National Sports Awards

• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports.
• Arjuna Award - Recognises outstanding achievement in National sports.
• Dronacharya award- an award presented by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching.
• Dhyan Chand Award - India's highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and games. The award is named after the legendary Indian hockey player Dhyan Chand.
  

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna:

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (RGKR) is India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports. The words "Khel Ratna" literally mean "sports gem" in Hindi. The award is named after the late Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India. It carries a medal, a scroll of honour and a substantial cash component. Up to 2004–05, the cash component was Rs. 500,000/- (c.11,500 USD).The money has been increased from Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 750,000.

Arjuna Award:

Arjuna Awards were instituted in 1961 by the government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in National sports. The award carries a cash prize of  500,000, a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll.

Dronacharya Award:

Dronacharya Award is an award presented by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching. The award comprises a bronzestatuette of Dronacharya, a scroll of honour and a cash component of Rs.500,000. The award was instituted in 1985.

Dhyan Chand Award:

Dhyan Chand Award is India's highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and games, given by the Government of India. The award is named after the legendary Indian hockey player Dhyan Chand. The award was initiated in 2002. The award carries a cash prize of INR 5 lakh (500,000 rupees), a plaque and a scroll of honour.

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Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award

Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award for the year 2013 is awarded to Ustad Amjad Ali Khan for the outstanding work he has done in playing Sarod.


Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award is an indian award given for outstanding contributing towards bringing the communal harmony, national integration and peace. The award is initiated by All Indian Congress Commitee of the Indian National Congress to commemorate the outstanding contribution made by the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Award carries a citation and a cash price of Rs 5 Lakhs. Award is announced and given on the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, which is celebrated as Sadbhavana Diwas(Harmony Day)

Sarod

 

EC to use VVTP in Nagaland By-Poll

The Election Commision have decided to introduce the VVTP(Voter Verifiable Paper Trial) in the Electoronic Voting Machine, for the first time in Nagaland by-poll in September 4 for Noksen Assembly constitutency.
For this, an amendment was made to the "Representation of People Act, 1950".
With this enhancement, the voter can able to see the name,symbol and the serial number of the candiated voted in the print out. However, the voter is not supposed to carry the printout with them.
Chief Election Commisioner V.S. Sampath is personally supervising this Pilot Project.

T.L Shankar Committee

The commitee have recommended major reforms in the Coal Sector

Prem Bhatia Award - Award for journalist

The PREM BHATIA MEMORIAL AWARD is presented to Shalini Singh of The Hindu for Best Political Reporting of the year  on 11th August 2013.

Important Questions

1. With reference to Indian History the members of the constituent assembly from the provinces were

(CSPE 2013)
 a. directly elected by the people of those provinces
 b. nominated by the indian national congress and the muslim league
 c. elected by the provincial legislative assemblies
 d. selected by the government for their expertise in constitutional matters

Answer : elected by the provincial legislative assemblies

  First day (December 9, 1946) of the Constituent Assembly. From right: B. G. Kher
         and Sardar Vallabhai Patel; K. M. Munshi is seated behind Patel

 

Important Questions

1. Consider the following
 a. Star Tortoise
 b. Monitor Lizard
 c. Pygmy hog
 d. Spider Monkey

Which of the above are naturally found in india? (CSPE 2013)

Answer : Star Tortoise, Monitor Lizard and Pigmy Hog

Note : Actually, pigmy hog is an endangered species found in India, Nepal and Bhutan, But now it is found only in Assam











Monitor Lizard




Spider Monkey
 





Pygmy Hog







 



Important questions

1. Which of the following can be found as pollutant in the drinking water in some parts of India? (CSPE 2013)

1. Arsenic
2. Sorbitol
3. Fluoride
4. Formaldehyde
5. Uranium

Ans : Arsenic and Fluoride
 

Inland National Hobie championships

M. Girish and Kaushal Kumar Yadav won the National hobie 16 championship

The pupils had outdone their pedagogues! Kaushal Kumar Yadav and Girish Mailapravan, with 21 points, eclipsed their mentors Kalaga Yakobu and Rajeev Kumar (28) to clinch the crown in the Inland National Hobie championships that concluded at the Hussain Sagar on Wednesday.

With this triumph, the successful pairs made it a one-two for the Artillery Water Sports Association (AWSA), also the host.

Kaushal and Girish proved a ‘golden combination’ during the Visakhapatnam Coastal Nationals and last year the pair finished third at this very venue.

World Badminton Championship - Bronze medal for P.V Sindhu

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu's giant-killing run came to an end in the World Badminton Championship in Guangzhou, China on Saturday. In an one-sided semifinal, Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon demolished her Indian opponent 21-10, 21-3 in just 35 minutes. Ratchanok is the first Thailand shuttler ever to enter the final of a world championship. She will now clash with top-seed Chinese Li Xuerui.

Sindhu had already scripted history on Friday when she upset former world No. 1 Wang Shixian 21-18, 21-16 in the quarterfinals. She became the first Indian woman ever to win a singles bronze at WBC. The only other Indian to win a world bronze was Prakash Padukone in 1983. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa had won a doubles bronze in 2011 at Wembley

demolished her Indian opponent 21-10, 21-3 in just 35 minutes. Ratchanok is the first Thailand shuttler ever to enter the final of a world championship. She will now clash with top-seed Chinese Li Xuerui.

Tenth-seeded Sindhu was the tournament's giant-killer. The 18-year-old from Hyderabad was the competition's 10th seed but en route to Saturday's semis, surprised higher ranked Chinese opponents like sixth seed Wang Shixian and second seed Wang Yihan. But Saturday proved to be an anti-climax as a defensive Sindhu failed to push Ratchanok at any stage of their 35-minute contest.

