CURRENT AFFAIRS

INTERNATIONAL

Youngest boy to make a solo voyage across the Atlantic .......................................... Michael Perham New Prime Minister of South Korea..... Handuck Soo New President of Mexico ................ Felipe Calderon Former Iraqi President who was executed on December 30, 2006 Baghdad for Dujail KillingsSaddam Hussein The Author of the book Matisse: The Master .......... ....................................................... Hilary Spurling

Vladmirputin
Russian President. He was the chief guest at the Indian Republic Day celebrations 2007
(Hu bei Province) Africas First elected Woman head of state ............... Ms. Ellen Jhonson sir leaf (Liberias new President)

International Rice Conference 2006 was held at ........ ................................................................ New Delhi

New king of Bhutan ............... Namgyel Wangchuck First woman President of Harvard University ........... .................................................... Drew Gilpin Faust

Indian Diplomat Vijay Nambiar has been appointed Under Secretary General of U.N. Secretary. Britains first ever woman foreign Secretary ............. ....................................................... Margaret Beckt

First Socialist Memb e r i n U S S e n ate ........ Bernie Sanders Fifa World Player of the year 2006 ............ Fabio Cannavare (Italy) Nagorik Shakthi (citizens power) new political party launched by .............................................................. ................................................... Muhammad Yunus New President of Turkmenistan ................................ ........................... Gurbanguly Berdy Mukha Medov

World Economic Forum 2006 meeting was held at Davos Astro - F The orbiting teliscope has been nick named Akari which means light make a 3- D Map of the Universe. : Bollywoodstar Shilpashetty has been crowned the winner of British reality television show celebrity big brother. Jammu University Vice Chancellor Amitabh Chineese President Hujintao

Shilpashetty

The Indian got Guzi Peace Prize 2006 . Ramjetmalani Golden Pen Honour in 2007 .................... Shi Thavok Winner of Golf World Cup 2006 ................. Germany Worlds Highest Railway ..... Qinghai-Tibet Railway (Golmund city in northwest Chinas Qinghani Province)

Amitabh Mattoo :

World Largest Dam ........... Three Gorges in Chinas

 Susilo Yudhoyano : President of Indonesia South Korea - Decision to build new Capital

German Chancellor
Angela Merkel (Conservative party) was elected as Germanys first women chancellor
Mattoo has been elected to the International council of Pugwash which is the highest decision making body of the Nobel Peace Prize of the non-governmental organization.
ICSI President Preeti Malhotra was elected the first

South Korea will build a new administrative capital in Chungcheongnamdo province in 2007. Longest Tunnel in Asia The Tata Hydroelectric project which involves the construction of one of the longest tunnel in Asia is under construction on river Wangdhu, in south Central Bhutan. The 1020 mw power project - more than half of which is being funded by India is expected to transform countrys economic health. ASEAN Regional forum Membership to Pakistan Pakistan has been admitted as the 24th member to the ASEANs (Association of South East Asian Nations) regional forum (ARF). India is already a member of ARF. Freedom Tower Freedom Tower is the new building being constructed at the site of destructed WTC tower in New York, America. This would become the largest and tallest tower after its construction. The building is designed by world famous architects Daniel Liberkind and David Childes.

woman president of the Institute of company secretaries of India.

Sidney Sheldon : Oscar winning Holy wood screen

Dark Matter
The strange substance that is believed to comprise most of the cosmos darkmatter which cannot be detected directly, because it doesnot emit or reflect light or radiation.
Zimbabwe quits Commonwealth

writer who went to becomes one of the worlds most prolific novelist died.
New version of microsoft personal computer operating

system : Vista
The first Indian to go to both the north and South

Poles : Ajeet Bajaj

First Scientific Cinema : A Trip to Moon First Cartoon Cinema : Popay the sailor Worlds deepest submarine

Zimbabwe quits from Commonwealth in protest of Commonwealths decision to extend its suspension. Zimbabwe was suspended due to the allegations of a large scale rigging in 2002 presidential elections and racial oppression of political opponents. Presently there are 53 members in the Commonwealth.

Russia has built the worlds deepest and most silent nuclear submarine,Losharik. Seven countries join NATO Seven new members joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) increasing the alliances membership from 19 to 26. The new members are Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Vladimir Putin - President to Russia Prime Minister of Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapakse

Hilary rothan clinton (USA) Democratic senatar took the first step toward a 2008 white Housebid 3

 Queen Mary - 2

Worlds largest journey ship Queen mary - 2 made its first voyage from Southampton (England) to Florida. Edinburgh : City of Literature Edinburgh the capital of Scotland and venue of United Kingdoms biggest annual literary festival has been declared the worlds first City of Literature by UNESCO in recognition of its contribution to the books and the arts. Scramjet makes historic flight Scramjet a jet aircraft developed by the NASA of the US, made it to the record books by reaching speeds of almost 11,300 km/hr. The 3.6m long X-43A Scramjet (Supersonic Combustion ramjet) flew on its own power for 10 seconds. Worlds first artificial heart The united states gave approval for the worlds first aritifical heart made by the private company name Syncardia systems Inc. The equipment called Cardio west total heart will keep alive patients on the verge of death while they wait for live organs to become available for transplants. Fastest super computer The NASA, the space agency of US, unveiled the worlds fastest supercomputer named Project Columbia. It is built in honour of the seven crew members of the columbia spacecraft that crashed in 2003, can perform about 43 trillion computations per second. Tsunami disaster On December 26, 2004 an earthquake measuring 8.9 was formed in the sea at Aceh province in Sumatra. It developed disastrous tsunami waves which hit on the coast of India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Maldives etc.

George W. Bush

Term of American President

4 Years

First political party in the Gulf region

The first women to have been elected president of the International Court of Justice Judge Rosalyin Higgins 4

A political party named Umma was formed for the first time in Kuwait. Superjumbo Airbus A 380 Worlds biggest passenger plane, Superjumbo Airbus A 380, is displayed in a ceremony at the Blagnac Airbus production plant near Toulouse (France). Pretoria Renamed South Africas capitals Pretoria renamed as Tshwane on March 7, 2005. Worlds Safest city Luxembourg is the worlds safest city and Baghdad, the most dangerous, while Geneva and Zurich rank top for overall quality of life, according to a survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. New Pope - Benedict XVI Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany is elected the 265thy Pope of the world on April 19, 2005 assuming the name, PoPe Benedict XVI. First black Chief Justice of South Africa Pius Langa, a lawyer who defended victims of apartheid repression, is named as South Afircas first black Chief Justice. 58th Cannes Film Festival Palme dOr Prize for Best Film: LEnfant (meaning The Child). Best Actor: Tommy Lee Jones Best Actress: Hanna Laslo 2006 World Social Forum was held at - Karachi Most outstanding athelete of common wealth games 2006 - Samaresh Jung 2006 Arab League Summit held at - Khartoum (Capital of Sudan)

Prime Minister of Israel - Ehud Olmert World Buddhist meeting was held at - China Fair - 3 is a missile developed by - Iran 2010 commonwealth games held at New Delhi 2006 stockholm water Prize was won by - Azit Biswas (Indian born Canadian) in the currency notes are going to be replaced with images of Mt. Everest and Lord Budha.

