Current Affairs - May2012 - Guide4BankExams

7/31/2019 Current Affairs - May2012 - Guide4BankExams

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Int er na t Iona l EvEnt s

Aung San Suu Kyi took the oath ofoffice to become an official member

of Myanmars parliament on 2 May

2012. Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy

leader of Myanmar for the first time

has held public office since launching

her struggle against authoritarian rule

nearly a quarter century ago.

Jordan's parliament on 9 May 2012 passed a law to encourage a multiparty

political system in the country. The move is one of the major

reform measures announced by Jordan King Abdullah II, as the

country goes to elections before the end of 2012. The new law

allows for state funding of election but bans foreign aid to the

parties.

Pakistan successfully

test-fired Hatf III

Ghaznavi missile on

10 May 2012. The

missile has a range of

290 km and it can hit

its target in India. Themissile is capable of

carrying nuclear

warheads.


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The Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande defeated the incumbent

president Nicholas Sarkozy to become the 24th French President in the

presidential elections held on 6 May 2012. Hollande is the second socialist

president of France. The Socialist Party first won power in 1981, as FranoisMitterrand was elected President of France.

The Union Cabinet on 17 May approved the 7.6 billion dollar TAPI

(Turkmenisthan-Afghanistan-Pakisthan-India) gas pipeline project. The

TAPI gas pipeline project originates from the central Asian nation

Turkmenistan and reaches India via Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is also referred

to as the peace pipeline. The TAPI gas project will have a total length of 1680

km. Of the total length 144km will be in Turkmenistan, 735km in Afghanistan,

and 800km in Pakistan, bringing it to the India border. The pipeline will be

entirely functional in 2018 and supply gas over the next thirty years. The

pipeline would produce 90 million standard cubic metres of gas per day


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(mscmd). Of the total gas pumped through it, India and Pakistan will get 38

mscmd each and Afghanistan the remaining 14 mscmd.

Pakistan on 29 May 2012 successfully test-fired a short-range Hatf IX

(Nasr) missile.The missile has a range of 60 kilometers and is capable of

carrying nuclear warheads. An Egyptian court awarded former President

Hosni Mubarak with life imprisonmenton 2 June 2012. The former autocrat

was convicted given his involvement in the murder of protesters during the

uprising which dethroned him in 2011. The trial against Mubarak began in

August 2011.

Na t ioNa l EvENt s

The Union Government of India on 1 June 2012 announced to constitute an

implementation panel to look into the ways of implementing theDharmadhikari committee report on Air India and Indian Airlines merger. Theimplementation panel will

also suggest the issues

including pay, allowances

and career progression

structure. The four-

member Dharmadhikari

committee constituted in

January 2012, onintegration of nearly

29000 employees of Air India and Indian Airlines.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on 28 May 2012 quashed the 4.5 per centsub-quota for minorities carved out of the 27 per cent reservation forOBCs by the Union government. A high court division bench of Chief Justice


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Madan Lokur and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar observed that the Union

governments move was based on religious lines and not any other consideration.

The court was hearing to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by backward

classes leader R Krishnaiah against the sub-quota. The Union Government will

move to the Supreme Court against the high court verdict.

India and Bahrain, on 31 May 2012 made a Tax Information ExchangeAgreement to promote economic cooperation and joint investment between thetwo countries. The agreement is aimed at increasing bilateral trade that stands at

1.7 billion dollar. The agreement with its provision for effective exchange of

information between the two countries will help in reducing tax evasion and tax

avoidance.The agreement was signed by

Indian Minister of State for Finance Namo

Narain Meena and Bahrains Minister of

Transportation and Acting Chief Executiveof Economic Development Board Kamal

Ahmed in New Delhi. The two countries also

inked a Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) to make the ties on technological

front more effective. Under the newly signed

MoU India will provide technical assistance to Bahrain and help it to develop its

own IT sector in Bahrain.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned 29 may after a three-day visit

to Myanmar during which the two countries agreed to expand trade, improveconnectivity and bring peace in border areas and emphasised on closer ties to boost

energy security. The two countries inked a dozen agreements, including a $500million credit line, on areas like border area developmentand air services.Manmohan Singh, who held wide-ranging talks with President Thein Sein, also

met Myanmar's iconic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who said she was "very happy at

the prospect of closer ties with India".

E-Challan & Receipt (ECR) Facility Launched

Union Minister of Labour & Employment Mallikarjun Kharge inaugurated the E-

Challan and receipt (ECR) facility on 1 May 2012 to bring transparency and

accessibility for employers in depositing monthly employees Provident Fund or

EPF contributions of their workers. Employees under the ECR service would have

to register their organisations online and generate challans for making monthly


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deposits. They can use these challan for either electronically or physically

depositing the provident fund or PF contribution to the bank.

