Apr 2013 : General Knowledge

• Union Minister of Culture :  Chandresh Kumari Katoch
• Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe  : Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Sri Lanka.
• Bharat Stores by P. Sheshadri :  Best regional film award in the 60th National Film Awards.
• Dr Aswani Kumar : Union minister of Law and Justice
• Treaties on Civil and Commercial Matters by India have already been signed with France, U.A.E., Russia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Mongolia, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan.
• Union Minister of Shipping : G K Vasan
• National Maritime Day : 5th April 
• Kerala CM : Oommen Chandy
• CBI Director  : Ranjit Sinha. 
• DP Kohli Award for the Best Detective Constable of CBI
• CBI came into being : Apr 1 1963 
• South Korean President  : Park Geun-hye
• Italian President : Giorgio Napolitano
• Kenya President : Uhuru Kenyatta
• Japan Prime Minister :  Shinzo Abe
• Nishat Majumder, who, on May 19, 2012 became the first Bangladeshi woman to reach the peak.
• First man to fly over Everest, Douglas Douglas-Hamilton in 1933.
• North Korean leader :  Kim Jong Un
• North Korea Capital : Pyongyong
• 2nd April : World Autism Day(by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.)
• Nicolas Maduro : Venezuela President
• French Prime Minister :  Jean-Marc Ayrault
• Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) :  Hyderabad
• UP governor : B L Joshi
• Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar
• Governor Bihar : D.Y. Patil 
• Governor of Tripura : Devanand Konwar
• CM of Tripura : Manik Sarkar.
• Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy : CM of Andhra Pradesh
• Virbhadra Singh : CM of HP
• Chief Minister of Odisha : Biju Patnaik
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
• Goolam Essaji Vahanvati is the Attorney General of India. He is the first Indian Muslim to hold the post of Attorney General
• Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff
• Fifth BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit March 2013 in Durban.
• Cyprus President :  Nikos Anastasiades
• World Bank President  : Jim Yong Kim
• IMF Managing Director : Christine Lagarde
• First GreenField Airport : Karaikal (Puduchery)
• Chief Election Commissioner : V S Sampath
• Enrico Letta : Pm of Italy (Apr 2013)
• State Duma : Lower House of Russia
• Federal Council of Russia : Upper House of Russia
• The largest desalination(Salt water is desalinated to produce fresh water suitable for human consumption or irrigation.) plant in South Asia is the Minjur Desalination Plant(use reverse osmosis process) near Chennai in India, which produces 36.5 million cubic meters of water per year on  the coast of Bay of Bengal.
• The world's largest desalination plant is the Jebel Ali Desalination Plant (Phase 2) in the United Arab Emirates.

24-30 Apr 2013

• Reliance Jio Infocomm, the broadband subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), signed an indefeasible right to use (IRU) agreement with Bharti Airtel to use the latter’s i2i submarine cable for its 4G service for an unspecified amount.
• Legendary singer Shamshad Begum, one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry and voice behind hit songs like ‘Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon’, ’Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar’ and ‘Kajra Mohabbat Wala’, has died
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and State Agricultural Universities have developed several early maturing varieties of crops which perform well under moisture stress/drought conditions. In rice techniques like System Rice Intensification (SRI), direct seeded rice (DSR), aerobic rice, alternate wet and drying (AWD) conditions are being standardized which require less water than normal transplanted rice.
• Enrico Letta deputy leader of Central- left Democratic Party asked to form government in Italy.
• Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday launched for business in India its latest range of Officejet Pro X 500 series printers that are recognised as world's fastest desktop printer by Guinness Book of Records.It Prints 70 pages per minute
• The International Criminal Police Organisation, popularly known as Interpol, is in the advanced stages of developing I-Checkit, a product verification tool that is linked to a database of identifying information supplied by the manufacturer of the given product.
• China's top oil refiner, Sinopec, has successfully flown a plane using a newly developed variant of biofuel made from palm oil and recycled cooking oil. 
• China is now the fourth country in the world to have developed aviation biofuel, following the United States, France and Finland
• The use of liquid sodium as a coolant in fast breeder reactors has been made safer, due to — electrochemical hydrogen meter — developed by scientists at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, off Chennai.
• Liquid sodium metal, not water, is used for extracting heat from the extremely hot core (where nuclear fission takes place) of a breeder reactor. Aside from other properties, liquid sodium has excellent heat transfer properties compared with water
• The liquid metal at about 550 degree C transfers the heat to water in the secondary circuit to generate steam; the steam eventually runs the turbine 
• The pressure on the sodium side is low (1 bar) as the liquid sodium is at an operating temperature of 550 degree C, well below the 883 degree C boiling point. However, at about 160 bar, the pressure on the steam side is very high. But all that separates sodium and steam is a thin (4-5 mm) ferretic steel tube through which steam flows. 
• There is a possibility, even if remote, of tube failure. Steam, which is at a higher pressure than sodium, tends to leak into the coolant when the tube develops a leak. On reaction with sodium, hydrogen and sodium hydroxide are formed. Sodium hydroxide, which is a caustic material, further aggravates the problem. Due to its low melting point, sodium hydroxide turns into a molten material at the site of the crack causing further corrosion of the tube.
• Hence the presence of dissolved hydrogen in sodium is continuously monitored to detect the initiation of a leak
• The sensor can measure hydrogen down to 70 parts per billion in sodium
•  Hydride ion-conducting solid electrolyte is needed for measuring dissolved hydrogen concentration in sodium at elevated temperatures.
• Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar” (RGGSP)) were conferred upon the best performing States and Panchayats.
• The Panchayat Strengthening Index Awards (PSI) were given to States this year. Under the Cumulative PSI Awards 1st Prize is won by Maharashtra, while 2nd Prize is bagged by Karnataka, 3rd Prize Kerala and 4th Prize Tripura.
• India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed an MoU on Air Services
• TechVIL established by CSIR under the scheme CSIR-800.
• The Railways have cut by half to 60 days, the maximum period for advanced reservation of tickets with effect from May 1.
• Foreign tourists would continue to enjoy the facility of booking ticket 360 days in advance.
• The Railways have retained the lower time limit for reservation for certain trains such as the Taj Express and the Gomti Express.
• BSB, a joint-venture between Bharti Enterprises and SoftBank Corporation, focused on the mobile-internet space, today announced USD 7 million fresh investment in hike, its free messaging app.
• WHO launches regional programme in SE asia to tackle malarian parasite (falciparum is a protozoan parasite) that has become resistant to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), the global standard treatment for the disease
• A collaborative effort between The World Bank, the Planning Commission, the Centre, including other CEM partner led to the launch of a South-South-North Knowledge Exchange (SSNKE) facility during the 4th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) held in the New Delhi recently.
• United Bank of India (UBI) would apply for licences to the Reserve Bank of India for opening overseas branches in South Africa, and BRIC countries.
• Disney India, on Thursday, tied up with realty firm Supertech for a Disney-themed housing project in Greater Noida
• Samsung to block access to app store in Iran.
• The U.S. blacklist has been compiled under the so-called Magnitsky Act passed last year. It was named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison after blowing the whistle on a multimillion tax scam organised by corrupt Russian officials. Russia retaliated by adopting an “anti-Magnitsky” law that mirrored U.S. sanctions and also banned American adoptions of Russian orphans.
• The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) conferred its lifetime achievement award on Jai Chandiram( IAWRT’s first Asian president), former Deputy Director General of Doordarshan
• Indian Railways have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for jointly developing bio-toilets.( Bio-Digester or Bio Toilet, the human wastage is decomposed in a pit using bacteria to convert them into bio gas and water.)
• After a gap of over 20 months, India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) -- three large democracies from three different continents – will meet at the summit level at India on June 6.  This will be the sixth IBSA Summit with the first one held in Brasilia in 2006
• Kisan Credit Card norms simplified : 
• As per the revised Scheme, the KCC is valid for five years subject to an annual review. The farmer is required to furnish one-time documentation at the time of first availment of loan and, thereafter, simple declaration about crops raised/proposed is required to be given from the second year onwards issued by RBI and NABARD.
• Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has informed that the insurance coverage to AYUSH treatments has been facilitated
• Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project now starting its first phase at Jhajjar in Haryana.
• Setup in 2007 by NTPC
• A Leaf turns Yellow” edited by Shri Muzaffar Ali 
• the book is a thoroughly researched account of Sufism in (erstwhile) Awadh, India and introduces to its history, traditions, sub-cultures, institutions and poetry