Nepal change in currency notes : The royal portraits

New members of European Union - Romania and

Australian Prime Minister

Bulgaria (Present membership of European Union 27)

CNN-IBN - Man of the year 2006 : Dr. Manmohan

J.W.howard
The book Davinci Code was written by - Dan Brown G-8 summit 2006 was held at - St. Petersberg (Russia) First (lady) speaker of British Lord House - Helan Heimann The famous Japanese Film director who passed away in 2006 - Shohei Imamura The new Capital of Myanmar - Pyinmana National Book critics circle Fication Award Winner Kiran Desai (The inheristance of Loss) 16th International Conference on AIDS was took place in - Toronto in Canada Highest rail root in the world - Kuan hai - Tibet (The average height of Kuanhai Tibet is 5,072 meter.The rail is between Kuanhai to Lhasa) Prime Minister of East Timor - Jose Ramos Horta New Zealands Governor General - Judge Anandsatyanand. 10th SAF Games held at - Colombo

Singh
Indian of the year of sports : Jeev Milkhasingh Indian of the year for Social Service : Aravind Kejriwal First Arab Minister in Israel : Raleb Majadele (First

Arab Minister in Israels. 58 year long history)

12th ASEAN summit was held at : Cebu (Philippines) France 24 is : Frances International News Channel The Hopman Cup 2006 won by : Russia

President of Italy - Giorgio Napolitano The First man to climb Mt. Everest with artificial Legs - Marc Inglis (New Zealand) Jitgil Award 2006 - Dr. Samuel Paul 2006 Lorez Award winner - Rojer Federer (Switzerland) This Award is known as Sports Oscar. World Billiards Champion 2006 winner - Geeth Sethi Fastest Man on Earth Justin Gutlin 2011 World Cup Cricket will be held in - Asia 2006 Pulitzer Prize for International reporting - New York Times.

Gramy Awards

Indira Nooyi

Indian American Corporate Leader known as one of the most powerful women in the US has been elected chair women of PEPSICO.

Record of the year, Album of the year Song of the year

Dixiechicks
The most famous women music troup of America

Kiyotakaakasaka
Mr. Kiyotaka Akasaka of Japan as UnderSecretaryGeneral for Communications and Public Information.
14th NAM Summit held at Havanna (Cuba) 15th NAM summit will be held at - Egypt 192th Member of UNO - Montenegro (The new born country in the world) First Woman space Tourist in the world - Anoushah Ansari of the US become the first Female Space Tourist. 2006 UNESCO Award winner - TULF President Anandasankari. Orange Prize for fiction 2006 Award winner - Lionel Shriver 2006 World Cup Hockey winner - Germany The venue of SARC summit 2007 - New Delhi First Indian Bank to Open Branch in China - SBI President of Nicaragua - Daniel Ortega WHO Director General - Margaret Chan First Lady Speaker in U.S. Senate - Nancy Pelosi 8th Secretary General of UNO - Ban Ki Moon (South Korea)

Shinzo Abe
Prime Minister of Japan

Miss World 2006 - Tatana Kucharoa (Czech Republic) Prime Minister of Japan - Shinzo Abe Winner of Man Booker Prize 2006 - Kiran Desai (The Inheritance of Lost) 2005 Gandhi Peace Prize Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu (Anti - apartheid compaigner and Nobel Prize laurate) Right Liveli hood Award 2006 - Ruth Manorama (Manorama is the 11th Indian to receive Right Livelihood Award better known as Alternate Nobel). 2006 World cup Foot ball winner - Italy. (Golden Ball for Best Player) - Zindaine Zidan (France) Golden boot for - Miraslov Klosey (Germany) Best Young Player - Luckose Pedolsky (Germany) First Goal in 2006 world cup football - Philip Lahn Le v Yashin Award for best goal Keeper - Gianluigi Buffon. Symbol 2006 World Cup - Goleo the cub 2006 Nobel Prize for Peace - Muhammed Yunus and Bangladesh Grameen Bank

Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International understanding

Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International understanding (2004)

Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International understanding (2005)

Luladasilva
Brazil President

Qaboosbin said bin

 2006 Nobel Prize for literature Orhan Pamuk (Turkish Novelist) Indian Ambassador in Pakistan - Satyabrata Pal Vice Chairman of B.B.C. - Chitra Berucha (Indian Born British) Australian crocodile hunter and environmentalist who died at the attack of Sting ray - Steve Irwin Winner of Chess classic 2006 - Viswanathan Anand Peeling Onions was the autobiography of Gunter Grass. Most Valuable player of Asiad - Tae Hwan - Park (Korean Swimmer)

Jnanpith Award 2004 Rehman Rahi

The documentary the Tomb of Christ directed by : James Camaroon (Director of the Titanic) Venezuelazs President - Hugo Chavez Grand Master Koneru Humpy - Won the gold medal in the womens rapid chess event at the Asian Games. India won the gold medal in the women 4 400 relay event in 2006 Asiad. Indias Jaspal Rana equalled the world record in the mens 25m centre fire pistol event in Asiad. The winner of champions Trophy cricket Tournament - Australia Name Worlds tallest tree - Hyperion (11.5m red wood tree) The first democratically elected President of Bulgaria - Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov The women in cages was written by - Vilas Sarang The new President of Congo - Joseph Kabila The First Footballer to get hatrick in the world foot ball - Bert Patenaude

Kashmiri poet Rehman Rahi has been chosen for the Jnanpith Award for 2004.

The First Woman President of Chile - Michelle Bachelet. R.A. Mashelkar The World Health Organisation (WHO) has selected the former Director - General of CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), R.A. Mashelkar, as the vice-chairman of the newly constituted international commission on intellectual property rights, innovations and public health. Infosys chairman as advisor to Thailand Prime Minister N.R. Narayana Murthy, former chairman of Infosys Technologies has been appointed as the advisor of Information Technology to Prime Minister of

Nobel Peace Prize 2004 Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2006

Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International understanding (2006)

Wangarimaathai

Robert Adler Who invented Television Remote Control 7

Latin American countries move to the left

Venezuela Hugo chavez

Bolivia Evo-Morales

Brazil Lula desilva

Chili Ecuador Michelle Bachelet Rafael correa

Nicaragua daniel ortega

Thailand. Paul Berenger He became the first non-Hindu Prime Minister of Mauritius First private space flight Worlds first private space flight, SpaceShipOne, which was piloted by the South African, Michael W. Melwill, completed its successful space trip. The first commercial-manned space vehicle spent about oneand-a-half hours in space. INS Trishul arrives Russian-built, stealth-frigate, INS Trishul, equipped with power-packed weapon system and state-of-theart communication system, arrived in Mumbai. K1 virus Gene K1 virus gene is involved in tumour grwoth which causes skin cancer, Kaposis sarcoma. First Mobile Phone Virus : Cabir Matters 6th form Fermionic Condensate was

The word of the year : Plutoed

Has been choosen 2006 word of the year by the American Dialect Society. To Pluto is to demote or devalue someone or something much like what happened to the former planet last year when the I.A.U. decided that Pluto didnot meet its definition of a planet. discovered.
First private rocket

SpaceShipOne, piloted by Mike Melvill is the first private rocket to take a person into space. On May 13 the rocket was carried aloft by a plane called White Knight, and released at an altitude of 46,000 ft. SpaceShipOne was designed by a firm called Scaled Composites run by Burt Rutan, an aircraft designer. Scaled Composites is the first private company to send a person into space. Mount Everest Scaling: Japanese mountaineer Yuochiro Miura (70) is the first man to ski down the Everest.

