April 2013

Nadal wins 8th Barcelona open title by beating Nicolas Almagro.Total 8 titles

Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission headed by Justice B N Srikrishna

11th century minaret, the Great Mosque of Aleppo in Syria is destroyed in civil war figting

British business man James McCormick is accused of selling fake bomb detectors

New Italian prime minister Enrico Letta

Everret Dutschke arrested for sending ricin letters to POTUS

Argentina's Bergoglio becomes Pope Francis. He is the 266th pope

India US mulls cooperation in moon, mars mission

Criminal law amendment act 2013.

India's horn bill conservator Aparajita Dutta has won a green oscar, the Whitley award.

Italy's foreign minister Giulio Terzi resigned for sending marines back

10 Rs plastic notes to be introduced in Kochi, Myssore, Bhubaneswar and Shimila

India wins cricket series agains australia 4-0.

21st March 2013 World forestry day.

UNDP report: South Asia leads the world in Improvments in Human Development.

President of India conferred with the Liberation War Honour Award by Bangladesh.

Bangladesh president is Zillur Rahman. Earlier the top most honor, Bangladesh Freedom Honor was conferred on Indiragandhi in 2011. Liberation war honors is the second highest honor of Bangladesh

Indian Army got the first indigenous chopper called Rudra.

Inda Test fired world's first supersonic Brahmos missile from underwater platform. 290 km range from vishakapatnam

March 2013

British singer Adele got Oscar for Skyfall. Life of Pi won the best music original score award.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence won the best actor and actress at the 85th Oscar. Lawrence won for Silver Linings playbook, Day lewis bagged it for Lincoln.

HAL to supply Cheetal choppers to Indian Army

Sachin equaled Gavasker's record of 81 centuries in 1st class cricket at Mumbai in Irani Trophy

First Bionic man called Rex unveiled at London Science Museum.

Environment ministry constituted Committee to examine legal cover for elephant habitats.

Hydro projects cleared by Ministry of Environment and Forest

1. Tawang-II HE Project 800 MW in Arunachal pradesh

2. Teesta IV HE project 520 MW in Sikkim

3. Luhri HE project 775 MW in HP

4. Vishnugad pipalkoti Project 444 MW in Uttarakhand

Anil Ananthaswamy a London based writer has won the inaugural Physics Journalism Prize sponsored by Institute of Physics and Science and Technology

Lyonchhen Jigmi Thinley, PM of Bhutan visited India in Feb 2013. To improve India Bhutan bilateral relationship

Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) allows IAF to keep a close watch on the enemy territory.

Feb 2013

World Bank bars L&T for 6 months over forgery.

5 dwarf planets in solar system: Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake

Venus hottest planet and also spins in oppose direction

Uranus has an orbital tilt of 82 degrees that means it is practically on its side.

Foreign Investment Promotion Board(FIPB) cleared the investment proposal of Air Asia, the Malaysian career to launch new airline along with Tata group and Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace.

Air Asia plans to own 49% throught its company AAIL. It will become the first foreign career to enter the aviation sector

Deborah from India won a Bronze medal in Asian Cycling champion ship in New Delhi. Gold by Korea's Jang yeonhee and Silver by China's You Shiou Cheng

Ministry of New and Renewable energy sanctioned Remote village electrification for 6033 villages

It was sanctioned during 11th Plan by the ministry.

Manjeev Singh Puri: The acting Indian permanent representative to UN

SAARC Literature Award 2013

Presented to five writers at Agra during two day SAARC literature festival. Abhay K(India),Farheen Chaudhary(PAK), Abdul Khaliq Rashid(Afg),Suman Pokhrel(Nepal) and Daya Dissanayake(Srilanka)

Raghuraj Pratap Singh(UP) resigned in wake of killing of DSP Zia ul Haq.

Mukesh Ambani richest person of India for 6th consecutive year

Richest man in world for 4th time is Mexican business man Carlos Slim.

Russia to build two more nuclear reactors in China

China set to take over reins of Pakistan's Gwadar Port in Baluchistan.

Facebook to replace Infosys in NASDAQ

Queen Beatrix of Netherlands abdicated, handing over to eldest son, Willem Alexander, who became the first king of Netherlands in 120 years

Herschel Space Observatory, a far infrared space telescope ends its mission after running out of liquid helium coolant

51% FDI in retail sector

53rd Gujarat Foundation day on 1st May 2013

46th Annual meeting of the ADB, Delhi

BSE and S&P Dow Jones Launch Islamic equity index, S&P BSE 500 Shariah Index

A boy and his atom- world's smalled movie made by IBM

La Trobe univeristy (Aus) signed MoU with Maharashtra Insitute of Technology

World's first web page was created on 30th April 1993.

Ahmedabad : India power energy conclaves

Sikkim was conferred with Prime minister's award for excellence in Public Administration

Bihar: first women only cooperative banks

Bank of England will have Winston Churchil on 5 pound note

Jai Chandiram former DDG of Doordharshan with life time award by the International Association of Women in Radio and TV

Fred Amoroso- former yahoo chairman

PM of Nepal: Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda visited April 2013

Anil Goswami: New home secretary

Andhrapradesh will reduce VAT on automobile sector from 14.5 to 5%

IEM : Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandum

Surat Nagrik Sahkari Bank merged with Mehsana Urban Cooperative Bank

India will host World Team badminton championship 2014(Thomas and Uber cup)

Phalke Ratna award: Asha Bhosle

Dadasaheb Phalkey Academy Award: Yash Chopra

Saraswatibhai Phalke award: pamela

PM of Italy : Enrico Letta

Videocon discovered Natural gas in Mozambique

Manchester United won the English premier League (20th win)

27th CJI and chairperson of News Broadcasting Standards Authority of India : JS Verma

President of Bangladesh: Abdul Hamid

Mathew Hayden called Sachin as India's Bradman

President of Paraguay : Horacio Cartes

CEO of Air Asia: Tony Fernandes

2013 Bahrain Grand Prix: Vettel

Rajasthan : Free Leukemia drugs

JaipurL 5000 Bharat Nirman Rajiv Gandhi Seva Kendras

Italy's president: Giorgio Napolitano

Chinese Nobel Literature Laureate Mo Yan released book Grand Ceremony.

