2

INTERNATIONAL Youngest boy to make a solo voyage across the

Atlantic .......................................... Michael Perham

New Prime Minister of South Korea.....Handuck Soo

New President of Mexico ................ Felipe Calderon

Former Iraqi President who was executed on December30, 2006 Baghdad for Dujail KillingsSaddam Hussein

The Author of the book Matisse: The Master ..........

....................................................... Hilary Spurling

International Rice Conference 2006 was held at ........

................................................................ New Delhi

New king of Bhutan ............... Namgyel Wangchuck

First woman President of Harvard University ...........

.................................................... Drew Gilpin Faust

First Socialist Member in US Senate ........ BernieSanders

Fifa World Player of the year 2006 ............ FabioCannavare (Italy)

Nagorik Shakthi (citizen’s power) new political partylaunched by ................................................................................................................. Muhammad Yunus

New President of Turkmenistan ................................

........................... Gurbanguly Berdy Mukha Medov

The Indian got Guzi Peace Prize 2006 . Ramjetmalani

Golden Pen Honour in 2007 ....................Shi Thavok

Winner of Golf World Cup 2006 ................. Germany

World’s Highest Railway ..... Qinghai-Tibet Railway

(Golmund city in northwest China’s Qinghani Province)

World Largest Dam ...........Three Gorges in China’s

(Hu bei Province)

Africas First elected Woman head of state ...............

Ms. Ellen Jhonson sir leaf (Liberia’s new President)

Indian Diplomat Vijay Nambiar has been appointedUnder Secretary General of U.N. Secretary.

Britain’s first ever woman foreign Secretary .............

....................................................... Margaret Beckt

World Economic Forum 2006 meeting was held atDavos

CURRENT AFFAIRS

Chineese PresidentHujintao

Astro - F The orbitingteliscope has been nicknamed Akari whichmeans light make a 3- DMap of the Universe.

Shilpashetty :B o l l y w o o d s t a rShilpashetty has beencrowned the winner ofBritish reality televisionshow celebrity bigbrother.

Amitabh Mattoo :Jammu University ViceChancellor Amitabh

VladmirputinRussian President. He was the chief guest

at the Indian Republic Daycelebrations 2007

3

Mattoo has been elected to the International councilof Pugwash which is the highest decision making bodyof the Nobel Peace Prize of the non-governmentalorganization.

ICSI President Preeti Malhotra was elected the firstwoman president of the Institute of companysecretaries of India.

Sidney Sheldon : Oscar winning Holy wood screenwriter who went to becomes one of the world’s mostprolific novelist died.

New version of microsoft personal computer operatingsystem : Vista

The first Indian to go to both the north and SouthPoles : Ajeet Bajaj

First Scientific Cinema : A Trip to Moon

First Cartoon Cinema : Popay the sailor World’s deepest submarine

Russia has built the world’s deepest and most silentnuclear submarine,Losharik.

Seven countries join NATOSeven new members joined NATO (North AtlanticTreaty Organisation) increasing the alliance’smembership from 19 to 26. The new members areBulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakiaand Slovenia.

Vladimir Putin - President to Russia Prime Minister of Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapakse

Susilo Yudhoyano : President of Indonesia South Korea - Decision to build new Capital

South Korea will build a new administrative capital inChungcheongnamdo province in 2007.

Longest Tunnel in AsiaThe Tata Hydroelectric project which involves theconstruction of one of the longest tunnel in Asia isunder construction on river Wangdhu, in south CentralBhutan. The 1020 mw power project - more than halfof which is being funded by India is expected totransform country’s economic health.

ASEAN Regional forum Membership to PakistanPakistan has been admitted as the 24th member to theASEAN’s (Association of South East Asian Nations)regional forum (ARF). India is already a member of ARF.

Freedom TowerFreedom Tower is the new building being constructedat the site of destructed WTC tower in New York,America. This would become the largest and tallesttower after its construction. The building is designedby world famous architects Daniel Liberkind and DavidChildes.

German ChancellorAngela Merkel (Conservative party) was

elected as Germany’s first women chancellor

Hilary rothanclinton (USA)Democratic

senatar took thefirst step toward a

2008 whiteHousebid

Dark MatterThe strange substance that is believed to comprise mostof the cosmos darkmatter which cannot be detecteddirectly, because it doesnot emit or reflect light orradiation.

Zimbabwe quits CommonwealthZimbabwe quits from Commonwealth in protest ofCommonwealth’s decision to extend its suspension.Zimbabwe was suspended due to the allegations of alarge scale rigging in 2002 presidential elections andracial oppression of political opponents.Presently there are 53 members in the Commonwealth.

4

Queen Mary - 2World’s largest journey ship Queen mary - 2 made itsfirst voyage from Southampton (England) to Florida.

Edinburgh : City of LiteratureEdinburgh the capital of Scotland and venue of UnitedKingdom’s biggest annual literary festival has beendeclared the world’s first “City of Literature” byUNESCO in recognition of its contribution to the booksand the arts.

‘Scramjet’ makes historic flight‘Scramjet’ a jet aircraft developed by the NASA of theUS, made it to the record books by reaching speeds ofalmost 11,300 km/hr. The 3.6m long X-43A Scramjet(Supersonic Combustion ramjet) flew on its own powerfor 10 seconds.

World’s first artificial heartThe united states gave approval for the world’s firstaritifical heart made by the private company nameSyncardia systems Inc. The equipment called ‘Cardiowest total heart’ will keep alive patients on the vergeof death while they wait for live organs to becomeavailable for transplants.

Fastest super computerThe NASA, the space agency of US, unveiled theworld’s fastest supercomputer named ‘ProjectColumbia’. It is built in honour of the seven crewmembers of the columbia spacecraft that crashed in2003, can perform about 43 trillion computations persecond.

Tsunami disasterOn December 26, 2004 an earthquake measuring 8.9was formed in the sea at Aceh province in Sumatra. Itdeveloped disastrous tsunami waves which hit on thecoast of India, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka,Maldives etc.

First political party in the Gulf regionA political party named ‘Umma’ was formed for thefirst time in Kuwait.

Superjumbo Airbus A 380World’s biggest passenger plane, Superjumbo AirbusA 380, is displayed in a ceremony at the BlagnacAirbus production plant near Toulouse (France).

Pretoria RenamedSouth Africa’s capitals’ Pretoria renamed as Tshwaneon March 7, 2005.

World’s Safest cityLuxembourg is the world’s safest city and Baghdad,the most dangerous, while Geneva and Zurich ranktop for overall quality of life, according to a surveyconducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

New Pope - Benedict XVICardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany is elected the265thy Pope of the world on April 19, 2005 assumingthe name, PoPe Benedict XVI.

First black Chief Justice of South AfricaPius Langa, a lawyer who defended victims ofapartheid repression, is named as South Afirca’s firstblack Chief Justice.

58th Cannes Film FestivalPalme d’Or Prize for Best Film: L’Enfant (meaning TheChild).Best Actor: Tommy Lee JonesBest Actress: Hanna Laslo

2006 World Social Forum was held at - Karachi Most outstanding athelete of common wealth games

2006 - Samaresh Jung 2006 Arab League Summit held at - Khartoum (Capital

of Sudan)

Term ofAmericanPresident4 Years

George W. Bush

JudgeRosalyinHiggins

The first womento have been

elected presidentof the

InternationalCourt of Justice

5

Prime Minister of Israel - Ehud Olmert World Buddhist meeting was held at - China Fair - 3 is a missile developed by - Iran 2010 commonwealth games held at New Delhi 2006 stockholm water Prize was won by - Azit Biswas

(Indian born Canadian) Nepal change in currency notes : The royal portraits

in the currency notes are going to be replaced withimages of Mt. Everest and Lord Budha.

