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IAS NOTES – ALL TOPICS 1. HARD WATER AND SOFT WATER

Hard water is water that contains an appreciable quantity of dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium. Soft water contains Sodium. In swimming pools a cloudy or milky appearance characterizes hard water. Rain water and distilled water are soft.

2. EFFECTS OF HARD WATER While hard water does not have an adverse effect on human health, it can leave spots and film on dishes and can be more damaging to house hold appliances. It can leave deposits called scale, that clog plumbing and impair the flow of heat in boilers, leading to overheating. Hair washed in hard water can feel sticky and look dull. Hard water can dry out skin and hair.

3. pH A measure of acidity or alkalinity of water. pH stands for potential/power of Hydrogen ions. A substance that is neither acidic nor basic is neutral. The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. The pH scale ranges from Zero to 14. 1- Very strong acid 7- Neutral 14- Very strong base/alkaline Examples: Blood, Water = 7 Milk = 6 Lemon =2 Baking Soda =8 Hand Soap = 9

4. STAR TORTOISE The Indian star tortoise is a species of tortoise found in dry areas and scrub forest in India and Sri Lanka. It is quite popular in exotic pet trade. Star tortoise is found in illegal trade.

5. PYGMY HOG

The pygmy hog is a critically endangered wild pig. It was previously spread across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. But now only found in India. The current population is about 150. They are found in Assam, Manas National Park.

6. SPIDER MONKEY

Spider monkeys are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, Southern Mexico to Brazil. They have disproportionately long limbs and long prehensile tails, gives rise to their name. They live in rain forest. They are in the IUCN Red List.

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7. E-WASTE Electronic waste is a term for electronic products that have become unwanted, non-working or obsolete, and have essentially reached the end of their useful life. Most electronics that are improperly thrown away contain some form of harmful materials such as BERYLLIUM, CADMIUM, MERCURY, LEAD

8. WATER POLLUTION

ARSENIC Arsenic is found in ground water. It causes Arsenic poisoning. A 2007 study found that the arsenic poisoning from drinking water probably affects 137 million people in more than 70 countries.

9. SEA COW

It is plant eating water mammals living in rivers and bays along the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

10. SEA HORSE

Sea horse is the name given to small marine fishes in the genus Hippocampus. 11. SEA LION

Sea lions are sea mammals characterized by external ear flaps, long fore flippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short, thick hair, and a big chest and belly. They eat herring salmon and sardines.

12. BAGASSE

Bagasse is the by-product of sugar cane processing. It is the fibrous matter bagasse is used as a biofuel and in the manufacture of pulp and building materials. For each 10 tonnes of sugarcane crushed, a sugar factory produces nearly 3 tonnes of wet bagasse Molasses is a viscous by-product of the refining of sugarcane into sugar Molasses is used in the production of citric acid, rum, as an iron supplement, as an additive in livestock feeds Molasses is also used as a soil additive to promote microbial activity.

13. FOOD CHAIN

A food chain shows how the organisms are related with each other by the food they eat. Each level of a food chain represents a different trophic level. A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains.

Food chain starts from producer organisms such as grass or trees and ending at apex predator or decomposers such as bacteria or fungi.

14. CORBETT NATIONAL PARK

The major portion of Corbett is situated on the bank of Rivers Kosi and Ramganga. Located in Nainital district of Uttarakhand. Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in India. It was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park. This park was the first park under Project Tiger. It has 488 different species of plants. Fauna: 50 species of Mammals, 580 Birds and 25 species of reptiles. Area: 520 Square Km

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Forest: Moist Deciduous- sal, haldu, peepal, rohini and mango. Forest cover 73% Corbett National Park is one of the 13 protected areas covered by the World-Wide Fund for Nature under their Terai Arc Landscape Program. The program aims to protect three of the five terrestrial flagship species, the tiger, the Asian elephant and the great one-horned rhinoceros, by restoring corridors of forest to link protected areas of Nepal and India, to enable wildlife migration

15. KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK

Kaziranga National Park is a national park in the Golaghat and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam. The sanctuary hosts two thirds of the world’s great one horned rhinoceroses. It is a world Heritage site. It also has wild water buffaloes and Swamp Deer. It is situated on the banks of river Brahmaputra It has the area of 430 sq.km. The sanctuary has four different kinds of vegetation. The tropical moist mixed deciduous forest, Tropical semi evergreen forest, tall grasses and also short grasses.

16. SILENT VALLEY NATIONAL PARK It is a national park with a core zone of 236 Sq. km. It is located in the Nilgiri Hills, within the Palakkad District of Kerala. The park is one of the last undisturbed tracts of South Western Ghats mountain rain forests and tropical moist evergreen forest in India. The botanist Robert Wight named the area Silent Valley because of a perceived absence of noisy cicadas. Silent valley is home to the largest population of Lion tailed macaques an endangered species of primate. Kunthipuzha river passes through silent valley.

17. A bio fertilizer

It is a substance which contains living micro-organisms which when applied to plant promotes growth of plants and increases the availability of primary nutrients to the plant. Ex. Rhizobium, Azotobactor, Anabaena

18. FLUORIDE Fluoride is an important mineral for everyone, especially children. We all have bacteria in our mouth. Bacteria produce acid that harms teeth. Fluoride protects teeth and helps reverse early sign of decay.

19. FLUOROSIS

Fluorosis occurs when young children get too much fluoride, over an extended period of time. Dental fluorosis is a minor change in the appearance of the teeth, usually resulting in faint white marks on the enamel. Using too much of toothpaste can cause fluorosis.

20. TRIBES IN INDIA

Total population of Schedule Tribe: 8.2% of total Population of India Madhya Pradesh has the largest number of ST followed by Bihar There are no ST in Punjab, Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Haryana In Lok-Sabha 47 seats are reserved for ST Andhra Pradesh- Bhil, Gond, Kolam Assam- Chakma, Garos, Khasis Gujarat- Bhil, Paradhi, Dhodia Madhya Pradesh- Bhils, Kharia, Murias Telangana- Chenchus Andaman- Jarawa, Oranos, Sentinelese

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21. NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULED TRIBES (NCST) The NCST was established by amending Article 338 and inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitution(89th) Amendment Act,2003. By this amendment, the erstwhile National Commission for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes was replaced by two separate Commissions namely- NCSC and NCST w.e.f. 19 February, 2004.

22. FOREST TYPES OF INDIA

Wet Evergreen forest Semi Evergreen forest Dry Evergreen forest Moist Deciduous forest Dry Deciduous forest Mangrove forest Thorn Forest Sub tropical broad leaved forest

23. LARGEST FOREST

Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover of 77,522 sq. km in terms of area in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh with forest cover of 67,321 sq. km.

24. LARGEST SALT LAKE IN INDIA

The Sambhar Salt Lake, India’s largest inland salt lake, is located 96km southwest of city of Jaipur. It surrounds the historical Sambhar Lake Town. Salt is produced by evaporation of brine Sambhar lake is a wetland. Thousands of pink Flamingos and other birds migrate from northern Asia and Siberia. Algae and bacteria growing in the lake provides the distinctive colour. The colour of the brine ranges from green, orange, pink, purple pink, red due to bloom of haloalkaliphilic microorganisms. Excavations near Sambhar lake was done in 1930s. Terracotta figurines, stoneware and decorated discs were found

25. LARGEST LAGOON IN INDIA

Chilka Lake-Odisha: with covering 1,100 sq km. Chilka is the largest brackish water lake in Asia. It is the largest coastal lagoon in India and the second largest lagoon in the world. It is the largest watering ground for migratory birds on the Indian subcontinent.

The lagoon hosts about 160 species of birds. The lake has large fishery resources. It sustains more than 150000 fisher-folk living in about 100 villages. In 1981, Chilka lake was designated the first Indian Wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Area: Water spread- 900 square km to 1165 square km. A 32 km long narrow outer channel connects the lagoon to the Bay of Bengal.

26. NILGIRI BIOSPHERE RESERVE

The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is an International Biosphere Reserve in the Western Ghats and Nilgiri Hills ranges of South India. The Nilgiri sub-cluster is a part of Western Ghats, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2012. It includes the Aralam, Mudumali, Mukurthi, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Silent Valley national parks, as well as the Wayanad and Sathymangalam wildlife sanctuaries.

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27. INDIA ACHIEVES 20 GW SOLAR CAPACITY MILESTONE FEB 2018 India has achieved 20 GW Giga Watt cumulative solar capacities, achieving the milestone four years ahead of the target for 2022 originally set in the National Solar Mission. Target enhanced in 2014 to 100GW of solar capacity by 2022. During 2017 solar was the top source of new power capacity additions in India. 9,6gw of solar power was installed which was 45% of total addition of power production. Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan were the top states for solar installations

28. DEMOCRACY INDEX:

The democracy index is an index compiled by the UK based company the Economist Intelligence Unit that intends to measure the state of democracy in 167 countries. The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories measuring pluralism, civil liberties and political culture.

29. ANDHRA PRADESH

Andhra Pradesh is situated on the south eastern coast of the country. The state is the eight-largest state in India covering an area of 162,970 Square km. It is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants The state has a coast line of 974km. it is the second longest coastline among the states of India after Gujarat. Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati is one of the world’s most visited religious sites, with 18.25 million visitors per year. Sport - Kabaddi Bird - Indian Roller Tree - Neem Kuchipudi, the state dance originated in the village of kuchipudi in Krishna district, had entered the Guinness World Records for performing Mahabrinda Natyam with a total of 6,117 dancers in Vijayawada. Geographical Indications- Banaganapalle mangoes and Bandar Laddu,Kondapalli Toys, Tirupati Laddu, Venkatagiri Sari Traditional sweet- Pootharekulu originated from Atreyapuram village AP. Araku Valley is a hill station in Visakhapatanam district in the state of AP. Karnam Malleswari, the first female Indian to win an Olympic medal, hails from Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. She won the bronze medal on 19th September 2000, in the 69 kg category with a lift of 240kg. Literacy rate – 67.41%

30. ARUNACHAL PRADESH Arunachal Pradesh is the north eastern-most state of the country. Arunachal Pradesh borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south and shares international borders with Bhutan in the west, Myanmar in the east and is separated from China in the north by the disputed McMahon line. Capital –Itanagar Major part of the state is claimed by the Republic of China, and the People’s Republic of China referring to it as “South Tibet” Arunachal Pradesh contains one of the highest proportions of Tibetan Buddhists in India. It is also known as the Orchid State of India or the Paradise of the Botanists. Geographically it is the largest of the North-eastern States known as the Seven Sister States. Official language – English Tree- Hollong Arunachal Pradesh became a state on 20 February 1987.

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31. BIHAR It is the 13th-largest state of India with an area of 94,163 sqkm2 It is third largest state by population Borders: Nepal to the North, West Bengal to the East, with Jharkhand to the South. The Bihar plain is split by the river Ganges which flows from west to east On 15 November 2000, southern Bihar was carved out form Jharkhand. Maurya empire was very strong in Magadh region. Buddhism arose from Magadh. Bihar has bicameral: Legislative Council 75, Legislative assembly 243 Area Rank 13 Population Rank 3 HDI rank 16th Literacy 63.8% Languages; Hindi, Maithali The Mahabodhi Temple is among the four holy sites related to the life of the Lord Buddha and is UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since 2010, Bihar has celebrated its birthday as Bihar Diwas on 22 March. The tenth and the last Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh was born in Patna After the battle of Buxar 1764, the British East India Company obtained the Diwani rights (rights to administer, collect revenue or tax for Bihar, Bengal and Odisha. Farmers in Champaran had revolted against indigo cultivation in 1914 (at Pipra) and 1916. Champaran Satyagraha happened. The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, in the Champaran district of Bihar, India during the period of the British Raj, was the first Satyagraha movement inspired by Mohandas Gandhi and a major revolt in the Independence Movement. Another important Satyagraha just after this revolt was Kheda Satyagraha. Champaran Satyagraha was the first to be started, but word Satyagraha was used for the first time in Anti Rowlatt Act agitation. Bihar has only 7.2% of land as forests. Valmiki National Park, West Champaran district is the 18th Tiger Reserve of India and is ranked fourth in terms of density of tiger population. Bihar is the fastest growing state in terms of Gross state domestic product (GSDP) clocking a growth rate of 17.06% in 2014-15. Projected growth rate: 13.4% during 2012-17. Bihar accounts for 71% of India’s annual Litchi production. Bihar is the largest producer of vegetables and the second-largest producer of fruits in India. Mithila Painting: Madhubani art or Mithila art is practiced in the Mithila region of India. Painting is done with fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens and matchstics, using natural dyes and pigments, and is characterized by eye-catching geometrical patterns. There is ritual content for a particular occasions, such as birth or marriage, and festivals, such as Holi, Surya Shasti, Kali Puja, Upanayana, Durga Puja. Mainly created by the women of various communities in Mithila region. Madhubani paintings mostly depict the men & its association with nature and the scenes & deity from the ancient epics. Natural objects like the sun, the moon, and the religious plants like tulsi are also widely painted, along with the scenes from royal court and social events like weddings. Generally no space is left empty. Sita Devi, Jagdamba Devi are prominent artists of Madhubani Painting. Sita Devi was awarded Padma Shri in 2011. Other names are: Bauwa Devi, Yamuna Devi, Chano Devi, Bindeshwari Devi, Shashi Devi, Bharti Dayal were also given National Award. Amongst the most famous places in Bihar is Gaya, which is a Hidu pilgrimage hub and a transit point for Buddhist pilgrimage centre of Bodhgaya. Hiuen Tsang mentioned about it in his travelogues. Serikella Chhau is main folk dance Chhatth is the main festival of Bihar which is being celebrated from ancient vedic times. It is devoted to Surya Dev and Chhathi Maiya.