Seema Samar
Afghanistan Human Right Commission Chief

Wu yi
Deputy Prime Minister China

Melinda Gates
Worlds most powerful women 2006

NATIONAL

Parimarjan Negi (India)

2006 Winner of Kalidas Samman .... Sonal Mansingh Chief of Indian Air Force ..................... Fali H. Major Chief of Indian Army ......... General Deepak Kapoor Golden Globe Award for best Feature Film ...... Babel (mexican director, Alinjandro Gonzalez Inarritu) 2007 Ranji Trophy winner ............................ Mumbai Indias new war Machine ................................ Dhruv The first Mangrove Reserach Centre in India ........... .......................................................... Ayiramthengu

The Fourth country that mastered the satellite re-entry technology ....................................................... India The venue of 94th science congress ...... Thanjavoor The Magic Tourism in India started at ........... Kerala The United Progressive Alliance declared 2007 as ............................................................... Water year

Worlds youngest International Chess Master

The first bus service in the post ... Independence era between Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir and Rawalkot town in Pakistan .... Poonch - Rawalkot Bus Service

The commercial wing of the department of space Antrix corporation Indian remote sensing satellite - Cartosat - 2 Chattisgarh Governor : E.S.C. Narasimhan Nagaland Governor : K. Sankaranayan The first among the Indian Princely rulers to sign the instrument of merger in 1949 : Maharaja Manavendra Shah (Tehri Maharaja Uttarakhand) The First district to be declared a 100% FID (Financial including district) in the country - Palakkad (Kerala) In which state house tax has been abolished : Rajasthan The present service tax rate of India : 12% The new chairperson of central board of direct taxes : Indira Bhargava The 10th National conference on e-goverence was held at : Bhopal The worlds largest green field refinery which is owned by Reliance Industries it is on Gujarat : India

The first all women expedition to Thar Desert Bachendripal (She was the first Indian Woman to climb Mount Everest) The biggest jail building in India .............................. ...................... Tamil Nadu (known as Puzhal Prison) The new Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands ...................................................... Bhopindir Singh

ASIT BISWAS
Indian Born Canadian Stock Holm Water Prize 2006

The most valued IT firm in India : TCS New Horizons, Enduring values is the media campaingn of Indian. (Airlines)

CHIEF OF INDIAN ARMED FORCE

Gen. Deepak Kapoor

Chief of Army

Admiral Suresh Mehta

Chief of Navy

Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major

Chief of Air Force

Indian scientist who appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as a member of the prestigious Rome based Pontifical Academy sciences : K. Kasturirangan The Best Politician for 2006 : Dr. Manmohan Singh The fifth largest steel producer in the world : Tata Steel in India Somnath Chatterjee 14th Lok Sabha Speaker The Janatadal (s) leader Kumaraswami took over as the new CM of Karnataka. Swaminathan heads the National Commission on Farmers The Gujarat Government banned smoking in public places from May 1, 2004, the 45th foundation day of the State.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam became the first Indian President to visit the Siachen Glacier, the worlds highest battlefield. 17th Law Commission 17th Law Commission chairman Justice M. Jagannadha Rao. N.M. Ghatate has been appointed as the Vice Chairman of Law Commission. Janani Suraksha Yojana Central government launches theJanani Suraksha Yojana, a scheme aligned at streamlining the existing mother and child welfare programmes. Retd. Justice M.S.A. Siddique Chairman of National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions.

Koneru Humpy

PRATHIBHA PATEL
Rajasthan Governor

First Player to win a chess Gold in the Asian Games PadmaShri - 2007 Arjuna Award - 2004 Asian Junior Champion

10

 Jeevan Anurag

It is a new LIC policy for the education of Children.

National Disaster Management Authority

The Union Cabinet established National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister. Chairperson of the National Commisson for women Girija Vyas Terminal in Heritage List The Chatrapti Shivaji Terminal in Mumbai has found a place in the World Heritage List. National Knowledge Commission : Sam pitroda The first Prime Minister to visit Siachen the worlds highest battlefield in J & K : Dr. Manmohan Singh Dr. Manmohan Singh honoured with Doctor of Civil Law Oxford University, England. Doctor of civil Law on July 8, 2005. 37th Chief Justice of India : Justice K.G. Balakrishnan (First Dalit Chief Justice of India) Managing director of Life Insurance Corporation Thomas Mathew 2006 Vyas Samman - Paramanand Sreevastwa (KavithaKa Arhath) New crucier ship launched by Indian Navy - INS Kolkatha. Vice Chancellor of Allahabad University is a Malayalee. He was known as Father of White revolution in India his name - Dr. Varghese Kurian Largest University in the world Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU) Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai. Chief Election Commissioner of India - N. Gopalaswamy M.V. Pylee Award 2006 V.N. Rajesekharan Pillai Managing director of State bank of India - Om Bhatt The Indian engineer in Almoid company who was Zubin Mehta killed recentlyby Taliban Soorya Narayana Dan David Award 2006 The author of the book Fifth Estate - Ajith N. The second Indian Haksar who got this award

The Third Trade Route, between India and China. The Silk Route at Nathala Pass between India and China opened after 44 years on July 6 2006. Initially opened for Five years. The way would remain open from June to September every year. For four days Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Situated at the height of 4545 metre on China border in Chumbi Valley, Sikkim. Nathula pass which is opened recently is in - Sikkim border (Nathula pass (Silkroute) is an important trade pass between India and China. This mountain pass was closed in 1962 after India China war) 8th Chandhra Sekhara Saraswathy national Award winner - Manmohan Singh Chairman of Press Trust of India - R. Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar) Foreign Secretary of India - Shivasankar Menon Chairperson of Audit Bureau of Circulation - Shobhana Bhartia Chief of Naval Staff - Vice Admiral Sureesh Mehta Gandhi Peace Prize 2006 winner - Shabana Azmi (Actress) Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2005-2006 - Snooker Player Pankaj Advani Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prize 2006 - Dr. K. George Thomas (Malayalee) Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration 2005 Javed Akthar. The Editor of Chemeen the famous Malayalam Film who died recently - Hrishikesh Mukherjee 10th South Asian Games women long jump gold medal

11

winner - Anju Bobby George The Second Malayalee who become the Defence Minister of India in 2006 - A.K. Antony 2006 Santhosh Trophy winner - Punjab New Indian Ambassador to China - Nirupama Rao Pakistan high commissioner to India - Shahid Malik The First Village in India to have its own website Hansdehar (Haryana) The first M.P. in independence India who got life sentence recently - Shibu Soren The new name of Uttaranchal - Uttarakhand Philip Tobias Award 2006 - Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (for his outstanding contribution to science and Technology) First Amrita Keerthi Puraskar instituted by Amritanandamayi Math received by Prathibha Roy. Richest Man in India - Mukesh Ambani Central Vigilance Commissioner of India - Pratyush Sinha First Indian to win Gold medal in 15th Asian Games Koneru Humpy (Chess) The Second Woman of Indian origin to go to space Suneetha Williams Jeevan Madhur is a new policy of LIC. New name of Pondicherry - Puthucherry First Indian Cinema released in Internet - Vivah (Director Suraj Bartia) U.G..C. Chairman - Dr. SukhdevThorat. Indias First Panchayat Resources Information Centre (PRINCE) was in Thirurangadi (Malappuram) Chairman of NABARD - Y.S.P.Thorat Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission : Montek Singh Ahluwalia Director-General of Doordarshan : Naveen Kumar N. Gopalaswami Chief Election Commissioner. Avtar Singh Avtar Singh has been appointed as the DirectorGeneral of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). N. Srinivasan Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Peter Bleach The British national, Peter Bleach, convicted in the December 1995 Purulia arms drop case was released by the Indian authorities after more than 8 years of imprisonment.

is the 12th in the IRS series and is equipped with state of the art technology to provide invaluable data for applications in cartography urban and rural infrastructure development and land and geographical information systems.

