Test your General Awareness, Current affairs

General Awareness

1. Which is the first Indian Bank to get approval to start
normal banking operation in China?
(1) Indian Bank
(2) Punjab National Bank
(3) Corporation Bank
(4) State Bank of India
(5) Bank of Baroda

2. Who has been appointed as the Chief Minister of Puducherry.
1. V. Vaithilingam
2. Jyoti Basu
3. Kamlesh Sharma
4. Ashok kelkar
5. J.S. Sidhu

3. Who among the following won the 2008 Noble Prize of Peace?
1. Paul Krugman
2. Martin Chalfie
3. George Bush
4. Makoto Kobayashi
5. Martti Ahtisaari

4. Who among the following was elected president of Maldives in the first ever democratic presidential election in the Country?
1. Maumoom Abdul Gayoom
2. Mohammad Anni Nasheed
3. Noor Ghulam Ahmad
4. Mohammad Nasir
5. None of these

5. Baglihar Hydro electric Power project is associated with which state ?
Maharastra
2. Mizoram
3. Assam
Karnataka
None of these

6. 10th Osian Cinefan Festival took place in
1. New Delhi
2. Mumbai
3. Agra
4. Pune
5. Jaipur

7. Sasan Power Project is associated with
1. Anil Ambani
2. Mukesh Ambani
3. Ratan Tata
4. Aditya Birla
5. Nandan Nielkani

8. which of the following country is not a member of G-8?
1. Britain
2. Germany
3. United State
4. Italy
5. All are member of G-8

9. Durand Cup is associated with which game
1. Hockey
2. Badminton
3. Football
4. Cricket
5. Tennis

10. On November 4, Government of India has decided to give the status of National River to
1. Kosi
2. Ganga
3. Yamuna
4. Chenab
5. Jhelum

11. Barack Obama is recently elected as
1. 42nd President of US
2. 43rd president of US
3. 44th President of US
4. 45th Prime Minister of US
5. None of these are correct

12. Recently held Davis Cup won by
1. India
2. Argentina
3. Spain
4. France
5. Germany

13. Why was Jerry Yang in the NEWS recently?
1. He has been appointed as new secretary General of SAARC
2. He is the recently elected president of Maldives.
3. He has won Booker prize recently.
4. He has quit as Yahoo CEO.
5. He is the youngest man to cross British Channel.

14. The second Summit of BIMSTEC took place in
1. Tokyo
2. New Delhi
3. Colombo
4. Hyderabad
5. Jaipur

15. Midnight Children is associated with
1. Arundati Roy
2. Aravind Adiga
3. Salman Rushdie
4. Adam Gilchrist
5. None of these

16. Athletes of the year won by
1. Usain Bolt
2. Yelena Isinbayeva
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Paul Vaulter
5. all of these

17. Singapore Open Golf won by
1. Tiger Wood
2. Jeev Milkha Singh
3. Alberto Contador
4. Chetan Anand
5.None of these

18. Which of the Following Countries are the members of IBSA?
1. India, Britain, Somalia and Australia
2. Indonesia, Britain and South Africa
3. India Brazil and South America
4. India, Brazil and South Africa
5. Indonesia, Britain and South Africa

19. National Consumer Right Day is observed on
1. 24 september
2. 8 september
3. 24 December
4. 8 December
5. 8 March

20. The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency is
1. Baan ki Moon
2. Robert E. Zoelock
3. Mohamed El Baderi
4. Mohammad Anni Ansaari
5. Dalai Lama

Answers
1. 3.
2.1
3. 5
4. 2
5.5
6.1
7. 1
8.
9.3
10.2
11.3
12. 3
13.4
14.2
15.3
16.3
17.2
18.4
19.3
20. 3

True of False

1. Chlorophyll contains Mg.
2. Light reaction takes place in Stroma
3. IGFRI is located in Jhansi.
4. Carotene and Xanthophyll are together called Carotenoids.
5. Krantz type chloroplast lack PS 11
6. American ballworm is Helicoverpa armigera
7. Bemisia tabaci is Cotton white fly
8. White Bud of maize is due to deficiency of Mo.
9. Nabam is a sodium containing fungicide
10. Zineb is a Zinc containing fungicides

Answers

T
F
T
T
T
T
T
F, Zinc
T
10.T

Agriculture Officer Exam Model Paper

Model questions for agriculture officer Exams

1. Lemma + Palea together known as
Panicle
Plumule
Hull
Seed
None of these

2. Miracle Rice in India is
I R 8
T. N 1
Jaya
Padma
Basmati

3. ‘Square’ is the appearance of flower bud in
a. Cotton
b. Okra
c. papaya
d. Custard apple
e. Pine apple

4. The ratio of crop yield to the amount of water depleted by the crop in the process of evapo transpiration is
a. Consumptive Use of water
b. Water Use efficiency
c. Irrigation efficiency
d. all of these
e. None of these

5. Number of agroclimatic zones in India
a. 10
b. 12
c.15
d. 20
e. 11

6. Term ‘Vernalisation’ given by
1. Arnon and Stout
2. Lysenco
3.Stephen Hales
4. Mendel
5. None of these




7. Tax to GDP ratio in India in year 2007-08 is
a. 12
b.19
c.28
d.38
e.49

8. Which one of the following minerals is least weatherable in soil?
a. Olivine
b. Quartz
c.Calcite
d. biotite
e. Lime

9. Peat soils are generally
Black, heavy & acidic
Black, light & basic
Red Light & acidic
Black, heavy & neutral
Red, Heavy and neutral

10. The state Leading in groundnut production is
Gujrat
Rajasthan
Andhra Pradesh
Maharastra
Punjab

11. Tran genetic Plains are found in
Punjab Haryana and shiwalik region
MP and some parts of Rajasthan
Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and hilly areas of U.P.
Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh
E. None of these

12. The word Pulse is derived from
Latin
Greek
French
German
Hindi

13. Nucleic acid Phytin Contains element
P
Ca
Mg
Na
K

14. NABARD was started in the year
1968
1974
1978
1982
1989

15.white Grub is the pest of
a. groundnut
b. Sugarcane
c. Rice
d. Mustard
e.wheat

16. which one of the following is the mercurial chemical
a.thiram
b. oxanthins
c. carboxins
d.chloranil
e. all are non mercurials.

17. Phyllody of seasamum is
a. Bacterial disease
b. Fungal disease
c. Mycoplasma disease
d. deficiency disease
e.Nematode disease

18. Mosaic streak of wheat is a
a. Bacterial disease
b. Fungal disease
c. Mycoplasma disease
d. Viral disease
e. Nematode disease

19. Greening disease of citrus is
a. Bacterial disease
b. Fungal disease
c. Mycoplasma disease
d. Viral disease
e. Nematode disease


20.Cnaphalocrosis medindis is also known as
a. White Leaf hopper
b. Paddy Leaf hopper
c. Rice Gall midge
d. Rice Gundhi Bug
e. Rice Army worm

Answers
1. c 2. c 3. a 4. b 5. e
6. 2 7.a 8. b 9.a 10.c
11.a 12.c 13.a 14.d 15.a
16.e 17.c 18.d 19.a 20. b

The World Bank has barred India's Satyam Computer from doing business with it for eight years on the charges of data theft.

Bhaichung Bhutia was chosen the All India Football Federation's Player of the Year.

Bimal Jalan wrote the book"Future of India".

The revolutionary novel"Bandhi jeevan" was written by Sachindra sanyal.

‘Naked In The Wind’ by Brinda Charry has won the Critics Choice Award at the inaugural Indiaplaza Golden Quill Book Awards. ‘If God Was A Banker’ by Ravi Subramanian won the Readers Choice Award.

The OPEC oil cartel agreed to a record output cut of two million barrels a day, the Saudi Arabian oil minister said while non-member producers also ready to slash 600,000 barrels. This is done to check the prices of oil that are at very low levels.

GDP is a measure of the total economic activity in a country. This includes the income of foreign firms in the country, income that may be remitted to the firm’s own country.

GNI is the total income earned by the citizens of a country, regardless of where that money was made.

NNI is simply GNI adjusted for depreciation of the capital resources of a country through wear and tear and damage.

Thus: NNI = GNI – depreciation.

some points for Agriculture officer exam

Export variety of Mango- Alphanso

Seedless variety of Grape- Thompson

Pusa Nanha is a dwarf variety of Papaya

Thornless variety of Rose - Chitra

World's First high yield dwarf export quality aromatic rice- Pusa Basmati 1

First rice dwarf variety introduced in India- IR 8.

First hybrid in the World- ICPH-8(Pigeon Pea)

Wonder cane with recovery approximately 10%- CoC671

Ammendment for acidic soil is Lime.

Ammendment used for Saline soil is Gypsum.

Human Right Day is celebrated on !0th of December.

North Korea has been removed by the USA from its terrorist blacklist recently.

New Governor of Bihar is R L Bhatia.

India have pulled out of their planned cricket tour of Pakistan in the wake of November's terror attacks in Mumbai.
Morgan Stanley loses $2.37 billion in Q4.Morgan Stanley shares fell 7.6 percent in premarket trade.
3G spectrum to be introduced in 29 cities of AP: BSNL
The Government plans to introduce a biometric passport system by 2010, external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee has informed the Upper House of the Parliament.
"We have decided to introduce biometric passport system. We intend to complete the entire process by 2010," he responded during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha. This would help check human trafficking he added.

Annual average rainfall of India is 120 cm.
Global mean rainfall is 99 cm.
New Scheme “Yashoda” launched:
With the inspiration of Yashoda in Mahabharata who cared and brought up lord Krishna, the Central Government with the help of Norway (Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI)) has launched “Yashoda Scheme” at Sambalpur for the first time in country. NIPI would contribute Rs.1.5 core for Orissa for implementation of the scheme. The Scheme was launched in the country after the success of 'Janani Surakshya Yojana with an objective to bring a change in the post natal care. NIPI Director and former union Health Secretary P K Hota informed about the scheme. Under the schemes the ''Yoshodas'' would be recruited to look after the ''Bal Krishnas'' on a monthly honorium of Rs 3000. Yashodas'' would stay in hospitals for 48 hours and take care of the new born children. The 'Yashodas' would also look after the mothers of the new born children. Jharsuguda and Angul will be covered under the scheme very shortly.

