Current Affairs - India & World: January 2013

Recruitment of Probationary Officers in SBI 2013 | SBI PO Recruitment

State Bank of India is the largest banking and financial services company in India by market capitalization, revenue and assets. It is a Govt-owned bank with its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As of March 2012, it had assets of US$360 billion with more than 13,500 outlets including 157 overseas branches and agents globally. The bank was earlier known as Imperial Bank of India. Bank of Madras merged into the other two presidency banks—Bank of Calcutta and Bank of Bombay—to form the Imperial Bank of India, which in turn became the State Bank of India. In 1955, Government of India nationalised the Imperial Bank of India, with the RBI taking a 60% stake, and renamed it the State Bank of India. In 2008, the Government of India took over the stake held by the RBI. State Bank of India has been ranked 285th in the Fortune Global 500 rankings of the world's biggest corporations for the year 2012.

Intelligence bureau syllabus 2013 | IB ACIO Exam Syllabus

Intelligence Bureau is India's internal intelligence agency and reputedly the world's oldest intelligence agency. It was recast as the Central Intelligence Bureau in 1947 under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Intelligence Bureau reportedly has a lot of successes to its credit, but operations conducted by the IB are rarely declassified. Due to the extreme secrecy surrounding the agency, there is little concrete information available about it or its activities. Intelligence Bureau was initially India's internal and external intelligence agency. Due to lapses on the part of the Intelligence Bureau to predict the Sino-Indian War of 1962, and later on, intelligence failure in the India-Pakistan War in 1965, it was bifurcated in 1968 and entrusted with the task of internal intelligence only. The external intelligence branch was handed to the newly created Research and Analysis Wing.

Assistant Central Intelligence Officer Recruitment 2013

About Intelligence Bureau

Intelligence Bureau is our country's internal intelligence agency and one of the world's oldest intelligence agency. It was recast as the Central Intelligence Bureau in 1947 under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Intelligence Bureau reportedly has a lot of successes to its credit, but operations conducted by the IB are rarely declassified. Due to the extreme secrecy surrounding the agency, there is little concrete information available about it or its activities. Intelligence Bureau was initially India's internal and external intelligence agency. Due to intelligence failure in the Sino-Indian War of 1962, and later on, in the India-Pakistan War in 1965, it was bifurcated in 1968 and entrusted with the task of internal intelligence only. The external intelligence branch was handed to the newly created Research and Analysis Wing.

SSC Combined Graduate Level EXam Notification 2013

According to the official site of SSC, the main responsibility of the Staff Selection Commission is to make recruitment to Group C (non-technical) & Group B (non-gazetted- both technical & non-technical) posts in departments of Government of India, its attached & subordinate offices except those for which recruitment is made by the Railway Recruitment Boards & Industrial Establishments. The Staff Selection Commission is also assigned the task of conducting Departmental Examinations for 1.Promotion from Group D to LDC Grade, 2. Promotion from LDC to UDC Grade and 3. Promotion from Stenographers Grade D to Stenographers Grade C besides holding Periodical Typewriting Tests in English & Hindi. The Staff Selection Commission has a nationwide network of 9 Regional/Sub-regional Offices located at Allahabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Guwahati, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi & Sub-regional offices located at Chandigarh & Raipur.

TCS Open Ignite Program for Science Graduates 2013

About Tata Consultancy Services

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPO, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model™, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata Group, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 263,000 of the world's best trained consultants in 42 countries. The Company generated consolidated revenues of US $ 10.17 billion for year ended 31 March, 2012 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India.

2. GK Current Affairs Quiz - January 2013

Through current affairs online test series, currentaffairsindia.info presents the most relevant model questions on Indian Current Affairs. These questions are applicable to Civil Service Prelims(CSAT 2013), Railway Recruitment Exams, Bank PO and clerical exams and various other competitive exams. The questions are framed from Government releases, various major news papers etc. Any comments/doubts are welcomed!!

1. The headquarters of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is located in

Concor Management Trainee Recruitment 2013

About CONCOR

CONCOR's mission is to provide efficient and reliable multi-modal logistics support for the country's exim and domestic trade and commerce. To ensure enhanced customer satisfaction, growing shareholder value, high growth and consolidation of status as market leader. CONCOR was set up in 1988, to profitably satisfy our customer's needs for high- quality, cost-effective logistics services. A network of more than 61 terminals, offering scheduled and on demand rapid rail and road services between the hinderland and ports, and between major metros. Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR), was incorporated in March 1988 under the Companies Act, and commenced operation from November 1989 taking over the existing network of 7 ICDs from the Indian Railways. From its humble beginning, it is now an undisputed market leader having the largest network of 62 ICDs/CFSs in India. In addition to providing inland transport by rail for containers, it has also expanded to cover management of Ports, air cargo complexes and establishing cold- chain.