Cartosat - 2

Ratan Tata The Chairman of the Tata Group of Companies was made honorary economic adviser to the east Chinese city of Hangzhou. Justice S.N. Phukan Retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice S.N. Phukan was appointed as the head of the commission of enquiry to probe Tehelka expose alleging corruption in defence deals. Late the UPA government winded up the commission and transfered the case of CBI. N.N. Vohra Former Home Secretary, N.N. Vohra has been appointed as central interlocutor to hold discussions with all sections of J & K replaced K.C. Pant. K.J. Udeshi is the first woman Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Dola Banerjee Indias sharp archer Dola Banerjee creates history by winning gold medal at the Golden Arrow Grand Prix in Twikey, thus becoming countrys first gold medalist in archery at international level. Goa From 2004 Goa became the permanent venue of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) PSLV - C 7 : Opens a new chapter in the Indian space research organisation (ISRO)s success story. Putting in to orbit four satellites - the cartosat - 2, space capsule recovery equipment (SRE - I) Indonesias Lapan : Tubsat and Argentinas nano satellite, Pehuensat - 1 ISROs remote sensing satellites are among the most

Justice V.K. Bali

Centre for Administrative Tribunal Chairman

12

advanced civilian applications satellites in the world.

Saras (VT-XSD) : Indias first 14-seater indigenous

light transport aircraft.

Tejas: The indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)

is named Tejas (radiance) by the former A.B. Vajpayee Prime Minister in Bangalore. It will, however, be not available to Indian Air Force till 2012. Astra: The Indian missile programme reaches a new height with the successful first ever test-firing of the Astra air-to-air missile. Trishul: Indias most sophisticated short-range missile, Trishul, with a range of 500 m to 9 km, was successfully test fired from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur on Sea in Orissa. Arjun Tanks for Army The Arjun tank is finally ready for the Indian army. The number of tanks to be produced annually will rise to 62 in 2007. Each Arjun tank costs Rs. 15 crore. India plans third station at Antartica India is set to establish it third permanent station on the ice covered cotinent. It is temporarily named Bharti. Among the major experiments to be conducted at the site is an effort to measure the current drift of the Indian subcontinent with respect to Antartica. Indias first station Dakshin Gangotri (1983 - 84) Second station - Maitri (1988) Justice K. Narayana Kurup: The former Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, Justice K. Narayana

Ashok Chaturvedi will be the new chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). An officer of the Research and Analysis Service (RAS), Chaturvedi was the front-runner for the post.
Kurup, was elected Honorary Fellow of the International Medical Sciences Academy in recognition of his in-depth knowledge of medical sciences and his judicial wisdom and for the outstanding contributions made by him in the field of Human Rights, Environment, Public Health and Animal Rights. Information Technology First Wireless Cyber Cafe: Indias first wireless cyber cafe opens in Bangalore Param Padma: The nations most powerful super computer, the teraflop Param Padma, is inaugurated in Bangalore. Internet Service by Indian Railways: It becomes the first railways in the world to provide internet service on the trains. First IT University: Madhya Pradesh plans to open the countrys maiden University on Information Technology, in collaboration with NIIT. Incredible India With an eye to attract overseas and domestic visitors, the Union Tourism Ministry has coined Incredible India as the official slogan to publicise tourist spots. CSR 23

NEW CHIEF MINISTERS

Ibobisingh (Congress)
Manipur

B.C.Khanduri (BJP)
Uttarakhand

Prakash Singh Badal (Akali Dal)

Punjab

13

BOOKS

Micro Economics : Amindyasen Eht edge of Time : M. Veerappa Moily The Barn Owns Wondrous Capers : Saranath Banerjee (Indias first Graphic Novelist) Indomitable spirit : A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Half of Yellow Sun : Chimmanola Ngozi The last Mughal : William Dalrymple Prattlers Tale : Asok Mitra The name of Honour - Muktharmayi The Oxford companion to economics in India Kaushik Basu Mohandas: A true story of a man, his people and an empire : Rajmohan Gandhi Prattlers Tale : Asok Mitra The meaning of the 21st centuary a vital blue print for ensuring our future : James Martin A view from the outside : Why good Economics works for every one : P. Chidambaram Making Globalisation work - The next steps to global justice : Joseph E. Stiglitz Gandhi as disciple and mentor : Thomas weber A letter to a Hindu The famous letter to the news paper (Free Hindustan) was written by Leo Tolstoy Walden - David Henry Thora The Words - Autobiography of Jean Paul Sartre Living to tell the tail Autobiography written by Gabrial Garcia Marques Living History Autobiography of Hilary Clinton It is the name of a new rice variety which has been developed and released for alkaline soils of UP and Haryana and for coastal saline soils of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & West Bengal. Pusa Hybrid - 8 The scientists of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) have developed a hybrid tomato Pusa Hybrid-8. BCCI President Sharad Pawar was elected the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The new Union External Minister of India - Pranab Mukherjee The Indian Singer who got knight of the Legion of Honour the highest French Civilian honour - Lata Mangeshkar. World Ayurvedic conference was held in - Pune 37th International Film Festival The Old Barber

(Chinese Director - Hasi Chaoulu) won golden peacock Award. Nandan Nilekani, Chief executive officer of Infosys Technologies has named as Business Man of the Year for 2006 by Forbes Asia.

REGIONAL

Nritya-Natya Puraskaram 2007 ......... Ammannoor Madhava Chakyar Kendra Sahitya Accademi Award 2006 ..................... M.Sukumaran Nagaland Governor - K. Sankaranarayan The first Malayali Cricketer who became Man of the Match ...................................................... Sreesanth The organization who got Dr. Durgaban Deshmukh Award ............................................................. Abhya Pallavoor Appu Marar Puraskaram 2006 Thrippakkulam Achutha Marar Kalamandalam Appukutty Pothuval

The scientific Advisor of Kerala ............................... A. Gopalakrishnan

First Organic Village in Kerala

Udumbanoor Grama Panchayat (Kochi) First total banking state in India : Kerala Autobiography of V.S. Achuthanandan (20th Chief Minister of Kerala) - Samaramthanne jeevitham 2006 - Rajaravivarma Award - V.S. Valiathan Upavasa Smaranakal was written by - B. Wellington Vice-Chairman of Kerala state Planning board Prabhat Patnaik Speaker of Kerala legislative Assembly K. Radhakrishnan New Managing director of CIAL - Sreeram Bhagwat The highest French award Chevalier de la Legion Honour recently got - Captain Gopinathan Mahakavi P. Award winner (2006) Dr. K. AyyappaPanicker First permanent Lok Adalat will start at Thiruvananthapuram. Chairman of Kerala Public Service Commission K.V. Salahuddin

14

P. Bhaskaran
One of the Keralas finest lyricists, a poet of immense calibre and a Presidents Medalwinning filmmaker, died on February 25 Malayatoor Smaraka Novel Award - 2006 Perumbadavam Sreedharan. The author of a Malayalam novel Samagamam who is a well known Malayalam poetwas - Thirunelloor Karunakaran. Lokmanya Puraskaram 2006 winner - G. Madhavan Nair (ISRO Chairman) Second woman Chief Secretary of Kerala State - Lizzy Jacob 2006-Vallathol Award winner - O.N.V. Kurup 2006 Ezhuthachan Award - Kovilan 2006 Vayalar Award - Sethu 2006 Asan Puraskaram - D Vinayachandran 2006 Mathrubhumi Sahitya Puraskaram M. Mukundan 2006 PadmaPrabha Puruskaram - P. Valsala (Famous