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Sonpur Animal fair is internationally famous. It is held on Kartik Purnima in November at Sonpur. The legend says that Chandragupta Maurya used to purchase War elephants and horses from this mela. Famous people from Bihar: Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar was the most famous modern hindi poets, Bismillah Khan Shahnai maestro, Kapoori Thakur was better known as Jan Nayak. He was born in Samastipur district in 1924. His contribution is remembered for Quit India Movement. He also served as Chief Minister of Bihar.

32. GOA

Goa is a state in western India with coastlines stretching along the Arabian Sea. Goa was a Portuguese colony prior to 1961. Coastal region known as the Konkan. It is bounded by Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the east and south, Arabian sea forming western coast. It is the India’s smallest state by area and fourth smallest by population. Goa has the highest GDP per capita among all Indian States. Goa state is ranked on top for ‘the best quality of life’ in India by the National Commission on Population based on the 12 indicators. Panaji is the state capital. Vasco da Gama is the largest city. Portuguese landed in the early 16th century as merchants and conquered it soon thereafter. They ruled Goa for about 450yrs. Area 3,702 sqm HDI 0.779 Official language Konkani Goa state was formed on May 30 1987 as twenty fifth state Goa has more than 40 estuarine, 8 marine and about 90 riverine islands. The total navigable length of Goa’s rivers is 253km. Goa has more than 300 ancient water-tanks built during the rule of the kadamba dynasty and over 100 medicinal springs On 19 December 1961, the Indian Army invaded Goa as Operation Vijay resulting in annexation of Goa.

33. GUJARAT

Gujarat has an area of 196,024 sq.km Coast line 1600 km It is bordered by Rajasthan to the northeast, Daman and Diu to the south, Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Maharashtra to the southeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and Pakistani province of Sindh to the west. Capital: Gandhinagar Gujarat is one of the three states to prohibit the sale of alcohol. ( Bihar, Gujarat, Nagaland and UT of Lakshadweep has prohibition in sale of alcohol.) Gujarat was one of the main central areas of the Indus Valley Civilization. Lothal, Dholavira and Gola Dhoro. Dahod: birthplace of Aurangzeb Gujarat has seen a high average annual growth of 9% in the agricultural sector as compared to all India only 3%. Gujarat is the main producer of tobacco, cotton and groundnuts in India. AMUL = Anand Milk Union Limited Gujarat has the lowest rate of unemployment 1%. Gujarat has the biggest industrial area of ceramic business in MORBI, Himmatnagar, which produces around 80% of the country’s gross ceramic production and 80% of compact Fluorescent lamps (CFL) Global Prosperity Index 2012 Gujarat was highest-scoring amongst all states

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Gujarat has 9.7% of its total area under forest cover. Gujarat has four national parks and 21 sanctuaries. It is the only home of Asiatic Lions. National Parks: Gir forest National Park Vansda National Park Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar Narara Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutchh, Jamnagar In 1980s palaeontologists found dinosaur bones and fossils of atleast 13 species Balasinor in Kheda District. The Tarnetar Fair is held during the first week of Bhadrapad (Sep-Oct) and mostly serves as a place to find a suitable bride for tribal people from Gujarat. State has a Ro-Ro ferry service. The service was launched on 22 October 2017 , between Ghogha and Dahej. It will reduce the travel time between the two places from 6-8 hours to 1-1.5 hours. It can carry up to 100 vehicles (Cars, buses and trucks) and 250 passengers between the two ports of Ghogha and Dahej in Gujarat. It is in Gulf of Khambhat.

34. J&K

J&K is located mostly in the Himalayan mountains, and shares borders with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south. The line of control separates it from the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgiit-Baltistan in the west and north respectively. And a Line of Actual Control separates it from the Chinese-administered territory of Aksai Chin in the east The state has special autonomy under Article 370 of the Constitution of India. A part of the erstwhile Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu, the region is the subject of territorial conflict among China, India and Pakistan. The western districts of the former princely state known as Azad Kashmir and the northern territories known as Gilgit-Baltistan have been under Pakistani control since 1947. The Aksai Chin region in the east, bordering Tibet, has been under Chinese control since 1962. J&K is the only state in India with a Muslim-majority population. HDI 0.542 Official language: Urdu Animal Kashmir Stag, Bird Black necked crane, Flower: Lotus, Tree: Chinar tree Maharaja Hari Singh became the ruler of the princely state of J&K in 1925. On 22 October 1947, rebellious citizens from the western districts of the State and Pushtoon tribesmen from Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan invaded the State, backed by Pakistan. The Maharaja initially fought back but appealed for assistance to India, who agreed on the condition that the ruler accede to India. Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on 26th October 1947 in return of military aid and assistance.

35. ATTORNEY GENERAL:

The Attorney General of India is the Indian Government’s chief legal advisor, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. He is appointed by the President of India under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and holds office during the pleasure of the President. He must be a person qualified to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court, and also must have been a judge of some high court for 5 years or an advocate of some high court for 10 years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the President and must be a citizen of India. Attorney General of India: K K Venugopal

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36. THE JUVENILE JUSTIC (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT, 2015: The Juvenile Justice (care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 came into force from 15 January 2016. The bill allows for juveniles 16-18 years or older to be tried as adults for heinous offences like rape and murder. Heinous offences are those which are punishable with imprisonment of seven years or more.

37. SPEAKER OF RAJYA SABHA:

The Vice-President of India (currently, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu) is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who presides over its sessions.

38. BHIM:

Bharat Interface for Money is a mobile app developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) based on the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). It was launched on 30 December 2016. It was named after Dr Bhimrao Ram Ambedkar and is intended to facilitate e-payments.

39. NET NEUTRALITY:

Net neutrality is the principle that governments should mandate internet service providers to treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication. For instance under these principles, internet service providers are unable to intentionally block, slow down or charge money for specific websites and online content.

40. JALLIKATTU:

Jallikattu is a traditional practice in the state of Tamil Nadu as a Pongal celebrations on Mattu Pongal day, which occurs in January. Bull such as the Pulikulam or Kangayam breeds, is released in to crowed of people, and multiple human participants attempt to grab the large hump on the bull’s back with both arms and hang on to it while the bull attempts to escape. The participants try to bring the bull to a stop. Animal organisations have called for a ban to the sport. The court had banned it but a new ordinance was made in 2017 to continue the sport.

41. NAUTICAL MILE:

A nautical mile is a unit of measurement defined as 1,852 metres. Historically it was defined as one minute of latitude. A minute of arc on the planet Earth is 1 nautical mile. The knot is a unit of speed equal to one nautical mile per hour, exactly 1.852 km/h.

42. DENGU Dengue is a communicable disease caused by virus. It spreads with a bite of an mosquito. Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquito within the Aedes group. Dengue is not contagious. The dengue fever is treatable with proper medical care, it can be fatal if it goes untreated. Symptoms: High Fever, Headache, Vomiting, Muscle and Joint Pain and skin rashes. These symptoms if not treated it turned into sever dengue with symptoms like bleeding, low level of blood platelets, blood plasma leakage, and low blood pressure.

43. YOGA DAY

International Day of Yoga is celebrated annually on June 21 since its inception in 2015. An international day for yoga was declared unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly.

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Yoga is for promotion of global health, harmony and peace. The word ‘yoga’ derives from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.

44. COMMON WEALTH GAMES 2018

The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, between 4 and 15 April 2018. 71 Nations participated 19 Sports More than 4,400 athletes

The host nation Australia topped the medal table for the fourth time in the past five Commonwealth Games, winning the most golds (80) and most medals overall (198). England and India finished second and third respectively. India won 26 Gold, 20 Silver and 20 Bronze Total 66 Flag bearer: P V Sindhu Closing: Mary Kom Indian competitors: 216 in 15 sports 26 Gold: 7-shooting, 5- Wrestling, 5- Weightlifting, 3-Boxing, 2- Badminton, 1- Athletics NEXT COMMONWEALTH GAMES- BIRMINGHAM, England in 2022 from 27 July to 7 August

45. TESLA

Tesla Inc (formerly Tesla Motors) is an American multinational corporation that specializes in electric vehicles, energy storage and solar panel manufacturing based in Palo Alto California. Founded in 2003. CEO Elon Musk CFO Deepak Ahuja

46. BULLET TRAIN

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor is an under construction. Planned Opening: 15 August 2022 Elevated, Underground, Undersea, length: 508 km Gauge: 1435mm Standard gauze Operating Speed: 320km/h The Project Cost: 1.1Lakh Km 50 year Loan from Japan – 80% of total value Interest rate: 0.1%

47. ICUN The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international Organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. HQ: Switzerland Founded: 5 October, 1948 Focus: Nature conservation, biodiversity

48. JOINT SESSIONS OF PARLIAMENT

The Parliament of India is bicameral. Concurrence of both houses are required to pass any bill. There may be a deadlock between the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha The Constitution provides for joint sittings of both the houses to break this dead lock. The joint sitting is called by the President of India as per Article 108 of Constitution. The joint sitting is presided over by the Speaker of Lok Sabha

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49. PARALYMPIC GAMES The Paralympic Games are held almost immediately following the Olympic games. Athletes with a range of disabilities take part in the games. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes. Rio de Jane Rio in 2016 India competitors: 19 in 5 sports Medals won: 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze Devendra Jhajharia broke the World record to win Gold in Men’s Javelin Throw Mariyappan Thangavelu Gold in Men’s High Jump Deepa Malik Silver in Women’s Shot Put Varun Singh Bhati Bronze in Men’s High Jump

50. SOLAR POWER

The country’s solar power installed capacity reached 20GW in February 2018. India expanded its solar-generation capacity 8 times from 2650MW on 26 May 2014 to over 20GW as on 31 January 2018. 20 GW capacity was initially targeted for 2022 but the government achieved the target four years ahead of schedule. Now the target set is 100GW by 2022.

51. PRADHAN MANTRI UJWALA YOJANA:

Rs.8000Cr Scheme to provide cooking gas (LPG) connections free of cost to women members of poor household. BPL families. Women of India have faced the curse of smoke during the process of cooking. It is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour. Aim is to cover 5 Crore BPL Households.

52. INDRADHANUSH

Mission Indradhanush is a health mission. It aims to immunize all children under the age of 2 years, as well as all pregnant women, against SEVEN vaccine preventable diseases- Diptheria, Whooping cough, Tetanus, Poliomyelitis, Tuberculosis, Measles and Hepatitis B.

53. KISSAN CREDIT CARDS

The scheme is a credit scheme in August 1998 by Indian banks. This scheme was prepared by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on the recommendations of R.V.Gupta to provide term loans and agricultural needs.

54. SUPPORT PRICE

A minimum price guaranteed to a farmer for agricultural produce and maintained by subsidy or the buying in of surplus stock.

55. DOKLAM: Doklam standoff refers to Indo-China military standoff over Chinese construction of a road in Doklam near a trijunction border area, known as Donglang. Doklam is an area disputed between China and Bhutan located near their tri-junction with India.

56. ROHANGIYAS

The Rohingyas reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Myanmar doesn’t recognize them, refused citizenship and want them to leave the country. More than 6 million Rohingyas have crossed to Bangladesh and many have come to India too. They speak Bangla and follow Islam as their religion. India wants to send them back to Myanmar.

57. BIOGAS

Biogas typically refers to a mixture of different gases produced by the breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas can be produced from raw materials

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such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste or food waste. Biogas is a renewable energy source.

58. BHARAT V

India will implement the Bharat Stage-V or BS-V, emission norms for vehicles across the country from 2019. Bharat stage norms, based on European regulations, are emission standards decided by the government to regulate the amount for air pollutants from vehicles.

59. NPA

A nonperforming asset (NPA) refers to a classification for loans on the books of financial institutions that are in default or are in arrears on scheduled payments of principal or interest. In most cases, debt is classified as nonperforming when loan payments have not been made for a period of 90 days.

60. DEFLATION

Deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Deflation is a contraction in the supply of circulated money within an economy. It is opposite of inflation. Deflation is different than disinflation. Disinflation represents a situation where inflation increases at a slower rate.

61. COMPETITION LAW

Competition Law is a law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. The Competition Act 2002 was enacted by the Parliament of India and governs Indian competition law

62. TEEN MURTI HAIFA CHOWK

The Teen Murti Chowk has been renamed as Teen Murti Haifa Chowk after Isaeli city Haifa on 14 January 2018 during the visit of Israeli PM Bejamin Netanyahu.

The three bronze statues at Teen Murti Chowk represent the Hyderabad, Jodhpur and Mysore Lancers who were part of the 15 Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade. The brigade carried out the victorious assult on the fortified city of Hafia on September 23 1918, during World War I.

The liberation of Haifa cleared a supply route for the Allies to the city through the sea. 44 Indian soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice during the liberation of the city in the World War I.

63. OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALISTS

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra won gold in the Men’s 10 metre air rifle event becoming the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games. Vijendra Singh got the country’s first medal in boxing with his bronze medal in Middleweight category. 2016 Bronze Sakshi Malik Wrestling Women’s 58 kg freestyle Silver P V Sindhu Badminton Women’s Singles

64. CRICKET NEW RULES

Cricket rules are made by ICC International Cricket Council. New Rules- from 28th Sep 2017 -Power to send a player off for the rest of the match for serious misconduct -Deliberate front-foot no-ball will be considered as unfair play

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-If a ball bounces more than once before it gets to the batsman, it will be called a no-ball Bat size restriction : The edge of the bat can be no thicker than 40 mm. and the overall depth of the bat no more than 67 mm.. Tethered bails- now bails can now tethered to the stumps. A batsman is now out if he hits the ball and it is caught after it strikes the helmet of a wicketkeeper or fielder. DRS (Decision Review System) system can now be used in Twenty 20 internationals.

