Surface-to-air Akash missile test fired

Two days after its successful trial, India today again test-fired the indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash missile from the test range at Chandipur near Balsoer.

"The user specific trial, which formed part of the country's routine air defence exercises, was conducted from the ITR," said a Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) official associated with the ‘Akash’ missile project.

To re-validate the technology and operational efficacy of the anti-aircraft missile, Defence forces conducted the trial with logistic support provided by the ITR.

Buddhist encyclopaedia published in Russia

The first encyclopaedia of Buddhist philosophy has been brought out in Russia where Buddhism has seen a revival after the collapse of Communism.

The encyclopaedia analyses the philosophical aspects of Buddhism in the context of different civilisations, cultures and religions, including Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.

Releasing the book at a function held at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences India’s Ambassador Ajai Malhotra said that the philosophy of Lord Buddha was a relevant today as ever and would continue to inspire future generations across the world.

Indian-origin student cracks 350 years' old math puzzles

A 16-year-old Indian-origin 'genius' from Germany has managed to crack puzzles that had baffled the world of maths for more than 350 years.

Shouryya Ray, from Dresden, has solved two fundamental particle dynamics theories which physicists have previously been able to calculate only by using powerful computers.

Shouryya has been hailed a genius after working out the problems set by Sir Isaac Newton.

His solutions mean that scientists can now calculate the flight path of a thrown ball and then predict how it will hit and bounce off a wall, the Daily Mail reported.

BoB overtakes PNB as second most profitable public sector bank

State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) has pipped PNB to become the country's second largest public sector lender in terms of annual profit.

Mumbai-based BoB's net profit crossed Rs 5,000 crore during 2011-12, a rise of 18 per cent from the previous year.

Punjab National Bank's (PNB) net profit rose by 10.2 per cent to Rs 4,884 crore for the fiscal ended March, 2012.

The country's largest bank State Bank of India in the first nine months of 2011-12 has posted a net profit of Rs 8,243.64 crore. Its profit in 2010-11 stood Rs 8,264.5 crore .

India has become the top spam-spewing nation in the world

India has become the top spam-spewing nation in the world according to computer security firm Sophos’ latest “Dirty Dozen” report, which lists the top 12 countries from which most spam originates.

India has leapt to the top of the spam chart in less than a year, rapidly eclipsing the US .

The volume of junk mail that originated from India during the first three months of 2012 exceeded the volume coming from the US. Nearly 10 percent of all junk mail sent across the web originates from or passed through computers in India, said the data protection firm.

“If you have a spam in your inbox, there’s an almost one in ten chance that it was relayed from an Indian computer,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

Boston-headquartered Sophos said India has risen to the top of the spam chart because of the rapid growth of new Internet users in the country and computers that are not properly protected.

3rd National Panchayati Raj On Apr 24th

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj will be holding a day long National conference on the occasion of the 3rdNational Panchayati Raj Day at VigyanBhawan, New Delhi, on Apr 24th. On the occasion, best performing Gram Panchayats would be conferred with” Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Purskar, 2012, while another 170 Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) comprising of three –tier Panchayats would be facilitated with Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar for their exemplary work under the Panchayat Empowerment Accountability Incentive Scheme (PEAIS ).

During the conference, the five different groups of delegates would be discussing the topics such as (i) Gram Sabha and People’s Participation, (ii) Devolution of 3Fs i.e Funds, Functions and Functionaries (iii) Issues related to Women (iv) Agriculture, Rural Development and Livelihood and (v) Management of Forest Produce/Natural Resources.

China to introduce new 'talent visa' to attract foreigners

China plans to introduce a new visa regime titled "talent introduction" in an effort to attract more skilled professionals from abroad.

A draft law in this regard has been submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, for its second reading today.

Ordinary visas will be granted to foreigners who enter the country to work, study, visit relatives, travel or conduct business and to those who qualify for the talent introduction category, the draft said.

Yin Weimin, the Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, said last month that China will make greater efforts to resolve issues related to overseas talents' visas and residency permits this year.

China will bolster favourable treatment for them with advantageous policies in social insurance, taxation, medical services, their children's education and academic funding, among other areas, said the minister.