Union Government decided to include chit funds, an informal pooling of funds

from individuals for lending under the chit fund Act of 1982 in six states including

Gujarat and Kerala. The decision was meant to help people access the dispute

settlement mechanism. Nagaland, Haryana Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are the

other states to come under the Act, providing a cushion for small savers who are at

the mercy of local operations of the six states brought under the central ruling, only

Kerala operated under the Kerala chit Act of 1975. The other five states had no

laws to regulate chit fund operations.

Indian Americans in Forbes List of Best Tech Investors

Forbes Magazine recently came up with the list of Technologies best investorsamong which nine are Indian Americans . These influential personalities have been

successful in creating wealth and funding innovative ideas that help to keep our

economy vibrant.Anil Bhasuri, Rob Chandra, Sameer Gandhi, Vinod Khosh,

Neeraj Agrawak, Navin Chaddha, Ajay Agarwal, Asheen Chandra and Subrata

Mitra are the best Tech investors on the forbes list .

Fianace Minister Pranab Mukherjee was Elected As Chair Of ADBs BoardOf Governor

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on 4 May2012 was elected as Chair of the Asian Development

Banks (ADB) Board of Governors. India will host the

46th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank

in New Delhi in 2013. Though India was the founding

member of the ADB in 1966, the lending operations

in India began two decades late.

Tata Group Among 10 Best Companies for

Leadership in Asia

The Tata Group is at the fifth position among the ten

best companies for leadership in Asia list , according

to study by management consultancy Gaint Hay

Group. The topped company in the list is Samsung

group followed by Tayota Motors and Unilever at the


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second and third positions . The study said that innovation was the prime factor hat

made Tata Groups to find place among the top names in Asia . Others in the top 10

in Asia are Nestle, IBM Corp, Sony Corp, Procter & Gamble , Coca- Cola and

Petronas. Among the global best leadership companies are General Electric as at

the top followed by Procter 7 Gamble, IBM, Microsoft and Coca- Cola.

India, according to a report published by the Security andDefence Agenda (SDA) and McAfee on 6 May 2012,ranked fifth in the list of countries affected of Cyber Crime.

The report cyber security, The Vexed Question of Global

Rules, rated the internet privacy in the country as low.

Brussels based SDA spoke to leading global security

exports to ensure that findings would offer useful

recomendations and actions.

Bihar C.M Nitish Kumar Took Oath As Member ofBLC

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister

Sushil Kumar Modi, former chief minister and RJD leader

Rabri Devi sworn in as members of the Bihar Legislative

Council on 7 May 2012. The leaders were administered

oath by state Legislative Council chairman Salim Parvej.

Qualcomm Recieved The Broadband Wireless Access Spectrum

Qualcomm, the US chipmaker received the Broadband Wireless Access(BWA)

spectrum on 8 May 2012 by the Department of Telecommunications ( DoT). The

DoT however, reduced the companys period of licence use to 18.5 years from 20years as mentioned in the licence agreement. The time period to meet the rollout

obligations was also reduced from 5 to 3.5 years.


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The Union Cabinet Approved the 7.6 Billion Dollar TAPI Gas PipelineProject (TGPP)

The Union Cabinet Approved the 7.6 Billion Dollar TAPI Gas Pipeline Project

(TGPP) on 17 May 2012. The TAPI gas pipeline project which organisation from

the central Asian Nation Turkmenistan and reaches to India via Afghanistan and

Pakistan is also referred to as the Peace Pipeline as some of the countries that it

passes through dont enjoy good relationship with each other. The TAPI gas

project will have a total length of 1680 km of the total length 144 km will be in

Turkmenistan, 735 km in Afghanistan and 800 km in Pakistan, bringing it to the

Indian borders. The pipeline, will be entirely functional in 2018 and supply gas

over the next thirty years.

Report on Status of Implementation of SCs and STs Act 1989 Released

The report on the status of implementation of SCs an d STs ( prevention of

Atrocities) Act 1989 and Rules 1995 was released by the first Dalit chief Justice of

India, Justice K.G.Balakrishna on 18 May 2012. The report was prepared by the

National Coalition after collecting evidence by visiting the places of incidents and

talking to victims across India for strengthening SCs and STs( Prevention of

Atrocities ) Act. The report revealed substantial increace in cases of violence

against SCs and Sts. It also highlighted loopholes in the implementation of the SCs

and ST s Act and agreed that it has not been able to check atrocities against Dalits

and Adivasis in an affective manner.