65. SUBMARINE

Indian Navy has added new class of submarines called as Scorpene class. The state of the art Scorpene submarine has superior stealth features and the ability to launch crippling attacks with precision. Total 6 such submarines would be added. Namely: INS Kalavari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj. Already added. Would be added: INS Vela, INS Vagir< INS Vagsheer

66. RAFALE

The Dassault Rafale is a French twin-engine fighter aircraft India is buying from France. Rafale means gust of wind and burst of fire. It is to perform air supremacy. Each plane cost around 70 Millions Euros.

67. JERUSALEM - Capital of Israel

Jerusalem city has been a place of pilgrimage and worship for Jews, Christians, and Muslims since the biblical era. Its old city has significant religious sites around the Temple Mount compound, including the Western Wall (Sacred to Judaism) the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (a Christian pilgrimage site) and the Dome of the Rock (a 7th century Islamic shrine with a gold dome. US PREPARES TO OPEN EMBASSY IN JERUSALEM. THE MOVE HAS DELIGHTED ISRAEL AND INFURIATED PALESTINIANS AND ARAB WORLD.

68. CHEMICAL WARFARE

Chemical warfare involves using toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. The use of chemical weapons is prohibited under customary international humanitarian law. About 70 chemicals have been used. Examples: Nerve agents- ricin, lewisite and mustard gas Dimethyl Methyl phosphonate, Sarin Phosgene, chloropicrin

69. SPORTS BAN DRUG

The Performance Enhancing Drugs: Anabolic steroids Androstenedione Human Growth Hormones Erythropoietin Diuretics Creatine

70. GRAND SLAM

Tennis: Australia Open in January, Wimbledon in July, US open in August and French Open in May-June Grand slam refers to winning all four tournaments in a calendar year.

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71. CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT The current account deficit is a measurement of a country’s trade where the value of the goods and services it imports exceeds the value of goods and services it exports. The current account includes net income, such as interest and dividends, and transfers, such as foreign aid, although these components make up only a small percentage of the total current account. The current account represents a country’s foreign transactions and like the capital account, is a component of a country’s balance of payments.

72. BANK RATE

Bank rate is the rate of interest which a central bank charges on its loans and advances to a commercial bank. Whenever a bank has a shortage of funds, they can borrow from the central bank.

73. GREEN BUILDING

Green building refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition.

74. FOUR VEDAS

The Vedas are considered the earliest literary record of Indo-Aryan Civilization. (1200BC) Vedas are composed in Sanskrit, body of large texts and storehouse of knowledge. There are four Vedas: Rig-Veda (Oldest) Sama-Veda (Veda of song and Veda knowledge) Yajur-Veda (the book of Rituals) Atharva-Veda (The procedures for everyday life) Gayatri Mantra is from Rig Veda

75. FILMFARE AWARDS

Filmfare awards are presented annually by The Times of India group. This year the function was held on 20 January. Irfan Khan Best Actor for Hindi Medium, Vidya Balan Best Actress for Tumhari Sulu.

76. OSCAR AWARDS

The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are a set of 24 awards for artistic and technical merit in American Film Industry, given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2018 Best Picture: The Shape of Water Best Actor: Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour Best Actress: Frances McDomand for The three Billboards

77. MISS WORLD 2017

Manushi Chhillar of India. She is the 6th Indian to win Miss World. 78. HDI

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a measure of economic development. It provides an index of economic development based on three variables -Life expectancy at birth -Educational attainment (Which includes the adult literacy rate and the ratio of children and young people who attend primary, secondary and tertiary school) -PPP adjusted GDP per capita.

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The performance of a country for each variable is given a value between 0 and 1 and then the scores are put together to produce one index value. Countries are placed in one of four groups: Very high human development More than 0.9 High Human Development 0.8 to 0.899 Medium Human Development 0.5 to 0.799 Low Human Development less than 0.5 Norway: 0.955, Australia: 0.938, Switzerland 0.939 USA: 0.937 India: 2015 Rank 131 among 188 countries (0.624) Sri Lanka and Maldives are ahead of India

79. VACCINATION

Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material (a Vaccine) to stimulate an individual’s immune system to develop adaptive immunity to a pathogen. Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases. Like Small pox, Polio, Measles and Tetanus.

80. ICJ

International Court of Justice It is the principal judicial organ of United Nations. It settles legal disputes between member states and gives advisory opinions to authorized UN Organs and specialized agencies. Total Judges 15 and term length is 9 years. Seat is in Hague India’s Mr Dalveer Bhandari, 70 has been re-elected to ICJ he received 183 out of 193 votes in the General Assembly and all the 15 votes of Security Council.

81. RED CORNER ALERT

INTERPOL informs its members that an arrest warrant has been issued for an individual by a judicial authority. However Interpol cannot demand that any member country arrest the subject of a Red Notice. A red corner notice is actually ‘a spot out device on the immigration computer’. When a passenger checks in or checks out of India at the international immigration counter, the moment the passengers passport number is fed in ‘a red flag appears’ beside it to alert the immigration officer that this person is wanted by the police of any police station in India.

82. EXTRADITION TREATY

Extradition is the act by one jurisdiction of delivering a person who has been accused of committing a crime in another jurisdiction or has been convicted of a crime in that other jurisdiction into the custody of law enforcement agency of that other jurisdiction.

Countries have no obligation to surrender that person as per International Law. The countries enter into agreement called as Extradition Treaty for handing over such person.

83. SWIFT

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication Code It is an Internationally –recognized identification code for Banks around the world. SWIFT codes are most commonly used for international wire transfers and are comprised of 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters.

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84. 80:20 RULE for Gold Import 80:20 Gold scheme was introduced in 2013 with the aim of curbing gold import. Under the scheme, upto 80% of gold imports could be sold in the country and while at least 20% of imports had to be exported before bringing in new consignments of gold.

85. LOC

The term Line of Control refers to the military control line between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir- a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary., but is the de facto border. Originally known as the Cease-fire Line, it was re-designated as the Line Of Control following the Shimla Agreement, which was signed on 3 July 1972. The part of the former princely state that is under Indian control is known as the state of Jammu & Kashmir. The Pakistani-controlled part is divided into Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Another cease fire line separates the Indian-controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir from Chinese-controlled area known as Aksai Chin.

86. NRI

Non-Resident Indian Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin, also called Overseas Indians or Indian Diaspora, are people of Indian birth or descent who live outside the Republic of India. A NRI is a citizen of India who holds an Indian passport and has temporarily emigrated to another country for six months or more for employment, residence, education or any other purpose. CONSTITUTION OF INDIA DOES NOT ALLOW DUAL CITIZENSHIP i.e. holding Indian citizenship and citizenship of a foreign country simultaneously.

87. GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATORS

A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. There is a link between the product and its original place of production. GI Tag is given. GI Tag is a public Property. WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) 191 members Ex. Darjeeling Tea, Mysore Silk, Kolhapuri Chappals, Agra Petha, Banglar Rasogolla, Kanchipuram Sari, Tirupati Ladoo The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection Act), 1999.

88. CHAR DHAM ROAD

PM laid the foundation stone for Char Dham Highway Project. It will involve construction of over 900 km of roads. It is an ambitious project. Connecting Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. States involved- Uttarakhand Total cost- Rs. 12000Cr.

89. SOMNATH TEMPLE the Somnath temple is located near Veraval in Saurashtra on western coast of Gujarat. It is the first among the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva. The temple was destroyed and reconstructed several times in past by several muslim invaders and Portuguese. The present temple was reconstructed in Chalukya style of Hindu temple architecture and completed in May 1951.

90. DWARKA

Dwarka is an ancient city in the north western Indian state of Gujarat. It is located on the right bank of the Gomti river. Dwarka is one of the foremost Chardhams. Dwarka is often identified with the Dwarka Kingdom, the ancient kingdom of Krishna.

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91. AUROBINDO ASHRAM Auroville Founded in 1926. The Ashram is located in the eastern part of Puducherry. Sri Aurobindo was an Indian philosopher, yogi, guru, poet and nationalist. He joined the Indian movement for independence from British Rule. Later he became a spiritual reformer, introducing his visions on human progress and spiritual evolution.

92. RABINDRANATH TAGORE

Author of Gitanjali, he became in 1913 the first non-European to win the Noble Prize in Literature. He was a writer, song composer, playwright, essayist and painter. Notable work: Gitanjali, Gora, Ghare-Baire, Jana Gana Mana, Rabindra Sangeet, Amar Shonar Bangla.

His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India Jana Gana Mana, and Bangladesh’s Amar Shonar Bangla. Sri Lankan national anthem was inspired by his work.

93. SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE

Subhash Chandra Bose was an Indian nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him hero in India. He was the president of Indian National Congress from 1938 to 1939. He revived the Indian National Army, popularly known as ‘Azad Hind Fauj’ in 1943 which was initially formed in 1942 by Rash Behari Bose. He was ousted from Congress in 1939 following differences with Mahatma Gandhi.

94. VIVEKANANDA

Swami Vivekananda (Narendranath Datta) was an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th century Indian guru Ramakrishna. He was responsible in introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world. He could raise the voice of Hinduism to the world. Vivekananda founded the Ramkrishna math and the Ramkrishna Mission. He is best known for his speech which began, “Sisters and brothers of America…… in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893.

95. DANDI MARCH (DANDI=Now NAVSARI)

The Dandi March was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to produce salt from seawater in the coastal village of Dandi in Gujarat without paying the tax.

The 25-day march lasted from 12th March 1930 to 6th April 1930. This was against the British salt monopoly. Mr. Gandhi started this march with 78 of his trusted volunteers. The march was over 240 miles. They walked for 24 days 10 miles a day.

96. IRAN CHABAHAR PORT

Chabahar Port is a sea port in Chabahar located in south-eastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman. It serves as Iran’s only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti. Each of which has five berths.

India-Iran-Afghanistan MoU and have committed at least $21bn to Chabahar-Hajigak corridor including $85m for Chabahar port to be developed by India, $150m line of credit by India to Iran, $8bn India-Iran MoU for Indian industrial investment in Chabahar Special Economic Zone., $11bn Hajigak iron and steel mining project awarded to several Indian Companies in central Afghanistan. In October 2017, India’s first shipment of wheat to Afghanistan was sent through the Chabahar Port.

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97. DEVALUATION OF CURRENCY In monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country’s currency within a fixed exchange rate system. Devaluation is a deliberate downward adjustment to the value of a country’s currency relative to another currency to help exports as it becomes cheaper for foreign buyers. However imports will become expensive.

98. GOVERNMENT BONDS A government bond is a bond issued by the government. Government raises funds through issue of bonds. RBI issues the bonds on behalf of Govt. When bonds are purchased back by RBI money supply increases.

99. NOMINATED MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT In Rajya Sabha there are 12 nominated members. They are nominated by the President of India for 6 years term for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services. Lok Sabha has 2 nominated members of Anglo-Indian community. Present nominated members of Lok Sabha: George Baker Prof Hay Richard

100. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE

An adjournment is a break in the course of Parliamentary business. The House adjourns at the end of each day’s business. Adjournment Sine Die means adjournment is for an indefinite period.

101. WHIP

WHIP is an official of a political party appointed to maintain parliamentary discipline among its members, especially so as to ensure attendance and voting in debates. Whip is issued to vote according to the official party policy.

102. PIL

Public interest Litigation is directly filed by an individual or group of people in the Supreme Court of India.

103. WRITS

The Indian Constitution empowers the Supreme Court to issue writs for enforcement of any of the fundamental rights conferred by Part III of Indian Constitution under Article 32. Thus the power to issue writs is primarily a provision made to make available the Right to Constitutional Remedies to every citizen. The Right to Constitutional Remedies, as we know, is a guarantor of all other fundamental rights available to the people of India. HABEAS CORPUS: The writ is issued to produce a person who has been detained, whether in prison or in private custody, before a court and to release him if such detention is found illegal MANDAMUS: Mandamus is an order from the Supreme Court or High Court to lower court or tribunal or public authority to perform a public or statutory duty. CERTIORARI: The Writ of Certiorari can be issued by the Supreme Court or any High Court for quashing the order already passed by an inferior court, tribunal or quasi-judicial authority. PROHIBITION: The Writ of Prohibition means to forbid or to stop and it is popularly known as Stay Order. This Writ is issued when a lower court or a body tries to transgress the limits or powers vested in it. The order from higher authority is issued to lower authority to stop proceedings in a particular case, where it has no jurisdiction to try. THE WRIT OF QUE-WARRANTO: It is to say under what authority . It is a writ issued with a view to restrain a person from holding a public office to which he is not entitle.

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104. PRESIDENT ELECTION Presidential election was held in July 2017. Governor of Bihar Ram Nath Kovind won. He got 2/3rd of votes. He defeated Ms. Meira Kumar. The President of India is indirectly elected by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both houses of parliament, the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the 29 states and the elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry. There were 777MPs and 4120 MLAs. Total votes -1,098,903 For Majority-549,452 The nomination of a candidate for the election to the office of the President must be subscribed by at least 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders. The election is held by means of a secret ballot under the single transferable vote system.

105. ZICA VIRUS

Zica virus is a member of virus family FLAVIVIRIDAE. It is spread by day-time active Aedes mosquitoes. The name comes from Zika Forest of Uganda where the virus was first located in 1947. Zica virus is related to the dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and West Nile viruses. It has been known to occur within a narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia. From 2007-2016 the virus spread eastward, across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas, leading to 2015-16 Zica virus epidemic. Zica can spread from a pregnant woman to her baby. This can result in microcephaly sever brain malformations, and other birth defects.