Try answering these questions, answers will be published later.

Indian Overseas bank PO -- General awareness questions
1.Which of the following is not a major highlight of the Union Budget 2008-09 ?
1. A target of Rs. 2•80 lakhs crore is fixed for providing credit to agriculture sector.
2. Limit of the Banking Cash Transaction Tax is raised from present 1% to 1•5%.
3. PAN requirement is not mandatory for financial transactions. Other Ids are also acceptable.

(A) Only 1(B) Only 2(C) Only 3(D) Both 2 and 3(E) All 1, 2 and 3

2. As per the news in major financial newspapers a ‘Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana’ is launched in Delhi and Haryana States for members of unorganized sectors. Under the scheme each family is likely to get the benefit of Rs.………

(A) 15,000(B) 20,000(C) 25,000(D) 30,000(E) 50,000

3. As proposed in the Union Budget 2008-09 a ‘Risk Capital Fund’ is set up by the Govt. of India. Who amongst the following will maintain and operate that fund ?

(A) NABARD(B) SIDBI(C) ECGC(D) RBI(E) None of these

4. As per the Economic Survey 2007-08 presented in the Lok Sabha in February 2008, what has been the percentage growth in Bank credit ? About—(A) 10%(B) 15%(C) 18%(D) 21%(E) 26%8. As per the budget of the Indian Railways for 2008-09 the operating ratio of the railways has—

(A) Improved only by 0•5%(B) Decreased by 0•5%(C) Remained at the same level on which it was in 2007-08(D) Reached at the level of 81%(E) Reduced to the level of 63% which was the level of 2000-01
5. The government of India has launched a new scheme for the ‘Girl Child’. What is the name of the scheme ?

(A) Raj Lakshmi(B) Rani Bitia(C) Dhan Lakshmi(D) Aanandita(E) None of these

6. The President of India recently signed the much-awaited notification for the implementation of the suggestions made by the ‘Delimitation Commission’.What will be the effect of this notification ?

(A) Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies will be redefined(B) Candidates from SC/ST categories will get all benefits for another 15 years’ time(C) The boundaries of the National Capital, New Delhi will be extended further(D) Operations of the Cooperative Banks and Societies will not be limited to the state of their origin. They will also be like Public Sector Banks(E) None of these

7. As per the new policy the number of Judges in the Supreme Court would be now—

(A) 21(B) 25(C) 26(D) 30(E) 31

8. As per the reports published in the newspapers the banks, particularly public sector banks are tying up with various rating agencies for providing a qualitative assessment of the credit needs of the borrowers. Which amongst the following is/are such credit rating agencies in India ?1. CARE2. CRISIL3. ULIP(A) Only 1(B) Only 2(C) 1 and 2 only(D) Only 3(E) All 1, 2 and 3

9. As per the newspaper reports the RBI is planning to introduce ‘Plastic Currency Notes’. What is/are the benefits of ‘Plastic Notes’ ?
1. Their Shelf life will be longer.2. It will replace plastic money or credit, debit cards which are giving birth to many fraudulent practices.3. Printing will be cheaper.

(A) Only 3(B) Only 2(C) Only 1(D) All 1, 2 and 3(E) None of these

10. Who amongst the following was the Captain of the Indian cricket team which registered its victory in tri-series ODI matches against Australia played in March 2008 ?
(A) M.S. Dhoni(B) Anil Kumble(C) Rahul Dravid(D) Saurav Ganguly(E) Sachin Tendulkar

11. Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy who was the chief guest during the Republic Day Function 2008 is the—

(A) President of Brazil(B) Prime Minister of Brazil(C) President of France(D) Prime Minister of France(E) Foreign Secretary of USA

12. Who amongst the following has taken over as the President of Serbia after the General elections held there in February 2008 ?
A) Boris Tadic(B) Tomislav Nicolic(C) Samak Sundaravej(D) Novak Djokovic(E) None of these

13.Indra K. Nooyi who was elected as the Chairperson of the US-India Business Council is the CEO of which of the following Companies ?

(A) Pepsi Co.(B) Infosys(C) Tata Consultancy Services(D) NIIT(E) None of these

14. Maria Sharapova won the Australian Open 2008 Women’s singles by defeating—

(A) Shahar Peer(B) Kateryna Bondarenko(C) Sania Mirza(D) Victoria Azarenka(E) Ana Ivanovic

15. Saina Nehwal won the Seniors’ Championship match of which of the following games held in Goa in January 2008 ?

(A) Golf(B) Tennis(C) Table tennis(D) Archery(E) Badminton

16. As per the news published in some newspapers magazines two PSUs National Thermal Power Corporation and Coal India Ltd. are going to float a joint venture ‘SPV’. What is the full form of ‘SPV’ ?

(A) Small Power Venture(B) Special Purpose Vehicle(C) Special Power Venture(D) Small Purpose Vehicle(E) None of these

17. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently agreed to allow foreign direct investment in the field of mobile television services. Upto what extent FDI is allowed in this field ?

(A) 50%(B) 60%(C) 64%(D) 70%(E) 74%

18. As per the performance assessment data released by the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) in January 2008. Which of the following sectors registered a growth of 3•6 per cent ?

(A) Agriculture Sector(B) Banking Sector(C) Tourism Sector(D) Aviation Services Sector(E) None of these29. Which of the following is the name of very violent and serious types of winds which bring lot of disaster ?(A) Trade winds(B) Hurricane(C) Cirrus(D) Stratus(E) None of these

19. The Global Employment Trends Report 2008 published by the International Labour Organization has indicated that there may be increase in global unemployment. What according to them is/are the major reasons of this possibility ?

1. Turmoil in Credit Markets all over the world.2. Rise in oil prices in international market.3. Civil unrest in some under and undeveloped nations.

(A) Only 1(B) Only 2(C) Only 3(D) Only 1 and 2(E) None of these

20. The Technology Mission on Cotton was launched during Xth plan. The scheme was designed to get increase in production of cotton by which of the following levels by the end of the plan ?

(A) 100 lakh bales(B) 150 lakh bales(C) 175 lakh bales(D) 200 lakh bales(E) None of these

21. A National Development Fund was created by the Government of India a few years ago. What was the purpose of the fund ?

1. Boost investment in social sector projects to promote education, healthcare andemployment.2. Capital investments in selected profitable PSEs to yield adequate returns.3. To fund revision in pay structure of Central Government employees.
(A) Only 1(B) Only 2(C) Only 3(D) Both 1 and 2(E) None of these38. Olympic 2008 are scheduled to be held in—(A) Paris(B) Tokyo(C) London(D) Moscow(E) None of these

22. The general elections took place in which of the following countries in March 2008 ?

(A) Iran(B) Iraq(C) Afghanistan(D) Myanmar(E) Sri Lanka

23. Who amongst the following is the author of the book ‘Economic Nightmare of India’ ?

(A) Morarji Desai(B) K. Rajeshwar Rao(C) Charan Singh(D) Jyoti Basu(E) None of these

24. As per the targets for 11th plan educated unemployment is to be reduced to which of the following levels ?
(A) 5%(B) 6%(C) 7%(D) 8%(E) 9%

25. ‘Long Walk’ to Freedom’ is a book written by—

(A) Sonia Gandhi(B) L. K. Advani(C) Nelson Mandela(D) Benazir Bhutto(E) Nawaz Sheriff

25. India recently signed a pact with which of the following countries on solving the problems of Indian labour in that country ?

(A) Iran(B) UAE(C) Malaysia(D) Kuwait(E) None of these

26. Which of the following countries is trying to launch a Satellite to study the sun ?

(A) USA(B) India(C) Russia(D) China(E) None of these

27. Jang Hyun Jong who was adjudged as the ‘Asian Hockey Player of the year’ is from—

(A) China(B) Singapore(C) South Korea(D) India(E) None of these

28. Who amongst the following is the winner of Padma Vibhushan Awards given away recently ?

(A) Rahul Gandhi(B) Priya Dutt(C) Vinod Dua(D) Ratan Tata(E) None of these

29. Which of the following films was adjudged ‘Best Film’ in 14th Star Screen Awards given away in January 2008 ?

(A) Om Shanti Om(B) Guru(C) Taare Zameen Par(D) Jab We Met(E) Chak De India

30. A meeting of the European Leaders was held in January 2008 at which of the following places to discuss ‘Global Economic Turmoil’ ?

(A) London(B) New Delhi(C) New York(D) Tokyo(E) Milan

31. Castro Sibling is the new President of—

(A) Romania(B) Cuba(C) Israel(D) Venezuela(E) None of these

32. Kosovo declared itself independent from which of the following countries ?

(A) Ukraine(B) Croatia(C) Serbia(D) Russia(E) None of these

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that up to 60,000 people in Zimbabwe could become infected with cholera if the epidemic is not checked.
The WHO said the number of cases in the country is rising because of a lack of safe drinking water and medical facilities.At least 589 people have been killed by cholera and there are almost 14,000 known cases of the disease.
well let us discuss some basics of Agriculture Revolution
White Revolution is Concerned with milk production
Round Revolution is concerned with Potato.
Yellow Revolution is concerned with edible Oils and Crude oils production.
Blue Revolution is concerned with Fishes.
Pink revolution is concerned with marine Products(sea products)
Black Revolution is concerned with Petroleum products
Grey revolution - Fertilizer Revoltion
silver revolution - poultry birds
Golden Revolution is concerned with Horticultural Crops.
Loamy soil is considered best for agriculture practises.

