GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

NATIONAL PARKS AND WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES OF INDIA

 Bandhavgarh National Park – It is the place where firstly and formostly the white
Tigers of Rewa were discovered. This park is some of the left out preserved wild
pockets of Madhya Pradesh.
 Bandipur and Nagarhole National Parks, Karnataka – Two of the most attractive
national parks of Karnataka are Nagarhole and Bandipur. Even if separate entities,
they are a part of a large neighbouring wildlife reserve that also includes Madumalai
Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu and Wynad Reserve of Kerala. Bandipur is India’s first Tiger
Reserves and the southernmost of the nine reserves specially established under
Project Tiger.
 Corbett National Park – This park in Uttarakhand is famous for its tigers. Other wild
lives include panther, deer, elephants, leopards, and sloth bears. It is a well-
protected wild habitat.
 Dachigam National Park, J & K – Of all the sanctuaries present in the state of Jammu
and Kashmir, the one at Dachigam is the best known. Wildlife here includes rare
Kashmiri stags, black bears, and musk deers.
 Dudhwa National Park, U.P. – Popular as a Tiger Reserve, this national park is located
in the district of Lakhimpur, along the Indo-Nepal border. Another major attraction
of this wild reserve is the Barasingha or the Swamp Deer, found in the southwest and
southeast region of the park.
 Gahirmatha Turtle Sanctuary, Orissa – Breeding center of the Giant Olive Ridley
Turtles, who crossover the Pacific to come here and lay their eggs.
 Gir National Park & Sanctuary, Gujarat – It is a sole surviving natural habitat of the
Asiatic Lions. Popularly known as Sasangir, this national park is blessed with some of
the most diverse wild attractions and natural surroundings.

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 Kanha National Park – Situated in Madhya Pradesh. Originally it was conceived to
protect the swamp deers also called Barasinghas but now it also includes tigers,
chitals, blackbucks, langurs and leopards.
 Kaziranga National Park – This park in Assam is famous for its one-horned Rhinos
which are almost extinct now but for a few. The park is full of tall grasses and
swampy areas. The rhinos can be spotted around the swampy areas, bathing. Egrets
and other birds are also accommodated here.
 Keoladeo Ghana Bird Sanctuary – Situated in Rajasthan. It is also called Bharatpur
Bird Sanctuary and features a large number of migrating birds from Siberia and
China, which include herons, storks, cranes and geese. It also houses deers and other
wildlife.
 Nandankanan Zoo, Orissa – Nandankanan, is situated 20-km from Bhubaneshwar,
and is popularly known as the “Garden of Pleasure” in Orissa. The zoo at
Nandankanan is world famous for its White Tigers.
 Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary – Situated in Kerala state built around an artificial lake. It is
famous for its large elephant population. Others include the wild dogs, Nilgiri
Langurs, otters, tortoise, and hornbills.
 Ranthambore National Park – A nearby attraction of Sawai Madhopur, in the state of
Rajasthan. It is famous for its lake tigers but nowadays the number has dwindled
thanks to large-scale poaching in these areas.
 Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary – Probably the most visited park in India, Sariska was also
a hunting reserve previously just like other national parks in India. The reserve was
declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1958 and came under the “Project Tiger” as a tiger
reserve in 1979.
 Sultanpur National Park – It was a stretch of marshy land that has been remodeled
and converted into a water body. The park is home to a large range of birds, both
resident and migratory.
 Sundarbans National Park – It is known as the largest estuarine delta in the world,
this Tiger land vibrates with countless forms of colourful life. This reserve in West
Bengal is to the southeast of the city of Calcutta. It contains the mangrove forests of
the Gangetic delta. It is an important habitat for tigers but it also includes fishing cats
and a wide variety of birds.

