Current Affairs of September 2012

The place in French Guiana, from where India's heaviest satellite GSAT-10, weighing 3.4 tonnes, was launched aboard European Ariane 5 rocket	Kourou
The Indian theatre personality who has been conferred France's highest cultural award - Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres)	Ebrahim Alkazi
The new Chief Justice of India who takes over the charge on 29 Sep 2012	Justice Altamas Kabir
The Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways who has been given the additional charge of Railways following the resignation of Shri Mukul Roy	Shri C.P. Joshi
The venue of Second International Buddhist Conclave to be held from 29 Sep 2012	Varanasi
The Hindi daily which has been selected for a ‘Special Award’ by the Election Commission of India for its remarkable contribution towards voter education and awareness in the Assembly elections (January-March) 2012	Amar Ujala
The TV Channel which has been selected by the Election Commission of India for the National Media Award on Voter Education for its outstanding campaign towards creating voters’ awareness in the Assembly elections (January-March) 2012, especially in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand	Zee News
China's first aircraft carrier, (originally purchased from Ukraine) which was unveiled by China on 25 Sep 2012 is named	Liaoning
The Indian Air Force base in Western Air Command where Sukhoi 30MKI have been recently inducted	Halwara
Kantilal Girdharilal Vora, better known as K Lal, who died on 23 Sep 2012 was a renowned	Magician
The Indian film written and directed by Anurag Basu which has been chosen to be India's official entry to the Oscar Awards in Febrary 2013	Barfi
The first-of-its kind Catamaran hydrographic survey vessel built by Alcock Ashdown Gujarat Ltd which was commissioned by the Indian Navy in Sep 2012 is named	INS Makar
The search engine launched by Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) to help people in searching tourism-related queries across websites in five Indian languages namely Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu is named	Sandhan
The Tamil author who has been awarded the Saraswati Samman for 2012 instituted by KK Birla Foundation	AA Manavalan
The place at which the Second All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) commenced its maiden session on 17 Sep 2012	Jodhpur
The state which has instituted Indira Gandhi Mahila Shakti Award, Kalpana Chawla Shaurya Award and Bahin Shano Devi Panchayati Raj Award in order to felicitate women who have done outstanding work in different fields	Harayana
The Indian Cricketer who has been awarded the ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year Award for 2012	Virat Kohli
The Sri Lankan Cricketer who has been awarded the prestigious ICC Cricketer of the Year Award, the ICC Test Cricketer Award and also the People's Choice Award for 2012	Kumar Sangakara
The team which has lifted the overall team championship at the 52nd National Open Athletic Chamionship held at Chennai in Sep 2012	Railways
The British Tennis star who has won the 2012 US Open Men's Singles title defeating Novak Djokovic in the finals	Andy Murray
The US Tennis star who won the 2012 US Open Women's Singles title defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the finals	Serena Williams
The sail training ship of Indian Navy which set sail from Kochi on an historical mission to ASEAN countries	INS Sudarshini
The man known as the Father of White Revolution in India who died on 09 Sep 2012	Verghese Kurien
The latest aircraft being acquired by Air India which was launched by the Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Ajit Singh on 08.09.2012	B787 Dreamliner
The Governor of Rajasthan who has been awarded the Mercy Ravi Woman of Substance Award	Mrs. Margaret Alva
The place in Fatehabad district of Harayana where a nuclear power plant is proposed to come, work on which has recently commenced	Gorakhpur
The country which leads the Global Competitiveness Report 2011-12 for the fourth year in a row	Switzerland
The rank of India as per Global Competitiveness Report 2011-12 released by World Economic Forum recently	59
The football team which India defeated to win the third successive Nehru Cup in the finals at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi	Cameroon

Current Affairs of August 2012

The state in which the Department of Posts has launched 'Night post office services' (NPOS)	Jammu and Kashmir
The Chairman of the Expert Committee on General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) which submitted its its draft report after analysis of the GAAR provisions and noting the concerns expressed by various shareholders on 30 Aug 2012.	Mr. Parthasarathi Shome
The new Chief of Naval Staff who took over the command of Indian Navy from Admiral Nirmal Verma	Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi
The former Indian cricket captain who has been conferred the Castrol Cricket Lifetime Achievement Award	Ajit Wadekar
The Hindi writer who has been chosen for the 2nd Sita Smriti Award for her book "Kitne Shahron Mein Kitni Baar" instituted in the memory of Late Dr. Sita Srivastava, a renowned educationist and scholar of Political Science	Smt. Mamta Kalia
The venue of Nehru Cup Football tournament being held from 22 Aug 2012	New Delhi
The JNU Professor who has been awarded the V.V. Giri Memorial Award 2011, (instituted by the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute) in recognition of her outstanding contributions to labour studies	Prof. Utsa Patnaik
The place in Rajasthan where uranium deposits have been discovered by the Atomic Energy Commission	Rohil, Sikar dist.
The international footballer and a member of gold medal winning team at 2011 SAFF Games who has been awarded the Dilip Sardesai Sports Award 2011-12 by the Goa Government	Sameer S Naik
The South African cricketer who has become the fastest to complete 3000 runs in 57 one day internationals (surpassing Vivian Richards record of 69 matches)	Hashim Amla
The pollution control vessel of the Coast Guard which has been stationed permanently at Visakhapatnam is named	Samudra Pehredar
Amuay refinery, at which a blast resulted in ferocious killing several people on 25 Aug 2012 is located in	Venezuela
The venue of XVI Non Aligned Summit being held from 26 Aug 2012	Tehran, Iran
The state which has been awarded as the 'Best State for Pilgrimage Tourism' by Safari India, a prestigious regional tourism magazine	Odisha
Northern Railway's first AC Double Decker train which was flagged off on 24 August 2012 will run between Sarai Rohilla and	Jaipur
The company which has updated its logo for the first time in 25 years	Microsoft
The international cycling icon who has been stripped of seven Tour de France titles slapped with a lifetime ban from competition.	Lance Armstrong
Meles Zenawi, who died on 20 August 2012, after serving as the Prime Minister of his country fro 17 years was the Prime Minister of	Ethiopia
The new Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha elected unanimously by the members	PJ Kurien
The Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs who has taken over the new Minister for Science and Technology, previously held by Late Vilasrao Deshmukh	Vayalar Ravi
The Chinese contestant who has won the Miss World 2012 title at the Miss World pageant at Ordos, China	Yu Wenxia
The Indian contestant who won the "Beauty with a Purpose" title and the 1st ever "Multimedia Award" at the Miss World 2012 pageant at Ordos, China	Vanya Mishra
The Pakistan air base which has been attacked by militants raising concerns about safety of nuclear arsenal in the country	PAF Minhas
The bird which has been declared State Bird of Delhi by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as part of a new campaign to save the species	House Sparrow
The former World Boxing Association boxing champion (nicknamed Dynamite) who died of liver cancer in Aug 2012	Michael Dokes
The Serbian tennis player who has won the Rogers Cup for the second time in a row	Novak Djokovic
The state which has become the first in the country to issue bio-metric identity cards to its fishermen	Kerala
The fourth Indo-Russia joint military exercise to be held from Aug 07 in Siberian republic of Buryatia is named	Indra 2012
The eighth Indo-Mangolian joint military exercise being held in Belgaum district of Karnataka is named	Nomadic Elephant 2012
The new web mail service launched by Microsoft providing virtually unlimited storage and integrating Skype is named	Outlook
The three-day operation launched by security forces against Maoist camps located on the Jharkhand-Chhatisgarh border is named	Rainstorm
The country with which India has signed Tax Information Exchange Agreement on 01 Aug 2012	Monaco
The country whose citizen's or incorporated entities have been recently permitted to invest in India through Government route	Pakistan

