial Army. Notably, a mother of two, 35-year-old Shanti Tigga outperformed her male counterparts in the physical tests to become the first woman jawan in the Indian army.

Indarjit Singh
A leader of Britain’s Sikh community is to become the first turbaned member of the House of Lords. Indarjit Singh, Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, who will sit as an Independent, made it clear that he did not intend to be a “token Sikh.” He played a central role in a landmark case that led to Sikhs being allowed protection under the race rela-tions laws for wearing their religious symbols in public.

Lt. Col. Harjit Singh Sajjan
Lt.Col. Haijit Singh Sajjan, has become the first Sikh in Canada to take command of a British Columbia regiment. In a historic ceremony, a change of command in the British Columbia Regiment took place on September 11th in Vancouver.

Suresh Kalmadi
The sacked Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Chairman, Suresh Kalmadi, and two other former OC officials were sent to the Tihar Central Jail on 14-day judicial custody. They were allegedly involved in a criminal conspiracy to award the Games Timing, Scoring and Results (TSR) system contract to a Swiss company.

Premlata Agarwal
Jharkhand’s Premlata Agarwal, 45, became the oldest Indian woman to scale Mount Everest. Ms. Agarwal, who is being supported by Tata Steel, is also the first person from Jharkhand to go on an expedition to the Everest. A mother of two daughters, Ms. Agarwal started her actual climb from the base camp on April 17.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn was taken off an Air France plane at Kennedy International Airport just minutes before it was to take off for Paris on Saturday and arrested in connection with ' the sexual attack on a maid at a Midtown Manhattan hotel in New York. 

Nivedita Choudhary
27-year-old Indian Air Force officer became the first woman from the Indian Air Force to conquer Mt Everest as more of her peers from the 14-member expedition bided their time to set foot on the highest peak in the world. Flight Lieutenant Nivedita Choudhary from Rajasthan became the first member of the Indian Air Force Mt Everest Expedition 2011 to stand on the top of the world, followed by a second member of the team, Corporal Raju Sindhu, 26, from Haryana.

Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II has become the second-longest reigning monarch in British history, overtaking King George III after reigning for 59 years and 111 days. 

AtuI Khare
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Indian diplomat AtuI Khare as Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations. Mr. Khare was earlier appointed by the previous Sec-retary-General, Kofi Annan, as his Special Represen-tative for Timor-Leste and Head of the U.N. Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste. 

Habib al-Adli
Egypt’s former Interior Minister, Habib al-Adli, was sentenced to 12 years in jail. Mr. al-Adli is the first official from former President Hosni Mubarak’s administration to stand trial and be convicted on charges of corruption. 

Binayak Sen
Within weeks of getting bail from the Supreme Court in connection with charges of sedition, human rights activist Binayak Sen has been made member of the Planning Commission’s Steering Committee on Health, which will .advise the panel on the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012-2017). Binayak Sen, who was released on bail from the Raipur jail recently, will, based on his experience of having worked as a paediatrician in Chhattisgarh’s tribal belt, provide his input on the health of tribal children. 

Pauline Nyiramasuhuko
A “former Rwandan Minister Pauline Nyiramasuhuko became the first and only woman in the world to be found guilty of genocide and in-citement to rape by UN International Criminal Tribu-nal for Rwanda.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner
Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became the first woman to conquer all fourteen 8,000-metre summits without artificial oxygen, when she reached the top of the K2. Kaltenbrunner, 40, is the third woman only to climb all 14 highest summits but the first to do so without artificial oxygen.

Lobsang Sangay
Lobsang Sangay (43), the political successor to the Dalai Lama, was sworn-in as Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamshala. Sangay succeeds Samdhong Rinpoche as the Kalon Tripa or the Prime Minister of the Central Tibetan Administration. 

Sucheta Kadethankar
33-year-old Sucheta from Pune, has successfully crossed the arduous 1,623 km stretch of the Gobi desert, the largest in Asia and the fifth in the world, in a multi-national expedition. Sucheta, who was part of a 13-member team led by Ripley Davenport, accomplished the expedition, nine days before the stipulated 60 day deadline, braving rigours and heat of the sands in Mongolia. She became the first Indian woman to cross Gobi desert.

Sarah West
A woman will command a warship for the first time in Britain’s 500-year-old naval history. Thirty-nine-year-old Lieutenant Commander Sarah West will take control of the Type 23 frigate HMS Portland. The vessel has 185 crew members, mostly males.

