Important Facts of Indian HistoryHistory of Modern India

● Muazzam occupied the Mughal throne as Bahadur Shah after his success in the war of succession.
● Muazzam, the son of Aurangzeb was called as the ‘Shah Bekhabar’.
● The Mughal King Farrukh Siyar gratned concession to the English men to trade in Bengal, Gujarat and Hyderabad.
● In 1759 Ali Mohar, the son of Alamgir sat upon the Mughal throne as Shah Alam II.
● After the death of Maratha ruler Shahu, the real power of the State came in the hands of Peshwas.
● Nawab Murshid Quli Khan of Bengal transferred his capital to Murshidabad from Dacca.
● Nawab Mir Qasim of Bengal transferred his capital to Moongher from Murshidabad.
● In the middle of the 18th century, the nominal ruler of Mysore was Chika Krishnaraj. The real power of the State lied with the two brothers—Nand Raj and Dev Raj.
● In 1761 Hyder Ali captured Nandraj and became the master of Mysore.
● In the first Anglo-Mysore war, Hyder Ali badly defeated the English army.
● In 1781 Hyder Ali conqurered Arcot but in 1781 at Porn Novo Sir Eyerkoot defeated him.
● Ali Muhammad Khan established the State of Rohilkhand.
● The early capital of Rohilkhand was ‘Awala’ which later shifted to Rampur.
● Guru Har Gobind Singh constructed the Akaal Takht at Amritsar.
● Guru Gobind Singh converted the Sikhs into a warring and military group.
● In 1721, the two sects of Sikhism ‘Bandai’ and ‘Tatkhalsa’ merged in one sect ‘Khalsa’. This sect became a headache for the Mughals.
● The Sikhs were organized in 12 unions or misls which grew in political significance. Later Ranjeet Singh conquered these misls and organized them into Punjab State.
● The ruler of the Afghanistan conferred the title of Raja upon Ranjeet Singh and appointed him the Subedar of Lahore.
● The treaty of Amritsar was signed between the English and Ranjeet Singh in 1809. As a result the English checked the expansion of Ranjeet Singh towards the region of Sutluj.
● According to the treaty of Amritsar, the English accepted Ranjeet Singh as an independent ruler.
● During first Anglo-Sikh war, the Governor-General of India was Lord Hardinge.
● Punjab was ruled by Maharaja Dalip Singh when the Lahore Treaty was signed in 1846 between the Sikhs and the English after the defeat of Sikhs in the first Anglo Sikh war.
● During Sirajudaulla’s time, the English settlement at Calcutta became a resort for the enemies of Nawab and the traitors.
● On 4th June, 1756 Sirajudaulla invaded and captured the Qasim Bazar factory of English near Murshidabad.
● The Black hole tragedy as it is known in history, came to light through the letter of Holvell. Some of the historians consider it imaginery.
● In the contemporary historical works like Sher-a-Mutkherin and Royas-us-Salatin, there is no reference to the Black hole tragedy.
● On 9th February, 1757, the Ali Nagar Treaty was signed between the English and the Nawab.
● After the war of Plassey, when Sirajudaulla was running away from Murshidabad towards Patna he was captured and killed.
● On 28 June, 1757, the English declared Mir Jafar as the Nawab of Bengal.
● After victory in Plassey war, the English Company obtained concessions to trade in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
● On 25 November, 1759, the Bedara war was fought between the English and the Dutch and the Dutch were defeated. The victory helped the English in consolidating their hold on Bengal.
● Mir Qasim planned friendship with Vansittart to become the Nawab of Bengal.
● Mir Qasim gave to East India Company, the districts of Vardhman, Midnapur and Chittgaon for the expenditure of the English army.
● In 1764 the joint army of Mir Qasim, Shujauddaulla and Shah Alam fought with the English—the war of Buxar, the English were victorious in this war.
● After the Buxar War, the Allahabad treaty was signed between English and the Mughal King Shah Alam in 1765 AD.
● According to Allahabad Treaty, the districts of Kara and Allahabad were taken away from the Nawab of Oudh and given to Mughal King. The East India Company agreed to pay to the king a pension of Rs. 26 lacs. In lieu the English got Diwani rights in Bengal.
● After the death of Mir Jafar, his son Nizamuddaula was enthroned as Nawab of Bengal.
● K. M. Panikkar holds that from 1765 to 1772, the rule of East India Company in Bengal was the ‘rule of dacoits’.
● During Warren Hastings period, the Treasury was transferred by the East India Company to Calcutta from Murshidabad and Calcutta was made the capital.
● During the Governorship of Warren Hastings, in every district of subjugated India one Civil and one Criminal Court was opened.
● The cases upto to Rs. 500 were referred to the Civil Court and alone it, the appeal could be made to the Sadar Diwani Adalat.
● The District Criminal Court was put in charge of an Indian Officer.
● The Regulating Act of 1773 established a Supreme Court at Calcutta.
● The Permanent settlement introduced by Cornwallis brought changes in the land system. Most of the land came in the hands of commercial and rich classes of Calcutta.
● The Permanent settlement ensured the income of the Government. Besides the cooperation of the new Zamindars was obtained.
● In the Mahalwari system, land revenues was fixed either through the local Zamindars or their hereditary tax collectors or the Zamindars of the Mahal. Mahal was the collection of villages. The Mahalwari system was known in Punjab as the village system.
● The Raiyyatwari system was introduced during early 19th century in some regions of Madras and Bombay. The Govt. directly obtained a fixed amount from the peasants.
● In the Raiyyatwari system, the revenue rate was fixed 45% to 50% of the total produce separately.