Current Affairs of August 2012

The state in which the Department of Posts has launched 'Night post office services' (NPOS)	Jammu and Kashmir
The Chairman of the Expert Committee on General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) which submitted its its draft report after analysis of the GAAR provisions and noting the concerns expressed by various shareholders on 30 Aug 2012.	Mr. Parthasarathi Shome
The new Chief of Naval Staff who took over the command of Indian Navy from Admiral Nirmal Verma	Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi
The former Indian cricket captain who has been conferred the Castrol Cricket Lifetime Achievement Award	Ajit Wadekar
The Hindi writer who has been chosen for the 2nd Sita Smriti Award for her book "Kitne Shahron Mein Kitni Baar" instituted in the memory of Late Dr. Sita Srivastava, a renowned educationist and scholar of Political Science	Smt. Mamta Kalia
The venue of Nehru Cup Football tournament being held from 22 Aug 2012	New Delhi
The JNU Professor who has been awarded the V.V. Giri Memorial Award 2011, (instituted by the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute) in recognition of her outstanding contributions to labour studies	Prof. Utsa Patnaik
The place in Rajasthan where uranium deposits have been discovered by the Atomic Energy Commission	Rohil, Sikar dist.
The international footballer and a member of gold medal winning team at 2011 SAFF Games who has been awarded the Dilip Sardesai Sports Award 2011-12 by the Goa Government	Sameer S Naik
The South African cricketer who has become the fastest to complete 3000 runs in 57 one day internationals (surpassing Vivian Richards record of 69 matches)	Hashim Amla
The pollution control vessel of the Coast Guard which has been stationed permanently at Visakhapatnam is named	Samudra Pehredar
Amuay refinery, at which a blast resulted in ferocious killing several people on 25 Aug 2012 is located in	Venezuela
The venue of XVI Non Aligned Summit being held from 26 Aug 2012	Tehran, Iran
The state which has been awarded as the 'Best State for Pilgrimage Tourism' by Safari India, a prestigious regional tourism magazine	Odisha
Northern Railway's first AC Double Decker train which was flagged off on 24 August 2012 will run between Sarai Rohilla and	Jaipur
The company which has updated its logo for the first time in 25 years	Microsoft
The international cycling icon who has been stripped of seven Tour de France titles slapped with a lifetime ban from competition.	Lance Armstrong
Meles Zenawi, who died on 20 August 2012, after serving as the Prime Minister of his country fro 17 years was the Prime Minister of	Ethiopia
The new Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha elected unanimously by the members	PJ Kurien
The Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs who has taken over the new Minister for Science and Technology, previously held by Late Vilasrao Deshmukh	Vayalar Ravi
The Chinese contestant who has won the Miss World 2012 title at the Miss World pageant at Ordos, China	Yu Wenxia
The Indian contestant who won the "Beauty with a Purpose" title and the 1st ever "Multimedia Award" at the Miss World 2012 pageant at Ordos, China	Vanya Mishra
The Pakistan air base which has been attacked by militants raising concerns about safety of nuclear arsenal in the country	PAF Minhas
The bird which has been declared State Bird of Delhi by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as part of a new campaign to save the species	House Sparrow
The former World Boxing Association boxing champion (nicknamed Dynamite) who died of liver cancer in Aug 2012	Michael Dokes
The Serbian tennis player who has won the Rogers Cup for the second time in a row	Novak Djokovic
The state which has become the first in the country to issue bio-metric identity cards to its fishermen	Kerala
The fourth Indo-Russia joint military exercise to be held from Aug 07 in Siberian republic of Buryatia is named	Indra 2012
The eighth Indo-Mangolian joint military exercise being held in Belgaum district of Karnataka is named	Nomadic Elephant 2012
The new web mail service launched by Microsoft providing virtually unlimited storage and integrating Skype is named	Outlook
The three-day operation launched by security forces against Maoist camps located on the Jharkhand-Chhatisgarh border is named	Rainstorm
The country with which India has signed Tax Information Exchange Agreement on 01 Aug 2012	Monaco
The country whose citizen's or incorporated entities have been recently permitted to invest in India through Government route	Pakistan

Current Affairs of July 2012

The Indian cricketer who has topped the list of the world's highest earning cricketers compiled by Forbes magazine (The list has six Indians in the top-10)	MS Dhoni
India’s southernmost naval air station which was formally opened by the Indian Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma at Campbell Bay in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is named	INS Baaz
The African country in which outbreak of the deadly viral disease Ebola has been confirmed	Uganda
The new operating system launched by Apple for its Mac range of personal computers, which is fully integrated into social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, is named	X Mountain Lion
The founder of Integrated Village Development Project (IVDP) in Krishnagiri (Tamilnadu) who has been chosen for the 2012 Ramon Magsaysay Award	Kulandei Francis
The veteran environmental philosopher and activist who has been chosen for this year's Fukuoka Grand Prize by Fukuoka City Yokatopia Foundation	Vandana Shiva
The world's 9th largest economy whose President has signed the country’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after approval by its parliament earlier in July 2012	Russia
Mukta Vidya Vani, a modern interactive, participatory and cost effective programme, on the World Wide Web, launched by the Union HRD Minister Shri Kapil Sibal is an initiative of the	National Institute of Open Schooling
Suresh Saraiya, who died on 19 July 2012 was a renowned	Cricket commentator
The city in Punjab where a metro project has been approved by the Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal in July 2012	Ludhiana
The Indian sportsperson (a bronze medallist in wrestling at the Beijing Games) who has been chosen to be the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent at the upcoming London Olympics	Sushil Kumar
The airline company which has won the prestigious SKYTRAX World Airline Awards of best low-cost airline in India and Central Asia for the third time in a row	Indigo
The new Chief Minister of Karnataka who took over the office from Shri DV Sadananda Gowda	Shri Jagadish Shettar
The city in which ISRO is hosting the event, the 39th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) with the theme 'Space - for the benefit of Mankind' (COSPAR 2012) a congregation of over 2500 scientists from 75 countries.	Mysore
The Australian city which has been selected to hold G-20 Summit in 2014	Brisbane
The state which has banned production, sale, distribution and storage of gutka and paan masala in the state	Maharashtra
The place where India and UNESCO have agreed to establish the Mahatma Gandhi Institute Of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development	Paris
The place in Andhra Pradesh where India's first Mega Food Park was inaugurated by the Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar	Chittoor
The software developed by Navanath Saharia and Kishori Mohan Konwar for using the Assamese language in an Unicode compatible format is named	Luitpad
The venue of Summit on Family Planning hosted by the UK Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with UNFPA on 11 July 2012	London
The Asian country which has been designated by the United States as its major non-NATO ally	Afghanistan
The Tennis player from Switzerland who has won the Wimbledon Men's Singles title by defeating Andy Murray of U.K. (This is his 7th Wimbledon and 17th Grand Slam title)	Roger Federer
The Indian badminton player who has become the first Indian to win the girls' singles title in the Asian Youth Under-19 Championships held at Gimcheon, Korea.	P.V. Sindhu
The Tennis player from United States who has won the Wimbledon Women's Singles title by defeating Agnieszka Radwańska of Poland. (This is her 5th Wimbledon title)	Serena Williams
The organisation which has been awarded the Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation Award for promoting environment conservation practices	Airport Authority of India
The Indian Chess player who has become the 28th Indian to attain the Grandmaster title	M.R. Venkatesh
Sahitya Akademi Award winning poet Hiren Bhattacharya who died on 04 Jul 2012 was poet of	Assamese language
The city in Kerala which will be its first city to have a metro rail after the Cabinet cleared the project on 03 July	Kochi
The hill range in India which has been added to UNESCO's World Heritage list for its exceptionally high level of biological diversity	Western Ghats
The team which has won the Euro Cup 2012 by defeating Italy in the finals at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine	Spain
The new President of World Bank who took over office from outgoing President Mr. Robert Zoellick of the US	Jim Yong Kim