Russia launched Noah's Ark

New keyboard format KALQ

JNU Professor Gopal Narayn Guru was chosen for Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for his contribution of Development Studies

Railways started 160 years ago

First Rail line built in Chennai(Chintadripet bridge)

Pulitzer prize Fiction: The orphan master's son by Adam Johnson

Venezuela president: Nicholas Maduro

Miniratna Cat 1: North eastern Electric power cooperation

Hilary Koprowski developed first successful oral vaccination for polio

BSNL will launch 4G in Indore

Kenya's president: Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta

A journey - authored by Tony Blair

Folk song of UP is known as Kajari

The folk theatre of Bihar is called Bidesia

Oldest form of composition of Hindustani vocal Dhrupad

Tamasha is the folk form of musical theatre of Mahrashtra

Sangeet Natak Academy 1953

Planning commission 1950

National development council 1951

First five year plan 1951-1956

Removal of povery was in 6th five year plan

Planning commission is an advisory body

Community development program 1952

The highest body which approves 5 year plan is National development council

1st Indian bank is Presidency bank of calcutta

The rupee coin was first minted in India in 1809

EXIM bank was setup in 1980

Vitamin C is Ascorbic acid

Permanent hardness of water Calcium sulphate

Calcium is present in hard water

K2 also called Mt. Godwin Austen is in Karakoram RangeImportant tributaries of Ganges are Gomati, Sarayu, Ghaghra and Gandak.Vindhya and Satpura mountains along with Narmada and Tapti rivers form the great dividing line between Northern and Southern IndiaAnaimudi is the highest peak in southern peninsulaMahanadhi is at the eastern end of peninsulaNarmada and Tapti runs from east to west. Others flow from west to east.Alexander came to India through Swat ValleyPrime Minister of Israel : Benjamin Netanyahu

India will have 5 rocket launches from Sriharikota in AP in 2013. This will also have a mission to Mars. It will also include the communication satellite G-Sat 14 using GSLV powered with domestic cryogenic engine.

In June it is planned to launch the 1st navigational satellite, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System R1A (IRNSS –R1A)

Navigational satellite will be carried by PSLV-XL

Indo French Saral was launched using PSLV

Railway Budget 2013-2014 High Lights

Thrust of the Budget :

(1) Safety; (2) Consolildation; (3) Passenger Amenities; (4) Fiscal Discipline.

Some Achievements / Initiatives :

(a) IR enters the one billion tonne Select Club joining Chinese, Russian and US Railways;

(b) Target of 1000 crore each fixed for Rail Land Development Authority and IR Station Development Corporation to be raised through PPP in 2013-14

(c) Debt Service Fund, a new fund to be set up to meet committed liabilities of debt servicing for WB and JICA loans for DFC and other future liabilities

(d) Arunachal Pradesh brought under RAIL network

(e) 500 km new lines, 750 km doubling, 450 km gauge conversion targeted in 2013-14

(f) 1.52 lakh vacancies being filled up this year out of which 47,000 vacancies have been earmarked for weaker sections and physically challenged

Safety & Modernisation

To make 10-year corporate plan for rail safety (2014-2024)

Train Protection Warning System on Automatic Signalling Systems to be introduced;

Introduction of 160/200 kmph Self Propelled Accident Relief Trains.

Freight :

1,500 km to be awarded for dedicated freight corridor FY14

FY14 freight loading estimated 1,007 million tonne

New routes & Trains

Working on new railway line in Manipur

Rail Based Industries :

A new Forged Wheel Factory to be set up at Rae Bareli in collaboration with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited

A Coach Manufacturing Unit in Sonepat District (Haryana) in collaboration with State Government;

Setting up of six more Rail Neer bottling plants at Vijyayawada, Nagpur,Lalitpur, Bilaspur, Jaipur and Ahmedabad

Rail Tourism:

Launching multi-modal travel package in cooperation with Jammu and Kashmir state government;

Issuing "Yatra Parchis" to pilgrims travelling by Rail to Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine at the time of railway ticket booking

Introduction of an educational tourist train with concessional fares - 'Azadi Express' - to connect places associated with freedom movemenet;

Introduction of executive lounges at 7 more stations namely, Bilaspur, Visakhapatnam, Patna, Nagpur, Agra, Jaipur and Bengaluru

Facilities

To put in place next generation e-ticketing system by Dec 2013

New system to enable booking 7,200 tickets/min Vs 2,000 now

SMS alerts for reservation status being rolled out

Plan free Wi-Fi facility onboard trains

To extend internet booking timing from 00:30 IST to 23:30 IST

Look forward to use Aadhar services for Railways

To introduce 1 luxury 'Anubhuti' coach in express trains

To identify 60 more railway stations as model stations

To set up 8-10 more mechanized laundries for rail linen

To set up 8 women railway police units in addition to the existing 4'

UNION BUDGET 2013-14 HIGH LIGHTS

Union Finance Minister, Mr P Chidambaram presented the Budget for the FY 2013-14 on 28th February, 2013. Some of the major highlights of the said budget are summed up below. I will be providing a separate more detailed article covering proposal wise impact of the Union Budget, which will be more useful for forthcoming exams and understanding the overall impact of the budget (Click Here : Union Budget 2013-14 Diagnosed ) : -

(A) Direct Tax - Personal Tax : There is no change in the Slabs and Rates for personal income tax, except two minor adjustments. (i) Tax credit of Rs2,000/- will be provided to all those persons who have

income upto Rs 5 lakh. According to FM, it will provide relief to 1.8 crore people; (ii) It is proposed to introduce 10% surcharge on rich tax payers with annual income of more than Rs 1 crore a year.