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 BOOKS
A Brush with Life Satish Gujral
A Reveolutionary Life Laxmi Sehgal
A Secular Agenda Arun Shourie
After the Dark Night S M Ali
Agni Pariksha Acharya Tulsi
Agni Veena Kazi Nazrul Islam
Ain-i-Akbari Abul Fazal
Ajatshatru Jai Shankar Prasad
Akbarnama Abul Fazal
An idealist View of Life Dr S Radhakrishnan
Anandmath Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Agony and the Ecstasy Irving Stone
Alchemist Ben Johnson
Along the Road Aldous Huxley
Athenian Constitution Aristotle
5327 Alexander Solzhenitsyn
August Coup Mikhali S Gorbachev
Banyan Tree Hugh Tinker l
Beyond Peace Richard Nixon
Blind Beauty Boris Pasternak
Brif History of Time Stephen Hawking
Backward Place R P Jhabwala
Breakthrough Gen Moshe Dayan
Crescent Moon Rabindranath Tagore
Curtain Raisers K Natwar Singh
Childhood Maxim Gorky
Children of Gabelawi Naquib Mahfouz
Children of the Sun Maxim Gorky
City of Joy Dominique Lapierre
Common Sense Thomas Paine
Communist Manifesto Karl Marx
Confessions J J Rousseau
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Confidential Clerk T S Eliot
Coup John Updike
Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky
Das Kapital Karl Marx
Dr. Zhivago Boris Pasternak
Drunkard Emile Zola
Earth Emile Zola
Ethics Aristotle
Farm House George Orwell
Freedom from Fear Aung San Suu Kyi
Frozen Assets P G Wodehouse
Forbidden Sea Tara Ali Baig
Fortynine Days Amrita Pritam
Golden Threshold Sarojini Naidu
Gathering Storm Winston Churchill
Gone Away Dom Moraes
Great Tragedy Z A Bhutto
Higher than Hope Fatima Meer
It is Always Possible Kiran Bedi
If I am Assassinated Z A Bhutto
Imperial Woman Pearl S Buck
Indica Megasthenes
Inferno Alighieri Dante
Invisible Man H G Wells
Junglee Girl Ginu Kamani
Kamadhenu Kubernath Ray
Kamasutra Vatsyayan
Kagaz Te Kanwas Amrita Pritam
Kamayani Jai Shankar Pandit
Kumar Sambhava Kalidas
La Divine Comedia A Dante
Leaders Richard Nixon
Le Contract Social J J Rousseau
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Les Miserables Victor Hugo
Life of Samuel Johnson James Boswell
Lines of Fate Mark Kharitonov
Living Room Graham Greene
Long Walk to Freedom Nelson Mandela
Lost Honour John Dean
Law, Lawyers & Judges H R Bhardwaj
Laws versus Justice V R Krishna Iyer
Malavikagnimitra Kalidas
Many Worlds K P S Menon
Mati Matal Gopinath Mohanty
Meghdoot Kalidas
Mistaken identity Nayantara Sehgal
Moor’s Last Sigh Salman Rushdie
Mrinalini Bankim Chandra Charrerjee
My India S Nihal Singh
My Music, My Love Ravi Shankar
Main Street Sinclair Lewis
Man, The Unknown Lewis Carroll
Masters C P Snow
Mein Kampf Adolf Hitler
Modern Painters John Ruskin
Mother India Katherine Mayo
Never At Home Dom Moraes
Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
Occasion for Loving Nadine Gordimer
Padmavati Malik Mohammed Jayasi
Painter of Signs R K Narayan
Pakistan Papers Mani Shankar Aiyer
Panchtantra Vishnu Sharma
Passage to England Nirad C Chaudhuri
Plans for Departure Nayantara Sehgal
Portrait of India Ved Mehta
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Prem Pachisi Prem Chand
Premonitions P N Haksar
Passage to India E M Forster
Path to Power Margaret Thatcher
Pleading Guilty Scott Turow
Riding the Storm Harold MacMillan
The Commitments R Doyle
The Cardinal Henry M Robinson
Ugly Duckling H C Anderson
Bride for Sahib & Other Stories Khushwant Singh

 Fastest bird: Swift

 Largest bird: Ostrich
 Longest day: June 21
 Shortest day: December 22
 Largest delta: Sunderban (India)
 Largest desert: Sahara, North Africa
 Biggest dome: Gol Gumbaz (Bijapur), India
 Largest dams: Grand Coulee Dam, USA
 Largest Gulf: Gulf of Mexico
 Highest plateau: Pamir (Tibet)
 Longest river: Nile, Africa
 Longest river dam: Hirakud Dam, India
 Largest Sea: South China Sea
 Brightest Star: Sirius A
 Tallest statute: Motherland (Russia)
 Largest sea bird: Albatross
 Largest temple: Angkorwat in Cambodia
 Tallest Tower: C.N. Tower, Toronto (Canada)
 Longest wall: Great Wall of China
 Highest waterfall: Angel (Venezuela)
 Widest waterfall: Khone Falls (Laos)

