Setting up of Commissions For Minorities

The National Commission for Minorities was established under the “National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992” on 5th July 1993 to look after the welfare of the five notified minorities. Further, as a follow up of the Sachar Committee recommendation for setting up of an Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) to look into the grievances of the deprived groups, the Government constituted an Expert Group to recommend the structure, scope and functions along with advice on an appropriate legislative framework of the proposed Equal Opportunity Commission. Giving this information in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of Minority Affairs, said that the Expert Group submitted its Report along with a Draft Bill. The Report of the Expert Group was examined and a proposal for setting up of an Equal Opportunity Commission was considered. The Draft Equal Opportunity Commission Bill, 2011 has been circulated to various Ministries/Departments and comments of most of the Ministries have been received and the proposal is being processed.

Kaushik Basu appointed as World Bank Chief Economist

On 5 September 2012, The World Bank appointed Kaushik Basu, as its chief economist and senior vice president. Basu, an Indian national and a Cornell University professor most recently served as chief economic adviser of the India's Union Ministry of Finance. He has to take over as the chief economist at the World Bank on October 1.

Kaushik Basu, 60, holds a doctorate from the London School of Economics and has also founded the Centre for Development Economics at the Delhi School of Economics in 1992 is also a founding member of the Madras School of Economics.
He had his wide contributions in the field span development economics, welfare economics, industrial organisation and public economics

He has earlier served as chairman of Cornell's economics department and was a director of its Center for Analytic Economics. He was awarded with one of the country's highest civilian awards, the Padma Bhushan in May 2008.

In his two-and-a-half-year stay in the Union finance ministry, Basu gave some constructive thoughts on food coupons and innovative ways to tackle corruption among other advices.

India ranked to be 59th in the report released by World Economic Forum

India slipped down with 3 ranks to 59th position from its previous year ranking in the Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 released on 5 September 2012 by the World Economic Forum. The identified reason for this downfall is India’s disappointing performance in satisfying competitiveness for the basic factors.

Previously, India was far ahead to the nations like South Africa and Brazil has trailed down by 10 ranks and is 30 ranks behind the China. As per the details released by the forum, India still is strong in term of competitiveness on many other sections of comparison.

Switzerland managed to be on top of the list for consecutive four years followed by Singapore that ranked second and Finland was placed at third position. Among the members of BRICKS Nations, Russia was placed at 67th Position, South Africa got 52nd position and Brazil remained to be the 48th Nation.

INDIA IN FIGURES 2012

SAARC Social Charter India Country Report 2012

ReSchedule of Various APPSC Exams

AE’s in A.P. PH & MAE Sub-Service, Notification No. 49/2011, AE’s in Ground Water Department. AE’s in MAE A.P. MAE Sub-Service. Deputy Inspector of Survey in A.P. Survey & land Records Sub-service. (P.C.No.09), Notification No.11/12(Limited), Accounts Officer, Junior Accounts Officer, Senior Accountant  Notification No.7/12 written examinations  to be held on 23/09/2012 and 24/09/2012 are postponed to 03/11/2012 and 04/11/2012

CURRENT AFFAIRS PRACTICE MCQs

  1.  India and Pakistan have agreed to increase their bilateral trade from existing  USD 2   billion   to     ____________ dollars by 2014.
        a) USD 4 billion
       b) USD 6 billion
       c) USD 7 billion
       d) USD 8 billion
       e) None of the above
 
  2.  Prithvi-II, India’s medium range surface-to-surface ballistic missile is capable of carrying nuclear warheads in a range of up to ________.
       a) 300 km
       b) 350 km
       c) 400 km
       d) 450 km
       e) None of the above

  3.  Which is the amount of subsidy provided by the governemnt on 14.2-kg LPG cylinder?
       a) Rs. 22.58 /-per cylinder
       b) Rs. 21.62 /-per cylinder
       c) Rs. 24.54 /-per cylinder
       d) Rs. 28.38 /-per cylinder
       e) None of the

  4.  The rate of duty on import of crude oils is:
       a) 1%
       b) 2%
       c) 3%
       d) 5%
       e) zero percent

  5.  Which one of following is the maximum speed limit (km/h) for cars over Yamuna Expressway highway?
       a) 100
       b) 110
       c) 115
       d) 120
       e) None of the above

  6.  In a bid to normalize the trade relations between India and Pakistan, the Indian banking regulator RBI gave its nod to which of the followings bank(s) to set up their branches in Pakistan?
       1. Bank of India
       2. Punjab National Bank
       3. State Bank of India
      a) Only 1      
      b) Only 2      
      c) Only 3      
      d) Both 1 & 2      
      e) Both 1 & 3

  7.  Presently, which bank is the largest issuer of credit cards in the country?
       a) SBI
       b) PNB
       c) IDBI
       d) HDFC
       e) ICICI

Tehran hosted the 16th NAM(Non-Aligned Movement) Summit

The 16th NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) summit was held at Tehran, Iran on 30-31 August 2012.The theme of the summit was Lasting Peace through Joint Global Governance. At the Tehran Summit , the Chairmanship of NAM was passed on from Egypt to Iran in accordance with the NAM’s practice of regional rotation.The NAM meeting in Tehran was held in three phases: preparatory senior officials meeting on 26-27 August, ministerial level meeting on 28-29 August, and the summit on 30-31 August. Heads of the government from over 100 countries participated in the Tehran Summit to discuss the new global challenges.