The World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency for Zica virus. The best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites. Zica virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitos. People with Zica virus disease can have symptoms including mild fever skin rash conjunctivitis muscle and joint pain headache . the virus is from genus Flavivirus. The virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in monkeys through the network who monitored yellow fever. It was later found in human being in 1952 in Uganda and Tanzania. Outbreaks of this virus were reported Africa, the Americas Asia and the Pacific in 1960 and 1980. The first large outbreak of disease caused by Zica infection was reported from the Island of Yap (Federated States of Micronesia) in 2007. In July 2015 Brazil reported an association between Zica virus infection and Guillain-Barre syndrome. In October 2015 Brazil reported an association between Zica virus infection and microcephaly. Zica virus is primarily transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito from the Aedesgenus, mainly Aedes aegypti in tropical regions. Aedes mosquitoes usually bite during the day , peaking during early morning and late afternoon and evenings. This is the same mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. Sexual transmission of zika virus is also possible. Zica virus disease is mild and does not require no special treatment. The person should get plenty of rest drink enough liquids and treat pain and fever. There is currently no vaccine available.

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106. ANTARCTICA MISSION Antarctica ‘the white continent’ is the fifth largest continent in the world with its unique wildlife, extreme coldness, dryness, windiness and unexplored territories. Antarctica comes from the Greek word ‘antarkike’ which literally means ‘opposite to the north’ Almost 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice and the continent has the cleanest air in the world. It is Earth’s only continent without a native human population. The Indian Antarctica Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional program under the control of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, GOI. It was initiated in 1981 with the first Indian expedition to Antarctica. India signed Antarctic Treaty in 1983. India constructed first research base as Dakshin Gangotri in 1983 ‘Maitri’ in 1990 Bharati in 2015 Constructed out of 134 shipping containers. Under the programme atmospheric, biological, earth, chemical and medical sciences are studied by India, which has carried out 30 scientific expeditions.

107. STORMS NAMES 2018

Hurricane Alberto Beryl Chris Debby Ernesto For Atlantic hurricanes, there is a list of male and female names which are used on a six-year rotation.

108. NEXT OLYMPICS

Tokyo Japan in 2020, XXXII Summer Games from July 24 to Aug 9.

109. JURISDICTION IN SEA

12 Nautical miles 110. SWINE FEVER

Caused by virus Swine influenza A(H1N1 and H3N2) Respiratory disease Infects pigs Transmitted to human beings The April 2009 swine flu outbreak was due to infection with the H1N1 virus and was first observed in Mexico. Incubation 1-4 days It is contagious Disease lasts 3-7 days Vaccination is the best way to prevent or reduce chances Why H1N1- It is mainly found infecting people and exhibits two main surface antigens, H1 (hemagglutinin type1) and N1 (Neuraminidase type 1) The eight RNA strands from novel H1N1 flu have one strand derived from human flu strains, two from avian (bird) strains and five from swine strains.

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111. 3-D PRINTING 3D printing is any of various processes in which material is joined or solidified under computer control to create a three-dimensional object, with material being added together (such as liquid molecules or powder grains being fused together).3D printing has been used in manufacturing, medical & industry. 3D printing is now also used for creating clothing, shoes and eye wear too.

112. CHINA’S EARTH STATION

China’s space lab Tiangong-1 weighing eight tons was supposed to have a controlled re-entry into the Pacific ocean. It went out of control. Moving back at 17,000 mph. It burned up on re-entry on April 1 2018 and crashes into South Pacific. It was orbiting the earth 16 times a day before started falling down.

113. 104 SATTELITES

India’s ISRO launched 104 satellites from single rocket. On 15th Feb 2017. On board was a 714 kg satellite for earth observation and more than 100 smaller satellites weighing less than 10kg each. Rocket PSLV-C37 was used.

114. CAVERY WATER ISSUE

765 km long Cauvery cuts across Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It originates at Talcauvery in Kodagu district in Karnataka. Water sharing dispute is among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry and Kerala. Total availability of water: 740 TMC (Thousand million cubic feet) Supreme Court Verdict: Karnataka 284.75 TMC including 4.75 TMC for Bengaluru Tamil Nadu 404.25 Kerala 30tmc Puducherry 7tmc

115. INDIA PAKISTAN RIVER DISPUTE

The Indus Water Treaty is a water distribution treaty between India and Pakistan. The treaty was signed in Karachi on September 19, 1960 by the then Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and then President of Pakistan Ayub Khan. According to this agreement, control over the water flowing in three eastern rivers of India- The Beas, the Ravi and The Sutlej with mean flow of 33 MAF was given to India. The control over the water flowing in three western rivers of India- The Indus, The Chenab and The Jhelum with the mean flow of 136 MAF to Pakistan The treaty allowed India to use western rivers water for limited irrigation use and unrestricted use for power generation, domestic, industrial and non-consumptive uses such as navigation, floating of property, fish culture, etc.

116. KONARK TEMPLE

Konark Sun Temple is a 13th Century temple about 35 km north east from Puri on the coast line of Odisha. The Konark Sun Temple takes the form of a huge chariot (30 m high) for sun god Surya, with 12 pairs of stone-carved wheels and a team of seven galloping horses ( only one of which survives intact). The temple is attributed to king Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There is festival every year Chandrabhaga Mela around the month of February.

117. MAHAMASTAKABHISHEKA

Location: Shravanabelagola Karnataka Bahubali Gommateshwara Statue 57 feet high Monolithic Anointment every 12 years Held in 2018 88th from 17-25 February Commenced 981 AD

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Anointing the statue of Gommateshwara with milk, saffron, sugarcane juice, sandal paste, rice flour, flowers etc. Bahubali was the son of Rishabhanatha, the first Tithankara of Jainism.

118. SUPER COMPUTERS

A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of computing performance compared to a general purpose computer. Performance of a supercomputer is measured in floating-point operations per second instead of million instructions per second Supercomputer PARAM 8000 (made by C DAC) was launched on July 01, 1991 was first supercomputer of India India is making a powerful Supercomputer with a capacity of 10 peta flops (1 followed by 15 zeroes of floating point operations per second). A clock speed will be a million times faster than fastest laptop today. In India supercomputers are used in Meteorology for Weather Forecasting

119. ANDROID SOFTWARE NAMES

First was Android beta in November 5 2007. Android 1.0 was released in September 2008 Developed by Google and Open Handset Alliance After 1.1 version Android code names of confectionery-themed and have been in alphabetic order since 2009. Cupcake, Donut, Éclair, Foryo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice cream sandwich, Jelly bean, Kit kat, Lollipop, Marshmallow, Nougat, Oreo (Version 8) August 21, 2017,

120. BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOTS

A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened with destruction. For example forests are considered as biodiversity hotspots. Criteria: It must contain atleast 0.5% or 1500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation. India: Western Ghats, The Himalayas, Indo-Burma region and the Sunderland (Includes Nicobar group of Islands)

121. WORLD HERITAGE DAY

Every year on 18th April we celebrate the “ International Day for Monuments and Sites”. The Day is celebrated with different types of activities, including visits to monuments and heritage sites. The International Day for Monuments and Sites was proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in 1982 and approved by General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983. The aim is to promote awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage of humanity, their vulnerability and the efforts required for their protection and conservation

122. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS Intellectual Property is a category of property that includes intangible creations of human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights, patents, and trademarks. It also includes other types of rights, such as trade secrets, publicity rights, moral rights, and rights against unfair competition.

123. SHIFTING CULTIVATION

A form of agriculture, in which an area of ground is cleared of vegetation and cultivated for a few years and then abandoned for a new area until its fertility has been naturally restored.

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124. GREEN UREA Green Urea fertilizer contains a new formulation of urease inhibitor. This delays the conversion of urea to ammonium by suppressing urease activity. While urease activity is on hold, the fertilizer is protected against volatilization, giving time for it to be moved into the soil with rain, irrigation or cultivation. Once in the soil, it is much less susceptible to volatilization losses. Ammonia volatilization is a chemical process that occurs at the soil surface when ammonium from urea fertilizer is converted to ammonia gas at high pH. It is very high in waterlogged conditions.

125. NEEM COATED UREA:

With 46% N content, Urea is the most Popular Nitrogenous fertilizer. When Urea is applied to soil it is broken down into Ammonia and Nitrate in the presence of water. This process is called nitrification. This process make nitrogen available to plants. But if the process of nitrification is too rapid nitrogen will escape to atmosphere. And there is a concentration of nitrates in the soil. Excess nitrates reaches underground water. Excess nitrate in groundwater when used causes diseases such as ‘blue baby syndrome’. Coating urea with Neem slows down the process of nitrification. GOI has made it mandatory to produce at least 75% of domestic urea as Neem coated urea only.

126. GENETIC CROPS

Genetically modified crops (GM Crops) are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering methods. In most cases, the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species. GMO crops in India: GM Soybean GM Maize GM Cotton

127. LITERATURE AWARDS

Noble Prize in Literature- Best author of the world-Bob Dylan Man Booker Prize- For Fiction -Paul Beatty Pulitzer Prize-US Award for Journalism, literature or music Guardian first book award- new writers of fiction and non-fiction

128. SENA AWARDS

War time Awards- Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra Peacetime gallantry awards- Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra. Vir Chakra

129. LIDAR

LIDAR is a surveying method that measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light and measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor.

130. FM RADIO Frequency modulation

131. 4G

4G is the fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology. LTE: Long term Evolution is a standard for high speed wire-less communication. 5G vs 4G: 5 G will be 1000 times faster than 4G. 100GB /sec

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132. LI-FI It is Light based Wi Fi Li-Fi is a bidirectional, high- speed and fully networked wireless communication technology similar to wi-fi. The term was coined by Harald Haas It is a form of optical wireless communication and uses visible spectrum as well as ultraviolet and infrared radiation Li-Fi could be a complement to RF communication (cellular networks) LED bulb can be used to send and receive data and can light a room

133. PAYMENT BANK

Minimum capital requirement 100 Cr. Can accept restricted deposits up to 1 lakh only Cannot issue loans and credit cards Current accounts and saving accounts can be opened Can issue ATM cards, Debit cards, net banking and mobile banking Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households headed by Nachiket Mor recommended the Payment Bank Objective is to widen the spread of payment and financial services to small businesses, low-income households, migrant labour workforce in secured technology-driven environment

134. DIPIKA PADUKONE WHICH HOLLYWOOD FILM

Fourth xXx movie: Return of Xander Cage 135. NOTA

None of the above NOTA choice is provided as option to the voters of India in most election Through the usage of NOTA, a citizen can choose not to vote for any candidates who are contesting the election NOTA has been given a symbol NOTA is considered as maturing of India’s democracy At present NOTA votes even if more they are not considered in counting of votes for candidates winning the election on getting the highest votes

136. DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN

It is believed that the earth is 4.5 billion years old. Ape like man originated about 10 million years ago These man were called nomads The long history of the human beings can be broadly divided into four stages: - The Stone Age - The Chalcolithic Age - The Bronze Age - The Iron Age

137. THE STONE AGE

It is the longest period of the human history The Stone Age is further divided in to three phases - Palaeolithic Age 5000,000 BC to 10,000 BC - Mesolithic Age 10,000 BC to 8000BC - Neolithic Age 8,000 BC to 4000 BC

138. PERIODS-TIME FRAMES

The historians have divided the history of man from ancient times to the present time into 3 phases - Ancient history- up to 8th Century

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- Medieval history- from 8th Century to 18th Century - Modern history – After 18th Century The ancient history is further divided into two parts - Pre-history: period of time between the appearance of the earliest humans till the time art of writing was developed - History: the period of human evolution for which written records are available

139. TEBHAGA MOVEMENT

The Tebhaga movement was an independence campaign initiated in Bengal by Kisan Sabha (Peasants front of Communist Party Of India) in 1946-47. At that time share cropping peasants especially tenants had to give half of their harvest to the owners of the land. The demand of Tebhaga (sharing by thirds) movement was to reduce the share given to landlords to one third.

140. USHA MEHTA

(25th March 1920 – 11th August 2000) Organized Secret Congress Radio, which was an underground radio station which was active for few months during Quit India Movement of 1938 Due to this clandestine activity she was imprisoned in Yeravada Jail of Pune. She was also follower of Mahatma Gandhi and a freedom fighter

141. SUCHETA KRIPLANI

(25th June 1908- 1st December 1974) She worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi during Partition riots in India. She was active member of Indian national Congress. She was elected as a member of the drafting committee of Constituent assembly. She sang Vande Mataram in the Constitution Assembly. She was also elected as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh State after independence.

142. VIJAYA LAKSHMI PANDIT

(18th August 1900- 1st December 1990) Vijya Lakshmi Pandit was a sister of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and played a crucial role in Indian Politics She was the first women to become a cabinet minister. She played political and diplomatic role during freedom struggle She was the first woman president of United Nations General Assembly She was also the first woman ambassador in the world who attained the position in three countries- Moscow, Washington and London

143. KHILAFAT MOVEMENT

The Khilafat Movement (1919-1924) was an agitation by Indian Muslims allied with the Indian nationalism in the years following World War I. Its purpose was to pressure the British Govt. to preserve the authority of the Ottoman Sultan as Caliph of Islam following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the war.

144. THE QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT

The Quit India Movement was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942, demanding an end to British Rule of India.

145. VANDE MATRAM

Vande Matram is a poem written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhayay in 1870s. This was included in his 1881 novel Anandamath. The poem was composed into song by Rabindranath Tagore.

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The first two verses of the song were adopted as the National Song of India in October 1937 by Congress Working Committee.

146. JANA GANA MANA

Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India. It is composed in Bengali by poet Rabindranath Tagore. It was first publicaly sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress. This is the first of five stanzas of Tagore’s Bengali song ‘Bharat Bhagyo Bidhata’ A formal rendition of the national anthem takes approximately 52 seconds. A shortened version consisting of the first and the last lines takes about 20 seconds to play.