(B) Direct Taxs - others : (i) To increase surcharge of 10% on domestic companies with annual income of more than Rs 10 crores; (ii) For foreign companies, who pay the higher rate of corporate tax, the surcharge will increase from 2% to 5%; (iii) To continue 15% tax concession on dividend received by India companies from foreign units for one more year; (iv) Proposal to impose withholding tax of 20% on profit distribution to shareholders;

(C) Service Tax and Transaction tax etc.: (i) Amnesty on service tax non compliance from 2007. (ii) Commodities Transaction Tax (CTT) on non-agriculture future contracts proposed at 0.01%; (iii) Reduce the Securities Transaction Tax on equity futures from 0.017% to only 0.01%;

(D) Fiscal Deficit : India is faced with huge fiscal deficit and thus in last few months GoI has tried to rationalise expenditure. (i) For FY 2012-13, the Fiscal Deficit is seen at 5.2% of GDP; (ii) For FY 2013-14, it is pegged at 4.8% of GDP.

(E) Borrowings : (a) Gross market borrowing seen at Rs 6.29 trillion in 2013-14; (ii) Net market borrowing seen at Rs4.84 trillion in 2013-14; (iii) Proposed to buy back Rs 500 billion rupees worth of bonds in 2013-14;

(F) Subsidies : (a) In 2013-14, major subsidies bill is estimated to be at Rs 2.48 trillion (up from Rs 1.82 trillion); (b) Petroleum subsidy seen at Rs 650 billion in 2013-14; (c) Estimated Rs 9000 billion spending on food subsidies in 2013-14;

(G) Spendings : (a) Total budget expenditure seen at Rs 16.65 trillion in 2013-14 - out of which Rs 11.10 trillion to be Non Plan expenditure and Rs5.55 trillion to be Plan expenditure;

(H) Revenue : Expects Rs 133 billion through direct tax proposals in 2013-14, and Rs 47 billion through indirect tax proposals. There is a target f Rs 558.14 billion from stake sale in state run firms during the FY. There is expectations of revenue of Rs 408.5 billion from airwave surchage, auction of telecom spectrum, licence fee during the year.

I) Current Account Deficit : According to FM this is the greatest worry. There is need of more than $7500 crore this year and next year to fund deficit;

(J) Banking : (a) To provide Rs 14000 crores capital infusion in state run banks in 2013-14; (b) Woman bank with a initial capital of Rs 1000 crores; (c) ATM at all branches of PS Banks by 31/03/2014

(K) POWER AND ENERGY SECTOR : (a) Zero customs duty for electrical plants and machinery; (b) Move to revenue-sharing from profit-sharing policy in oil and gas sector; (c) To equalise duties on steam and bituminous coal to 2 point customs duty and 2 point cvd (countervailing duty)

(L) FOREIGN TRADE : (a) To cut duty on exports of precious and semi-precious stones to 2 point from 10 point; (b) No duty on import of ships, vessels

(M) Inflation : It is a worrying factor. Will take steps to augment supply side;

(N) : DEFENCE : To allocate Rs. 2.03 trillion rupees to defence in 2013-14

(O) AGRICULTURE : To allocate Rs 801.94 billion to rural development in 2013-14; Plan to allocate Rs 270.49 billion for agriculture in 2013-14

(P) Corporate Sector and Capital Market : (a) proposed to issue inflation indexed bonds; (b) Prposed capital allowance of 15% to comapnies on investment of more than Rs. 1 billion.; (c) Insurance, Provident Funds can trade directly in debt segments of stock exchanges; (d) FIIs can use investments in corporate, government bonds as collateral to meet margin requirements; (e) Investors with less than 10% stake in a company will be regarded as FII, more than 10% stake as FDI ; (f) Stock exchange

regulator to simply KYC norms for foreign portfolio investors (g) The recommendations of financial sector legislative reforms commission to be quickly implemented

ECONOMIC SURVEY 2013-14 HIGH LIGHTS

Economic Survey is presented every year, just before the Union Budget. This survey is a flagship annual document of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India as it reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous 12 months. It summarizes the performance on major development programmes, and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term. It also serves as an indicator of what is likely to be contained in the General Budget proposals

The economic survey for 2012-13 was prepared by a team of economists led by Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan and presented in Parlilament by FM on 27th February, 2013. The survey pitches for speeding up economic reforms to activate a sluggish economy. .

Major Highlights of the Economic Survey 2012-13 are summed up below:

• GDP growth seen at 6.1-6.7 percent in FY 2013-14• Government’s target for fiscal deficit is 4.8 pct of GDP in FY 2013-14• Government target for fiscal deficit is 3 pct of GDP by 2016-17• Headline WPI inflation may decline to 6.2-6.6 pct by March 2013• Focus on curbing imports, making oil prices more market determined to reign in current account deficit

• Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) flows need to be targeted towards long-term rupee instruments• Prioritisation of expenditure seen as key ingredient of credible medium-term fiscal consolidation plan• Raising tax to GDP ratio to more than 11 percent seen as critical for sustaining fiscal consolidation• Room for accommodative monetary policy with expected fiscal consolidation• India likely to meet fiscal deficit target of 5.3 pct of GDP in FY2012-13, despite significant shortfall in revenues• Calls for curbing of gold imports to contain current account deficit• Room to increase exports in the short run limited

• Industrial output seen growing around 3 pct in FY 2012-13• Govt priority to fight inflation by reducing fiscal impetus to demand as well as by focusing on incentivizing food production.• More jobs in low productivity construction sector• Balance of Payments under pressure with net exports decline• Service sector has shown more resilience despite global slowdown• Survey pitches for hike in price of diesel and LPG to cut subsidy burden• Railway freight grows by 5.1 per cent in 2012-13• Foreign Exchange reserves remains steady at USD 295.6 Billion (or USD 25960 crores) at December 2012 end.

