Current Affairs September 2011 - 2

Which cricketer has been ruled out of ODI series against England due to fracture?
Rohit Sharma

Name the Calcutta High Court judge who resigned recently.
Justice Soumitra Sen

Which Golf League is scheduled to start on 4th September 2011?
Touche Golf League (TCL)

Name the cable TV service recently launched in Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation

Which country is all set to hold Nobel Quiz in Bangalore on 10th September 2011?
Sweden (Sweden-India Nobel Memorial Quiz 2011)

Which country has approved for a 3-month extension of a state of emergency?
Trinidad and Tobago

Who has set a world record of 37.04 seconds for the men's 4*100 meter relay title?
Usain Bolt

Which automobile major is eying to regain No.1 rank in India by 2015?
Mercedes Benz

Who won the Golf European Masters title 2011?
Thomas Bjorn

Which hollywood-based Indian filmmaker died of cardiac arrest recently?
Jarmohan Mundhra

Which major bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on 5th September 2011 in India?
Land acquisition bill

Which Global Mobile Virtual Network operator has planned to enter the Indian mobile communications space?
Lycamobile

Name the Indigo model launched by Tata Motors recently.
Indigo e-CS VX

Who has been appointed as Senior President and COO of Yes Bank?
Asit Oberoi

Who has been appointed as India region head by Nokia Siemens Networks?
Sandeep Girotra

Current Affairs September 2011

Expand ITBP. (Hint: Police)
Indo-Tibetan Border Police

Who has been appointed as chief of ITBP?
Ranjit Sinha

Which country showcased Central Asia's high-speed train (254km per hour)?
Uzbekistan

Which three Japanese electronics giant are set to merge small and medium- sized display businesses for smartphones and tablet computers?
Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi

Who was awarded with German's top honour, silver laurel leaf?
Dirk Nowitzi

What is the food inflation for the week ended August 20th 2011?
10.05%

Which Korean consumer electronics re-entered Indian notebook market after a gap of 2 and half years?
LG Electronics

Name the version of Windows Operating System that Microsoft is about to launch.
Windows 8

Which K.K.Birla company is temporarily closed due to shortage of naptha, a raw material needed to manufacture agricultural fertilizers?
Zuari Industries Limited

Mention the value of exports and imports as on July 2011.
Exports: USD 29.3 billion Imports: USD 40.4 billion

Who was conferred with IIT(Kharagpur) alumnus award for his contribution to innovation in transport infrastructure development?
B.B.Pandey, a Bihar Professor

Which Asian country is all set open up Nuclear Business with India?
Japan

Which automobile major is planning to launch SUV in India and South Africa by end of 2011?
Mahindra and Mahindra

Who has joined Sundaram-Clayton board as Additional Director?
Sudarshan Venu

Who won the FIFA International friendly football match?
Argentina

National Sports Awards 2011

National Sports Awards 2011
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna : Mr. Gagan Narang - Shooting
Dronacharya Awards :
Mr. I. Venkateshwara Rao - Boxing
Mr. Devender Kumar Rathore - Gymnastics
Mr. Ramphal - Wrestling
Dr. Kuntal Roy - Athletics * (Life time achievement)
Mr. Rajinder Singh - Hockey * (Life time achievement)
Dhyan Chand Awards : Mr. Shabbir Ali - Football
Mr. Sushil Kohli - Swimming
Mr. Rajkumar - Wrestling
Arjuna Awards :
Mr. Rahul Banerjee - Archery
Ms. Preeja Sreedharan - Athletics
Mr. Vikas Gowda - Athletics
Ms. Jwala Gutta - Badminton
Mr. M. Suranjoy Singh - Boxing
Mr. Zaheer Khan - Cricket
Mr. Sunil Chhetri - Football
Mr. Ashish Kumar - Gymnastics
Mr. Rajpal Singh - Hockey (Men)
Mr. Rakesh Kumar - Kabaddi (Men)
Ms. Tejeswini Bai V. - Kabaddi (Women)
Ms. Tejaswini Ravindra Sawant - Shooting
Mr. Veerdhawal Vikram Khade - Swimming
Mr. Somdev Kishore Devvarman - Tennis
Mr. Sanjay Kumar - Volleyball
Mr. Ravinder Singh - Wrestling
Mr. Naib S Katulu Ravikumar - Weightlifting
Ms. Wangkhem Sandhyarani Devi - Wushu
Mr. Prasantha Karamakar - Swimming - Paralympics

Post Offices to Provide Visa Related Services in Remote Areas

 

 India Post has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with M/s VFS Global to provide visa related services for different countries through Post Offices. Memorandum of Understanding between India Post and M/s VFS Global was signed in Delhi on 30 August 2011 in the presence of Secretary, Department of Posts and senior officers from Department of Posts and VFS Global. The MOU sets out broad understandings and intentions of both the parties to provide visa related services at places where they are not currently available.

