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ABBREVIATIONS
GOCE: Gravity field and steady state
Ocean Circulation Explorer.
IW: Information Warfare.
AWARDS
Hoover Medal, 2008: Former Presi-
dent Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has been cho-
sen to receive the prestigious 2008 Hoover
Medal for outstanding public service. He
has been recognized for making state-of-the-art healthcare available to the common
man at affordable prices, bringing quality
medical care to rural areas by establishing
a link between doctors and technocrats,
using spin-offs of defence technology to
create state-of-the-art medical equipment,
and launching telemedicine projects con-
necting remote hospitals to super-speciality
hospitals.
Stockholm Water Prize, 2009:
Bindeshwar Pathak, an Indian doctor whodeveloped cheap toilets to improve sanita-
tion in poor communities has been hon-
oured with the award. He will receive the
$ 150,000 cash award and a symbolic glass
sculpture. The Stockholm International
Water Institute said Pathak’s achievements
constitute one of the most amazing exam-
ples of how one person can impact the
well-being of millions. Pathak founded the
Sulabh International Social Service Organi-
sation in India in 1970 and recently startedoperations in Bhutan and Afghanistan.
Mother Teresa Award, 2009: Tamil
Nadu Governor and former Punjab Chief
Minister Surjit Singh Barnala has been
selected for the Mother Teresa Lifetime
achievement award 2009 for his contribu-
tion in the field of social work and admi-
nistration. Hillary Clinton, Sheikh Hasina,
Girija Prasad Koirala, late Rajiv Gandhi,
Jyothi Basu, Hema Malini and Rajesh
Khanna are among the earlier recipients of the award.
COMMITTEES
Raghavan panel report on ragging:
States have been ignoring the Raghavan
committee recommendations that were
accepted by the Supreme Court in 2007.
The major recommendation of the commit-
tee was that Central regulatory bodies
should take ragging situation as an impor-
tant factor in accreditation of education
institutions.
The committee had also recommendedanti-ragging cells should have been estab-
lished at Central, State and college level
and toll-free helpline should be provided
for ragging victims. Strong law against rag-
ging with responsibility to prove not guilty
lying on the perpetrator was also recom-
mended.
The committee had also suggested
that NCERT and SCERT school books
should include chapter on ragging, and
psychological counselling on anti-ragging
and human rights should be conducted athigher secondary level.
DEFENCE
Interceptor Missile tested: On
March 6, 2009, India’s Missile Defence Pro-
gramme took a leap forward as scientists
demonstrated the capacity to intercept an
enemy missiles in mid-air and destroy it.
The third test in the continuing pro-
gramme was conducted off the wheeler
island in Orissa.As part of the test, an enemy missile
was destroyed at a height of 75 km above
the earth. With this India joins a select
band of nations, such as the USA, Russia
and Israel, who have similar capabilities.
The latest test was against a moving
missile. This provides a credible defence
against long-range missiles owned by Pak-
istan having range between 400 and 2,000
km and the Chinese arsenal that varies
from a range of 300 km to 2,800 km. Coun-
tering an incoming missile is one of the biggest challenges in modern-day warfare.
Current General Knowledge
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Abbreviations
Awards
Committees
Defence
Discovery
Environment
Oil
Persons
Places
ProjectsResearch
Space
Research
Miscellaneous
©
T h e C o m p e t i t i o n M a s t e r .
C o n t e n t s o r T r a n s l a t i o n o f c o n t e n t s o f t h i s
d o c u m e n t m u s t n o t b e r e p r o d u c e d i n a n y m a n n e r w
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To mimic the incoming enemy’s
ballistic missile trajectory, a
Dhanush missile was launched from
a ship about 100 km off the coast of
Orissa. This missile achieved a
height of 120 km. The interceptor
missile sensed the enemy missile
and was fired from a mobilelaun-cher located on Wheeler
island.
Phalcons to give IAF early
bird advantage: After several tech-
nical and other hiccups, IAF will
finally get its most potent force-
multiplier, the desperately awaited
Phalcon AWACS (Airborne Warning
and Control Systems), from Israel in
May 2009. The Phalcon AWACS will bolster IAFs capabilities to detect
troop build-up or aircraft move-
ments deep inside Pakistan, much
further than ground-based radars,
while flying well within Indian air-
space. An AWACS flying over Amrit-
sar, for instance, will be able to
detect and track a Pakistani F-16
fighter jet as soon as it takes off
from its Sargodha airbase. AWACS
are primarily used for detection of
incoming hostile cruise missiles andaircraft from hundreds of km away
in all-weather conditions, as well as
directing air defence fighters during
combat operations against enemy
jets.