● The Raiyyatwari system had many defects which the Govt. official accepted at the time of a parliamentary inspection for the renewal of the Company’s Charter.
● In the Fifth and Sixth decades of 19 century, the English invested in large amount to control Indian economy.
● The English invested their capital on roads and communications, Railway, Post and Telegraph, Banks and tea gardens.
● In 1830 the Ahoms again rebelled against the English. This time, the English Company adopted a peaceful policy and granted north Assam and some other region to King Purandar Singh.
● Raja Teerath Singh of Nanakkalo rebelled against the English with the help of Garo, Khampati and Sinhopo tribes. Soon it took the shape of a mass-movement. In 1833, the English could crust it with superior military force.
● In 1825, the Assam Rifles rebelled against the English.
● In 1838, the Indian troops stationed at Sholapur rebelled due to non-payment of the full allowances.
● In 1850 the Gobind Garh regiment rebelled.
● On 1 January, 1857, the use of British made Enfield Rifles was started in India. In the cartridges of this Rifle, the fat of cows and pigs were used.
● In March 1857, the soldiers of Bairakpur Cantt refused to use the fat cartridges.
● On 2 May, 1857, the Oudh Regiment of Lucknow too refused to use these cartridges. As a result, the Oudh regiment was disbanded.
● To the soldiers of Meerut who had refused to use the fat cartridges, an English military officer—Carr Michael Smith issued the jail punishment of 5 years.
● On 10 May, 1857, a section of the infantry and cavalry of Merrut rebelled at about 5 P.M.
● The rebels marched to Delhi, captured the city and declared Bahadurshah the emperor of India. Bahadurshah assumed the leadership of revolt in Delhi.
● During this rebellion, Nana Saheb established his suzeranity over Kanpur and declared himself the Peshwa.
● In Bundelkhand Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi assumed the leadership of the revolt.
● In Bihar, the zamindar of Jagdishpur, named Kunwar Singh led the revolt.
● On 28 May, 1857, the soldiers of Nasirabad Cantt in Rajasthan, rebelled.
● Kota and Adva were the main centres of revolt in Rajasthan.
● The Central India, Tantya Tope led the revolt.
● In U.P. the importnat centres of revolution were Jhansi, Kanpur, Bareilly, Meerut, Lucknow, Aligarh, Mathura and Agra.
● The Bareilly rebellion was led by Batakhs Khan.
● The Commissioner of Oudh, Henry Laurrence died of a blast on 4th July, 1857.
● While suppressing the revolt, the English officer Neil buried the dead Brahmans and burnt the dead Muslims.
● In March 1858, under the leadership of Kunwar Singh, the rebels captured Azamgarh.
● While marching towards Benaras from Azamgarh, there was an encounter between Kunwar Singh and the English officer Lord Mark in which Lord Mark had to run away to save his life.
● Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur was the only leader to have died under the banner of freedom.
● On 14 December, 1857, the English army blasted Kashmiri Gate of Delhi.
● In November 1857 the rebels defeated the English General Windaham near Kanpur.
● Vinayak Damodar Saverker was the first to name the rebellion of 1857 as the first war of Indian independence.
● According to Sir Seeley, the rebellion of 1857 was fully a national revolt conducted by selfish soldiers.
● Sir John Lawrence, P. E. Roberts and V. A. Smith have called it a Sepoy Mutiny.
● According to V. A. Smith, the rebellion of 1857 was purely a sepoy mutiny which fully reflected the indiscipline of Indian soldiers and the foolishness of English military officers.
● According to Sir James Outtram, the revolt of 1857 was the result of a conspiracy of the Muslims who desired to fulfill their self-interest on the strength of the Hindus.
● Ashok Mehta in his book, ‘The Great Revolt’, has attempted to prove that it was a national revolt.
● Pattabhi Sita Ramaiyya takes it to be the first war of Indian independence.
● After crushing the revolt of 1857, they constituted an India Council and abolished the Board of Directors. There were 15 members in the India Council and a Secretary of State for India.
● After the revolt, Lord Canning announced the Declaration of the Queen at a Durbar held at Allahabad. He called it, ‘the Magna Carta of Indian people’.
● In the Declaration of the Queen, the policy of expansion of the political limits came to an end.
● The rebels responsible for the murder of Englishmen were punished. All others were pardoned.
● The objective of Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ramkirshna Mission and the Theosophical society etc. was to herald a renaissance in India.
● Brahmo Samaj was founded in Calcutta by Raja Ram Mohan Roy on 20 August, 1828.
● Raja Ram Mohan Roy always advocated the appointment of Indians on high govt. posts. He played a major role in the abolition of Sati system.
● After the death of Raja Ram Mohan Roy on 20 August, 1833, Devendara Nath Tagore assumed the leadership of the Brahmo Samaj.
● Aadi Brahmo Samaj was established by Devendra Nath Thakur.
● Bhartiya Brahmo Samaj was founded by Keshav Chandra Sen.
● The principles of Brahmo Samaj helped immensely in the birth and Spread Indian nationalism.
● Raja Ram Mohan Roy established Vedant College, English School and Hindu College at Calcutta.
● Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the advocate of English Education and he thought English to be the vehicle of progress.
● It was due to the effort of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, that the restriction upon the newspapers were lifted.
● In 1819, at Maharashtra, Prarthna Sabha was founded. It came to an end due to its limited scope.
● In 1867 Atma Ram Pandurang established Prarthna Samaj. M. G. Ranade, R. G. Bhandarkar and Narayan Chandrawarkar were the prominent members of this Samaj.