Current Affairs of June 2012

Apna Khata, a land record computerisation project which was awarded the public choice award at the E-World Forum 2012 organised in New Delhi is a programme launched by	Rajasthan
The venue of the 2nd Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ICNP-2) to be held from 2-6 July, 2012.	New Delhi
The Indian industrialist who has been awarded lifetime achievement award for innovation in philanthropy by the New York based Rockefeller Foundation	Ratan Tata
The state which has topped the meet scores at the GREENKO 52nd National Inter-State Sr Athletics Championship-2012	Kerala
The new President-elect of Egypt belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood organisation	Mohammed Morsi
Hare Krushna Behera who died in New Delhi on 24 Jun 2012 was an exponent of	Odissi
The venue of National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships-2012 being held from 23 Jun 2012	Hyderabad
The new Prime Minister of Pakistan succeeding Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was disqualified by the Pakistan Supreme Court from holding office	Raja Pervez Ashraf
The Indian contestant who has won the Miss Asia Pacific title at the beauty pageant held at Busan, South Korea	Himangini Singh Yadu
The Indian archer who has been ranked as No. 1 in the world	Deepika Kumari
The Israeli scientist who has been awarded the World Food Prize (established in 1987 by Nobel Peace Prize winner and Green Revolution champion Norman Borlaug) for pioneering a radically innovative way of bringing water to crops in arid and dry-land regions.	Daniel Hillel
The line of tablet PCs launched by Microsoft to run Windows RT and Windows 8 operating system is named	Surface
The venue of 3rd Asian Beach Games being held from June 16	Haiyang, China
The venue of G-20 Summit 2012, being held From Jun 18 to 19, India being represented by Dr. Manmohan Singh	Los Cabos, Mexico
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal who won the Indonesia Open 2012 (winning the title the third time) defeating Xuerui Li who belongs to	China
The rank of India in terms of funds belonging to overseas clients in Swiss banks as disclosed by Swiss National Bank (SNB), Switzerland’s central bank	55th
The Indian table-tennis player who has won the Under-21 men's final of Brazil Open TT tournament in Santos, becoming the first Indian to achieve such a feat	Harmeet Desai
The new Chief Election Commissioner of India who took charge on 11 June 2012, in the place of Mr. S.Y. Quraishi	Mr. V.S. Sampath
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal who won the Thailand Open Grand Prix badminton gold title defeating Ratchanok Inthanon in the final of the event on 10.06.12. Ratchanok Inthanon belongs to	Thailand
The Spanish tennis player who has won the French Open Men's Singles title, thus winning a record seven French Open titles	Rafael Nadal
The Russian tennis player who has won the French Open Women's Singles title, thus becoming the 10th woman to win all four Grand Slam titles	Maria Sharapova
The tennis duo which has won the French Open Mixed Doubles title defeating Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Klaudia Jans-Ignacik of Poland in the final	Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza
The first ever bilateral maritime exercise between India and Japan beginning 09 Jun 2012 off Tokyo is named	Jimex 12
The place at which the Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) in order to facilitate access to various technologies to the north eastern region	Shillong, Meghalaya
The Indian chess player who has won the Asian Junior Championship in Girls category	Ivana Furtado
The Indian chess player who has won the Asian Junior Championship held in Tashkent	N. Srinath
The environment-friendly vans launched by Mother Dairy on the ocassion of World Environment Day to sell milk in loose form are named	Kamdhenu vans
The theme for World Environment Day 2012	Green Economy: Does it include you?
The station at which the Science Express - Biodiversity Special (SEBS) flagged off on June 5 (World Environment Day) will culminate on 22 December	Gandhinagar
The team which has won the 21st Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament by defeating Argentina in the finals	New Zealand
The sand artist from Odisha, who has won the Copenhagen sand art Championship- 2012	Sudarshan Pattnaik

Current Affairs of May 2012

The new Chief of Army Staff who succeeded General VK Singh on 31 May 2012	General Bikram Singh
As the revised estimates released by Central Statistical Organisation the per capita national income of India at 2004-05 prices is	Rs. 37,851/-
The frightening virus which has infected the PCs in Iran and other middle east countries (discovered by Kaspersky) is named	Flame
The Israeli chess player whom Viswanathan Anand defeated to win the FIDE World Chess Championship 2012	Boris Gelfand
The team which has bagged the Santosh Trophy 2012, the final of which was held at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack	Services
The French film directed by Michael Haneke which has been awarded the Palme D'Or (Golden Palm) Award at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012	Love (Amour)
The former Indian defence minister who has been awarded the International Jurists Award 2012 alongwith Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry	Mulayam Singh Yadav
The winner of 2012 edition of Indian Premier League cricket championship	Kolkata Knight Riders
The aircraft which is being acquired by the Indian Air Force to replace its HPT-32 trainer aircraft	PC-7 MkII from Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, Switzerland
The Expert Technical Group set up by the Govt of India to revisit the Tendulkar methodology for estimation of the poverty and identification of the poor is headed by	Dr. C. Rangarajan
The place in Maharashtra at which High Altitude Cloud Physics Laboratory was inaugurated by the Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Shri Vilasrao Deshmukh on 24 May	Mahabaleshwar
The first rocket launched by a private company Space X carrying cargo capsule Dragon to the International Space Station is named	Falcon 9
The place at which Pakistan is developing its 4th nuclear reactor	Khushab
The Hindi movie directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, which has figured in the TIME magazine's 10 greatest movies of the millenium	Devdas
The venue of 38th G-8 summit held on 18-19 May 2012	Camp David, Maryland (USA)
The 73-year old Japanese woman who has become the oldest woman in the world to conquer Mt. Everest on 19 May 12	Tamae Watanabe
The year by which India is expected to achieve total sanitation coverage, as per the Ministry of Rural Development, Govt of India	2017
The disease which has been declared by the Union Government to be a mandatorily notifiable disease in order to provide better diagnosis and treatment and reduce its transmission	Tuberculosis
The new Chairman of the Asian Development Bank Board of Governors elected at the 45th Annual meeting of the ADB at Manila	Mr. Pranab Mukherjee
The sitar maestro who has been nominated for the first Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony, instituted by the government to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, for promoting values of universal brotherhood.	Pt. Ravishankar
The film actress who has been selected as the brand ambassador of Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, a programme of the rural development ministry to spread awareness about sanitation and cleanliness in the country	Vidya Balan
The new President of France who defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy	Francois Hollande
The new Chairman of the Standing Committee of Parliament on Personnel Public Grievances, Law and Justice	Shantaram Naik.
The noted Tamil writer who has been chosen for the 6th NTR National Literary Award by the NTR Vignan Trust	Ashokamitran
The new chairman of Atomic Energy Commission	Ratan Kumar Sinha
The joint exercise carried out by the Army and the Indian Air Force in the desert of Rajasthan is named	Exercise Shoorveer
The newsletter released by Union Labour & Employment Minister Shri Mallikarjun Kharge on the occasion of May Day to provide extensive awareness regarding a number of good labour practices and initiatives taken by the Central as well as state governments to all concerned stakeholders on a regular basis is named	Shram Sansar