The Govt of India has approved a prposed amendment in the IMF's articles of agreement that will increase India's quota in the multilateral funding agency. with the proposed ammendment, India's quota in IMF in term of Special draawing rights reserve asset will go up from 1.91 percent to 2.44 percent.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named as the ICC One Day Player of the year.

National Housing Bank has acquired 12.5% stake in Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services Limited.

The flagship programme of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme will get a further boost with the government deciding to increase the number of Anganwadis to 14 lakhs from the existing 10 lakh. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has decided to expand and universalize the scheme to provide supplementary nutrition, immunization and pre-school education to the children in the age group of three to six years at Anganwadis. Nutritional support and referral medical services are available to pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls also at Anganwadis.The scheme is one of the world's largest programmes for early child development. It provides an integrated package of services in a convergent manner for holistic development of the child. As per 2001 census, there are 157.86 million children constituting 15.42 per cent of the India's ICDS Scheme.

Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
The second BIMSTEC summit on November 13 saw leaders from Bhutan, India, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh pledging to cooperate on several key issues affecting the region for mutual benefit. The summit also gave BIMSTEC a more comprehensive and detailed role with a joint declaration by the leaders to cooperate in areas like agriculture, climate, technology, poverty, food security, transport, crime and terrorism, culture, tourism and energy.
On Bhutan’s role in BIMSTEC, Lyonchen Jigmi Y Thinley said, “Bhutan stands not only to benefit but can also contribute for the overall development of the region and that is why we’ve become a member. May I assure you that, small as we are, we’ve been taking part and contributing in taking decisions, making policies and other ideas that BIMSTEC pursues,” he said.
The summit finalised a BIMSTEC cultural industries commission and BIMSTEC cultural industries observatory in Bhutan, a BIMSTEC energy centre in India, BIMSTEC weather and climate centre in India. The BIMSTEC convention on international terrorism, transnational organised crime and illicit drug trafficking was also finalised.
The body also took note of the progress made so far on negotiations for goods in the BIMSTEC free trade area and asked the trade negotiating bodies to conclude negotiations soon so that an agreement can be finalised at the earliest. The free trade agreement was one of the main underlying emphasis of the summit.
An important decision of the summit would be to establish a permanent secretariat for BIMSTEC for which a joint working group has been set to do the groundwork.
‘Climate Change’ has been introduced as a new 14th priority area, in addition to the existing areas of cooperation. The gathering also agreed to strengthen cooperation in poverty alleviation in the context of food security and made a proposal to establish a BIMSTEC poverty alleviation centre in Bangladesh and a food security reserve among BIMSTEC members.
The gathering also agreed to improve intra BIMSTEC tourism and the proposal of a BIMSEC tourism centre in Nepal will be discussed. Another proposal was to set up a BIMSTEC technology transfer facility in Sri Lanka to help in the sharing of technologies targeted towards micro, small and medium scale enterprises in the region.
BIMSTEC acknowledged the transport infrastructure and logistics study by ADB as an important first step to improve transportation and communications linkages within the region by identifying bottlenecks and overcoming them.
The countries agreed to cooperate in the area of energy and hold the second energy minister’s conference in 2009. Most leaders stressed the importance of developing energy sources like hydropower.
In the field of technology, India announced 150 new scholarships to facilitate the sharing of technical knowhow in the region. The body also agreed to cooperate in the area of traditional medicine by proposing to set up a BIMSTEC network of national centres of coordination in traditional medicine. BIMSTEC agreed to enhance collaborative efforts to jointly face the current global financial crisis.
The organisation will also be looking into enhancing people to people contacts and let India take the lead in establishing a BIMSTEC network of policy thinktanks in the region.
BIMSTEC is a regional body set up in 1997 whose main purpose is to serve as a link between South Asia and South East Asia for better trade, transport and overall development in the region. Bhutan has become a member in 2004 and is the lead country for culture. The total GDP of the area is 1.7 trillion dollars.
Meanwhile, Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley met the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the summit and also paid a courtesy call on President Pratibha Patil.

G20 meeting took place in Washington.The body groups the United States, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Britain, Canada, Russia, the European Union, Argentine, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey.
Spain and the Netherlands have also been invited to the summit although they are not counted as members. Top officials from the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund will be also present at the meeting.

The summit, as Bush said, will focus on five key objectives: understanding the causes of the global crisis, reviewing the effectiveness of our responses thus far, identifying principles for reforming our financial and regulatory systems, launching a specific action plan to implement those principles, and reaffirming our conviction that free market principles offer the surest path to lasting prosperity.

India today expressed the hope that the summit of world leaders here would send the right signals by agreeing on a stimulus package to restore major economies back to normalcy so that the situation arising out of a global downturn does not deteriorate further.

According to Forbes, Plunging stock and property values because of the global financial crisis has pushed steel tycoon Lakshmi Nivas Mittal to second place behind Mukesh Ambani of petroleum to textiles major Reliance Industries in the list of 40 richest Indians. Mittal was the topper of the last year Forbes 40 welthiest Indian.

Mohamed Nasheed is the new president of Maldives displacing Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) and Tata Sons Ltd (TSL) the main promoters for Tata companies including TTSL, announced their agreement on a strategic alliance in India, under which Tokyo-based DoCoMo, the world's leading mobile operator, will acquire 26 per cent of TTSL's stock for approximately Rs 13,070 crore.

British Telecom Group Plc (BT), the UK's largest phone company, said it would cut its workforce by 6 per cent in the year through March, which would affect areas of ‘indirect labour’ such as agency, contractors, sub-contractors and offshore workers. BT has a workforce of 1,60,000 and it will cut 10,000 jobs by 2009. Most of these employees would be those who are in probation period and those hired on contractual basis. The impact will be most visible on Tech Mahindra, the IT arm of Mahindra & Mahindra group, BT contributes over 60 per cent to its revenue (around Rs 2,600 crore as of FY08). For Infosys, BT is its top client and one of among the top 10 for TCS.
RIL and RNRL are locked in a legal dispute over terms of Gas Supply Master Agreement whereby RIL is to supply gas to RNRL for latter's power plants. Gas production by Reliance Industries is slated to start next year but RNRL will take about three years to put up its power plant at Dadari in Uttar Pradesh. RNRL wants gas for 17 years and current GSMA does not assure this, it says. Therefore, the High Court suggested to RNRL that if court were to accept RNRL's case, it can order that the contract period of 17 years would start only after Anil Ambani power plant is up and running.
Anil Ambani Group company RNRL today demanded that Mukesh's RIL pay the difference between the price at which it will sell gas to other buyers and 2.34 USD, the rate at which RNRL is seeking gas, as an interim solution to the dispute between the Ambani siblings.

The fifth annual BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study estimated that the global piracy rate in 2007 rose from 35 per cent to 38 per cent, while economic losses due to PC software piracy increased by $8.5 billion to $48 billion. In an effort to combat the effects of pirated and counterfeit software, Microsoft has announced Global Anti-Piracy Day to mark the launch of a collection of intellectual property awareness campaigns, educational forums, partner engagements and law enforcement initiatives worldwide.
The initiative, which spans 49 countries across six continents, is part of Microsoft's ongoing efforts to protect its intellectual property, customers and partners.
According to Microsoft, counterfeit software may not run properly and exposes customers to increased risk of viruses, worms, spyware and Trojan horses. As a result, companies who pirate software risk security breaches, lost data, and a damaged reputation.

Germany has officially plunged into recession with economic activity contracting much faster than expected in the third quarter, intensifying fears about the depth and duration of continental Europe’s downturn.
Gross domestic product in Europe’s largest economy fell by 0.5 per cent in the three months to September, extending a 0.4 per cent drop in the previous quarter, the German statistical office reported.
Germany's Industrial outptr fell 3.6% in September.

India successfully test fired 'Shaurya', a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile, to be used by its Army. With a 600-km range, the missile is capable of hitting targets deep inside Pakistan and China.
Agreement between India and Colombia
For exploration and production of oil and gas, exchange of training and human resource development, exchange of visits of professionals and technicians.
India became the only nuclear weapons power to be allowed global nuclear commerce without signing either the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) or Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), when 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group lifts its 16 year old embargo on nuclear commerce with India in Vienna.
Meghalaya becomes the first state to allow Muslim women to offer Ramzan prayer in mosque alongside men.
China opens Consulate General’s office in Kolkata.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram inaugurates the Universal Arogya Medical Insurance Scheme for persons belonging to below poverty line category.
People In News:
Amartya Sen is part of committee appointed by International Monetary Fund to advise on governance reform.
Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has been conferred the third Malcom S Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award, which honours heroes of entrepreneurial capitalism and free enterprise.
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal arrived on September 14, 2005 on his first visit to India.
Bhupen Hazarika is conferred the ‘Asom Ratna’ on his 83rd birthday.
Former Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh unseated from Punjab Assembly and disqualified for the remaining tenure of the 13th Vidhan Sabha for his alleged involvement in corruption.

54th National Film Awards
Presented by: President Pratibha Patil
Dilip Kumar (Bollywood Actor), Lata Mangeshkar (Singer), Saroja Devi (South Indian Actress) got the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Konkona Sen Sharma Best supporting actress award.
Tapan Sinha -Dadasheb Phalke Award
Lage Raho Munna Bhai-Best entertainment film
Soumitra Chatterjee -Best actor award for the Bengali film Podokkhep
Madhur Bhandarkar-Best director award (Traffic Signal)

Sister Alfonsa of kerala will be the first women Saint from India announced by Pope Benedict XVI
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck became the world's youngest reigning monarch and head of the newest democracy of Bhutan.