147 FIRST WOMAN AMBASSADOR FROM INDIA

VIJAYA LAKSHMI PANDIT 148. FIRST WOMAN CENTRAL MINISTER

Rajkumai Amrit Kaur (15-08-1947 to 15-04-1952) 149. FIRST WOMAN FILM STAR TO BE MEMBER OF RAJYA SABHA

Nargis Dutt 150. FIRST WOMAN GOVERNOR OF STATE

Justice M Fatima Beevi 151. FIRST WOMAN SPEAKER OF INDIA

Meira Kumar 152. FIRST WOMAN TO GET NOBLE PRIZE IN INDIA

Mother Teresa in 1979 Noble Peace Prize 153. FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT OF INDIA

Pratibha Patil - 12th President of India from 2007-2012 154. INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

On 28 December 1885 INC was founded in the premises of Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit School at Bombay. It was presided over by W.C. Banerjee and attended by 72 delegates. A O Hume played an instrumental role in the foundation of INC. He had the aim to provide Safety Valve to the British Government.

155. MUSLIM LEAGUE

Muslim League was founded in 1906 by Agah Khan III and Moshin Mulk 156. SEPARATE ELECTORATE

Separate electorate was introduced by the Act of 1909 : Morley-Minto Reform Act 157. HOME RULE MOVEMENT

Tilak in April 1916 started Home Rule Movement and its headquarter was at Poona and the demand was Swaraj.

158. INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Indus Valley Civilization was an ancient civilization that thrived along the course of Indus river in North-Western part of Indian subcontinent It is also referred to as Harappan Civilization owing to the fact that this civilization was first discovered in 1921 at the modern site of Harappa situated in the Punjab province of Punjab of current day Pakistan Indus valley Civilization thrived during 2500-1750 BC

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GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION The Indus Valley Civilization covered parts of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan and the fringes of Western Uttar Pradesh It extended from Jammu in the narth to mouth of River Narmada in the South and from the Makran Coast of Baluchistan in the West of Meerut in the East It covered an area of about 13 lakh Sqm. The Indus Valley Civilization was the most extensive among all other ancient civilizations. IMPORTANT CITIES AND SITES OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION Harapa, Mohenjo-daro, Chanhudaro, Lothal, Kalibangan and Banwali IMPORTANT FEATURES OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION Town planning was the hallmark . Roads and lanes grid pattern, Drainage system, Burnt bricks used, Upper fortified town and lower town Agriculture: wheat and barley Peas ,mustard, Rice, cotton, Domestication of animals Horse, dogs and cats, camels Knew Elephants and Rhinoceros Trade and commerce was flourishing Ancient name given to Indus region- MELUHA Bronze Age Boat making Seal making Jewellery of gold silver Potter wheel Seals of Steatite Unicorn is the animal most commonly represented on the seals Religion- Shiva Mother Goddess Worship of fire Worship of Peepal Believed in ghosts and evil forces

159. GLOBAL COMPETITIVE INDEX

India has been ranked 39th among the 138 countries in the 2016-17 Global Competitive Index (GCI). The index was released as part of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitive Report for 2016-17. Top 5 countries: Switzerland, Singapore, United States, Netherlands and Germany. BRICS Countries: China 28th, Russia 43rd, South Africa 47th and Brazil 81st. India related facts: In the 2016-17 edition of GCI, India has jumped 16 places compared to 55th position in 2015-16 GCI.

160. CROWD FUNDING:

Crowd-funding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people. Crowd-funding makes use of the easy accessibility of vast networks of people through social media and crowd-funding websites to bring investors and entrepreneurs together. Wishberry: Best Crowd-funding platform with a 70% success rate for creative projects. Raises funds for films, music, publishing, comics, theatre and more.

161. BLUETOOTH

Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances, using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the SIM band from 2.4 to 2.485 GHz. Invented by telecom vendor Ericsson in 1984.

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NAME- The name “Bluetooth” is an Anglicised version of the Scandinavian Blatand, the epithet of the tenth –century king Herald Bluetooth who united dissonant Danish tribes into a single kingdom and, according to legend, introduced Christianity as well. The idea of this name was proposed in 1997 by Jim Kardach of Intel who developed a system that would allow mobile phones to computers. At the time of this proposal he was reading Frans G Bengtsson’s historical novel The Long Ships about Vikings and king Harald Bluetooth. The implication is that Bluetooth does the same with communications products, united them into one universal standard. LOGO- The Bluetooth logo is a bind rune merging the Younger Futhark runs (Hagall) (*) and (Bjarkan) Harald’s initials.

162. SMART CITIES MISSION:

Smart Cities Mission is an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with a mission to develop 100 cities all over the country making them citizen friendly and sustainable.

163. DOMAIN NAME, DOMAIN REGISTRATION, IP ADDRESS

A Domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain System (DNS). Any name registered in the DNS is a domain name. Domain registration is the process of registering a domain name, which identifies one or more IP addresses with a name that is easier to remember and use in URLs to identify particular WEB PAGES. An IP address (abbreviation of internet protocol address) is an identifier assigned to each computer and other devices (e.g. printers, router, mobile device etc.) connected to a TCP/IP network is used to locate and identify the node in communications with other nodes on the network. FORMAT OF IP ADDRESS: The format of an IP address is a 32 bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. Within an isolated network, you can assign IP addresses at random as long as each one is unique.

164. INSOLVENCY & BANKRUPTCY BOARD OF INDIA (IBBI)

Set up under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India is the regulator for insolvency professionals, insolvency agencies, insolvency proceedings and other related parties. The board is responsible for implementation of the code in India. Set up in October 2016, IBBI came into prominence mainly because of the growing pile of non-performing assets in the banking sector, a large part of which has been referred under the code. IBBI has the powers to write and enforce rules for bankruptcy transactions involving corporates as well as individuals. Currently the board has 8 members with M S Sahoo as its chairperson

165. BUY BACK OF SHARES

Purchase of its own shares by the company. Reduces the number of shares in the open market. Company is having cash pile up. Buy back at current market price. TCS buy back of 5,6140351 shares Amount more than 16000 Cr.

166. MARKET STABILIZATION SCHEME Introduced in 2004. Under the scheme, RBI issues bonds on behalf of the government and the money raised under the bonds is kept in a separate account with RBI.

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When the local currency starts strengthening to stem the rise of local currency, RBI aggressively buys dollars from the market. For every dollar the RBI bought, an equivalent amount of Rupees flow into the system and that in turn is sucked out of bonds, floated under MSS. Why RBI try to reduce the rise of the local currency.? The reason is that a strong currency hurts exporters interests as their income, in rupee term comes down. The buyback will help the banks generate liquidity and the government to see its borrowing programme through.

167. STATUTARY LIQUIDITY RATIO:

The SLR is the amount a commercial bank needs to maintain in the form of cash, gold or government approved securities (bonds) before providing credit to its customers. Through SLR rates, RBI compels the commercial banks to invest in government securities like government bonds. By changing the SLR rates RBI can increase or decrease bank credit expansion. If any bank fails to maintain the required level of SLR then it becomes liable

168. INDIAN NATIONAL FLAG

The Indian National Flag is the symbol of the land and people of India. Our National Flag is a tri-colour of three rectangular panels. Top panel – Indian saffron (Kesaria) Bottom panel – Green and Middle panel is white and has at its centre the design of the Ashok Chakra in Navy Blue with 24 equally spaced spokes. The Flag has length to width ratio of 3:2. The saffron colour denotes renunciation or disinterestedness. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to the soil, our relation to the plant life here on which all other life depends.

The Ashoka Wheel is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or Satya , Dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principles of those who work under this flag. Again wheel denotes motion. There is life in movement. India must move and go forward. There is no restriction on the display of the National Flag by common people, private organisations or educational institutes. Anyone may hoist /display the National Flag on all days and occasions, ceremonial or otherwise. Where the practice is to fly the Flag on any public building, it must be flown on the building on all days including Sundays and holidays and except as provided in the Code. It shall be flown from sunrise to sunset irrespective of the weather conditions. It can be flown during night only on special occasions.

The flag must not be used as a drapery in any form except in State/Military /Central Parliamentary Forces Funerals. In such cases also the Flag must not be lowered into grave or burnt in pyre. It must not be used in any form of advertisements. Showing disrespect or insult to the National Flag is punishable offence.

169. GHANA

Ghana used to be a British colony named Gold Coast. It became independent in 1957. It was among the first countries in Africa to gain independence.

170. POLAND

Poland and several other countries became free from the control of the Soviet Union during 1989-90. They chose to become democracies.

171. SOVIET UNION

The Soviet Union broke down in 1991. The Soviet Union comprised 15 Republics. All the constituent Republics emerged as independent countries.

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172. MYANMAR Myanmar was previously known as Burma. It gained freedom from colonial rule in 1948 and became a democracy. But the democratic rule ended in 1962 with military coup. In 1990 elections were held for the first time after almost 30 yrs. The National League for democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Soo-chi) won the election. But the military leaders of Myanmar refused to step down and did not recognize the election result. Suu kyi was put under house arrest. She was awarded the Noble Peace Prize for her struggle for democracy.

173. IRAQ

Iraq is a country in Western Asia. It became independent from British rule in 1932. Three decades later there were a series of coups by military officers. Since 1968, it was ruled by Arab Socialist Ba’th Party. The Arabic word Ba’th means renaissance. Saddam Hussein, a leading Ba’th part leader, played a key role in the 1968 coup that brought the party to power. This government abolished traditional Islamic Law and gave women the right to vote and other freedoms. After becoming the president of Iraq in 1979, Saddam ran a dictatorial government and suppressed any dissent. The US and its allies like Britain, alleged that Iraq has nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. US and allied invaded Iraq, occupied it and removed Saddam Hussein from power in 2003. The US has installed an interim government of its preference. UN has said that the US war on Iraq was illegal.

174. CHINA:

In China , elections are regularly held after every five years for electing the country’s parliament, called National People’s Congress. The National People’s Congress has the power to appoint the President of the Country. It has nearly 3000 members elected from all over China. Some members are elected by the army. Before contesting elections, a candidate needs the approval of the Chinese Communist Party. The government is always formed by the Communist Party.

175. DEMOCRACY:

In a democracy the final decision making laws must rest with those elected by the people. A democracy must be based on a free and fair election where those currently in power have a fair chance of losing. In a democracy , each adult citizen must have one vote and each vote must have one value.

176. BIOTECHNOLOGY-

Biotechnology deals with techniques of using live organisms or enzymes from organisms to produce products and processes useful to human. In vitro fertilization leading to a ‘test-tube’ baby, synthesizing a gene and using it, developing a DNA vaccine or correcting a defective gene are all part of biotechnology Genetic engineering- Techniques to alter the chemistry of genetic material (DNA RNA) to introduce these in to host organisms and thus change the phenotype of the host organism.

177. Green plants make their own food. Animals (including humans) cannot

synthesize food and they feed on either plants or other animals. In all cases the food for animals comes directly or indirectly from plants.

178. The development of agriculture is about 10,000 years ago. ‘Agre’ means field

and ‘cultural’ means cultivation. The crops were of wheat and barley. Learning to grow crops meant that humans no longer had to wander around for food, and could settle down in communities.

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179. MANURES - Manures are organic substance obtained from dead plants and animal wastes.

180. SLAVERY INDEX:

India has performed the worst in the recent Global Slavery Index, compiled by an Australia based human rights group. The report said there are approximately 45.8 million people globally who are still subjected to modern slavery, of which India has 18.35 million, the highest in absolute terms. India was followed by China 3.39 million and Pakistan with 2.13 million in the report. -- these are victims of forced labour, ranging from prostitution and begging. -- North Korea has the highest % of its population that is 4.37% -- Modern slavery refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot leave because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception.

181. AADHAR

It is a 12-digit unique number which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will issue for all residents in India. --The agency (UIDAI) is headed by a chairman, who holds a cabinet rank. The UIDAI is part of the Planning Commission of India. Nandan Nilekani, former co-chairman of Infosys Technologies, was appointed as the first Chairman of the authority in June 2009. Ram Sewak Sharma, an IAS Officer of Jharkhand Government is the Director General and Mission Director of the Authority. The number is stored in a centralized database and linked to the basic demographics and biometric information-photograph, 10 fingerprints and iris-of each individual. It is easily verifiable in an online, cost-effective way and is unique and robust enough to eliminate the large number of duplicate and fake identities in government and private databases. Its purpose is to develop and implement the necessary institutional, technical and legal information to issue unique identity numbers to Indian residents. It is believed that Unique National IDs will help address the rigged state elections and widespread embezzlement that affects subsidies and poverty alleviation programs. Addressing illegal immigration into India and terrorist threats is another part of the program. The UID will link a person's passport number, driving license, PAN card, Bank accounts, Address, Voters ID, etc. and all this information will be checked through a database. Aadhar will become the single source of identity verification. Residents would be spared the hassle of repeatedly providing supporting identity documents each time they wish to access services such as obtaining a bank account, passport, driving license and so on. By providing a clear proof of identity Aadhar will also facilitate entry for poor and underprivileged residents into the formal banking system and the opportunity to avail services provided by the Government and the private sector giving migrants mobility of identity. UIDAI has headquarters in Delhi and a technology centre in Bangalore. It also has 8 regional offices in Chandigarh, Delhi, Lucknow, Ranchi, Guwahati, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The projected benefits from the process include: 1. Aadhaar will become the single source of identity verification. Residents would be

spared the hassle of repeatedly providing supporting identity documents each time they wish to access services such as obtaining a bank account, passport, driving license and so on.

2. By providing a clear proof of identity, Aadhaar will also facilitate entry for poor and underprivileged residents into the formal banking system and the opportunity to avail services provided by the government and the private sector.