DISCOVERY
Indian scientists find UV-
resistant bacteria: Indian scien-
tists have discovered three new bac-
teria, about 40 km above the surfaceof the earth, which can resist ultra-
violet radiation, a finding that could
throw light on the origin of life on
the planet. These three types of
bacteria that do not match any
species on earth were found in
samples collected through a balloon
sent up to the stratosphere in April
2005. This layer of earth’s
atmosphere receives heavy ultravio-
let radiation that is harmful to
almost all life on earth and typicallykills bacteria.
The balloon sent up to the stra-
tosphere was the second effort by
India after a maiden venture in 2001.
It contained probes that collected air
samples at different heights ranging
from 20 km to 41 km above the
earth’s surface.
The experiment was conducted by a team led by Jayant Narlikar,
founder director of the Inter-
University Centre for Astronomy
and Astrophysics, Pune, and Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO),
Bangalore.
The current belief is that ultra-
violet radiation inhibits growth of
any living system. Based on the ori-
gin of life theory, some of these
organisms may be coming from anextraterrestrial source, or it could be
mutants that have emanated from
the various earthly processes.
Though the experiment does not
conclusively establish the extrater-
restrial origin of microorganisms, it
does provide positive encourage-
ment to continue the work in a quest
to explore the origin of life.
The three bacteria have been
named Janibacter hoylei after astro-
physicist Fred Hoyle, who promotedthe theory that life evolved in space;
Bacillus isronensis that recognizes
the contribution of India’s space
agency in the balloon experiments
that led to its discovery; and Bacillus
aryabhata after India’s ancient
astronomer who postulated that the
earth revolves around the sun.
ENVIRONMENT
New greenhouse gases: Scien-tists have identified two new green-
house gases, one emitted by the elec-
tronic industry and the other used in
pest control, which are rapidly accu-
mulating in the atmosphere. Climate
scientist Dr Paul Fraser of CSIRO
Marine and Atmospheric Research
has reported the measurements of
nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and sul-
furyl fluoride (SO2F2), the two new
gases. They say countries should
consider including these gases forcontrol in the revision of the Kyoto
Protocol.
OIL
RIL’s KG basin commences
production: Reliance Industries Ltd
has announced the commencement
of gas production from one of the
world’s largest gas discoveries thattook place in 2002 in the Krishna-
Godavari (KG) basin in the Bay of
Bengal. With this, India is expected
to save $ 9 billion in annual energy
import expenditure.
Gas production from Reliance’s
$ 8.8 billion KG-D6 deepwater gas
project, of which $ 5.4 billion has
already been invested, is expected to
transform India’s energy landscape
by doubling the current level of indigenous gas production by 2010.
At $ 4.2 per million British ther-
mal unit, the KG-D6 gas is 25 per
cent cheaper than the fuel produced
by UK’s BG-operated Panna/Mukta
and Tapti fields in the Western Off-
shore and 20 per cent cheaper than
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import-
ed on long-term contracts.
The KG-D6 gas is also expected
to substantially reduce India’s
dependence on energy imports and bring down subsidy levels in the
fertilizer, transportation and other
sectors.
Besides doubling the nation’s
domestic gas production, the KG-D6
gas would substitute costly naphtha
or imported LNG as fuel at power
and fertilizer plants. The gas would
also boost power supply from idle
power plants starved of fuel and
produce cheaper urea for agricul-ture. By 2010, output from D6 will
be increased to 80 mmscmd,
doubling India’s gas production
capability.
Gas from the KG D6 deepwater
block will be piped to an onshore
facility at Gadimoga, a small village
in the East Godavari district of
Andhra Pradesh, before it is deli-
vered to the consumers. Reliance
operates D6 with a 90% stake, with
Canada’s Niko Resources holdingthe remaining 10%.
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PERSONS
Chawla, Navin: He has been
appointed as the Chief Election Com-
missioner of India. An Indian
Administrative Service officer of the
1969 batch, he will hold charge till
July 29, 2010. He was appointed
Election Commissioner on May 13,2005. Navin Chawla has had a con-
troversial past. The Chief Election
Commissioner N. Gopalaswami, on
January 31, 2009, had sent his
recommendation regarding removal
of Election Commissioner Navin
Chawla to the President of India. The
CEC had alleged that Chawla had
discharged his duties as Election
Commissioner in a partisan manner,
seeking to further the interests of “one party”. The CEC recommenda-
tion was, however, rejected by the
Union government.