Some important Abbreviations
TRAI- TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA
ISP- INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER
IPC - INDIAN PENAL CODE
FDI- FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
FII- FOREIGN INSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENT
SEBI- SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA
AMFI - Association Of Mutual Funds Of India
UNICEF - United Nations International Children Emergency Fund
NABARD - National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development
SME - Small And Medium Size Enterprises
ICICI - Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India
URL - Universal Resource Locator
DRDO - Defence Research and Development Organisation
OECD - Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

Public sector banks have registered a robust growth due to global financial crisis. If we look at the data of July-September, we will find that Deposit Accretion for the period of July-September for State Bank of India went up by 68% to 57,861 Crore, Whereas Punjab bank showed a greater increase in Deposits by 80% to 13,241 Crore. Other public Sector Banks like Bank of Baroda and Corporation Bank also registered a growth in Deposits by 29% and 20% respectively. whereas ICICI Bank registerd a loss of -346% which means that deposits were taken out fron the bank the amount of deposit taken out was 11,058Crore. This trend analyses the fact that people consider Public Sector Banks to be a safer place for their money.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that despite the global turmoil, Indian economy may grow by 7 to7.5% .

Fitch retains India's sovereign rating

Even while retaining the sovereign credit rating of India, Fitch today downgraded the ratings for four emerging market economies (EMEs) -- Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Hungary and Romania -- in the aftermath of the global financial meltdown.

The rating outlook, which expresses the possibility of a change in the near future, has been lowered for countries like South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Chile and Malaysia, says international credit rating agency Fitch.
Fitch maintained India's long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB-' with a 'stable' outlook. It also reiterated its long-term local currency rating for India at 'BBB-' with a 'negative' outlook.
'BBB-' is an investment grade rating reflecting low to moderate credit risk. A 'negative' outlook means that there is a high chance of the actual credit rating being downgraded.
Fitch, one of the three major international credit rating agencies, said in a statement today's action followed a review of the sovereign ratings of 17 major investment-grade EMEs.
"The profound shift in the global economic and financial outlook poses significant real economy and policy challenges for emerging markets," said David Riley, head of Fitch's Global Sovereign Ratings Group.
The long-term foreign currency IDRs of Bulgaria and Kazakhstan have been cut to 'BBB-' from 'BBB'. The credit rating for Hungary has been cut to 'BBB' from 'BBB+' and for Romania it has been lowered to 'BB+' from 'BBB'.
The outlook on the long-term foreign currency ratings for South Korea, Mexico, Russia and South Africa has been cut to 'negative' from 'stable'. The outlook on Chile and Malaysia has been lowered to 'stable' from 'positive'

Let us have a look at few important books that were in news

Animal's People- A book based on Bhopal Gas tragedy by Indian origin writter. The book was in news after it was named this year's best book in Europe and South Asia by Commonwealth.

Canada's Lawrence Hill won the top Commomwealth Writter's Prize for "The book of Negroes".

'A Golden Age' is a book written by Tahmima Anam bagged theaward for the best book in fiction category.

"India's Century"- A book written by Kamal Nath

'True Colours' is the name of book recently in news written by Adam Gilchrist.

Recently Manu script of Rig-Veda is included in the UNESCO"s Memory of World Register.

There are 18 High Courts in the country, three having jurisdiction over more than one state. Bombay High Court has the jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Guwahati High Court, which was earlier known as Assam High Court, has the jurisdiction over Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Punjab and Haryana High Court has the jurisdiction over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh

The Questions the interview Board of Allahabad Bank asked me were

Introduce Yourself?

Since I am an agriculture graduate they asked me following agriculture based Questions

What is the role of Agriculture in Indian Economy?

what are the benefits of 60,000 Crore debt waiver scheme announced by Govt.

How can you help banking sector?

What is Bio Diesel?

Who is the Current agriculture Minister?

What do you understand by CRR?

Govt. is doing so much for agriculture yet the agriculture sector of teh country is poor. Why

Some other questions they asked were

What is your hobby?

What is the profession of your Father?

Recently Dumping was in news and World Trade organisation showed it concern over it what is 'Dumping'? well, Dumping’ refers to the act of transferring products from one country to another and selling it at a price, which is much below the selling price or cost of production of the home country. so the home country production gets affected and business community gets dissatisfied. this creates panic as this is not allowed by law in most of the countries.According to WTO (World Trade Organization), the first half of the current year witnessed a considerable increase in the instances of dumping and products being transferred across borders at unfair prices. The ‘number of investigations’ has jumped from 61 (in the first six months of last year) to 85 (in the present year) i.e. a 39% hike. Majority of the cases of introspections were related to dumping. Further study showed that 21 were from base metal sector, 20 from textiles and 10 from chemicals. Going by the nations, Turkey topped the list with recording 13 such scrutiny instances. The other countries are Argentina, India, United States and European nations like Australia, Brazil and Colombia.

Countries that make up G-8, Germany, Japan, United States, Britain, Italy, Russia, Canada and France are to hold a meeting in near future. This would be to devise measures to handle the chaos occurring on the Financial front. The meet is most likely to take place in November. Among the recommenders of the meeting were Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and Nicolar Sarkozy, French President. British prime Minister, Gordon Brown emphasized that not only the developed nations be discussed in it, but also the emerging economies like China and India be given a thought. The leaders echoed that they all stood united to boost up the confidence of financial institutions and bring the countries out of this tough time. The meet aims at both correcting the current shortcomings and formulating strategies so as to avert any similar happening again, ever. The root cause of the present troubles is thought to be the investments in U.S. as subprime mortgages. So, steps to not let it repeat itself are to be framed in the discussion.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton earned the 2008 Formula One World Championship with a fifth-place finish at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace at Interlagos Hamilton, 23, becomes the youngest driver to win a World Championship in F1 history.

The International Monetary Fund Chief - Dominique Strauss Kahn
RBI Deputy Governor - V leeladhar
The CEO of the Two British Brands Jaguar and Land Rover appointed by Tata Motors - David Smith
The Intel Corporation Chairman - Craig Barrett

BSNL has reduced ISD tariff to some of the Saarc nations like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan from mobile as well as fixed line phones.A BSNL official said the decision for selective ISD rate cut is based on traffic elasticity. From BSNL cell, under the Postpaid Plan 725, calls to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan would cost Rs 9 per minute instead of the existing Rs 10, and from other post-paid plans and prepaid ones, call charges would be Rs 9 per minute instead of Rs 12. The drop in charges are in the range of 11-33%. For BSNL fixed line users, call charges to these four countries would now be Rs 9.60 paise per minute for a 7.5 second pulse

Duvvuri Subbarao is the new Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

N. Rangaswamy is the new Chief Minister of Puducherry.

Rajasthan got the Today Travel Platinum Award 2008.Classical Singer Pandit Bhimsen Joshi was awarded the Swami Haridas Memorial Award. The renowned singer will be given Rs. 1 lakh.

Fidel Castro got the third Ubuntu Award.

Taro Aso is the new Prime Minister of Japan.

German Chancellor Angela Markel has topped the Forbes Power Women List.

Right to education Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on 29th of October 2008
And it is slated to be introduced in Parliament in December.
Right to Education Bill seeks to make free & compulsory education a fundamental right Aims at setting minimum standards for both public and private schools Prescribes pupil-teacher ratio of 40:1 Makes it compulsory for all private schools to reserve 25% of seats for poor neighbourhood children

The Right to Education Bill, make education a fundamental right for every child in the 6-14 age group, was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Thursday. It’s slated to be introduced in Parliament in December. If passed, one of the longest awaited political promises would be honoured.
Education as right to cost Rs 12000 crore a year. The cost will be divided between Centre and the States. The proportions are yet to be worked out.

Indian Overseas Bank's Q2 FY09 profit after tax was up 12.3% at Rs 359.06 crore as compared to Rs 319.7 crore in the same period last year. Total income in the period under review stood at Rs 2,643 crore and other income came in at Rs 216.2 crore as against Rs 174.5 crore. Net interest income was up 24.18% at Rs 784.98 crore versus Rs 632.15 crore.

A series of coordinated blasts tore through a troubled section of northeast India on Thursday, killing at least 61 people and wounding hundreds more as police rushed to uncover any additional unexploded devices.
At least 11 bomb blasts in quick succession ripped through the main city of Assam state and three other towns, wounding as many as 335, police said, according to news services.
"I am confident that the people of India will rise unitedly against these attempts to disturb peace and harmony and to destroy our social fabric," Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement.
Thursday's attacks are the latest in a wave of bombing attacks to hit India in recent months, killing more than 125 people
The Assam area also has been hit recently by ethnic clashes. At least 49 people were killed in July in violence between members of the native Bodo tribe and recent migrants to the area, most of whom are Muslims, Reuters reported.

The fifth Economic Census-2005 results released by the government on May29, have revealed following important data :

Employment in sectors other than Crop production and plantation grew faster in rural areas in comparison with urban areas between 1998 to 2005. Milions of Indian shifted to Jobs in the retail trade, manufacturing and allied agricultural activities such as Livestock farming and fishing.

Employment grew at the ratye of 2.78 during 1998-2005 compared to 1.75% during 1990-98

Jammu & Kashmir emerged as the state that has the highest employment growth of 6.82%.

According to the survey of 211 million households and 42 million establishments, the employment growth rate in rural area went up by 1.60 per cent during 1998-2005 from 1990-98. In urban areas, teh rate rose by just 0.36% in the same periods.

Employment growth rate in rural areas during the current survey period was 3.88% while it was 2.22% during the previous eight year period. But in urban areas where economic activity is belived to be higher, the annual employment rate recorded for 1998-2005 was 1.70 per cent compared to 1.34 per cent in the previous periods. The survey does not accounts for employment in the government sector though.

The higher employment in rural areas was primarily because villagers ventured into self owned retail and manufacturing businesses- the two sectors with the maximum growth between 1998-2005.

Growth of self owned establishments run by family members doubled in rural areas during the census period as compared to 1990-98, when it was 2.25 percent. Similarly, establishment with up to 6 workers witnessed a three fold jump in rural areas.

BONN (GERMANY): Viswanathan Anand retained the world title with a 24-move draw against Russian Vladimir Kramnik in the penultimate game of the 12-game World Chess Championship final in Bonn today.
Anand earlier won three games -- the third, fifth and sixth -- and lost the 10th game in a match that looked one-sided till Kramnik brought back some life with a win in 10th game.