New members of European Union - Romania andBulgaria (Present membership of European Union -27)

CNN-IBN - Man of the year 2006 : Dr. ManmohanSingh

Indian of the year of sports : Jeev Milkhasingh

Indian of the year for Social Service : Aravind Kejriwal

First Arab Minister in Israel : Raleb Majadele (FirstArab Minister in Israels. 58 year long history)

12th ASEAN summit was held at : Cebu (Philippines)

France 24 is : Frances International News Channel

The Hopman Cup 2006 won by : Russia President of Italy - Giorgio Napolitano The First man to climb Mt. Everest with artificial Legs

The book Davinci Code was written by - Dan Brown G-8 summit 2006 was held at - St. Petersberg (Russia) First (lady) speaker of British Lord House - Helan

Heimann The famous Japanese Film director who passed away

in 2006 - Shohei Imamura The new Capital of Myanmar - Pyinmana National Book critics circle Fication Award Winner -

Kiran Desai (The inheristance of Loss) 16th International Conference on AIDS was took place

in - Toronto in Canada Highest rail root in the world - Kuan hai - Tibet (The

average height of Kuanhai Tibet is 5,072 meter.Therail is between Kuanhai to Lhasa)

Prime Minister of East Timor - Jose Ramos Horta New Zealand’s Governor General - Judge

Anandsatyanand. 10th SAF Games held at - Colombo

Indian American CorporateLeader known as one of themost powerful women inthe US has been electedchair women of PEPSICO.

Indira Nooyi

- Marc Inglis (NewZealand)

Jitgil Award 2006 - Dr.Samuel Paul

2006 Lorez Awardwinner - Rojer Federer(Switzerland)This Award is knownas Sports Oscar.

World BilliardsChampion 2006 winner- Geeth Sethi

Fastest Man on Earth -Justin Gutlin

2011 World Cup Cricketwill be held in - Asia

2006 Pulitzer Prize forInternational reporting- New York Times.

Australian Prime MinisterJ.W.howard

Record of the year, Album of the yearSong of the yearDixiechicks

The most famous women music troup of America

Gramy Awards

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14th NAM Summit held at Havanna (Cuba) 15th NAM summit will be held at - Egypt 192th Member of UNO - Montenegro (The new born

country in the world) First Woman space Tourist in the world - Anoushah

Ansari of the US become the first Female SpaceTourist.

2006 UNESCO Award winner - TULF PresidentAnandasankari.

Orange Prize for fiction 2006 Award winner - LionelShriver

2006 World Cup Hockey winner - Germany The venue of SARC summit 2007 - New Delhi First Indian Bank to Open Branch in China - SBI President of Nicaragua - Daniel Ortega WHO Director General - Margaret Chan First Lady Speaker in U.S. Senate - Nancy Pelosi 8th Secretary General of UNO - Ban Ki Moon (South

Korea)

Miss World 2006 - Tatana Kucharoa (Czech Republic) Prime Minister of Japan - Shinzo Abe Winner of Man Booker Prize 2006 - Kiran Desai (The

Inheritance of Lost) 2005 Gandhi Peace Prize Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu

(Anti - apartheid compaigner and Nobel Prize laurate) Right Liveli hood Award 2006 - Ruth Manorama

(Manorama is the 11th Indian to receive RightLivelihood Award better known as Alternate Nobel).

2006 World cup Foot ball winner - Italy.(Golden Ball for Best Player) - Zindaine Zidan (France)

Golden boot for - Miraslov Klosey (Germany) Best Young Player - Luckose Pedolsky (Germany) First Goal in 2006 world cup football - Philip Lahn Le v Yashin Award for best goal Keeper - Gianluigi

Buffon. Symbol 2006 World Cup - Goleo the cub 2006 Nobel Prize for Peace - Muhammed Yunus and

Bangladesh Grameen Bank

Kiyotakaakasaka

Mr. KiyotakaAkasaka of Japan

as Under-Secretary-General for

Communicationsand Public

Information.

Jawaharlal NehruAward for

Internationalunderstanding (2005)

LuladasilvaBrazil President

Jawaharlal NehruAward for International

understanding (2004)Qaboosbin said bin

Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International understanding

Shinzo Abe

Prime Ministerof Japan

7

2006 Nobel Prize for literature Orhan Pamuk (TurkishNovelist)

Indian Ambassador in Pakistan - Satyabrata Pal Vice Chairman of B.B.C. - Chitra Berucha (Indian Born

British) Australian crocodile hunter and environmentalist who

died at the attack of Sting ray - Steve Irwin Winner of Chess classic 2006 - Viswanathan Anand ‘Peeling Onions’ was the autobiography of Gunter

Grass. Most Valuable player of Asiad - Tae Hwan - Park

(Korean Swimmer) The documentary the Tomb of Christ directed by :

James Camaroon (Director of the Titanic) Venezuelaz’s President - Hugo Chavez Grand Master Koneru Humpy - Won the gold medal

in the women’s rapid chess event at the Asian Games. India won the gold medal in the women 4 × 400 relay

event in 2006 Asiad. India’s Jaspal Rana equalled the world record in the

men’s 25m centre fire pistol event in Asiad. The winner of champions Trophy cricket Tournament

- Australia Name World’s tallest tree - Hyperion (11.5m red wood

tree) The first democratically elected President of Bulgaria

- Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov ‘The women in cages’ was written by - Vilas Sarang The new President of Congo - Joseph Kabila The First Footballer to get hatrick in the world foot

ball - Bert Patenaude

The First Woman President of Chile - MichelleBachelet.

R.A. MashelkarThe World Health Organisation (WHO) has selectedthe former Director - General of CSIR (Council ofScientific and Industrial Research), R.A. Mashelkar,as the vice-chairman of the newly constitutedinternational commission on intellectual propertyrights, innovations and public health.

Infosys chairman as advisor to Thailand PrimeMinisterN.R. Narayana Murthy, former chairman of InfosysTechnologies has been appointed as the advisor ofInformation Technology to Prime Minister of

Nobel Peace Prize 2004

Indira Gandhi PeacePrize 2006

Jawaharlal NehruAward for

Internationalunderstanding (2006)Wangarimaathai

Kashmiri poetRehman Rahihas beenchosen for theJnanpithAward for2004.

Jnanpith Award 2004Rehman Rahi

Robert AdlerWho invented Television Remote Control

8

Thailand. Paul Berenger

He became the first non-Hindu Prime Minister ofMauritius

First private space flightWorld’s first private space flight, SpaceShipOne, whichwas piloted by the South African, Michael W. Melwill,completed its successful space trip. The firstcommercial-manned space vehicle spent about one-and-a-half hours in space.

INS Trishul arrivesRussian-built, stealth-frigate, INS Trishul, equippedwith power-packed weapon system and state-of-the-art communication system, arrived in Mumbai.

K1 virus GeneK1 virus gene is involved in tumour grwoth whichcauses skin cancer, Kaposi’s sarcoma.

First Mobile Phone Virus : ‘Cabir’ Matter’s 6th form ‘Fermionic Condensate was

discovered. First private rocket

SpaceShipOne, piloted by Mike Melvill is the firstprivate rocket to take a person into space. On May 13the rocket was carried aloft by a plane called WhiteKnight, and released at an altitude of 46,000 ft.SpaceShipOne was designed by a firm called ScaledComposites run by Burt Rutan, an aircraft designer.Scaled Composites is the first private company to senda person into space.Mount Everest Scaling: Japanese mountaineerYuochiro Miura (70) is the first man to ski down theEverest.

BoliviaEvo-Morales

BrazilLula desilva

ChiliMichelle Bachelet

Latin American countries move to the left

EcuadorRafael correa

Nicaraguadaniel ortega

VenezuelaHugo chavez

Melinda GatesWorld’s most

powerful women2006

Wu yiDeputy

Prime MinisterChina

Seema SamarAfghanistanHuman Right

Commission Chief

The word of the year : PlutoedHas been choosen 2006 word of the year by theAmerican Dialect Society. To Pluto is ‘‘to demote ordevalue someone or something’’ much like whathappened to the former planet last year when the I.A.U.decided that Pluto didnot meet its definition of a planet.

9

NATIONAL 2006 Winner of Kalidas Samman .... Sonal Mansingh

Chief of Indian Air Force .....................Fali H. Major

Chief of Indian Army ......... General Deepak Kapoor

Golden Globe Award for best Feature Film ...... Babel(mexican director, Alinjandro Gonzalez Inarritu)

2007 Ranji Trophy winner ............................ Mumbai

India’s new war Machine ................................ Dhruv

The first Mangrove Reserach Centre in India ...........