Naik, Pradeep Vasant: Air
Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik has
been appointed as the next chief of
Indian Air Force. Born on July 22,
1949, he was commissioned into the
IAF in 1969 and has 3,085 hours of
fighter flying under his belt. A
veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, hehas also served as the Air Officer
Commanding-in-Chief of the
Allahabad-based Central Air
Command. He is a fellow of the
National Defence College, New Delhi,
College of Defence Management,
Secundrabad and Defence Services
Staff College, Wellington. The cours-
es attended by him include flying
instructor course, jungle and snow
survival and junior commanders’course.
PLACES
Istanbul: Government minis-
ters from 120 countries, scientists
and campaigners met in Istanbul
from March 16-22, 2009, to discuss
how to avert a global water crisis
and ease tensions between States
fighting over rivers, lakes and
glaciers.
L’Aquila: More than 250 per-
sons were killed in a devastating
earthquake that rocked central Italy
in first week of April 2009, around
the ancient town of L’Aquila. An esti-
mated 50,000 people were left
homeless. The US geological survey
reported the strength of the quake
at 6.3 saying it was centred 95 kmnortheast of Rome, at a depth of 10
km.
London: World leaders gather-
ed here on April 2, 2009 for the G-
20 Summit to discuss the ongoing
economic crisis and to find solution
to the economic woes of developing
countries.
Rome: Labour Ministers fromthe G-8 nations and six other major
economies gathered here in March
2009 for talks on the human dimen-
sion of the financial crisis sweeping
the planet. The three-day Group of
14 meeting brought together the G8
leading industrial powers with the
emerging giants China, India and
Brazil, as well as Mexico, South
Africa and Egypt.
South Africa: Indian PremierLeague (IPL) has chosen South Africa
for hosting the second edition of the
highly popular Twenty20 cricket
tournament from April 18, 2009.
The tournament had to be shifted
from India due to clash of dates with
General Elections being held in India
at the same time.
PROJECTS
Krishnapatnam Port: Thedeveloper and operator of an all-
weather, deep-water port in Andhra
Pradesh, Krishnapatnam Port Co Ltd
(KPCL) is constructing the port in
three phases at Krishnapatnam in
Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
The first phase, built at a cost of Rs
1,400 crore, had commenced opera-
tions in July 2008. The first phase of
KPCL’s port project has a cargo han-
dling capacity of 25 million tonnes a
year. The second phase of expan-sion will take up total berths in the
port to 12 from four now, where the
company plans to reserve at least six
berths for handling coal, leaving the
rest for general bulk and container
cargo.
Mughal road project: The
prestigious Mughal road project,which will connect Kashmir valley
with the rest of India, is expected to
be completed by March 2011. The
estimated cost of the project, under-
taken under the Prime Minister’s
Reconstruction Programme (PMRP),
was Rs 225 crores in 2006. This has
been revised to Rs 639.85 crore now.
So far, at least 6 culverts are ready,
while work on 43 culverts and two
bridges is going on.
RESEARCH
Polypill passes first major
test: A single pill that contains five
life saving drugs to combat bad cho-
lesterol, high blood pressure and
clotting at one go, has come closer
to reality after passing its first big
test. Scientists have announced that
polypill, a once-a-day pill that com-
bines cholesterol-lowering statin,
aspirin and three BP-lowering drugswas as effective as drugs taken sep-
arately, with no greater side effects.
The study tested polypill on 2,053
Indians aged 48-80 years who did
not have heart disease but had a sin-
gle risk factor like raised BP, dia-
betes, obesity or smoking. It con-
cluded that if the pill was given to
this population, it would reduce risk
of heart disease by 62% and stroke
by 48%.
Green chewing gum
launched: The world’s first
biodegradable chewing gum, which
is completely environment-friendly,
has been introduced in supermar-
kets all over Britain. Chicza Rainfor-
est Gum, as it is called, is manufac-
tured in Mexico by Consorcio
Chiclero, which is a consortium of
56 co-operatives employing some
2,000 chicleros (gum farmers) andtheir families.
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The workers extract natural
gum from the sap of the chicle tree,
which is then used to make the pro-
duct. Unlike conventional chewing
gum, which contains petrochemi-
cals, the organic chewing gum does
not stick to clothing or pavements.