Two Malayalees in Forbes Billioners List

Krisgopalakrishnan Infosys, President & CEO 5850 crores

PNC Menon Shoba Developers Chairman 5400 crores

Malayalam novelist) The Chief Justice of India Justice K.G.Balakrishnan sworn high court judge of Kerala in the year - 1985 September 26 First Chithirathirunal Balaramavarma Award winner Dr. G. Madhavan Nair The former Indian football team captain who died in 2006 in a train accident - V.P.Sathyan The winner of Nehru Trophy boat race 2006 Payyippad Chundan. Chairmanof Human Rights commission - Justice N. Dinakar Balamani Amma Award winner (2006) - Kovilan (V.V. Ayappan) 2006 Kendra Sahitya Academy Award winner - M. Sukumaran for his collection of short stories (Np-h Nn-) Secretary of Kendra Sahitya Academy - Agrahara Krishnamoorthy. Thelicham aims to make english learning easy was project launched by - Kodiyathur Grama Panchayat. Prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize 2006 winner - Shabana Azmi. First E-literature Panchayat in Kerala SreeKantapuram (Kannur) First fully Blood Donation Panchayat in Kerala Madikai (Kasargod) First Model Live stock village in Kerala - Mattupetti (Idukki) First Child Friendly Panchayat in Kerala Nedumbassery (Ernakulam) First Sidha Panchayat in Kerala - Chanthiroor (Alappuzha) 11th International Film Festival of Kerala Suvarna Chakoram for Turkish Film Angels fall directed by Semith Kalpanoglu and Elcy George Bangladeshi Film Forever Director of Flows by Abu Sayeed. Museum and Best Director - Asghar Zoo Department Farhadi (Iranian Film Kerala. She is the Maker) fist Indian Woman to Man of Excellence Award become the head of - Rajanpillai Foundation the zoos - Sasi Taroor (Under Secretary UNO)

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WHO IS WHO
Heads of Important Offices (World)
UN AND ASSOCIATED AGENCIES

United Nations Secretary-General: .... Banki Moon United Nations First Deputy Secretary-General: .. ...................................................... Louise Frechette WHO Director ................................. Margaretchan Food and Agriculture Organisation, Director-General: ................................................... Jacques Diouf Habitat II, Secretary-General: .......... Wally NDow International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA)Director-General: ......................... Mohammed El Baradei International Court of Justice (ICJ), President: ... ............................................... Miss RosalinHiggins International Labour Organisation (ILO), DirectorGeneral: ............................................ Juan Somavia United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),Secretary General: ...................... ....................................... Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Director-General: .......................... Mark M. Brown United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Director-General: Koichiro Matsuura United Nations Human Rights Committee-Chairman: Justice P.N. Bhagwati United Nations High Commissioner for Rufugees: Antonio Manuel Oliver UNICEF, Executive Director: Miss Carol Ballami United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO),DirectorGeneral: Khandeg-K-Yumkella Aung San Suukyi : United Nations Popu- Has been selected for the lation Fund (UNFPA), Netaji Subhas Award 2007 for Executive Director: her unrelenting struggle to Ms. Thoraya Ahmed restore democracy in her Obaid country (Myanmars pro World Trade democracy campaingner)

George Bernad Shaw

The only one nobel prize for literature and oscar award for best script

Octavio Paz
Mexican Ambassador in India Nobel prize for Literature winner (1990)

Organisation (WTO), Director-General : ... Pascal Lamy UN Envoy to Iraq: ................. Ashraf Jehangir Quazi
ORGANISATIONS

HEADS OF OTHER INTERNATIONAL

African Union, Chairman: ................ Denis Sussou Amnesty International, Secretary-General: .......... ................................................. Irene Zubaida Khan ASEAN, Secretary-General: ......... Ong Keng Yong Commonwealth, Secretary-General: ... Don McKinnon Commonwealth of Learning, Director: ................... ......................................... Dr. Abdul Waheed Khan European Commission (EC), President: ................. ................................... Jose Manuel Durao Barroso Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), Secretary-General: ............................................. Jammel Al Hujilan NATO, Secretary-General: ........ George Robertson Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Chairman: ........... ............................................................. Fidel Castro Organisation of American States (OAS),Secretary General: .................................... Jos Miguel Insulza Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),Secretary-General: ....................... ................................................. Donald J. Johnston Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), .. SecretaryGeneral: ............................. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),President: ................ Purnomo Yusgiantoro Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),Secretary-General:....... Alvaro Silva Calderon

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SAARC, Secretary-General: ......... Chenkyab Dorji UN Under-Secretary General for Public Information: .......................................................... Shashi Taroor World Bank, President: .................. Paul Wolfowitz Asian Development Bank (ADB), President: ......... ..................................................... Haruhiko Kuroda African Development Bank (ADB), President: ...... ..................................................... Donald Kaberuka International Monetary Fund (IMF), Managing Director: ............................................. Rodriego Ratto Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH), President: ................................... Els Van Breda Vriesman FIFA, President: ................................... Sepp Blatter International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), President: .......................................... Lamine Diack International Cricket Council, CEO: ... Malcolm Speed International Cricket Council, President: ............. ............................................................... Percy Sone International Olympic Committee (IOC), President: ........................................................ Jacques Rogge

The new name of Social Welfare Board

Social Welfare Woman Development Board

HEADS OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

HEADS OF SPORTS BODIES

OTHER ORGANISATIONS

Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Chairman: .................................................... Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian National Authority, President: ............ .................................................... Mahmoud Abbas South-West African Peoples Organisation (SWAPO), President: .......................... Sam Nujoma Reuters, Editor-in-Chief: ............. Geert Linnebank CPJ Chairman: ............................. David Laventhol Heads of Important Offices (India) President:............................. Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Vice-President : ............. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces : ......... ............................... President (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam) Chief Justice: ................. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan Chairman, Chief of Staff Committee: ..................... ............................................. Admiral Arun Prakash Chief of Army Staff :General Joginder Jaswant Singh Chief of Air Staff : ..... Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi Chief of Naval Staff: .......... Admiral Sureesh Mehta Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command: ..... .......................... Air Marshal Avinash Deodatta Joshi Chief of Service Commanded: ................................. ......................................... Vice Admiral Raman Puri Attorney General of India: .. Milon Kumar Banerjee Solicitor-General of India: ..... Goolam E. Vahanvati Comptroller and Auditor General of India: ............ ................................................... Vijayendra N. Kaul Speaker of the Lok Sabha: ...... Somnath Chatterjee Chief of Integrated Defence Staff: .......................... ................................................ Lt. Gen. B.S. Thakur Dr Manmohan Singh: ...................... Prime Minister Shivraj Patil: ................................................... Home P. Chidambaram: ......................................... Finance A.K. Antony: ................................................ Defence Pranab Mukherjee ...................... External of Affairs Laloo Prasad: ............................................. Railways Sharad Pawar: .......................... Agriculture, Food & Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Arjun Singh : .......... Human Resource Development Ram Vilas Paswan: ..... Chemicals & Fertilizers; Steel Jaipal Reddy: ............................ Urban Development Sis Ram Ola: .................................................. Mines Mahavir Prasad: ..... Small Scale, Agro & Rural Industries K. Chandrasekhar Rao: .... Labour and Employment P. R. Kyndiah: .........................................................

UNION COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

UNION CABINET MINISTERS

Dr. Chitra Bharucha, an India - born haematologist charges the acting chairperson of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) becoming the first woman First Asian to head the giant organisation.