Current Affairs of April 2012

The full-scale naval base commissioned by the Indian Navy at Kavaratti in Lakshadweep on 30 Apr 2012 is named	INS Dweeprakshak
The new Governor of Goa	B.V. Wanchoo
The new governor of Uttarakhand	Aziz Qureshi
The place at which Guru Gobind Singh Refinery has been dedicated to the nation by the PM Dr. Manmohan Singh	Bhatinda, Punjab
The Radar Imaging Satellite - 1 (RISAT-1) was launched from Sriharikota on 26 April 2012 aboard	PSLVC19
The Indian nominee who has been elected to the post of a judge in the International Court of Justice	Justice Dalvir Bhandari
The Talwar-class stealth frigate which has been commissioned into the Indian Navy on 27 April 2012	INS Teg
The place at which the Government has launched a National Crop Forecast Centre to prepare in-season forecasts for major crops such as rice, wheat, sugarcane and maize	New Delhi
To commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, a one-time honour called Tagore Samman has been instituted by	Sangeet Natak Akademi
The latest version of Agni missile which was launched from Wheeler Island on 19 Apr 2012	Agni V
The strength of judges in the Supreme Court with swearing in of Justice Ranjan Gogoi on 22 April has gone up to	27
The venue of the 5th World IT Forum (WITFOR) being held from 17 Apr to 18 Apr 2012	New Delhi
The new name of Hindi Star News channel is	ABP News
The two-day Coastal Security Exercise, conducted along the Lakshadweep coast from 17 April to 18 April by the Southern Naval Command along with Coastguard unit at Kavaratti is named	Nepture-05
The noted author and journalist who has been awarded the prestigious International Indu Sharma Katha Samman-2012 for his novel Teesri Tali	Pradeep Saurabh
The Indian wrestler who has become the first Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the Olympics	Geeta Phogat
The Sri Lanka cricketer who has been named Wisden Leading Cricketer of the Year 2011	Kumar Sangakkara
The Committee constituted by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for framing a National Corporate Governance Policy is headed by	Shri Adi Godrej
The bi-annual coastal security exercise conducted jointly by civil administration and armed forces to safeguard the coast of Andaman and Nicobar Island to be held from April 11 to Apr 13 is named	Tat Suraksha
The veteran actress who has been honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the 12th Telecine Awards 2012 for her contribution to Indian cinema	Mousumi Chatterjee
The Indian billiards player who has won the 11th ONGC Asian Billiards Championship title after defeating Thawat Sujaritthurakarn of Thailand in the final in Panaji, Goa	Pankaj Advani
The language of Meghalaya which has been withdrawn from UNESCO's Atlas of World's Languages in Danger after being considered safe	Khasi
The health magazine programme launched by the Union Health & Family Welfare Ministry, to be telecast/ broadcast through 30 regional kendras of Doordarshan and 29 stations of All India Radio covering 27 states is named	Swasth Bharat
The 10-day annual naval exercise Malabar 2012, scheduled to be held between 07 and 09 April 2012 in the Bay of Bengal is joint effort by the navies of India and	United States
The place in Rajasthan where a spice park has been inaugurated by Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Anand Sharma	Rampura Bhatia
The former Indian Hockey captain who has become the first sportsperson to be named India's Chef-de-Mission for the London Olympic Games	Ajit Pal Singh
The Myanmerese leader who has been chosen for the first International Bhagwan Mahavir World Peace award instituted by Pune based organisation, Sarhad	Aung San Suu Kyi

Current Affairs of March 2012

The country which has severed all ties with the United Nations Human Rights Council, following its decision to launch a fact-finding mission into the country’s settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem	Israel
The Chandigarh girl who has been crowned Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2012	Vanya Mishra
The NASA spacecraft to Mercury which has discovered ice inside the shadowed craters of Mercury	Messenger
The country which has won the Asia Cup Cricket trophy by defeating Bangladesh in the finals in Bangladesh	Pakistan
Open Government Platform, a software platform to provide enhanced public access to government data and documents, launched by Shri Kapil Sibal on 30 Mar 2012 has been jointly developed by India and	United States
According to a report by Knight Frank & Citi Private Bank., the year by which India will become the world's largest economy	2050
The Tibetan leader who has been chosen for the 2012 Templeton Prize by the US-based Templeton Foundation	Dalai Lama (original name Tenzin Gyatso)
The venue of Fourth BRICS Summit held on 29 March 2012	New Delhi
The venue of 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, India being represented by Dr. Manmohan Singh	Seoul, S. Korea
The veteran actor who has been selected for the J C Daniel Award, Kerala Government's highest film honour instituted in memory of the director of first Malayalam movie Vigathakumaran (the actor passed away on Mar 24, a day after the nomination)	Jose Prakash
The African nation which has witnessed a military coup overthrowing the government led by President Amadou Toumani Toure	Mali
The iconic Bengali actor who has been chosen for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2011	Soumitra Chatterjee
As per the Planning Commission, the percentage of population which was below poverty line in 2009-10 (The poor being defined as ones who spend less than Rs. 28 per day in urban area and less than Rs. 22.50 in rural areas)	29.8%
The district in Bihar, which has surpassed the Chinese record of wet paddy production of 19 tonnes per hectare, by producing 22.4 tonnes of wet paddy per hectare The feat has been achieved at Darbespura panchayat in Katri Sarai block	Nalanda
The new Union Minister for Railways, who hitherto held the charge of Minister of State for Shipping	Mukul Roy
As per a report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India has become the world's largest arms importer during the period 2007-11. India's share of total global arms sales is	10%
The Indian badminton player who has won the Swiss Open Grand Prix Trophy for the second time in a row	Saina Nehwal
The venue of eighth National Film Festival being organised by Kerala State Chalchitra Academy from March 18	Ernakulam
The venue of India Aviation-2012, the 3rd edition of the premier international exhibition and conference on civil aviation being held from 14 March 2012	Hyderabad
The Tehelka mediaperson who has been chosen for Chameli Devi Jain Award 2012	Tusha Mittal
The Carnatic musician who has been chosen for Kerala Government' Swathi Puraskaram for 2012	M. Balamuralikrishna
The university whose scientists have successfully cloned world's first pashmina goat	Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural and Technological Sciences
The shawl unique to Gujarat, which has been granted the Geographical Indicator tag	Kutchi Shawl
Aahar, the high shelf life dal and roti pack to cater to the needs of the Aam Aadmi, during long journeys, nutritional feeding, catering programmes and other similar civilian applications has been developed by (the product was recently launched by Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Dy Chairperson, Planning Commission)	DRDO in collaboration with BASIX and FICCI
The former Chairman of Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation, who has been chosen for this year's V Gangadharan Memorial Trust award	Verghese Kurien
With effect from 10 March 2012, the advance reservation period for booking railway tickets has been extended from 90 days to	120 days
The sanctuary in Karnataka which has been notified as India's first vulture sanctuary	Ramadevarabetta Vulture Sanctuary
The Indian NGO which has been chosen for America's first Innovation Award for the Empowerment of Women and Girls, for training and organizing wastepickers and eliminating child labour from recycling	Chintan (Founder Bharati Chaturvedi)
The rank of India as per a report released by Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international organisation, listing countries as per participation of women in politics	105th
The team India defeated to win the women's World Cup Kabaddi Championship held at Patliputra Sports Complex, Patna from 01 - 04 Mar 2012	Iran
The Indian pair which has won the ATP Dubai Open 2012 defeating Polish pair Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the finals	Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna
The state which has become the ninth in the country to introduce e-stamping of paying non-judicial stamp duty to the government	Uttarakhand