Economy

Goa gained top rank with highest per capita income in the country with a total

per capita income of 192652 rupees in 2011-12. The national average was

estimated at 38005 rupees in 2011-12 against 35993 rupees

in 2010-11.Delhi has the second position with a total per

capita income of 1.75 lakh rupees. Haryana with per capita

income of 109227 rupees positioned third. The estimates were prepared as per

methodology prescribed by the Central Statistical Organisation based on

provisional data provided by it.


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The Competition Commission of India (CCI) formed an Eminent Persons

Advisory Group (EPAG) on 7 May 2012.

The group is constituted to give advice to

CCI, on issues impacting markets andcompetition. The group comprise Infosys

founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, former

Comptroller and Auditor General V.N. Kaul,

former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of

India Rakesh Mohan, Biocon Chairman and

MD Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, former Director, of IIM-Ahmedabad Bakul Dholakia,

former Chairman of CERC S.L Rao, former Vice-Chancellor of NLSIU, BangaloreN.L Mitra. The Group will have interaction/meetings with the Commission two to

three times a year.

The Union cabinet on 31 May 2012 approved a new telecom policy 2012 which

seeks to do away with roaming charges across the country.

The new policy called National Telecom Policy-2012 will

replace more than decade old legislation. The new Telecom

Policy also simplifies the licencing policy.It also seeks to

provide a predictable and stable policy regime for a period

of nearly 10 years. Some of the

New Telecom Policy-2012 Highlights are -

1) Increase rural teledensity from the current level of around

39 to 70 by the year 2017 and 100 by the year 2020

2) Repositioning of Mobile phone as an instrument of empowerment

3) Broadband -"'Broadband For All" at a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps

4) Domestic Manufacturing - Making India a global hub


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According to data released by Ministry of Statistics of

India on 1 June 2012, Bihar emerged as the state

with highest economic growth rate in the

country. The state recorded an impressive 13.1 percent growth in 2011-12. Bihar topped the list for

second consecutive year. The state was closely

followed by Delhi and Puducherry.

The Union government on 30 May 2012 announced the constitution of a

committee under the chairmanship of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory

Councils (PMEAC) chairman C. Rangarajan to review the existing production

sharing contracts (PSCs). The PSCs are to be reviewed in the backdrop of the

recent spat between Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) and the Petroleum Ministry.

The review followed the Comptroller and Auditor Generals (CAG) draft report

that had asked the Petroleum Ministry to carry out a comprehensive review of the

PSCs to protect the interests of the Government. The committee will look into the

structure and elements of the guidelines for determining the basis or formula for

the price of domestically produced gas, and for monitoring actual price fixation as

well as for any other issues relating to PSCs. It will rewrite some of the terms in

the PSCs signed for exploration and production of oil and gas.

The Central Government announced the setting up of a five-member technical

group under the Chairmanship of Dr C Rangarajan, Chairman of the Prime

Minister's Economic Advisory Council, to revisit poverty estimates,

methodologies and identification of the poor. The committee made a

comprehensively review of the existing methodology of estimation of poverty and

examine if the poverty line should be fixed solely in terms of consumption basket

or whether other criteria were also relevant.


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Science a nd Technol ogyThe World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released its report Living Planet Report

2012 on 15 May 2012. It revealed that; Biodiversity has decreased by an average

of 28 percent globally since 1970. The WWF also urged the global community to

take the issue of

environmental

degradationseriously.A global

environmental

summit is to be

held in the

Brazilian city Rio

De Janerio from 20

to 22 June 2012.The summit is

expected to draw more than 50000 participants from different nations.

On 5 May 2012, the moon had been

closer to Earth than at any other times

this year, which means it will appear up

to 14 % bigger and 30% brigther hanany other full moon of 2012. Its the

supermoon ,it happens but once in a

year.


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Pakistan Test Fired Hatf -III

Pakistan on 10 May 2012 successfully test fired the traning launch of Hatf-III

(Ghaznavi), a short range ballistic missile capable of carrying both nuclear and

conventional warheads across 290 km . The launch was conducted at the

conclusion of the annual field training exercise of the Army strategic force

command.

Soyuz TMA-04M Rocket Launches In Kazakhstan

The Soyuz TMA-04M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in

Kazakhstan on 15 May 2012 carrying Epedition 31 Soyuz commander Gennady

Padaika, NASA flight Engineer Joseph Acaba and flight Engineer Sargei Revin to

the International space station.