Short Terms : April 2013

Thuraya Satellite Phone 

• Thuraya from the Arabic name Thurayya meaning Star, is an international mobile satellite services provider based in the United Arab Emirates.
• Use of Thuraya Satphones was banned in India in 2010, after the company failed to convince the Indian government that its services could not be abused by terrorists targeting India.

Armed Forces ( Special Powers) Act 

• The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), was passed on September 11, 1958, by the Parliament of India. It grants special powers to the armed forces in what the act terms as "disturbed areas" in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. It was later extended to Jammu and Kashmir as The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 in July 1990.
• According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in an area that is proclaimed as "disturbed", an officer of the armed forces has powers to:
• After giving such due warning, Fire upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death, against the person who is acting against law or order in the disturbed area for the maintenance of public order,

• Destroy any arms dump, hide-outs, prepared or fortified position or shelter or training camp from which armed attacks are made by the armed volunteers or armed gangs or absconders wanted for any offence.

• To arrest without a warrant anyone who has committed cognizable offences or is reasonably suspected of having done so and may use force if needed for the arrest.

• To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests, or to recover any person wrongfully restrained or any arms, ammunition or explosive substances and seize it.

• Stop and search any vehicle or vessel reasonably suspected to be carrying such person or weapons.

• Any person arrested and taken into custody under this Act shall be made over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station with the least possible delay, together with a report of the circumstances occasioning the arrest.

• Army officers have legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law. Nor is the government's judgment on why an area is found to be disturbed subject to judicial review.

• Protection of persons acting in good faith under this Act from prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings, except with the sanction of the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.

United Nations Arms Trade Treaty

• U.N. passed (with 154 members voting ‘Yes’; three — Iran, Syria and North Korea — voting no; and 23, including India, abstaining )an unprecedented arms trade treaty (ATT) to better regulate the international sale in weapons.
• In addition to India, the nations that abstained included China, Egypt, Myanmar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. Pakistan voted in favour of the treaty.
• Restricting arms movement to and from areas where groups are suspected of violation of human rights. 
• India's Stance : 
• The adopted treaty text covers weapons such as tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small and light arms
• However it does not explicitly cover predator drones and grenades. 
• Ammunition exports are subject to the same criteria as the other included items, although its imports are not covered.  

Ricin

• From the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally occurring protein.
•  A dose the size of a few grains of table salt can kill an adult human.
•  Oral exposure to ricin is far less toxic and a lethal dose can be up to 20–30 milligrams per kilogram. 
• Abrin is a toxin similar to ricin, but more toxic, that is found in the highly ornamental rosary pea.
•  Acting as a toxin by the inhibition of protein synthesis.
• Ricin is classified as a type 2 ribosome inactivating protein (RIP).
• Using ricins in the treatment of cancer, as a so-called "magic bullet" to destroy targeted cells

Proxy Voting

• Proxy voting is a form of voting whereby some members of a decision-making body may delegate their voting power to other members of the same body to vote in their absence, and/or to select additional representatives.
• In 2003, India's People's Representative Act was amended to allow armed forces personnel to appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf.

Mealy Bug

• Mealybugs are insects in the family Pseudococcidae, unarmored scale insects found in moist, warm climates. They are considered pests as they feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and subtropical trees and also acts as a vector for several plant diseases.
• In April 2013 : Outbreak of these pests found in papaya, hibiscus, sorrel leaves, tomato, brinjal etc. in Tamil Nadu.

Farm Pond

• The farm ponds are constructed at the lower side of the fields and the runoff from the higher side of the fields are channelised into the pond.
• Farm ponds play big role in tiding over droughts. 

Green Field Project

• In many disciplines a greenfield is a project that lacks any constraints imposed by prior work. The analogy is to that of construction on greenfield land where there is no need to remodel or demolish an existing structure.
• A greenfield investment is the investment in a manufacturing, office, or other physical company-related structure or group of structures in an area where no previous facilities exist.
• In wireless engineering jargon, a greenfield is a project which lacks any constraints imposed by prior networks.