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 Lowest water level: Dead Sea
 Longest epic: Mahabharata

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS
Ammeter “ strength of electric current
Anemometer “ force and velocity of wind and direction
Barometer “ atmospheric pressure
Calorimeter “ quantities of heat
Galvanometer “ electric current
Hydrometer “ relative density of liquids
Hygrometer “ level of humidity
Hydrophone “ sound under water
Lactometer “ relative density of milk
Manometer “ pressure of gases
Pyrometer “ very high temperature
Sphygmometer “ blood pressure
Thermometer “ temperature
Thermostat regulates temperature at a particular point
Voltmeter measures electric potential difference between two points
CITY RIVER
Agra Yamuna Ahmedabad Sabarmati
Ayodhya Saryu Badrinath Ganga
Cuttack Mahanadi Dibrugarh Brahmaputra
Haridwar Ganga Hyderabad Musi
Jabalpur Narmada Kanpur Ganga
Kolkata Hoogly Kota Chambal
Lucknow Gomti Ludhiana Sutlej
Nasik Godavari Patna Ganga
Srinagar Jhelum Surat Tapti
Varanasi Ganga Vijayawada Krishna
Baghdad Tigris Belgrade Danube
Berlin Spree Bonn Rhine
Budapest Danube Cairo Nile
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Glasgow Clyde Hamburg Elbe
Karachi Indus Lahore Ravi
London Thames Moscow Moskva
New York Hudson Paris Seine
Quebuc St.Lawrence Yangon Irrawaddy
Rome Tiber Vienna Danube
Warsaw Vistula Washington Potomac
COUNTRIES AND PARLIAMENT
Afganistan: Shora Bangladesh: Jatiya Sansad
Bhutan: Tshogdu Britain: House of Commons & Lords
China: National People’s Congress Denmark: Folketing
Egypt: People’s Assembly France: National Assembly
Germany: Bundestag Iran: Majlis
Iraq: National Israel: Knesset
Japan: Diet Kuwait: National Assembly
Libya: General People’s Congress Maldives: Majlis
Nepal: National Panchayat Pakistan: National Assembly
Poland: Sejm Russia: State Duma
South Africa: House of Assembly Switzerland: Federal Assembly
Srilanka: National State Syria: People Council
USA: Congress Vietnam: National Assembly