● Dayanand Saraswati left his house at the age of 21. As a Brahmachari Sadhu, he travelled to different places in India.
● Dayanand Saraswati started the propagation of his religion from Agra.
● In 1874, he wrote his famous book Satyarth Prakash.
● On 10 April, 1875 he founded Arya Samaj at Bombay.
● Totapuri, a Vedantic sadhu taught Vedant Sadhna to Dayananda.
● Ramkrishna Paramhans was born in 1836 in a poor Brahman family of Hoogly district of Bengal.
● Swami Vivekanand was the most devoted disciple of Swami Ramkrishna Paramhans.
● Ramkrishna Pramhans did not establish any Ashram or sect.
● In 1893 in the All Religion Conference at Chicago Vivekanand impressed everyone, and started a Vedant Samaj there.
● In 1896 Vivekanand established Ramkrishna Mission.
● In the last years of the third decade of the 19th century, the young Bengal movement was led by an Englishman named Henry William Derozio.
● On 7 September, 1875 in New York, U.S.A. Madame H.P. Blatavesky (Russian) and Col. H. S. Alcott (American) founded the Theosophical Society.
● Mrs. Annie Besant, an Irish lady was a very active member of Theosophical Society in India.
● Due to the efforts of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, in 1856, the Widow Remarriage Act was legislated.
● The slogan of ‘Inkalab Zindabad’ was given by Mohammad Iqbal.
● Sir Saiyyad Ahmad Khan founded the Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh in 1877 which later became known as Aligarh Muslim University.
● Haji Shariatullah was the initiator of Faryaz movement.
● In Maharashtra the Bharat Sewak Samaj was started by Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
● In 1922 Amrit Lal Viththal Das established the Bheel Sewa Mandal.
● Jyoti Ba Phule was the champion of widowremarriage in Maharashtra.
● In 1911 Narayan Maltar Joshi organised the Social Service League, a society to solve the social problems. He was assisted by some educated Indians.
● Avanindra Nath Thakur founded the society known as—The Indian Society of Oriental Art.
● In the 19th century, the famous Bengali author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee composed the song— Vande Matram.
● In 1875, Sisir Kumar Ghose founded the India League.
● The Indian Association founded by Surendra Nath Banerjee was replaced by the Indian League in 1876.
● The credit for founding the Indian National Congress in 1885 goes to an English officer, Allen Octavian Hume.
● The first Conference of the Indian National Congress was held at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay under the chairmanship of W. C. Banerjee.
● Bal Gangadhar Tilak started Ganesh Mahotsav in 1893 and Shivaji Samaroh in 1895.
● Pandit Jugal Kishore published the first newspaper of India—Udant Martand. It was a paper which gave top priority to Indian interests.
● During Lord Curzon’s time in 1905, Bengal was divided.
● In 1911, in Lord Hardinge’s time, the partition of Bengal was cancelled.
● Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajeet Singh were exiled to Burma in 1907.
● In 1911 the capital of India was shifted to Delhi from Calcutta.
● On Nov. 1913, the Ghadar Party was founded at Sanfransisco city of America by the great revolutionary of Punjab named Lala Hardayal.
● Kashi Ram and Hardayal were the active members of the Ghadar Party.
● In 1906, Agha Khan founded the All India Muslim League.
● In 1916, a pact was signed between Muslim League and Congress which is known in history as the Lucknow Pact.
● In 1916 Bal Gangadhar Tilak established the Home Rule League of India.
● After Lucknow Pact, Congress and League presented the plan of political reforms based on separate electoral regions. This pact led to an increase in communalism.
● In 1914 Annie Besant brought out a newspaper in English named ‘New India’.
● Gandhiji established the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad.
● On 30 March, 1919, Satyagraha Day was observed in whole of India. The Satyagraha was peaceful at all places except Punjab and Delhi.
● Dr. Satyapal and Dr. Saifuddin, the leaders of the Punjab Satyagraha were imprisoned. In protest, a meeting was organized at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar . The people who assembled here were gunned down. This is known as ‘Jalhianwalla bagh Massacre’ of April 1919.
● After the world war I, the Indian Muslims were excited due to the treatment meted out to Caliph by the British in Turkey. In 1919 they started the Khilafat movement under the leadership of Maulana Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali.
● The Congress joined the Muslims in Khilafat movement. On 31 August, 1919, the Khilafat Day was observed.
● Mahatma Gandhi launched the Non-cooperation Mass Movement in 1920-21. But violence broke out at Chauri Chaura then in Gorakhpur district which saddened Gandhiji. In February 1922 he announced the closure of the movement.
● In March 1922 Motilal Nehru and Deshbandhu Chitranjan Das established the Swaraj Party.
● In the elections of 1923 the Swaraj Party scored 40 seats out of 148.
● In 1927 the Bardoli Satyagraha was conducted by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel.
● In 1928 under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon a Commission came to India to inspect the administrative work. The Indians boycotted it as no Indian was a member of the Commission. In March 1928 the Commission went back.
● In the 1929 Lahore Congress session held under the chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru, the meaning of Swaraj was declared as total independence.
● In 1930 Gandhiji broke the Salt laws by his Dandi March and he started the Civil Disobedience movement.