.......................................................... Ayiramthengu

The Fourth country that mastered the satellite re-entrytechnology ....................................................... India

The venue of 94th science congress ...... Thanjavoor

The Magic Tourism in India started at ........... Kerala

The United Progressive Alliance declared 2007 as

............................................................... Water year

The first all women expedition to Thar DesertBachendripal (She was the first Indian Woman to climbMount Everest)

The biggest jail building in India .................................................... Tamil Nadu (known as Puzhal Prison)

The new Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands...................................................... Bhopindir Singh

The first bus service in the post ... Independence erabetween Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir and Rawalkottown in Pakistan .... Poonch - Rawalkot Bus Service

The commercial wing of the department of space -Antrix corporation

Indian remote sensing satellite - Cartosat - 2

Chattisgarh Governor : E.S.C. Narasimhan

Nagaland Governor : K. Sankaranayan

The first among the Indian Princely rulers to sign theinstrument of merger in 1949 : Maharaja ManavendraShah (Tehri Maharaja Uttarakhand)

The First district to be declared a 100% FID (Financialincluding district) in the country - Palakkad (Kerala)

In which state house tax has been abolished :Rajasthan

The present service tax rate of India : 12%

The new chairperson of central board of direct taxes :Indira Bhargava

The 10th National conference on e-goverence was heldat : Bhopal

The world’s largest green field refinery which is ownedby Reliance Industries it is on Gujarat : India

The most valued IT firm in India : TCS

New Horizons, Enduring values is the media campaingnof Indian. (Airlines)

ASIT BISWASIndian Born Canadian Stock Holm Water Prize 2006

World’s youngest International ChessMaster

Parimarjan Negi (India)

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Indian scientist who appointed by Pope Benedict XVIas a member of the prestigious Rome based PontificalAcademy sciences : K. Kasturirangan

The Best Politician for 2006 : Dr. Manmohan Singh

The fifth largest steel producer in the world : Tata Steelin India

Somnath Chatterjee – 14th Lok Sabha Speaker The Janatadal (s) leader Kumaraswami took over as

the new CM of Karnataka. Swaminathan heads the National Commission on Farmers The Gujarat Government banned smoking in public

places from May 1, 2004, the 45th foundation day ofthe State.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam became the first Indian Presidentto visit the Siachen Glacier, the world’s highestbattlefield.

17th Law Commission17th Law Commission chairman Justice M.Jagannadha Rao.N.M. Ghatate has been appointed as the Vice -Chairman of Law Commission.

Janani Suraksha YojanaCentral government launches the‘Janani SurakshaYojana’, a scheme aligned at streamlining the existingmother and child welfare programmes.

Retd. Justice M.S.A. Siddique Chairman of NationalCommission for Minority Educational Institutions.

PRATHIBHA PATELRajasthan Governor

CHIEF OF INDIAN ARMED FORCE

Gen. Deepak KapoorChief of Army

Admiral Suresh MehtaChief of Navy

Air Chief Marshal Fali H. MajorChief of Air Force

First Player to win a chess Gold in the Asian GamesPadmaShri - 2007 Arjuna Award - 2004

Asian Junior Champion

Koneru Humpy

1 1

Jeevan AnuragIt is a new LIC policy for the education of Children.

National Disaster Management AuthorityThe Union Cabinet established National DisasterManagement Authority (NDMA) under thechairmanship of the Prime Minister.

Chairperson of the National Commisson for women -Girija Vyas

Terminal in Heritage ListThe Chatrapti Shivaji Terminal in Mumbai has founda place in the World Heritage List.

National Knowledge Commission : Sam pitroda The first Prime Minister to visit Siachen the world’s

highest battlefield in J & K : Dr. Manmohan Singh Dr. Manmohan Singh honoured with Doctor of Civil

Law Oxford University, England. Doctor of civil Lawon July 8, 2005.

37th Chief Justice of India : Justice K.G. Balakrishnan(First Dalit Chief Justice of India)

Managing director of Life Insurance Corporation -Thomas Mathew

2006 Vyas Samman - Paramanand Sreevastwa(KavithaKa Arhath)

New crucier ship launched by Indian Navy - INSKolkatha.

Vice Chancellor of Allahabad University is a Malayalee.He was known as Father of White revolution in Indiahis name - Dr. Varghese Kurian

Largest University in the world Indira Gandhi Open

8th Chandhra Sekhara Saraswathy national Awardwinner - Manmohan Singh

Chairman of Press Trust of India - R. Lakshmipathy(Dinamalar)

Foreign Secretary of India - Shivasankar Menon Chairperson of Audit Bureau of Circulation - Shobhana

Bhartia Chief of Naval Staff - Vice Admiral Sureesh Mehta Gandhi Peace Prize 2006 winner - Shabana Azmi

(Actress) Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2005-2006 - Snooker

Player Pankaj Advani Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prize 2006 - Dr. K. George

Thomas (Malayalee) Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration 2005 -

Javed Akthar. The Editor of Chemeen the famous Malayalam Film

who died recently - Hrishikesh Mukherjee 10th South Asian Games women long jump gold medal

The Third Trade Route, between India and China.The Silk Route at Nathala Pass between India andChina opened after 44 years on July 6 2006. Initially opened for Five years. The way would remain open from June to September

every year. For four days

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Situated at the height of 4545 metre on China border

in Chumbi Valley, Sikkim. Nathula pass which is opened recently is in - Sikkim

border (Nathula pass (Silkroute) is an important trade pass

between India and China. This mountain pass wasclosed in 1962 after India China war)

Zubin MehtaDan David

Award 2006The second Indianwho got this award

University (IGNOU) ViceChancellor - V.N.Rajasekharan Pillai.

Chief ElectionCommissioner of India - N.Gopalaswamy

M.V. Pylee Award 2006 -V.N. Rajesekharan Pillai

Managing director of Statebank of India - Om Bhatt

The Indian engineer inAlmoid company who waskilled recentlyby Taliban -Soorya Narayana

The author of the bookFifth Estate - Ajith N.Haksar

1 2

winner - Anju Bobby George The Second Malayalee who become the Defence

Minister of India in 2006 - A.K. Antony 2006 Santhosh Trophy winner - Punjab New Indian Ambassador to China - Nirupama Rao Pakistan high commissioner to India - Shahid Malik The First Village in India to have its own website -

Hansdehar (Haryana) The first M.P. in independence India who got life

sentence recently - Shibu Soren The new name of Uttaranchal - Uttarakhand Philip Tobias Award 2006 - Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

(for his outstanding contribution to science andTechnology)

First Amrita Keerthi Puraskar instituted byAmritanandamayi Math received by Prathibha Roy.

Richest Man in India - Mukesh Ambani Central Vigilance Commissioner of India - Pratyush

Sinha First Indian to win Gold medal in 15th Asian Games -

Koneru Humpy (Chess) The Second Woman of Indian origin to go to space -

Suneetha Williams ‘Jeevan Madhur’ is a new policy of LIC. New name of Pondicherry - Puthucherry First Indian Cinema released in Internet - Vivah

(Director Suraj Bartia) U.G..C. Chairman - Dr. SukhdevThorat. India’s First Panchayat Resources Information Centre

(PRINCE) was in Thirurangadi (Malappuram) Chairman of NABARD - Y.S.P.Thorat Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission :

Montek Singh Ahluwalia Director-General of Doordarshan : Naveen Kumar N. Gopalaswami Chief Election Commissioner. Avtar Singh

Avtar Singh has been appointed as the Director-General of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

N. Srinivasan Director General of the Confederationof Indian Industry (CII).

Peter BleachThe British national, Peter Bleach, convicted in theDecember 1995 Purulia arms drop case was releasedby the Indian authorities after more than 8 years ofimprisonment.

Ratan TataThe Chairman of the Tata Group of Companies wasmade honorary economic adviser to the east Chinesecity of Hangzhou.