Nuclear Reactor activated in INS Arihant

INS Arihant (meaning "Slayer of Enemies") (S-73) is the lead ship of India's Arihant class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. The 6,000 tonne vessel was built under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project at the Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam.

In a major step towards completing its nuclear triad, India activated the atomic reactor on-board the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant paving the way for its operational deployment by the Navy.

After the nuclear reactor is activated, the agencies concerned can work towards readying the warship for operational deployments soon. INS Arihant has been undergoing trials at Navy’s key submarine base in Vishakhapatnam and would be launched for sea trials soon since the nuclear reactor has gone critical.

The advantage of nuclear reactor enabled submarine is that, it is no more expected to fill its fuel often, for which it has to come to the surface of the water.

New Governor for Reserve Bank of India

Raghuram Govinda Rajan : (born 3 February 1963) is an American economist who has been appointed the next Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He also serves as Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. Rajan is also a visiting professor for the World Bank, Federal Reserve Board, and Swedish Parliamentary Commission. He formerly served as the president of the American Finance Association and was the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Rajan's previous work with the Indian government includes his helmsmanship of a Planning Commission-appointed committee on financial reforms, and as honorary economic adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He has been appointed as the next (23rd) Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on 6th of Aug, 2013 for a term of three years and will take over from Dr. D Subbarao, whose five year term completes on September 4, 2013.

Major Rivers of India

Ganges River System:

The major rivers in this system are (in order of merging, from west to east)

River	Basic Information	States benefitted	Dams
Yamuna	Starting from Mansarovar Lake in Tibet	Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, passing by Himachal Pradesh and later Delhi	Rana Pratap sagar dam
Ganges	Starting from Mansarovar Lake in Tibet	Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, passing by Himachal Pradesh and later Delhi	Rana Pratap sagar dam

The Peninsular River System:

The main water divide in peninsular rivers is formed by the Western Ghats, which run from north to south close to the western coast. Most of the major rivers of the peninsula such as the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri flow eastwards and drain into the Bay of Bengal. These rivers make delta at their mouth. The Narmada and Tapti are the only long rivers, which flow west and make estuaries.

Civil Service Prelims Results 2013

Civil Service Prelims Results 2013 has been announced yesterday.
Please refer to the following link :

http://www.upsc.gov.in/exams/written-results/csp/2013/idx&prnote.htm#PageTop

Book by Sanjay Pinto : Speakers are not made but born

Speakers are not made but born:

Journalist-columnist, TV anchor and advocate Sanjay Pinto, a resident of Abhiramapuram had his book ‘Speakers are Made Not Born’ released on July 21 at Don Bosco school campus, Egmore.
The book is on public speaking and gives the reader extended tips on how to master this skill.
The chief guest was Jennifer Mcintyre, US consul general. Also on stage were personalities like Ms YGP, head of the PSBB Group of School and Meena Muthiah of the Chettinad Vidyashram and associated group of institutions. The guests included some VIPs like the Director General of Police of Tamil Nadu and senior police officers

“The book is an essence of Sanjay Pinto’s experience of 22 years as a public speaker. It has 14 practical steps to master this art – like overcoming stage fright, opening with a bang, writing a speech, body language, voice modulation, homour and punchlines, timing, extempore speeches and so on,” says Joshua Madan, the COO of Covenant Media and the publisher of this book.
The book is priced at Rs.300 and is now available at the Covenant Media Office – F-1, First Floor, Mookambika Complex and at all Landmark stores across India. For autographed copies, call 9952705555 or e mail:sales@covenantmedia.co.in.

Bharat Ratna Award:

Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India or Gem of India in English) is the Republic of India's highest civilian award, for performance of highest order in any field of human endeavour.
Any person without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex is eligible for the award. However the recommendations for Bharat Ratna are to be made by the Prime Minister of India to the President of India.
The holders of the Bharat Ratna rank 7th in the Indian order of precedence; however they do not carry any special title nor any other honorifics

Food Security Bill

Food Security Bill

 

The Food Security Bill is a bill for consideration before the Government of India. The bill aims to provide subsidised foodgrain to around 67 percent of India's 1.2 billion people

The ordinance on Food Security Bill was signed by President Pranab Mukherjee on July 5, with the aim of providing foodgrains every month to nation's two-third population at highly subsidized rates.
 

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the Food Security Bill will address the problems of hunger and malnutrition and it will be the first issue to be discussed in the monsoon session of Parliament.

Addressing a press conference here, Chidambaram said all political parties who believed that hunger and malnutrition should be addressed will support the bill.

He further said that almost all state governments are ready to implement food security.

Replying to a query on the need for issuing an ordinance, Chidambaram said the same was promulgated only after consulting the opposition. He also said that the BJP was not speaking in one voice on food security.

The ordinance on Food Security Bill was signed by President Pranab Mukherjee on July 5, with the aim of providing foodgrains every month to nation’s two-third population at highly subsidized rates.

Political parties have sharply criticized the promulgation of the Ordinance, calling it undemocratic and demanding that the Food Security Bill should be debated in both Houses before being passed.

The Food Security programme when implemented will be the biggest in the world with the government spending estimated at one lakh 25 thousand crore rupees annually.

The Food Security Bill was tabled during the Budget Session of Parliament, but could not be taken up for discussion because of opposition-led disruptions of proceedings arising out of scam-related allegations.

The Food Security Bill is aimed at giving legal rights to 67 percent of the population for a uniform quantity of 5 kg food grains at a fixed price of Rs 1-3 per kg through ration shops.