current affairs plus General Knowledge

Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik

A R Rahman & Nandan Nilekani
Oscar winning Indian music director A R Rahman of Slumdog Millionaire fame, his Sri Lankan co-performer MIA of the hit 'O Saya' song A R Rahman (L) and Nandan Nilekani and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani have made it to the Time 100 list of the World's Most Influential People.

The new list to be published in the May 11 annual Time 100 issue is the pick of the magazine's editors and may not be confused with the popular choice in TIME.com's online poll.


What is the debt of Andhra Pradesh as on March 2009?
Rs 1.27 lakh crore

2009 Fortune 500: Who’s No. 1
Exxon Mobil

Special courts to try 2002 Gujarat riots (reuters)
The Supreme Court ordered on Friday the setting up of six special courts to speed up trials related to one of the country's worst religious riots seven years ago, court officials said.

The "fast-track" courts will hold daily hearings in the trials which have slowed amid complaints of witness intimidation in lower courts in Gujarat, where some 2,500 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the 2002 riots.

India After Gandhi book by Ramachandra Guha

India, world's number one buyer of gold!

China produced 280.5 tons of gold in 2007, making it the world's number one producer of the precious metal.

Expand TARP
Troubled Asset Relief Program

Adiseshiah award for Chandrasekhar
The Dr. Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for the year 2009 will be presented to Dr. C.P. Chandrasekhar, Professor, Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
The award is presented to an outstanding social scientist for his or her contribution in economics and development studies and carries a citation and Rs.2 lakh.

Swine flu roots traced to Spanish flu (cbc)

Swine Flu:-
Swine influenza (also called swine flu, hog flu, and pig flu) refers to influenza caused by those strains of influenza virus that usually infect pigs and are called swine influenza virus (SIV).

South Korean experts claim to have cloned glowing dogs
With the implementation of cloning techniques, a team of scientists in South Korea have engineered four beagles that allegedly glow in reddish hues.'' The same techniques, they propose, could aid in the development of cures for human diseases.'' Though they glow red in the presence of ultraviolet light, the dogs''' nails and abdomens appear red even to the naked eye because of their thin skins.'' Lee Byeong-chun, a professor at Seoul National University and head of the research team, termed them the world'''s first transgenic dogs carrying fluorescent genes, an accomplishment that exceeds the uniqueness of actually glowing.'' In a statement to the Associated Press.


1. Alphabetically, which is the last of the seven Emirates in the United Arab Emirates when written in English?
Umm al-Quwain

2. If Dolly was the first cloned sheep, Injaz is the first cloned…?
Camel

3. Which rodent is also called a woodchuck or land beaver?
Groundhog

4. Ambulophobia is the fear of which normal activity?
Walking

5. Which popular candy, a hit with kids, was/is named after a racehorse?
Lollipop

6. The fruit of which funnily-shaped tree is called ‘monkey bread’?
Baobab

7. What ‘first’ did English cricketer Claire Taylor achieve recently?
She became the first woman to be chosen a ‘Wisden Cricketer of the Year’
8. According to the nursery rhyme, whose garden grows thus: “…With silver bells and cockle shells/And pretty maids all in a row.”
Mary Mary Quite Contrary
9. On a standard computer keyboard, which number would be pressed with shift to produce the ‘hash’ sign (#)?
Three
10. Which famous sporting event traditionally finishes at the Champs Elysee in Paris?
Tour de France
11. If it is Sansad for India, for which European country is it ‘Cortes Generales’?
Spain
12. If one does a work ‘gratis’, how much is he/she paid?
Nothing!
13. Which EPL was founded as Dial Square in 1886 by workers in Woolwich?
Arsenal
14. Which common flower is considered the symbol of secrecy?
Rose
15. According to the Mayans, both good and bad fortune was tied to a planet’s orbit. Name the planet.
Venus






INCIDENT IN AHMEDABAD: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is garlanded at an election rally in Ahmedabad on Sunday. (Right) An engineering student identified as Hitesh Chauhan, who threw a shoe at Dr. Singh, being overpowered by a security personnel. The shoe landed in the security zone near the dais. He was pardoned by the Prime Minister.
Shoe hurled at Prime Minister in Ahmedabad (Hindu)
'First camel clone' born in Dubai
Scientists in Dubai say they have created the world's first cloned camel.
Injaz, a female one-humped camel, was born on 8 April, after more than five years of work, United Arab Emirates newspapers reported.
Scientists say DNA taken from a cell in the ovary of an adult camel was put into an egg from a surrogate mother.
Injaz, which means "achievement" in Arabic, was born after an "uncomplicated" 378-day gestation period, reports said.