Once disposed of, it will crumble todust in about six weeks, dissolving
harmlessly in water or being
absorbed into the soil.
Big step for creating artifi-
cial life: US scientists said they
have taken an important step toward
making an artificial life form by
making a ribosome that makes the
proteins that carry out key business
for all form of life.Messenger RNA carries DNA’s
genetic instructions to a cell’s ribo-
some, which then cooks up the
desired protein. Every living organ-
ism from bacteria to humans uses a
ribosome, and they are all strikingly
similar. It is not quite artificial life,
but an important step in that direc-
tion, said George Church, a profes-
sor of genetics at Harvard Medical
School, who directed the research
with a single graduate student.Normal ribosomes make some
drugs slowly, and others can’t be
made at all. However, a man-made,
or reconstituted, ribosome may be
programmable to make all kinds of
molecules.
SPACE RESEARCH
GOCE—Eye in space to
disclose earth’s secrets: A Euro-
pean satellite, GOCE (Gravity fieldand steady state Ocean Circulation
Explorer), launched in March 2009,
is to show scientists the inner work-
ings of earth, from the movements
of ocean currents to the location of
oil deposits. Its data will enable sci-
entists to detect the flows of molten
rock that underlie the movements of
tectonic plates and cause earth-
quakes. The GOCE probe will meas-
ure tiny anomalies in earth’s gravity,
caused by anything from mountainranges to subterranean lava flows or
ocean trenches.
Scientists have long known that
the earth’s gravity varies all over its
surface and that measuring those
changes could give insights into the
planet’s inner workings. However,
designing an instrument capable of
measuring them, which would alsosurvive the rigours of blast-off, has
until now proved impossible. GOCE
will yield details of the Earth’s gravi-
ty field to an accuracy and resolu-
tion that is simply unobtainable by
existing terrestrial and space tech-
niques. For geologists, perhaps the
most exciting prospect is of being
able to peer deep below the earth’s
crust.
MISCELLANEOUS
Images from moon to go
online: US space agency NASA has
entered into a collaboration with
software giant Microsoft Corp to
develop a new technology that will
make planetary images and data
accessible worldwide through Inter-
net. The joint venture will work to
develop a new technology to make
NASA’s content, including high-
resolution images and data fromMars and the moon, available on
worldwide telescope, Microsoft’s
online virtual telescope.
Under the agreement, NASA’s
Ames Research Centre in Moffett
Field, California, will process and
host more than 100 terabytes of
data, enough to fill 20,000 DVDs.
Worldwide Telescope will also incor-
porate the data and feature images
sent from NASA’s Mars Reconnais-sance Orbiter. The tool will also have
images from a camera aboard
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter, scheduled to be launched in
May 2009.
NSE free float-based indices
to change market-cap weightage:
When the National Stock Exchange
(NSE) calculates its bench mark
indices using the free float metho-
dology from June 2009, the marketcapitalisation (M-cap) weightage of
key companies and sectors would
undergo major changes. Sectors with
high institutional holding and com-
panies having a large number of
shares available for trading would
gain from the move. The NSE cur-
rently uses full m-cap weightage
methodology for computing its keyindices.
Free float m-cap takes into con-
sideration only those shares which
are readily available for trading in
the market. It usually excludes pro-
moters’ holding, government hold-
ing, strategic holding and locked in
shares that normally do not come to
the market for trading.
G-20: G-20 or the Group of Twenty is a forum of Finance Minis-
ters and Central Bank Governors of
the biggest industrialised and deve-
loping economies to discuss key
issues in the global economy. The G-
20 countries account for 90% of
global GDP, 80% of world trade and
two-thirds of the world’s population.
The Asian financial crisis of
1997-98 raised fears of a global eco-
nomic meltdown and world leaders
became acutely aware of the lack of a platform where key emerging mar-
ket countries and the G-7 industri-
alised nations could discuss the sta-
tus of the global economy and meas-
ures for its improvement. The G-20
was born in 1999 as a result of this
recognition.
Although the group has 19 of
the world’s largest economies as its
members, it has no formal criteria
for membership. Apart from the G-7industrialised nations, it includes
emerging economies like India,
China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa,
Mexico, South Korea, Argentina,
Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and
Australia. The 20th member is the
European Union, which is represent-
ed by whichever country holds the
EU Presidency. The IMF and the
World Bank also attend G-20
meetings. The chairmanship rotates
every year. Britain is in the chair for2009.
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