[QandA] One Liners

(01) Name the LWE or Maoist affected States in India (as per Union Home Ministry Report)

(02) Name the three stamps (what pictures) issued at first by India in 1947

(03) Indian Railways in UNESCO World Heritage Site lists

(04) United Nations designated the __ as World Tsunami Awareness Day.

(05) National Rail Museum is located in the cities of

(06) Host country for World Environment Day 2016 is

(07) India's first National Security Advisor is

(08) Who is appointed as the chief of NSAB (National Security Advisory Board)

(09) Author of the book "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" is

(10) Maitree Volleyball Cup match is played between the countries of India and ____

(11) Author of the Book "Modi's Midas Touch in Foreign Policy" is

(12) World Post Day is observed on

(13) The first country in the world to ban plastic cups and plates with effect from 2020 is

(14) Who led the high level technical team to visit the Cauvery River basins of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu?

(15) The First airport in India to go all solar in 2015 was

(16) The Two Indian Prime Ministers who not attended the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) so far are

(17) The Pakistani American who became the first

Muslim Federal Judge of USA

(18) India became ____ country to ratify Paris

Deal on Oct 02, 2016

(19) INS Arihant is capable of carrying nuclear tripped ballistic missiles, the class referred as SSBN. What is full form of SSBN?

(20) BRICS 2017 Summit will be held in

(21) World Bank has pledged 2 billion US dollars aid to tackle climate change to the country of

(22) 2017 world athletics championships will be held in

(23) Government constituted seven-member expert committee that said that the Saraswati River was not mythical and it existed was headed by

(24) Theme of BRICS 2016 was

(25) Centre has constituted a four-member Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under the Chairmanship of

(26) Which Commission / Committee on Centre - State Relations made a strong case for the establishment of a permanent Inter - State Council under Art. 263 of the Constitution?

(27) Inter State Council was established in the year of

(28) Who is the Chairman of the Zonal Councils?

(29) "Supreme Court held that the proclamation of a National Emergency can be challenged in a court on the ground of a malafide or that the declaration was based on wholly extraneous and irrelevant facts is absurd or perverse". Which case judgment is this?

(30) Under which Article, Vice - President to act as President or to discharge functions?

(31) What is the name of the joint tactical exercise, between Indian and China was recently held in Ladakh in Oct 2016?

(32) BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave 2016 was held in the City of

(33) RBI will administer the Sovereign gold bonds on through this e-portal. Name of this e-portal is

(34) On the occasion of the 96th birth anniversary of __________ Bharathiya Mahila Bank was launched in 2013?

(35) National summit on innovation and technology 2016 was held at

(36) Chandrayaan - 1, India's first successful mission to moon was launched on

(37) How many chemical elements make up the Rare Earth Metals?

(38) Which bustling Capital City has the "Ginza", one of the most luxurious shipping districts in the world?

(39) Which country was once called as Upper Volta?

(40) Aleppo is the largest city in the country of

(41) After his return from South Africa, who advised the Mahatma Gandhi to be an observer for a year before taking part in politics?

(42) First ever cricket test played in

(43) Which was the last non - capital city to host Summer Olympics?

(44) The Indian sports person who made his debut in the film "Rajdhani Express" is

(45) In which country is Waterloo where Napolean suffered his final decisive loss?

(46) Which is the largest living structure on the planet that is visible even from Outer Space?

(47) UN declared Malala Day on

(48) The two official languages of Israel are

(49) Name the first person to be featured on a postage stamp

(50) Into which body of water does the Yangtze empty?

[CA/Awards] Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2016

ü Senior journalist at the Times of India Akshaya Mukul has been awarded the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2016. He has been awarded for his book “Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India”.

ü The jury member comprising of Samanth Subramanian, Mahesh Rao and Janice Pariat described the book to be “eyeopening and captivating” in the way it explored the literary trend as if it came from the one who is known to the English-speaking urban India.

ü Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize: Shakti Bhatt was a young writer. The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize was set up in 2008 to encourage authors from the sub-continent. The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is a cash award of 2 lakh rupees, and a trophy. It is funded by the Shakti Bhatt Foundation and Priti Paul through the Apeejay Trust.

[CA/Awards] World Sanskrit Award

Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Princess of Thailand, was conferred with the first World Sanskrit Award. She was honoured for her exemplary contribution for the promotion of Sanskrit language for the year 2015.

On the other hand, American linguist and Indologist Professor George Cardona was also honoured with the award for the year 2016.

Princess Sirindhorn and Professor Cardona were bestowed with the award by Vice President Hamid Ansari at a function held in New Delhi.

