The Competition Master

RAPID GK SERIES 3

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">1. The Isotope of Uranium used in Atomic Reactors is 
2. Among the defects of eye, the Short-sightedness is called 
3. This continent is the third largest in terms of Population of the world 
4. Mekong River drains into this sea 
5. The first person who traveled twice to space as a tourist is 
6. Mahatma Gandhi’s remark, “A Post-dated cheque on a crumbling bank” is regarding with this proposals of this mission 
7. The Money Order System was introduced in India in this year 
8. The second largest Railway network in the world is 
9. In India, the term Black Revolution is associated with this 
10. Singareni Coal Fields lies in this River Valley 
 
ANSWERS 
 
1. U 235 
2. Myopia 
3. Europe 
4. <span class="kLink" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: 1px solid blue; font-family: inherit ! important; font-size: inherit ! important; font-weight: inherit ! important; position: static;">South <span class="kLink" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: 1px solid blue; font-family: inherit ! important; font-size: inherit ! important; font-weight: inherit ! important; position: static;">China Sea 
5. Charles Simonyi 
6. Cripps Mission 
7. 1880 
8. Indian Railway Network 
9. Self-dependence in Petroleum / Crude Oil 
10. Godavari Valley</div>

RAPID GK SERIES 3

1. The Isotope of Uranium used in Atomic Reactors is 2. Among the defects of eye, the Short-sightedness is called 3. This continent is th...

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Cabinet clears 3 bills to combat corruption & ensure transparency

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5142" style="display: block;"> <ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The government has cleared three draft legislations to combat the menace of corruption and ensure transparency in public dealings. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> These include Judicial Accountability Bill, Whistleblowers' Bill and Citizens' Charter Bill. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;">  The decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> the Judicial Accountability Bill seeks to lay down judicial standards and provide for accountability of judges. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha last year. It was later sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel and Law and Justice. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> A key recommendation of the committee that seeks to restrain judges from making unwarranted comments against other constitutional bodies or persons in courts has been accepted by the Government. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Citizen's Charter, seeks to ensure the citizen's Right to Service and set up a grievance redressal mechanism. It envisages the stetting up of a Central Public Grievance Redressal Commission. The Whistleblowers Bill or the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosures Bill seeks to protect RTI and other activists. 
 
 </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"> The Cabinet also discussed the National Food Security Bill, but reports suggest some UPA allies wanted to discuss some aspects of the bill further. This will now be brought up at a meeting next week. The Food Security Bill proposes an expenditure of 95,000 crore rupees for implementing the framework legislation on food security. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The draft Bill, seeks to cover upto 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 percent of urban households. It proposes right to 7 kg foodgrains per month per person, at three rupees per kg for rice, 2 rupees per kg for wheat and one rupee per kg for coarse grains to the priority beneficiaries. 
</li>
</ul></div></div>

Cabinet clears 3 bills to combat corruption & ensure transparency

The government has cleared three draft legislations to combat the menace of corruption and ensu...

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PM leaves for Russia

PM leaves for Russia

Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh accompanied by a high level delegation is arriving Moscow tomorrow for annual summit with Russian Pres...

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OPEC meets to decide oil output for next year

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The  Oil Ministers of 12 OPEC countries are meeting in Vienna today to decide on the output for the next year. There are indications that the organization will maintain its output at the existing levels of 24.88 million barrels per day. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The OPEC meeting comes in the backdrop of Euro zone crisis, economic slowdown, tensions over Iran, and the flow of oil from Libya.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The 12 member cartel of oil exporting nations has been producing nearly 25 million barrels per day over the past three years. It is expected that the the current output target will be maintained to keep the oil prices around $100 per barrel.  
</li>
</ul> <div style="text-align: justify;">About OPEC</div> <ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola,Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. 
 
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<li>  OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965  
 
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<li> Indonesia withdrew in 2008 after it became a net importer of oil, but stated it would likely return if it became a net exporter again. 
 
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<li> According to its statutes, one of the principal goals is the determination of the best means for safeguarding the organization's interests, individually and collectively. 
</li>
</ul></div>

OPEC meets to decide oil output for next year

The Oil Ministers of 12 OPEC countries are meeting in Vienna today to decide on the output for the next year. There are indications that...

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Lifetime achievement award for Swraj Paul

Lifetime achievement award for Swraj Paul

Industrialist and Labour peer Swraj Paul was on Tuesday given the lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contributions in various...