● In 1930, the Congress boycotted the first Round Table Conference.
● In 1931, after Gandhi-Irwin pact Gandhiji went to attend the second Round Table Conference along with the members of Muslim League.
● In the third Round table conference in 1932, Congress did not send any representative. Only 46 members went to participate under different categories.
● The meeting of the Executive of Congress held on 1 January, 1932 decided to again start the Civil Disobedience Movement due to the completely negative attitude of the Government.
● The British Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald declared the communal award on 16 August, 1932.
● On 25 September, 1932, the Poona Pact was signed. Common agreement was made on two conditions for preparing the electoral regions. The representative of the Depressed classes was B.R. Ambedkar.
● In 1932 Gandhiji founded the Harijan Sewak Sangh for the uplift of the Harijans.
● On 8 May, 1933 Gandhiji declared the programme of 21 days fast for his self-purification.
● Gandhiji began ‘Individual Satyagraha and Civil Disobedience on 1 August, 1933.
● The Government of India Act of 1935 had 312 articles and 19 enclosures.
● In 1935, the British provinces were 11 e.g., Madras, Bombay, Bengal, Bihar, Punjab, Orissa, Central Provinces, Assam, North West Frontier Provinces, United Provinces and Sindh.
● The Government of India Act of 1935, the subjects were divided into three departments—Federal, Provincial and Concurrent.
● This Act divided the British provinces of India in two categories. 11 were the provinces under the Governor and 5 provinces were under Lieutenant Commissioners.
● The Govt. of India Act, 1935, proposed Federal system and Provincial autonomy. The plan of Federal system could not be implemented. The elections for the Provincial legislative Councils were held in the January-February of 1937.
● The Congress won majority in 5 provinces—Madras, United Provinces, Central Provinces, Bihar and Orissa in the general election of 1937.
● In Punjab, the Unionist Party and Muslim League jointly formed the Government. This Government worked without any obstruction till 1947.
● In Bengal the Krishak Praja Party and the Muslim League jointly formed the Government. Its Cabinet worked till 14 August, 1947. Sikandar Hayaat Khan was the head of this Government.
● The Congress Cabinets worked from 1937 to 1939.
● In 1934, the members of Congress Executive, Acharya Narendra Dev, Jai Prakash and Achyut Patvardhan organized the Congress Socialist Party.
● In the Haripura session of the Congress (1938), S. C. Bose was unanimously elected the President.
● Subhash Chandra Bose organized a National Planning Committee.
● In 1939 Bose was relected Congress President defeating Gandhi’s candidate P. Sitaramayya.
● In April 1939, Subhash Chandra Bose resigned from the post of the President and started a militant party known as Forward Block.
● In 1939, Jawaharlal Nehru became the President of the Tribal Conference of Indian States.
● In 1933, a Muslim student named Choudhary Rahmat Ali studying in England proposed the formation of a separate Muslim State and called it Pakistan.
● On 24th March, 1940, in the Lahore Conference of the Muslim League, the Pakistan proposal was passed.
● Lord Linlithgo presented the August proposal before the Congress on 8 August, 1940 for getting cooperation during the war.
● The Individual Satyagraha was started from 17 October, 1940. Acharya Vinoba Bhave was the first Satyagrahi. Gandhiji postponed it on 17 December, 1940.
● It was restarted on 5 January, 1941. During this period more than 20 thousand people were arrested.
● Cripps Mission visited India in 1942. It was onemember Commission and only Sir Strafford Cripps was the member.
● The Congress and the League, both rejected the Cripps Proposals.
● The Quit India movement resolution was passed on 14 July, 1942 in the Executive of the Congress Session held at Wardha. It was reaffirmed on 8 August, 1942.
● The interim government of free India was organized on 21 October, 1943 by Subhash Chandra Bose in Singapore.
● 21 Indian political leaders were invited to attend a Conference at Simla in June 1945. It ended in failure.
● In December 1945, the General Elections were held in India. The Congress received the majority in 6 provinces.
● On 18 February, 1946, the non Commissioned officers and Naval soldiers of the Royal Indian Navy who were called Rattings, began a militant revolt at Bombay.
● In order to remove the Constitutional crisis the British Government sent the Cabinet Mission to India.
● It came on 29 March, 1946 to New Delhi and it declared its proposals.
● Muslim League observed the Direct Action Day on 16 August 1946.
● The Interim Government of India was organized under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru. The Cabinet took oath on 2nd September, 1946.
● The Constituent Assembly first met under the chairmanship of Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 6th December, 1946.
● Atlee declared on 20 February, 1947 that the English would leave India after transferring the power to responsible people before June 1948.
● The Mountbatten Plan of 3 June, 1947 was mainly the Plan of partition. It was agreed upon by the Executive of the Indian National Congress on 14-15 June in a meeting at Delhi.
● In July 1947, the Indian Independence Act was passed by the British Parliament.
● India became independent on 15 August, 1947.
● On 26 January, 1950, the state of Hyderabad merged in the Indian Federation.
● On 20 April 1954, the Panchsheel Pact was signed between India and China.
● On 20 October, 1962 China invaded upon India. Soon it occupied Assam Valley and Laddakh. On 21 November, 1962, China declared one sided ceasefire.