BJP candidate from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi with his mother Meneka Gandhi at a public meeting at Nawabganj in Bareilly, before filing his nomination papers

'Slumdog' star Rubina up for sale, father asks for 200,000 pounds
Slumdog Millionaire" child star Rubina Ali's father plans to get rid of poverty and become a millionaire by selling his nine-year-old daughter, a British news website reported after conducting a sting operation. Newsoftheworld.co.uk reports


International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei reacts during an IAEA conference in Beijing, China, Monday, April 20, 2009.

In a surprising gesture of white knighthood, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to the aid of Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist detained in a Tehran prison on spying charges. Known more for being a regular sparring partner with the United States, Ahmadinejad made a rare intervention into Saberi's case on Sunday by declaring that she should have the legal right to defend herself.

PRECISE MISSION: The PSLV-C12 blasts off with RISAT-2 and Anusat on board from Sriharikota on Monday Apr 21,2009
n a flawless mission, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C12) on Monday put in orbit Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2), a surveillance satellite, which could keep a watch on the country’s borders.

This is the first time the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is putting in orbit a RISAT in the micro-wave band. It can take images of the earth day and night, see through clouds and identify objects on the ground.

The 300-kg RISAT-2 has been procured from Israel. Anusat, built by Anna University, Chennai, was also put in orbit by the PSLV-C12.

It is an experimental communication satellite meant for storing and relaying information.

FRBM: Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management
The Other Half (The Hindu) – Kalpana Sharma
Firaaq is an Urdu word which means both separation dn quest
Which is the fastest bird? Peregrine Falcon
Vijaya Mallya buys Mahatma Gandhi’s five items for $ 1.8 million in the auction.
A Student at a medical college in Tanda, Himachal Pradesh, was beaten so brutally by his seniors in the name of ragging that he succumbed to his injuries.
AR Rahman has been dubbed "the Mozart of Madras"
The audacity of Hope – Barack Obama
Imagining India – Nandan Nilekani
Gone with the Wind book written by Margaret Mitchel
Retired judge of the Supreme Court BN Srikrishna probed the Madras High Court violence
First model E-court launched: The first model e-court in the country was launched in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on February 8, 2009.
India ranks 94th in the Global Hunger Index of 119 countries. The report was brought out by the United Nations World Food programme
Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan
Which prime minister was elected 10 times consecutively to the Lok Sabha? AB Vajpayee

ANI Asian News International

ISNA news agency – Iran
TERI : The Energy and Resources Institute
There are 109 listed backward classes in Andhra Pradesh
Anurag Kashyap’s Dev-D is a contemporarised retelling of the Sarat Chandra Chatterjee classic Devdas.
Covert fortnightly chairman and director of publications – MJ Akbar
DNA is a 50:50 joint venture between Essel, the company behind the Zee group, and the Bhaskar Group, the publisher of India’s second most read Hindi daily, Dainik bhaskar

Metro Now a tabloid style afternoon paper that was a joint venture between the Times of India and the Hindustan Times in New Delhi was closed down in 2009

iNews tagline : on your side
Teja telugu weekly editor: Dolendra Prasad
India, the fourth country after US, Russia and France to build a large aircraft carrier
Gandhiji dismissed Katherine Mayo’s Mother India as a ‘drain inspector’s’ report.
India’s first ever Rajdhani Express was launched in 1969 from Howrah to New Delhi
The world’s # 1 celebrity news magazine People is brought in India by Outlook group
First HDTV in India – Sakshi TV
Mahaa TV chief editor, MD : I Venkat Rao
HMTV chief editor & CEO : K Ramachandra Murthy
Promoters of HMTV: Vamana Rao of Kapil Chit Funds
V S Sampath is the next Election Commissioner
The Sunday Indian published from how many languages? 14
Colors TV channel is a joint venture between Viacom and Network 18
Who was the president of Indian National Congress when India attained freedom? JB Kripalani
French writer Marie Gustav Le Clezio was awarded the Nobel Literature Prize.
Finland’s former President Martti Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for a long career of peace making around the world from Namibia to Kosovo
US Economis Paul Krugman was awarded the Nobel Economics Prize for his trade analysis theory
Aravind Adiga, the Chennai-born author wins 50,000 pound Man Boker Prize for his debut novel The White Tiger
Suvarnabhumi airport is in Thailand
Lord Swaraj Paul becomes the first Asian Deputy Speaker of the British House of Lords
TIME magazine names Barack Obama Person of the Year 2008



