The Competition Master

Philippines underground river named new wonder of nature

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5815" style="display: block;">                                          <ul><li style="text-align: justify;">An underground river in the western  Philippines was confirmed to be among the world’s new seven wonders of  nature, the head of a global competition said. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The <strong>Puerto Princesa Underground River</strong> in Palawan  province is the second of the new seven wonders of nature to be  confirmed after provisional results were announced last November. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Bernard Weber, founder and president of the New7Wonders, announced  the confirmation in Manila and hailed the support for the nomination in  the global competition. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the campaign has raised  awareness about the river, where visitor arrivals have “increased  tremendously.” “This is proof positive of how effective a national  effort of this sort can be, to build awareness, express pride, and  achieve results,” he added. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The 8.2-kilometre navigable underground river is the world’s  longest. The Geneva-based New7Wonders earlier confirmed Jeju Island as  one of the winners of the competition. The other five provisional  winners — the Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Komodo and Table  Mountain — are now undergoing the final verification process for their  confirmation. </li>
</ul></div></div>

Philippines underground river named new wonder of nature

An underground river in the western Philippines was confirmed to be among the world’s new seven w...

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‘Suspension of FDI in retail a pause'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">India assured global retail giants  Walmart and Metro that its reforms agenda was well on course and the  decision to put on hold Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail  is “just a pause,” forced by compulsions of coalition politics. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>This assurance was given by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand  Sharma when he met Walmart president Doug McMillon and Germany-based  Metro Group's board member Frans W.H. Muller on the sidelines of the  World Economic Forum meeting. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>This is for the first time that senior management of the United  States and German retailers met any Minister after the Indian government  suspended the controversial decision to open FDI in multi-brand retail  on November 24. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Mr. Sharma said the decision to open 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand  retail “could not be implemented because of the compulsions of coalition  politics as also partisan opposition.”</li>
</ul></div>

‘Suspension of FDI in retail a pause'

India assured global retail giants Walmart and Metro that its reforms agenda was well on course and the decision to put on hold Foreign Di...

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RAPID GK SERIES 37

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">1. The Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) entered the Indian Market in this Year<br />
2. The Nobel Peace Prize Winner of 2010 is<br />
3. The Ryder Cup is associated with this game<br />
4. The Longest Railway Tunnel of the World which was recently completed is<br />
5. This Country has achieved the number 1 Position in terms of Medals tally in the Commonwealth Games 2010<br />
6. The abbreviation of SJSRY is<br />
7. The Hepatology is the study of<br />
8. <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD5">The Stock Market<span class="IL_AD_ICON"></span></span> Regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI ) was established in this Year<br />
9. The First Indian Woman who received the Nobel Prize is<br />
10. ˜A Tale of Two Cities , is the famous <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD4">book written<span class="IL_AD_ICON"></span></span> by<br />
<br />
<strong>ANSWERS</strong><br />
<br />
1. September 1992.<br />
2. Liu Xiaobo (China)<br />
3. Golf<br />
4. Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland)<br />
5. Australia with 177 Medals (74 Gold, 55 Silver & 48 Bronze)<br />
6. Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana<br />
7. Liver<br />
8. 1988<br />
9. Mother Theresa<br />
10. Charles Dickens</div>

RAPID GK SERIES 37

1. The Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) entered the Indian Market in this Year 2. The Nobel Peace Prize Winner of 2010 is 3. The Ryde...

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Odisha, Assam & West Bengal get additional food grains at subsidized rates

Odisha, Assam & West Bengal get additional food grains at subsidized rates

Centre has allocated additional food grains to Odisha, Assam and West Bengal at subsidized rates ...

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G-4 reiterates demand for UNSC expansion

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">The G-4 countries – India, Brazil, Germany and Japan have made a strong pitch for reforms in the UN Security Council. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>These countries said, they want nothing more, nothing less than  expansion in the Council's permanent and non-permanent members that  gives increased representation to developing nations. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>In a joint introductory statement at the informal plenary of the  intergovernmental negotiations on UNSC reforms, they said India, Brazil,  Germany and Japan are bound together by a common vision of an enlarged  Security Council that better reflects the geopolitical realities of the  21st Century. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The G-4 countries said, the Security Council should be expanded in  both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, taking  into consideration the contributions made by countries to the  maintenance of international peace and security, as well as the need for  increased representation of developing countries in both categories. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>They said, their initiative has gathered wide cross-regional support  from member states and so far, nearly 80 nations have expressed their  support in writing, in addition to a substantial number of strong  commitments. </li>
</ul></div>

G-4 reiterates demand for UNSC expansion

The G-4 countries – India, Brazil, Germany and Japan have made a strong pitch for reforms in the UN Security Council. These countries said,...

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Expert Committee on decontrol of Sugar sector

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh  today constituted an expert committee to examine issues related to  decontrol of the sugar sector. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The committee will be headed by the Economic Advisory Council Chairman to the Prime Minister, Mr. C. Rangarajan. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>According to an official statement, the committee will look into all  the issues relating to de-regulation of the sugar sector and it has  been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its  recommendations to the Prime Minister.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The committee has been empowered to involve experts, academics as  required as special invitees. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and  Public Distribution have been asked to provide the necessary support to  the committee. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The other members of the committee include Kaushik Basu, Chief  Economic Adviser to the Ministry of Finance and secretaries to the  Department of Food and Agriculture.</li>
</ul></div>

Expert Committee on decontrol of Sugar sector

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today constituted an expert committee to examine issues related to decontrol of the sugar sector. T...

