Current affairs and GK

Current affairs from Newspapers

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1. New ocean forming in African desert (5th Nov 2009): An international collaboration has
shown that a 35 mile long rift in the Afar region of the Ethiopian desert, which opened in
2005, is likely to be the beginning of a new sea.
2. Africa's tallest mountain Kilimanjaro.
3. Nobel Prize in Chemistry to India-born scientist (October 7 2009): Three Americans won
2009 Nobel Prize and one among them is India-born. They are Venkatraman Ramakrishnan,
Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath.
4. Largest ever telescope launched from French Guiana (May 15 2009): Ariane 5 rocket, the
world's largest telescope was launched on May 15 from the Kourou spaceport in French
Guiana to investigate the origins of the universe.
5. UK scientists to develop Swine Flu vaccine (4th May 2009): As the world is getting ready to
fight against Swine Flu (H1N1 virus), A team from National Institute for Biological Standards
and Control (NIBSC) in Hertfordshire had started their work for developing a vaccine against
the H1N1 virus.
6. ISRO launches RISAT-2 (20th April 2009): The Indian Space Research Organisation
successfully launched a revolutionary spy satellite RISAT-2. It is designed by the Israeli
Aerospace Industries. It can take images through the thickest cloud cover, rain and snow or
fog conditions during night and day or even of the hundreds of winding mountain valleys.
7. INDIA TO SEND SUN MISSION ADITYA IN 2012: After the successful launch of the moon
mission, Chandrayaan-1, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now gearing up for a
mission to the sun. The proposed sun mission christened as "Mission Aditya", is aimed at
unravelling the secrets of the sun. G Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian space agency
ISRO.
8. Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik took charge as the 19th chief of the India Air Force
from Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, who demitted office on May 31. An alumnus of
Sainik School, Satara, and the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, Air Chief Marshal
Naik saw action in the 1971 India-Pakistan war. He was decorated with the Param Vishist
Seva Medal and the Vishist Seva Medal.
9. Vice-Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma was appointed country’s next Chief of Naval Staff. He
will take charge from Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who retires from service on August 31. Born
on November 14, 1950, Vice-Admiral Verma, currently Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief
(FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command, has, during his long and distinguished 39 years of
service, commanded aircraft carrier INS Viraat.
10. 1973 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, Ashok Chawla was appointed Finance Secretary
in the Government of India.
11. 1975 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre H. S. Brahma took the charge of Secretary,
Union Ministry of Poweron May 12, 2009.
12. Madhu Kannan was appointed managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on May 11, 2009 by its board.
 Current affairs and GK

Indian States and their languages

States                                       Capital                                                  Languages
Andra Pradesh                      Hyderabad                                     Telugu and Urdu
Arunachal Pradesh             Itanager                                           Miji, Apotanji,
Merdukpen,
Tagin,Adi, Honpa,
Bangini-Nishi. 
Assam                                    Dispur                                             Assamese
Bihar                                     Patna                                                 Hindi
Chhattisgarh                            Raipur                                               Hindi
Goa                                          Panaji                                               Marathi and Konkani
Gujarat                                    Gandhinagar                                 Gujarati
Haryana                                   Chandigarh                                   Hindi
Himachal Pradesh                   Shimla                                               Hindi and Pahari
Mizoram                                  Aizawl                                                Mizo and English
Jammu & Kashmir                  Srinagar (Summer)
                                                 Jammu (Winter)                 Kashmiri,Dogri, Urdu,
Ladakhi, Pahari,Punjabi
and Dadri
Jharkhand                                 Ranchi                                             Hindi
Karnataka                                 Bangalore                                       Kannda
Kerala                                       Trivandrum                             Malayalam
Madhya Pradesh                       Bhopal                                       Hindi
Maharashtra                              Bombay                                   Marathi
Manipur                                    Imphal                                       Manipuri
Meghalaya                                Shillong                                     Khasi, Jaintia and Garo
Nagaland                                   Kohima                                       Ao, Konyak, Angami,
Sema and Lotha
Orissa                                        Bhubaneswar                                 Oriya
Punjab                                       Chandigarh                     Punjabi
Rajasthan                                   Jaipur                                       Rajasthani and Hindi
Sikkim                                       Gangtok                                 Bhutia, Hindi, Nepali,
Lepcha, Limbu
TamilNadu                   Chennai                                       Tamil
Tripura                                      Agartala                                     Bengali, Tripuri,
Manipuri, Kakborak
UttarPradesh                             Lucknow                                   Hindi
Uttaranchal                               Dehra Dun                                     Hindi
West Bengal                         Calcutta                                     Bengali
 Current affairs and GK