quiz (hindu young world)
1. What is the theme of World Health Day 2009?

2. According to WHO, which is the most common chronic disease among children?

3. Which Indian physician is considered the ‘Father of surgery’?

4. OTC drugs may be sold to a customer without a prescription. Expand OTC.

5. In a human body, what can be broadly classified into skeletal, smooth, and cardiac?
6. Which common infectious disease is caused by a one-celled parasite called a ‘plasmodium’?

7. One sees athletes usually eat a banana after a workout to basically replenish an element. Name it.

8. How many glasses of water a day is recommended?

9. Which form of alternative medicine was first expounded by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann in the late 18th century?

10. Which yogic asana’s name translates to ‘posture of the complete body’?

11. Who created the first effective vaccination against smallpox?

12. What in the human body is made up of tarsals, metatarsals and phalanges?

13. Which blood group is called the ‘Universal Donor’?

14. In medicine, which five-lettered word describes the throbbing of the arteries in humans?

15. According to WHO, what cause brought about by unhealthy environment is the largest killer of around two million children under five every year?

Answers

1. ‘Save lives. Make hospitals safe in emergencies’;
2. Asthma;
3. Susrutha;
4. Over The Counter;
5. Muscles;
6. Malaria;
7. Potassium;
8. Eight;
9. Homeopathy;
10. Sarvangasana;
11. Dr. Edward Jenner;
12. Feet;
13. O;
14. Pulse;
15. Acute respiratory infections.
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1. On this date every year, in which European Capital city does a special bell called ‘Patarina’ ring from the Campidoglio to commemorate the founding of the city?

2. What is the new name of the new Formula One team that raced as Honda till last season?

3. Which global event, conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, is held on the last Saturday of March annually?

4. How many O tiles are there in Scrabble?

5. Who is the first female in the present line of succession to the British Throne?

6. Which insect is called ‘daddy longlegs’?

7. In Mary Shelley’s novel, what is the first name of Dr. Frankenstein?

8. In the G20, there are only 19 countries. So who is the 20th member?

9. What ‘manly feature’ did artist Marcel Duchamp add to the Mona Lisa?
10. Which family would one meet on Cemetery Ridge, Cemetery Lane?

11. Which animal, the largest in its Order, has the scientific name Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris?

12. In which musical ‘list’ is ‘Kanakangi’ the first and ‘Rasikapriya’ the last traditionally?

13. According to a recent Microsoft report, nearly 97 per cent of all e-mails sent over the net is spam. What did it identify as making up the majority of all spam mails?

14. In which U.S. state is the famous Mojave Desert?

15. Which large reservoir was created by the Akosombo Dam in Ghana?

Answers

1. Rome; 2. Brawn GP; 3. Earth Hour; 4. Eight; 5. Princess Beatrice of York; 6. Cranefly; 7. Victor; 8. The European Union, represented as a bloc; 9. Moustache and a beard; 10. The Addams Family; 11. Capybara; 12. The 72 Melakarta Ragas; 13. ‘Advertisements’ for drug/medicines; 14. California; 15. Lake Volta.
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In economics, a recession is a general slowdown in economic activity in a country over a sustained period of time, or a business cycle contraction. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way. Production as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, investment spending, capacity utilization, household incomes and business profits all fall during recessions.
Governments usually respond to recessions by adopting expansionary macroeconomic policies, such as increasing money supply, increasing government spending and decreasing taxation.

10 voyages that changed the world (cnn)
* The Pilgrims' voyage on the Mayflower to Plymouth Rock in 1620
* Charles Darwin's evolutionary discoveries on the HMS Beagle in 1831
* Hugo Vihlen's "micro-yacht" crossing of the Atlantic in 1993