Vocabulary : Dec 2012

• Endure : सहना : to suffer something difficult, unpleasant or painful 
• Synonyms : Sustain , Persist
• Engulf : निगल लेना : to surround and cover something or someone completely
• Synonyms : Engross , Immerse , Swallow
• Feeble : दुर्बलता से : weak and without energy, strength or power
  
• Ipso facto is a Latin phrase, directly translated as "by the fact itself," which means that a certain phenomenon is a direct consequence, a resultant effect, of the action in question.
• Ab initio  is a Latin term meaning "from the beginning.
• Preposterous : 
• enact
• Epilogue
• Prologue
• Furrow
• Dither
• Heinous
• Mull
• Tumble
• Predicament
• Troll
• Juvenile
• Benevolent
• Hoe
• Exaggerate
• Providence
• Diaspora
• Incarcerate
• Recidivism
• Baton
• Valor
• Slender
• Slander
• Besmirch
• Stigma
• Antidepressant
• Scourge

Dec 2012 : General Knowledge

• Icy moon of Jupiter :   EUROPA.
• National Energy Conservation Day :  December 14
• Chairman of Tata group : Cyrus P Mistry
• Iraqi President : Jalal Talabani
• Chief Economist World Bank : Kaushik Basu 
• Chairperson of National Green tribunal : Justice Swatanter Kumar
• U.N. envoy for Syria :  Lakhdar Brahimi
• Egypt Draft Constitution : At a glance
• Miss Universe : Olivia Culpo ( US) (Miss Philippines, Janine Tugonon, came in second, while Miss Venezuela, Irene Sofia Esser Quintero, placed third)
• S korea President : Park Guen-hye
• Civil Aviation Minister: Ajit Singh
• World Environment Day on 5^th June, 2012
• World Population Day on 11^th July, 2012
• Russia was admitted into the World Trade Organisation on 22 Aug 2012, 18 years after negotiations began in 1993 as 156th member.
• Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma : Elected as Chairperson of African Union Commission
• Ivan Sutherland : Father of Graphics

19-24 Dec : News

1. After Savita, Ireland to allow abortion to save mother’s life.
2. New norms devised by the environment and forests ministry (MoEF), the highways ministry or any other agency such as NHAI can apply for clearance for getting soil/earth in one go when they apply for environment clearance.
3. Justice Swatanter Kumar has taken over as chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), to decide on cases relating to environmental protection, and conservation of forests and natural resources.
4. ToucHB : devise to diagnosis anaemia.Works by shining light of different wavelengths through the tissue of the patient’s finger.It measures .haemoglobin,,oxygen saturation, temperature and pulse rate as well. The total blood haemoglobin is used for anaemia diagnosis. 
5. Committee of Eminent Jurists to Suggest Amendments to Criminal Law(existing laws on safety of women) : Shri Justice (Retd) JS Verma, Chairman of the committee. Smt.Justice (Retd) Leila Seth and Shri Gopal Subramaniam : Invites suggestions from public.
6. National Mission on Food Processing Launched.Food Processing Schemes to Facilitate Entrepreneurs and Domestic AGRO-Processing Industries
   Assistance Provided to 3229 Food Processing units under Technology upgradation Scheme.
7. Censusinfo India Software Launched developed by the United Nations Statistics Division, in partnership with UNICEF and UNFPA has a unique feature which allows user to create tables, maps and charts using her/his own data.

Coal Scam - A shame

INTRODUCTION :

India is one of the largest producers of coal in the world.The coal-rich region in India includes huge swathes of eastern states like Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, and pockets in the central and southern parts of the country.
More than half of India's commercial energy needs are met by coal. It is the main fuel for generating power and making steel and cement.Coal allocation scam or Coalgate, as referred by the media, is a political scandal concerning the Indian government's allocation of the nation's coal deposits to public sector entities (PSEs) and private companies. In a draft report issued in March 2012, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) office accused the Government of India of allocating coal blocks in an inefficient manner during the period 2004-2009.

New Visa Agreement Between India and Pakistan

Signed On : 8 Sep 2012

Key features :  

• Visitor Visa :  Places of visit allowable increased from three to five places. In exceptional cases visas can be issued to one year or now it can be of 2 yrs depending on :- 65 yrs of age , person married to other country person and children of age < 12yr accompanying parents.
• Visa on Arrival  can be granted at Attari/Wagah check-post to persons more than 65 years of age for 45 days with single entry.
• Business Visa : Businessmen with an annual income above Pak Rs. 5 million or equivalent or annual turnover above Pak Rs. 30 million or equivalent.
• Group Tourist Visa : Group Tourist Visa for 30 days may be issued for travel in groups, with not less than 10 members and not more than 50 members in each group, organized by approved tour operators/travel agents.
• Entry and Exit : Now entry and exit from different designated Immigration Check Posts can be allowed, if indicated in application.However, exit from Wagha/Attari on foot cannot be accepted unless the entry was also on foot via Attari/Wagah. 

Short Terms : Dec 2012

Session Initiation Protocol :

It is a signalling protocol used to create,manage and terminate sessions in an IP based n/w.A session could be a simple two-way telephone call or it could be a collaborative multi-media conference session. This makes possible to implement services like voice-enriched e-commerce, web page click-to-dial or Instant Messaging with buddy lists in an IP based environment.The SIP protocol is an Application Layer protocol designed by IEFT(Internet
Engineering Task Force).

Maritime Boundary :

A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of the Earth's water surface areas using physical and human geography.It usually includes areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources, encompassing maritime features, limits and zones. Although in some countries the term maritime boundary represent borders of a maritime nation and are recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, they usually serve to identify international waters.
Maritime boundaries exist in the context of territorial waters, contiguous zones, and exclusive economic zones; however, the terminology does not encompass lake or river boundaries, which are considered within the context of land boundaries.

18 Dec : News

1. Indian Railways Bag the Highest Ever 11 National Energy Conservation Awards for the Year 2012 on National Energy Conservation Day i.e on December 14.
2. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is the biggest company in terms of revenue, followed by Reliance Industries, according to the Fortune 500 list of Indian companies for 2012.
3. Danny Boyle, Oscar-winning director of Slumdog Millionaire and the man behind the widely-acclaimed opening ceremony of the London Olympics, is reported to have turned down a knighthood saying he wishes to remain “a man of the people”.
4. Contraceptives to be delivered at home by Accredited social health activists (ASHAs) was launched on a pilot basis in 233 districts in 17 States in June last year.
5. Campaigning "Maila Mukti Yatra" to eradicate manual scavenging.Continuation of cleaning of human excreta by humans is a violation of "The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines Prohibition Act, 1993.".The MMY, which started from Bhopal on November 30, aims to cover 200 districts in 18 States in 63 days. It will cover 10,000 km. and will conclude on January 31, 2013 in New Delhi.
6. Intel will focus on the National Digital Literacy Mission in India, its initiative with industry body Nasscom and other industry players, to create a digitally literate population in the country.
   “Intel has impacted over 1 million learners through its Intel Easy Steps Digital Literacy programme in India in 2012.
   We remain committed to working with the ecosystem and will work towards fulfilling the government’s vision of having one e—literate person per household by 2020,” Intel said.