Venezuela was selected the host for the 17th NAM Summit in 2015. India expressed support for popular aspirations for a democratic order in Syria while cautioning against external intervention. India urged NAM to take a clear stand on Syria.

Girisha bags silver at Paralympic Games

Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda gave India its first medal at the Paralympic Games after bagging silver in the men’s high jump F42 event in London. The 24-year-old from Karnataka, who has an impairment in his left leg, sailed over a height of 1.74m using scissors technique in the final of the event to finish second in the presence of an 80,000 capacity crowd.

Iliesa Delana of Fiji won the gold, while Lukasz Mamczarz of Poland settled for bronze. Although Delana finished on the same height of 1.74m as Girisha and Mamczarz but won gold on the basis of taking less jumps. 

India at Paralympics

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1960 Rome	did not participate
1964 Tokyo	did not participate
1968 Tel Aviv	0	0	0	0
1972 Heidelberg	1	0	0	1
1976 Toronto	0	0	0	0
1980 Arnhem	0	0	0	0
1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York	0	2	2	4
1988 Seoul	0	0	0	0
1992 Barcelona	0	0	0	0
1996 Atlanta	0	0	0	0
2000 Sydney	0	0	0	0
2004 Athens	1	0	1	2
2008 Beijing	0	0	0	0
2012 London	0	1	0	1
Total	2	3	3	8

COMPUTER DRAUGHTSMAN GRADE - II SELECTION LIST

CLICK HERE FOR SELECTION LIST   

REVISED SCHEDULE of APPSC GROUP-I MAIN EXAMS

APPOINTMENTS IN INDIA 2012

• Parvin Sinclair appointed as  Director of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Jan 2, 2012.
• Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar  appointed as President, Indian Economic Association.
• Samir K. Brahmachari reappointed as Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He got extension for a period of two years.
• Arvind Gupta appointed as Director General, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA).
• Vice Admiral M.P. Muralidharan  appointed as Director General, Indian Coast Guard in Jan 2012. Earlier served as the first Commandant fo the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala.
• M. Rafeeque Ahmed  appointed as  President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) in Jan 2012, he is chairman of the Farida Group; was FIEO President from 2002 to 2004
•  

CURRENT AFFAIRS MCQs

1. Pranab Mukherjee has been recently elected as the ____ th President of India?
A) 12th
B) 13th
C) 15th
D) 14th
Answer- B) 13th
2. Which Indian Bank has taken step to form India’s first Mortgage guarantee entity just like other developed countries?
A) SBI
B) National Housing Bank
C) LIC Housing
D) HDFC
Answer- B) National Housing Bank
3. Which only Indian President won the Presidential Election without any contest?
A) APJ Abdul Kalam
B) Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
C) Rajendra Prasad
D) Pratibha Patil
Answer- B) Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
4. Eminent Freedom Fighter and social activist Captain Lakshmi Sehgal passed away in Kanpur on 23 July 2012. She was one of the most important members of S C Bose’s Indian National Army. She contested Presidential election in 2002 against whom?
A) APJ Abdul Kalam
B) Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy
C) Rajendra Prasad
D) Pratibha Patil
Answer- A) APJ Abdul Kalam
5. Which Country is the largest producer of Cocoa, which is mainly used for Chocolate?
A) Ghana
B) Ivory Coast
C) Kenya
D) Zimbabwe
Answer- B) Ivory Coast
6. Leader of National Advisory Council, responsible for monitoring the implementation of the UPA government’s manifesto, the Common Minimum Programme (CMP)?
A) Sonia Gandhi
B) Kausik Basu
C) Pranab Mukherjee
D) Manmohan Singh
Answer- A) Sonia Gandhi
7. Who has been elected as the new Prime Minister of Egypt?
A) Hosni Mubarak
B) Hisham Kandil
C) Mohamed Morsi
D) None of these
Answer- B) Hisham Kandil
8. International donor conference on Afghanistan was held recently to donate funding for Afghanistan development. It was held in?
A) Kabul
B) Tokyo
C) Hong Kong
D) Singapore
Answer- B) Tokyo
9. Which country will host the 4th Champions League T20 in October this year?
A) India
B) Australia
C) South Africa
D) England
Answer- C) South Africa
10. QFI (Qualified Foreign Investment) is regulated in India by?
A) RBI
B) Financial Action Task Force
C) SEBI
D) IRDA
Answer- B) Financial Action Task Force

GROUP-I SERVICES RECRUITEMNT NEW CUT OFF MARK

The APPSC has conducted the Group-I prelims examination on 27th May 2012 and announced the list of eligible candidates qualified for the Mains Exam. Subsequently as per orders of Hon’ble APAT, the key was published and there were objections to this key. After verification of all objections received the final answer key was published on 2nd Sep 2012. As per this key the Cut off mark is 91 and total of 845 candidates are proposed to be deleted from the list of eligible candidates announced earlier as they failed to secure the cut off marks as per the final answer key.