Important Awards and Honours 2013

1.Sanjiv Bhatt gets Mother Teresa Award 

Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt was conferred the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice for 2012.

2.Priyadarshini Karve: Scientists of home and hearth

In January 2013, Priyadarshini Karve has won the Ashden Award for Renewable Energy for her biowaste-to-charcoal technology.

3.Award for Muthunayagam, Saraswat

The former secretary of the Department of Ocean, Development, A.E. Muthunayagam, will receive  the prestigious Aryabhatta award, instituted by the Astronautical Society of India (ASI), for 2010 and V.K. Saraswat, Scientific adviser to the Defence Minister, will receive the award for 2011. They have been selected for their achievements in rocketry.

4.President distributes awards to NRIs

1. President Pranab Mukherjee distributed the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman awards to 15 persons in January 2013.
2. The awardees included Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag, who was the chief guest at the inaugural of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
3. The other recipients are: Ashok Shambhomal Vaswani, Tan Sri Ravindran Menon, Rasik Vihari Joshi, Satendra Kumar Singh, Gilbert Canabady Moutien, Mohammad Rabeeh karuvanthodi, Ismail Ebrahim, Bava Pandalingal, Patricia Maria Rozario, Narendra Ramakrishna Kumar and Subash Razdan.
4. The Australia India Society of Victoria and the Indian Doctors Forum, Kuwait, also won awards.
5. The award consisted of a medal, a citation scroll and a memento.