Current Affairs of February 2012

The joint exercise conducted by the Armies of India and Indonesia at the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS), Vairengte in Mizoram was named	Exercise Garuda Shakti
The pilot project launched by the Union Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region to promote adventure activities is named	Youth to the Edge
The state which has been awarded the National Tourism Best State Award for developing tourism related infrastructure	Madhya Pradesh
The film which has been awarded 5 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Score, and Best Costume Design	The Artist
Sailen Manna, who passed away on 27 Feb 2012, was a former	Football player
The country with a per capita GDP of 88,000 dollars, which has been ranked the world's richest country by Forbes magazine	Qatar
With the removal of India from the WHO list of polio-endemic countries, the number of countries in the list has been reduced to	Three (Pakistan, Nigeria, Afghanistan)
The joint military exercise of Indian and US armies scheduled in the first week of March 2011 in Mahajan field firing ranges in Rajasthan is code-named	Yudh Abhyas
RBI has decided to issue new Rs. 5 coins top commemorate freedom fighter and martyr	Bhagat Singh
Bhavnath Temple at which a stampede killed several people on Shivratri day is located in	Junagadh, Gujarat
The renowned photographer who was awarded Padma Shri this year has subsequently been awarded Padma Bhushan (as the same Padma Award cannot be awarded twice to the same person)	Sunil Janah
The Indian cricketer who has been awarded the fifth ESPNcricinfo best batting performance award in Tests	Sachin Tendulkar
The public sector insurance company which is celebrating its platinum jubilee year of its formation in 2012	United India Insurance
The city which is the least expensive in the world to live in, according to Worldwide Cost of Living Survey carried out by Economic Intelligence Unit of the Economist	Karachi
The city which is the most expensive in the world to live in, according to Worldwide Cost of Living Survey carried out by Economic Intelligence Unit of the Economist	Zurich, Switzerland
The university which has been awarded the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy for best performance in sports for the year 2010-11, by the Government of India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports	Punjabi University
The place in Kerala where setting up of Rail Coach Manufacturing unit has been approved by Union cabinet	Palakkad
On Feb 15, guards from merchant vessel Enrica Lexie shot and killed Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast. The ship Enrica Lexie belongs to	Italy
The noted Indian economist who has been presented the National Medals of Arts and Humanities award by the US President Barack Obama	Amartya Sen
The former Australian first-class pacer who has been appointed the Indian cricket team's bowling coach after Eric Simons' tenure comes to an end	John Dawes
The winner of 44 Jnanpith Award, who died on 13 February 2012	Dr. Akhlaq Mohammed Khan 'Shahryar'
Ustad Shamim Ahmed Khan who died on 14 February 2012 was an exponent of	Sitar
The state Assembly which has been selected for the national award for e-governance instituted by the Union Government's Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances for 2011-12 in recognition of its unique online answering information system	Rajasthan Assembly
The sub-glacial lake in Antarctica reaching whose surface has been confirmed by Russian scientists recently	Lake Vostok
The veteran music director who has been bestowed the Lata Mangeshkar Award by the Madhya Pradesh government	Rajesh Roshan
The Bio-chemist who has been awarded the G.D. Birla Award for scientific research for 2011 by the KK Birla foundation	Prof Tapas Kumar Kundu
The state which has recorded the highest decline in the forest cover in two years as per the latest India State of Forest 2011 released by the Forest Survey of India	Andhra Pradesh
The Maldivian President who announced his resignation following weeks of public protests over his controversial order to arrest a senior judge	Mohamed Nasheed
The state which has become the first in the country to issue e-stamp papers of all denominations by bringing non-judicial stamp papers of Rs 500 and below under the ambit of e-stamp process in February 2012	New Delhi
The 50-kilogram micro satellite launched by Iran in February 2012 to collect data useful for weather forecasting and natural disaster management is named	Navid
The biennial congregation of naval forces of 13 countries in Indian Ocean near Andaman and Nicobar islands which began on 01 Feb is named	Milan
The Bollywood actor who has been chosen to receive Green Globe award for outstanding efforts in fighting climate changes by a celebrity	Abhishek Bachchan