U.S Company Space X Test flight of the dragon space capsule

The U.S company Space X on 22 May in Florida ( Cape Canaveral) to lunch its

own craft towards th e international space station. The test flight of the Dragon

space capsule,which

lanuched a top space Xs

falcon 9 rosked,aims to

show that indutry can

restore U.S access to the

ISS after NASA retiredits space shuttle fleet last

year . The mission is set

to include a fly-by and

berthing with the station

in the next three days

,before the capsule

returns at the end of may

month.

Russia Successfully Test Fired a new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

U.S has the capable of piercing defence systems being developed. THe strategic

Missile forces test launched a new prototype ballistic missile from a mobile

launcher at the plesetsk cosmodrome in Askhangalsk Region on 23 May. It was the

second launch of deeply modernised yar missile named Avangard.


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Large Solar Telescope

A powerfull solar telescole billed as the largest in

Europe opened recently on Spains canary Islands.

Scinetist says it will alow them to study the sun

unprecedented with a mirror diameter of 1.5meters , the

Gregor telescope will be able to show structures on the

sun on scales on small as 70 kilometres.

India Test Fired Anti Aircraft Akash Missile

Defence Research Development organization (DRDO) official associate with the

Akashmissile project.The missile,which has a strike range of 25km with warhead

of 60 kgs,was test fired from a mobile launcher from launch complex-III of the

ITR at about 110hrs.It is surface to air missile.

Isarel Unleashes Spy Virus On Iran

A Russian firm has discovered a new computer virus Flamewith unprecendented

destructive potential that cheifly targets Iran. Kasperky Lab, is one of the Worlds

biggest producer of anti-virus softwaer discovered the cyber weapon called

Flame during an investigation that was prompted by the InternationalTelecommunication Union.

Pakistan Successfully Test Fired Nuclear Capable Hatf9 Missile

Pakistan on May 29 2012 succesfully test fired a short range

Hatf9(Nasr)missile.The missile which has a range of 60kilometers is capable of

carrying nuclear warheads. It was pakistans third ballastic missiile test since

April2012.


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AwAr ds And Honor s

Indian author Rahul Bhattacharya, on 29 May 2012 won the prestigiousOndaatje Prize 2012 for his book The Sly Company of People Who Care. He is

the first Indian author to have received this award.

Bhattacharya was also conferred with the Hindu

Literary Prize for Best Fiction, 2011 for the same

book. The award is presented to the author who is a

citizen of or who has been resident in the

Commonwealth.

The Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama received the 1.7 million dollar

Templeton Prize on 14 May 2012 for his role in promoting links between

spirituality and science. The award was conferred at a ceremony in St. Paul's

Cathedral, London.

Miss India World Vinya Mishra and Yesteryear actress Sushma Seth were

awarded with Kalpana Chawla excellence

award on 6 May 2012 at Mavlankar

Auditorium, New Delhi. The award was

instituted by PECOBA (Punjab Engineering

College Chandigarh Old Boys Association)

.Kalpana Chawla was an alumnus of this

College and got her degree in aeronautical

engineering in 1982 from this college.


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Vice President of India Hamid Ansari conferred the 59th National Film

Awards across various categories upon the winners at Vigyan Bhawan in New

Delhi on 4 May 2012. Ansari also presented the Dadasaheb Phalke award, highest

honour in Indian cinema to Veteran Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee. The best

feature film award was shared by Marathi film Deool and Kannada movie Byari.

Best director award went to Gurvinder Singh for his Punjabi film Anhe Ghorey Da

Daan. Chillar Party was adjudged the best children's film. Marathi actor Girish

Kulkarni and bollywood actress Vidya Balan got the best male and female actor

awards. Kumararaja Thiagarajan won the Indira Gandhi Award for best debut film

of a director for Aaranyakandam.

Commit t ees

Competition Commission Of India, Constituted Eminet Persons AdvisoryGroup

The competition commission of India (CCI) formed an Eminet Persons Advisory

Group (EPAG) on 7 May 2012. The group is constituted to provide CCI inputs and

advise on issues impacting markets and competition, among others. The group

comprise Infosys founder N.R.Nayanan Murthy former comptroller and Auditor

General V.N Kawl, Former Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India Rakesh

Mohan, Biocon Chairman and M.S Kran Mazumdar- shaw, former Directorof IIM-

Amedhabad Bakul Dholaka, formerchairman of CEFC S.L.Ro, former vice

chancellor of NLSIU- Bangalore N.L Mitra . Thee group will hold its maiden

meeting on July 2012 The group will have interaction/ meeting with the

commission two to three times a year.


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Seven Members Committe To Look After Deplorable Conditions OfWidows

The Supreme Court on 9 May 2012 set up a seven member committee to look into

the deplorable conditions of widows destitutes living in Vrindavan and set an eight

week dead line to complete the report. The committe headed by the chairman of

the Mathura District Legal Services Authority and will prepare a list of the

widows with their names , age and reasons for being in Vrindavan in Uttarpradesh.

