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1st August, 2008 – 15th August, 2008
1. The Marxist pioneer and former general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist),
Harkishan Singh Surjeet passed away. He was elected to the Polit Bureau of the undivided Communist
Party in 1954 and was one of the founders of the CPI(M) in October-November 1964. Among his
generation of top Communist leaders who formed the CPI(M)’s first Polit Bureau, Mr. Surjeet is
survived by Jyoti Basu. The seven other founder leaders were P. Sundarayya, E.M.S. Namboodiripad,
M. Basavapunniah, A.K. Gopalan, B.T. Ranadive, P. Ramamurti, and Pramode Dasgupta.
2. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has approached the Motilal Nehru
National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) in Allahabad to study the mechanical properties and
characterisation of Carbon Nano Tubes (CNT) composites, which are likely to be used to build robust
missiles.
3. The newly raised special 'GARUD' force of Indian Air Force (IAF) had its launching on a foreign soil
by carrying out specialized war manoeuvres during the famous 'Red Flag' exercise at the Nellis air base
in US' Nevada desert. This is the first time that the GARUD force, raised initially for air base
protection and later also tasked to undertake anti-hijacking operations, locked horns with US special
forces during an exercise to test their capabilities. IAF had established GARUDS in 2006 and they are
trained to protect airfields from enemy and terrorist attacks, carry out hostage rescue operations, and
enemy radar busting.
4. The government has approved 15 Clean Development Mechanism Projects with the potential to
generate 506 million Certified Emission Reduction (CER) units which could fetch an inflow of USD 5
bn into the country by 2012. With these 15 projects, the total number of CDMs approved by the
government has gone up to 1,013.The National Clean Development Mechanism Authority has cleared
these projects. The CDM is a mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol for reducing emission through
implementing projects in developing countries. It promotes investment from government and business
establishments from industrialised countries.
The 15 projects are in the sectors of energy efficiency, renewable including biomass based
cogeneration projects, industrial processes, fuel switching, municipal solid waste and forestry. There
are 1,133 CDM projects registered with the CDM Executive Board of which highest number of 355
projects are from India followed by China (248) and Brazil (143). The CDM projects result in real,
measurable and long-term benefits for climate change mitigation. Under the CDM, a developed country
can take up greenhouse gas reduction project activities in a developing country where the cost of such
projects are usually much lower. The purpose of CDM is to assist developing countries achieve
compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments.
5. Union Bank of India Executive Director R. S. Reddy has been named as CMD of Andhra Bank, while
Central Bank of India Executive Director Albert Tauro will take over as the Chairman and Managing
Director Vijaya Bank. Bank of India Executive Director K. R. Kamath has been appointed as the
Chairman and Managing Director of Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank.
6. A stampede on a slender trail leading to the famous hilltop Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district of
Himachal Pradesh killed 150 people, mainly women and children, and injured about 250. Naina Devi, a
key shrine of the temple tourist circuit of the hill State, is about 165 km from the State capital and is
very popular among the people from neighbouring Punjab and the lower plains of Himachal.
7. One-day skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was chosen for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. The
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award is India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports. Besides
Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar was the only cricketer who received this award, way back in 1997-98.
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8. The third generation hit-to-kill anti-tank missile, Nag, was successfully test fired at Pokhran in
Rajasthan. The advanced weapon system damaged the target, a stationary tank four km away. The
indigenously-developed Nag is a two-stage solid propellant missile and each Namica carries 12
missiles with eight of them in ready-to-fire mode.
9. Anil Dhirubhai Ambani owned Reliance Money has decided to join hands with the National MultiCommodity Exchange (NMCE) to set up a spot exchange for agricultural produce aimed at facilitating
electronic trading in agri products. The joint venture plans to cover all the agricultural markets over the
next one year.
10. S. K. Chaturvedi took over as the new Chairman and Managing Director of the state-run transmission
utility Power Grid Corporation of India.