At present, overall energy deficit is about 8.6 per cent and peak shortage of power is about 9 per cent.

Infrastructure bottlenecks are affecting industrial sector performance

Prospects for world trade as well as of India are still uncertain.

Survey also pitches for further opening of sectors for FDI

GAAR- What is GAAR?

What is full form of GAAR ? or What is GAAR ?

The full form of GAAR is : General Anti-Avoidance Rules

What is GAAR in simple terms ?

Tax Avoidance is an area of concern across the world. The rules are framed in different countries to minimize such avoidance of tax. Such rules in simple terms are known as " General Anti Avoidance Rules " or GAAR. Thus GAAR is a set of general rules enacted so as to check the tax avoidance.

Why News for GAAR has been prominent in India in recent times ?

News for GAAR has been in prominence in last few years as Indian Government has taken initiative to introduce GAAR or General Anti Avoidance Rules with a view to increase tax collections.

Background for GAAR :

Lord Tomlin has well said "Every man is entitled to order his affairs so that tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be" (IRC v Duke of Westminster). People adopt various methods so that they can reduce their total tax liability.

The methods adopted to reduce their tax liability can be broadly put into four categories : "Tax Evasion"; "Tax Avoidance", "Tax Mitigation" and "Tax Planning". The difference between these four methods some times becomes blurred owing to the perception of the tax authorities and / or tax payer. [Click Here to read the difference between Tax Evasion", "Tax Avoidnace" , "Tax Mitigation, Tax Planning].

GAAR refers to the second category i.e. tax avoidance.

What is Difference between GAAR and SAAR ?

Anti Avoidance Rules are broadly divided into two categories namely "General" and "Specific". Thus, legislation dealing with "General" rules are termed as GAAR, whereas legislation dealing with "Speicifc avoidnace are termed as "SAAR"

In India till recently SAAR was in vogue i.e. laws were amended to plug specific loopholes as and when they were noticed or were misused enmasse. However, now Indian tax authorities wants to move towards GAAR but are facing severe opposition as tax payers fear that these will be misused by tax authorities by giving arbitrary and wide interpretations. We can say SAAR being more specific provide certainty to taxpayers where as GAAR being general in nature can be misused and is subject to arbitrary interpretation by tax authorities.

GAAR Definition :

GAAR is a concept which generally empowers the Revenue Authorities in a country to deny the tax benefits of transactions or arrangments which do not have any commercial substance or consideration other than achieving the tax benefit. Whenever revenue authorities question such transactions, there is a conflict with the tax payers. Thus, different countries started making rules so that tax can not be avoided by such transactions. Australia introduced such rules way back in 1981. Later on countries like Germany, France, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa etc too opted for GAAR. However, countries like USA and UK have adopted a cautious approach and have not been aggressive in this regard.

Thus, in nutshell we can say that GAAR usually consists of a set of broad rules which are based on general principles to check the potential avoidance of the tax in general, in a form which can not be predicted and thus can not be provided at the time when it is legislated.

GAAR in India

In India, the real discussions on GAAR came to light with the release of draft Direct Taxes Code Bill (popularly known as DTC 2009) on 12th August 2009. It contained the provisions for GAAR. Later on the revised Discussion Paper was released in June 2010, followed by tabling in the Parliament on 30th August, 2010, a formal Bill to enact the law known as the DirectTaxes Code 2010. The same was to be made applicable wef 1st April, 2012. However, owing to negative publicity and pressures from various groups, GAAR was postponed to at least 2013, and was likely to be introduced alongwith the Direct Tax Code (DTC) from 1st April 2013. Moreover, an Expert Committee has been set by Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) in July 2012 to vet and rework the GAAR guidelines issued in June 2012. The latest reports (September 2012) indicates, it may not be implemented even for 3 years i.e. this will be postponed for 3 years (2016-17). Some of recent developments about GAAR are :-

(a) 16th March, 2012 : Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee takes a tough stand and announces that the government will crack down on tax avoidance effective from fiscal year 2012-13

(b) 7th May, 2012 : Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee forced to eat his words and agreed to defer GAAR by a year as his announcements spooked oversea investors

(c) 28th June, 2012 : Finance Ministry releases first draft on GAAR; There is wide criticism of the provisions.

(d) 14th July, 2012 : PM, Manmohan Singh, forms review committee under Parthasarathi Shome, for preparing a second draft by 31st August and final guidelines by 30th September, 2012

(e) 1st September, 2012 : Shome Committee recommends to defer GAAR by three years. It also recommends some more investor friendly measures

(f) 14th January, 2013 : GoI partially accepts the recommendations of Shome Committee and has decided to defer the same for 2 years and will now be effective from the year 2016-17

Cheque Truncation System or CTS 2010

What is Cheque Truncation System or CTS 2010 :

The full form of CTS is Cheque Truncation System. RBI has decided to launch this system and all banks across India are required to follow RBI guidelines in this regard. As per RBI guidelines, now all banks have to issue cheques conforming to the CTS 2010 standards with uniform features.

How is CTS 2010 will be different from earlier system of cheque clearance?

Under the CTS system, the physical movement of cheques between banks will be elminated. At present , when you issue a cheque to someone, he has deposit the cheque in his bank to get credit. Then this cheque moves physcially from his bank to your bank which involves a lot of time and risk. Now under CTS, instead of physical movement of the cheque, an electronic image of the cheque will be transmitted to the drawee branch / bank. The presenting bank will retains the physical cheque.

Along with the electronic image, certain key relevant information is also transmitted, such as date of presentation, presenting bank details, data on the MICR band.

What is the purpose of CTS 2010 or What are the benefits of CTS?