Justice S.N. PhukanRetired Supreme Court Judge, Justice S.N. Phukanwas appointed as the head of the commission ofenquiry to probe ‘‘Tehelka’’ expose allegingcorruption in defence deals. Late the UPA governmentwinded up the commission and transfered the case ofCBI.

N.N. VohraFormer Home Secretary, N.N. Vohra has beenappointed as central interlocutor to hold discussionswith all sections of J & K replaced K.C. Pant.

K.J. Udeshi is the first woman Deputy Governor ofReserve Bank of India (RBI)

Dola BanerjeeIndia’s sharp archer Dola Banerjee creates history bywinning gold medal at the Golden Arrow Grand Prixin Twikey, thus becoming country’s first gold medalistin archery at international level.

GoaFrom 2004 Goa became the permanent venue ofInternational Film Festival of India (IFFI)

PSLV - C 7 : Opens a new chapter in the Indian spaceresearch organisation (ISRO)’s success story. Puttingin to orbit four satellites - the cartosat - 2, space capsulerecovery equipment (SRE - I) Indonesia’s Lapan :Tubsat and Argentina’s nano satellite, Pehuensat - 1ISRO’s remote sensing satellites are among the most

Justice V.K. BaliCentre for Administrative Tribunal Chairman

Cartosat - 2 isthe 12th in the IRSseries and is equippedwith state of the arttechnology to provideinvaluable data forapplications incartography urban andrural infrastructuredevelopment and land

and geographical information systems.

1 3

advanced civilian applications satellites in the world. Saras (VT-XSD) : India’s first 14-seater indigenous

light transport aircraft. Tejas: The indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)

is named Tejas (radiance) by the former A.B. VajpayeePrime Minister in Bangalore. It will, however, be notavailable to Indian Air Force till 2012.

Astra: The Indian missile programme reaches a newheight with the successful first ever test-firing of theAstra air-to-air missile.

Trishul: India’s most sophisticated short-rangemissile, Trishul, with a range of 500 m to 9 km, wassuccessfully test fired from a mobile launcher at theIntegrated Test Range at Chandipur on Sea in Orissa.

‘Arjun’ Tanks for ArmyThe Arjun tank is finally ready for the Indian army.The number of tanks to be produced annually will riseto 62 in 2007. Each Arjun tank costs Rs. 15 crore.

India plans third station at AntarticaIndia is set to establish it third permanent station onthe ice covered cotinent. It is temporarily named‘Bharti’.Among the major experiments to be conducted at thesite is an effort to measure the current drift of theIndian subcontinent with respect to Antartica.India’s first station – Dakshin Gangotri (1983 - 84)Second station - Maitri (1988)

Justice K. Narayana Kurup: The former Acting ChiefJustice of the Madras High Court, Justice K. Narayana

Kurup, was elected Honorary Fellow of theInternational Medical Sciences Academy inrecognition of his in-depth knowledge of medicalsciences and his judicial wisdom and for theoutstanding contributions made by him in the field ofHuman Rights, Environment, Public Health and AnimalRights.

Information TechnologyFirst Wireless Cyber Cafe: India’s first wireless cybercafe opens in BangaloreParam Padma: The nation’s most powerful supercomputer, the teraflop ‘Param Padma’, is inauguratedin Bangalore.Internet Service by Indian Railways: It becomes thefirst railways in the world to provide internet serviceon the trains.First IT University: Madhya Pradesh plans to openthe country’s maiden University on InformationTechnology, in collaboration with NIIT.

‘‘Incredible India’’With an eye to attract overseas and domestic visitors,the Union Tourism Ministry has coined ‘‘IncredibleIndia’’ as the official slogan to publicise tourist spots.

CSR 23

Ashok Chaturvedi will be the new chief ofResearch and Analysis Wing (RAW).

An officer of the Research and AnalysisService (RAS), Chaturvedi was the

front-runner for the post.

NEW CHIEF MINISTERS

Ibobisingh (Congress)Manipur

B.C.Khanduri (BJP)Uttarakhand

Prakash Singh Badal (Akali Dal)Punjab

1 4

It is the name of a new rice variety which has beendeveloped and released for alkaline soils of UP andHaryana and for coastal saline soils of Maharashtra,Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & West Bengal.

Pusa Hybrid - 8The scientists of Indian Agricultural ResearchInstitute (IARI) have developed a hybrid tomato‘‘Pusa Hybrid-8’’.

BCCI PresidentSharad Pawar was elected the president of the Boardof Control for Cricket in India.

The new Union External Minister of India - PranabMukherjee

The Indian Singer who got knight of the Legion ofHonour the highest French Civilian honour - LataMangeshkar.

World Ayurvedic conference was held in - Pune 37th International Film Festival The Old Barber

BOOKS Micro Economics : Amindyasen Eht edge of Time : M. Veerappa Moily The Barn Own’s Wondrous Capers : Saranath

Banerjee (India’s first Graphic Novelist) Indomitable spirit : A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Half of Yellow Sun : Chimmanola Ngozi The last Mughal : William Dalrymple Prattler’s Tale : Asok Mitra The name of Honour - Muktharmayi The Oxford companion to economics in India -

Kaushik Basu Mohandas: A true story of a man, his people and an

empire : Rajmohan Gandhi Prattler’s Tale : Asok Mitra The meaning of the 21st centuary a vital blue print for

ensuring our future : James Martin A view from the outside : Why good Economics works

for every one : P. Chidambaram Making Globalisation work - The next steps to global

justice : Joseph E. Stiglitz Gandhi as disciple and mentor : Thomas weber ‘A letter to a Hindu’ The famous letter to the news

paper (Free Hindustan) was written by Leo Tolstoy Walden - David Henry Thora ‘The Words’ - Autobiography of Jean Paul Sartre Living to tell the tail Autobiography written by

Gabrial Garcia Marques Living History Autobiography of Hilary Clinton

(Chinese Director - Hasi Chaoulu) won golden peacockAward.

Nandan Nilekani, Chief executive officer of InfosysTechnologies has named as Business Man of the Yearfor 2006 by Forbes Asia.

REGIONAL Nritya-Natya Puraskaram 2007 ......... Ammannoor

Madhava Chakyar

Kendra Sahitya Accademi Award 2006 .....................M.Sukumaran

Nagaland Governor - K. Sankaranarayan

The first Malayali Cricketer who became Man of theMatch ...................................................... Sreesanth

The organization who got Dr. Durgaban DeshmukhAward ............................................................. Abhya

Pallavoor Appu Marar Puraskaram 2006

Thrippakkulam Achutha Marar

Kalamandalam Appukutty Pothuval

The scientific Advisor of Kerala ...............................A. Gopalakrishnan

First Organic Village in Kerala

Udumbanoor Grama Panchayat (Kochi) First total banking state in India : Kerala Autobiography of V.S. Achuthanandan (20th Chief

Minister of Kerala) - Samaramthanne jeevitham 2006 - Rajaravivarma Award - V.S. Valiathan Upavasa Smaranakal was written by - B. Wellington Vice-Chairman of Kerala state Planning board -

Prabhat Patnaik Speaker of Kerala legislative Assembly -

K. Radhakrishnan New Managing director of CIAL - Sreeram Bhagwat The highest French award ‘‘Chevalier de la Legion

Honour’’ recently got - Captain Gopinathan Mahakavi P. Award winner (2006) -

Dr. K. AyyappaPanicker First permanent Lok Adalat will start at

Thiruvananthapuram. Chairman of Kerala Public Service Commission -

K.V. Salahuddin

1 5

Malayatoor Smaraka Novel Award - 2006 -Perumbadavam Sreedharan.

The author of a Malayalam novel ‘‘Samagamam’’ whois a well known Malayalam poetwas - ThirunelloorKarunakaran.