Capital Control 

• Any measure taken by a government, central bank or other regulatory body to limit the flow of foreign capital in and out of the domestic economy
• This includes taxes, tariffs, outright legislation and volume restrictions, as well as market-based forces. Capital controls can affect many asset classes such as equities, bonds and foreign exchange trades.

Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor 

• Ahmedabad-Dholera (Gujarat), Shendra-Bidkin (Maharashtra), Manesar-Bawal (Haryana), Khushkhera-Bhiwadi-Neemrana (Rajasthan), Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow (Madhya Pradesh), Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) and Dighi (Maharashtra). These are the first seven National Manufacturing Investment Zones (NMIZs), spanning the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). 

M-Wallet

• Mobile wallet which is also abbreviated as M-Wallet, is a an electronic account that is linked to a person’s mobile phone in which money can be electronically deposited and the same can be used as cash

Specific Absorption Rate 

• Specific absorption rate is the measure of the rate at which energy is absorbed by the body when exposed to a radio frequency (RF) in electromagnetic field.
• Power absorbed per mass of tissue and its unit is Watts per kilogram (W/kg).
• It has suggested SAR limit for mobile handsets of 1.6 watt/kg averaged over a 6 minutes period and taken over a volume containing a mass of 1 gram of human tissue.
• The electromagnetic radiation pervading the environment is now increasingly realized and this has added to the list of another pollutant in the environment i.e. electro Pollution.

Article 62 and 63 of Constitution of Pakistan

• As per Article 62(g) of Constitution of Pakistan: Qualifications for membership of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament): 62 (g): he has not, after the establishment of Pakistan, worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the ideology of Pakistan.
• As per Article 63 of Constitution of Pakistan:Disqualifications for membership of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament):
• (h)   he has been, on conviction for any offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release; or       
• (i)    he has been dismissed from the service of Pakistan or service of a corporation or office set up or, controlled, by the Federal Government, Provincial Government or a Local Government on the grounds of misconduct, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his dismissal; or       
• (j)   he has been removed or compulsorily retired from the service of Pakistan or service of a corporation or office set up or controlled by the Federal Government, Provincial Government or a Local Government on the ground of misconduct, unless a period of three years has elapsed since his removal or compulsory retirement.

VOR - VHF Omni Directional Range

• Short range radio navigation system
• Utilizes radio frequencies in the VHF band from 108 – 117.95 MHz.
• Standard air navigational system in the world
• Used for both commercial and general aviation
• VOR stations are fairly short range: the signals have a range of about 200 miles.
• Relies on the ground based transmitters which emitted signals to VOR receiver.
• VOR is used to enhance the visibleness at the time of landing and takeoff by the airplanes at the airport.  Radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed ground radio signals and receiver unit in a plane receives them and in turn assists the pilot in determining the position of the airplane and thus stays on course.

DNA Profiling

• DNA profiling (also called DNA testing, DNA typing, or genetic fingerprinting) is a technique employed by forensic scientists to assist in the identification of individuals by their respective DNA profiles. DNA profiles are encrypted sets of numbers that reflect a person's DNA makeup, which can also be used as the person's identifier.
• DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, is found in every cell with a nucleus in all living things. DNA consists of a chain of four different chemical compounds (adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine) that appear in pairs known as base pairs. The unique order in which a person’s  base pair are arranged determines physical characteristic like sex and hair color, as well as other genetic traits such as predisposition to certain diseases.

Minimum Alternate Tax(MAT) And AMT

• Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) is levied on companies as per section 115JB of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961. And Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) is levied on limited liability partnerships (LLPs) as per section 115JC.
• MAT : If the income-tax payable by a Company, on the total income as computed under this Act in respect of any previous year relevant to the assessment year commencing on or after the 1st day of April, 2011, is less than 18.5% of its book profit.

i2i

• i2i is a submarine telecommunications cable connecting India to Singapore. This cable is owned by Bharti Airtel Limited of India.
• The Cable consists of 8 fibre pairs using DWDM Multiplexing with full capacity of 8.4 Tbit/s when all 105 wavelengths are used. 

System of Rice Intensification

• The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a methodology aimed at increasing the yield of rice produced in farming
• Principles included applying a minimum quantity of water and the individual transplanting of very young seedlings in a square pattern

Direct Seeding of Rice

• In traditional rice cultivation, rice is sprouted in a nursery; sprouted seedlings are then transplanted into standing water. With direct seeding, rice seed is sown and sprouted directly into the field, eliminating the laborious process of planting seedlings by hand and greatly reducing the crop’s water requirements.

Aerobic Rice

• Aerobic rice is a production system in which 
  especially developed “aerobic rice” varieties are 
  grown in well-drained, non-puddled, and non-
  saturated soils
• Target Areas : 
• Favourable Uplands
• Fields on upper slopes rainfed lowlands
• Water short irrigated lowlands.

Magnitsky Act

• The Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a bipartisan bill which was passed by the U.S. Congress in November–December 2012
• In 2009, lawyer and auditor Sergei Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison after investigating fraud involving Russian tax officials
• Intention behind Law : prohibit their entrance to the United States and use of their banking system
• Bill was sponsored by Senator : Ben Cardin
• Russian Reaction : 
• proposal to similarly deny entrance to Americans guilty of gross human rights violations.
•  On December 19, 2012, the State Duma(lower house) voted 400 to 4 to ban the international adoption of Russian children into the United States. The bill was unofficially named after Dmitri Yakovlev(Chase Harrison), a Russian toddler who died in 2008 of heat stroke after neglect from his adoptive American father
• Both passed list of 18 nationals of each other country facing ban.