Joyce Banda: Malawi's first female president

Joyce Banda, who has made history becoming Malawi's first female president and only the second woman to lead a country in Africa, has a track record of fighting for women's rights.

She took power over the weekend following the death of 78-year-old President Bingu wa Mutharika, who died in office after heading up the southern Africa country since 2004.

Mr Mutharika's decision to appoint her as his running mate for the 2009 elections surprised many in Malawi's mainly conservative, male-dominated society - which had never before had a female vice-president.

Equally surprising was her decision to publicly stand up to her boss - by refusing to endorse his plans for his brother, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mutharika, to succeed him as president in 2014 when he was due to retire.

She was promptly thrown out of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party - and subjected to daily doses of derision at public rallies and on Malawi's state airwaves.

Current Affairs 4 Bank Exams: Union Budget 2012

Current Affairs 4 Bank Exams: Union Budget 2012: Central subsidies to be kept under 2 per cent of GDP; to be further brought down to 1.75 per cent of GDP over the next 3 years* Rs 30,000...

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BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) won British Safety Award

BSES Yamuna Power limited (BPYL) won the prestigious 54th British International Safety Award. BYPL has been selected for this award given the steps taken by it for the safety of its over 11 lakh consumers and safety and health of its employees. The list of award winners was announced in London in the last week of March 2012. The award will be presented in May 2012. BPYL is the first Indian discom to be selected for this award.

BYPL distributes power to an area spread over 200 sq kms with a population density of 5953 per sq km. It’s 11.9lakh customers are spread over 14 districts across Central and East areas of Delhi including Chandni Chowk, Daryaganj, Shankar Road, Patel Nagar, G T Road,Paharganj, Karkardooma, Krishna Nagar, Mayur Vihar, Yamuna Vihar, Laxmi Nagar, Nand Nagri and Karawal Nagar.

Madhya Pradesh bans tobacco-mixed 'gutka'

Madhya Pradesh has invoked a ban on the sale of tobacco-mixed gutka starting April 1.

Health Minister Narottam Mishra had said in the assembly some days agi that the licenses of seven gutka companies in the state have been cancelled.

And to control the increasing number of mouth cancer patients, the state government has decided to ban tobacco-mixed gutka pouches, he had announced.

A penalty of up to Rs.25,000 would be imposed on anyone selling tobacco-mixed gutka. However, there would be no ban on the sale of plain gutka.

Former governor Govind Narain passes away

Govind Narain, one of the last surviving Indian Civil Service (ICS) officers, who was the home secretary during the 1971 Bangladesh war, passed away Tuesday night at his residence, family sources said. He was 94.
Narain was born on May 5, 1917 at Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh. He joined the ICS in 1939 and rose to become country's home and defence secretaries.


Narain had worked with several Prime Ministers including Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi. He was appointed Secretary, Defence Production, in 1968 and continued in the post till 1970.

Narain was home secretary from 1971 to 1973 and was a key player in the planning of Bangladesh war and setting up the Mukti Bahini.

Vanya Mishra crowned Miss India World 2012

Chandigarh girl Vanya Mishra was tonight crowned as the Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2012 in a glittering grand finale of the 49th edition of the beauty pageant.The Miss India Earth title went to 24-year-old Prachi Mishra of Pune, while Chennai girl Rochelle Maria Rao, 23, was crowned as the Miss India International.

The trio, selected from 20 finalists, were crowned by last year's winners Kanistha Dhankhar, Hasleen Kaur and Ankita Shorey.

The event was hosted by Ayushman Khurana and Manish Paul.

While 19-year-old Vanya will represent India at the Miss World 2012 Pageant, Prachi and Rochelle shall represent the country at Miss Earth 2012 Pageant and Miss International 2012 Pageant, respectively.

Ajmer girl becomes first woman to drive metro train

As a little girl Shail Mishra of Bihariganj locality here got fascinated on seeing trains running near her place and dreamed of driving the locomotive some day. She now drives metro train in New Delhi at 120 km per hour and feels honored to be the first woman loco pilot from the state and Delhi.

"I made my dream come true," said Shail. Driving trains and metros is still a man's domain where women rarely enter. "It's the speed and control that matters," added Shail.

"Usually when trains passed through my locality, I was enthralled by their speed and sound, I told my father about my wish to be an engine driver but he declined as women were not allowed to enter the field," said Shail.