Lokmanya Puraskaram 2006 winner - G. Madhavan Nair(ISRO Chairman)

Second woman Chief Secretary of Kerala State - LizzyJacob

2006-Vallathol Award winner - O.N.V. Kurup 2006 Ezhuthachan Award - Kovilan 2006 Vayalar Award - Sethu 2006 Asan Puraskaram - D Vinayachandran 2006 Mathrubhumi Sahitya Puraskaram -

M. Mukundan 2006 PadmaPrabha Puruskaram - P. Valsala (Famous

Malayalam novelist) The Chief Justice of India Justice K.G.Balakrishnan

sworn high court judge of Kerala in the year- 1985 September 26

First Chithirathirunal Balaramavarma Award winner -Dr. G. Madhavan Nair

The former Indian football team captain who died in2006 in a train accident - V.P.Sathyan

The winner of Nehru Trophy boat race 2006 -Payyippad Chundan.

Chairmanof Human Rights commission - Justice N.Dinakar

Balamani Amma Award winner (2006) - Kovilan (V.V.Ayappan)

2006 Kendra Sahitya Academy Award winner - M.Sukumaran for his collection of short stories (Np-h¶NnÓ-§Ä)

Secretary of Kendra Sahitya Academy - AgraharaKrishnamoorthy.

Thelicham aims to make english learning easy wasproject launched by - Kodiyathur Grama Panchayat.

Prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize 2006 winner - ShabanaAzmi.

First E-literature Panchayat in Kerala -SreeKantapuram (Kannur)

First fully Blood Donation Panchayat in Kerala -Madikai (Kasargod)

First Model Live stock village in Kerala - Mattupetti(Idukki)

First Child Friendly Panchayat in Kerala -N e d u m b a s s e r y(Ernakulam)

First Sidha Panchayat inKerala - Chanthiroor(Alappuzha)

11th International FilmFestival of KeralaSuvarna Chakoram forTurkish Film Angels falldirected by SemithKalpanoglu andBangladeshi Film ForeverFlows by Abu Sayeed.Best Director - AsgharFarhadi (Iranian FilmMaker)

Man of Excellence Award- Rajanpillai Foundation- Sasi Taroor (UnderSecretary UNO)

One of the Kerala’sfinest lyricists, apoet of immensecalibre and aPresident’s Medal-winning filmmaker,died on February 25

P. Bhaskaran

KrisgopalakrishnanInfosys,

President & CEO5850 crores

PNC MenonShoba Developers

Chairman 5400 crores

Two Malayalees in Forbes Billioners List

Elcy GeorgeDirector of

Museum andZoo Department

Kerala. She is thefist Indian Woman tobecome the head of

the zoos

1 6

WHO IS WHOHeads of Important Offices (World) UN AND ASSOCIATED AGENCIES United Nations Secretary-General: .... Banki Moon United Nations First Deputy Secretary-General: ..

...................................................... Louise Frechette WHO Director ................................. Margaretchan Food and Agriculture Organisation, Director-Gen-

eral: ................................................... Jacques Diouf Habitat II, Secretary-General: .......... Wally N’Dow International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA)Direc-

tor-General: ......................... Mohammed El Baradei International Court of Justice (ICJ), President: ...

............................................... Miss RosalinHiggins International Labour Organisation (ILO), Director-

General: ............................................ Juan Somavia United Nations Conference on Trade and Develop-

ment (UNCTAD),Secretary General: ............................................................. Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),Director-General: .......................... Mark M. Brown

United Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganisation (UNESCO), Director-General:Koichiro Matsuura

United Nations Human Rights Committee-Chairman:Justice P.N. Bhagwati

United Nations HighCommissioner forRufugees:Antonio ManuelOliver

UNICEF, ExecutiveDirector:Miss Carol Ballami

United Nations Indus-trial DevelopmentO r g a n i s a t i o n(UNIDO),Director-General:Khandeg-K-Yumkella

United Nations Popu-lation Fund (UNFPA),Executive Director:Ms. Thoraya AhmedObaid

World Trade

Organisation (WTO), Director-General : ... PascalLamy

UN Envoy to Iraq: ................. Ashraf Jehangir Quazi

HEADS OF OTHER INTERNATIONALORGANISATIONS

African Union, Chairman: ................ Denis Sussou Amnesty International, Secretary-General: ..........

................................................. Irene Zubaida Khan ASEAN, Secretary-General: ......... Ong Keng Yong Commonwealth, Secretary-General: ... Don McKinnon Commonwealth of Learning, Director: ...................

......................................... Dr. Abdul Waheed Khan European Commission (EC), President: .................

................................... Jose Manuel Durao Barroso Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), Secretary-Gen-

eral: ............................................. Jammel Al Hujilan NATO, Secretary-General: ........George Robertson Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Chairman: ...........

............................................................. Fidel Castro Organisation of American States (OAS),Secretary

General: .................................... Jos Miguel Insulza Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Devel-

opment (OECD),Secretary-General: ........................................................................ Donald J. Johnston

Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), .. Secretary-General: ............................. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC),President: ................ Purnomo Yusgiantoro

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC),Secretary-General: ....... Alvaro Silva Calderon

George BernadShaw

The only one nobel prizefor literature and oscaraward for best script

Octavio PazMexican

Ambassador in IndiaNobel prize for Literature

winner (1990)

Aung San Suukyi :Has been selected for theNetaji Subhas Award 2007 forher unrelenting struggle torestore democracy in hercountry (Myanmar’s prodemocracy campaingner)

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SAARC, Secretary-General: ......... Chenkyab Dorji UN Under-Secretary General for Public Information:

.......................................................... Shashi Taroor

HEADS OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS World Bank, President: .................. Paul Wolfowitz Asian Development Bank (ADB), President: .........

..................................................... Haruhiko Kuroda African Development Bank (ADB), President: ......

..................................................... Donald Kaberuka International Monetary Fund (IMF), Managing Di-

rector: ............................................. Rodriego Ratto HEADS OF SPORTS BODIES

Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH), Presi-dent: ................................... Els Van Breda Vriesman

FIFA, President: ................................... Sepp Blatter International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF),

President: .......................................... Lamine Diack International Cricket Council, CEO: ... Malcolm Speed International Cricket Council, President: .............

............................................................... Percy Sone International Olympic Committee (IOC), President:

........................................................ Jacques Rogge OTHER ORGANISATIONS

Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Chairman:.................................................... Mahmoud Abbas

Palestinian National Authority, President: ................................................................ Mahmoud Abbas

South-West African People’s Organisation(SWAPO), President: .......................... Sam Nujoma

Reuters, Editor-in-Chief: ............. Geert Linnebank CPJ Chairman: ............................. David LaventholHeads of Important Offices (India) President: ............................. Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Vice-President : ............. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces : .........

............................... President (A.P.J. Abdul Kalam) Chief Justice: ................. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan Chairman, Chief of Staff Committee: .....................

............................................. Admiral Arun Prakash Chief of Army Staff :General Joginder Jaswant Singh Chief of Air Staff : ..... Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi Chief of Naval Staff: .......... Admiral Sureesh Mehta Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command: .....

.......................... Air Marshal Avinash Deodatta Joshi Chief of Service Commanded: .................................

......................................... Vice Admiral Raman Puri Attorney General of India: .. Milon Kumar Banerjee Solicitor-General of India: ..... Goolam E. Vahanvati Comptroller and Auditor General of India: ............

................................................... Vijayendra N. Kaul Speaker of the Lok Sabha: ...... Somnath Chatterjee Chief of Integrated Defence Staff: ..........................

................................................ Lt. Gen. B.S. Thakur UNION COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Dr Manmohan Singh: ...................... Prime Minister UNION CABINET MINISTERS

Shivraj Patil: ................................................... Home P. Chidambaram: ......................................... Finance A.K. Antony: ................................................ Defence Pranab Mukherjee ...................... External of Affairs Laloo Prasad: ............................................. Railways Sharad Pawar: .......................... Agriculture, Food &

Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and PublicDistribution

Arjun Singh : .......... Human Resource Development Ram Vilas Paswan: ..... Chemicals & Fertilizers; Steel Jaipal Reddy: ............................ Urban Development Sis Ram Ola: .................................................. Mines Mahavir Prasad: ..... Small Scale, Agro & Rural Industries K. Chandrasekhar Rao: .... Labour and Employment P. R. Kyndiah: .........................................................

Dr. Chitra Bharucha, anIndia - born haematologistcharges the actingchairperson of the BritishBroadcasting Corporation(BBC) becoming the firstwoman First Asian to headthe giant organisation.