11. With India likely to acquire defence equipment worth between $30 and 50 billion over the next five
years and the private sector eager get into the defence production industry, the Ministry of Defence
(MoD) is considering notifying the 13 companies cleared for the Raksha Udyog Ratna (RUR) status.
The Prabir Sengupta committee, set up by the Ministry, had to choose from over 40 applicants for the
RUR status over a year ago. The 13 that made it were the Tata Motors, Larsen and Toubro, Tata Power
Company, Mahindra and Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Tata Advance Materials, Kirloskar, HCL, Godrej
and Boyce, Bharat Forge, Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies and the Tata Consultancy
Services. The RUR status will allow these companies to be treated on a par with defence public sector
enterprises (DPSEs) such as the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Bharat Electronics and allow them
to bid for contracts. It will allow them to access foreign technologies, enter into collaborations with
overseas players for the manufacture of military hardware and avail themselves of up to 26 per cent
foreign direct investment. It will also enable them to get substantial government financial investment
(up to 80 per cent) for design, development and manufacture of defence products, including fighter
aircraft, tanks and warships.
12. The Chairman of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC) C. Rangarajan stepped down
from the post. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Dr. Rangarajan is to be succeeded by EAC
member Suresh Tendulkar.
13. India has tied up labour agreements with Malaysia, Oman and Bahrain for the protection and welfare of
the Indian emigrants in these countries. The agreements, negotiated by the Ministry of Overseas Indian
Affairs (OIA), will be signed soon. The country has already signed such agreements with Jordan, Qatar,
the UAE and Kuwait. The agreements aim at securing Indian emigrants against exploitation and abuse
in the host countries.
14. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC), Power
Finance Corporation (PFC) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) for the incorporation of a joint venture company to set up and operate a national
level Power Exchange. The company will be registered as a public limited company with an authorised
capital of Rs. 50 crore. The Power Exchange will provide a neutral and transparent electronic platform
for trading of power on ‘Day Ahead Basis’ and ensure clearing of all trades in an efficient manner with
access to all the players in the power market.
15. Abhinav Bindra won the Olympic gold medal for the 10-metre air rifle event in Beijing, bagging for
independent India its first individual Olympic gold. The gold was an improvement on the silver won by
another shooter, double trap marksman Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, in the Athens Olympics. It was
also the fifth individual medal for India in Olympic Games over the years. Tennis ace Leander Paes
won the singles bronze in Atlanta in 1996 and lifter Karnam Malleswari won a bronze in Sydney in
2000. K.D. Jadhav opened the account for India in 1952 with a wrestling bronze. Indian hockey has
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won eight gold medals, but it has been a dream for the country to win gold elsewhere. The hockey team
failed to qualify for the Beijing Games.
16. Tata Steel has signed a joint venture agreement with Vietnam Steel Corporation (VNSTEEL) and
Vietnam Cement Industries Corporation (VICEM)) for a proposed 4.5 million tonnes per annum
integrated steel complex in Vietnam. The project will come up in Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ha
Tinh Province.
17. The Ashok Chakra, the country’s highest award for gallantry during peacetime, has been conferred
posthumously on Pramod Kumar Satapathy of Orissa police and R.P. Diendoh of Meghalaya police.
18. Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), was elected the
first Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
19. According to a report of the International Labour Organisation on ‘Global Employment Trends for
Women’, despite the entry of over 200 million women into the labour market in the past decade, the
rate of female unemployment remains high at 6.4%, in comparison with 5.7% among men. Moreover,
globally, employment to ‘population ratio’ in 2007 for women was a mere 49.1% as against 74.3%
for men. The continuing exclusion from productive employment is perhaps the most fundamental
cause of gender inequality at the work place, as it could, in effect, serve to undermine the rights to
association, remuneration, quality and hours of work, protection from gender specific occupational
hazards and overall economic freedom and social empowerment.