The World Sanskrit Award was instituted by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

[CA/Def] Kolkata class (Project 15A)

The Kolkata class (Project 15A)

·        A class of stealth guided missile destroyers constructed for the Indian Navy

·        The class comprises three ships – Kolkata, Kochi and Chennai

·        All are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in India

·        The largest destroyers to be operated by the Indian Navy

·        Due to delays in their construction, and a problem found during the sea trials, the initial commissioning date of the first ship of the class had been pushed back from 2010 to 2014.

·        The destroyers are a follow-on of the Project 15 Delhi-class destroyers, but are considerably more capable due to major improvements in the design, the addition of substantial land-attack capabilities, and the fitting-out of modern sensors and weapons systems

Stealth Guided Missile destroyers of Kolkata Class
Name	Commissioned on	Homeport	Builders
INS Kolkata (D63)	Aug 16,2014	Mumbai	Mazagon Dock Ltd
INS Kochi (D64)	Sep 30, 2015
INS Chennai (D65)	Nov 21, 2016

[CA/Geog] India slams World Bank on Indus Water Treaty

India has taken strong exception to the World Bank’s “inexplicable” decision to set up a Court of Arbitration and appoint a Neutral Expert to go into Pakistan’s complaint against it over Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.

§  The Neutral Expert has been asked to go into Pakistan’s complaint against India on the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.

Background:

While India had asked for a neutral expert to be appointed over Pakistan’s objections to the Kishenganga and Ratle dam projects first, Pakistan appealed directly for a Court of Arbitration (CoA) to be set up as it claims India has violated the 1960 Indus Water treaty.

What’s the issue?

Kishengaga is a tributary of the river Jhelum and the project is coming up in Bandipora.

§  Pakistan argues that the project cannot be built in a way that will divert the river tributary. Its case was rejected by a Court of Arbitration in 2013.

§  The project is almost complete and was to be commissioned this month.

§  Pakistan also has objections on the Ratle project on the river Chenab in Doda district; it wants the water storage capacity to be reduced drastically, saying that the project will reduce the river flow into Pakistan.

What India says?

Surprised at the World Bank’s decision to appoint a Neutral Expert, as sought by the Indian government and at the same time establish a Court of Arbitration as wanted by Pakistan, India says proceeding with both the steps simultaneously “legally untenable”.

Also, India has made it clear that it cannot be party to actions which are not in accordance with the Indus Waters Treaty. The government has said that it will examine further options and take steps accordingly.

Background:

Under the Indus Waters Treaty, signed between India and Pakistan and also the World Bank in 1960, the World Bank has a specified role in the process of resolution of differences and disputes.

[CA] Newspaper @ Nov 21, 2016

[CA] Sunday Bytes [Nov 20,2016]

·       India has taken strong exception to the World Bank’s “inexplicable” decision to set up a Court of Arbitration and appoint a Neutral Expert to go into Pakistan’s complaint against it over Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects in Jammu and Kashmir.

·       A two member technical team of IUCN deputed by UNESCO visited Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha; Visit is to perform field assessment of the unique mangrove ecosystem of the park

·       High Level Meeting of Interior Ministers of the Indian Ocean Region to Counter Drug Trafficking was recently held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

·       India and Japan signed ten agreements to boost the bilateral cooperation between the two nations. The agreements were inked in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. Prime Minister was on a three-day visit (Nov 10 – 12, 2016) to Japan.

·       Russia has invited India to join in developing nuclear reactors and participate in its fast reactor research project.

·       Union Human Resource Development Minister, inaugurated the world’s largest digital national building initiative “Smart India Hackathon 2017” by handing over a torch to technology students over the country.

·       With an aim to reduce maternal and infant mortality, the government has rolled out a new scheme to provide fixed-day antenatal care to pregnant women on the ninth of every month.  The scheme — ‘Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan’ (PMSMA) — will provide free and comprehensive care on the ninth day of every month during the course of the pregnancy, especially to the poor.

·       The Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) 2016 came to an end with the adoption of the ‘New Delhi Declaration’ and the ‘Asian Regional Plan for Implementation of the Sendai Framework’.

·       The regional news Unit of Radio Kashmir Jammu started morning news bulletin in Gojri language. The five minutes Gojri news bulletin will be aired at 10:15am daily from the transmitters of Radio Kashmir Jammu. Gojri is one of the most widely spoken languages of the state and over 20 percent chunk of the population in the state consists of Gojri speaking people.

·       Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Thiruvananthapuram have developed a gelator to recover marine oil spills.