Norman Anil Kumar Browne
Ace fighter pilot Norman Anil Kumar Browne took over as the chief of the Indian Air Force from Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, who retired after putting in 42 years of service. 59- year-old Browne has 3,100 flying hours to his credit.

Sushil Kumar Modi
The newly appointed chairman of the empowered committee of state finance ministers on goods and services tax (GST), Sushil Kumar Modi, is one of the few BJP leaders after Atal Bihari Vajpayes who commands clout across party lines.

Peter Thomson
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) has elected Ambassador Peter Thomson, Fiji’s permanent repre-sentative to the United Nations, its president. Ambassador Thomson was elected as ISA president by its assembly which is holding its annual session in Kingston, Jamaica.

Narayana Murthy
Infosys founder, Chairman and Chief Mentor, N.R. Narayana Murthy, has been chosen to chair the Public Health Foundation of India. The position was left open after former chairperson Rajat Gupta, facing charges of insider trading in the United States, resigned in March. Mr. Murthy was unanimously elected by the PHFI’s governing council. He succeeds erstwhile Reserve Bank of India governor Y.V. Reddy, who has been func- tioning as the interim chairperson.

Vijayalakshmi Appareddy
A senior Indian-origin doctor from Andhra Pradesh has been elected as the chairperson of a section of the American Medical Association that promotes the interests of physicians who passed out their medical courses from outside the US and Canada.

Nandita Das
On October 28, 2011, at the historic National Building Museum, Washington DC, Nandita Das became the first Indian to be inducted into the International Women’s Forum (IWF) International Hall of Fame. In the presence of women leaders from 70 nations, the actor who often trod a lonely path in a glamour-obsessed industry, walked in equal company.

Mahan Maliaraj
Mahan  Maliraj has been awarded this Year’s Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award for mathematics, the highest academic honour n the country. This is the first time that any monk has won the award. 

Rabinder singh
Leading human rights lawyer Rabinder Singh (47) was sworn in as the high court of England and Wales’s first Sikh and the second non-white judge. Rabinder is the second Sikh to be appointed to Britain’s higher judiciary. Sir Mota Singh, knighted in 2010, was appointed a judge of the Crown Courts that are a tier below the high court in 1982.

Yulia Tymoshenko
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was given a seven-.year prison sentence after being found guilty of abuse of office in her signing a gas deal with Russia in 2009. She was also ordered to pay compensation of $189 million for losses incurred by Ukraine’s gas monopoly Naftogaz. As a convicted criminal, she would be unable to participate in Ukraine’s next presidential elections in 2012.
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Sunday, 19 August 2012

Miss China crowned Miss World 2012

Posted on 05:35 by Unknown

China's Yu Wenxia has been crowned the 2012 Miss World.

This is the second time Miss China has been awarded the title. The last time was in 2007 when Zhang Zilin took the honor.

The first runner-up is Sophie Elizabeth Moulds of Wales and the second runner-up is Jessica Michelle Kahawaty of Australia.

The 23-year-old Yu is a music student who says she wants to become a music teacher.

This is the first time for the Inner Mongolian city of Ordos to host the international beauty pageant.

The city is one of the richest regions in China thanks to its abundant natural resources. It hopes the world event will raise its profile for economic development and tourism.

Sanya, another Chinese city, has hosted the contest several times.

India's Vanya Mishra made it to the top seven spot but failed to progress further. She, however, did bag the titles of Miss Social Media and Miss Beauty with a Purpose.

In the semi-finals, the contestants were asked to perform on the music of their country and Vanya chose to dance on "Dil cheez kya hai" from 1981 film "Umrao Jaan", which landed her a spot in the top seven finalists.
Rita Faria was the first Indian to bag the title in 1966, followed by Aishwarya Rai (1994), Diana Hayden (1997), Yukta Mookhey (1999) and Priyanka Chopra (2000). China has already hosted the competition five times.

Miss World contest has several preliminary rounds, the winners of these major rounds of the pageant are:
1. Beach Fashion: Miss Wales
2. Talent Champion: Miss China
3. Top Model: Miss Sudan
4. Beauty with a Purpose: Miss India
5. Social Media Award: Miss India
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Friday, 17 August 2012

Welfare Schemes for Women

Posted on 04:05 by Unknown
Many welfare schemes for women are implemented by Government of India, State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. The details of major schemes under implementation by Ministry of Women and Child Development for the welfare of women are as under :

i. RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL CRECHE SCHEME FOR THE CHILDREN OF WORKING MOTHERS (RGNCS) provides day care facilities to the children in the age group 0-6 years from families with monthly income of less than 12000/-. In addition to being a safe space for the children, the crèches provide services such as supplementary nutrition, pre-school education and emergency health care, etc.