News for April 2013

• Harmanpreet kaur  : Captain of India's Women Cricekt Team
• J & K recommend to include Gojjri in 8th Schedule of constitution.
• For SHG KYC norms will be only verified for office bearers.
• NTPC : most efficient MahaRatna of 2012 by Dalal Street Investment Journal
• ILEAL interposition : potent weapon to fight Type 2 Diabetes(less insulin produced)
• As per the IRDA (General Insurance – Reinsurance) Regulations 2013, Foreign reinsurers who have a credit rating of at least BBB from Standard & Poor’s Corp. or an equivalent rating by any other international agency for the past five years, can reinsure(insurance to Insurance Companies) Indian insurers.
• In the reinsurance framework, multiple insurance companies share the risk by purchasing insurance policies from other insurers in order to limit the total loss the original insurer would face in the case of a disaster.
• India Ratings, formerly known as Fitch India, is a wholly owned subsidiary of global ratings major Fitch Group.
• UN Arms Trade Treaty  passed in UN : 
• 154 voted YES
• 3 said NO : Syria,Iran,N Korea
• 23 including India,China,Myanmar,Egypt,Russia,Sri Lanka etc abstain
• Pak voted in favour.
• Covers :
• Under its ambit, the ratifying nations are required to accept fixed international standards for conventional weapons sales, linked to the protection of human rights.
• The treaty covers weapons such as tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large-calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small and light arms.
•  However, the treaty doesn’t explicitly cover predator drones and grenades.
• Karatmeter (also spelt as caratometer): 
• A scientific and non-destructive method for testing the purity of Gold.
• Uses X-rays to give an exact reading of the purity of gold in about 3 minutes.
• Other ways to determine the gold content include – melting Gold down, the touchstone method or XRF (x-ray fluorescence) method.
• Novartis AG – The Swiss drug maker’s 7-year fight to win an Indian patent for its megahit  anti-cancer drug “Glivec ” finished with the Supreme court dismissing the company’s appeal.
• The Supreme Court ruled that the Novartis’s application for patent on the beta-crystalline salt was known prior to 1995 through an earlier patent Novartis held, and therefore the company can’t be given any patent for this drug for being novel
• Brand Trust Report , India study 2013 : 
• Nokia,Samsung,Sony
• Mapathon  2013 was a contest from Feb 12, 2013 – Mar 25, 2013  in which Google asked users to add information about their local areas for its online map services.
• Reliance Jio Infocomm (owned by Mukesh Ambani) and Reliance Communications (owned by Anil Ambani) inked a definitive agreement for Rs. 1,200 crore for sharing of Rcom’s nationwide optic fiber network. Rs. 1,200 crore as one time indefeasible right to use (IRU) fees for sharing RCOM’s nationwide inter-city fiber optic network infrastructure.
• Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJI), (formerly Infotel Broadband), won 4G spectrum for pan-India services in 2010, but the company is yet to launch its services. 
•  Uhuru Kenyatta sworn in as Kenya’s fourth Presiden. Uhuru won with 50.07% of the vote, but the win was challenged by outgoing PM Raila Odinga and civil society groups, who complained of myriad anomalies in the voting process, but the Supreme Court upheld Kenyatta’s win.
• NPHCE launched during 11th Plan period by The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare  keeping in view the recommendations made in the “National Policy on Older Persons”  as well as the State’s obligation under the “Maintenance & Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Act 2007”.
• Govt. announced that the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT)  subsidy scheme to be being extended to 78 more districts in July 2013.
• Rolled out in 43 districts in Phase I in January, 2013.
• LPG subsidy will be included in this as the scheme is expanded in a phased manner to cover 20 districts by May 15, 2013.
• The scheme will be expanded to include post offices from October, 1 2013.
• Former Pakistan President Gen. (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s nomination papers for upcoming general elections were rejected for the second time.
• Musharraf had twice violated and subverted the Constitution by violating Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which specify that candidates should have a "good character" and be "sagacious, righteous and non-profligate". 
• Musharraf is also an accused in 4 cases, including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
• P J Kuriewn,Deputy Chairman of Rajya sabha is elected as the Chairman of Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development(AFPPD).He replaced Yasuo Fakuda ,former PM of Japan.
• VOR = VHF Omni Directional Range; VHF = Very High Frequency was commissioned recently by the Airport Authority of India at Ludhiana Airport, Punjab.
• Odisha Legislative Assembly adopted a Resolution for Special Category Status for second time.
• Religion, Law & Society- Across the Globe : , a book authored by Prof. Tahir Mahmood was released by The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari. The book provides insights into a range of complex and inter-linked matters of constitutional and socio-legal importance.
•  Pran Krishan Sikand, popularly known as Pran will be conferred with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
• Pran is the 60th film personality to receive this honour.  In 2011, Soumitra Chatterjee was honored with this award and then in the year 2012, no one was conferred this award.
• Conferred yearly by the Government of India  for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.
• President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the status of ‘Miniratna – Category 1′ on the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (Neepco).
• Miniratna - Category I
• Criteria : : PSEs (Pubic Sector Enterprises) which have been making profits continuously for the last 3 years or earned a net profit of Rs. 30 crore or more in one of the 3 years.
• Benefits granted : : Granted certain autonomy viz. incurring capital expenditure without government approval up to Rs. 500 crore or equal to their net worth, whichever is lower