Sorrow of Bengal: River Damodar Sorrow of Bihar: River Kosi

Sorrow of Assam: Brahmaputra
Little Corporal: Napoleon Bonaparte
Fuhrer (also Fuehrer): Adolf Hitler
Bard of Avon: William Shakespeare
Punjab Lion: Lala Lajpat Rai
Loknayak: Jayaprakash Narayan
C.R: C. Rajagopalachari
Deenabandhu: C.F. Andrews
Grand Old Man of India: Dadabhai Naoroji Gurudev: Rabindranath Tagore
Badshah Khan: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Lady with Lamp: Florence Nightingale
Maid of Orleans: Joan of Arc
Man of Blood & Iron: Otto von Bismarck
Daughter of East: Benazir Bhutto
Lokmanya: Bal Gangadhar Tilak
J.P: Jayaprakash Narayan
Rajaji: C. Rajagopalachari
Deshabandhu: C.R. Das
Frontier Gandhi: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
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Birdman of India: Salim Ali Nightingale of India: Sarojini Naidu
Babuji: Jagjeevan Ram Little Master: Sunil Gavaskar
Flying Sikh: Milkha Singh Rani of Jhansi: Lakshmibai
Chachaji: Jawaharlal Nehru Sher-e-Punjab: Ranjit Singh
Punjab Kesari: Lala Lajpat Rai Milkman of India: Varghese Kurien
Largest bird Ostrich
Smallest bird Humming bird
Deepest lake Baikal Siberia
Largest temple Angkor Vat in Cambodia
Longest wall Great Wall of China
Highest waterfall Angel Venezuela
Hottest place Al Azizia Libya
Land of the midnight sun Norway
Red Cross was founded by Jean Henri Durant
Gol Gumbaz Bijapur
Hawa Mahal Jaipur
Buland Darwaza Fatehpur Sikri
Dilwara Temples Mount Abu
Jagannath Temple Puri
Mahabodhi Temple Bodhgaya
Chicago Windy City
Cochin Venice of the East
Hwang Ho Sorrow of China
Victoria Memorial Calcutta
MAJOR RIVERSIDE CITIES OF THE WORLD
Baghdad Tigris
Bonn Rhine
Budapest Danube
Cairo Nile
Karachi Indus
Lahore Ravi
London Thames
Moscow Volga
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New York Hudson
Paris Seine
Rangoon Irrawadi
Washington Potamac
IMPORTANT COMMITTEES
N.N. Vohra Committee Criminalization of politics
Narasimham Committee Banking sector reforms
Chelliah Committee Tax reforms
Yashpal Committee Review of School Education system
M.M. Punchhi Commission Centre-State Relations
Thorat Committee Caste-based discrimination against students in AIIMS
R.K.Raghavan Committee Ragging in colleges
Liberahan Committee Babri Masjid Demolition
U.C. Banerjee Committee Godhra Railway Riots
Kelkar Committee Direct Tax Code
Srikrishna Committee Telangana issue
Naresh Chandra Committee Defence Reforms
Justice Verma Committee crimes against women and suggesting reforms
Justice M B Shaw Committee illegal mining of iron ore and manganese in Goa
E.M.S. Nachiappan Committee Reforms in the higher judiciary
James Lyngdoh Committee student politics and elections in colleges
Accidental Prime Minister: Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh by Sanjaya Baru
PATNA World’s longest Wi-Fi zone of 20 k
JENS STOLTENBERG next secretary general of NATO will take over in October
MEGHRAJ Cloud Computing System launched by the Government of India
PRITHVI SHAW World record of 546 runs in School League in Mumbai
ADITI KHANNA 1st Women President of Indian Journalist Association London
FLIGHT MH370 Malaysian airlines disappeared in March 2014
PYEONGCHANG South Korea will host 23rd Winter Olympics
M P BEZBARUAH Head of committee to examine attacks on north east people
ARUNIMA SINHA 1stindian woman to conquer Mt. Everest on a prosthetic leg
JUSTICE A.P.SHAH Chairman of 20TH Law Commission of India
HARAPRASAD DAS Odia Writer was presented 26th Moorti Devi Award 2014
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COREY ANDERSON scored fastest ever one day international century
CHRISTINE LAGARDE M.D of International Monetary Fund
JUSTICE A K MATHUR Head Seventh Central Pay Commission
DEVYANI KHOBRAGADE Indian diplomat who was arrested in USA for visa fraud
PURUSOTTAM EXPRESS--1st train with Braille embedded AC coach for visually challenged
BOR WILDLIFE SANCTUARY Upgraded recently as Tiger Reserve
INFINITY TOWER, DUBAI MARINA World’s tallest twisted tower
DOLPHINS-- INDIA is 1ST country to grant non-human personhood status
Largest TV in world-- by Panasonic, BIG HOSS
NETRA-surveillance system by Govt of India, capable of capturing dubious voice and
written message passing through various social sites, blogs and other online forums
First state to ban consumption of all forms of smokeless tobacco--Assam
Bihar Health Worker Martha Dodray Gets ‘UN ‘Award For Polio World
First Indian recipient of Oscar Award Bhanu Athaiya
First woman judge of Supreme Court of India Meera Sahib Fatima Bibi
Deepest ocean ...Pacific Ocean
Deepest lake ...Lake Baikal, (Siberia)
Deepest point ...Mariana Trench in Pacific Ocean
Longest epic - Mahabharatha
Longest wall - Great Wall of China
Longest Throughfare – Broadway (New York)
Longest Corridor – Rameswaram Temple
1stperson to reach Mount Everest – – Sherpa Tenzing, Edmund Hillary
1stSecretary General of the United Nations – Trigve Li
1stcountry to prepare a constitution – U.S.A
1stwoman cosmonaut of the world – Valentina Tereshkova
1stwoman President of U.N. General Assembly – Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
2298 km between Beijing and Guangzhou-- World's longest high-speed rail route
David Rudisha- World record in men's 800-metre event
Delhi -- first kerosene-free city of India
Admiral Robin K Dhowan--- Chief of Indian Navy
Justice G Rohini -- first woman Chief Justice of Delhi High Court
Jammu and Kashmir-1STto declare all election booths in LS polls as no smoking zones
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Third Nuclear Security Summit---The Hague, Netherlands
Third BIMSTEC summit ---- Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar
Largest 130-MW Solar Power Plant of India Welspun Solar MP Project---Bhagwanpur in
Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh: also the Asia's Largest Solar Power Plant
Third World Congress on Agro-Forestry--- New Delhi
Jamila Bayaz-- first woman police chief of Kabul province
Gorakhpur platform no 1--Limca Book of Records longest rail platform world
Odisha's Chilika lagoon named 'destination flyways' by United Nations World Tourism
Organization following its inclusion in a list of eight such sites worldwide
BITCOIN: virtual currency generated through complex computer software systems with
solutions shared on a network; world's most expensive currency; small number used for
real commercial & retail purposes; majority transactions for speculative investments.
Sheikh Hasina's Awami League-232 seats & sworn in as PM Bangladesh for 3 RD time.
ABDUL FATTAH AL-SISI: President of Egypt
NICOLAS MADURO: became President of Venenzuela after the demise of Hugo Chavez.
He, like Chavez is anti American and is entrusted with tough job of bringing
Venenzuela’s economy on the right track.
ABU DU’A [A.K.A. ABU BAKR AL-BAGHDADI]: head of the terrorist organization ISIS
which has recently been in news for its barbaric terrorist acts in Syria and Iraq.
KIM JONG UN
ERIC HOLDER
THULI MADONSELA: South Africa's fearless public advocate
RAND PAUL
ROBERT REDFORD
CHRISTY TURLINGTON BURNS
DONNA TARTT-
SCOTT WALKER--THE HEARTLAND'S REPUBLICAN HOPEFUL
ERWIANA SULISTYANINGSIH
XI JINPING---China’s Premier.
DR. E. SREEDHARAN: is better known as METRO MAN and was pioneer and the man
behind Delhi Metro. He received lots of awards for his excellent technical and
administrative acumen.