Few questions taht were asked in the SBI PO Exam recently held?

Where a nuclear plant is to be established in north east?
Ans Meghalaya
In which Sector GOI is planning to set up SEBI like regulatory authority for the recent boom?
Lottery

what is India's tax gdp ratio?
11.2%
which state to give preferance to hiv patients in govt. job?
Kerala
CRR also known as
liquidity ratio
Author of 'Shape of the Beast'- arundhati roy.
'Animal's people' - indra sinha
Ghulam nabi azad was CM of J&K?
UK is the country that provided fund for Siksha abhiyaan
What is Himadri?
Himadri is the new research centre at the Arctic.
Knighthoood award for Salman Rushdie..
India has signed currency swap deal with japan

Lisbon treaty is related to European Union.

World bank projected the growth rate for India 7%

LEE-MYUNG BAK IS THE PRESIDENT OF????

SOUTH KOREA

WHICH IS TRUE ABOUT G-8 MEATING

A)IT WAS HELD IN MOSCOW

B) THEY HAVE PLANED TO TAKE STEPS TO CONTROL GLOBAL WARMING TILL 2050

C)ISSUE OF RISING OIL PRICE DISCUSSED
Answer is B&C both

LET US LEARN A COUPLE OF NEW SYNONYMS

Dire- terrible,awful,miserable

Elegant - refined, graceful

The term Equity is generally used when referring to the equity available from an asset, in simple terms equity is the amount of money you have tied up in an asset.
This could be the amount you own/have paid off on a house, you are then able to use the equity as collateral to borrow against, if you choose to take out a mortgage on your house then you will need to have sufficient equity to equal or be greater than the borrowing/mortgaging amount in question.
Realty major Parsvnath is developing Parsvnath Nano City’ in a Joint Venture with Sabeer Bhatia.

Rafel Nadal won the gold medal in Men’s singles Tennis in Olympic Beijing-2008.

The eldest son of the Legendary Vinod Mankad and former Test cricketer, Ashok Mankand, passed away in Mumbai on August1,2008. He was popularly known as 'Kaka'.
let's learn few synonyms
Dolt - Stupid, fool, idiot, blockhead
Dire- terrible, awful, horrible, miserable
Elegant- refined, graceful
inculpate- blame
Demise- death, decease

55% of Indians will be living in cities by 2050

Less than 20 years from now, Mumbai will be the world’s most densely populated city after Tokyo, with Delhi and Dhaka following right behind. By 2025, the world’s four biggest cities will be in Asia. This is forecast by UN Habitat in its State of the World’s cities 2008/09 report. The three south Asian cities breaking into the top four will replace Mexico City, New York and Sao Paulo in Brazil. Tokyo is already in the top four.

According to UN Habitat in its latest report, State of the World’s cities 2008/09, most of the cities in China projected to shrink are intermediate and big cities. In India, which accounts for 20% of the shrinking cities, it is the smaller urban centres that are shrinking as people migrate to bigger cities or to other newer cities that become more attractive as destinations for migration.Despite shrinking cities, the urban population keeps growing as a proportion to the total in the developing world, as rural towns and centres grow to become new cities and further migration happens between these cities.

Migration has been the primary reason for growth of cities in countries with low levels of urbanisation as is the case in Asia and Africa. However, in many countries, the largest movements of population are taking place between cities and not from rural to urban areas. This city-to-city movement has been one of the strongest reasons for some cities expanding at the cost of others. Dhaka is the fastest growing meta city those with populations above 20 million — in the world with a population growth rate of 4.4% per year. But some of the fastest growing cities are in China, with Chongqing, Xiamen and Shenzhen all growing at over 10% per year. It’s no surprise that China is expected to be 70% urban by 2050.
In India, on the other hand, urbanisation is likely to be at a slower pace.The report estimates that about 55% of the population or 900 million people would be living in urban areas by 2050.

Indian carriers are slipping deeper into red every passing month. On Saturday, Jet Airways announced its highest net loss in six quarters — Rs 384.50 crore for this fiscal’s second quarter ending September 30 — while the airline had a profit of Rs 28.30 crore same period last year. The loss comes on account of higher operating costs that led to raising fares and saw dwindling of passenger loads. The company’s total income that quarter, however, increased to Rs 3,121.34 crore from Rs 1,818.55 crore in the yearago period. The airline admitted its subsidiary, JetLite, has accumulated losses more than its net worth. But the Naresh Goyal-led airline plans to support JetLite and turn it around.

The explosion maimed him for life.
What is the meaning of maim
Well maim means to deprive of the use of some part of the body, or to impair; make essentially defective.
Thus, people were maimed by the explosion.

What is the meaning of the word ‘rue’
Well ‘rue’ means to feel sorrow, regret

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spent just over Rs 380 crore (about half the price of a Jumbo Jet) on Chandrayaan-1, with 1,000 scientists toiling over it for three years. A similar effort by NASA or any other space agency would have cost at least five times more. In real terms, Chandrayaan-1 cost only about 4% of Isro’s budget over three years.

Chandrayaan-2 is expected to cost ISRO just Rs 500 crore. Isro’s annual budget only recently increased to Rs 5,000 crore or $ 1 billion. This happened when the Mark 3 of GSLV was commissioned and there was a new thrust towards societal application of space projects. Five years ago, Isro’s annual budget was merely around just $200 million
On the brighter side, Antrix Corporation, Isro’s commercial wing, has earned Rs 900 crore from commercial satellite launches and sale of remote sensing data last financial year and the revenues are growing at 25%. “We have launched 16 satellites for other countries so far and another four are on the anvil. Commercial launches add to our earnings,” says Madhavan Nair. This should augur well for Isro, which has such ambitious projects as the Rs 12,000 crore manned space mission scheduled for 2015

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided at an emergency meeting in Vienna on 24th of October to slash its official oil output quota by 1.5 million barrels a day from November 1.
Let us learn a couple of words of English
Salvaged- means to save, e.g. Abhinav Bindra salvaged some pride for India in Beijing Olympics.
Foreclosure -A situation in which a homeowner is unable to make principal and/or interest payments on his or her mortgage, so the lender, be it a bank or building society, can seize and sell the property as stipulated in the terms of the mortgage contract.
Goldman Sach has decided to cut 10% Global workforce.
London has been declared 'Fair Trade City'
Asia- Europe Meeting took place in Beijing. leaders of 43 Nations participated in it. Leaders of various countries agreed that IMF should play a vital role in assisting countries seriously affected by the Crisis.

What is Baloon Mortgage Loan?

Balloon Mortgage Loans:A balloon mortgage is very similar to a fixed-rate mortgage, except the term (or duration) is shorter and the monthly payments are lower. However, a large payment (known as a “balloon payment”) is due at the end of the mortgage’s term.

What is a Bi-weekly Mortgage Loan?

Biweekly Mortgage Loans:Rather than making monthly payments, a bimonthly mortgage allows the borrower to make smaller payments every other week.

What is Blanket Mortgage Loans?

Blanket Mortgage Loans: The blanket mortgage is simply a single mortgage that covers multiple properties. It is used most frequently by commercial real estate developers.

What is a BuyDown Mortgage Loan?

Buydown Mortgage Loans: By using discount points, the borrower makes a lump-sum payment up front that reduces the interest rate on the mortgage loan. A temporary buydown will reduce the monthly payments for the first few years of the mortgage, while a permanent buydown will reduce the interest rate for the mortgage’s entire term.

Some other types of Mortgage Loans used across the World are

Hybrid Mortgage Loans:Similar to a convertible mortgage, a hybrid (or two-step) mortgage begins as a fixed-rate loan and converts into an adjustable-rate loan. However, the borrower has no say on when this conversion takes place. Hybrid mortgages are often referred to by numbers related to the terms of the loan. For example, a 23/7 loan would have a fixed rate for the first seven years, and then convert to an adjustable rate for the remaining 23 years. Sometimes, a hybrid mortgage is referenced by three numbers, such as a 30/5/5 loan. In this case, the loan is a 30 year mortgage that has a fixed rate for the first five years. After that, the rate will change every five years.

Interest-Only Mortgage Loans:An interest-only mortgage is set up so that the borrower only pays on the interest for a specified amount of time. After the initial period has elapsed, the borrower begins making payments on the principal and the remaining interest.

Pledged-Asset Mortgage Loans:With a pledged-asset mortgage, the borrower uses assets such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds to finance the home. This eliminates the need for a down payment and for private mortgage insurance, since the loan is financed 100 percent.

Reverse Mortgage Loans:Specifically designed for retired senior citizens, the reverse mortgage allows borrowers to convert their home’s equity into cash to pay off the loan.

Shared-Appreciation Mortgage Loans:In a shared-appreciation mortgage (or SAM), the lender offers the borrower a lower interest rate in exchange for a share of the home’s future value.Simple-Interest Mortgage Loans:A simple-interest mortgage is similar to an adjustable-rate mortgage, except the interest rate is calculated daily rather than monthly. Although this ultimately results in the borrower paying more, the monthly payments are smaller in the short-run.

Wraparound Mortgage Loans:Sometimes, a seller will offer a house with a new mortgage that includes (or “wraps around”) an older, unpaid mortgage. The buyer makes mortgage payments to the seller who, in turn, uses the money to pay on the original loan. Since the wraparound mortgage is usually for a higher amount and interest rate than the original, this enables the seller to turn a profit. Wraparound mortgages are also known as overlapping or overriding mortgages

Booker Prize goes to Aravind Adiga, the 33-years –old, Chennai- born author won the $50,000 man Booker Prize on Tuesday for his debut novel “The White Tiger.”
What is meant by mortgage and mortgage loan?
A mortgage is a method of using property (real or personal) as security for the performance of an obligation, usually the payment of a debt. A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage (a legal instrument). However, the word mortgage alone, in everyday usage, is most often used to mean mortgage loan.