• Category II
• Criteria : : PSEs which have been making profits for the last 3 years continuously and having a positive net worth.
• Benefits granted : :  Autonomy of incurring the capital expenditure without government approval up to Rs. 300 crore or up to 50% of their net worth whichever is lower.
•  Legendary anti-British revolutionary and Chittagong Armory raid famed Binod Bihari Chowdhury (102) passed away.
• Citizenship:  Bangladeshi
• Titles: Biplobi , Agnipurush
• Recipient of Independence Day Award  the highest civilian award in Bangladesh.
• Early 1930: Binod Bihari Chowdhury joined the anti-British revolutionary group “Jugantar”  
• PM visited Germany and many documents Inked.
• Andhra Pradesh: ‘Amma Hastham’ scheme for white cardholders 
• 9 essential item mentioned in the scheme includes a kilo of :
• 1 kg toor dal, 1 litre palm oil, 1 kg whole meal atta, 1 kg wheat, half kg sugar, 1 kg salt, quarter kg chilli powder, half kg tamarind and 100 grams turmeric powder.
• Manipur bags overall team Champion for 22nd time in North East Game 2013
• World Bank would lend b/w $3 to 5 billion every year to India under a new 4-year plan that focuses on poverty alleviation in 7 low-income Indian states: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
• Sir Robert Edwards (87), who eveloped the technique of in vitro fertilisation with Dr Patrick Steptoe passed away. He pioneered In vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique helped in the birth of Louise Brown in 1978, the first test tube baby and then bring more than 4 million children into the world.
• Robert G. Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2010 for the development of IVF.
• The process requires supervising a woman’s ovulatory procedure, taking out ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from the woman’s ovaries and allowing sperm fertilize them in a fluid medium in a laboratory.
• WTO Global Trade Growth Forecast for 2013 Lowered to 3.3%
• Sania joins as 4th Vice President of of ITPA(Indian Tennis Player Association) along with 
• Leander Paes
• Mahesh Bhupathi
• Somdev Devvarman
• President of ITPA: Jaideep Mukherjea
• The existing structure of tennis administration in India i.e. All India Tennis Association (AITA governing body of Tennis in India), is unable to represent or adequately address contemporary issues faced by the players in the India. Thus, there was a need for a separate body like ITPA which is modelled on the  functioning of the ATP, which encourages players to make decisions for the benefit of the sport.
• Pioneering Polio Vaccine Developer Hilary Koprowski passes away
• Union Government approved a project for creation of NOFN (National Optical Fibre Network) that will help in connecting all the 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in India via Optical Fibre Cable (OFC).
• Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) is the SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) for the implementation of NOFN.
• Contribution of Union Govts via furnishing of free Right of Way (RoW) for setting OFC. 
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recognized Somalia’s new government after a 22 year break in relations with the once disorderly nation. 
• The U.S. officially acknowledged the African nation’s new government in January 2013, the first time the U.S. had acknowledged a Somali government since 1991, when warlords overturned longtime authoritarian Siad Barre and then turned on one another.
• The IMF declared it was acknowledging the Somali government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who took office in September 2012.
• The piglet, known as ’Pig 26′ created via a process called ‘gene editing’ at Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute which is immune to disease
• It is immune to African swine fever which can kill within 24 hours of infection.
• It is conceived that the development of piglet ‘pig 26’ , could pave the way for future development of GM meat.
• India’s first and ONLY Women Chief Election Commissioner (from Nov 26 1990 to Dec 11 1990)V S Ramadevi passed away.
• ‘Baby Nobel’ or Won John Bates Clark Medal for Delhi-born US economist Raj Chetty Prof in Harvard University
• Supreme Court orders transfer of some Asiatic Lions from Gujarat’s Gir to MP’s Kuno
• Sahara Q Shop: The retail business of Sahara India Pariwar, recently entered into the Guinness World Records as it opened record 315 outlets in 10 states of India, just at one time on April 1, 2013.
• Sher-i-Kashmir Award: Navjot becomes youngest recipient athlete of Jammu and Kashmir to be conferred
• International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest release of the  World Economic Outlook (WEO)  slashed the economic growth projection of India to 5.7% for the calendar year 2013, from its earlier prediction of 5.9%.
• Indian Govt. has projected India’s economic growth at 6.2-6.7% in 2013-14, while the ADB (Asian Development Bank) recently projected Indian economic growth at 6% during 2013-14.
• IMF slashed the global outlook to 3.3% from 3.5% predicted in January 2013
• Google Glass : 
• Developed under the Project Glassresearch and development project
• Developed by Google X Lab
• An embedded screen in the upper-right-hand corner of the right-hand lens provides resolution which is equivalent of a 25in HD (High Definition) screen from 8 feet away.
• New hard plastic voter identity cards to be issued by EC
• Indian Coast Guard Ship C-402, the second of the series of 36 Interceptor boats designed and built by L&T, Surat was commissioned at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai
• Aruna Bahuguna – First women special DG CRPF
• S. Gopalakrishnan new head of CII
• India and Singapore ink MoU on Air Services
• GAIL was given status of Maharatna in feb 2013
• Montek Singh Ahluwalia (The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission) recently launched the  IBIN – ‘India Backbone Implementation Network’ with India@75.
• Top recipients of global remittances in the world by World Bank :
• India (USD 69 billion)
• China (USD60 billion)
• The Philippines (USD24 billion)
• Mexico (USD23 billion)
• Nigeria and Egypt (USD21 billion each).