ii. CENTRAL SOCIAL WELFARE BOARD: The main women welfare related schemes and programmes being implemented by CSWB are family counselling centres, awareness generation programme and condensed courses of education for women.

iii. NATIONAL MISSION FOR EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN (NMEW) is an initiative of the Government of India for empowering women holistically. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme sanctioned in April 2011 and acts as an umbrella Mission with a mandate to strengthen inter-sectoral convergence.

iv. WORKING WOMEN’S HOSTEL (WWH) Scheme envisages provision of safe and affordable hostel accommodation to working women, single working women, women working at places away from their home-towns and for women being trained for employment.

v. SUPPORT TO TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME (STEP) for Women was launched as a Central Sector Scheme during 1986-87. It aims at making a significant impact on women by upgrading skills for self and wage employment. The target group includes the marginalized assetless rural women and urban poor.

vi. RASHTRIYA MAHILA KOSH (RMK) with a corpus of Rs.100 crore extends micro-finance services to bring about the socio-economic upliftment of poor women.

vii. INDIRA GANDHI MATRITVA SAHYOG YOJANA (IGMSY)
is a Conditional Cash Transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating (P&L) women introduced in the October 2010 to contribute to better enabling environment by providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition to pregnant and nursing mothers.

viii. SWADHAR SCHEME: The Ministry of Women and Child Development had been administering Swadhar scheme since 2001 for Women in difficult circumstances. Under the Scheme, temporary accommodation, maintenance and rehabilitative services are provided to women and girls rendered homeless due to family discord, crime, violence, mental stress, social ostracism. Another scheme with similar objectives/target groups namely Short Stay Home (SSH) is being implemented by Central Social Welfare Board.

ix. UJJAWALA is a comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
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Wednesday, 15 August 2012

LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 HIGHLIGHTS

Posted on 12:33 by Unknown
On August 12, 2012, London bade a flamboyant and madcap farewell to the Olympic Games with a romp through British pop and fashion, bringing the curtain down on more than two weeks of action that ended with USA topping the sporting world with 46 gold medals.

During a special eight-minute segment, the stadium was bathed in the colours and sounds of Brazil, as the Olympics looked ahead to 2016 when Rio de Janeiro is the host city.

The Olympic flag was handed to Eduardo Paes, Rio’s Mayor, before International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge described the London Games as “happy and glorious” and declared them closed—the words taken from Britain’s national anthem to the queen.

The main stadium was the setting for some of the most spectacular moments of the Games, including Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt defending the 100, 200 and 4x100 metres titles he won in Beijing, the latter in a world-beating time.

British supporters will also cherish memories of the venue, where Somali-born runner Mo Farah won the 5,000 and 10,000 double to deafening roars and was celebrated as a symbol of the capital’s multi-culturalism.

The hosts won 29 golds to take third place in the rankings, their best result for 104 years, helping lift a nation beset by severe spending cuts and worried about social stability a year after violent riots swept parts of the capital.

Many will remember London 2012 for the record-breaking exploits of American swimmer Michael Phelps, who took his life-time medal haul to 22 including 18 golds, making him the most decorated Olympian in history. His tally helped the United States to the top of the Olympic table with 46 golds to second-placed China’s 38, reversing the order of the Beijing Games in 2008.

Opening Ceremony
On July 27, 2012, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth declared the London Olympics open after playing a cameo role in a dizzying ceremony designed to highlight the grandeur and eccentricities of the nation that invented modern sport.

Children’s voices, intertwining from the four corners of her United Kingdom, ushered in an exuberant historical pageant of meadows, smokestacks and digital wizardry before an audience of 60,000 in the Olympic Stadium, and a probable billion television viewers around the globe.

Many of them gasped at the sight of the 86-year-old queen, marking her Diamond Jubilee this year, putting aside royal reserve in a video where she stepped onto a helicopter with James Bond actor Daniel Craig to be carried aloft from Buckingham Palace.

A film clip showed doubles of her and Bond skydiving towards the stadium and, moments later, she made her entrance in person.

More than 10,000 athletes from 204 countries competed in 26 sports over 17 days of competition in the only city to have staged the modern Games three times.

Most of them were there for the traditional alphabetical parade of the national teams, not least the athletes from Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen competing in their first Olympics since their peoples overthrew autocrats in Arab Spring revolutions.

Brunei and Qatar were led in by their countries’ first ever female Olympians and so, along with Saudi Arabia, ended their status as the only countries to exclude women from their teams.