5.President presents Census Medals

1. President Pranab Mukherjee presented the Census Medals for extraordinary performance at a function in Vigayan Bhavan in January 2013.
2. The President congratulated all the Census Medal winners and said informed decision-making has to be based on empirical data and census is the only source of data that provides information on various individual characteristics right up to  the village level for rural areas and ward level for urban areas.
3. Ever since the first Census of India after Independence, it has been the tradition with the Census Organization to award silver and bronze medals and certificates of honour from the President to various census functionaries, including enumerators, supervisors, charge officers in recognition of their work.

6.Army Major Manjali to get Kirti Chakra

Major Abup J. Manjali to the Rashtriya Rifles will be awarded the Kirti chakra on Republic Day for bravery in counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

7.India, Pakistan flavor to Man Booker International shortlist

1. Two of the biggest names in literatures from India and Pakistan – Kannada writer U.R. Ananthamurthy and Urdu novelist Intizar Hussain – are among the 10 writers form a round the world shortlisted for  this year’s £60,000 Man Booker International Prize released in January 2013.
2. It is awarded every two years to a living author in recognition of his or her achievement in fiction.
3. Mr. Ananthamurthy, a Jnanpith awardee and regarded as one of the most important voices of the “new movement” in Kannada, is also in the running for the $50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature to be announced a the Jaipur Literature Festival.
4. Previous winners include Philip Roth, Alice Booker Prize, it recognize a writer for his or her continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage.

8.Michael Clarke gets Allan Border Medal

1. In January 2013, Australian captain Michael Clarke won his fourth Allan Border Medal as the nation’s Cricketer of  the Year at a gala ceremony in February 2013.
2. Clarke, 31, and his predecessor as captain, Ricky Ponting, are the only players to win the medal, considered Australian cricket’s most prestigious individual prize, four times.

9.Jeet Thayil wins DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

1. Author Jeet Thayil has won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2013 for his debut novel Narcopolis based on the theme of drug addiction destroying the poor, deranged and marginalized people in Mumbai during 1970s and 80s. he was presented the coveted prize at a ceremony in the Jaipur Literature Festival.
2. The prize, carrying a cash award of $50,000 is given every year to an international author or shared with the translator for a work of fiction thematically linked to the South region. Mr. Thayll is the first Indian to win the prize, running into its third year.

10.Asian Nobel, made in Taiwan

1. In January 2013, Samuel Yin, one of Taiwan’s richest men launched the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize – the Tang Prize – by donating Tw$3 billion (about $101 million) for it.
2. The Prize is named after China’s Tang Dynasty (618-907) – which inspired generation after generation with administration for its vibrant characteristics of self-confidence and cosmopolitan inclusiveness – the qualities that the Tang Prize seeks to promote.
3. Beginning in 2014, prizes will be awarded every two years in four categories – sustainable development: biopharmaceutical; sinology; and the ‘rule of law’ – to individuals, regardless of nationality.
4. The winter in each category will receive Tw$50 million ($1.7 million), compared to the eight million Swedish kronor ($1.2million) that comes with a Nobel Prize.

11.L.N. Tallur bags Rs. 1 million Skoda Art Prize 2012

In February 2013, Karnataka-born artist L.N. Tallur, whose works depict majorly the underbelly of India, has won the Rs. 1 million Skoda Prize 2012 for contemporary art, from among a shortlist of four artists – including an artist collective.

12. Daughter accept Ravi Shankar’s Grammy

1. In February 2013, Sixty days after his demise, sitar legend Pandit Ravi Shankar was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy award, which was jointly accepted by his musically-gifted daughters Anoushka Shankar and Norah Jones.
2. Ms. Anoushka Shankar, a reputed sitarist herself, and Ms. Jones, who has carved a niche as a singer-songwriter, attended the pre-Grammy ceremony at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre to accept the honour bestowed on their iconic father, who passed away on December 11, 2012 at  the age of 92.

13.Ravi Shankar wins best music album award

1. In February 2013, Sitar legend Ravi Shankar was posthumously awarded the best would music album trophy at the 55^thGrammys, beating his daughter Anoushka Shankar, a day after being honoured with a Lifetime Achievements award by The Recording Academy.
2. Pandit shankar’s album ‘The Living Room Sessions Part 1’ saw off competition from Ms. Anoushka Shankar’s ‘Traveller’; Amadou & Mariam’s  ‘Folila’; Daneil Ho’s ‘On A Gentle Island Breeze’; and Hugh Masekela’s Jabulani’.

14.Renowned poet gets Assam Literary Award

1. In January 2013, renowned Assamese poet Sameer Tanti has been awarded the prestigious Assam Valley Literary Award for the year 2012.
2. The award, instituted by Williamson Magor Education Trust, is given to preserve and promote the rich literary heritage of Assam.

