THE HINDU SUMMARIZED - 1st Week of May 2012 Top news Based on The Hindu - First Week of May

2012 1. Ratan Kumar Sinha took over as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission from Srikumar Banerjee. 2. President Pratibha Patil re-appointed Goolam E. Vahanvati Attorney-General for two more years. 3. Switzerland had agreed to provide details of secret bank accounts of individuals sought by India even on the basis of limited information, under a mutual agreement. 4. India's nominee Justice Dalveer Bhandari of the Supreme Court was elected to the post of Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for six-year tenure. 5. The Supreme Court set up an expert panel headed by Telecom Secretary to recommend within three months the procedure for telecom firms for properly identifying customers before issuing SIM cards to them so that they are not misused by anti-social elements. 6. Labour and Employment Minister launched the Electronic Challan-cum-Return initiative of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation under which the employers and the employees can operate their PF accounts electronically from office or home. 7. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the final guidelines for implementation of Basel III, which would be effective from January 1, 2013, in a phased manner. The Basel III capital ratios will be fully implemented on March 31, 2018. Banks have to maintain Tier I capital, or core capital, of at least 7 per cent of their risk weighted assets. Under the existing capital adequacy guidelines based on the Basel II framework, banks are required to maintain Tier I capital of at least 6 per cent of their risk weighted assets. The total capital ratio, including Tier I and Tier II, must be at least 9 per cent, unchanged from the current requirement, the RBI said in a statement, compared with the Basel III minimum requirement of 8 per cent. 8. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will leave for Manila to attend the 45th annual meeting of the board of governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 9. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) imposed penalty of $80,000 against India's national carrier Air India. 10. Oil Ministry slapped penalty of $1 billion on Reliance Industries for failing to meet gas output targets. 11. The Reserve Bank is holding gold reserves of 557.75 tonne valued at USD 27.02 billion, which accounts for 9.2 per cent of foreign exchange reserves of USD 294.6 billion. 12. Indian banks would need Rs 3,90,000-5,00,000 crore capital over the next six years in the wake of Basel III capital regulations announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 13. Exercise Shoor Veer conducted by the Army, came to an end in the Thar Desert. 14. Japan is now atomic energy free nation for electricity for the first time in 42 years because its last rector went for mandatory maintenance. 15. The Union government has underlined its intention to set up the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) on the basis of the suggestions and reservations expressed at the Chief Ministers' meeting. 16. The home loan portfolio of the State Bank of India has crossed a record Rs. one lakh crore mark covering 20 lakh families. SBI has become country's largest home loan provider. 17. Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam has written to Indian prime minister requesting India not to apply the proposed GAAR (General anti avoidance rule) on companies which have been given a tax residency certificate (TRC) by Mauritius. 18. India's infrastructure spending is 8 per cent of the Gross Domestic product. India needs to raise infrastructure spending to 10 per cent of GDP to achieve and sustain economic growth target of 9 per cent in the coming years. 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) envisages USD 1 trillion investments in this sector in which USD 500 billion will be met by private sector. 19. Top three according to per capita income: - Goa, Delhi, Haryana DAILY GK UPDATES: 6th MAY 2012 1. Budh Purnima was celebrated in different parts of the country today with traditional fervor and gaiety. The day marks the birth, enlightenment and Mahaparinirvan of Mahatma Budha in the 7th century. 2. Socialist Francois Hollande has been elected as the New President of France today. 3. First Indo-Bangla Joint Consultative Commission meets in New Delhi tomorrow. Bilateral issues like extradition treaty and Teesta water treaty likely to dominate the agenda. 4. India and Bangladesh announced to form a sub-committee of experts to remove any confusion about proposed cross border Tipaimukh hydro-power project and India will write off 200 million US dollars of the 1