The new process is being adopted to reduce the scope of frauds as the new standardized cheques will have number of security features. The system will also help in speed clearance of chequess and thus customers will be able to get faster credit to their accounts. This will happen as there will be no physical movement of the cheuqes and hence time is saved and risk of loss of cheques in transit are totally eliminated.

When will the CTS begin ? :

RBI has originally decided that CTS will be effective from 1st January 2013, but then it was announced that it will be effective from 1st April, 2013. However, as per RBI guidelines dated 18th March, 2013, now this deadlines has been revised and it will be effective from 1st August, 2013 (i.e. non CTS cheques will be valid till 31st July, 2013).

"RBI will review the deadline in June 2013. “Cheque issuing banks shall make all efforts to withdraw the non-CTS-2010 Standard cheques in circulation before the extended timeline of 31 July 2013 by creating awareness among customers through SMS alerts, letters, display boards in branches/ATMs, log-on message in internet banking, notification on the web-site etc,” RBI said.

What are the features of cheques issued under CTS ? :

(a) Cheque printer details: This is printed on the extreme left hand side of the cheque. The printer details along with the words ‘CTS-2010’ is mentioned along the area where you tear off the leaf from the cheque book.

(b) Rupee symbol: The new symbol of the Indian rupee is printed beside the area where the amount in figures needs to be written.

(c) Details of the bank and its logo: The bank details and its logo are printed on the face of the cheque. However, it is printed in invisible ink.

(d) Signature space indicator: The words ‘please sign above’ are mentioned indicating the space where you will need to sign the cheque.

(e) VOID pantograph: This is a wavelike design, which is visible to the naked eye and seen below the area where the account number is printed.

The above set of minimum security features would ensure uniformity across all cheque forms issued by banks in the country which in turn will help presenting banks while scrutinising / recognising cheques of drawee banks in an image-based processing scenario. The homogeneity in security features is expected to act as a deterrent against cheque frauds, while the standardisation of field placements on cheque forms would enable straight-through-processing by use of optical / image character recognition technology.

The benchmark prescriptions are collectively known as "CTS-2010 standard". Indian Banks Association (IBA) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) are co-ordinating with the banks on implementation of the new standard. Accordingly, the cheques issued are tested and certified by NPCI and only after such cerification the cheques would be issued to the customers.

What Should Cheque Book Holders Should Do :

(a) You should ensure that you use only CTS-2010 compliant cheque leaves from April 1, 2013.

(b) You can check if you hold a CTS compliant cheque book by verifying if the cheque leaves have the features mentioned above. You need to apply in your bank for the same and it is available free of cost.

(c) If you have any unused cheque leaves with you, these must be surrendered in your bank.

(d) In case you have given old post dated cheques (like for your Housing Loan or Auto Loan) to some body, you must exchange them with the CTS-compliant cheques immediately.

RBI has advised that though non CTS-2010 standard cheques will continue to be accepted post July 31, 2013, they will be cleared at less frequent intervals and may incur additional charges. RBI has advised to preferably use dark coloured ink while writing CTS cheques.

Roberto Azevedo will be the new chief of WTO. He is from Brazil.

Official documents/books of various countries

White Paper: Short pamphlet issued by Govt of India.

White Book: Official publication of Germany, Portugal and China

Blue Book: British Government

Green Book: Italy and Iran

Grey Book: Japan and Belgian

Orange Book: Netherlands Government

Yellow Book: France

Parliaments

Afghanistan Shora

Australia Parliament

Bangladesh Jatia Parliament

Bhutan Tasongadu

Canada Parliament

China National People Congress

Denmark Folketing

Egypt People’s Assembly

France National Assembly

Germany Bundestag

Great Britain Parliament

India Parliament (Sansad)

Iran Majlis

Ireland Dail Eireann

Israel Knesset

Japan Diet

Malaysia Majlis

Maldive Majlis

Magnolia Khural

Nepal Rasthtriya Panchayat

Netherlands States General

Norway Storting

Pakistan National Assembly

Poland Scym

Spain Crotes

Sweden Riksdag

South Africa Parliament

Switzerland Federal Assembly

Russia Duma

Taiwan Yuan

Turkey Grand National Assembly

U.S.A. Congress

Rangarajan Commission: Gas Prices

Prof Ravindra Dholakia (IIM Ahmedabad): To lower the high cost of AI’s operation.

Supreme court judge Santosh Hegde, former CEC Lyndgoh: Fake Manipur encounter killings

Dr Kasturi Rangan former ISRO chairman: Panel to clear infra projects

Sam Pitroda: Redefine the role of Prasar Bharati

Previous reports on Prasar Bharati by Sengupta Committee, Bakshi Committee and Narayanamurthy Committee

Justice Verma Panel: Crime against women. Ruled against recommending death penalty even in the rarest of the rare cases. Also didn’t favour lowering the age of a juvenile from 18 to 16

GAMES AND HOSTING NATIONS

1 Common wealth Games (1930) 2006 Melbourne2. 19th Common wealth games 2010 Delhi3. 2014 Glasgow4. First Afro-Asian Games 2003 Hyderabad5. 2007 Africa6. 15

th Asian Games (XV Asiad) 2006 Doha (Qatar)

16th Asian Games 2010 China7. 2014 South Korea8. SAF (South Asian Federation) 2006 Colombo, Sri Lanka9. 2008 Dehradun & Auli (Winter SAF)10. Winter Olympics 2006 Turin11. 2010 Vancouver12. 2014 Sochi, Russia13. Football World Cup 2006 Germany14. 2010 South Africa Spain Won15. 2014 Brazil (the first time since 1950).16. Summer Olympics 29th 2008 Beijing17. 30th Olympics 2012 London. London has hosted summer

Olympics maximum no of times.2016 Rio de Janerio, Brazil

18. World Badminton Championship 2013 Guangzhou China19. Cricket World Cup 2011 India, Pak, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh

India Won.2015 Australia and New Zealand

20. ICC Twenty20 world cup 2007 South Africa. India Won2009 England. Pakistan Won2010 West Indies. England won

2012 Sri Lanka. West Indies Won2014 Bangladesh

21. 35th

National Games 2012 Kerala22. Hockey World Cup 2010 2010 New Delhi Australia won

2014 Hague Netherlands23. 16

th SAARC Summit 2010 Bhutan

17th

SAARC Summit 2011 Maldives18th SAARC Summit 2013 Nepal

Common wealth Games 2010 at Delhi: Mascot was “Sher”. Australia won the most medals.