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Pentavalent vaccine to be introduced

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li style="text-align: justify;"> Dismissing reports of deaths of some children after administration of pentavalent vaccine in Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Pakistan as unrelated, the Centre will introduce this vaccine as part of the routine immunisation programme in Kerala 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The vaccine that will prevent children from five life threatening diseases will be introduced in Tamil Nadu 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Pentavalent vaccine will protect children from Diphtheria, Pertussis, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae Hib disease, which is a new addition to the routine immunisation programme in the county. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> It is administered to children at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age and will replace the existing DPT and Hepatitis B vaccine primary dose of which is given at the same age. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> At present, there are 170 countries using the pentavalent vaccine of the 193 World Health Organisation member states. 
 
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<li>Goa has been administering pentavalent vaccine from the State budget since 2008 which was initially introduced in selected blocks but the entire State was covered in 2011.</li>
<li> </li>
<li> Introduction of Hib vaccination as a combination vaccine carries the added advantage of reducing the number of injections given to a child from 9 (3 each for DPT, Hepatitis B and Hib) to three. 
 
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<li> It is estimated that 40 per cent of all under-5 mortality in India is attributed to pneumonia, meningitis ad diarrhoeas. Hib disease is estimated to cause 2.6 lakh cases of pneumonia and 52,000 cases of meningitis every year. Haemophilus influenza B is difficult to culture from pneumonia and meningitis cases as facility for taking the sample for culture is usually available only in tertiary care hospitals, due to prior use of antibiotics before reaching such facility and stringent culture conditions. 
 
 
</li>
<li> Based on the recommendations of WHO and the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), Pentavalent vaccine will be introduced in these two States with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation GAVI providing free vaccine for three years after which the Centre takes over the programme 
</li>
</ul></div>

Pentavalent vaccine to be introduced

Dismissing reports of deaths of some children after administration of pentavalent vaccine in Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Pakistan as unrelated,...

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MP doubles honorarium of anganwadi workers

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> In Madhya Pradesh, the state cabinet has decided to double the honorarium of Anganwadi workers and assistants. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The State Government will have to bear an additional burden of about 22 crore 40 lac rupees due to the increase in honorarium. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Anganwadi workers will now get three thousand rupees per month as honorarium instead of 1500 rupees while anganwadi assistants and sub-workers will get 1500 rupees instead of 750 rupees per month. 
</li>
</ul></div>

MP doubles honorarium of anganwadi workers

In Madhya Pradesh, the state cabinet has decided to double the honorarium of Anganwadi workers and assistants. The State Government wi...

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Cancer, diabetes screening for all in five years

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> Every Indian will be screened for cancer, heart disease, diabetes and stroke over the next five years, union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> India will be the first country in the world to screen the entire population in the next five years 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Pilot projects have already been launched in 100 districts and in the slums of 30 cities with populations of more than 10 lakh, 20,000 sub-centres will screen 17-18 crore people. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The scheme will be implemented in the remaining period of the 11th five-year plan and in 12th plan, the remaining parts of the country will be taken up. 
</li>
</ul> <ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> The scheme was started with diabetes and blood pressure screening in Delhi in November 2010. It later travelled to Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. 
 
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<li> The Centre provides the test kits and equipment while the states provide the logistics.  
 
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<li> In India, 64 million people are projected to have heart disease in 2015 - 60% of cases in the world. With over 50 million cases, India is already the world's diabetes capital.   
 
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<li> Under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi, the Centre gives funds to states to provide up to Rs 1.5 lakh financial assistance to all BPL patients suffering from cancer. In 2011-12, 2,202 cancer patients have received financial help, of which 241 were recommended by MPs. 
</li>
</ul></div>

Cancer, diabetes screening for all in five years

Every Indian will be screened for cancer, heart disease, diabetes and stroke over the next five years, union health minister Ghulam Nabi ...

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Aslam Sher Khan to head Olympians body

Aslam Sher Khan to head Olympians body

Former India hockey star Aslam Sher Khan was unanimously elected president of the Olympian Association of India at a meeting Tokyo Ol...

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Obama visiting Fort Bragg to mark end of Iraq war

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> President Barack Obama Obama is marking the end of the Iraq war with a tribute to the troops who fought and died in a conflict he opposed from the start. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> Accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama, the president was traveling to Fort Bragg in North Carolina to address service members and their families as he brings the war to a close. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> All U.S. troops are to be out of Iraq Dec. 31 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The  U.S. will continue to help Iraq as it faces an uncertain future in a volatile region of the world. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> It's the president's first visit to Fort Bragg, which is home to Army Special Operations, the 18th Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne 
</li>
</ul></div>

Obama visiting Fort Bragg to mark end of Iraq war

President Barack Obama Obama is marking the end of the Iraq war with a tribute to the troops who fought and died in a conflict he oppose...

+ Read more »