billion US dollar line of credit offered to Bangladesh. 5. President Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil today laid the foundation stone for the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Information Technology at the Phoenix Settlement in Durban for good quality, cost effective and relevant higher education and skills. 6. India's Olympic qualifier, Deepika Kumari won her first Archery World Cup individual Recurve Gold Medal at Antalya, Turkey beating Korea's Lee Sung Jin in the final. 7. Nepal's Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai has formed a new National Unity Government, inducting 12 ministers. 8. 60 BJP MLAs in Rajasthan tendered their resignations today from the primary membership of the party. 9. Govt. today announced to hold a meeting on 9th May to decide on setting up of proposed Sovereign Fund of India that could be used, among other things, to buy overseas assets for the benefit of the state-owned companies. 10. National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report on expenditure in 2009-10 says at all India level only about 0.4 per cent of rural households had access to Internet at home as compared to about 6 per cent of urban households. 11. Chelsea won the FA Cup 2012 for the 4th time in 6 seasons, beating Liverpool 2-1 yesterday. 12. Reserve Bank of India today point out the need for hiking FDI cap in insurance and some other sectors in view of India's growing integration with the global economy

DAILY GK UPDATES: 7th MAY 2012 1. Vladimir Putin was inaugurated today to his 3rd term as Russia's President. 2. Himachal Pradesh government today announced to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in cooperative societies to strengthen the co-operative movement, especially in rural areas. 3. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today announced a slew of measures to provide relief to the jewellery sector and postponed implementation of the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) by 1 year, but offered no concessions to Vodafone involved in tax dispute. 4. First Indo-Bangla Joint Consultative Commission meeting held in New Delhi today. Bilateral issues like extradition treaty, Teesta water treaty and the boundary implementation agreement was discussed in the meeting. 5. Fifth ranked Sriram Balaji defeated Swiss Joss Espasandin in the summit clash of the MCC-SR Subramaniam Memorial ITF Futures men's tennis tournament in Chennai. 6. Reflecting the digital divided in India, the study said just 3.5 households per 1000 families, had access to Internet services at home in rural areas in the year. 7. Jharkhand government has constructed 7,285 km of all-weather roads that connect about 3,200 habitats across the state. The roads have been constructed under the 'Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yozna'. 8. Syrians went to polls across the country today as more than 7,000 candidates vied for 250 seats in parliament amid mounting International pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to step aside. 9. Bihar government today launched a Skill Development Scheme in the 23 of the 38 naxal affected districts of the state. The scheme is aimed at creating infrastructure for skill development among people of the region. 10. US Secretary of State Ms. Hillary Clinton arrived in New Delhi today to discuss the key issues on Civil nuclear cooperation, regional security and Iran issue. 11. Bangladesh Foreign Minister is the Guest of Honour and participated on behalf of her government at the closing ceremony of the year-long joint celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore today. 12. Govt. announced that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is formulating a scheme for subsidiarisation of Indian branches of foreign banks to ring fence Indian capital and Indian operations from economic shocks external to the Indian economic scenario. 13. Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet today approved his request for snap polls on September 4. 14. Satyamev Jayate a television program with the host Aamir Khan hit among the nations TV viewers for ambitious in scope, thorough in research, unrelenting in questioning, singular in focus, simple in presentation. 15. According to 'Houselisting and Housing Census 2011' for Delhi which released today, 6 to 8 members live

under one roof in 25.6 % of 33,40,538 households in the city while 6 % of the houses (around 2 lakh) have more than 9 people living in a single dwelling DAILY GK UPDATES: 8th MAY 2012 1. International Thalassemia Day is being observed today across the globe. The day aims to raise public awareness for prevention of Thalassemia and to highlight the importance of clinical care for its patients in all countries. 2. 151st birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore is being celebrated across the country with enthusiasm. 3. Russian Parliament today confirmed Dmitry Medvedevs appointment as New Prime Minister of Russia. 4. 3-day meeting of the World Economic Forum on Africa is to be held from tomorrow in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa under the theme Shaping Africa's Transformation. 5. Indias leading discus thrower Krishna Poonia created a new National Record by winning the silver medal at the Altius Track Crew Throwdown Meet in Maui Island, Hawaii. 6. India was ranked 5th in the list of countries affected of cyber crime. A report Cyber Security: The Vexed Question of Global Rules published by the Security and Defence Agenda (SDA) and McAfee. NOTE: - Cyber Security Summit 2012 concluded recently in Bangalore on 4 May 2012. 7. 5th ranked Sriram Balaji defeated Swiss Joss Espasandin in the MCC-SR Subramaniam Memorial ITF Futures men's tennis tournament held in Chennai. 8. The Venue of 7th Junior Men's Asia Cup hockey tournament 2012 is Malacca, Malaysia. 9. Indian boxer L Devendro Singh won a silver medal at the Republic of Kazakhstan President's Cup competition at Almaty after losing to Cuba's top light flyweight boxer Yosvany Veitia in the final. 