Current Affairs of January 2012

The film, directed by Zoya Akhtar, which has bagged the Best Film award at the 57th Filmfare Awards function on 29 Jan 2012	Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara
India's per capita income as per the latest quick estimates released by the Central Statistical Organisation is	Rs. 53,331/-
The Serbian tennis player who has won the Australian Open Men's title defeating Rafael Nadal in the longest Australian Open Finals lasting 5 hours 53 minutes	Novak Djokovic
The rank of India in 2012 Environmental Performance Index released by Yale University of Davos	125
The European country which has approved a ban on face-covering clothing, such as a burqa, a niqab etc.	The Netherlands
The state which has added nine new districts on 01 Jan 2012 thus increasing the total number of districts from 18 to 27	Chhattisgarh
The Indian tennis player who has become the first Indian to win a career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open men's doubles title with Czech player Radek Stepanek in January 2012 (a career Grand Slam means winning all the four major tournaments during a career)	Leander Paes
The best marching contingent among the three services at the Republic Day parade 2012	Indian Air Force
The best marching contingent among para-military forces and other auxillary marching contingents at the Republic Day parade 2012	Border Security Force
The Belarusian player who has won the Australian Open Women's title defeating Russia's Maria Sharapova in the final	Victoria Azarenka
The billiards player who has retained the National Billiards Championship crown at the 79th Senior National Billiards and Snooker Championship being held at Pune	Pankaj Advani
The Army officer who has been awarded Ashoka Chakra on 26 Jan 2012	Lt. Navdeep Singh
The IAF Officer who for the first time in Indian history has led the IAF contingent at the Republic Day parade on 26 Jan 2012	Flt. Lt. Sneha Shekhawat
The Chief Guest at the 63rd Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, Mrs Yingluck Shinawatra is the Prime Minister of	Thailand
The badminton player who has won the women's title at the 76th Senior National Badminton Championship held in Bangalore from 17 to 25 Jan 2012 defeating Neha Pandit in the finals	P.V. Sindhu
The badminton player who has won the men's title at the 76th Senior National Badminton Championship in Bangalore defeating Sai Praneeth in the finals	Saurabh Verma
The name of the train which has been chosen as the theme of the Railway Tableau at the Republic Day parade 2012, for being the first train to achieve distinction of entering its 100th year on Indian Railways broad gauge network.	Punjab Mail
The joint winners of National Communal Harmony Award 2011 in the individual category	Shri Khamliana (Mizoram) and Shri Md. Abdul Bari (Odisha)
Mana airport which has been renamed as Swami Vivekananda Airport is located in	Raipur, Chhattisgarh
The golfer who has won the All India Amateur golf title defeating Gagan Verma at the final in Chandigarh on 23 Jan 2012	Angad Cheema
The team which has retained the Ranji Trophy after winning it for the first time in 2011. (The team defeated Tamilnadu on the basis of first innings lead.)	Rajasthan
The 7th State Level Philatelic exhibition of Delhi Circle being held from 22 Jan to 24 Jan 2012 at Delhi is named	Dharohar-2012
The Sri Lankan author who has been awarded the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2012 for his book Chinaman	Shehan Karunatilaka
The village in Assam which has become first village in the country to have full insurance coverage	Rangati Misamara
The venue of India International Coffee Festival 2012 being held from January 18	New Delhi
The new Swedish coach appointed to train Indian tennis players, particularly juniors and sub-juniors	Henrik Ekersund
China's first supercomputer built with "domestically-produced" microprocessors and capable of performing around one-thousand-trillion calculations per second which became officially operational in January 2012 is named	Sunway Bluelight
The theme of 5th World Future Energy Summit being held in Abu Dhabi	Sustainable Energy for All
The venue of the 5th World Future Energy Summit which began on 16 Jan 2012, India being represented by Union Minister for Renewable energy resources, Dr. Farooq Abdullah	Abu Dhabi
The year 2012 has been declared by the Health Ministry of Government of India as the year of	Intensification of Routine Immunisation
The Russian space craft which failed on its mission to Phobos, (a moon of Mars) and crashed into the Pacific Ocean two months after its launch in November 2011	Phobos Grunt
The Italian cruise ship that ran aground off the island of Giglio in the Mediterranean Sea on January 14 killing at least 5 people	Costa Concordia
The playback singer and classical vocalist who has been chosen for the first Harivarasanam award of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the statutory body that manages major temples in south Kerala, including the famed Sabarimala hill temple	KJ Yesudas
Homai Vyarawala who passed away on 15 Jan 2011 was a well known	Photographer
The Indian shooter who has won a gold medal in the Men’s 10-metre Air Rifle event at the 12th Asian Shooting Championships in Doha	Abhinav Bindra
The venue of 17th National Youth Festival - 2012, a festival organised to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda since 1995	Mangalore
The music director who has composed the signature tune of the Indian Customs Department, launched on the occasion of golden jubilee of Indian Customs Act, 1962. The tune is named Pragati ki Dhadkan.	Aadesh Srivastava
The theme of India Post Calendar 2012 is	India's Sculptural Heritage
The sector in which the Government has notified 100 percent FDI	Single Brand Retail
The Argentinean footballer who has been awarded the Ballon d'Or for the third consecutive year	Lionel Messi
The Indian Nobel laureate on whose works Raja Ram Mohan Roy Foundation has compiled a web-bibliography, which was launched by Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee in Jan 2012	Rabindranath Tagore
Pixel, a new model of car has been unveiled at the 11th Auto Expo in New Delhi by	Tata Motors
The Serbian player with whom Leander Paes partnered to win the Chennai Open Tennis Doubles title	Janko Tipsarevic
The Canadian player who has won the Chennai Open Tennis Tournament	Milos Raonic
The venue of 11th Auto Expo being held from 05 Jan to 11 Jan 2012	Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
The place in Gujarat where new National Law University was inaugurated by Vice-President Hamid Ansari	Gandhinagar
The Chess player from Andhra Pradesh who has become the 26th Indian chess player to become a Grandmaster	M. Lalith Babu
The scientist from Vietnam who was awarded the Kalinga Chair Award at the 99th Indian Science Congress	Trinh Xuan Thuan
The venue of 99th Indian Science Congress held from 02 Jan to 07 Jan 2012	KIIT University, Bhubaneswar
Ms. Kamla Prasad Bissesar, the chief guest at the 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas being held in Jaipur with the theme Global Indian-Inclusive Growth is the Prime Minister of	Trinidad and Tobago
The place at which a nearly 400-year-old temple, which was standing tilted for more than 100 years after it was damaged in an earthquake, was rebuilt by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH)	Kangra, Himachal Pradesh
The Tibetan leader who has been presented with Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation by the Gandhi Development Trust	Dalai Lama
The University in Uttar Pradesh which has been recognised as University with Potential for Excellence	Banaras Hindu University
KJ Sarasa, the first woman nattuvanar, the guru of Ms Jayalalitha, who died on 02 Jan 2012 was associated with	Bharat Natyam
The first Indo-Italian co-production film based on a short story by well-known writer Mahasweta Devi which has bagged the NETPAC Jury award at the 10th Third Eye Asian Film Festival 2011 at Mumbai.(the film is directed by Italo Spinelli)	Gangor
The tribal efforts to conserve biodiversity and develop climate resilient farm practices of this place in Odisha have been recognised by UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS)	Koraput
The category of foreign investors who have been allowed to invest directly in India Equity market by government	Qualified Foreign Investor
The Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation fondly known as Metroman who relinquished office on 31 Dec 2011	E. Sreedharan
The first car of Bajaj Auto, India's leading two-wheeler manufacturer is named	RE 60

Public Private Partnership (PPP) is Important for the Country’s Infrastructure Development

Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Railways, Dr. C. P. Joshi has said that Public Private Partnership (PPP) is important for the fast development of country’s infrastructure network. He said that Central Government has adopted policies which are leading the nation to fast economic growth. He emphasised that a country cannot be economically stronger unless its infrastructure is developed. Dr. Joshi was speaking while laying the foundation stone for the commencement of work of four-laning of Gomati ka chauraha-Udaipur Section of National Highway-8 (NH-8) in the State of Rajasthan at Rajasamand district of Rajasthan.