3. Giving migrants’ mobility of identity. 4. Financial inclusion with deeper penetration of banks, insurance and easy

distribution of benefits of government schemes.

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182. BOAT RACE IN KERALA Vallam Kali is a traditional boat race in Kerala. It is a form of Canoe racing and uses paddled war canoes. It is mainly conducted during the season of the harvest festival Onam in autumn. The race of Chundan Vallam (snake boat) is the major event. Hence Vallam Kali is also known as the Snake Boat Race and it is a major tourist attraction. Other types of boats which do participate in various events in the race are Churulan Vallam, Iruttukuthy Vallam, Odi Vallam, Veppu Vallam etc etc. The Nehru Trophy Boat Race is a popular Vallam Kali event held in Punnamada Lake near Alappuzha , Kerala, India. Jawahar lal Nehru , the first prime minister of Independent India visited Kerala in 1952. He was given a roaring reception by the people of Alleppey, escorted by the huge snake boats. Jawaharlal Nehru donated a rolling trophy to be awarded to the winner of the race. The trophy is a replica of a snake-boat in silver , placed on wooden abacus on which the following words are inscribed.”TO THE WINER OF THE BOAT RACE WHICH IS A UNIQUE FEATURE OF COMMUNITY LIFE IN TRAVANCORE-COHIN. Until Nehru’s death in 1964, the trophy was named ‘Prime Minister’s Trrophy’, and it was on 8th Aug 1964 that the trophy was renamed. The 100-120 foot long canoes made of wood locally called “Aajili thadi’ carrying 90-100 rowers which moves like a snake through the channels (hence the name) is an eye catching sight for any tourist.

183. GOA CARNIVAL

Goa Carnival is the most famous festival in the Goa State. It has been celebrated since the 18th century as a precursor to the abstinence of Lent. It was introduced by the Portuguese who ruled over Goa for over five hundred years.

184. VANTABLACK

Vantablack is a substance made of carbon nanotubes and is the blackest substance known, absorbing up to 99.965% of radiation in the visible spectrum. The name comes from the term “Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Arrays” (VANTA) . Vantablack is composed of a forest of vertical tubes which are grown . When light strikes vantablack, instead of bouncing off , it becomes trapped and is continually deflected among the tubes, eventually becoming absorbed and dissipating into heat. The substance has potential applications, including preventing stray light from entering telescopes, and improving the performance of infrared cameras both on Earth and space. Vantablack may also increase absorption of heat in materials used in concentrated solar power technology, as well as military applications such as thermal camouflage. Exclusive rights of Vantablack for artistic use have been given to the artist ANISH KAPOOR. Anish Kapoor is a British –Indian Sculpture. He received a Knighthood in 2013. His works- Cloud Gate, Sky Mirror, Temenos, Grand Palais and Arcelor Mittal Orbit

185. The Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debt Laws and Miscellaneous Provisions (Amendment) Bill, 2016. This will help expedite recovery of debt by lenders. After the introduction of the Bill it is referred to the joint committee of Parliament. The committee will consists of 30 members 20 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. The committee will submit the report on the last day of the first week of the next (monsoon) session.

186. ASPECT RATIO IN TV PICTURE An aspect ratio is the proportion between the width and height of an image, screen or video display. Aspect ratio is generally used to define graphic screen sizes for display resolutions.

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187. MASALA BONDS What exactly are masala bonds? These are rupee-denominated borrowings by Indian entities in overseas markets. Usually, while borrowing in overseas markets, the currency is a globally accepted one like dollar, euro or yen. What is the advantage of borrowing abroad in rupees? Companies issuing masala bonds do not have to worry about rupee depreciation, which is usually a big worry while raising money in overseas markets. If the rupee weakens by the time the bonds come up for redemption, the borrower (company) will need to shell out more rupees to repay the dollars. Is that a big enough advantage? Of course. Quite a few Indian companies that had raised money abroad in 2007 by issuing Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds found themselves in a soup when the rupee depreciated sharply following the global financial crisis. What is in it for the buyer of the bond? The buyer will earn a higher yield (coupon rate) to compensate for the risk of currency depreciation. What is the tenor and coupon rate on the HDFC Masala bonds? The bond bears a fixed semi-annual coupon of 7.875 percent per annum and has a tenor of 3 years and 1 month. The bonds have been issued at a price of 99.24% of the par value and will be redeemed at par. The all-in annualised yield to the investors is 8.33 percent per annum. Will the bonds be traded? Yes, but on the London Stock Exchange, not in India. Will there be more such bond issuances by other companies? According to Utpal Oza, MD and Head of Investment Banking, Nomura India —the banker to the HDFC issue — post Brexit, both Asian and European investors are hunting for yield and masala bonds seem to be offering them an attractive yield pickup. He says many public and private corporates are in the fray to issue masala bonds in the coming months, due to the hitherto untapped, deep alternate investor base that they give access to at marginally higher cost of financing. Indian curry is quite a hit in the West. So can global investors be tempted to try out Masala bonds? That’s something the Indian Railway Finance Corporation, which recently approved the raising of $1 billion through the issue of Masala bonds and other firms such as NTPC, are trying out now. What is it? The term is used to refer to rupee-denominated borrowings by Indian entities in overseas markets. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, last November, issued a ₹1,000 crore bond to fund infrastructure projects in India. These bonds were listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). IFC then named them Masala bonds to give a local flavour by calling to mind Indian culture and cuisine. While it may seem odd to name a staid debt instrument after food stuffs, it has been done in the past. Chinese bonds, named Dim-sum bonds after a popular dish in Hong Kong, have been around for a while. So have Japanese bonds named Samurai after the country’s warrior class. Masala bonds are a good idea to shield corporate balance sheets from exchange rate risks. But they are best used in moderation. The after-effects of too much masala are not pleasant.

188. MARS MISSION

Mangalyaan Launch date 5.11.2013 ISRO Mars orbital 24.9.2014 Space probe orbiting Mars since 24.9.2014 ISRO has become the fourth space agency to reach Mars. Other three are NASA, Soviet space Program and the European Space Agency.

First nation to do so in first attempt It carries five instruments Mission – Building capabilities, explore morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments. Mangalyaan 2 planned between 2018-2020

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189. GRAPHENE Graphene is obtained fro Graphite. Graphene is stronger than steel, conducts electricity better than copper and is so light and flexible. Graphene was discovered in 2004 by two British scientists who used Scotch tape to extract atom thin layers of pure carbon from flakes of graphite. Market for Graphene is emerging fast. It can have commercial uses from batteries and touch screens to smart clothing and building material. Grapheme can conduct electricity even in strands one atom thick. Using it in lithium ion batteries could significantly increase the charging capacity and power life. That in turn would make more viable electronics of every kind from Apple’s I phones to Tesla’s electric cars.

190. JUDGES OF SUPREME COURT

Supreme Court judges retire at age 65. The Supreme Court of India comprises the Chief Justice and 30 other Judges appointed by the President of India. In order to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court , a person must be citizen of India and must have been , for at least five years , a judge of a High Court or two or more such Courts in succession, or an Advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession for atleast 10 years or he must be in the opinion of the President , a distinguished jurist. High Court judge can be appointed as an Ad-hoc judge of the Supreme Court. Retired Judges of the Supreme Court can also be asked to sit and act as judge of that Court.

191. G8

The group consists of the 8 largest industrialized democracies, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Forum started in 1975 summit hosted by France that brought Together representatives of 6 governments: France, The Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan. The United Kingdom, and the United States leading to the naming as Group of 6. In 1976 Canada was added and from 1997 Russia was added. However Russia was suspended in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea. Collectively in 2012 the G8 nations comprised 50.1 percent of global nominal GDP and 40.9 percent of global GDP (PPP). Each calendar year the responsibility of hosting the G8 is rotated through the members states in the following order: France, United States , United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada. The holder of the Presidency sets the agenda, hosts the summit for the year, and determines which ministerial meetings will take place. Both France and the United Kingdom have expressed a desire to expand the group to include five developing countries, referred to as the Outreach Five(5) or the plus 5. Brazil China, India, Mexico, and South Africa. These countries have participated as guests in meetings t Hat are sometimes called G8+5.

192. BRICS

BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies BRAZIL RUSSIA INDIA CHINA SOUTH AFRICA. The group was BRIC. South Africa was added in 2010. All five are members of G-20 members. Since 2009 the group is meeting annually. Russia hosted 7th meeting of the group in 2015. Five members of group represents 42% of the world population. Combined GDP is US$ 16 + trillion about 20% of the world GDP India will host 8th summit in Goa 31st Aug to 1St Sep 2016.

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193. GRAVITATIONAL WAVES Researchers analysing laser interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory data have confirmed the second instance of gravitational waves recorded in Dec 2015.The faint ripple that eventually reached Earth was produced by the collision of two black holes at half the speed of light, 1.4 billion light years away. First detection was reported in February.

194. BITCOINS

Bitcoin is a digital asset and a payment system invented by Santoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto introduced the idea on 31st October 2008 to a cryptography mailing list , and released it as open source software in 2009. There have been several high profile claims to the identity of Santoshi Nakamoto however none of them have provided proof beyond doubt that back up their claims. The system is peer to peer and transactions take place between users directly , without an intermediary.

195. JALLIKATTU BULLFIGHTING

Jallikattu is an event held in Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations on Mattu Pongal day. Bulls are bred specifically by people of the village for the event and attended mainly by many villages temple bulls. A temple bull is like the head of cattle in a village ; special rituals will be performed for this temple bull during important days. This practice is very old . It was common among the ancient tribes who lived in the Mullai geographical division of the ancient Tamil country.

196. RED CORNER ALERT

An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated by Interpol to communicate information about crimes, criminals and threats from police in a member state to their counterparts around the world. The information disseminated via notices concerns individuals wanted for serious crimes, missing persons, unidentified bodies, possible threats, prison escapes and criminals. There are 8 types seven of which are coloured coded by their function. Red like an arrest warrant to seek the location and arrest of a person wanted by a judicial jurisdiction Blue to locate identify or obtain information Green to warn about a person’s criminal activities Yellow to locate a missing person Black to seek info on unidentified bodies Orange to warn of an event a person an object Purple to provide info on modi operandi procedures objects used by criminals 8th Special Notice is issued at the request of the United Nations Security Council

197. EXTRADITION TREATY

India has extradition treaties with 31 countries. The extradition treaty is surrender of a criminal to one country by another. It also helps in maintaining the territoriality of the penal code which says that a country should not apply its criminal law to a person who committed an offence outside its territories except when the crime is related the countries national interest. The process is regulated by treaties between the two countries. Since 2002 India has extradited 42 fugitive criminals who were handed over by the foreign countries to India.

198. HIROSHIMA

Aug 6th Atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima City. 140000 people died. The tragedy is called ‘silent Cry’. Harry Truman gave go ahead for the world’s first nuclear strike. Obama was the 1st US President to visit the world’s first atomic bomb attack site.

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There is a Arched stone monument in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park that honors those killed. There is also Iconic bombed out domed building. PM of Japan SHINZO ABE said ‘We must escape logic of fear ‘. 79 yrs old survivor of the attack Shigeaki Mori met Obama at the memorial.

199. BANKRUPTCY ACT

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code passed by the Parliament is a welcome overhaul of existing framework dealing with insolvency of corporates, individuals, partnerships and other entities . It paves the way for much needed reforms while focusing on creditor driven insolvency resolutions. The Act will aid lenders in effective and timely recovery or restructuring of defaulted assets.

200. ATAL PENSION YOJANA

Any Indian Citizen in the age group of 18-40yrs can join APY. Guaranteed pension of Rs 1000-5000 to the subscriber after 60 yrs Guaranteed pension of Rs 1000-5000 to the spouse after subscriber’s death. Return of pension wealth of Rs 1.7 to 8.50 lac to the nominee after death of spouse. Tax benefits at entry , accumulation and pension payment phases APY is available at all Bank Branches and at more than 10,500 post offices across the country.

201. SOVEREIGN BONDS

Sovereign bonds are bonds issued by Govt. They can be either local currency denominated or denominated in a foreign currency. Sovereign bonds and sovereign debt can be used interchangeably, but sovereign debt can also refer to the total outstanding stock of a country’s government debt. A government bond is a bond issued by a national govt. generally with a promise to pay periodic interest payments and to repay the face value on the maturity date.

202. JAN-JAN KA UDDHAAR

For the first time the poor get included in financial mainstream with 21.68Cr bank accounts opened & 37616Cr deposited Poor directly get their money with elimination of the middlemen through DBT Rs 61000 Cr directly transferred to 31Cr beneficiaries 3.48 Cr small entrepreneurs given loans worth Rs137449 Cr through Mudra Yojana. Even after 68 years of Independence 18452 villages were in complete darkness. All these villages will be electrified in 1000 days. 7781 of these villages have already been electrified. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna to provide 5Cr LPG connections to women of BPL families & ensure smoke free lives. 2 Cr houses for urban poor & 1 Cr for rural poor to be constructed

203. INFRA STATUS TO SHIP BUILDING

The Govt. has granted infrastructure status to the shipyard industry, a move that will help the sectoral players get long-term financing at cheaper rates. A gazette notification issued by department of economic affairs in the ministry of finance last month issued an updated Harmonized Master list of Infrastructure. The new list incorporates the following change to the notification dated October 13,2014 Under the category of transport a new sub-sector shipyards is added, the notification said.

204. NEP PANEL CHAIRMAN TSR SUBRAMANIAN (NEP) National Education Policy Very sharp drop in education quality in last 2 decades Dearth of academic talent new ideas in school education Politicisation of University & administrations Suggested mentor system

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In nuclear families that have working parents the school has a larger responsibility & must work to inculcate values Teacher as a role model Pride in Indianness Use of technology for teaching.