10. Competition Commission of India (CCI) today constituted an eight member Eminent Persons Advisory Group to give broad inputs and advice on larger issues impacting markets and competition and good international practices in the country. 11. Union Govt. today set up Swami Vivekananda Chair in Indian Studies at the University of Chicago, USA. Its aim will be to create awareness of Indian culture in the USA and the Govt. will provide 15 lakh US dollars to the University of Chicago by July this year. 12. The Naval Commanders' Conference held in New Delhi today. 13. Supreme Court today struck down the government's policy of giving subsidies to Haj pilgrims and directed that it be progressively eliminate it within a period of 10 years. 14. Human Resource Development minister Mr. Kapil Sibal today released the Narayan Murthy Committee Report on Corporate Participation in Higher Education which stressed the need for the participation by the private sector to carry out reform measures in higher education system in the country. 15. Government today has decided to set up 1,500 new Industrial Training Institutes, ITIs and 5,000 Skill Development Centres in the Public Private Partnership mode in the un-serviced blocks of the country. 16. Lok Sabha today passed the Indian Medical Council Amendment Bill-2012. It seeks to extend the tenure of the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India by one more year beyond the 14th of May this year. Earlier, the tenure of the Board was 2 years. 17. 2nd meeting of the India-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) for Bilateral Cooperation. 18. Supreme Court today stayed the implementation of the Cheetah Reintroduction Programme by which the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had proposed to import the African large-sized feline to India. NOTE:- National Board for Wildlife (NBW) is a statutory body for the enforcement of the wild life law in India. 19. Ukraine cancelled a summit for Central and East European leaders today after a string of heads of state refused to attend the event over the treatment in jail of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. 20. Aviation regulator DGCA today suspended the operating permit of Global Vectra, whose promoter Ravi Rishi is under the CBI scanner in the controversial Tatra truck deal with the army, following withdrawal of security clearance by the Union Home Ministry DAILY GK UPDATES: 9th MAY 2012 1. Russia today marked the 67th anniversary of victory over Hitlers Germany in World War II with military parades throughout the country. 2. Union Govt.expanded the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to

include 30 works in agriculture, watershed, livestock, fisheries, flood management and irrigation and was aligned with National Sanitation Campaign. 3. Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced to provide an assistance of 56.8 US million dollars to the government of Nepal for the implementation of the Integrated Urban Development Project (IUDP). 4. Oscar-winning musician A R Rahman has been conferred with Honorary Degree for Doctor of Music by the Miami University, U.S. 5. Govt. today prepared a strategy paper for doubling India's merchandise exports to 500 billion US dollars by 2013-14. 6. Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda had a narrow escape today when his helicopter met with an accident while landing at Ranchi Airport. 7. Aviation regulator DGCA launched a probe into the helicopter crash of Jharkhand Chief MinisterArjun Munda in Ranchi and appointed Assistant Director (Air Safety) Sanit Kumar as the Investigating Officer. 8. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) starts pilot project called CBSE-International in 27 schools to made class tenth board examination optional to encourage holistic development of students and reduce exam related stress. 9. India's Urban Consumer Confidence improved in April to 41.1 from 39.9 in March. 10. Government has ruled out any increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit in defence manufacturing sector. NOTE: - Currently FDI upto 26 per cent is allowed in defence manufacturing sector 11. Government has prepared a strategy paper for doubling Indias merchandise exports to 500 billion us dollars by 2013-14. 12. Government today announced the incorporation of the necessary provisions in the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2012 to take care of the quality of SET TOP BOXES (STBS) and the redressal of grievances of the Cable TV Subscribers. 13. Directorate General of Foreign Trade today revised the export and import list of items of the Indo-China Border Trade through Nathula in Sikkim. 14. Garima Choudhary today clinched the Continental Quota Place to be the only Indian Judoka to qualify for the upcoming London Olympics by finishing 7th at the recent Asian Judo Championships at Tashkent. 15. Actress Sushma Seth and Miss India World Vanya Mishra were awarded with Kalpana Chawla Excellence award in New Delhi. 16. Veteran Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and former Left Front Minister Nandagopal Bhattacharya died in Kolkata. 