Indian Current Affairs: First Space Weather Reading Centre of India

The centre of excellence which specialises in reading the weather conditions of the space and helps the air traffic on their polar routes is scheduled to come up in Kolkata by the middle of 2013. The space weather reading centre in Kolkata will be first of its kind and is approved by Union HRD Ministry. This centre would be coming up at Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) campus.

The Union HRD Ministry sanctioned 4 crore Rupees for the centre. This centre would initially offer the readings free of cost to the civil aviation and the telecommunication department, but later this data would be available commercially. The centre would also work in field of gravitational physics in terms of analysing data.

1. GK Current Affairs Quiz - January 2013

1. In relation with polio eradication, which among the following are correct?

1. On Jan 14 2013, India completed 2 years without new polio cases.

2. India joined the global movement for polio eradication in 1988.

3. India spent about Rs1000 crore every year since 2000 for eradication

4. India's biggest thread now is the neighboring countries which still have polio cases.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

Sri Lankan President Kicked Out First Woman Chief Justice of the Country

Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, kicked out the first woman chief justice of the country, Shirani Bandarnayake after endorsing her impeachment by the Parliament that caught her guilty on the corruption charges. Shirani Bandarnayake was fired despite widespread protests by the lawyers as well as others. Chief justice was given the notice in which the President ordered her to move down from the post. This happened two days after the Parliament in Sri Lanka voted to put her on trial, widening the face-off between the government and the judiciary.

The parliamentary committee had declared last month that Bandarnayake was guilty of 3 out of 14 charges. The impeachment proceedings were held against her, which were moved by ruling UPFA coalition legislators. The three charges in which she was held guilty were those of financial impropriety which were based on non-declaration of the assets.

Magnetic Ropes in Venus’s Upper Atmosphere

Last week, Astronomers discovered flux ropes in Venus’s ionosphere, above the poles. The flux ropes are magnetic entities stretching for more than hundreds of kilometers. Astronomers were boarding the European Space Agency’s Venus Express Spacecraft. Flux ropes have been seen before around other planets, including Earth. They transport superheated plasma gas from one end of the rope to the other. Flux ropes are formed on Earth near the face of the planet opposite the Sun. The stream of charged particles called as the solar wind flows around the planet and thus a magnetotail of charged particles on the other side is created. Unlike most other planets in the Solar system, Venus has no magnetic field. The ionosphere of Venus acts as an obstacle to the solar wind.

The ionosphere of Venus remains unmagnetised most of the time, but when the solar wind reaches a higher pressure than the surrounding atmosphere it gets magnetised. In these conditions, relatively small flux ropes can form because of the higher speed of the solar wind blowing over the slower ionosphere. The flux ropes on Venus form from solar particles on the side of the planet facing away from the Sun, in the magnetotail.

Aadhaar card can be a proof to get passport

The Ministry of External Affairs decided and consequently advised Passport Issuing Authorities to accept Aadhaar card as Proof of Address and Photo identity in conjunction with any other prescribed documents for proof of address/identity for the purpose of passport application. Presently, it is being seen that the authorities accept passport applications based on about 14 documents such as voter ID card or electoral photo identity card (EPIC), ration card, PAN, driving license, birth certificates among others.

Aadhaar card is a 12 digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India on behalf of the government. This number will serve as a proof of identity and address, anywhere in India.

Tyrant Swimmer : Oldest Super Predator on Earth

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences discovered that the oldest known super predator of the world was the marine crocodile named Tyrant Swimmer. This recently discovered oldest known super predator of the world, a marine crocodile was a toothy beast which looked partly like a shark and partly like a threatening dolphin.

This super predator basically is known to be from the shallow marine areas across Europe, primarily Poland, England and France. Around 165 million years ago, a lot of Europe was completed covered by the shallow sea, which also led to the formation of large to small islands.

Manoeuvrable version of BrahMos Supersonic Missile

India successfully test-fired a highly manoeuvrable version of the 290-km range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from a naval warship off the coast of Vishakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal. The missile blasted off in a pre-designated war scenario taking a ‘double— manoeuvre in S-form’ hitting the designated target ship just one meter above water line.

The BrahMos was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2005 when it began arming the Rajput-class guided missile destroyers and inducted subsequently in many warships. BrahMos Missile is capable of acquiring data not only from the American GPS but also from Russian GLONASS satellite systems also, which ensures double redundancy.