205. AIR QUALITY INDEX

An air quality index AQI is a number used by Government agencies to communicate to the public how polluted is the air. Good 0-50 : minimal impact Colour code Green Satisfactory 51-100 : may cause minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people colour code Light Green Moderately Polluted 101-200 : May cause breathing discomfort to people with lung diseases such as Asthma , and discomfort to people with heart disease children and older adults Colour code- yellow Poor 201-300 : Colour code Orange Very Poor 301-400 : RED Severe 401-500 :DEEP BLOOD RED The index is centered around five chief pollutants. Particulate matter with a diameter less than 10 micrometre and particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers Ozone Nitrogen dioxide Carbon monoxide

206. SLAVERY ACTS AS NEGATIVE ECONOMIC MULTIPLIER

India has been ranked fourth in a global survey that lists 167 countries where modern slavery is prevalent. 14% of population that is 18 million are modern day slaves. Modern slaves are in domestic work, construction, sex industry, agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, manual labour & forced begging. Top five countries are North Korea, Uzbekistan, Cambodia India and Qatar. In India the number is highest. China has 3.39M, Pakistan 2.13M Bangladesh 1.53M Survey was conducted by Gallup & the Walk Free Foundation. The prevalence of Slavery affects FDI . Debt Bondage- Informal nature of labour economy Naxalite violence forces young one joins various groups. Human trafficking – UP is a source transit and destination statefor modern slavery. UP’s 619 km stretch of open borders with Nepal, proximity to Bengladesh and New Delhi and home to tourist destinations of Varanasi and Agra facilitate the flow of vulnerable people. Debt bondage in unregulated Industries such as construction, agriculture mining, and brick manufacturing. Borrowing money for marriages, festivals and funerals is a common practice among some tribal groups which can lead to debt bondage.

207. MAHILAON KO KHUSHIYAN APPAR

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao changing mindsets & empowering Nari-Shakti Stand up India to encourage & support women entrepreneurs 5 Cr BPL women to get LPG and a smoke free life with Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana 1.92 Cr toilets constructed Rural sanitation coverage has increased from 42% to 52% More than 4 lakh toilets constructed for girls in schools across India Maternity leave has been increased to 26 weeks. Mission indradhanush- more than 42 lakh pregnant women immunized.

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208. DNA 3D NANOPARTICLES Scientists have developed an algorithm that uses DNA strands to automatically build 3D nanoparticles, which may be used in a large range of applications such as vaccines, gene editing tools and memory storage. Researchers can build complex nanometer-scale structures of almost any shape and form using strands of DNA. The algorithm starts with a simple 3D geometric representation of the final shape of the object and then decides how it should be assembled from DNA, according to Mark Bathe associate Professor at MIT.

209. DECLASSIFYING FILES

Declassification is the process of documents that used to be classified as secret ceasing to be so restricted often under the principle of freedom of information. Papers may be withheld without being classified as secret, and eventually made available. India does have rules when it comes to declassification. The rules of declassification are mentioned in the Public Rules of 1997. The Public Records Rules, 1997, states that records that are 25 years or more must be preserved in the National Archives of India. It further states that no records can be destroyed without being recorded or reviewed. The de-classification is meant to be done as per the manual of department of security instructions which is issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

210. EXPORT OF RICE

Rice is exported to Iran-Bangladesh Basmati Rice variety 1121. Iran is the major importer. Iran imported 40 lakh tons in 2016. Now Iran has imposed ban on import from July 23,2016 to protect its local industry. Rice is the staple diet for almost half the global population. Over 90% of the global rice output & consumption is centred in Asia. With China & India the world’s largest producers and biggest consumers. India accounts for over 70% of the World’s basmati rice output which is a small portion of total rice output. In India in 2015-16 the total rice production was 103.36MT. Cyprus & Maldives are also showing keen interest in Indian Basmati rice which is superior & price competitive compared to Pakistan rice. India is having 65% market share internationally. West-Bengal is the largest rice producing state in India. Bangladesh export has come down as the country doubled import duty on rice to 20%.

211. KUMBH AND ARDHKUMB Kumbh mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage in which Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred river. Traditionally four fairs are widely recognized. Haridwar Kumbh Mela Allahabad Kumbh Mela Nashik Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Ujjain Simhastha These four fairs are held periodically at one of the four places. The main festival site is located on the banks of a river; the Ganges at Haridwar; the confluence Sangam of Ganga the Yamuna and the invisible Saraswati at Allahabad , the Godavari at Nashik and the Shipra at Ujjain. The bathing in these rivers is thought to cleanse a person of all sins. At any given place , the Kumbh Mela is held once in 12 years . There is a difference of around 3 years between the kumbh Melas at Haridwar and Nashik. The fairs at Nas Hik and Ujjain are celebrated in the same year or one year apart. The exact date is determined according the combination of Zodiac positions of Jupiter, The Sun, and the Moon. At Nashik and Ujjain the Mela may be held while a planet is in Leo, in this case it is also known as Simhhastha.

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At Haridwar and Allahabad an Ardh kumbh Mela is held sixth year a Maha Kumbh Mela occurs after 144 years The festival is of the largest peaceful gatherings in the World and considered as the world’s largest congregation of religious pilgrims. An estimated 120 million people visited Maha Kumbha mela in 2013 in Allahabad. Over a two month period. Including over 30 million on a single day, on 10th Feb 2013, the day of Mauni Amavasya.

212. PRADHAN MANTRI FASAL BIMA YOUJNA New crop insurance scheme was launched on 13th January 2016. This crop insurance scheme is called Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Youjna. This will be implemented in all states. The crop insurance scheme will be administered under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, government of India. The main motto of this new crop insurance scheme is to provide a more efficient insurance support to the farmers of the country and become a financial support to thousands of farmers. Government has decided to provide low premium insurance cover to the farmers so that they can sustain even if the yield is damaged. This announcement has been made during Makar Sankranti which is the harvest festival of India, celebrated along the lengths and breadths of the country. It is celebrated Pongal in the South Lohri in North and Bihu in Assam. The total budget estimate for flooring this project is estimated to be approximately Rs 17600Cr. Worst case scenario is that the entire crop gets damaged and the cultivators have to go through heavy losses. Most farmers take loans for buying agricultural seeds, fertilizers, irrigation facilities, pesticides and other agricultural machineries for cultivation of crops. But sometimes unavoidable natural disasters like draught floods fire pest attack etc strike and destroy the crop yield. The farmers having lot of debt become prone to commit suicide. There is an alarming number of farmer suicides in India. As per reports of Home Ministry there are 3000 farmer’s suicide cases in last three years . This step will help farmers to tide over difficult periods.

213. DIPIKA PALLIKAL

Is an Indian squash player. She is the first Indian to break into the top 10 in the PSA women’s ranking. PROFESSIONAL SQUASH ASSOCIATION.

214. NATIONAL MILK DAY

India celebrates National Milk Day on 26th November. This is Dr Kurien’s birthday. 215. PANAMA PAPERS

The Panama Papers are leaked documents giving details of The Panama Papers are 11.5 million leaked documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities. The leaked documents were created by Panamanian law firm corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca, some date back to the 1970s. The leaked documents illustrate how wealthy individuals and public officials are able to keep personal financial information private. while offshore business entities are often not illegal, reporters found that some of the Mossack Fonsecashell corporations were used for illegal purposes, including fraud, kleptocracy, tax evasion, and evading international sanctions.[5] “John Doe”, the whistleblower who leaked the documents to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), remains anonymous, even to the journalists on the investigation. "My life is in danger", he told them. In a May 6 statement, John Doe cited income inequality as the reason for his action, and said he leaked the documents "simply because I understood enough about their contents to realise the scale of the injustices they described". He added that he has never worked for any government or intelligence agency. He expressed willingness to help prosecutors if immune to

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prosecution. After SZ verified that the statement did come from the Panama Papers source, ICIJ posted the full document on its website. Because of the amount of data, SZ asked the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) for help. Journalists from 107 media organizations in 80 countries analyzed documents detailing the operations of the law firm.[3] After more than a year of analysis, the first news stories were published on April 3, 2016, along with 150 of the documents themselves.[9] The project represents an important milestone in the use of data journalism software tools and mobile collaboration. The documents were quickly dubbed the Panama Papers. The Panamanian government strongly objects to the name; so do other entities in Panama and elsewhere. Some media outlets covering the story have used the name "Mossack Fonseca papers".[10]

216. PRIVATE EQUITY In finance , private equity is an asset class consisting of equity securities and debt in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange . A private equity investment will generally be made by a private equity firm a venture capital firm or an angle investor.

217. UDAY BONDS UDAY bonds a bailout scheme for defaulting state power distribution companies run by state Govts. UDAY which means sunrise , is the centre’s scheme to rescue the country’s ailing state power distribution utilities (DISCOMS) and it is supposed to be nothing short of a new dawn for them. The books of the state discoms are to be purged of their massive losses and mounting debt paving way for them to be operationally viable. Rajasthan became the first state to issue UDAY Bonds. DISCOMS came into problem because they are supplying power at a lower rate than the cost of production. There is also inefficiency in power distribution system. The total loss is ₹ 4.8 Trillion in Sept 15. In return the DISSCOMS will become efficient. They will improve distribution system. Check power theft and faulty metering installing smart metres. States will also ensure revision of tariff regularly. UDAY is reforming power sector.

218. PAYMENT BANK On 23rd September 2013, Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income households, headed by Nachiket Mor was formed by the RBI On 7th Jan 2014 ,the committee submitted final report. It recommended the formation of a new category of bank called payments bank. New type of banks which are expected to reach customers mainly through their mobiles phones . They cannot offer loans Can raise deposit upto 1 lakh They can enable transfers and remittances through a mobile phone They can offer services like payment of bills purchase in cashless cheque less transactions through a phone They can issue debit and ATM cards They can provide forex cards They can offer card payments to third parties RBI has granted permission to 11 Indias domestic remittance market is estimated to be about 800-900 billion and growing. Kenya is most success story in payment banks.

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219. LIGO The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large scale physics experiment and observatory to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational wave observations as an astronomical tool. LIGO INDIA is a planned advanced gravitational wave observatory to be located in India as part of the worldwide network. LIGO India is planned as a collaborative project between a consortium of Indian research institutions and the LIGO laboratory in the USA , along with its International partners Australia, Germany and The UK.The proposal is to move one advanced LIGO detector from Hanford to India. From India , Institute of Plasma Research Gandhinagar . Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics IUCAA Pune and Raja Ramanna Cetre for advanced Technology Indore .

220. HUDHUD Extremely severe cyclonic storm Hudhud was strong tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage and loss of life in eastern India and Nepal during October 2014 Other cyclones Cyclone Nilofar Cyclone Roanu Cyclone Lehar Typhoon Vongfong Cyclone Nargis Cyclone Sidr

221. PIXEL The pixel (a word invented from picture element) is the basic unit of programmable color on a computer display. Most monitors have hundreds or thousands or millions of pixels that are lit or dimmed to create an image. Pixel is a single point in a graphic image.

222. NEW ELEMENTS Four new elements have been added in periodic table. NIHONIUM Nh 113 MOSCOVIUM Mc 115 TENNESSINE Ts 117 OGANESSON Og 118

223. RED EYE IN PHOTOGRAPHS A red reflex is produced when the flash of a camera lights up the blood-rich retina.

224.TRIBALS IN INDIA The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is home to 4 Negrito and 2 Mongoloid tribes. Those belonging to Negrito origin –The Great Andamanese, the Onge, the Jarawas and the Sentinelese are still at hunting-gathering stage of economy. 250-400 Jarawas are left

225. THEORY OF RELATIVITY The theory of relativity have two concepts. SPECIAL RELATIVITY and GENERAL RELATIVITY. Special relativity- the speed of light in vacuum is the same for all observers regardless of their relative motion or of the motion of the light source. Two events simultaneous for one observer may not be simultaneous for another observer if the observers are in relative motions. Moving clocks are measured to tick more slowly than an observer’s stationary clock. General relativity- it is theory of gravitation. Clocks run slower in deeper gravitational wells. Rays of light bend in the presence of gravitational field

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The universe is expanding, and the far parts of it are moving away from us faster than the speed of light. The theory of relativity is used in GPS system.

226. INSIDE TRADING INSIDE TRADING is the practice of using exclusive unpublished, price sensitive information to gain an advantage at the markets. This is unfair for other shareholders as they have to make an investment decisions without access to information that these insiders have. ‘Insiders’ in this context could refer to anyone who has access to confidential information. These ‘insiders’ could include the member of the Board or management, an employee, internal auditors, advisors, and could include consultants as well. Any trading based on publicly available information means it is freely available and accessible to all investors. This could be news published on the company’s website, or provided to the exchanges or even published to the exchanges or even published in the newspapers. All companies have compliance officers who are vested with the responsibility of ensuring that no instances of insider trading occur. In most cases, companies usually bar insiders like board members, finance department employees etc from dealing in shares before results are decided. If anyone notices incidence of insider trading, they can write to market regulator Sebi with their complaint. SEBI’s insider trading laws say that if someone is proved with being involved in inside trading, they can be imposed with monetary penalty or even be imprisoned.

227. POTASSIUM BROMATE AND POTASSIUM IODATE

Potassium Bromate and Potassium Iodate are carcinogenic chemicals. They are used in bread making. The All India Bread Manufacturers Association decided to stop the use of these chemicals immediately.

228. P2P LENDING Peer to Peer landing is booming globally. RBI is trying to have control. They have stipulated that anyone looking to lend through such online platforms has to be a bank account holder. With banks enforcing stringent know your customer KYC norms this should ensure that fund sources can be tracked and that the P2P route won’t be used to launder money.