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Over 250-year-old heritage building facing demolition threat

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5795" style="display: block;">                                          <ul><li style="text-align: justify;">The more than 250-year-old heritage  building (fort), which houses a modern police station at Vilakkuthoon,  is facing the threat of the bulldozer. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The fort, historians believe, could have been built during the brief  Maratha rule in Madurai from 1740 to 1743 (or even earlier) going by  the plaque on its right compound wall that reads Cutwal's Choultry  (kotwal chavadi) Police Main Guard. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The modern police station is nearly 100 years old and came into  existence on July 9, 1912. However, colonial records say the choultry  was functioning as a police main guard since 1850. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Sahitya Akademi Award winner and novelist Su.Venkatesan told that  the Kotwal Chavadi (Cutwal Choultry) police station at Vilakkuthoon  (Light Tower) could be the first police station in the southern part of  the State covering the stretch south of Tiruchi to Kanyakumari. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>His book ‘Kaaval Kottam' talks a lot about the local police system  and policing methods in pre-colonial times, until these were replaced by  colonial institutions. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Stating that Kotwal Chavadi was functioning both as a police station  and tax collection point during the 1850s, he said that in fact East  Masi Street functioned as the heart of the colonial administration  during those times, the district collectorate and courts were  functioning from the Mahal. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Incidentally, the East Gate church was also built during 1843 and completed in 1845. </li>
</ul><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Conservationists say Madurai is the  only city in Tamil Nadu to become a member of the UNESCO-supported  Indian Heritage Cities Network. There is a plan to conserve the urban  heritage of the city. UNESCO has prepared a heritage tool kit for  various local bodies to use while implementing JNNURM projects. Members  of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) say  attempts to demolish heritage sites in the name of modernisation need to  be stopped.</li>
</ul></div></div>

Over 250-year-old heritage building facing demolition threat

The more than 250-year-old heritage building (fort), which houses a modern police station at Vila...

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INS Sudarshini inducted into Navy

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Tall ship INS Sudarshini was inducted  into the First Training Squadron of the Navy at a low-key function held  at the Southern Naval Command on jan27. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The three-masted sail training ship — the second of the Navy and a  follow-on ship of INS Tarangini that joined the Southern Naval Command  in 1997 — was commissioned by Vice-Admiral Krishnan Nair Sushil, Flag  Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Designed by British naval architect and yacht designer Colin Mudie  and built by the Goa Shipyard, INS Sudarshini has an overall length of  54 metre. It has 20 sails, 7.5 kms of rope and 1.5 km of steel wire rope  and can be deployed for up to 20 days at a stretch. Captained by  Commander P.K. Boyiri Varma, the ship has a complement of five officers  and 31 sailors. It can embark 30 cadets for training.</li>
</ul></div>

INS Sudarshini inducted into Navy

Tall ship INS Sudarshini was inducted into the First Training Squadron of the Navy at a low-key function held at the Southern Naval Comman...

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Kerala sticks to stand on Mullaperiyar

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Sticking to its stand on building a new  dam in place of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar reservoir, Kerala on  Friday said it is aware of the importance of giving water to five  parched districts of Tamil Nadu, but is concerned over the safety of its  people. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>“We know very well the importance of water from Mullaperiyar to  Tamil Nadu. The five districts of Tamil Nadu are completely depending on  water from Mullaperiyar. We are always for distribution of water  without any objection,” Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told  reporters in Chennai. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>At the same time, Mr. Chandy said his government “is very much anxious” about the safety of the people of his State. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Mr. Chandy, who was here en route to Puducherry to pay homage to  Kerala Governor M.O.H. Farook, who died on Thursday night, said the dam  issue could be discussed by the two States to find an amicable solution.  The Chief Minister said Kerala wanted to maintain cordial ties with  Tamil Nadu. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The two States are locked in a bitter row over the more than  116-year-old dam, with Kerala insisting on building a new dam citing  safety reasons while Tamil Nadu holds the view that the existing  reservoir is strong.</li>
</ul></div>

Kerala sticks to stand on Mullaperiyar

Sticking to its stand on building a new dam in place of the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar reservoir, Kerala on Friday said it is aware of the ...

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India–Sri Lanka bilateral trade surges by 70 per cent

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Trade between India and Sri Lanka surged by more than <strong>70 per cent in 2011 </strong>over the previous year, touching an <strong>all-time high of $5 billion</strong>, Indian High Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha has said. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="text-align: justify;">Indian companies had invested more than $100 million in Sri Lanka. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">India's  development assistance and the growing recognition that Indian projects  were being completed in a timely and efficient manner  is an impoptant  aspect.</span> </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="text-align: justify;">Referring to the memorandum of  understanding signed for the construction and repair of 49,000 houses  under a grant assistance of $260 million, Mr. Kantha said this was  perhaps one of the largest projects of its kind undertaken by India in a  foreign country.</span><strong> </strong></li>
</ul><strong>Special train</strong><br />
<div> <ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The Indian Railways would launch a special train, ‘<strong>Damba Diwa Vandana</strong>,' to take Sri Lankan pilgrims from Chennai to all major Buddhist sites in India.<span style="text-align: justify;">The train would operate from next month.</span> </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="text-align: justify;">He also announced the launch of  the High Commission's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/hcicolombo) to  provide an interactive platform for its various activities. Mr. Kantha  and other officials of the High Commission paid homage to the fallen  soldiers of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) at a ceremony held at  the IPKF memorial in Colombo.</span> </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="text-align: justify;">To commemorate the Republic Day,  danseuse Aditi Mangaldas and her troupe presented ‘Rhythm and Sound,' a  contemporary Kathak performance. Sponsored by the Indian Council of  Cultural Relations, the troupe has already performed at Galle and Kandy  and will perform in Jaffna.</span></li>
</ul></div></div>

India–Sri Lanka bilateral trade surges by 70 per cent

Trade between India and Sri Lanka surged by more than 70 per cent in 2011 over the previous year, touching an all-time high of $5 billion , ...

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