The new name of Social Welfare BoardSocial Welfare Woman Development Board

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......... Tribal Affairs; Development of North East T. R. Baalu: . Road Transport & Highways, Shipping S. Vaghela: ................................................... Textiles Kamal Nath: ........................... Commerce & Industry H. R. Bhardwaj: .................................. Law & Justice Raghuvansh Prasad Singh: ........ Rural Development P. R. Dashmunshi: ....................................................

Information and Broadcasting, Parliamentary Affairs Mani Shankar Aiyar: ...............................................

...................... Youth Affairs, Sports; Panchayati Raj Meira Kumar: .......... Social Justice & Empowerment A. Raja: ................................ Environment & Forests Dayanidhi Maran: .....................................................

............. Communication & Information Technology Anbumani Ramdoss: ......... Health & Family Welfare Sushil Kumar Schinde: .................................. Power A.R. Antulay: .................................. Minority Affairs Vayalar Ravi: ...................... Overseas Indian Affairs Murli Deora: ............................................. Petoleum Ambika Soni: ........................... Tourism and Culture

Saif-u-Din Soz: .............................. Water Resources

Santhosh Mohan Dev: .................... Heavy Industries

Prem Das Gupta: ........................... Company Affairs

Kapil Sibal: ........................ Science and Technology

INDIA’S PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVES TO UNAGENCIES

Permanent Representative to UN: ........ Nirupam Sen

Permanent Representative to UN Conference onDisarmament: ...................................... Rakesh Sood

U.N. Civilian Police Advisor for the Department of

Peace-keeping Operations: ..................... Kiran Bedi

ADVISERS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India:.................................................... Dr Rakesh Mohan

National Security Adviser: ............. M.K. Narayanan

Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister .............:............................................................ M. Natarajan

Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of

India: ............................................... R. Chidambaram

Chief Adviser to the Finance Minister: ..................................................................... Parthasarathi Shome

ARTS AND CULTURE

Bharathiya Jnanpith President: ................ Indu Jain

Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, President:............................................................ L.M. Singhvi

Sahitya Academy, Chairman: ..... Gopichand Narang

Sahitya Academy, Secretary: ...... K. Sachidanandan

Sahitya Academy, Vice Chairman: ......................................................................... Sunil Gangopadhyaya

Sangeet Natak Academy, Chairperson: ....................................................................... Ram Nivas Mirdha

Lalitkala Academy, Chairman: ............ R.B. Bhaskar

FILM

Central Board of Film Certification, Chairperson: ......................................................... Sharmila Tagore

Children’s Films Society of India, Chairperson: ...................................................................... Nafisa Ali

National Film Development Corporation, Chairman:.................................................... Manmohan Shetty

National Film Development Corporation, Director:.................................................... D.Mukhopadhyay

The first Indian to be awardedThe David Dixon Award

JungsamareshIndian Sharp Shooter

1 9

Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Chairman:................................................ U.R. Ananthamurthy

COMMUNICATIONS

All India Radio, Director-General: ..... Brideswar Singh

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Chairman: .. A.K. Sinha

Doordarshan, Director General: ...... Naveen Kumar

Indian Broadcasting Foundation, President: ................................................................. Rajiv Rattan Shah

Prasar Bharati, Chief Executive Officer: K.S. Sarma

Prasar Bharati, Chairman: ............ Brideswar Singh

Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Chairman: .. Ratan Tata

Mahanagar Telephones Nigam Ltd, Chairman: ..................................................................... R.S.P. Sinha

Telecom Commission, Chairman: .......... Anil Kumar

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Chairperson:........................................................... Pradeep Baijal

EDUCATION AND RELATED FIELDS

All India Council for Technical Education, Chairman:.................................................... Dr S. Rame Gowda

Central Board of Secondary Education, Chairman: ......................................................... Ashok Ganguly

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU),

Vice-Chancellor: .................. V.N.Rajasekharan Pillai

National Book Trust, Chairman: ..... Biban Chandra

National Council of Educational Research andTraining (NCERT),Director: ...... Prof. Krishnakumar

National Literacy Mission, Chairman: ....................................................................... Bhaskar Chatterjee

National Law University, Vice-Chancellor: .......................................................................... Dr N.L. Mitra

National University of Judicial Sciences,Vice-Chancellor: ...................... Dr N.R. Madhava Menon

National University for Advanced Legal Studies,

Vice-Chancellor: ...................Dr Sripad Ganap Bhatt

University Grants Commission (UGC), Chairman: ........................................................ Sukhdev Thorat

Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Chairman:...................................................... Gurbachan Jagat

Staff Selection Commission, Chairman:B.K. Mishra

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Director-General: .......................................... Gauri Chatterjee

National Commission for Minority Educational

Institutions, Chairman: ............................................

WOMAN CHIEF MINISTERS OF INDIA

Sucheta-kripalani Nandini satpathy Syeda AnvaraThaymoor

JanakiRamachandran

Rajinder kaurBhattal Sushmaswaraj

Mayavati Umabharati Rabridevi Vasundhura raje Sheeladixit Jayalitha

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............................... Justice (Retd.) M.S.A. Siddique

National Knowledge Commission, Chairman: ....................................................................... Sam Pitroda

NAAC, Chairman ....................... Govardhan Mehta

PARLIAMENT

Lok Sabha Speaker: .................. Somnath Chatterjee

Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker: .. Charanjit Singh Atwal

Lok Sabha Secretary General: ........... P.D.T. Achari

Rajya Sabha Chairman: ...................B.S. Shekhawat

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman: ..... K Rahman Khan

Rajya Sabha Secretary-General: .. Yogendra Narain

National Advisory Council Chairperson: ............................................................................. Sonia Gandhi

Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha): . L.K. Advani

Leader of the Opposition (Rajya Sabha): ............................................................................ Jaswant Singh

Inter-State Council, Secretary: .......... Kamal Pande

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson: ............................................................................ Dilip Sinha

PLANNING

Planning Commission, Chairman: .................................................... Dr Manmohan Singh (PM of India)

Planning Commission, Deputy Chairman: ....................................................... Montek Singh Ahluwalia

SOCIAL WELFARE

Central Social Welfare Board, Chairperson: ......................................................................... Rajani Patel

National Human Rights Commission, Chairman: ..................................................... Justice A.S. Anand

National Commission for the Socially andEconomicallyBackward Sections among the Religiousand Linguistic Minorities, Chairperson: .......................................................... Justice Ranganath Misra

National Commission for Scheduled Castes,Chairman: ............................................... Suraj Bhan

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes,Chairman: ......................................... Kunwar Singh

National Commisison for Backward Classes,

Chairman: ............................. Justice Shyam Sunder

National Commission on Labour, Chairman: ................................................................... Ravindra Verma

National Commission for Women, Chairperson: ..................................................................... Girija Vyas

Public Enterprises Selection Board, Chairman: .................................................... R.S.S.L.N. Bhaskardu

Central Information Commission, ChiefCommissioner: .......................... Wajahat Habibullah

SPACE

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),Chairman: ................................... G. Madhavan Nair

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Director: ............................................................... B.N. Suresh

Space Commission, Chairman: ... G. Madhavan Nair

Atomic Energy Commission, Chairman: ........................................................................... Anil Kakodkar

Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Chairman: ....................................................................... S.K. Sharma

Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Director:............................................................... S. Banerjee

HEADS OF SCIENTIFIC ORGANISATION

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),

Director General: ............................ R.A. Mashelkar

Indian Council of Medical Research, Director General:............................................. Nirmal Kumar Ganguly

Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR),

Chairman: .................................... V.R. Panchamukhi

ELECTION AND CENSUS BODIES

Chief Election Commissioner: ...... N. Gopalaswamy

Registrar General and Census Commissioner: .................................................... Devendra Kumar Sikri

2 1

Who directed the fillm Farenheit 9/11Michel Moore

14th NAM Summit was held at Havana, Cuba onSeptember 2006

Don’t Desert DrylandsTheme of 2006 World Environment Day June 5, 2006

India has decided to join us backed Turkmenistan -Afghanistan - Pakistan gas pipe line project.