229. SURROGACY Couples who are unable to conceive after over a year of trying could use procedures called assisted reproductive technologies(ART) to get pregnant. These include intrauterine insemination, IVF, sperm/egg donation and surrogates of gestational carriers (called surrogacy) Surrogacy is when another woman carries and give birth to a baby for a couple. The child could be the biological child of the couple or in some cases, a sperm or an egg donation is used. Surrogacy earned a bad name about five years ago in India when in a couple of cases, children born to surrogates were abandoned by their biological parents; the children were left ‘stateless’. In late 2015, India announced a ban on surrogate service to foreign couples. India has ART guidelines but not the law. Actor Tusshar Kapoor has become a single parent through surrogacy. Law has not been passed so far. Draft says surrogacy is only for married , infertile couples. In Dec 2011, actor Aamir Khan announced that he and wife Kiron got a son through Surrogacy. Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri too had a son using surrogacy.

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230. DANCES OF INDIA India is a land of diversities. Various climatic conditions have made India a diverse country. In all spheres of Indian life diversities are clearly visible. These diversities have made the Indian culture a unique one. Like all other aspects of life, the dance forms of India are also varied and different. There are many types of dance forms in India, from those which are deeply religious in content to those which are performed on small occasions. The Indian dances are broadly divided into Classical dances and folk dances. The Classical dances of India are usually spiritual in content. Though the folk dances of India are also spiritual and religious in content but the main force behind the folk dances of India is the celebratory mood. Dances are a form of coherent expression of human feelings. Like the Indian culture, Indian classical dances are equally diverse in nature. There are numerous classical dance forms in India and innumerable folk dances. Each dance form can be traced to different parts of the country. Each form represents the culture and ethos of a particular region or a group of people. The most popular classical dance styles of India are Bharatnatyam of Tamil Nadu, Kathakali and Mohiniattam of Kerala, Odissi of Orissa, Kathak of Uttar Pradesh, Kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh and Manipuri of Manipur. Indian Classical Dances India has thousands of year old tradition of fine arts and classical and folk music and dances. Some of the world-famous dance forms that originated and evolved in India are Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniattam and Odissi. All these dance forms use basically the same 'mudras' or signs of hand as a common language of expression and were originally performed in the temples to entertain various Gods and Goddesses. Indian Classical Dancers Indian classical dance has a distinct character that reflects the great cultural and traditional endeavour. The forms of Indian dance have transcended beyond the fences and socio-cultural hindrances. Exponents of the Indian classical dance believe that it has the calibre of creating a new and disciplined lifestyle. The Indian Classical Dance is often regarded as the form of worship and meditation. The performers of Indian Classical Dance, despite of the background and forms, have played a crucial role in presenting India to the forefront of the World stage. Indian Folk Dances India is a land of varied cultures and traditions. Diversities in all spheres make the Indian culture quite unique. Indian folk and tribal dances are product of different socio-economic set up and traditions. Indian folk and tribal dances are simple and are performed to express joy. In India we have festivals and celebrations virtually every day. This has added to the richness of Indian culture. Since every festival is accompanied by celebration, folk dances have become an integral part of our social milieu.

231. AIR’S FIRST CROSS-BORDER RADIO SERVICE LAUNCHED The All India Radio’s first cross-border radio service channel was launched in Aug (23) by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. The channel, dedicated to Bengali listeners will air content for 16hours daily for listeners across India and Bangladesh. The participatory content creation platform, aimed to strengthen bilateral ties will be shared between ‘Akashvani Maitree’ and ‘Bangladesh Betar’.

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232. SMART CITY: The Union Ministry of Urban Development has shortlisted 27 cities from 12 States in the list of third batch of Smart Cities Mission. These cities were shortlisted based on scores obtained in the latest round of the Smart City Challenge competition in which total 63 cities had participated. This competition list was topped by Amritsar in Punjab. With five cities, Maharashtra has the highest number of cities in the list. The list also includes four cities each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, three cities from Uttar Pradesh and two each from Rajasthan and Punjab. Nagaland and Sikkim with one city each for the first time have made it to the list.

233. The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport has become Asia-Pacific’s only

and one of the world’s few airports to achieve a carbon neutral status. The announcement in this regard was made by Airport Council International (ACI) during the Airport Carbon Accreditation certificate presentation ceremony to IGI in Montreal, Canada.

234. SATYAGRAH

Mass Agitation through Satyagrah –During his stay in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi had been involved in a struggle against the racial discrimination practiced by the White rulers. His idea of a fight against injustice to the people at the hands of the rulers did not involve any physical force. The battle against oppression was to be fought and won through non-violence. This mode of resistance was named SATYAGRAH. On his return to India in Jan 1915, Gandhi ji practiced satyagrah against British rulers in his fight against foreign rule. Satyagrah or passive resistance was not the weapon of the weak. It is true that Indians could not have matched the weapon power of the British rulers. But that was not the only reason why Mahatma Gandhi insisted on Non- violence . Satyagrah used moral force against physical force. As a matter of fact that the British rulers very well knew how to meet war with conventional weapons. What they did not know was how to counteract moral force with armaments and ammunitions

235. Rowlatt Act

The Rowlatt Act was passed by the British Govt. The Act authorized the government to put people in prison without trial. The act came into operation in March 1919. Gandhiji on way to Delhi was arrested at Palwal and was deported to Bombay. Dr. Safuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satya Pal were arrested in Punjab.

236. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

On April 13, a public meeting was held in Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. The Bagh is a small park enclosed by residential houses on all sides and had just one entry. The Commander of the Jalandhar division of the Army General Dyer reached the place with his troops. He ordered his troops to open fire. Hundreds of people were killed and over a thousand wounded. Many got drowned in the well inside the Bagh campus. Rabindranath Tagore gave up his knighthood in protest.. Sir Shyankaran Nayer resigned his post as a member in the Executive Council of the Governor –General.

237. Khilafat Movement

In the First World War Turkey had fought against England. At the end of the War, Turkey which was one of the defeated countries was disintegrated. Muslims were full of resentment against the dismemberment of Turkey. Parts of Turkey had been placed under non-Muslim Euopean powers. Maulana Shaukat Ali and Maulana Mohammad Ali (popularly known as Ali brothers) from India went to London in march 1920 to meet the British Prime Minister Lloyd George. The cause of the Indian Muslims was supported by the Indian National Congress. The main aim of the movement was to force the British to restore the position of the Sultan of Turkey ( the Caliph or Khalifa and hence the name Khilafat movement). The Caliph was perceived as the religious

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head of Muslims all over the world. The khilafat Movement brought Hindus and Muslims together against the British rulers. The movement however lost steam when Mustafa Kemal Pasha came to power in Turkey and abolished the institution of Khalifa.

238. Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922)

The movement was basically aimed at securing self-government for the people of India. The proposed strategy was to withdraw all cooperation to the British administration rendering it completely ineffective and crippled. The movement was planned to be executed in stages. In the first stage all titles conferred on Indians were to be renounced. The next phase was to boycott the legislatures, law courts and educational institutions. Some other objectives included in the Non-cooperation Movement were boycott of foreign goods, practicing had spinning and use of khadi, removal of untouchability and forging Hindu- Muslim unity. The campaign started on August 1 , 1920, coinciding with the date on which the body of Bal Gangadhar Tilak was carried for funeral rites. The Khilafat Committee launched a Non-Cooperation Movement on August 31, 1920. In September 1920 , a special session of the Indian National Congress was held at Calcutta. Attainment of Swaraj or self –rule was set forth as the ultimate objective of the movement. The programme for renunciation of titles started with Gandhi ji surrendering the Kaiser-i-Hind medal awarded to him by the British rulers for his cooperation during the first world war. Renowned advocates like Moti lal Nehru, Deshbandhu, C.R.Das , Dr Rajendra Prasad and Asaf Ali gave up their legal practice. A number of educational institutions were set up with the goal of imparting national education. Some of these were Jamia Millia Islamia at Delhi and the Kashi Vidyapeeth at Benaras. Dr Zakir Hussain , Acharya Narendradev, Lala Lajpat Rai were among the distinguished teachers who taught at these national institutions. In Nov 1921, The Prince of Wales visited India. The visit was publically boycotted. In 1921, the session of the Indian National Congress was held at Bardoli in Gujrat. Gandhiji gave a call for non-payment of taxes at this session. The movement was a success.

239. Chauri-Chaura Clash 1922

On Feb 5th 1922, a police firing had taken place on a peaceful march of protestors. This had infuriated the volunteers. The angry agitators burnt the police station at Chauri-Chura in Gorakhpur district of UP. Twenty two policemen who were inside the police station were burnt alive. GANDHI JI DECIDED TO CALL OFF THE MOVEMENT. A RESOLUTION SUSPENDING THE MOVEMENT WAS PASSED AT THE CONGRSS WORKING COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 12TH FEB, 1922.

240. HIUEN –TSANG or HIUWEN CHANG

Hiuen –Tsang popularly known as Hiuen Sang was a Chinese pilgrim- scholar and traveller who came to study at Nalanda University visited Kamarupa (Assam) during the region of King Kumar Bhaskara Varman. Hiuen Sang was born in 600AD and died 664AD. He converted to Buddhism He left for India in 629 to study the religion at its source. He traveled by foot across Central Asia and reached India in 633. He studied in Nalanda monastery. During his stay in India Hiuen Sang came to Assam in 642 AD He was welcomed with a traditional assamese jappi. During his visit to Kamarupa, he attended the court of king Bhaskar Varman. In his book he mentioned the Western border of Kamarupa till Karatoya river and eastern

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boundary was up to Dikkaravasini. He also mentioned in Assam Buddhism was not prominent. He has mentioned about Jackfruit and coconut in his writings. Harshavardhan invited the Buddhist scholar and Bhaskar Varman to Kanauj his kingdom. Both were greeted with a rousing welcome.

241. GRAVITATIONAL WAVES

When an object accelerates, it creates ripples in space-time, just like a boat causes ripples in pond. These space-time ripples are gravitational waves. They are extremely weak so are very difficult to detect.’ Gravitational waves have been detected after 100 years of prediction of their presence by Einstein in 1916. They will help in study and understanding Black Holes. They will help in study and understanding Black Holes. LIGO: The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory is a large scale physics experiment and observatory to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational wave observations as an astronomical tool. LIGO –Livigston is the sixth longest building in the world each arm 4000m LIGO INDIA: India is going to have advanced gravitational wave observatory in Aundh, Hingoli, Maharashtra. INDIGO- Indian Initiative in Gravitational Wave Observations.

242. ASEAN: Association of Southeast Asian Nations It is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising 10 Southeast Asian countries Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Brunei Promotes Pan-Asianism and intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and socio-cultural integration amongst its members and other Asian countries. Formed on 8 August 1967. ASEAN covers a land area of 4.4 million square kilometers. i.e. 3% of total land area of Earth ASEAN territorial waters cover an area about three times larger than its land counterpart ASEAN combined population is about 8.8% of the world’s population ASEAN shares land borders with India, China, Bangladesh, East Timor and Papua New Guinea And maritime borders with India, China, Palau and Australia ASEAN association is credited as successful and emerging power house.

243. CHINA – ONE BELT ONE ROAD INITIATIVE

The Belt and Road initiative BRI, is a developmental strategy proposed by China. It focuses on connectivity and cooperation between Eurasian countries. The countries are involved China , the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and the ocean-going Maritime Silk Road.

244. SILK ROAD ECONOMIC BELT

The Silk Road Economic Belt is the land-based portion of One Belt, One Road project of China. New Eurasian Land Bridge: this is Railway that connects China to Central Europe through Kazakhastan and Eastern Europe.

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245. MARITIME SILK ROAD or MARITIME SILK ROUTE It is the maritime section of historic Silk Road that connects China to Southeast Asia, Indonesian archipelago, Indian subcontinent, Arabian peninsula, Somalia and all the way to Egypt and finally Europe. This route had flourished between 2nd century BC to 15th century AD. There is a proposal to nominate “Maritime Silk Route” as a new UNESCO World Heritage Site.

246. MERGER OF SBI

After the merger the SBI has become a lender of global proportions with an asset base of Rs.32 trillion. SBI has become now among top 50 Banks of the World. Banks merged:- State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur State Bank of Mysore State Bank of Travancore State Bank of Hyderabad State Bank of Patiala Bhartiya Mahila Bank Bank now has 23,899 branches Employee 2.71 Lakhs Customer base 37 Crore ATMs 59000

247. NATIONAL PRESS DAY NOVEMBER 16

National Press Day is celebrated on Nov.16 to commemorate the establishment of the Press Council Of India. Formed in 1966, the Press Council keeps a check on the quality of reportage provided by the Indian press. It also ensures that journalistic objectivity is not compromised due to “influence or threats of any extraneous factors

248. JAMMU & KASHMIR

Some States enjoy a special status. Jammu & Kashmir has its own Constitution. Many provisions of the Indian Constitution are not applicable to J&K without the approval of the State Assembly Indians who are not permanent residents of this State cannot buy land here. Similar special provisions exist for some other States of India as well.

249. UNION TERRITORIES These are areas which are too small to become an independent State but which could

not be merged with any of the existing States. These areas, like Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, or the capital city of Delhi, are called Union Territories. These territories do not have the powers of a State. The Central Government has special powers in running these areas.

250. MOOTIDEVI AWARD Noted Dalit voice, poet and Telugu writer Prof. KalakaluriEnoch was conferred with the prestigious Mootidevi Award of Bhartiya Jnanpith for the year 2015. The prestigious literary award was bestowed upon him for his novel Anantajivnam by Veteran art historian Dr. Kaila Vatsyayana function in New Delhi. His novel Ananta Jeevanam depicts the struggle of the down-trodden, weak and the common man in Rayalaseema to preserve the historical and cultural inheritance of the region during a devastating cyclone.

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