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DR. VERGHESE KURIEN: was given title of MILKMAN OF INDIA. He was founder of White
Revolution and he organised the milk men to make cooperatives and he also established
AMUL at Anand in Gujarat. He died recently. The "Operation flood" was the largest
integrated dairy development programme of the world. It was started by National dairy
development board in 1970 and Kurien was the pioneer of this mission.
MIROSLAV KLOSE: German became highest scorer in history of World Cup Football by
surpassing record of Brazillian super star Ronaldo. He quit after FIFA 2014.
JAMES RODRIGUEZ: Colombian footballer was star of FIFA World Cup and was given
Golden Shoe Award for scoring maximum number of goals in the tournament.
ARJEN ROBBIN: star of the Dutch football team along with Robbin Van Persie in the
recently concluded FIFA World Cup. Netherlands lost to Argentina in Semi Finals.
THYAGO SILVA: captain of Brazil football team which got its worst defeat in a World Cup
Match in 2014. He did not play in that match where Germany humiliated Brazil.
MALAVATH POORNA: 13-year-old became youngest girl to climb Mount Everest.
Yemen deposited its "Instrument of Acceptance" on 27 May 2014 with Director-General
Roberto Azevêdo, confirming its membership terms. According to WTO rules, Yemen
will become a full-fledged member on 26 June 2014.
The Union government announced the setting up of a high-level Special Investigation
Team to help unearth black money stashed away abroad, at the first meeting of the
Cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Briefing reporters after the
meeting, Union Law and Justice, Communications and Information Technology Minister
Ravi Shankar Prasad said the SIT would be headed by former Supreme Court judge
Justice M. B. Shah and another retired Supreme Court judge Justice Arijit Pasayat would
be its vice-chairman.