This comes in the back drop of the difficulties overthe Iran Pakistan - India gas pipeline project whichUSA opposses.

Morapi Volcano is situated in ........Indonasia

Steve Fosset : The us aviator created record for thelongest non-stop flight in terms of distance in theworld. A three day odyssey around the world inFebruary 2006.

In 1995 Foesset became the first person ever to flyaround the world solo.

2009 - International year of Natural Fibre Who travels in US Air Force one

US President. It is his official plane. How Dan Brown and Ron Howard are related to The

Da Vinci Code?Dan Brown is the author of the novel The Da VinciCode and Ron Howard is the director of the film by thesame name.

Who directed the film Namesake?Mira Nair it is based on Jhumpa Kahiri’s novel by thesame name. Salam Bombay, Mansoon Wedding,Kamasuthra are Mira’s well known films. Gangster M.Dis her newest film.

What is Scorpene?Franco-Spanish submarines. India has decided to buysix of them.

Who is known as Balkan Butchur?Slobodan Milosevic. He passed away in 2006 whileundergoing trial in prison for human right violationwhile he was the president of Yogoslavia. He is alsoknown as Balkan Hitlor.

Who is Britney Spears?British Pop Singer

UNIFEM: United Nations Development Fund forwomen.

Which political party won in the Palestinian election

in 2006?Hamas. It was formed in 1987.

EEC : Eurasian Economic Community Uzhekistan hasbecome the 6th Member of EEC Lending newmomentum to Russia pushed reintegration process inthe former Soviet Union. The five year old EECMembers are Russia, Belarus, Kazakhastan,Kyrgyzthan, Jajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The first Indian president to visit MyanmarDr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

What significant development took place in India-China relations on July 6, 2006.

India and China resumed boarder trade throughNathula Pass which opened on July 6, 2006.The pass was closed in 1962 due to Indo China War.

Capital of Solaman IslandsHoniara (Australian peace keeper has restored calmafter the civil strike in the country)

What is Freedom of the SeasWorld’s largest cruise liner at present. It is owned byRoyal Carribian International , the Norweigian -American Firm.

ISRO signed momorandum of understanding withNASA for Indian unmanned moon missionChandrayan - I scheduled in 2008.

What is BIMSTEC?Bay of Bengal initiative for Multi Sectoral Economicand Technical co-operation. It is a seven nationgrouping. The members are Bengladesh, India,Myammar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. Itssecond summit was held on February 8, 2007 in India.

2 2

Who is the Chief Minister of Jammu &” Kashmir?Gulam Nabi Azad (Congress - I)

Justice N.P. Singh is the Chairman of cavery waterdispute Tribunnal

Range of Agni - III is 3000 km NFDB - Nartional Fisheries Development Board was

set up to achieve the objective of Blue Revolution in2006. Its headquarters is Hyderabad.

The top 5 software service exporters from India are(1) Tata Consultancy Ltd(2) Inforzys Technology Ltd.(3) WIPRO Technologies Ltd - Asim Premji(4) Satyam Computers Services Ltd(5) HCC Technologies Ltd - Siva Nadar

R.S. Pathak commission enquired oil - for food scamand the involvement of Indians.

INCOIS - Indian National centre for ocean Informationsystems. It Hyderabad based Tsunami warning systembeing set up in India. It is setting up 12 ocean stationin the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea to detect anyabnormal ocean behaviour and alert the public.

RFSA - Russian Federal Space Agency USA : NASA : RUSSIA : ..........

Ans : RFSA Name Asia’s largest IT service firm

Ans: TCS (Tata consultancy Ltd) Which is the oddman out

(a) Ranbaxy (b) Dr. Reddys (c) Nicholas Piramal (d)Cipla (e) Biocon (f) WIPROAns : (e) WIPRO. All others are Indian pharamasuticalcompanies.

Why did centre government rejected M.K. Mukherjeecommittee’s finding in 2006?

M.K. Mukherjee committee which enquired thedisappearance of Nethaji concluded that he didn’t diein aircrash. It hurt the feeling of his family and followers.So the government rejected it.

Shah Nawas committee in 1950 and Justice GD. KhoslaCommittee in 1970’s also inquirred the disappearanceof Nethaji.

Palance on Wheels : Rajasthan :Luxuary on Train : .............Ans : KarnatakaWhile the palance on wheels is a special train runs in

Rajasthan to promote tourism luxuary on train is anew train to promote tourism in Karnataka.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam became the first president to travelunder sea in a submarine. He boarded INSSindhurakshak and undertook 3.30 hours under waterjourney.

India’s fastest train.Shatabdi Express which run between New Delhi -Bhopal broke 150 km/hour record on February 15, 2006.

What is Alang famous for?Ship breaking business. The place known as graveyardof ships is in Gujarath.

The notorious toxic French ship Clemansan wasintented to come to Alang for ship breaking. But theGreen peace alerted the Indian’s about the toxicsubstance in the ship and threat it poses toenvironment and government interwened to call backthe ship to France.

What happened to BSE sensex on February 6, 2006?BSE Sensex clossed 10000 Mark

Dow Jones - New York Stock Exchange Nikkei - Japaneese Stock Exchange Hang Seng - Hong Kong Stock Exchange Toranto - Cannadian Stock Exchange Bovespa - Brasilian Stock Exchange India eliminated leprosy as on December 31, 2005. Less

than one case per 10000 population is globally acceptedlevel of climination. As on December 31, 2005 theleprosy Pre valence rate stood at 0.95 cases for 10000population in India. The cases of leprosy in India is1.07 lakh.

National Leprosy Control Programme was initiated in1955.

January 29 : National Newspapers Day. It was onJanuary 29, 1780 India’s first newspaper Hicky’sGazzette (Bengal Guzette) started publication incalcutta.

NREGA : National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.The Act guarantee to provide 100 days employmentto job seeks belong to rural areas living below povertyline. Intially the scheme will be implemented in 200selected districts in India. It includes Palakkad andWayanad from Kerala.

SEZ Act : Special Economic Zone Act defines rulesand regulations for setting up special economic zonesin India came into effert on February 10, 2006.

Which is India’s largest oil refinery - Reliance Refinery

2 3

at Jamnagar in Gujarath. A Severe fire broke out herein october 2005.

NTT : National Tax Tribunal through an executive orderthe centre has set up NTT on January 6, 2006.

G.T. Nanavati & K.G. Shah enquiry commission probingthe Godhra Train Carnage in Gujarath.

Dr. Rangarajan Committee : Petroleum Pricing

Kerala Government year of Medical Tourism - 2006 Who conducted Marad Judicial enquiary

Thomas P. Joseph The well known writer in Kerala who donated 17 cents

of land to Kerala Sahithya AccademiKamala Suraiyya

Dr. Mohan Joseph Committee is related toTrolling ban in Kerala

The height of water in Mullapperiyar Dam?136 feet (Tamil Nadu demands to rise the level to 142ft)

tIc-f-¯nse F{Xm-as¯ apJy-a-{´n-bmWv hn.-F-kv.ANyp-Xm-\-µ³

20-þm-as¯ apJy-a{´n

Latest Books & Authors

How Opal Mehta Got Kissed,Got wild and Got a LifeKaavya Viswanathan

Epic of Shivaji : James Kaine He is also the author of Shivaji :

The Hindu King in Islamic India The Algibra of Infinit Justice

Arunthathi Ray Critical Mass : Philip Ball HcÑsâ HmÀ½-Ip-dn-¸p-IÄ :

s{]m^. Sn.-hn. Cu¨-c-hm-cyÀ

\ocm-gn-¡-¸pdw : R. Sreelekh We Need Talk About Kevin : Lionel Shriver

The book won 2005 Orange Prize March : Geraldine Brooks.

The Novel won 2006 pulitzer prize for fiction.

2 4

Mahajan Commission : Studied about the boundarydispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra. Itsubmitted its report in 1967 and said that Belgaum ispart A Karnataka. Maharasshtra rejected the reportwhich Karanataka favours its.In 2006 Karnataka assembly session was held atBelguam for the first time outside Banglore to sendthe signal that Belguam is an integral part of Karnataka.