For More Details Click Here

India beat Cameroon to lift Nehru Cup for the third consecutive time

India lifted the Nehru Cup for the third consecutive time beating Cameroon 5-4 in a penalty shootout at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at New Delhi on September 2. This is India's third consecutive Nehru Cup title, infact they have just won the three.
For the Indian football team, this is a matter of pride since the Cameroon side is ranked much higher to them in the FIFA rankings. India is ranked a lowly 168 while their,  opponents are 59 in the world. Cameroon football team also took part in the Beijing Olympics 2008.

Group-I Services Notifn. No. 15/2011 and 18/2011 ltd. & General - Screening Test - Final Key

Key for Notification No. 18/2011 , Group-I Services Notifn. No. 15/2011 and 18/2011 ltd. & General - Screening Test - Final Key

GROUP-I SERVICES RECRUITMENT NOTFN.NOS. 15/2011 and 18/2011 LIMITED & GENERAL- List of Reg.Nos. of the Additional Candidates qualified for Main Examination after application of Final Answer Key

GROUP-I SERVICES RECRUITMENT NOTFN.NOS. 15/2011 and 18/2011 LIMITED & GENERAL- List of Reg.Nos. of the Additional Candidates qualified for Main Examination after application of Final Answer Key 

National Monsoon Mission

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the implementation of the programme of the National Monsoon Mission at the Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) for a period of five years.

The main objectives of the National Monsoon Mission are:

(i) To build a working partnership between the academic and R&D organisations both national and international and the operational agencies to improve the operational monsoon forecast skill over the country.

(ii) To set up a state of the art dynamic modelling framework for improving the prediction skill of:

a. Seasonal and extended range prediction system (16 days to one season)

b. Short to medium range prediction system (up to 15 days).

The Mission has a budget of Rs.400 crore for five years to support the research work related to the mission.

The National Monsoon Mission after its implementation will help to implement a dynamic prediction system for the prediction of monsoon in all time scales, short range to seasonal time scale at appropriate spatial scales with improved prediction skill. The forecasts based on this prediction system will cater to the needs of various sectors like agriculture, water resources management, power generation, disaster management, tourism and transport.

The programme will be undertaken through two sub-missions on two different time scales, (i) extended range to seasonal time scale to be coordinated by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune/ESSO and (ii) short to medium range scale, to be coordinated by the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF)/ESSO. The Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)/ESSO will provide the ocean observations for assimilation and the India Meteorological Department/ESSO will implement the research outcome of the efforts in operational mode. The Mission will support focused research by national and international research groups with definitive objectives and deliverables to improve the models in the short, medium, extended and seasonal range scales at appropriate spatial scales. The Mission will also support observational programmes that will result in better understanding of the processes. The progress of the National Monsoon Mission will be reviewed and monitored by two committees. The Scientific Review and Monitoring Committee (SRMC) will review the research proposals from different research groups and monitor the progress of the research work. The Scientific Steering Committee (SSC), which is the apex body will steer the programme, advise and direct midcourse corrections, if any.

Background:

Prediction of monsoon rainfall variability in all spatial and time scales is very important for many sectors like agriculture, water resources management, power generation and natural ecosystems and thus economy of the country. The present statistical methods being used by the India Meteorological Department have some constraints to meet specific user requirements for forecasts on finer spatial and temporal scale. Therefore, it is necessary to make use of the state of the art dynamic models to improve monsoon prediction skills.

National Mission on Food Processing

Government has approved the launching of National Mission on Food Processing (NMFP) main scheme through States/UTs during 2012-13. The basic objective of NMFP is decentralization of implementation of Ministry’s schemes, which will lead to substantial participation by State Governments/UTs. The NMFP is likely to add significantly to the Ministry’s outreach in terms of planning, supervision and monitoring of assistance through this scheme.

The major Progrmme/Schemes to be covered under NMFP during 2012-13 are:

(i) Scheme for Technology Up-gradation / Establishment /modernisation of Food Processing Industries.

(ii) Scheme for Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure for Non Horticultural Products.

(iii) Scheme for Modernisation of Abattoirs (no targets for 2012-13 & 2013-14)

(iv) Scheme for Human Resource Development (HRD)

a) Creation of Infrastructure Facilities for Running Degree/ Diploma / Certificate Courses in Food Processing Technology.

b) Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP)

c) Food Processing Training Centre (FPTC)

(v) Scheme for Promotional Activities

a. Organizing Seminars/Workshops

b. Conducting Studies/Surveys

c. Support to Exhibitions/Fairs

d. Advertisement & Publicity