Important Days National/International

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Important International Days
January 9 NRI Day
January 10 World Laughter Day
January 12 National Youth Daya
January 15 Army DayJanuary 23 Birthday of Subash Chandra bose birthday
January 26 India's Republic Day, International Customs Day
January 30 Martyrs' Day; World Leprosy Eradication Day
2nd Sunday of February World Marriage DayFebruary 14 Velentine Day
February 24 Central Excise Day
February 28 National Science Day
Second Monday March Commonwealth Day
March 8 International Women's Day; Intl. literacy Day
March 15 World Disabled Day; World Consumer Rights Day
March 18 Ordnance Factories Day (India)
March 21 World Forestry Day; International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination
March 22 World Day for Water
March 23 World Meteorological Day
March 24 World TB Day
April 5 International Day for Mine Awareness; National Maritime Day
April 7 World Health Day
April 17 World Haemophilia Day
April 18 World Heritage Day
April 21 Secretaries' Day
April 22 Earth Day
April 23 World Book and Copyright Day
May 1 Workers' Day (International Labour Day)
May 3 Press Freedom Day; World Asthma Day
May 2nd Sunday Mother's Day
May 4 Coal Miners' Day
May 8 World Red Cross Day
May 9 World Thalassaemia Day
May 11 National Technology Day
May 12 World Hypertension Day; International Nurses Day
May 15 International Day of the Family
May 17 World Telecommunication Day
May 24 Commonwealth Day
May 31 Anti-tobacco Day
June 4 International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression
June 5 World Environment Day
June 3rd Sunday Father's Day
June 14 World Blood Donor Day
June 26 International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking July 1 Doctor's Day
July 6 World Zoonoses Day
July 11 World Population Day
August 3 Internatioal Friendship Day
August 6 Hiroshima Day
August 8 World Senior Citizen's Day
 Current affairs and GK

August 9 Quit India Day, Nagasaki Day

4 15 Indian Independence Day
August
August 18 IntI. Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
August 19 Photography Day
August 29 National Sports Day
September 2 Coconut Day
September 5 Teachers' Day; Sanskrit Day
September 8 World Literacy Day (UNESCO)
September 15 Engineers' Day
September 16 World Ozone Day
September 21 Alzheimer's Day; Day for Peace & Non-violence (UN)
September 22 Rose Day (Welfare of cancer patients)
September 26 Day of the Deaf
September 27 World Tourism Day
October 1 International Day for the Elderly
October 2 Gandhi Jayanthi
October 3 World Habitat Day
October 4 World Animal Welfare Day
October 8 Indian Air Force Day
October 9 World Post Office Day
October 10 National Post Day
October 2nd Thursday World Sight Day
October 13 UN International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction
October 14 World Standards Day
October 15 World White Cane Day (guiding the blind)
October 16 World Food Day
October 24 UN Day; World Development Information Day
October 30 World Thrift Day
November 9 Legal Services Day
November 14 Children's Day; Diabetes Day
November 17 National Epilepsy Day
November 20 Africa Industrialisation Day
November 29 International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People
December 1 World AIDS Day
December 3 World Day of the Handicapped
December 4 Indian Navy Day
December 7 Indian Armed Forces Flag Day
December 10 Human Rights Day; IntI. Children's Day of Broadcasting
December 18 Minorities Rights Day (India)
December 23 Kisan Divas (Farmer's Day) (India)s
 Current affairs and GK

Indian Nobel Laureates

5
Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Nobel Prize for Literature (1913)

CV Raman (1888 - 1970)

Nobel Prize for Physics (1930)

Dr. Hargobind Khorana

Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology (1968)

Dr. Subramaniam Chandrasekar

Nobel Prize for physics (1983)

Mother Teresa (1910 - 1997)

Nobel Prize for peace (1979)

Dr. Amartya Sen

Nobel Prize for Economics (1998)

RK Pachauri (IPCC)

Nobel Peace Prize 2007

Other Nobel Prize Laureates related to India

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

VS Naipaul (1932- )