UN Security Council has put the Nigerian terror group 'Boko Haram' under so-called
'UN's 1267 (al Qaeda) sanctions list'. The al-Qaeda-linked group recently hit zenith of
infamy after abduction of over 270 schoolgirls from its citadel of Northern Nigeria. Boko
Haram is a guerilla organization and lack any definite structure or chain of command; So
its kind of faceless and thus easier to hide and escape legal crackdown.
Winner by highest margin in Lok Sabha poll: Narendra Modi from Vadodara (Gujarat)
with 5.7 Lakh votes
Winner by lowest margin - Thupstan Chhewang of BJP from Ladakh
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Ladakh constituency of Jammu and Kashmir is largest constituency in India.
BiblioTech, the world's 1st paperless public library, opens in Texas (US)
De Villiers named South African Cricketer of the Year
Great Himalayan National Park--nominated for world heritage site
Patan Gujarat--Ran-Ki-Vav, a 11th century step-well nominated for world heritage site
Sevastopol Crimea--Ukraine’s Navy Headquarters seized by pro-Russian forces
Belgium--1st country to allow euthanasia for terminally ill children of all ages
Chandoli--Alwar, Rajasthan India's 1st Minority Cyber Village
Port Blair--Nucleus Breeding Centre for Tiger Shrimp inaugurated
Bengaluru--1st city in India to offer free Wi-Fi spots for the public
Bengaluru--1st electric bus of the country was inaugurated here
Medaram--hosted Sammakkaa Saarakka Fair, largest tribal religious congregation
Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram-- nation's largest IT park
Mount Elbrus-- highest peak of Europe and Russia where Olympic torch was recently lit
Bibliotech, Texas--world's 1st paperless public library
Arati Devi, 32 left a lucrative career in banking; became a sarpanch in Ganjam district of
Odisha; nominated for Rajiv Gandhi Leadership Award 2014.
Gro Harlem Brundtland: Tang Prize 2014 - coined as Asia's Nobels for its high prize money;
given in the sustainable development category; significant contributions towards green
cause through promotion of sustainable development worldover; three-term prime minister
of Norway; former director-general of the World Health Organization; currently a special
envoy on climate change for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Vishal Sikka---Chief Executive Officer of Infosys
Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein- Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of
UN; first Muslim and Arab to hold the post
Chung Hung Won was retained as Prime Minster of South Korea
Jean-Claude Juncker-- next president of European Commission
Indian-origin judge V K Rajah appointed as 8th Attorney-General of Singapore
Narendra Modi, PM dedicated 25 km-long Katra-Udhampur railway line of Jammu to the
nation. First train from Katra railway station was named as Shree Shakti Express. It will
facilitate pilgrims to visit Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine & on its route will cross seven
tunnels and over 30 small and large bridges.

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Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, MH-17, was shot down over war-torn eastern Ukraine
near Russian border. Plane was shot down at an altitude of 10000 meters & wreckage of
aircraft and bodies were found scattered at village of Grabovo (some 40 km from the
Russian border); flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur carrying 283 passengers
Michelle Howard became first female four-star admiral in US Navy. She is first women
admiral in 236 year old history of US Navy.
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III-- biggest aircraft in Indian Air Force inventory and is capable
of carrying large equipment, supplies and troops directly to small airfields.
Mr. Om Prakash Kohli was sworn in as Gujarat Governor at a function in Gandhinagar on
16th July 2014. He succeeded Dr. Kamla Beniwal.

India will be hosting the 7th IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) Summit in 2015, it was
announced following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South
African President Jacob Zuma in Brazil. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the
interaction between the BRICS leadership and leaders from Latin American countries.

Apart from this, it was also agreed to hold India Africa Forum meet in New Delhi in
December 2014.

Do you Know ?

IBSA is a trilateral initiative amongst three different societies of three different

continents in India, Brazil and South Africa. It was formed with an aim to promote
South-South cooperation and exchange of like-minded countries, committed to inclusive
sustainable development. The group was formed on 6 June 2003 with the adoption of
the Brasilia Declaration followed by a meet of foreign ministers of the three countries in
Brasilia.

Malaysian Airlines plane Boeing 777 with 295 people on board shot down

On 17th July 2014, In a tragic incident, Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane, MH-17, was
shot down over war-torn eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. Plane was flying at
an altitude of 10000 meters (33000 feet).
All passengers along with crew members of the plane died. The plane might have been
shot down by the terrorists by a Buk surface-to-air missile system. The Buk missile
system can fire missiles up to an altitude of 22000 meters (72000 feet).

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7th BRICS Summit will be held in Russian city of Ufa in 2015.

Ufa is the capital city of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, and the industrial,
economic, scientific and cultural centre of the republic.
Brazil, India, China and South Africa conveyed their appreciation to Russia for its offer to
host the Seventh BRICS Summit in 2015 in the city of Ufa and extend their full support to
that end.