17. Indian women squash team won its maiden Gold at the 16th Asian Squash Championship in Kuwait by defeating the top seeded Hongkong team in the title clash. DAILY GK UPDATES: 10th MAY 2012 1. Parliament today approved the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Amendment Bill, 2012 for benefiting disabled children. 2. Aditya Mehta bagged the Mens title in Kolkata Open Invitation Snooker Championship beating Saurav Kothari in the final in Kolkata. 3. Pakistan today successfully test fired nuclear-capable Hatf-III ballistic missile with a range of 290 km. 4. Nearly 50 people on board were killed when Russia's first all-new passenger Superjet 100 aircraft crash about 64 km south of Jakarta today. 5. Indian athletes bagged 4 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medal, in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok. 6. Jordan's parliament today passed a law to encourage a multiparty political system in the country. The move is one of the key reform measures announced by Jordanian King Abdullah II. 7. Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has been selected for the 2012 Templeton Prize. NOTE: - The award honours a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works. Award was established in 1972, it is one of the World's Largest Annual Monetary Award given to an individual. 8. Supreme Court today permitted Pakistani microbiologist Mohammed Khalil Chishti to visit his country. 9. Food and Consumer Affairs Minister K V Thomas today addressed a workshop on 'Best Practices in Public Distribution System and Food Fortification' in New Delhi and announced to providing subsidized food grains

to address malnutrition and hunger in the country. 10. Overall sex ratio in the country has improved from 933 in 2001 to 940 females per thousand males in 2011. 11. Around 63 lakh foreign tourists visited India last year registering about 9 per cent growth in the sector. 12. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) announced to set up food plazas at various railway stations all over the country. 13. Qualcomm, the Us Chipmaker Received The Broadband Wireless Access (Bwa) Spectrum by the Department Of Telecommunications (DoT). The DoT, however, reduced the companys period of licence use to 18.5 years from 20 years as mentioned in the licence agreement. The time period to meet the rollout obligations was also reduced from 5 to 3.5 years. 14. Central Ground Water Board has taken up pilot projects on aquifer mapping across the country. This will help in a better assessment of the country's ground water resources and the quality of water. 15. Exports grew by 3.2 per cent to 24.5 billion US dollars in April 2012. 16. Government during the 11th five year plan period approved 21 Counter Insurgency and Anti Terrorism Schools (CIATS) in the country. DAILY GK UPDATES: 11th MAY 2012 1. Union Cabinet today approved a bill to make it mandatory for micro finance Institutions to be registered with RBI and have minimum funds of Rs. 5 lakhs. 2. Rajya Sabha today passed the bill to Protect Children from Sexual abuse. 3. RBI today revised the rules regarding Exchange Earner's Foreign Currency (EEFC) Account by asking Foreign Exchange earners including exporters to convert 50 percent of their retained foreign exchange earnings into the Rupee currency. 4. According to United Nations report which released today, Indian economy estimated to register a growth of 7.5 per cent this fiscal on the back of higher savings and investment rates. 5. Union Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad today constituted a 3 member expert committee to examine the drug approval procedures in the country to examine the validity of the scientific and statutory basis adopted for approval of new drugs without clinical trial. 6. Saudi Arabia has built the Worlds First Underwater Mosque off a North-Western Coast city of Tabuk. 7. Govt. today discounted reports suggesting rampant rise in the use of Bhutanese currency, Ngultrum, in the North-Eastern States. 8. Index of Industrial Production (IIP) declined by 3.5 per cent in March mainly on account of contraction in manufacturing and mining output. 9. Defence Ministry today cleared a Rs 3000 crore deal to buy 145 M777 ultra light howitzers from the USA defence manufacturer BAE Systems. 10. India's Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek have waltzed into the Men's Doubles quarterfinals of the Madrid Open in Spain. 11. Egypt has held its first-ever live debate between Presidential candidates viz. Arab League head Amr Moussa and moderate Islamist Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh. 12. Palestine Airlines, the Palestinian national carrier, resumed operations with flights between Egypts ElArish and Amman after a gap of 7 years. 13. Govt. today announced the target of institutional credit flow to the farmers has been fixed at Rs. 5,75,000 crore, for the year 2012-13. Last year the target was Rs. 4,75,000 crore. 14. Union Govt. today set up a committee to review the entire content of the NCERT text books. Controversial cartoon on Dr. B.R Ambedkar has been withdrawn from the NCERT text book of Class XI also the distribution of the book has also been put on hold. 15. Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2013, which determines the defence budget for the fiscal 2013, was approved by the powerful House Armed Services Committee in U.S. 16. Union Cabinet today cleared a proposal to procure 75 Pilatus aircraft to train Indian Air Force Pilots.