London Olympics 2012: Mascots were Wenlock and Mandevile

Ancient Olympics was started in 776 BC and Modern Olympics were held on 1896 in Athens.

The first cricket world cup was organized in London in 1975. India won the cup in 2011.

The National Games of India was started in 1924. The founder was G.D. Sondhi. Till 1940 they were known as Indian Olympic Games.

Most titles in Hockey world cup is won by Pakistan.

SAARC (1985): South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. The founding 7 members are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Bangladesh. Its head quarter is in Kathmandu. Afghanistan joined in 2007.

The first and the only SAARC award was given to Ziaur Rehman of Bangladesh. Current Secretary General is Ahmed Saleem.

Nobel Prizes were established by Alfred Nobel in 1895. The prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace were first given in 1901. The prize for Economics was created in 1968. The peace prize is given in Oslo, Norway while others are given in Stockholm Sweden.

Four people till now received multiple awards.

Marie Curie: Physics (1903) and Chemistry (1911). Her husband shared the 1903 prize with her.

Their daughter Irene Curie received the Chemistry prize in 1935 with her husband.

Linus Pauling won the Chemistry Prize in 1954 and for Peace in 1962 for his anti nuclear activism.

John Bardeen received the Physics Prize twice- in 1956 and 1972.

Frederick Sanger received the Chemistry prize twice – 1958 and 1980.

Bharat Ratna: Has been twice given to non Indians- Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan and Nelson Mandela. The 1st award was presented to C. Rajagopalachari. The 1st Posthumous award was given to Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Jnanpith Award was instituted in 1961. The 1st Awardees was G. Sankarakurup for Odakkuzhal. The first women winner was Ashapoorna Devi. Satya Vrat Shastri is the first Sanskrit poet to be conferred this award.

S.K Pottekkat: Oru Deshathinte Katha (1965)

Thakazhi: Kayar (1984)

M.T Vasudevan Nair (1995)

O.N.V Kurup (2007)

Ramon Magsaysay Award:

It is an annual award established to perpetuate Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay’s example of integrity in government and courageous service to people. It is often considered as Asia’s Nobel Prize. It was established in 1957. The 1st award was given to Chiang Mon Lin.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award:

It was setup in the year 1991-1992 and the first award was given to Viswanathan Anand.

Nobel Prize 2012

Physics

Chemistry

Medicine

Literature

Peace

Economics

Serge Haroche and David Wineland for inventing methods to observe the bizarre properties of the quantum world.

Brian Kobika and Robert Lefkowitz for their work on G-protein-coupled receptors which allow cells to sense light, flavor and odor from hormones.

John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for discovering that mature specialized cells of the body can be reprogrammed into stem cells.

Mo Yan for works which combine “Hallucinatory Realism” with folk tales and history

European Union

Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley for their research on how to match different economic agents such as students for schools or even organ donors with patients.

Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2010 K. BalachanderDada Saheb Phalke Award 2011 Soumitra Chatterjee

Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2013 PranBharat Ratna 2008 Bhimsen JoshiJnanpith Award 2012 Telugu novelist Ravuri Bharadwaja for Paakudu Raallu.Ramon Magsaysay Award 2012 Chen Shu-Chu, Kulandei Francis, Yang Saing Koma,

Syed Rizwana Hasan and Romulo DavideIndira Gandhi Prize for peace,Disarmament & Development 20112012

Ela Bhatt, founder of SEWAEllen Johnson Sirleaf , President of Liberia

Gandhi Peace Prize 2005 Desmont Tutu

Indira Gandhi prize for NationalIntegration 2012

GulzarSaraswati Samman 2012 Sugatha Kumari for her work Manalezuthu.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award2012

Vijay Kumar- ShootingYogeshwar Dutt- Wrestling

Man Booker Prize 2012 British author Hilary Mantel for Bring up the bodies.

Oscar – 85th

Academy Awards Best Film – Argo

Commissions and Committees (Permanent)

Name Established Type HeadPlanning Commission 1950 Non-

constitutional and non-statutory

PM is the ex-officio chairman. Deputy chairman is Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Finance Commission 1951 Constitutional (Article 280)

Dr. Y.Venugopal Reddy Chairman. Current is 14th Commission

Election Commission 1950 Constitutional V. Sundaram SampathNational Human Rights Commission

1993 Statutory Justice K.G. Balakrishnan

Atomic Energy Commission

1948 Dr Ratan Kumar Sinha

Chief Vigilance Commission

1964 Pradeep Kumar

CAG Shashikant Sharma replaces Vinod RaiSOME IMPORTANT COMMITTEES

Rekhi Committee Common Code of Indirect Taxes

LC Gupta Committee Stock Exchange Reform

Tarapore Committee Capital Account Convertability

Vasudev Committee NBFC reform

Nanavati Commission Anti Sikh Riots, New Delhi

Liberhan Commission Demolition of Babri Masjid

Naresh Chandra Committee National Civil Aviation policy

Integrated Energy Committee Kirit S Parekh (Submitted its report)

R.K Raghavan Committee Prevent ragging on campus (recent)

Rajan Committee (Headed by Raghuram G. Rajan) Financial Sector Reforms

Madhav Menon Committee Criminal Justice System Reforms

Equal Opportunity Commission (Head)

Srikrishna Commission Riots post Babri Masjid demoltion

Shanta Sinha Commission Protection of Child Rights

K.N Saikia Commission Extra Consitutional Killings in Assam during 1998-2001. It has indicted former CM Prafulla KumarMahanta.