This section of 83 km length is being constructed under National Highway Development Project (NHDP) on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer basis on Toll. The 914-crore project is likely to be completed by the end of April 2015. Foundation stone laying ceremony was attended by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Shri Ashok Gehlot, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Shri A. K. Upadhyay and other senior dignitaries.

Dr. C. P. Joshi said that Central Government is committed to formulate policies which will facilitate development of infrastructure. He said that the adequate availability of financial resources has come through PPP initiatives. The Union Minister said that there are 73,000 km long National Highways in the country and work on this sector is continuing on a large scale everywhere in the country. Dr. Joshi said his Ministry is also giving high priority to road safety along with the construction of roads so as to reduce accidents.

Referring to the development to roads in Rajasthan, Dr. Joshi said that around 1700 km long National Highways have been announced in the last one and a half years for which approximately 20,000 crore rupees are estimated to be spent. Dr. Joshi pointed out that there is no discrimination with any State in the road development sector and roads in all States are being developed on the basis of available resources. He said that the road construction work is continuing at a fast pace in States like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. He said that in Madhya Pradesh alone, projects worth Rs. 20,000 crore are underway.

Presiding over the function, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Shri Ashok Gehlot hoped that all the work initiated by Dr. Joshi would be completed in time. He thanked Dr. Joshi and his Ministry for undertaking development of roads in Rajasthan as well as in other parts of the country.

NH-8 having a length of 1375km passes through cities of Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Mumbai encompassing states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Out of 1375km length of NH-8, 13km is in Delhi, 101km in Haryana, 635km in Rajasthan, 498km in Gujarat and 128km in Maharashtra.

The Gomati ka Chauraha-Udaipur Section of NH-8 will cater to the Rajasmand and Sukhar Marble Industrial Area. The important historical place of Haldighati is 16 km from project highway. The religious places served by the project include Shri Charbhugaji, Dwarkadheesh Temple at Kankroli, Shreenathji Temple at Nathdwara and Eklingji Temple. The three flyovers on this section are (a) Elevated 4 lane fly-over at Nathdwara. (b) 6 lane fly-over at Rajsamand and (c) Others 3 nos. fly-over at Kelwa Chopati, Amet Chouraha and at Bhilwara Road Crossing.

Other important highlights of this project are: Rivers - Banas and Khari Rivers; Bypass - Delwara and Eklingji bypass; Major Bridge - 2 Nos. at Khari and Banas river; Important Structure - Six lane double tube tunnel at Chirwa Ghat having 440 Mtr. Length.

Public Private Partnership (PPP) is Important for the Country’s Infrastructure Development

Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Railways, Dr. C. P. Joshi has said that Public Private Partnership (PPP) is important for the fast development of country’s infrastructure network. He said that Central Government has adopted policies which are leading the nation to fast economic growth. He emphasised that a country cannot be economically stronger unless its infrastructure is developed. Dr. Joshi was speaking while laying the foundation stone for the commencement of work of four-laning of Gomati ka chauraha-Udaipur Section of National Highway-8 (NH-8) in the State of Rajasthan at Rajasamand district of Rajasthan.

This section of 83 km length is being constructed under National Highway Development Project (NHDP) on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer basis on Toll. The 914-crore project is likely to be completed by the end of April 2015. Foundation stone laying ceremony was attended by the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Shri Ashok Gehlot, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Shri A. K. Upadhyay and other senior dignitaries.

Dr. C. P. Joshi said that Central Government is committed to formulate policies which will facilitate development of infrastructure. He said that the adequate availability of financial resources has come through PPP initiatives. The Union Minister said that there are 73,000 km long National Highways in the country and work on this sector is continuing on a large scale everywhere in the country. Dr. Joshi said his Ministry is also giving high priority to road safety along with the construction of roads so as to reduce accidents.

Referring to the development to roads in Rajasthan, Dr. Joshi said that around 1700 km long National Highways have been announced in the last one and a half years for which approximately 20,000 crore rupees are estimated to be spent. Dr. Joshi pointed out that there is no discrimination with any State in the road development sector and roads in all States are being developed on the basis of available resources. He said that the road construction work is continuing at a fast pace in States like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. He said that in Madhya Pradesh alone, projects worth Rs. 20,000 crore are underway.

Presiding over the function, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Shri Ashok Gehlot hoped that all the work initiated by Dr. Joshi would be completed in time. He thanked Dr. Joshi and his Ministry for undertaking development of roads in Rajasthan as well as in other parts of the country.

NH-8 having a length of 1375km passes through cities of Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Mumbai encompassing states of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Out of 1375km length of NH-8, 13km is in Delhi, 101km in Haryana, 635km in Rajasthan, 498km in Gujarat and 128km in Maharashtra.

The Gomati ka Chauraha-Udaipur Section of NH-8 will cater to the Rajasmand and Sukhar Marble Industrial Area. The important historical place of Haldighati is 16 km from project highway. The religious places served by the project include Shri Charbhugaji, Dwarkadheesh Temple at Kankroli, Shreenathji Temple at Nathdwara and Eklingji Temple. The three flyovers on this section are (a) Elevated 4 lane fly-over at Nathdwara. (b) 6 lane fly-over at Rajsamand and (c) Others 3 nos. fly-over at Kelwa Chopati, Amet Chouraha and at Bhilwara Road Crossing.

Other important highlights of this project are: Rivers - Banas and Khari Rivers; Bypass - Delwara and Eklingji bypass; Major Bridge - 2 Nos. at Khari and Banas river; Important Structure - Six lane double tube tunnel at Chirwa Ghat having 440 Mtr. Length.

Water Resources Minister calls for Adopting Meaningful Agenda in the Area of Water Sector Reform

The 14th National Conference of Water Resources/ Irrigation Ministers of States/ Union Territories was held in New Delhi on October 03. The following is the text of the inaugural address of Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs & Water Resources  Pawan Kumar Bansal: 

“This Conference is being held after a long gap of seven years. This Conference is a very important National Forum which offers a splendid opportunity for a meaningful dialogue on the critical issues relating to the water sector and the interventions needed to address them effectively. My colleague, Shri Vincent Pala has already drawn your attention towards the impending crisis on water resources in our country. 

Growing demand for water as result of population growth, urbanization and economic growth has resulted in tremendous pressure on water resources making India a water stressed country by international standards. The need to provide clean water for drinking & sanitation and the need to achieve food security are of paramount importance. Climate change which might complicate further the existing temporal and spatial variation in availability of water is a growing challenge. Extreme events like floods and droughts could occur more frequently affecting livelihood and food security. Injudicious inter-sectoral and intra-sectoral distribution of water amongst various categories of water users, low water use efficiency, unsystematic water resources planning and development, poor maintenance of irrigation systems and poor recovery of water charges are some of the major problems associated with the management of water resources in the country. 

Global Ministerial level “International Seminar on Energy Access” from 09 – 10 October 2012 at New Delhi

In recognition of the importance of energy access for sustainable economic development, the United Nations General Assembly has designated 2012 as the “International Year of Sustainable Energy for All”.

In support of the above declaration, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is now organizing a Global Ministerial level “International Seminar on Energy Access” from 9 – 10 October 2012 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Ministers and senior delegates from over 50 countries are expected to participate in this Seminar. The Plenary Session will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India on 09 October 2012 and will be followed by a Ministerial Session.