15-23 Apr 2013

• Rebel leader Michel Djotodia is now President of a transitional council that plans for elections within 18 months, though critics say his government lacks control over its fighters in the streets. The rebels’ ouster of President Francois Bozize came two months after they signed a peace agreement in Libreville, Gabon, that would have let him serve until 2016. 
• New Zealand lawmakers approve gay-marriage bill .
• An F-22P frigate built for the Pakistan Navy with Chinese assistance was commissioned during a ceremony held at a naval shipyard in the southern port city of Karachi.
• H-1B fee hike plan rattles IT firms :
• raising the base cap of the visa from 65,000 to 110,000 annually
• For firms that employ 50 or more employees, depending on the percentage of their total workforce that are H-1B or L-1 employees, under the new system they would be liable to pay either $5,000 (30-50 per cent of existing employees with H-1B or L-1) or $10,000 (more than 50 per cent H1-B or L-1) in fees per additional worker in either of these two statuses.
• British MPs vote against anti-caste legislation.
• Musharraf escapes arrest after court revokes bail
• Nicolas Maduro, the chosen heir of late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, won Sunday’s presidential election
• Blast in Boston
• The German parliament backed the €10 billion ($ 13.1 billion) international bailout for Cyprus.
• Justice Sundaresh Menon : International Jurists Award 2013.
• 4th Clean Energy Ministerial taking place in New Delhi.
• sixth Clean Energy Ministerial in Mexico City in 2015 and CEM5 to be held in the Republic of Korea next year,
• Volunteer Guide Programme Path Pradarshak to be Introduced to Help the Visitors to Appreciate the Treasures of the National Museum.
• The 20th meeting of Eastern Zonal Council, comprising of the States of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand, was held  at Kolkata chaired by Sushil Kumar Shinde
• High Level Working Group is headed by Dr. K. Kasturirangan (Member, Planning Commission) report on Western Ghat : 
• managing forests and improving their productivity to ensure inclusive growth and economic benefits for local communities; integrating forest accounts into state and national economic assessments; initiating an ecosystem service fund to help villages around the forests; promoting sustainable agriculture and; encouraging ecotourism for local benefit.
• PROPOSES Protecting 37 Per Cent of the total boundary as Ecological Sensitive Area
• used satellite data, down to 24 m resolution, as against 9 km used by WGEEP
• WGEEP : Western Ghat Ecology Expert Panel : 
• Entire Western Ghats be declared as an ecologically sensitive area.
• 3 levels of categorization for the regulatory measures for protection would be imposed..
• distinguishes between the cultural(58.44) and the natural landscape (41.56%)of the region.
• Shri Sunil Kumar has taken over as Managing Director, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS)
• The Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) and the Protocol between the Republic of India and Malta for the avoidance of double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion
• Twitter today launched a music service that recommends tunes based on what people are 'tweeting' about
• The Android application named 'Dial Kashmir' contains over 500 contacts of government and private departments : Mehvish Mustaq (first Kashmiri to develop app)
•  RBI to start plastic money project on trial basis with the introduction of 10 rupee note : Plastic notes are said to withstand more wear-and-tear than their paper counterparts and have a longer life than the latter.They are also said to be more difficult to fake and could therefore be a means of countering counterfeiting.
• Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) on Wednesday launched its “most affordable” motorcycle Dream Neo
• Vodafone India, along with ICICI Bank,  launched its mobile money transfer and payment service.Called “M-Pesa”, the service was launched across the eastern states of India that include West Bengal (including Kolkata), Bihar and Jharkhand.
• Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs) can now extend the tenure of their schemes by up to two years with the consent of two-third investors, with market regulator SEBI notifying the changes in its IDF regulations.
• Goldman Sachs to manage PSU Exchange Traded Fund 
• Subscribers of the retirement fund body EPFO will be able to apply online for transfer and withdrawal of their provident fund from July 1
• The Intellectual Property Facilitation Centre (IPFC) of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Mysore, has organised a seminar on ‘Demystifying intellectual property rights (IPR) and IP management
• Centre announces Rs. 12,000-crore package for Bihar for the remaining period of 12th Five yr plan.
• The government also decided to continue the special plan for the KBK districts (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) of Odisha with an allocation of Rs. 250 crore per annum in the remaining four years (2013-14 to 2016-17) of the Twelfth Plan.
• Court directs gram sabhas to take a call on Vedanta’s bauxite mining project in Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills : 
• Tribal Groups : Dongria Kondh, Kutia Kandha .
• Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Gopal Narayan Guru has been chosen for the Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for Distinguished Contribution to Development Studies for 2013-14
• The Bihar Cabinet  passed a proposal of the Home Department to grant 35 per cent reservation for women in recruitment of constables and sub-inspectors in reserved and as well as unreserved categories. 
• The EC has stated that the ring finger of the left hand would be marked for regular voters and the little finger of the left hand in case of a re-poll.
• In case of proxy voting (for defence and other service personnel), the mark will be placed on the index finger of the right hand.
•  The Supreme Court  stayed its direction that only sitting or retired chief justices of High Courts or an apex court judge can head the Central and State Information Commissions.
• The Planning Commission has recommended switching to an international pricing formula for natural gas — which now works out to $14.5 per mBtu, almost three times more than the present price of $4.2 mBtu (per million British thermal unit) — by the beginning of the 13th Plan (2017-22).
• The Planning Commission has also sought that coal bed methane (CBM) gas and the yet-to-be discovered shale gas be freed from any price control or approvals without any further delay.
• The Commission feels the Rangarajan panel’s formula for natural gas price at $8.5 mBtu should be viewed as an interim or transitional solution valid up to the 12th Plan (March 31, 2017) and applicable for all existing contracts.
• T.K. Ramamurthy, the older of the music director duo Viswanathan-Ramamurthi who revolutionised orchestration in Tamil film music and became known as ‘Mellisai Mannargal’, died.
• By 2020, India is set to become the world’s youngest country with 64 per cent of its population in the working age group. 
• The enrolment for Aadhaar card has touched 99 per cent and 88.6 per cent in Union Territory of Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh respectively.
• Eminent Telugu novelist, short story writer, poet and critic Ravuri Bharadwaja was selected on Wednesday for the prestigious 48th Jnanpith award for the year 2012 for his contribution to Telugu literature. In 2011  : Odiya Novelist Pratibha Ray got the award.
• The global community of news publishers and editors( The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum) has reacted critically to U.K.’s proposed move to set up a press regulator through a royal charter. 
• Kerala has become the first State in the country to implement the e-payment facility in tendering processes.
• The two marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, were on board an Italian vessel ‘Enrica Lexie’ when they had allegedly shot dead two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast on February 15.
• Sustainable development is an integral part of fundamental rights conferred on citizens by the Constitution and cannot be allowed to be hampered by environmental degradation, the Supreme Court has said.
• The Election Commission  issued an order allowing Aadhar card to be used by those voters, who do not have the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) issued by the Commission, as an alternative document to establish their identity.