Committee Formed By Delhi Government To Promote Welfare Of DTCWorkers

A committee was formed by Delhi Government on 18 May 2012 under the

chairman ship of principal secretary of the Finance Department to promote thewelfare of Delhi Transport Corp(DTC) workers. The objective of forming the

committee is to ensure participation of DTC workers in Delhi Transport

Cooporation management . The decision toform the committe was announced by

Delhi Chief minister in a meeting.

Spor t S

Seven-time World snooker champion, 43-yearold Stephen Hendry of Scotland announcedhis retirement on 1 May 2012 after losing in thequarterfinals at the World Championships. He

was snooker's world number one for eight

straight years between 1990 and 1998, and again

in 2006-2007.

Indian women squash team won the gold medal at the 16th Asian Squash

Championship in Kuwait on 5 May 2012. The women team created a history by


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defeating the top seeded Hongkong team in the title clash. Joshna Chinnappa and

Dipika Pallikkal of India defeated world number sixteen Joey Chan and world

number seven Annie Au respectively.

Indian athletes won four gold, one silver

and four bronze medals, in the first leg of

the Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok on 8 May

2012. MR Poovama won gold in the the

women's 400m, Sajeesh Joseph bagged gold in

the men's 800m while,the men's 4X400m relay

team of Joseph Abraham, Jitin Paul, Shake

Mortaza and MP Kunhu bagged gold. The

womens relay team of Saraswati Chand,

Debashree Majumdar, Ratandeep Kaur and

Poovama also won the gold.

Indias Olympic prospect Deepika Kumari won her first Archary World Cup

individual recurve gold medal on 5 May at

Antalya, Turkey. She beat Koreas Lee Sung

Jin by six set points to four in the final of the

Stage 2 of the championship. Ms. Deepika,

who has already qualified for London

Olympics, is the current junior world

champion and a gold medallist at the Delhi

Commonwealth Games. She had also won the

Cadet World Title in 2009.

Malaysia won the Junior Hockey World Cup 2012 title by defeating Pakistan.


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Roger Federar of Switzerland defeated Tomas Berdych of Czech won

the Madrid Open titleon 13 May 2012. With this win, he retained no.2 position.

The Badminton mens team of China won the Thomas Cup by beating arch-rival

South Korea 3-0 at the Wuhan Sports Complex Gymnasium, Huwan, china on 27may. While thechinese women team won the Uber cup by beating the southkorea.

PeoPl e in news

Pranab Mukherji Union Finance Minister of India on 4

May 2012 was elected as Chair of the Asian Development

Banks (ADB) Board of Governors. India will host the

46th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in

New Delhi in 2013. Its head quartered at Manila.

Indian-American Vikram Singh, an expert on Afghanistan andPakistan was appointed to an important position of Deputy Assistant

Secretary of Defence for South and South East Asia at the

Pentagon.

Vidya balan - Union Rural development Ministry of India on 4

May 2012 elected bollywood actor Vidya Balan as the brand

ambassador for improving the state of sanitation in the

country. Vidyabalan in her new role will spread awareness about the

need of sanitation among the people.


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Justice Dalveer Bhandari-Justice Bhandari, the judge of the

Indian Supreme Court, was elected to the position ofJudge of

the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He will have six-year

tenure. He is eligible for re-election for a second term of nineyears at the end of the present term. He is going to retire in

September 2012, as a judge of the Supreme Court to assume the

new charge.

Vladimir Putin- On 7 may took his oath of office to become

Russian president for a historic third time at a glittering

ceremony inside the Kremlin. He officially took over from

outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev.

RAHUL KHULLAR-The Union Government appointed

Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar as the new chairman of the

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for a three-year

term on 13 May 2012. He replaced J S Sarma, whose tenure

ended on 14 May 2012.

J.M. AYRAULT (62)-A moderate Socialist, took over as

the Frances new Prime Ministeron 16 May 2012.

SHAH RUKH KHAN-The Mumbai Cricket Association(MCA) on 18 May 2012 banned Kolkata Knight Riders co-

owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan from

entering the Wankhede Stadium for five years. He was

banned for misbehaving with its officials and violating its


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rules.

General Bikram Singh - assumed the charge as the 25th

Chief of the Indian Army. He succeeded General V K

Singh whose 26-month tenure came to end on 31 May

2012.He will remain at the top position for next two years

and three months. Prior to his appointment to the top post,

General Bikram served as commanding officer of the

Eastern Army Command.

Good Luck

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Current Affairs - May2012 - Guide4BankExams