At the end of a three-hour extravaganza, David Beckham, the English soccer icon who had helped convince the IOC to grant London the Games, stepped off a speedboat carrying the Olympic flame at the end of a torch relay that inspired many ordinary people around Britain.

Past Olympic heroes including Muhammad Ali, who lit the cauldron at the 1996 Atlanta Games, and British rower Steve Redgrave, the only person to win gold at five successive games, welcomed the flame into the stadium.

Yet it was not a celebrity but seven teenage athletes who lit a spectacular arrangement of over 200 copper ‘petals’ representing the participating countries, which rose up in the centre of the stadium to converge into a single cauldron.

India’s Performance
   

     
India’s tally of two silver and 4 bronze medals was its best tally in Olympics. 81 athletes from India had competed in 13 sports.

Sushil Kumar became the first Indian to get back-to-back Olympic medals. He won silver medal in 66kg Freestyle Wrestling. He had won a bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics.

Subedar Vijay Kumar Sharma of 16 Dogra Regiment bagged silver medal in 25m rapid fire pistol event.

Yogeshwar Dutt, 2010 CWG gold winner, won India its fourth Bronze medal in 60kg freestyle Wrestling.

Five-time world champion MC Mary Kom won a bronze medal in women’s boxing (51 kg) event. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2009), Arjuna Award (2003) and Padamshree (2006) awardee, Mary Kom is the first Indian women boxer to qualify for Olympics. The 29-year-old boxer from Manipur came back from a two-year sabbatical after the birth of her twins to clinch her fourth successive world title in 2008, a feat that got her the sobriquet ‘Magnificent Mary’.

Ace marksman Gagan Narang opened India’s account in London Olympics by clinching a bronze medal in the men's 10 meter air. The burly Indian, who narrowly missed the final in Beijing, raised his gun above his head as his many compatriots in the crowd cheered loudly at the country's first medal of the Games.

Beijing Games gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, however, could not defend his title and crashed out of the event.

Saina Nehwal won women’s singles bronze in badminton when her opponent Wang Xin of China broke down with a knee injury after taking the opening game. Nehwal, ranked fifth in the world, became only the second Indian woman to win a medal in an individual Olympic sport.

22-year-old Irfan from Kerala did not win any medal but produced the best effort by an Indian in an Olympic walking event, finishing 10th in the 20km race, with a national record to boot.

In Hockey, India finished last in their group. This was the first time in Olympic history that India lost all their group matches.

History of India in Olympics
The first authentic Indian team took part at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games in athletics and wrestling. A National Olympic Committee was finally formed in 1927.
India's greatest successes at the Olympics have come in men’s hockey. They won every men’s title from 1928 to 1956. In 1960 they reached the final but lost to Pakistan to end the sequence. India were an ever present on the men’s hockey medal podium until 1976 and their last gold medal success in this sport came at the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games.

Indian shooters have challenged for medals in the new millennium. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won silver in the men’s double trap in Athens 2004. Shooter Abinav Bindra became India’s first individual gold medalist when he won the 10m air rifle at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

At the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, Norman Pritchard had won silver medals in the men’s 200m and the now discontinued 200m hurdles. He was the first medal winner born in India but confusion surrounds his nationality as India was then under British rule.

Mascot
Wenlock was the official mascot of the Games. The mascot was created and designed by iris, a London-based creative agency. Wenlock is an animation depicting two drops of steel from a steelworks in Bolton. It was named after the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock, which held a forerunner of the current Olympic Games.
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Tuesday, 14 August 2012

APPSC Official Key for Junior Accountant, Junior Assistant, Junior Stenographers and Typists in A.P. Vaidya Vidhana Parishad

Posted on 09:35 by Unknown
Key for Notification No. 53/2011 Dt: 31/12/2011 , Key : J.As/JR.STENOS / TYPISTS IN V.V. PARISHAD(53/2011) :: Paper-1




Key for Notification No. 53/2011 Dt: 31/12/2011 , Key : J.As/JR.STENOS / TYPISTS IN V.V. PARISHAD(53/2011) :: Paper-2
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APPSC OFFICIAL KEY FOR JUNIOR ASSISTANT IN BOARD OF INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION

Posted on 09:32 by Unknown
Key for Notification No. 51/2011 Dt:30/12/2011 , Key : JR.ASST. BOARD OF INTER.EDU.(51/2011) :: Paper-1 


Key for Notification No. 51/2011 Dt:30/12/2011 , Key : JR.ASST. BOARD OF INTER.EDU.(51/2011) :: Paper-2
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