17

......... Tribal Affairs; Development of North East T. R. Baalu: . Road Transport & Highways, Shipping S. Vaghela: ................................................... Textiles Kamal Nath: ........................... Commerce & Industry H. R. Bhardwaj: .................................. Law & Justice Raghuvansh Prasad Singh: ........ Rural Development P. R. Dashmunshi: .................................................... Information and Broadcasting, Parliamentary Affairs Mani Shankar Aiyar: ............................................... ...................... Youth Affairs, Sports; Panchayati Raj Meira Kumar: .......... Social Justice & Empowerment A. Raja: ................................ Environment & Forests Dayanidhi Maran: ..................................................... ............. Communication & Information Technology Anbumani Ramdoss: ......... Health & Family Welfare Sushil Kumar Schinde: .................................. Power A.R. Antulay: .................................. Minority Affairs Vayalar Ravi: ...................... Overseas Indian Affairs Murli Deora: ............................................. Petoleum Ambika Soni: ........................... Tourism and Culture Saif-u-Din Soz: .............................. Water Resources Santhosh Mohan Dev: .................... Heavy Industries Prem Das Gupta: ........................... Company Affairs Kapil Sibal: ........................ Science and Technology
AGENCIES

Jungsamaresh
Indian Sharp Shooter

The first Indian to be awarded The David Dixon Award

India: ............................................... R. Chidambaram

Chief Adviser to the Finance Minister: .................... ................................................. Parthasarathi Shome

ARTS AND CULTURE

Bharathiya Jnanpith President: ................ Indu Jain Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, President: ............................................................ L.M. Singhvi Sahitya Academy, Chairman: ..... Gopichand Narang Sahitya Academy, Secretary: ...... K. Sachidanandan Sahitya Academy, Vice Chairman: ........................... .............................................. Sunil Gangopadhyaya Sangeet Natak Academy, Chairperson: ................... .................................................... Ram Nivas Mirdha Lalitkala Academy, Chairman: ............ R.B. Bhaskar

INDIAS PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVES TO UN

Permanent Representative to UN: ........ Nirupam Sen Permanent Representative to UN Conference on Disarmament: ...................................... Rakesh Sood U.N. Civilian Police Advisor for the Department of Peace-keeping Operations: ..................... Kiran Bedi

FILM

ADVISERS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Central Board of Film Certification, Chairperson: . ........................................................ Sharmila Tagore Childrens Films Society of India, Chairperson: ..... ................................................................. Nafisa Ali National Film Development Corporation, Chairman: .................................................... Manmohan Shetty National Film Development Corporation, Director: .................................................... D.Mukhopadhyay

Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India: .................................................... Dr Rakesh Mohan National Security Adviser: ............. M.K. Narayanan Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister ............. :............................................................ M. Natarajan Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of

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WOMAN CHIEF MINISTERS OF INDIA

Sucheta-kripalani

Nandini satpathy

Syeda Anvara Thaymoor

Janaki Ramachandran

Rajinder kaur Bhattal

Sushmaswaraj

Mayavati

Umabharati

Rabridevi

Vasundhura raje

Sheeladixit

Jayalitha

Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Chairman: ................................................ U.R. Ananthamurthy

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Vice-Chancellor: .................. V.N.Rajasekharan Pillai

COMMUNICATIONS

National Book Trust, Chairman: ..... Biban Chandra National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT),Director: ...... Prof. Krishnakumar National Literacy Mission, Chairman: .................... ................................................... Bhaskar Chatterjee National Law University, Vice-Chancellor: .............. ............................................................ Dr N.L. Mitra National University of Judicial Sciences,ViceChancellor: ...................... Dr N.R. Madhava Menon National University for Advanced Legal Studies, Vice-Chancellor: ................... Dr Sripad Ganap Bhatt

All India Radio, Director-General: ..... Brideswar Singh Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Chairman: .. A.K. Sinha Doordarshan, Director General: ...... Naveen Kumar Indian Broadcasting Foundation, President: ............ ..................................................... Rajiv Rattan Shah Prasar Bharati, Chief Executive Officer: K.S. Sarma Prasar Bharati, Chairman: ............ Brideswar Singh Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Chairman: .. Ratan Tata Mahanagar Telephones Nigam Ltd, Chairman: ....... .............................................................. R.S.P. Sinha Telecom Commission, Chairman: .......... Anil Kumar Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Chairperson: ........................................................... Pradeep Baijal

University Grants Commission (UGC), Chairman: . ....................................................... Sukhdev Thorat Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Chairman: ...................................................... Gurbachan Jagat Staff Selection Commission, Chairman:B.K. Mishra Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), DirectorGeneral: .......................................... Gauri Chatterjee National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, Chairman: ............................................

EDUCATION AND RELATED FIELDS

All India Council for Technical Education, Chairman: .................................................... Dr S. Rame Gowda Central Board of Secondary Education, Chairman: . ........................................................ Ashok Ganguly

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............................... Justice (Retd.) M.S.A. Siddique

Chairman: ............................. Justice Shyam Sunder

National Knowledge Commission, Chairman: ......... .............................................................. Sam Pitroda NAAC, Chairman ....................... Govardhan Mehta

National Commission on Labour, Chairman: ........... ........................................................ Ravindra Verma National Commission for Women, Chairperson: ..... ................................................................ Girija Vyas Public Enterprises Selection Board, Chairman: ..... ............................................... R.S.S.L.N. Bhaskardu Central Information Commission, Chief Commissioner: .......................... Wajahat Habibullah

PARLIAMENT

Lok Sabha Speaker: .................. Somnath Chatterjee Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker: .. Charanjit Singh Atwal Lok Sabha Secretary General: ........... P.D.T. Achari Rajya Sabha Chairman: ................... B.S. Shekhawat Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman: ..... K Rahman Khan Rajya Sabha Secretary-General: .. Yogendra Narain National Advisory Council Chairperson: ................. ............................................................ Sonia Gandhi Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha): . L.K. Advani Leader of the Opposition (Rajya Sabha): .................. .......................................................... Jaswant Singh Inter-State Council, Secretary: .......... Kamal Pande Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson: ............ ................................................................ Dilip Sinha

SPACE

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Chairman: ................................... G. Madhavan Nair Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Director: . .............................................................. B.N. Suresh Space Commission, Chairman: ... G. Madhavan Nair Atomic Energy Commission, Chairman: ................. .......................................................... Anil Kakodkar Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Chairman: ......... .............................................................. S.K. Sharma Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Director: ............................................................... S. Banerjee

PLANNING

HEADS OF SCIENTIFIC ORGANISATION

Planning Commission, Chairman: .......................... .......................... Dr Manmohan Singh (PM of India) Planning Commission, Deputy Chairman: .............. ......................................... Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Director General: ............................ R.A. Mashelkar

SOCIAL WELFARE

Indian Council of Medical Research, Director General: ............................................. Nirmal Kumar Ganguly Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Chairman: .................................... V.R. Panchamukhi

Central Social Welfare Board, Chairperson: .......... ............................................................... Rajani Patel National Human Rights Commission, Chairman: ... .................................................. Justice A.S. Anand National Commission for the Socially and EconomicallyBackward Sections among the Religious and Linguistic Minorities, Chairperson: ................ .......................................... Justice Ranganath Misra National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Chairman: ............................................... Suraj Bhan National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Chairman: ......................................... Kunwar Singh National Commisison for Backward Classes,

ELECTION AND CENSUS BODIES

Chief Election Commissioner: ...... N. Gopalaswamy Registrar General and Census Commissioner: ...... .............................................. Devendra Kumar Sikri