15.Life achievements awards of the Department of Atomic Energy

1. In January 2013, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated that while the Centre went ahead with its nuclear energy programme to meet the growing energy needs of the country, it would continue to ensure that nuclear power remained totally safe.
2. Presenting the lifetime achievement awards of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to four of its veteran scientists at a brief ceremony, Dr. Singh noted that the Department worked in “one of the most complex, sophisticated and challenging areas of science, technology and engineering.”
3. The scientists who were presented the lifetime achievements are: R.B. Grover, who played a key role in negotiating the Indo – U.S. nuclear deal, K. Balaramamoorthy, who developed non-destructive testing techniques, mathematician R. Balasubramanian, and S.K. Sikka, a key player in the nuclear tests of 1974 and 1998.
4. Known as India’s leading nuclear diplomat, Dr. Grover played a key role in opening ensuring India became a part of the International nuclear trade which were shut after the peaceful nuclear experiment of 1974. He was also in the forefront of talks that resulted in India’s entry into the pioneering International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project to tap fusion energy to meet future global power needs. Among other things, he conceptualized and set up the Homi Bhabha National Institute to meet the human resources requirements of the nuclear programme.
5. Dr. Balaramamoorthy, a former Chief Executive of the Nuclear Fuel  Complex, was honored for his pioneering contribution to the development of non-destructive testing techniques and outstanding work in the field of nuclear fuel and nuclear components fabrication.
6. Dr. Balasubramanian, who is the Director of the DAE’s Chennai-based Institute of Mathematical sciences, was conferred the award for his outstanding contribution to the field of higher mathematics, cryptology and theoretical computer science.
7. Dr. Sikka was honored for his contribution to condensed matter  physics and to the strategic  programme of the department of atomic energy.

16.U.R. Rao to join Satellite Hall of Fame

1. The former ISRO chairman, U.R. Rao, is all set to join the prestigious international Satellite Hall of Fame on March 19, an ISRO statement said in February 2013.
2. Prof. Rao, who presided over the country’s space programme as Secretary, Department of Space, and Chairman of the Space Commission for 10 years from 1984, will join some 40 space celebrities who include Arthur Clarke. He is now the chairman of the governing council of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmadabad.
3. On that day, the U.S. – based Society of Satellite Professionals International will formality induct Prof. Rao into its membership and Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held in Washington D.C.

17. J.C. Daniel Award for Sasikumar

1. In February 2013, Yesteryear film director Sasikumar has been chosen for Kerala government’s prestigious J.C. Daniel Award for lifetime achievements in cinema for the year 2012.
2. The filmmaker, who has set what is stated to be a world record by making 141 films, was chosen for the award.

18.Mary Verghese Award presented to social worker from Kerala

The Mary Verghese Award 2013, instituted by the Mary Verghese Award Foundation to an individual, or organization, who, or which, made an outstanding contribution to the cause of enhancing the quality of life of physically-challenged persons, was presented to K.V. Rabia, founder of the Chalanam Movement in Malapuzha, kerala.

19.The Hindu Literary Prize goes to Jerry Pinto

Journalist-author Jerry Pinto has bagged The Hindu Literary Prize 2012 for his novel Em and the big Hoom.

20.Ela Bhatt honoured with Indira award

President Pranab Mukherjee presented the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2011 to Ela Ramesh Bhatt of the Self-Employed Women’s Association at Rashtrapati Bhavan in February 2013.

First breast milk bank inaugurated in Kolkata

A modern and sophisticated breast milk bank, stated to be the first in India in the public sector, was inaugurated  at the premier state-run SSKM hospital by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"This is a novel scheme to cater to the basic needs of a child who is just born, but does not get the milk from the mother or when the mother dies after giving birth to the child," Banerjee said, stressing on the importance of breast feeding.

The bank was being funded by the National Health Renewal Mission and equipment procured and the recruitment process done. New born babies suffering from malnutrition would also benefit from it.

HALF YEARLY CURRENT AFFAIRS 2013 ISSUE

Objectives of National Urban Livelihoods Mission

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has proposed to launch a “National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM)” in 12th Five Year Plan, which will replace the existing Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY). The NULM would focus on organizing urban poor in self help groups, creating opportunities for skill development leading to market-based employment and helping them to set up self-employment ventures by ensuring easy access to credit. The Mission would aim at providing shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless in a phased manner. In addition, the Mission would also address livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors. This was stated by Dr. (Ms.) Girija Vyas, Union Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA), in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today. 