• The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has set up an inter-ministerial committee for promoting and facilitating film production. It would serve as a ‘single-window’ for clearance for filmmakers .
• Indian perfume-maker Mumbai-based Fem Care Pharma Ltd wins right to ‘Gatsby’ trademark over Mandom Corporation, a Japanese company. 
• Scott Fitzgerald’s Gatsby, a fictional character from novel The Great Gatsby portrayed as a decadent dandy in the 1920s.
• The Allahabad High Court on Monday quashed a notification issued by the then Mayawati government for creating new district Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar, presently known as Amethi.
• The scheme, which is likely to be launched from July 1, is aimed at directly putting the subsidy component of the domestic cylinder into the bank account attached to Aadhar UID through Direct Cash Transfer of the consumers to eliminate the leakages in the system and address the problem of diversion of domestic cylinders for commercial market.
• The consumers are likely to get around Rs.4,000 per annum from the government, and they will have to then buy LPG at the market price of Rs. 901.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder.
• Clubbing of allowances with basic pay for PF deductions under the EPFO scheme, a move that will increase savings but reduce take-home pay of over 5 crore subscribers may take place.
• North Korea on Thursday demanded the withdrawal of U.N. sanctions and the end of U.S. - South Korea military drills as conditions for resuming talks meant to defuse tension on the Korean Peninsula. 
• Japan celebrated the birthday of the world’s oldest living person, Jirouemon Kimura, who turned 116 .
• Cyprus will offer citizenship to foreign investors who stand to lose significant sums due to the country’s financial crisis as a form of “reimbursement,”.
• Yahoo's first email app for Apple's iPad, adds 2 more apps to mobile arsenal  that will provide current temperatures and forecasts
• Seshachalam hills with the recent sighting of a rare poisonous spider (The spider belonging to the genus poecilotheria is known to be native to India and Sri Lanka, of which eight species are found in India and seven in Sri Lanka)after a gap of 113 years in India at the foothills of Tirumala.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature has enlisted all the subspecies of Bornean(Malaysia) orangutans as endangered.
• Russia on Friday launched an “orbital Noah's Ark” to space — a bio-satellite packed with an array of mice and other small creatures to study the effects of long flights on living organisms.
• Russia’s latest BION-M1 biological research capsule carrying 45 mice, eight Mongolian gerbils, 15 geckos, snails, fish eggs, micro-organisms and plants blasted off aboard the modernised Soyuz 2 rocket from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan.
• Bion-M1 is the world’s only returnable satellite committed to biological research
• Part of Bion Series ( also called Biocosmos)
• The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation plans to facilitate formation of solar power parks, for a total capacity of 1000 MW, with private players in 2013-14 as 
• in Perambalur district as Aerospace park with GKV group,Hyd
• with Bangalore-based Raasi Green Earth Energy, was developing a 100-MW capacity solar park in Paramakudi taluk of Ramanathapuram district
•  The ‘Farm Fresh Vegetables on Wheels’ launched by the Department of Horticulture involving clusters of farmers and farming entrepreneurs is catching up in Andhra Pradesh
• A life convict at Kadapa Central Prison,Hyd Ande Srinivasulu Reddy has emerged as the topper among all the prisoners who appeared for the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University degree examinations to win the “Smt. Ananthasagar Bharathi Vishweswara Reddy Memorial Book Prize”.
• Space scientist Prof. Roddam Narasimha and artist Syed Haider Raza (for Art) were presented with the Padma Vibhushan, while actor Rajesh Khanna and satirist Jaspal Singh Bhatti were honoured with Padma Bhushan posthumously. Among other Padma Bhushan awardees were M.K. Bhan, a former Secretary in the Department of Biotechnology, Olympian Mary Kom, Hindustani musician Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, industrialist Adi Godrej and Bharatnatyam exponent Saroja Vaidyanathan. 
• Thrissur Pooram, a major festival of the State, will be celebrated on Apr 21 in Kerala.
• Iraqis vote in first election after U.S. troop withdrawal
• Italian President Giorgio Napolitano was re-elected to the country’s highest office .
• India is the largest recipient of remittances in the world, receiving $69 billion in 2012, the World Bank has said.After that China ,Phillipines etc
•  Abdul Hamid is to be Bangladesh’s 20th president of Awami League party
•  P.C. Chacko as Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the 2G spectrum allocation
• Thrissur Pooram : Celebrated every year in the month of ‘Medam’ (mid-April to mid-May) as per the Malayalam calendar, the festival was introduced by King Sakthan Thampuran of the erstwhile Kochi state (Kerela)in the late 18th century.More than 100 elephants roam around.
• The ‘human computer’, ‘mental calculator’, math whiz Shakuntala Devi passed away.In 1977, she calculated the 23rd root of a 201-digit number in just 50 seconds. In 1980, she multiplied two 13-digit numbers given to her randomly by the Computer Department of Imperial College, London
• Z Category security to Mukesh Ambani after threat from Indian Mujahideen: This is the first time that the CRPF would be providing VIP security to a private person on the lines of a similar cover it extends to government functionaries in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
• Under the ‘Z’ security cover, Mr. Ambani will be surrounded by over 20 commandos and personnel armed with sophisticated weapons. 
• Fixed Wireless Phone (FWP) : The product is a mix of a landline and a mobile phone. It is as simple as using a landline phone wherein we dial from a larger numeric pad, speak/hear using a receiver. Technology-wise, it is GSM-based and a SIM card has to be inserted in the slot meant for it from BSNL 
• Union Tourism Minister Shri K.Chiranjeevi will inaugurate the new campus of Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITM) at Noida tomorrow.
• It has pan India presence with its centers at Gwalior, Nellore, Delhi, Goa and Bhubaneswar.
•  Videocon Industries and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd. (BPCL) have reported a fourth huge natural gas discovery in an offshore Mozambique block, where they hold 10 per cent stake each.
• Jayalalithaa condoles death of violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman.
•  AC Double Decker daily express train to Bangalore will commence operations
• The coaches were built by the Rail Coach Factory Kapurthala on an anti-climbing template that is a guarantee against a pile-up of coaches in the case of a mishap. Some of the other features include a GPS-based Passenger Information System that scrolls real-time running position, train speed and distance to the next station, quickly operable emergency windows, air suspension system and multiple shock absorbers for a smooth ride and fire extinguishers in all coaches.
• Companies Bill 2012 : CSR clause
• This Clause states that every company having net worth of Rs. 500 crore or more, or turnover of Rs. 1,000 crore or more or net profit of rupees five crore or more during any financial year, shall constitute a CSR Committee of the Board consisting of three or more Directors, including at least one Independent Director, to recommend activities for discharging corporate social responsibilities in such a manner that the company would spend at least 2 per cent of its average net profits of the previous three years on specified CSR activities.
• Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Rajdoot’, designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata was commissioned at Kolkata
• The Prime Ministers of Serbia and Kosovo reached a tentative EU-mediated deal in Brussels on Friday that would give Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leadership authority over rebel Kosovo Serbs. In return, the minority Serbs would get wide autonomy within Kosovo.This is to normalise realtion between two countries. 
• Universal Commodity Exchange (UCX) became the sixth commodity exchange to launch futures trading.Headquatered in Mumbai. It had launched 11 contacts in nine commodities at the first phase of trading. 