Railway fares to be hiked from 21 January 2013

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on 9 January 2013 announced that the rail fares would be hiked for all passengers from 21 January 2013 including the AC-1 and AC-2 tier passengers, who were affected in early 2012. The hike announced will be of 2 paise/km to 10 paise/km across classes. All fares are supposed to be rounded off to 5 rupees and there will be no fare hike in the Railway Budget. The fare hikes are higher than what was proposed in the last Rail Budget of 2012.

Fares of Ordinary Second Class trains will go up by 2 paise/km while for non-suburban travel it will be 3 paise/km. As per the railway minister the slowdown has further impacted railways' earnings, adding that the fare hike will help raise an additional 1200-1300 crore rupees in the remaining period of current fiscal.

National Electric Mobility Mission Plan of India 2020

India’s National Council for Electric Mobility (NCEM) has adopted the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 (NEMMP 2020), which is the mission document for NMEM. The NEMMP 2020 lays the vision, sets the targets and provides the roadmap for achieving significant penetration of electric vehicles in India by 2020.

The NEMMP 2020 has set a target of 6-7 million units of new vehicle sales of full range of electrified vehicles, along with resultant savings of liquid fuel of 2.2 – 2.5 million tonnes to be achieved in 2020. This will also result in substantial lowering of vehicular emissions and a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions by 1.3% to 1.5% in 2020 as compared to a status quo scenario. Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh launched National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 in New Delhi today.

IBPS CWE Specialist Officers Exam 2013

About Institute of Banking Personnel Selection

The journey of IBPS began in 1975, just after nationalization of banks, as Personnel Selection Services (PSS), a unit of National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM). The objective was to develop an unbiased and efficient system for recruitment, promotion and placement services. This prototype initiative was extended to provide these services with all the academic and operational inputs to the banking industry initially which now has been extended to non-banking sectors as well. In 1984 this unit became an independent entity – Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) at the behest of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Public Sector Banks. The first Chairman of its Governing Board was Dr Manmohan Singh, the then Governor of RBI.

Bangiya Gramin Vikash Bank Recruitment 2013

About Bangiya Gramin Vikash Bank

Bangiya Gramin Vikash Bank (BGVB) formed by the amalgamation of 5 erstwhile RRBs – Mallabhum Gramin Bank, Gaur Gramin Bank, Sagar Gramin Bank, Nadia Gramin Bank and Murshidabad Gramin Bank. BGVB is sponsored by United Bank of India. Current Deposit, Saving Bank Deposit, Mini Deposit, Recurring Deposit, Tax Saving Term Deposit and Sadyanusar Jama Yojana are main services of Bangiya Gramin Vikash Bank under deposit schemes. Head office of Bangiya Gramin Vikash Bank is located at NH 34, Berhampore in Murshidabad (West Bengal). http://www.bgvb.co.in/ is the official website of Bangiya Gramin Vikash Bank. You can get latest information regarding recruitment, loans, interest rates, savaging accounts, results, new schemes and other services visiting official website of BGVB.

National Plan of Action to Improve Child Sex Ratio

Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development held consultations to formulate a National Plan of Action to Improve the Child Sex Ratio. The Minister said that declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR), in its present nature and scale, is a cause of urgency and concern. She stated that child sex ratio is a powerful indicator of the social response and attitude towards the girl child. The Minister stated that while certain States have consistently shown low number of women population like Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. There are as many as 119 districts with CSR lower than the already low average on 914.

The districts with lowest CSR are mainly located in Northern and Western States of the country. What is even more alarming, Smt. Tirath pointed out was that the practice of prenatal sex selection spreads, the sex ratio at birth in urban areas remains far worse 898 for than for rural areas where it was 907 in 2008-10. They were of the view that there exists a grave danger of gender imbalance due to this. The spread of declining CSR in the rural areas is mainly due to easy availability of cheap sex determination machines in these areas and poor implementation of the PCPNDT Act.

UIDAI Data Center at Manesar

Chief Minister of Haryana Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda has laid the foundation stone of Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) Data Centre at Manesar, Haryana in the presence of Shri Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of UIDAI. The Data Centre is estimated to be completed by June 2014. Speaking on the occasion Shri Sharma said that the facility will come up on five acres and will be a state-of-the-art, energy efficient, captive “Green Data Center” as per global standards and guidelines. The Data Center would be equipped to provide 24X7 Monitoring and Operation Support.