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 Who directed the fillm Farenheit 9/11 Michel Moore 14th NAM Summit was held at Havana, Cuba on September 2006 Dont Desert Drylands Theme of 2006 World Environment Day June 5, 2006 India has decided to join us backed Turkmenistan Afghanistan - Pakistan gas pipe line project. This comes in the back drop of the difficulties over the Iran Pakistan - India gas pipeline project which USA opposses. Morapi Volcano is situated in ........ Indonasia Steve Fosset : The us aviator created record for the longest non-stop flight in terms of distance in the world. A three day odyssey around the world in February 2006. In 1995 Foesset became the first person ever to fly around the world solo. 2009 - International year of Natural Fibre Who travels in US Air Force one US President. It is his official plane. How Dan Brown and Ron Howard are related to The Da Vinci Code? Dan Brown is the author of the novel The Da Vinci Code and Ron Howard is the director of the film by the same name. Who directed the film Namesake? Mira Nair it is based on Jhumpa Kahiris novel by the same name. Salam Bombay, Mansoon Wedding, Kamasuthra are Miras well known films. Gangster M.D is her newest film. What is Scorpene? Franco-Spanish submarines. India has decided to buy six of them. Who is known as Balkan Butchur? Slobodan Milosevic. He passed away in 2006 while undergoing trial in prison for human right violation while he was the president of Yogoslavia. He is also known as Balkan Hitlor. Who is Britney Spears? British Pop Singer UNIFEM: United Nations Development Fund for women. Which political party won in the Palestinian election

in 2006? Hamas. It was formed in 1987. EEC : Eurasian Economic Community Uzhekistan has become the 6th Member of EEC Lending new momentum to Russia pushed reintegration process in the former Soviet Union. The five year old EEC Members are Russia, Belarus, Kazakhastan, Kyrgyzthan, Jajikistan and Uzbekistan. The first Indian president to visit Myanmar Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam What significant development took place in IndiaChina relations on July 6, 2006. India and China resumed boarder trade through Nathula Pass which opened on July 6, 2006. The pass was closed in 1962 due to Indo China War. Capital of Solaman Islands Honiara (Australian peace keeper has restored calm after the civil strike in the country) What is Freedom of the Seas Worlds largest cruise liner at present. It is owned by Royal Carribian International , the Norweigian American Firm. ISRO signed momorandum of understanding with NASA for Indian unmanned moon mission Chandrayan - I scheduled in 2008. What is BIMSTEC? Bay of Bengal initiative for Multi Sectoral Economic and Technical co-operation. It is a seven nation grouping. The members are Bengladesh, India, Myammar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. Its second summit was held on February 8, 2007 in India.

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 Who is the Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir? Gulam Nabi Azad (Congress - I) Justice N.P. Singh is the Chairman of cavery water dispute Tribunnal Range of Agni - III is 3000 km NFDB - Nartional Fisheries Development Board was set up to achieve the objective of Blue Revolution in 2006. Its headquarters is Hyderabad. The top 5 software service exporters from India are (1) Tata Consultancy Ltd (2) Inforzys Technology Ltd. (3) WIPRO Technologies Ltd - Asim Premji (4) Satyam Computers Services Ltd (5) HCC Technologies Ltd - Siva Nadar R.S. Pathak commission enquired oil - for food scam and the involvement of Indians. INCOIS - Indian National centre for ocean Information systems. It Hyderabad based Tsunami warning system being set up in India. It is setting up 12 ocean station in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea to detect any abnormal ocean behaviour and alert the public. RFSA - Russian Federal Space Agency USA : NASA : RUSSIA : .......... Ans : RFSA Name Asias largest IT service firm Ans: TCS (Tata consultancy Ltd) Which is the oddman out (a) Ranbaxy (b) Dr. Reddys (c) Nicholas Piramal (d) Cipla (e) Biocon (f) WIPRO Ans : (e) WIPRO. All others are Indian pharamasutical companies. Why did centre government rejected M.K. Mukherjee committees finding in 2006? M.K. Mukherjee committee which enquired the disappearance of Nethaji concluded that he didnt die in aircrash. It hurt the feeling of his family and followers. So the government rejected it. Shah Nawas committee in 1950 and Justice GD. Khosla Committee in 1970s also inquirred the disappearance of Nethaji. Palance on Wheels : Rajasthan : Luxuary on Train : ............. Ans : Karnataka While the palance on wheels is a special train runs in

Rajasthan to promote tourism luxuary on train is a new train to promote tourism in Karnataka. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam became the first president to travel under sea in a submarine. He boarded INS Sindhurakshak and undertook 3.30 hours under water journey. Indias fastest train. Shatabdi Express which run between New Delhi Bhopal broke 150 km/hour record on February 15, 2006. What is Alang famous for? Ship breaking business. The place known as graveyard of ships is in Gujarath. The notorious toxic French ship Clemansan was intented to come to Alang for ship breaking. But the Green peace alerted the Indians about the toxic substance in the ship and threat it poses to environment and government interwened to call back the ship to France. What happened to BSE sensex on February 6, 2006? BSE Sensex clossed 10000 Mark Dow Jones - New York Stock Exchange Nikkei - Japaneese Stock Exchange Hang Seng - Hong Kong Stock Exchange Toranto - Cannadian Stock Exchange Bovespa - Brasilian Stock Exchange India eliminated leprosy as on December 31, 2005. Less than one case per 10000 population is globally accepted level of climination. As on December 31, 2005 the leprosy Pre valence rate stood at 0.95 cases for 10000 population in India. The cases of leprosy in India is 1.07 lakh. National Leprosy Control Programme was initiated in 1955. January 29 : National Newspapers Day. It was on January 29, 1780 Indias first newspaper Hickys Gazzette (Bengal Guzette) started publication in calcutta. NREGA : National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The Act guarantee to provide 100 days employment to job seeks belong to rural areas living below poverty line. Intially the scheme will be implemented in 200 selected districts in India. It includes Palakkad and Wayanad from Kerala. SEZ Act : Special Economic Zone Act defines rules and regulations for setting up special economic zones in India came into effert on February 10, 2006. Which is Indias largest oil refinery - Reliance Refinery

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at Jamnagar in Gujarath. A Severe fire broke out here in october 2005. NTT : National Tax Tribunal through an executive order the centre has set up NTT on January 6, 2006. G.T. Nanavati & K.G. Shah enquiry commission probing the Godhra Train Carnage in Gujarath. Dr. Rangarajan Committee : Petroleum Pricing

Latest Books & Authors

How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got wild and Got a Life Kaavya Viswanathan Epic of Shivaji : James Kaine He is also the author of Shivaji : The Hindu King in Islamic India The Algibra of Infinit Justice Arunthathi Ray Critical Mass : Philip Ball Hcs Hm-Ip-dn-p-I : s{]m^. Sn.-hn. Cu-c-hm-cy \ocm-gn--pdw : R. Sreelekh We Need Talk About Kevin : Lionel Shriver The book won 2005 Orange Prize March : Geraldine Brooks. The Novel won 2006 pulitzer prize for fiction.