Explain fixed rate Mortgage Loans and Adjustable rate Mortgage Loans?
Fixed-Rate Mortgage Loans:
The interest rate for a fixed-rate mortgage remains constant for the duration of the loan.
Adjustable-Rate Mortgage Loans:
The interest rate for an adjustable-rate mortgage (or ARM loan) fluctuates during the duration of the loan.
What is 80/20 Mortgage Loan?
80/20 Mortgage Loans:
In this type of loans the home buyer takes out two loans -- the first for 80 percent of the purchase price, and the second for 20 percent of the home's price. The borrower is expected to come up with the closing costs.
"It allows people to buy without a down payment, or for those people who would prefer not to touch their savings to get into a house,"
This type of loan is for people who have gotten out of college and have good jobs. They have good credit, but they haven't had the opportunity to accumulate a lot of savings."
This mortgage plan avoids paying mortgage insurance by getting a second mortgage to back up the first mortgage. The first and main mortgage is for 80 percent of the home's price. The second loan is for 20 percent of the home's price, minus the down payment, if any. If you see mention of an 80-15-5 loan, it means that the borrower got a main mortgage of 80 percent of a home's purchase price, a second loan for 15 percent, and made a 5-percent down payment. Combinations, such as 80-10-10, are also possible. The 80-20 uses a loan without a down payment.

The first ever India-Africa Forum summit was held on Aprail 8-9 2008 in New Delhi. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan singh announced a duty free tariff preferece scheme for exports from 50 Least Developed Contries- of these 34 are in africa. He also doubled credit assistance to Africa to $ 5.4 billion.He also announced an enhanced quota of 1600 seatsannualy for african under it's flagship technical trainning scheme, ITEC.

Khuda Ke Liye (In the name of God)- directed by Shohaib Mansoor becomes the first film from pakisatan to be released across cinemas in more than four decades.

What is CRR, Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate and SLR?

Cash reserve Ratio (CRR) is the amount of funds that the banks have to keep with RBI. If RBI decides to increase the percent of this, the available amount with the banks comes down. RBI is using this method (increase of CRR rate), to drain out the excessive money(liquidity) from the banks.

Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow money from RBI. A reduction in the repo rate will help banks to get money at a cheaper rate. When the repo rate increases borrowing from RBI becomes more expensive.

Reverse Repo rate is the rate at which Reserve Bank of India (RBI) borrows money from banks.

SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) is the amount a commercial bank needs to maintain in the form of cash, or gold or govt. approved securities (Bonds) before providing credit to its customers

Some basics that must be understood clearly to have a bright future in banking world.

What are Assets and Liabilities?
Assets represent property or rights to property and liabilities are debts owed to others. Assets and liabilities together determine the wealth of an individual, a firm, or a nation. Individuals, Firms, and Nations have somewhat different assets and liabilities.
An individual's assets might include cash, bank deposits, stocks, rights to future pension payments, and a house and its contents. An individual's liabilities might include, for example, a home mortgage, debt incurred on an object or other personal possessions, or other financial commitments, such as income tax liabilities.

The loan that is taken out to buy a business asset is generally termed as commercial mortgage. Commercial mortgages are used to buy offices, shops, restaurants or other type of (generally) building. But they can also be used to buy other business assets such as plant or machinery.As well as being a useful way of financing the purchase of business premises for a new business, commercial mortgages can also be an excellent way of funding the expansion of an existing business. A commercial mortgage can also be used to fund investment in land or property which will be used for commercial purposes.

Airtel has launched the value added platform 'Sanchar Hat' for the farmers in a Joint Venture with IFFCO.
National Assembly of Bhutan is Gyalyong Tshongdu.
The General CENVAT rate on all goods have been reduced from 16% to 14% in budget 2008-09.the share of Government expenditure on social services, includuing rural development has been 16.42%According to Eco survey 2007-08, FDI, on a gross basis has risen to $ 2 billion in 2006-07.

scientist have found a tree in sweeden which is belived to be 8000 years old and possibly be the oldest living tree in the world.

The Prime minister of Bhutan is Jigmi Y Thinley, president of the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa that has won a landslide victory in the recently held Bhutan's first parliamentary election.

Now a days, we are listening in news constantly that US is undergoing a recession, what actually is a recession? well when the GDP growth is negative for two consecutive quarters, it is said to be in a recession. also we here the word 'Depression' what is Depression? A depression is a severe downturn that remains for several years.

we can say that currently US is in recession. This would have a impact on india as well. In Indian Economy there is a trade deficit that is import of goods is greater than the export of goods. This trade deficit is balanced by th revenues from the service sectors mainly software and IT companies and also from foreign investment.

Now what is happening is that Oil Prices are going upand india being a importer has to spend more on imports resulting in widening of trade deficit. This has led to increased pressure on service sector to balance this trade deficits. Now due to recession, many major financial firms that were using the Indian software has been closed and that has resulted in decline of revenues.

Also, the country that is facing recession has less purchasing power and therefore export to that country also declines.

Markets in India

Market Types most commonly prevailing in the World Economy are Consumer market, Industrial Market, Stock market, Real estate market, Food market, Commodity Market, Financial Market and others.
Market is the social arrangement where exchange of goods and services takes place among the buyers and the sellers.

According to absolute terms of Economics, main Market Types are Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly. But in general, we can find varying types of
markets. This is because, whenever a group of person has preference for a good or service that another group of person can supply, a new market emerges. Among various types of market, Consumer Market is the market of product and services which individuals buy for their personal use. The products of Consumer market are the FMCGs( Fast Moving Consumer Goods), which are high volume but have low unit value; Consumer Durables, which have low
volume but high unit value and the Services for personal care. Industrial market is the market of products and services which are exchanged between businesses. The products which are exchanged in the Industrial market are Finished Goods, Raw Materials and Services such as legal services, accounting services and security services. But the most important fact about markets is that whatever is the market type, all markets are more or less volatile at some or
other point of time and this volatility is very much important for the markets. Due to the volatility of the markets the upward and downward trends emerge which gives rise to good opportunities

News Channel NDTV in association with the Union travel Ministry, launched a special initiative on Aprail 20, 2008 to unravel new landmarks and historical monuments across the country as part of the popular "Incredible India " Campaign.

Why was Danica Patrick in news recently?

She had become the first female winner in IndyCar history on aprail 20, taking the Indy japan 300 after the top contenders were forced to pit for fuel in the final laps. she had won in her 50th career IndyCar start taking the leap from Castroneves on the 198th lap in the 200-lap race.

What is Tamil Nadu Vision 2025?

On Aprail 12, tamil Nadu Vision 2025 was presented in TN Vision Summit organised by Confederation of Indian Industry(CII). it is a 15- minute video and vision document prepared by the CII.Vision 2025 aspires for universal literacy, higher education for 50% of the population, healthcare infrastructure with 2.5 lakh hospital beds, 100% poverty alleviation, installed capacity of 1 lakh MW, quality drinking water at low cost and ten fold increase in income of the farmers.

China defeated South Korea 3-1 in Jakarta to win their third straight Thomas Cup Title.
The man who knew infinity is the biography of S.Ramanujan.
Sonia- A biography written by by Rasheed Kidvai

Operational Range of various Agni Missiles
Agni-1- 850 Km
Agni-II-3300-4800 Km
Agni-III- 3500-5500 Km
Agni-IV – 5000 Km

According to Economic Survey 2007-08
GDP (At Factor Cost) in 2007-08 was 43,03,654
Growth Rate at factor cost in 2007-08 in GDP is 13.6%
GDP (At Market Price) in year 2007-08 was 47,13,148
Growth Rate at Market Price in GDP in 2007-08 was 13.7%
Per Capita income in year 2007-08 was 33,299
Growth rate in Per Capita income was 12.3%
Kishan Maharaj who died recently was a famous Tabla Mastero.
Justine Henin of Belgium is a former world No.1 Player who had recently announced her retirement on May, 2008 is Justine Henin.
World's Youngest Democracy - Bhutan
World's Youngest Republic - Nepal

What is 'Forex' a term we commonly comes across ?

The foreign exchange currency or (forex or FX) market refers to the market for currencies . Transactions in this market typically involve one party purchasing a quantity of one currency in exchange for paying a quantity of another. The FX market is the largest and most liquid financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks , currency speculators, corporations, governments, and other institutions.

Mark Ramprakash in August 2008 became the first player of the decade to reach 100 first class hundreds.

Forbes Magazine has released a list of 'best countries to do bussiness'. India has slipped 13 places to 64th position.

15th SAARC Summit held in Colombo.

According to the latest figure released by UN, world economy to grow by 1.81.

Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament- Argentina defeated India 2-1

Thailand moots five nation rice cartel in Asia.

Animal's People - A book written by Indra Sinha.

Bangkok hosted the 64th session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

India ranks 128 out of 177 Countries in the HDI ranking done by United Nations.

Bazen Chariot was the codeename of one of the biggest ever war game to be organised by the Indian Army and the Air Force in recent years.

India is set to sign the biggest ever deal with the US worth $2.2 billion for the eight Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance(LRMR) aircrafts.

Hockey Champions Trophy won by Australia by defeating Spain.

108th US open Golf won by Tiger wood

what is Virtual Banking?

Banking through Computer Networking and without having physical existence such as a branch infrastructure is known as Virtual Banking.

India Japan had signed a currency swap deal, according to which both countries will be able to swap Rupee and Yen against Dollar up to $ 3 billion.

Federal Reserves is the financial organisation of USA.

Orobanche is a total root parasite.

Cuscutta is a total stem parasite.

Striga is a Demi-root parasite

The Punjab Government and the UNWTO will jointly provide the state as a global tourist centre and a decision to this effect was taken on June 5 2008 .

Mumbai, the financial capital of India, is ranked seven among the World's most financially active 75 cities in the world. New Delhi and Banglore are the two other Indian cities that are at 61 and 66th position respectively.

According to a world Bank report, India has emerged as the second largest seller of carbon credits with 6% share in 2007 while China tops the list with 73%.