To ensure uninterrupted operations of the Data Center, modular & scalable systems will be designed that would provide seamless integration to support future load expansion, even supporting 1.6 billion enrolments that are estimated by 2030. Also, the Data Centre complex shall house a building to accommodate UIDAI Biometric Centre of Competence (UBCC) and National Training Facilities of UIDAI. This building is expected to be completed by October 2014.

India is Confident to Return to Higher Growth Path: PM

Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurated the 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here today. In his inaugural address, he said that despite domestic constraints and challenges, India is confident that the strong economic fundamentals, backed by sound policies, will enable us to return to a higher growth path. This is an imperative for the country, because, India needs rapid growth and a healthy economy to meet the aspirations of an increasingly young India and make economic development more inclusive and more sustainable.

The Governemnt has taken a number of steps to boost domestic and foreign investment, accelerate project implementation and reform capital markets and the tax system. He added that among the most positive stories out of India in recent years are the acceleration in the rate of poverty reduction, stronger growth in the poorest states and improved productivity and increased real wages in our agriculture sector. This is significant, given that 65% of our population still relies on agriculture. He further said that the Government took a small first step to deliver benefits through direct transfer to beneficiaries, using the digital Aadhaar platform, which is an example of efforts to make growth more inclusive and government programmes more efficient and less vulnerable to leakages of various sorts.

Internet Emit 830 Million Tonnes of CO2 annually

The researchers from the Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications (CEET) and Bell Labs claimed that internet video and associated cloud services including Information Communication and Technology, discharge more than 830 million tonnes of Carbon Dioxide per year. This emission of the CO2 from the information and communication industry includes about 2 percent of the global CO2 emission annually and it’s expected to double nearly by 2020. The aviation industry also shares the same amount of emissions.

To control this emission, the researchers have suggested measures like development of accurate and feasible model taking into account the energy use, data traffic and CO2 production in the networks as well as use of other elements in the ICT industry. The researchers from the CEET and Bell Labs following their new models of emissions and energy consumption have suggested three key factors that would help in reduction of the CO2 emissions from the ICT industry and these are efficient usage of facilities, use of energy efficient equipment and use of renewable energy sources.

IIA to Develop World’s Largest Solar Telescope

The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore has informed about its decision to come up with world’s largest solar telescope in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. The project would commence by the end of this year and the telescope is likely to be placed at Hanle or Merak village near Pangong Lake in Ladakh. The telescope would be a two metre class, state-of-the-art National Large Solar Telescope (NLST). It’s expected that the project would complete by 2017. The project has been planned with a budget of 300 crore rupees and after installation, it would help the astrophysicists capable of practicing day and night astronomy.

This telescope would also help in filling the longitudinal gap between Europe and Japan. The telescope with its innovative design and back-end instruments would also provide crucial information on nature of magnetic fields due to its unprecedented spatial resolution. Also this telescope would help the researchers to understand the process of creation and decay of sunspots along with other fundamental processes that takes place on the surface of sun.

Current Affairs India - January 2013

Rollout of Direct Benefits Transfer started from 1 Jan 2013

A decision was taken in the meeting of the National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers held by the Prime Minister that Direct Benefit Transfers will be rolled out from 1 January 2013 in 43 identified districts. The purpose of Direct Benefits Transfer is to ensure that benefits go to individuals bank accounts electronically, cutting down delays and diversions. Government will transfer cash benefits like scholarships, pensions, NREGA wages, etc. directly to the Bank or Post Office Accounts of identified beneficiaries under the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) programme. The shift to this would done in a phased, time-bound manner after ensuring that the necessary systems are in place for Direct Benefits Transfer. Read more about this here.

Rollout of Direct Benefits Transfer in India

Rollout of Direct Benefits Transfer to begin from 1 January 2013

A decision was taken in the meeting of the National Committee on Direct Cash Transfers held by the Prime Minister that Direct Benefit Transfers will be rolled out from 1 January 2013 in 43 identified districts. The purpose of Direct Benefits Transfer is to ensure that benefits go to individuals bank accounts electronically, cutting down delays and diversions.Finance Minister P Chidambaram described the move as a "game changer" for future. Admitting there could be some unforeseen glitches in the implementation of the scheme, Chidambaram said these would be overcome and the government was confident to roll it out across the country by the end of 2013.

About Intelligence Bureau

SSC Combined Graduate Level EXam Notification 2013

About Tata Consultancy Services

About CONCOR

About Institute of Banking Personnel Selection

About Bangiya Gramin Vikash Bank

Rollout of Direct Benefits Transfer started from 1 Jan 2013

Rollout of Direct Benefits Transfer to begin from 1 January 2013

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