Kerala Government year of Medical Tourism - 2006 Who conducted Marad Judicial enquiary Thomas P. Joseph The well known writer in Kerala who donated 17 cents of land to Kerala Sahithya Accademi Kamala Suraiyya Dr. Mohan Joseph Committee is related to Trolling ban in Kerala The height of water in Mullapperiyar Dam? 136 feet (Tamil Nadu demands to rise the level to 142 ft) tIc-f-nse F{Xm-as apJy-a-{n-bmWv hn.-F-kv. ANyp-Xm-\- 20-m-as apJy-a{n

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 Mahajan Commission : Studied about the boundary dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra. It submitted its report in 1967 and said that Belgaum is part A Karnataka. Maharasshtra rejected the report which Karanataka favours its. In 2006 Karnataka assembly session was held at Belguam for the first time outside Banglore to send the signal that Belguam is an integral part of Karnataka. Justice B.N. Sreekrishna is the Chairman of Sixth Pay Commission. Which are the Public Sector companies central government decided to put hold disinvestment in 2006. Neyvelli lignate corporation (NLC) and National Aluminium Company (NALCO) Earlier cabinet committee on Economic Affairs had approved to disinvest 10% government state in NLC and NALCO. The government withdraw the step due to opposition from left and particularly from DMK. Who has been named the most powerful business women by Fortune Magazine and Forbes Magazine in 2006. Indra Nooyi. She is presently the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and Chairman of PEPSICO Garib Rath aimed to provide airconditioned comfort to the poor at subsidised fares was introduced in 2006. The first train runs Saharsa (Bihar) to Amritsar in Punjab. DFC: Dedicated Freight corridor. Prime Minister laid foundation stone of Rs 11,446 crore DFC project between Mumbai and Delhi to boost business in the region. 1469 km DFC carry contained traffic between Mumbai and Delhi. Who directed the film Black Sanjay Leela Bhansali 125 female police officers of Rapid Action Force (RAF) to assist UN peace keeping operation in Liberia, Africa RAF is a sub division of CRPF. FDI is foreign Direct Investment. FDI flow to India is steadly accellorating. FDI flow to India in 2005-2006 $8.3 billion in 2006-07 (projected) - $12 billion But campared to China it is meagle. FDI to China. (2005-06) - $ 80 billion (2006-07) Projected - $ 87 billion

According to RBI, India has received $ 50.1 billion FDI since 1991 of which $ 16 billion or 32% has come since April 2004. FDI flow shows a health trend in India. What is Barak - 1 Barak 1 is antimissile defence system India acquired from Israel. Phalcon AWACS also belong to Israel. Medha Patkar : NBA : Ela Bhatt : ...... Ans : SEWA (Self employed womens Association) NBA is Naramade Bachao Antholan. Right livelihood Award 2006 was won by ....... Ans: Dr. Ruth Manorama. She is a social worker upholding the cause of the Dalith Women. In 1984 Ela Bhatt, in 1993 Vandana Shiva and in 1991 Medha Patkar also won Right Livelihood Award. What is the new name of Geojith company Ans : Geojith BNP Paribas. 2009 : International Astronomical Union (IAU) has designated 2009 as. International year of Astronomy. Milk production in India at present is 95 million tonne in 2006-07. Per capita milk consumption in Indai is 232 grams. The world average is 265 grams. Projected milk production for 2007-08 is 98 million tonne. Kepo rate is the rate at which banks borrow fund from RBI. RBI raised repo rate in 2006 from 7% to 7.25%. Reverse repo rate is the rate at which banks lend money to RBI. Reverse repo rate was kept unchanged. NCAER - The National Council of Applied Economic Research . Lyngdow Committee has formulated rules and regulation for campus election. Domestic violence Act - 2005 came into effect on October 26, 2006. What significant development came into effect on October 10, 2006 Ans: Ban on the employment of children below 14 as domestic help, in restaurants, hotel and hospitality sector cam into effect on October 10, 2006. These

24

provisions have been incorporated in child Labour (prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986. These occupations have been added to the list of hazardous occupations. According to 2001 census 0.26 lakhs child labourers are in Kerala. National Bamboo Mission was launched in October 2006. TRS - Telungo Rashtrya Samithi withdraw support for NDA government to protest against non formation of state of Telungana dividing Andhra Pradesh. Singur and Nandigram are places in West Bengal. Tata group is setting up its small car factory at Singur which Salim Group of Indonesia is setting up its factory at Nandigram. People are violently protesting against the agricultural land aquisition for industrial purposes. Palakkad has become the first total banking district in the country on September 30, 2006. Kerala total banking state in June 2007.

What is Anorexia? A disorder characterised by an abnormal fear of becoming obese, an aversion for food a severe weight loss. It is too much thinking of models which causes casuality.

World Transperancy International studies about the volume of corruption in various countries. Shaheen - 1 (750 km range), Ghauri - 1 (1500 km range) are Pakistan Missiles. They are derivations of Chineese M-9 and North Korean nodong missiles. Pakistan Air Force bought F-16 from USA and JF - 17 Thunder Jets and J-10 fighters from China. Norah Jones - Pop Singer Rupert Murdoch : Star : Ted Turner : ........ Ans : CNN Rupert murdoch owns star TV and Ted Turner owns cable News Network (CNN) Who is Condolezza Rice? Ans : The US Secretary of State. Who lookafter the security of Afghanistan at present? Ans : NATO. Now NATO has 26 members. What significant development took place on October 9, 2006 When was Bangladesh Grameen Bank was founded Ans : 1976. The founder is Mohammad Yunnus. South Africa, Indonesia, Italy, Belgium and Panama are the new non permanent members of the UN Security Council for a two year term beginning with January 1, 2007. K. Rehman Khan, Rajyasabha Deputy Chairman was elected honouraly auditor or Inter Parliamentaly Union in Genera in 2006. The SAARC disaster management centre was inaugurated in New Delhi. Passion lives here is the motto of winter olympic games. What is Bric Countries? Brazil, Russia, China and India. They are the fast developing countries at present in the world. Who headed oversight committee? Ans: Veerappa Moily. The oversight committee is preparing roadmap for the implementation of 27% quata for OBC in educational institutions under central government.

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India India develop Cyrogenic Stage India became only the 6th member of the exclusive club to have developed a cryogenic stage in rocketry. ISRO has successfully tested a full fledged cryogenic stage for 50 seconds at the Liquid propulsion system centre (LPSC) on October 28, 2006. Which independant MLA is presently the chief Minister of a State? Madhu Koda is Chief Minister of Jharkhand Which wing of Indian Military celebrated platinum Jubilee in 2006 Indian Air Force celebrated plantinum jubilee on October 8, 2006 Where is Malegaon? Nashik district of Maharashtra. It is communally sensitive texitle town. At least 38 people were killed and over 100 hurt when three powerful explosions took place here on September 8, 2006. The centenary of Vande Mataram was observed on September 7, 2006 in India. The 2400 MW Tehri Dam Project was dedicated to the nation on July 30, 2006. It is in the state of Uttarakhand. US president George W. Bush gave his assent to Indian US Civilian nuclear agreement. The first bus service in the post independence era between Pooch in Jammu and Kashmir and Rawalakot town in Pak occupied Kashmir was flagged off by Sonia Gandhi on June 20, 2006 Which Satellite of India failed in its launch on July 10, 2006. The Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV - FO2) carrying INSAT 4 C Communication Satallite crashed into Bay of Bengal immediately after take off. Who is Naresh Goyal : Chairman Jet Airways

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World CUBEC: A Nation within Canada. The Canadian Parliament on November 27, 2006 accorded recognation to the French speaking people of cubec as a nation with in Canada. Stephen Harper Stephen Harper is the new Prime Minister of Canada Russia has agreed to supply uranium fuel for Tarapur reactor. Hugo Chavez won presidential re-election in Venezula on December 3, 2006. Which Asia country witnessed military coup in 2006. Thailand. The leader of the coup was Santhi Boonyaratglin. He ousted Thaksin Shinawatra government. 16th International conference on AIDS was held in Toronto, Canada in August 2006. Who founded Kadima Party? Ariel Sharon of Israel Likud party, Labour party other political parties in Isreal.

China Shakes the world James Kynge Fresh Apple : Rachel Trezise. It won the first Dylan Thomas literary award. In the line of Fire : Blood Brothers : M.J. Akbar Identity and Violence The Musions of Destiny : Amartya Sen Sacred Games : Vikram Chandra The Hungry Tide : Amitav Ghosh

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