Justice B.N. Sreekrishna is the Chairman of Sixth PayCommission.

Which are the Public Sector companies centralgovernment decided to put hold disinvestment in 2006.

Neyvelli lignate corporation (NLC) and NationalAluminium Company (NALCO)

Earlier cabinet committee on Economic Affairs hadapproved to disinvest 10% government state in NLCand NALCO. The government withdraw the step dueto opposition from left and particularly from DMK.

Who has been named the most powerful businesswomen by Fortune Magazine and Forbes Magazine in2006.

Indra Nooyi. She is presently the CEO (Chief ExecutiveOfficer) and Chairman of PEPSICO

Garib Rath aimed to provide airconditioned comfort tothe poor at subsidised fares was introduced in 2006.The first train runs Saharsa (Bihar) to Amritsar inPunjab.

DFC: Dedicated Freight corridor. Prime Minister laidfoundation stone of Rs 11,446 crore DFC projectbetween Mumbai and Delhi to boost business in theregion. 1469 km DFC carry contained traffic betweenMumbai and Delhi.

Who directed the film BlackSanjay Leela Bhansali

125 female police officers of Rapid Action Force (RAF)to assist UN peace keeping operation in Liberia, AfricaRAF is a sub division of CRPF.

FDI is foreign Direct Investment. FDI flow to India issteadly accellorating.FDI flow to Indiain 2005-2006 $8.3 billionin 2006-07 (projected) - $12 billionBut campared to China it is meagle. FDI to China.(2005-06) - $ 80 billion(2006-07) Projected - $ 87 billion

According to RBI, India has received $ 50.1 billion FDIsince 1991 of which $ 16 billion or 32% has come sinceApril 2004. FDI flow shows a health trend in India.

What is Barak - 1Barak 1 is antimissile defence system India acquired from

Israel. Phalcon AWACS also belong to Israel. Medha Patkar : NBA : Ela Bhatt : ......

Ans : SEWA (Self employed women’s Association)NBA is Naramade Bachao Antholan.

Right livelihood Award 2006 was won by .......Ans: Dr. Ruth Manorama. She is a social workerupholding the cause of the Dalith Women.

In 1984 Ela Bhatt, in 1993 Vandana Shiva and in 1991Medha Patkar also won Right Livelihood Award.

What is the new name of Geojith companyAns : Geojith BNP Paribas.

2009 : International Astronomical Union (IAU) hasdesignated 2009 as. International year of Astronomy.

Milk production in India at present is 95 million tonnein 2006-07. Per capita milk consumption in Indai is 232grams. The world average is 265 grams. Projected milkproduction for 2007-08 is 98 million tonne.

Kepo rate is the rate at which banks borrow fund fromRBI. RBI raised repo rate in 2006 from 7% to 7.25%.Reverse repo rate is the rate at which banks lend moneyto RBI. Reverse repo rate was kept unchanged.

NCAER - The National Council of Applied EconomicResearch .

Lyngdow Committee has formulated rules andregulation for campus election.

Domestic violence Act - 2005 came into effect onOctober 26, 2006.

What significant development came into effect onOctober 10, 2006Ans: Ban on the employment of children below 14 asdomestic help, in restaurants, hotel and hospitalitysector cam into effect on October 10, 2006. These

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World Transperancy International studies about the volume

of corruption in various countries. Shaheen - 1 (750 km range), Ghauri - 1 (1500 km range)

are Pakistan Missiles. They are derivations ofChineese M-9 and North Korean nodong missiles.

Pakistan Air Force bought F-16 from USA and JF - 17Thunder Jets and J-10 fighters from China.

Norah Jones - Pop Singer Rupert Murdoch : Star : Ted Turner : ........

Ans : CNNRupert murdoch owns star TV and Ted Turner ownscable News Network (CNN)

Who is Condolezza Rice?Ans : The US Secretary of State.

Who lookafter the security of Afghanistan at present?Ans : NATO. Now NATO has 26 members.

What significant development took place on October9, 2006

When was Bangladesh Grameen Bank was foundedAns : 1976. The founder is Mohammad Yunnus.

South Africa, Indonesia, Italy, Belgium and Panamaare the new non permanent members of the UNSecurity Council for a two year term beginning withJanuary 1, 2007.

K. Rehman Khan, Rajyasabha Deputy Chairman waselected honouraly auditor or Inter Parliamentaly Unionin Genera in 2006.

The SAARC disaster management centre wasinaugurated in New Delhi.

Passion lives here is the motto of winter olympicgames.

What is Bric Countries?Brazil, Russia, China and India. They are the fastdeveloping countries at present in the world.

Who headed oversight committee?Ans: Veerappa Moily. The oversight committee ispreparing roadmap for the implementation of 27%quata for OBC in educational institutions under centralgovernment.

provisions have been incorporated in child Labour(prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986. Theseoccupations have been added to the list of hazardousoccupations.

According to 2001 census 0.26 lakhs child labourersare in Kerala.

National Bamboo Mission was launched in October2006.

TRS - Telungo Rashtrya Samithi withdraw supportfor NDA government to protest against non formationof state of Telungana dividing Andhra Pradesh.

Singur and Nandigram are places in West Bengal. Tatagroup is setting up its small car factory at Singur whichSalim Group of Indonesia is setting up its factory atNandigram. People are violently protesting against theagricultural land aquisition for industrial purposes.

Palakkad has become the first total banking district inthe country on September 30, 2006.

Kerala total banking state in June 2007.

What is Anorexia?A disorder characterised by an abnormal fear of becoming

obese, an aversion for food a severe weight loss. It istoo much thinking of models which causes casuality.

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IndiaIndia develop Cyrogenic Stage

India became only the 6th member of the exclusiveclub to have developed a cryogenic stage in rocketry.ISRO has successfully tested a full fledged cryogenicstage for 50 seconds at the Liquid propulsion systemcentre (LPSC) on October 28, 2006.

Which independant MLA is presently the chiefMinister of a State?Madhu Koda is Chief Minister of Jharkhand

Which wing of Indian Military celebrated platinumJubilee in 2006Indian Air Force celebrated plantinum jubilee onOctober 8, 2006

Where is Malegaon?Nashik district of Maharashtra. It is communallysensitive texitle town. At least 38 people were killedand over 100 hurt when three powerful explosions tookplace here on September 8, 2006.

The centenary of Vande Mataram was observed onSeptember 7, 2006 in India.

The 2400 MW Tehri Dam Project was dedicated to thenation on July 30, 2006. It is in the state of Uttarakhand.

US president George W. Bush gave his assent toIndian US Civilian nuclear agreement.

The first bus service in the post independence erabetween Pooch in Jammu and Kashmir and Rawalakottown in Pak occupied Kashmir was flagged off bySonia Gandhi on June 20, 2006

Which Satellite of India failed in its launch on July 10,2006. The Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle(GSLV - FO2) carrying INSAT 4 C CommunicationSatallite crashed into Bay of Bengal immediately aftertake off.

Who is Naresh Goyal : Chairman Jet Airways

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World CUBEC: A Nation within Canada. The Canadian

Parliament on November 27, 2006 accorded recognationto the French speaking people of cubec as a nationwith in Canada.

Stephen HarperStephen Harper is the new Prime Minister of Canada

Russia has agreed to supply uranium fuel for Tarapurreactor.

Hugo Chavez won presidential re-election in Venezulaon December 3, 2006.

Which Asia country witnessed military coup in 2006.Thailand. The leader of the coup was SanthiBoonyaratglin. He ousted Thaksin Shinawatragovernment.

16th International conference on AIDS was held inToronto, Canada in August 2006.

Who founded Kadima Party?Ariel Sharon of Israel Likud party, Labour party otherpolitical parties in Isreal.

China Shakes the world -James Kynge

Fresh Apple : Rachel Trezise. It won the first DylanThomas literary award.In the line of Fire :Blood Brothers : M.J. AkbarIdentity and Violence The Musions of Destiny :Amartya SenSacred Games : Vikram ChandraThe Hungry Tide : Amitav Ghosh