The agreement on the much anticipated 100 billion dollars BRICS Development Bank has
been sealed. The group of emerging economies signed the long-anticipated document
to create the $100 bn BRICS Development Bank and a reserve currency pool worth over
another $100 bn. Both will counter the influence of Western-based lending institutions
and the dollar.

India will be the first President of the bank while the first chair of the Board of
Governors will be from Russia. The bank will have an initial authorised capital of USD
100 billion. The initial subscribed capital shall be of USD 50 billion to be equally shared
by the founding-members.

The new bank will provide money for infrastructure and development projects in BRICS
countries, and unlike the IMF or World Bank, each nation has equal say, regardless of
GDP size. Bank's headquarters will be in Shanghai, China.

On 12th July 2014, India's first indigenous anti-submarine warship (ASW) Indian Naval
Ship (INS) Kamorta was handed over to the Indian Navy by Garden Reach Shipbuilders
and Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata.

"The super-sophisticated frontline warship was formally handed over by GRSE Chairman
and Managing Director, Rear Admiral (Retd) A.K. Verma, VSM to the Commanding
Officer of the ship Cdr. Manoj Jha at a brief ceremony," a GRSE release said.

Union Budget 2014-15

On 10th July 2014, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2014-15 in
Parliament, Following are the highlights of Union Budget 2014-15 :

Individuals :

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Income tax exemption limit raised by from 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh and for senior citizens to
Rs 3 lakh.

Exemption limit for investment in financial instruments under 80C raised from 1 lakh to
Rs 1.5 lakh.

Investment limit in PPF raised from 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh.

Deduction limit on interest on loan for self-occupied house raised to Rs 2 lakh from Rs
1.5 lakh.

Kisan Vikas Patra to be reintroduced, National Savings Certificate with insurance cover
to be launched

Long term capial gain tax for mutual funds doubled to 20 pc; lock-in period increased to
3 years

Mandatory wage ceiling of subscription to EPS (Employee Pension Scheme) raised from
Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000

Minimum pension increased to Rs 1,000 per month

Cigarettes, pan masala, tobacco, aerated drinks become costlier

LCD, LED TV become cheaper

New Projects :

5 IIMs to be opened in HP, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha and Rajasthan

5 more IITs in Jammu, Chattisgarh, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

4 more AIIMS like institutions to come up in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Vidarbha in
Maharashtra and Poorvanchal in Uttar Pradesh

Govt proposes to launch 'Digital India’ programme to ensure broad band connectivity at
village level

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Kisan TV for farmers, Arun Prabha TV for northeast.

National Rural Internet and Technology Mission for services in villages and schools,
training in IT skills proposed

Govt proposes Ultra Modern Super Critical Coal Based Thermal Power Technology

A project on the river Ganga called 'Jal Marg Vikas' for inland waterways between
Allahabad and Haldia; Rs 4,200 crore set aside for the purpose.

EPFO to launch the "Uniform Account Number" Service for contributing members.

New programme “Neeranchal” to give impetus to watershed development in the

country with an initial outlay of Rs. 2142 crores.

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana to generate awareness and help in improving the
efficiency of delivery of welfare services meant for women.

Free Drug Service and Free Diagnosis Service to achieve "Health For All"

Two National Institutes of Ageing to be set up at AIIMS, New Delhi and Madras Medical
College, Chennai.

Allocations :

1000 crore provided for “Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojna” for assured irrigation.

Rs. 50,548 crore under the SC Plan and Rs. 32,387 crore under TSP

Rs 100 crore to support about 600 new and existing Community Radio Stations

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to cover every household with sanitation facility by the year
2019

Rs. 7,060 crore for the project of developing 100 Smart Cities.

Set aside Rs 11,200 crore for PSU banks capitalisation

Govt provides Rs 500 crore for rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri migrants

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Rs 100 crore for metro projects in Lucknow and Ahmedabad

Rs 2,037 crore set aside for Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called 'Namami
Gange'

Rs 150 crore allocated for increasing safety of women in large cities

Union Rail Budget 2014-15

On 8th July 2014, Union Rail Budget 2014-15 was presented by the Union Railway
Minister Sadanand Gowda. Following are the highlights of Union Rail Budget 2014 -
2015.