The Minister further stated that a total of 13,06,767 beneficiaries have been assisted under Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP), 31,32,830 persons have been skill trained under Skill Training for Employment Promotion amongst Urban Poor (STEP-UP) and 6,62,766 women beneficiaries have been assisted for setting up Group micro enterprises under Urban Women Self-help Programme (UWSP) components of Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) since its inception. So far, total Central funds to the tune of Rs. 5038.53 Crores has been released to States/UTs under the SJSRY scheme. 

A total of 1,35,298 beneficiaries have been assisted under Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP), 1,84,739 persons have been skill trained under Skill Training for Employment Promotion amongst Urban Poor (STEP-UP) and 69,077 women beneficiaries have been assisted for setting up Group micro enterprises under Urban Women Self-help Programme (UWSP) components of Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) in Andhra Pradesh since its inception, as reported by the State Government. So far, total Central funds to the tune of Rs. 473.76 Crores has been released to Andhra Pradesh under this scheme since inception, the Minister added. 

Raghuram Govind Rajan Appointed as the 23rd Governor of RBI

Raghuram Govind Rajan, the Chief Economic Adviser was on 6 August 2013, appointed as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a time period of three years, i.e., till 2016. He succeeds D. Subbarao who demits the office on 4 September 2013. He will be the 23rd Governor of RBI. 

About Raghuram Govind Rajan

• Raghuram Govind Rajan was born on 3 February 1963. 
• He is 50 years of age and so far, he is the youngest person to become the Governor of the Central Bank of India. 
• He is known for predicting the economic crisis of 2008. 
• He is an alumnus of IIT-Delhi and IIM-Ahmedabad. He received his Doctorate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
• He also remained Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. 
• He is the visiting professor for Swedish Parliamentary Commission, World Bank and Federal Reserve Board. 
• Formerly, he also served as the president of the American Finance Association.
• He remained a chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana (MGPSY)

An estimated 5 million Indian Nationals with ECR (Emigration Check Required) passports are working on temporary employment/contract visas in the Gulf Countries.

It is observed that a majority of the earnings periodically remitted by overseas Indian workers to their families in India are rarely accumulated as savings and often cause only a temporary improvement in the consumption expenditure of their families. As a result majority of overseas Indian workers face the risk of poverty when they return to India and when they are too old to work. Overseas Indian workers are largely excluded from formal social security benefits available to residents of ECR countries.

Overseas Indian workers are largely excluded from formal social security benefits available to residents of ECR countries.

Thus, to provide them social security, the Ministry has launched Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana(MGPSY) in May 2012. The objective of MGPSY is to encourage and enable overseas Indian workers having Emigration Check Required (ECR) passports going to ECR countries, to (a) save for their return and resettlement and (b) save for their pension. They are also provided Life Insurance cover against natural death, during the period of coverage, without any additional payment by them.

Overseas Indian workers with ECR passports and aged between 18 and 50 years on an employment/contract visa are eligible to join the scheme.

The Ministry also contributes, for a period of five years, or till the return of workers to India, whichever is earlier, as under:

a) Rs.1,000 per subscriber who saves between Rs.1,000 and Rs.12,000 per annum in their National Pension Scheme(NPS) -Lite account;
b) An additional contribution of Rs.1,000 per annum for overseas Indian women workers who save between Rs.1,000 and Rs.12,000 per annum in National Pension Scheme(NPS)-Lite account;
c) An annual contribution of Rs. 900 per annum per subscriber who saves at least Rs. 4000 per annum towards Return and Resettlement fund;
d) Rs.100/- for life insurance cover of Rs.30,000 per year against natural death and Rs.75,000 against death by accident through the Janshree Bima Yojana of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

There is an integrated enrollment process for the subscribers who will be issued a unique MGPSY account number upon enrolment. On their return to India, the subscriber can withdraw the Return and Resettlement savings as a lump sum.

However, the subscriber would be able to continue savings for their old age in the NPS-Lite in line with the Swavalamban Scheme. Alternatively subscriber can withdraw pension corpus as per the guidelines prescribed by the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA).

What is ECR:

As per the Emigration Act, 1983, Emigration Check Required (ECR) categories of Indian passport holders, require to obtain "Emigration Clearance" from the office of Protector of Emigrants (POE), Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs for going to following 18 countries.

United Arab Emirates (UAE), The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Brunei, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria, Lebanon, Thailand, Iraq (emigration banned). 

However , the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (Emigration Policy Division) have allowed  ECR passport holders traveling abroad for purposes others than employment  to leave the country on production of valid passport, valid visa and return ticket at the immigration counters at international airports in India w.e.f. 1st October 2007.

CURRENT NEWS & EVENTS AUGUST 2013 MAGAZINE