According to UN estimates fifty five percent of India's population amounting to 900 million people would move to cities by 2050.

Baku has been rated as the dirtiest city in the world.

My Country My Life is an autobiography of L K Advani.

Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmer are the author of the book 'The Three Trillion Dollar War'.

The official Logo of the 2010 Commomwealth Games is Shera and the theme is Come out and play.

The Union Cabinet on Jan 10 has cleared a proposal allowing the hike in the monthly cheque of the president from 50,000 to 1 lakh, and from 40,000 to 85,000 for Vice president.

The first ever joint military exercise between India and China named 'Hand in Hand 2007' took place in Yunnan, China.

Kerala has been declared Total Banking State providing atleast one account per household.

Vaclav Klaus is the new Czech Republic president.

Big TV is the Direct to Home Services launched by Reliance Communications(RCOM)

What is Financial Inculsion?
The availability of banking and payment services to all sections of indian population without discrimination is the prime objective of the public policy.Financial Inculsion means the delivery of banking services at an affordable cost to the vast sections of disadvantaged and low income groups.
58th International Astronautical Congress was held in Hydreabad.
Javed Akhtar wrote the song 'Passing out parade' of the Indian Millitary Academy.
India on May21, finalized a draft to divide it's over 7000 km long coastal belt into four zone to conserve the biodiversity and better management of disasters. The Coastal Zone Management (CMZ) area is classified as CMZ1,(ecologically sensitive), CMZ2 areas like coastal municipalities, CMZ3 open areas that includes coastal waters up to territorial limits and CMZ4 comprising Andamans and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, offshore Islands and Islands in Coastal waterways.
Assocham has launched free MBA trainning to Backward classes.
Chetan Anand won the Nepal open Badminton Championship beating another Indians JBS
Vidyadhar21-11,21-7 in the finalin Kathmandu

Now a days banking exams contains questions that requires some basic information of banking. So I have tried to add some notes on basic principles and management of Banking

Core Banking Solutions (CBS) or Centralised Banking Solution is the process which is completed in a centralized environment i.e. under which the information relating to the Customer’s account ( i.e. financial dealings, profession, income, family memberetc.) is stored in the Central Server of the Bank (that is available to all networked branches)instead of branch server only.Depending upon the need of the bank, it can perform all or limited operations. The CBS system is advantageous to both bank as well as customers in many ways
Banks:
Standardization of the processes within banks
Availability of accurate data & better use of infrastructure.
Better asset Liability Management
Better Risk Management
.Increased business voume
Better customer Services.
Customers:
Better Fund Management.
Less chances of errors resulting in high accuracy of transactions.
Ability to access the account from any branch. Thus increasing the mobility of the customers.

The "state of tiger-copredators and prey in India" report, released in New Delhi on Feburary 12,2008 said that there have been an overall decrease in tiger population except in Tamil Nadu where the numbers have gone up substantially from 60 in 2000-01 to 76. India has lost more than 50% population of tigerpopulation in the last 5 yearswith the number remaining to 1411 from3642 in 2001-02 census.

On Aprail 1,2008 Great Britain "Point Based System Tier 1"(PBS)replaced Highly Skilled Migrant Programme.

Union Finance Minister P.Chidambaram appreciated the state of Chhattisgarh for procurement of wheat and rice.

The National stock Exchange on Aprail 8,2008 launched Volatility index called India VIX based on the Nifty 50 option Prices. This index would trace the volatility of share prices based on the option price of the stocks on the daily basis. Volatility Index is a measure of the amount by which an underlying index is expected to fluctuate in the near term based on the order book of the underlying index options.

Eminent Film maker and pioneer alternative cinema Mrinal Sen was on July filicitated with the Lifetime achievemnt award at the 10th edition of the Osian's Cinefest Film Festival 2008.

India unveiled the "look East" policy in 1991. East Asia including- China, South Korea Japan and ASEAN is today India's largest trading partner ahead of EU and the US.

India has signed $42 million "Country ProgrammeIndia 2008-2012" with the UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) to strengtehen the competitiveness and productivity of it's industrial enterprises, with special focus on employment generation and greening of the industry.the five year programme signed in Viena in May 16 will focus on key manufacturing sectors especially SME clusters, in order to enhance employment generation and to ensure a more balanced and inclusive pattern of growth.

Novelist Salman Rushdie has being awarded Knighthood award by the British Empire Queen for his services to the Literature.

Oprah Winfey topped the Forbes list of the '100 Most Powerful Celebrities' for the second consecutive year. She makes yearly earning of $275 million.

World Bank with Robert B. Zoellick as it's President sanctioned a loan of US $944 million to India so that it can strengthen it's rura finance system, vocational trainning and improve it's water Management System.

Indonesia has decided to come out of membership of OPEC.

The book 'Towards Hunger Free World' is written by M.S. Swaminathan.

Jet Airways became the first Indian-based Airlines to operate flight to China.

World's first real sunmersible car is sQuaba.

Central Excise day is celebrated on Feb 24.

Nafisa Ali is the chairperson of the Children's Film Society.

Kerala has the highest monthly per capita in consumer expenditure (MPCE) in both the rural and urban areas. Rural Chhatisgarh ahas recorded the lowest average and Bihar is at the bottom on the urban front. According to the latest statistics on 'Household, Consumer expenditure in India in 2005-06 based on the data of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)' the average national MPCE in rural india was Rs 625 and Rs 1171 in the urban regions.

"People with Disabilities in India: From commitments to outcomes" A World Bank report, according to which Childrens with disability are around four or five times less likely to be in school than the Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe children.

Shiv Shankar Chowrasia from Kolkata emerged on Feburary 10, 2008 as the first Indian sportsperson to recieve the single biggest cheque of $416,660( Rs.1.61 Cr) in India. He achieved this outstanding feet by clinching the title at the Emmar MGF Indian Masters golf Championship held in the New Delhi.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Feburary 13, 2008 announced discovery of gas reserves for the first time in the deep sea block in the Krishna Godavari basin off East Coast. The discovery was made in block KG-DWN-2003/1, lying about 50 km from Manchilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. the discovery was named Dhirubhai-39

Boeing Company and Tal Manufacturing Solutions Ltd. (TALMSL) entered into an agreement for manufacturing structural components for the American aerospace major's 787 Dreamliner airplane programme.In a report released on Feburary 7, 2008, The World Health Organisation claimed that India has the second largest number of smokers in the world after China.

The Govt. will provide Visa on arrival to citizen of 18 countries from Oct 2009. They will also be allowed to avail multiple visa with 5-years validity at the airports. these countries include US Netherland, Japan, France, Belgium, Newzealand, sweeden, Luxemberg, Finland, South Korea, Vietnam, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and the UK.

The Ministry of Defence has selected Mohali in Punjab as the location for setting up it's prestigious National Defence University.

SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) was established in India on Aprail 12,1992 in accordance with the provision of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act,1992.

The preable of SEBI describes the basic functions of the securities and Exchange Board of India as "... to protect the intrest of incestors in securities and to promote the development of and to regulate the securities market and for matters connected there with or incidental thereto".

Dr. Sainudeen Pattazhy who has carried out pioneer research on 'Red Rain' which occured in Kerala in 2001 now has a minor planet named after him. The minor planet which was earlier called as 5718 CD4 was discovered by US-based space scientist Dr, R. Rajmohan.

Renowned marathi playwritter Vijay Tendulkar passed away in Pune on May 19, 2008. He was a political journalist and a screenplay writter. He is known for Shantata! court chalu ahe', Ghasiram Kotwal (1972) and Shakaram Binder (1972). He also wrote screenplay for Hindi films like 'Ardha Satya"

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna : M.S.Dhoni is only the second cricketer to be be selected for the award after Sachin Tendulkar who recieved the award in 1997.

Arjuna Award: Avneet Kaur Sidhu (Shooting), Chitra K Soman (Athletics), Johnson Varghese (Boxing), Harika Dronavalli (Chess), Arjun Atwal (Golf), Farman Basha (Power Lifting, Disabled category), Prabhjot Singh (Hockey), Tombi Devi (Judo), Anup Sridhar (Badminton), Bajranglal Takhar (Rowing), Alka Tomar (Wrestling)
Dhyan Chand award:Hakam Singh (Athletics), Mukhbain Singh (Hockey), Gian Singh (Wrestling)
Dronacharya award: Sanjeeva Kumar Singh (Archery), Jagdish Singh (Boxing), G E Sridharan (Volleyball), Jagminder Singh (Wrestling)

The negotiations at World Trade Organisation held at the end of July failed because the US and EU were not willing to scrap huge subsidies that they were giving to their farmers.

Miss Universe 2008 is Dayana Mendoza (Miss Venezuela)

Standard Chartered Private Bank has been named the "Global Best Private Money" by Euromoney for it's performance in 2007. The factors on which Euromoney gave the awards were risk management, focus on growth markets, achievementsin performance, growth in client base and a commitment to client service and advisory as success factors.

Centurion Bank of Punjab merged with HDFC Bank with effect from May 23, 2008

Bharat Nirman Project:
Under this project, every village to be provided electricity: remaining 1, 25,000 villages to be electrified by 2009 as well as connect 2.3 crore households.
Every habitation over 1000 population and above (500 and hilly tribal areas) to be provided in all weather roads: remaining 66,802 villages habitations to be covered by 2009.
Every habitation to have a safe source of drinking water. 55067 uncovered habitations to be covered by 2009. in addition all habitations which have slipped from full coverage to partial coverage due to failure of source and habitations which have water quality problem to be addressed.
Every village to be connected by telephone: remaining 66822 villages to be covered by November 2007.
10 million hectare of additional irrigation capacity to be created by 2009.
60 lakh houses to be constructed for rural poor.
Anne Enright's The Gathering has won the Booker Prize 2007.
The Golden Notebook is written by Doris Lessing, winner of the 2007 Noble Prize for literature.
What are Participatory Notes?
Participatory Notes are instrument used by foreign funds not registered in India, for trading in the domestic market. they are a derivative instrument issued against an underlying security that permits the holders to get a share in the income from the underlying securities.
According to a perort by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, India ranks 41st in industrial competitiveness. Singapore tops the list.