Sambasiva Rao Committee Compulsory One Year Service in rural areas.

Hota Committee Civil Services Reforms. It recommended restoration of original age limit of 21-24 yrs for competing for civils.

Radhakrishna Committee Agricultural Indebtness

Vaidyanathan Committee Long Term Cooperative Credit Structure (recently submitted its report).

Important Books

India After Gandhi Ramachandra Guha

How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, & Got a Life Kaavya Vishwanathan.

Half of a Yellow sun Chimamanda Ngozi (Won Orange Broadband prize of Fiction)

Military Inc – Inside Pak’s Military Economy Ayesha Siddiqui (Banned in Pak)

Agriculture Cannot Wait M.S. Swaminathan

Gandhi – A spiritual Journey Madhav Vittal

Inclusive Growth K.N. Raj

It Happened in India Kishore Biyani

The Call of 21st Century B.S. Raghavan.

Imperial Life in the Emerald City Rajiv Chandrasekaran (Won Samuel Johnson

Non-Fiction prize).

India’s Unending Journey Mark Tully

India Remembered Pamela Mountbatten

Wolf Totem Lu Jiamin (This book won Man Asia Literary Prize)

The Tales of Beedle the Bard J.K. Rowling

Behind the Shades Duncan Fletcher (Former England Team Coach’s Autobiography)

The Solar Economy – Renewable Energy for Sustainable Future Hermann Scheer (Winner of Right Livelihood Award)

Dwikhandita Taslima Nasreen (Controversial)

India’s Century Kamal Nath (Commerce Minister)

Inside IB & RAW K. Sankaran Nair (Former RAW Chief)

George’s Secret to the Universe Stephen Hawking

Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell

The Elephant, The Tiger & the Cellphone Shashi Tharoor

The Age of Turbulence Alan Greenspan

Confessions of a Swadeshi Reformer Yashwant Sinha

An American Witness to India’s Partition Phillips Talbot

Dhoni waterfalls is in Palakkad district.

Namibia got independence from South Africa.

SFI was formed in December 1970 in TVM.

India’s biggest sand dam is Banasursagar dam

Second Keralite to be shown on stamp is Vallathol narayana menon

Age of RBC is 120 days

Graveyard of RBC is spleen(pleeha)

Windmill in Kerala in Kanjikodde

Animal cells don’t have cell wall.

ATP is known as the energy currency of the cell.

The term “Cell”was termed by Robert Hooke

Microscope was invented by Leeuwenhoek.

Robert Brown discovered that cell contains nucleus.

Purkinje coined the term protoplasm.

Lysosomes are called suicide bags.

22nd May 2013. 290 km range Brahmos missile was successfully test fired from the Navy’s latest guided missile frigate INS Tarkash off the coast of Goa.

May 22: World Biodiversity day

Charles Darwin is buried near to the grave of Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey.

Airawathi is the river of Myanmar

The glass which doesn’t allow light to pass through: Ceramic Glass

First cement factory in India is in Chennai

Itlay is the first European country to use natural gas

Udayagiri caves are located in Orissa

Legislative councils are only in the states of Karnataka, AP, Maharashtra, Bihar, UP and J&K.

Jordan country has Jordan River flowing through it

Ferok is famous for its clay bricks.

1st Hydroelectric project of Kerala is Pallivasal.

Annie Mascrene was the 1st women from Kerala to be elected to Parliament.

1st Radio service was in England.

Father of Modern art in India is Nandlal Bose

Queen of Hills is Mussorie

Joseph Mundasserry award is for Teachers

Cambodian language has the largest number of alphabets

Both Babar and Jahangir has the tombs outside India

Peroorkada was the first computerised police station in Kerala

Most reactive element is fluorine

Meristematic tissues are those tissues which have the capability to divide.

1980: Forest Act

1981: Air prevention, control and pollution Act

1986: Environment pollution act

1988: Motor Vehicles Act

Ernest Rutherford is known as the father of nucleus physics. He was awarded Nobel for his contribution in structure of atom in 1908.

Electron was discovered by J.J. Thomson.

Proton was discovered by Rutherford and Neutron by James Chadwick.

Bohr’s theory became the basis for Quantum theory. He received the Nobel in 1922.

The circular orbits of atom are labelled as K,L,M and N shells and numbered as 1, 2, 3 and 4. Maximum number of electrons that can be accommodated in an energy level is given by 2n^2.

Number of Neutrons = Mass number – Number of protons (atomic number)

Atoms of the same element with different number of neutrons are called as isotopes of the elements.

Chlorine has fractional atomic mass composed of Chlorine-35 and Chlorine-37.

Isotopes are atoms of element that differs in mass number but has same atomic number. Difference in mass is due to the difference in number of neutrons.

Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura 80, has became the world’s oldest person to climb Everest.

Chidambaram is heading the GOM for CBI autonomy.

Kelvin Scale = Celsius + 273 degrees

Robert Boyle proved that sound cannot travel through vacuum.

Transverse waves cannot travel through air or gases.

To hear echo, the minimum distance should be 17 m.

The Bronze Age civilization

The Indus valley or Harappan culture flourished between 3250 and 2750 BC.

The Tigris-Euphrates civilization of Mesopotamia flourished between 3500 and 1000 BC.

The Nile Valley civilization in Egypt: 4000-5000 BC

The Hwang-Ho or the Yellow River civilization in China: 3500-3000 BC

Among the four civilizations in the Bronze Age, the Nile Valley Civilization is the oldest. The pharaohs were believed to be descendants of Sun God. The Sun God was known as Ra. The Great Pyramid of Giza was built for the Pharaoh of Cheops (Khufu). The coffin of Mummy was sealed in stone boxes called Sarcophagus. The temple of Karnak is also a fine monument. The cycle of Zodiac is a gift of Egyptians to the astronomy. They also fixed solar year with 365 days.