No increase in passenger fares and freight charges

17 new premium trains, 38 express trains and 10 passenger trains to be launched

Premium AC trains with dynamic fares on Delhi-Mumbai route with shorter advance
reservation period

Passenger rail service to Katra and Vaishnodevi to start shortly

Railways to expand services to Meghalaya

Railways exploring low cost option of 160-200 kmph speed trains on select routes

FDI being enabled for creation of rail infrastructure

Annual Rail Plan envisaged at Rs 64,305 crore with a budgetary support of Rs 30,223
crore

Surveys for 19 new lines and 5 doubling of tracks

Railways to end current year with surplus

Temperature-controlled storage for fruits and vegetable

Ready-to-eat meals to be introduced in phased manners

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Efforts will be made to increase speed of trains to 160-200km/h on select sectors. The
identified sectors are: Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Kanpur, Nagpur-Bilaspur,
Mysore-Bengaluru-Chennai, Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Hyderabad
and Nagpur-Secunderabad.

On 8th July 2014, India successfully test-fired the advanced version of BrahMos
supersonic cruise missile from the Odisha coast. The missile was test-fired from the
Integrated Test Range in Chandipur in Balasore. BrahMos missile, which has a range of
290 kilometres, can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kilograms.

BrahMos has been inducted into the Army and Navy, while, the Air Force is in final
stages of trial. The induction of the first version of BrahMos Weapon Complex (N1) in
the Indian Navy commenced from 2005 with the missile being deployed on-board
warship INS Rajput (the first ship with the missile).

Arjuna awards 2014 :

Abhishek Verma in Archery,

Tintu Luka in Athletics,

H.N. Girisha in Para-athletics,

V. Diju in Badminton,

Geethu Anna Jose in basketball,

Jai Bhagwan in Boxing,

R. Ashwin in Cricket,

Anirban Lahiri in Golf,

Mamta Pujari in Kabaddi,

Saji Thomas in Rowing,

Heena Sidhu in Shooting,

Anaka Alankamony in Squash),

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Tom Joseph in Volleyball,

Renubala Chanu in Weightlifting,

Sunil Kumar Rana in Wrestling.

Dronacharya awards 2014 :

Dronacharya awards 2014 was presented to Mahabir Prasad in Wrestling

Lifetime achievement award :

Lifetime achievement award 2014 was presented to N. Lingappa in Athletics, G.

Manoharan in Boxing, Gurcharan Singh Gogi in Judo and Jose Jacob in Rowing,

Dhyan Chand award:

Gurmail Singh in Hockey, K.P. Thakkar in Swimming-diving and Zeeshan Ali in Tennis.

Tenzing Norgay Awards:

Land adventure: Subedar Jagat Singh, Passang Tenzing Sherpa.

Air adventure: MWO Surender Singh.

Lifetime achievement: Wg. Cdr. (retd) Amit Chowdhury.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy :

Punjabi University, Patiala.

On 28th August 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana which is supposed to be a mega financial inclusion plan. RuPaydebit cards
with insurance cover of 1 lakh rupees will be provided to crores of people across the
country who have no formal access to banking facilities.

With a basic aim of bringing financially poor people into the banking system this had a
great start but still has a long way to go.

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It has a target to bring more than 7.5 crore un-banking families into banking system of
India.

Shah Rukh Khan became the Interpol's ambassador for its "Turn Back Crime" campaign.
This campaign aims at promoting awareness among the masses about how each can
play a role in preventing crime.

He became first Indian to be made as ambassador for this Global campaign.

Four states of India viz. Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa got their new
Governors. Appointment of new Governors was done by President of India Mr. Pranab
Mukherjee.

Following are the details :

Rajasthan - Mr. Kalyan Singh appointed as new Governor,

Karnataka - Mr. Vajubhai Rudabhai appointed as new Governor,

Maharashtra - Ch. Vidyasagar Rao appointed as new Governor,

Goa - Mridula Sinha appointed as new Governor.

On 23rd August 2014, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley commissioned INS Kamorta in
Indian Navy. INS Kamorta is first indigenously-built stealth anti-submarine of India. INS
Kamrota was commissioned in Vishakhapatnam. All weapon systems of INS Kamorta has
been manufactured indigenously as this anti-submarine has been built by state-owned
Gardenreach Shipbuilders in Kolkata.

INS Kamorta will be serving in Vishakhapatnam-based Eastern Command of Indian Navy.

22nd Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award was presented to Filmmaker Muzaffar
Ali.

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