Science friction writter Arthur C. Clarke died on march 19.

kolkata has been declared as UNESCO's world city of literature.

Oxford university has introduced a new degree i.e. MSc in contemporary India.

who is Samak Sandaravej?

Prime- minister of Thailand

Fehmida Mirza is the first women speaker in it's 60 year long history.HDFC Bank has incorporated 'jitter-enabled' card reders in all it's 1910 ATM's in order to prevent skimming or capturing of card details by fradulents.

The centre on Aug 14, 2008 announced a new employment generation scheme to create more than 37 lakh jobs by merging the existing Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana(PMRY) and the Rural Employment Generation Programme(REGP) . The financial implication of the new scheme to be implemented over a four year period is estimated at Rs. 4485 Crore.

The Govt. on Aug 14 2008 approved more than Rs. 921 Crore for development of infrastructure in the fast growing leather industry during the 11th plan period. The Indian leather industry is estimated to be about Rs. 40,000 crore is growing at a rate of 20%. export is about 15,000 crore and have been growing by 13-15%

State Bank of India has become the second bank in the world to have more than 10,000 branches, after China's ICBC. SBI has opened it's 10,000 branch on 9th March 2008 at Puduvayal a small town 85 Km from Madurai

World Bank has announced creation of two International climate investment funds . one is the Clean Technology Fund designed to accelerate investments in state-of-the-arttechnological solution to help developing countries mitigate the rise in greenhouse gas emission in developing countries. second fund is Strategic Climate Fund which will help more vulnarable countries adapt their development programme to the impacts of climate change while also addressing issues of forest management and access to green energy.

Weightage of diffrent sector in GDP is as follows:

Agriculture -17.8%

Services - 55.6%

Industry - 26.6%

Indian economy grew by 7.9% in the first quarter (Apr-June) of the current Fiscal the slowest in the past three and a half year. the economy had grown by 9.2% in the first quarter of 2007-08.

India has the fifth largest area cultivated under genetically modified crops. According to international Service for the Aquisition of Agribiotech Applications, (ISAAA), the total acerage planted under all GM crops amounted to 114.3 million hectare. of this 57.7mh is under UD followed by 19.1 by Argentina, 15mh by Brazil, 7mh by Canada and India 6.2 mh. in India the entire area is under one Crop i.e. cotton. of the total 114.3 mh global GM area, 58.6 mh was devoted to transgenic soybean. in India, Maharastra has the largest area under GM Crop.

On May 18, 2008 book "Animal's People" of Indian-Origin writter Indra Sinha based on Bhopal gas tragedy was adjudged best book of this year in Europe and South Asia by the Commonwealth.

Manik Sarkar is the Chief Mimister of Tripura.

First Indian women ambassadot to be nominated to Qatar is Padmasree Warior.

Chinese and Russian police starts a three day joint exercise " Cooperation 2007" in the suburbs of Moscow.

Vijay Malya buys a 50% stake in Spykar Formula 1

13 persons have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan Award 2008.

According to data released by National Crime Report Bureau, Maharastra has maximum cases of suicide by farmer.According to Forbes Magazine, Out of the world's 10 wealthiest CEO, 4 positions have been grapped by Indians.

ISB- Indian school of Bussiness hyderabad ranked among the top 20 B-school of the world.

Dakar agreement is signed between Sudan and Chad.

According to umited Nation, globally over 2.1 million kids under 15 have AIDS.

US missile SM-3 hits defunct spy Satellite (USA-193)

Dubai to build longest arched Bridge.

SAARC nations joins to fight illegal trade.

Punjab is the worst state in term of child sex ratio.

UP has the largest number of child labourer.

Reliance mutual Fund has been awarded the fund of the year award 2007.

UNESCO celebrates 2008 as 'year of languages', slogan is Language Matters.

Coca Cola Company has been awarded the golden peacock award for corporate social responsibility.

The Dabur group has entered into the retail sector with it's new venture. the name of new venture is LITE-BITE.

The Server of the computer is also known as Gateway.

The govt. has cleared 20 foreign direct investment that will bring in RS. 1962.05 cr including Rs. 924 cr. by UTV S0ftware Communications.The animated feature film Return of Hanuman has won an award for the best animated feature film at the FICCI frames event in Mumbai.

Indian open badminton Championship held at Gachibowli Stadium in Hydreabad won by Ponsana Boonsak of Thailand by defeating Chetan Anand of India.

Serzh Sarkisyan sworn in as new Armenian President.

Sport News

India clinched their fourth successive women's cricket Asia cup title by thrashing Sri Lanka by a massive 117 runs in the final at the welagendara stadium in kurunegala, Srilanka on may 11.

Brazil's Ferrari Driver Fellipe Massa Won the turkish Grand Prix for the third successive year.

Lewis Hamilton won the Monaco Grand Prix.

Monte Carlo Masters- wom by Rafel Nadal

Hamburg Masters- won by Rafel Nadal

Rome masters- won by Novak Djokovic

National under 9 chess won by Harshal Sahi of Delhi.

English Soccer Player of the year - Cristano Ronaldo

Indian weightlifter Kavita Devi has been baned for two years after failing a Drug test.

Azlan Shah Cup Hockey- won by Argentina, defeated India in the final 1-2.

Mobile service Provider Vodafone Essar has been cjhosen as official telecom Patner for the DLF Indian Premier League for a period of five years.

National Rural Employment Scheme extended to all districts from Aprail 1.

48 indian companies are listed in the Global 2000 list of Billionare Industries who have billion dollar size.

American John Griggs Thompson and Belgian Jacques Tits won the 6 million kroner ($1.2mn) Abel Prize for Mathematics for their contribution to the group theory of Algebra.

The goal of the National Urban Housing & Habitat Policy 2007 is to provide an affordable housing to the urban people.

Chennai will become a smoke -free city by 2010 and tamil Nadu a smoke free state by 2010.

Television Journalist Karan Thappar was awarded the best current affairs Presenter in Asia .Umesh Chandra sarangi is the new chairman of NABARD.

The rashtriya Swasthya Bima yojana launched on October 1, 2007, becomes operational.The central government decides to form a strategic reserves of five million tonnes of foodgrains, in addition to the buffer stock, to meet the emergency situations.Vice president Hamid Ansari is awarded an honorary degree by the prestigious Al- Fabari Kazakh National University in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

A leading country that is not a part of world trade Organisation: Russia

A megabye has 10,00000 ( million) bytes. well a very common question in bank po exam.

An error in software designing which can even cause a computer to Crash is called 'Bug'.

The unwanted or non requested e- mails are called spams.

A SWOT analysis of the business environment can be performed by the organizating the environmental factors as follows

The firm's internal attributes can be classed as strength and weakness.

the external environment presents opportunities and threats.

Singapore to host first summer youth olympic game

Greek Actress Maria Nafplitou lit the flame for Beijing olympics.

ICC shifts annual conference to Dubai.

Pune will host the World Junior Championship (U-19) from Oct 24 to Nov 2.
Sunil Gavaskar resigned the chairmanship of the ICC Cricket Comitee to avoid a conflict with his media commitments.
The Centre announced a relief package worth more than Rs 330 Cr for the victims of the 2002 post Godhra riots in Gujarats.

The Govt granted the coveted ‘Navratna’ statuw to the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. Giving the transmission major financial autonomy to take independent decision on investment up to Rs. 1000crore

Kosovo declares itself a republic on Feburary 17.

The Association of National Olympics Committees (ANOC) has conferred the ANOC Merit Award On Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi who is the chairman of the organising commitee for the 2010 commonwealth Games.

The train service between india and Bangladesh began on Aprail 14, 2008. The tain service between the two countries was suspended 43 years ago at the time of India-Pakistan war and when Bangladesh was East Pakistan.

some important point

India's per capita income according to Assocham is Rs 20,734
The bank that has merged with HDFC bank recently is Centurion Bank of Punjab.
Poland has recently agreed to install U.S. Missile Shield.
Strong Bolivar is the recently introduced new currency of venezuela.
Dubai has planned to build the world's longest arched bridge.
In it's latest world Economic outlook growth estimates, the international Monetary Fund has reduced India's contribution to world Gross Domestic Product in purchasing power parity (PPP) termsto 4.6% from the earlier estimates of 6.4%

India has become the fastest growing telecom market in the world adding a staggering 83 million mobile suscriber over the last 12 months.

Life Insurance Corporation of India has entered the health insurance bussiness with the launch of LIC Health Plus Plan. the first ever health paln from LIC is also the first ever unit linked health insurance plan in the country. the plan combines health insurance cover for the entire family, hospital cashbenefit and major surgical benefits along with the ULIP components. Minimum age for entry is 18 and maximum is 55.The maximum coverage age is 65. the premium collected under the fund would be invested up to 50 per cent in Govt/ Corporate debt up to 50 percent in listed shares. By paying a Rs 15000 yearly premium for his family a member can claim tax benefits under section 80 d and avail major surgical benefits of Rs. 5 lakh per member.

The Centre sponsored Project Tiger scheme has sent out a Memorandum of Understanding to states as a part of new Five year Plan that has allocated Rs. 600 crore for the cause of the tiger.Currently there are 28 tiger reserves in 17 states.

Shagun Sarabhai, a 20 year old mumbai student was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2008 in Johannesberg south Africa

Roger Federer wins laures Award for 2008.

India with drastic performance of Prakash Amritraj clinched the Davis Cup title defeating Uzbekistan by 3-2 in the Asia oceanic group 'I' tennis event held in New Delhi on Feburary 10.

Orissa has decided to provide monthly pension to HIV Positive persons from Feburary 2008 under Madhu Bsbu Pension Yojana.