20. A recent decision of the Bombay High Court has focused attention on the need to update the law
governing the medical termination of pregnancy. Niketa and Haresh Mehta had approached the
court with a plea to allow them to abort an ‘over 20 week old’ foetus as it was discovered that the
foetus had a congenital heart block. Abortion in India is governed by the Medical Termination of
Pregnancy Act 1971. According to this act, a foetus can be aborted only up to 20 weeks. This limit
has been imposed because any thing longer than 20 weeks was considered a risk to the mother. In
the United Kingdom and Netherlands, Medical termination of pregnancy is allowed upto 24 weeks.
In Canada, abortion is treated like any other medical service and there are no limits. The existing
abortion law is considered to be outdated keeping in view the ‘medical advances’ and ‘changing
social perception’ of ‘quality of life’ issues. The law needs to be amended with strict and
transparent mechanisms to assess foetal abnormality. There must also be checks to see that it is
not abused, particularly in the cause of ‘son-preference’ which is pursued in India and East station
countries through the practice of ‘sex selective abortion’.
21. What is a windfall tax ? A windfall tax is imposed on windfall gains, i.e., an abnormal increase
in the profits of any organization or company in the normal course of its business due to certain
circumstances. A good example would be the recent increase in the price of oil over the world. In
this case, the oil exploration and production (E&P) companies will make huge gains if they sell oil
to local refining companies at international prices, which are high. Such a gain is due to
circumstances favouring E&P companies and not due to their cost-cutting or other efficient
operations. These are windfall gains and the tax on such gains is called windfall tax.
22. Hangzhou Bay Bridge is a bridge across Hangzhou Bay off the eastern coast of China. It links the
municipalities of Shanghai and Ningbo in Zheijiang province. Its the longest trans-oceanic bridge
in the world although it does not have the longest cable stayed main span. The bridge is 36 km
long with six expressway lanes in two directions. The construction started on June 8, 2003 and was
completed on June 14, 2007. It is not open for public transportation but is only being used for test
and evaluation purpose.
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23. What is the basis for printing a given quantum of currency during a financial year ? When the
pure gold standard was in vogue, the quantum of currency in circulation was directly related to
the quantum of gold held by a country. But the gold standard failed after the First World War.
The gold exchanging standard which was used by the US to prop up its currency helds way for
more than three decades from 1944. With its collapse too, the countries of the world are not
bound by any specific norm.
THE STRENTH OF STATE ASSEMBLIES IN INDIA
Name of the State
Name of the State
State
Sate
Assembly
Assembly
Seats
seats
1
Andhra Pradesh
294
15
Maharashtra
288
2
Arunachal Pradesh
60
16
Manipur
60
3
Assam
126
17
Meghalaya
60
4
Bihar
243
18
Mizoram
40
5
Chattisgarh
90
19
Nagaland
60
6
Goa
40
20
Orissa
147
7
Gujarat
182
21
Punjab
117
8
Haryana
90
22
Rajasthan
200
9
Himachal Pradesh
68
23
Sikkim
32
10
Jammu & Kashmir
76
24
Tamil Nadu
234
11
Jharkhand
81
25
Tripura
60
12
Karnataka
224
26
Uttar Pradesh
404
13
Kerala
140
27
Uttarakhand
70
14
Madhya Pradesh
230
28
West Bengal
294
Union
Territory
Puducherry
Assembly seats
30
Union Territory
National Capital Territory of Delhi
Assembly
seats
70
COMPOSITION OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS IN STATES
State
Total Membership
Bihar
75
Jammu & Kashmir
36
Karnataka
75
Maharashtra
78
Uttar Pradesh
100
Andhra Pradesh (2007)
90
DISCLAIMER
The information presented above has been collected from a variety of sources. Brain Tree exercises
due care and caution in collecting the data before publication. Inspite of this, if any omission,
inaccuracy or printing errors occur with regard to the data, Brain Tree will not be held responsible or
liable.
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