Mesopotamian Civilization

The Mesopotamian civilization comprises the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian cultures. This civilization flourished between the two rivers of Euphrates and Tigris. Mesopotamia means in between the rivers.

The word Sumerian means black headed. Hammurabi was the famous king of Babylon. Nebuchad Nezzar built the famous hanging gardens of Babylon. They carried trade with Indus and Nile valley people.

The Sumerians evolved a system of writing with wedge shaped letters called cuneiform. They wrote on wet clay tablets which were then baked. They wrote from right to left. One of their famous books is Epic of Gilgamesh. They made use of lunar calendars.

Hwang Ho Civilization

The civilization represents the largest unbroken chain of development known to humanity. Hwang Ho is known as the Sorrow of China.

Fu Xi was the first known king. The Shang Dynasty unified the territories of Yellow river. The succeeding Chou age is known as the classical age of China. Shi Huang Ti belonged to the Chin dynasty and he is remembered in the history as the builder of the Great Wall of China. In the 2nd century AD, they invented the paper. Ink was invented in 5th century AD. They also invented the water mill, mariner’s compass, gun powder and the paper currency.

Greek Civilization

List of Rivers of Kerala

West flowing rivers

The following is a list of the westward-flowing rivers of Kerala state in southern India, in order of length, and their tributaries. These rivers all originate in the Western Ghats range and flow westward into the Kerala Backwaters or into the Arabian Sea. Length in kilometres is in parentheses.

Periyar River (244) Bharatapuzha River (209)

Pamba River (176) Chaliyar River (169) Kuppam River (88)

Edamala River Thuthapuzha River Azhuthayar Chalakudy River (169)

Meenachil River (78)

Cheruthoni River Gayathripuzha River Kakkiyar Parambikulam River Kuttiyadi River (74)Mullayar River Kalpathipuzha River Kakkattar Kadalundy River

(130)Karamana River (68)

Muthirapuzha River Kannadipuzha River Kallar Achankoil River (128)

Shiriya River (68)

Perinjankutti River Perunthenaruvi Kallada River (121) Kariangode River (64)

Madatharuvi Muvattupuzha River (121)

Ithikkara River (56)

Thanungattilthodu Valapattanam River (110)

Neyyar River (56)

Kozhithodu Chandragiri River (105)

Mahé River (54)

Varattar Manimala River (90) Keecheri River (51)Kuttemperoor Vamanapuram

River (88)Perumba River (51)

Uppala River (50) Pannagam River (30)

Karuvanoor River (48)

Thanikkudam River (29)

Kurumali River Manam River (27)Anjarakkandi River (48)

Thalassery River (28)

Tirur River (48) Chittary River (25)Neeleshwaram River (46)

Ramapuram River (19)

Pallikkal River (42) Ayiroor River (17)Kallayi River (40) Bangra Manjeswara

River (16)Korapuzha River (40)Mogral River (34)Kaveripuzha River (31)

East flowing rivers

There are three rivers rise in Kerala and flow eastwards, Kabini into Karnataka and the other two into Tamil Nadu.

Kabani (57)

Bhavani (38)

Pambar (25)

Vembanad Lake is the largest of the lakes. It is also India’s longest lake. Periyar originates in Sundaramala in Tamil Nadu. The Idukki Dam is the largest hydro-electric power project in Kerala. It generates electricity through the underground facility at Moolamattam, built by Indo-Canadian joint venture. Dr Salim Ali once described Thattekad bird sanctuary as the richest bird habitat in peninsular India.

As per Indus Water Treaty of 1960, India can use only 20% of the water of its river.

The Narmada and Tapti are the only long rivers which flow west and make estuaries.

River Godawari is in AP and Maharashtra.

Krishna River is in AP, Karnataka and Maharashtra

Bhima River is in Karnataka and Maharashtra.

River Tapti is in Gujarat, Maharashtra and MP.

Dams and Reservoirs in India

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam Krishna River AP

Bhakra Nagal Dam Sutlej River Border of Punjab and HP

Maharana Pratap Sagar Dam (Pong Dam) Beas River HP

Ranjit Sagar Dam Beas River HP

Pazhassy Dam Iritty River Kannur

Banasura Sagar Dam Kabini River Wayanad

Karapuzha Dam Karapuzha River Wayanad

Walayar Dam Walayar River Palakkad

Malampuzha Dam Malampuzha River Palakkad

Parambikulam Dam Parambikulam River Palakkad

Gandhi Sagar Dam Chambal River MP

Indira Sagar Dam Narmada MP

Tehri Dam Bhagirathi River Uttarakhand

Karakoram is a mountain range spanning the borders of Pakistan, India and China.

List of reservoirs in Kerala

S.No River Name1. Bharathapuzha Malampuzha2. Bharathapuzha Mangalam3. Bharathapuzha Meenkara4. Bharathapuzha Chulliar5. Bharathapuzha Pothundi6. Bharathapuzha Walayar7. Bharathapuzha Kanjirampuzha8. Chalakkudy Parambikulam9. Chalakkudy Thunakkadavu10. Chalakkudy Peruvaaripal11. Chalakkudy Sholayar12. Chalakkudy Peringalkuthu13. Kallada Parappar14. Karamana Aruvikkara15. Karuvanoor Peechi16. Keecheri Vazhani17. Kuttiadi Kuttiadi18. Neyyar Neyyar19. Pamba Pamba20. Pamba Kakki21. Periyar Idukki22. Periyar Ponmudi23. Periyar Anayirankal24. Periyar Kundala25. Periyar Mattupatti26. Periyar Sengulam27. Periyar Neriamangalam28. Periyar Bhoothathankettu29. Periyar Periyar lake30. Valapattanam Pazhassi31. Vamanapuram Peppara32. Muvattupuzhayar Malankara