1-7 April 2013

• The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has reconstituted the Central Press Accreditation Committee(CPAC). The CPAC functions as a body to approve applications for accreditation from the media, both Indian as well as foreign.The tenure of the committee shall be two years from its first meeting.
• United Nations World Tourism Organisation ( UNWTO) Commission’s Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development and 25th Joint Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for East Asia, Pacific and South Asia will be held at Hyderabad from 12th to 14th of this month.
• Socialist author and thinker Mastram Kapoor passed away.He was recently awarded the Yash Bharati award, which was revived after six years by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
• Union Tourism Minister Shri K Chiranjeevi today launched a web based Public Service Delivery System for Hotel approval and classification with a view to bring in transparency in granting approvals for hotel projects and classification status to functioning hotels.
• Asserting that a large number of people, particularly minorities, languish in prisons as undertrials for years, or remain ‘unjustly incarcerated’, Press Council of India (PCI) chairperson Justice Markandey Katju has decided to set up a ‘Court of Last Resort’ to examine such cases. 
• India and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan is likely to decide on preliminary spadework into all the aspects of an FTA plus or Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that aims to cover trade in goods, service, investment and movement of labour .
• The Planning Commission and the National Innovation Council are organising the first ever Hackathon on the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) on 6th – 7th April 2013. 
• The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to grant interim relief on a patent row to US pharmaceuticals major Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) (drugs : Januvia and Janumet )which sought a restraint on Indian firm Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on manufacturing and marketing anti-diabetes drugs Zita and Zita-Met. 
• Website on Babu Jagjivan Ram Launced :  http://www.jagjivanram.nic.in/. 
• Cabinet Commitee for Economic Affairs approves sugar decontrol .Present sugar quota of the states will be protected and the States will be mandated to continue with the current retail issue price of Rs. 13.50 per Kg. under PDS. The states will be given subsidy for the balance amount between retail issue price and the current ex-mill price calculated provisionally @ Rs. 32/- per Kg. 
• Major Decisions taken by PM for expansion of Direct Benefit Transfer : 
• Expanded to states where biometric has been taken for national population register like Wb,UP,Uttrakhand,Odisha,Bihar and Chattisgarh
• Three Pension Schemes managed by MoRD (old age, disability and widows) will now be covered under DBT 
• DBT will be expanded to include Post Offices and schemes run through Post Office accounts from 1 October 2013.
• LPG Subsidy through DBT
• ICSI(Institute of Company Secretaries of India) National Awards for Excellence in Corporate Governance -2012’ to two ‘Best Governed Companies’: 
• IOCL
• HCL
• France’s Louvre museum is getting a new director : Jean-Luc Martinez
• The International Monetary Fund has agreed to its part of the bailout for Cyprus.
• Malaysia PM Najib Razak dissolves parliament, paves way for elections.
• In a secret deal, Pakistan allowed American drone strikes on its soil on the condition that the unmanned aircraft would stay away from its nuclear facilities and the mountain camps where Kashmiri militants were trained for attacks in India.
• The Irish government’s move to relax the strict anti-abortion laws in the wake of the uproar over the death of Savita Halappanavar, who died in October last year after being refused abortion, suffered a setback on Saturday as the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) rejected a series of proposals to review the ban.Abortion to be allowed in cases where there was a substantial risk to the life of the mother. It also rejected motions on allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest and certain other special circumstances. 
• UK : New Immigration norms give some benefit to high skilled workers.
• Nuclear Talks between Iran and six nations : U.S. Russia, Britain, France, China and Germany at Almaty(former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city)
• Japan, US reach deal on Okinawa land return that is now used by U.S. troops.Okinawa was invaded by U.S. forces in World War II and has had an American military presence ever since.
• A rebel leader Michel Djotodia who proclaimed himself President of the Central African Republic, after his fighters invaded the capital appointed a new Cabinet.
• Private newspapers return to Myanmar.
• Pak Pong Ju : N Korea new Premier.
•  In Britain, doctors have used a pioneering three-dimensional printing technology to create a prosthetic face for a man who had lost almost the entire left side of his face, including his eye, cheek bone and most of his jaw after suffering from an aggressive form of cancer. 
• U.N. passes historic arms trade treaty.
• Chinese scientists have developed the world’s lightest substance — carbon aerogel — with a density only one sixth of that of the air. It has density of only 0.16 mg/cubic centimeter, previous record was with Germans for Graphite Aerosol with 0.18 mg/cubic cm.
• Gadchiroli(Maharashtra) police have started “Campaign Nav-Jeevan” to appeal to the Naxals from tribal districts to surrender by reaching out to their families. 
• Amendment to Article 371 of the Constitution which confers special status on the six backward districts of Hyderabad Karnataka ( Gulbarga, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Bellary and Bidar districts).
• New Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill, 2013 that seeks to end the role of the Governor and the Chief Justice of the High Court in appointing the ombudsman.The Bill proposes a seven-member selection panel headed by the Chief Minister.
• Pawan Kumar Bansal Launches Wi-Fi Facility on Howrah Rajdhani Express Train .
• Chennai Regional Passport Office (RPO) may perhaps be the first in the country to issue passports containing additional security features: 
• personal particulars of holders will be printed on the second page instead of the inner cover page
• rest of the details of passport holders would be printed on page 35 instead of the last page.
• the signature and seal of the passport issuing authority will be printed on the front overleaf page instead of page one. 
• laminating the second and third pages in the front and pages 35 and 36 on the back to avoid tampering
• The Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act (2011) or Sakala which was implemented in schools in April 2012 will soon cover government degree colleges.As part of the Sakala initiative for government degree colleges, services such as retotalling of marks secured in examination, revaluation of examination papers, issue of duplicate marks card or certificates will be made simple and more accessible to students.
• Odissa State government decided to decentralise the procurement of all the items in the supplementary nutrition programme (SNP) under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the Mid Day Meal programme in schools, with the exception of rice which is supplied by the Food Corporation of India.
• Swiss pharmaceutical Novartis had sought to overturn a clause in Indian Patents Law that restricts patent protection for newer forms of existing molecules.
• 1997: Novartis files a patent application in India for its anti cancer drug Gilvec((Imatinib mesylate).
• 2005: India introduces the Indian Patent Act preventing frivolous patents.
• Jan 2006: The Patent Controller in Chennai denies Novartis a patent
• May 2006: Novartis challenges the Indian government and four other companies in the Madras High Court
• Aug 2007: The Madras High Court rules against Novartis’ case
• June 2009: The Intellectual Property Appellate Board rejects a fresh appeal
• August 2009: Novartis approaches the Supreme Court of India
• April 1, 2013: Supreme Court rejects Novartis’ plea for patent

• ASHA workers(women community health workers) are being trained to play life-saving roles in child-birth to help reduce maternal and infant mortality rates in a pilot project in Uttar Pradesh.