At present Shail is working as a station controller and train operator. She was only 23 years old when she first drove the engine on metal tracks. "When I took over the control panel of metro in New Delhi, passengers were keen to see me. There were talks about how could a woman drive the engine and that, too, at 120 km per hour," added Shail.

SBI launches ‘virtual' card for online transactions

State Bank of India has launched a ‘virtual' electronic debit card for e-commerce transactions.

The ‘State Bank Virtual' card can be created by a customer using the bank's Internet Banking facility with transaction rights.

The product allows the user to create a virtual card for any online transaction and the customer is not required to share the details of the principal account on the merchant Web site, said the bank in a statement.

The new product is a convenient and secure gateway to online payment for SBI's Internet banking users. Among the features of the virtual card are: no charges on creation of the card and the customer can create any number of cards at the same time. The card is created for each online transaction and is valid for a maximum of 48 hours.

There is no transfer of balance from the principal account inasmuch as only a lien is marked on the account. The minimum amount with which the card can be loaded with is Rs 100. There is no upper limit.

Transfer of balance takes place only when the customer does the actual transaction online

Delhi, Mumbai airports bag global awards

The international airports here and at New Delhi have secured global rankings at the Airport Council International's (ACI's) airport service quality awards.

While the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi has listed second, the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport stands at fourth position among 180 airports surveyed by the ACI for their performance in 2011, statements issued by managements of both the airports said.

Both the airports fall under the 25-40 million passengers per annum category.

Dawes named as India's new bowling coach

The BCCI has announced that Australian Joe Dawes will take over from Eric Simons as India's bowling coach after the tour of Australia.

Dawes is a former Queensland fast bowler who played 76 first class matches from 1997 to 2005. He was the bowling coach of Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League.

Simons has been associated with the Indian team since 2010 when he was roped in by then coach Gary Kirsten. Simons' contract expires at the end of the current tour Down Under.

All is not lost for Simons, however. The South African still has a job as coach of the Delhi Daredevils for the forthcoming edition of the IPL

East Zone create history to win maiden Duleep Trophy title

 East Zone kept their date with history as they crushed Central Zone by an innings and 20 runs to win their maiden Duleep Trophy title in an emphatic manner on Tuesday.

Enjoying a commanding first-innings lead of 237, East Zone pace duo of Ashok Dinda (3/94) and Mohammed Shami Ahmed (4/50) shared the bulk of spoils as Central's innings terminated at 217 for nine. Vineet Saxena, who was nursing a finger injury, didn't come out to bat.

While Shami had the best match figures of 8/123, Dinda will remember this first-class season in which he finished with 59 scalps from nine games leaving the second highest wicket-taker Taduri Sudhindra (44 wickets) way behind.

The Central batsmen didn't show the gumption required to save the match. To make a match of it, patience was the key but Central batsmen weren't prepared to stay at the wicket.

Amartya Sen receives Humanities Medal from Obama

Amatya Sen, Indian economist and 1998 Nobel Prize winner in economics, has been felicitated with the National Medals of Arts and Humanities award by the US President BAarak Obama at a glittering White House function.

"We even have an economist, which we don't always get on stage," Obama said referring to 78-year-old Sen, before he presented the 2011 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities.

"Sen is being awarded the 2011 National Huma Bnities Medal for his insights into the causes of poverty, famine, and injustice. By applying philosophical thinking to questions of policy, he has changed how standards of living are measured and increased our understanding of how to fight hunger," said the citation, read by a military aid of the US President.

Few minutes later, Sen was on the stage to receive the medal from Obama, the two Nobel Laureate were seen chatting on some issues. Nothing was audible though.

Sen also attended the White House reception hosted by President Obama on this occasion. The First Lady, Michelle also attended the awards ceremony.

The 2011 National Medal of Arts were also awarded to Will Barnet, Rita Dove, Al Pacino, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Martin Puryear, Mel Tillis, United Service Organization and Andre Watts.

And the 2011 National Humanities Medal were given to Kwame Anthony Appiah, John Ashbery, Robert Darnton, Andrew Delbanco, National History Day, Charles Rosen sand Teofilo Ruiz besides Sen.