The Seminar proposes to bring together multiple stakeholders including Ministers, senior policy planners, multilateral and bilateral agencies and civil society working on delivery of energy to develop integrated sustainable and affordable solutions to energy access. The focus will be to promote development of renewable energy by removing barriers impeding rise of renewable energy and its deployment in large scale for attaining sustainable energy for all. It will provide an opportunity to participating countries, organizations and the experts to showcase policy initiatives and best practices, exchange views, experiences and innovative solutions on energy access.

According to the tentative agenda drawn in consultation with stakeholders there would be twelve technical sessions running concurrently on two days covering topics such as Policy and  Regulation for meeting target of Energy for All; Financing Energy Access; Solar Power for Energy Access; Use of local energy sources of energy access other than Solar in rural areas; and Business Models for stand alonegrids.

UN bodies and International organizations such as UNDP, UNIDO, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and GIZ have committed to host parallel sessions. In addition, Ministries of Power, Petroleum & Natural Gas and Coal are also actively participating in the 2-day Event. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is providing Organizational support

The Event is being organized under the close supervision of broad based Steering and Organizational Committees consisting of representative from National and International Agencies and headed by Secretary and Joint Secretary, MNRE, respectively.

The Seminar is open to Government, Inter-Governmental Organisations, International/Multi-National Organisations, Non-Profit Organisations and Industry, Corporate and Business Institutions.

PEN Open Book Award

Stylish Indian author Siddhartha Deb scooped the prestigious award for his novel “The Beautiful and the Damned”.

Deb was born in Meghalaya and grew up in Shillong. He is the author of two novels, the first a semi-autobiographical account of growing up in that “town…few people can find on a map.” Deb made his way from Shillong to Kolkata, and then to Columbia University. He is now a professor in creative writing at the New School, in New York.

Deb’s “The Beautiful and the Damned” has the feel of a novel as the sweeping India story is told through dents made by modern India in his characters’ lives. Deb follows the lives of teeming call centre workers, traders, businessmen, tycoons, debt-laden farmers and steel factory workers.

His book also has a riveting profile of a young Manipuri woman called Esther who works in Delhi, where her north-eastern features inspire subtle forms of racism.

16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit

The 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, attended by 118 member-States, concluded in the Iranian capital of Tehran on August 31, 2012, after the adoption of the outcome documents which lay emphasis on peace. Iranian President Mahmoud  Ahmadinejad, the rotating chairman of the summit, read part of the final documents at the closing ceremony of the event, and said that the participants unanimously expressed their commitments to the principles and objectives of the NAM.

Leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) rejected any foreign military interference in Syria, by approving the Final Declaration of the 16th Summit.

The 688-paragraph text and attached documents also included a condemnation of the US economic blockade against Cuba, support for Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the Falkland Islands, and repudiation of the constitutional coup d’etat in Paraguay.

They also expressed support for Ecuador in its diplomatic argument with Great Britain, following the asylum granted to the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, and endorsed Venezuela as the venue for the 17th NAM Summit.

The rejection of terrorism and western double standards on that issue, food security, the fight against poverty, and the impact of diseases and natural phenomena in the economy of developing nations, were also included in the closing document.

The text also called for reform of the United Nations system, particularly of the Security Council, the peaceful settlement of disputes and global peace defence and dialogue among civilizations, religions, and cultural diversity.

Decolonization, the fight against terrorism, promotion of democracy, and North-South and South-South cooperation were all clearly discussed, along with the Palestinian cause and other conflicts taking place in Middle Eastern countries, in addition to the aforementioned conflict in Syria.

Threat to Water and Food Security

A new report, released by The Stockholm International Water Institute, “Feeding a thirsty world: Challenges and opportunities for a water and food secure world”, outlines major threats and opportunities for water and food security.

The report provided official input into the discussions that took place at the 2012 World Water Week in Stockholm, on August 26-31.

Authored by a dozen experts from SIWI, the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the report provides new evidence that shows how continuing current trends in food production could lead to increased shortages and intense competition for scarce water resources in many regions across the world.

The report notes that 900 million people are hungry and two billion more people are under nourished in spite of the fact that per capita production continues to increase. With 70 per cent of all water withdrawals used in agriculture, growing more food to feed an additional 2 billion people by 2050 will place greater pressure on available water and land.

“Feeding everyone well is a primary challenge for this century. Overeating, under-nourishment and waste are all on the rise and increased food production may face future constraints from water scarcity,” said report editor Dr. Anders Jägerskog. “We will need a new recipe to feed the world in the future.”

The authors spotlight a number of essential and largely overlooked challenges where dedicated action can help ensure food security to a growing global population with available water resources. These include improvements in on-farm water efficiency, reductions in losses and waste in the food supply chain, enhanced response networks to early warning systems for agricultural emergencies, and increased investment to close the gender gap in agricultural production.

The report also investigates the impact of the recent surge in foreign direct investment to lease land in developing countries on local and regional water resources, a phenomenon that requires more stringent regulation to ensure that the water and land rights of local farming communities are upheld.

Apple-Samsung Patents dispute

A US court jury has ordered Samsung to pay USD one billion to Apple Inc. for ripping off Apple technology.

The Silicon Valley jury found that some of Samsung’s products illegally copied features and designs exclusive to Apple’s iPhone and iPad. The verdict was narrowly tailored to only Samsung, which sold more than 22 million smartphones and tablets that Apple claimed used its technology, including the “bounce-back” feature when a user scrolls to an end image, and the ability to zoom text with a tap of a finger.

According to analysts, the popular zooming and bounce-back functions the jury said Samsung stole from Apple will be hard to replicate.

The companies could opt to pay Apple licensing fees for access to the technology or develop smarter technology to create similar features that don’t violate the patent—at a cost likely to be passed onto consumers.

Apple lawyers are planning to ask that the two dozen Samsung devices found to have infringed its patents be barred from the US market. Most of those devices are “legacy” products with almost non-existent new sales in the United States. Apple lawyers will also ask that the judge triple the damage award to $3 billion since the jury found Samsung “wilfully” copied Apple’s patents.

A loss to the Android-based market would represent a big hit for Google as well. Google relies on Android devices to drive mobile traffic to its search engine, which in turn generates increased advertising revenue. Android is becoming increasingly more important to Google’s bottom line because Apple is phasing out reliance on Google services such as YouTube and mapping as built-in features on the iPhone and iPad.

Some experts cautioned that the decision might not be final, noting the California lawsuit is one of nine similar legal actions across the globe between the two leading smartphone makers.

Samsung has vowed to appeal the verdict all the way to the US Supreme Court, arguing that Apple’s patents for such “obvious” things as rounded rectangle were wrongly granted.

The $1 billion represents about 1.5 percent of Samsung’s annual revenue. Jerome Schaufield, a technology professor at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute said the verdict wouldn’t upend a multibillion-dollar global industry.

The dispute also centres on Apple’s dissatisfaction with Google’s entry into the phone market when it released Android operating system and announced any company could use it free of cost.