Post Office counters will be used for fee collections, providing visa applications forms, dissemination of visa information, biometric enrollment and other visa application process related services. India Post and VFS are also planning to cooperate in utilizing India Post’s courier service, Speed Post for movements of passports to VFS offices and concerned embassies, and their delivery back to the applicants. Both the parties will also explore to provide any other service that India Post may want to provide through VFS global network on mutually accepted terms.

M/s VFS Global is in the business of visa application services and is working with 35 governments across the world with over 450 offices in 50 countries. India Post and VFS realize that there are many areas of mutual interest and synergy between India Post and VFS would benefit the public at large.

Currently visa related services are largely available in metros only and the people from smaller cities and rural areas have to travel long distances in order to avail these services. Lack of information is also a major area of concern as this allows unscrupulous elements to cheat unsuspecting and vulnerable people. Engagement of India Post towards provision of visa related services is expected to address this situation to a large extent.

India and Israel to Enhance Tourism Cooperation

India and Israel have decided to enhance cooperation in Tourism Sector. This was decided at a meeting between Mr. Stas Misezhnikov, Tourism Minister of Israel and Union Tourism Minister, Shri Subodh Kant Sahai held here today. Welcoming the visiting dignitary, Shri Sahai said both the countries can explore the possibilities of cooperation in wellness, spiritual and religious tourism. The Israeli Minister said hoteliers of his country are interested to set up hotels in India. He also requested for more flights between India and Israel. Mr. Stas Misezhnikov invited Shri Sahai to visit Israel.

Both the countries have decided to consider exchanging experience in destination management and promotion. Manpower development will be another area of cooperation between India and Israel. Exchange programme for teachers, students, and exchange of information on teaching modules will be considered by the two countries.

Tour operators and travel agents of both the countries will interact with each other in order to promote two-way tourism between India and Israel. The possibilities for promoting package tours in either of the countries will also be explored by the travel trade of two countries.

Tourist traffic from Israel to India was 40581 in 2009, which rose to 43539 in the year 2010. An agreement between India and Israel on cooperation in the field of tourism was signed in New Delhi in May, 1993. Both the countries have rectified this agreement.

India Tourism Office located in Frankfurt is responsible for promoting India as a tourist destination in the Israeli market. India Tourism Office participates in International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) which is held in Tel Aviv to showcase India’s tourism destinations and products to the tour operators and consumers of Israel. India is known in Israel as an ancient nation with strong cultural traditions and in popular Israeli perception India is an attractive, alternative tourist destination. 

ADB Approved 500 Million Dollar Loan to help India Improve Rail Services

Asian Development Bank, ADB has approved 500 million dollar loan to help India improve rail services. The bank has approved a multi-tranche financing facility for the Railway Sector Investment Program, RSIP. The RSIP is being carried out by the Ministry of Railways and will end by December 2018.

Asian Development Bank loan will be used to develop freight and passenger routes in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, including the critical Golden Quadrilateral corridor that connects Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. The loan will be utilised for laying down additional lines and the electrification of hundreds of kilometers of existing track, along with installing new signaling. The loan has a 25-year term, with a grace period of five years. The Centre will provide counterpart finance of over 64 crore US dollars to cover the costs of the total program, estimated at over 110 crore US dollars.

Delhi to have world-class institute on climate change

Delhi will soon have a world-class institute that will impart training to people and chalk out strategies to curb the effects of climate change, CM Sheila Dikshit said. 

Replying to a short duration discussion on environment in New Delhi on Thursday, Dikshit said her government has decided to set up Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Combating Climate Change at Bakauli spread over an area of 18 acres.

"The institute will come up in the campus of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Integrated Rural Energy Planning and Development which is presently under utilised," she said.

Noting that multi-pronged strategies are needed to control pollution in the city which has 65 lakhs vehicles, she said her government was also looking for a technology to generate energy from the waste.

"The number of vehicles is much more than number of total vehicles in other metro cities together," she said.

Around 8,000 metric tonne garbage is being generated in Delhi on daily basis, she said.

To control air pollution in Delhi, air ambience fund has been created by imposing a fee of Rs 0.25 per litre of diesel sale in Delhi, she added.

For promotion of vehicles operated with clean fuel, the government is giving subsidy to battery operated vehicles from air ambience fund, Dikshit said.