PATHFINDER EDUCATION SERVICES

Pathfinder GK Supplement
July 2010 – week 3

7/30/2010

This document contains a summary of all important events that happened during the 3rd week of July
2010.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 1

 Newsmakers
Ramesh Malhotra

Coach suspended after being accused of misconduct by Sydney Olympic bronze medallist Karnam
Malleswari, now an IWF vice-president. He was recommended by the IWF for the Dronacharya Award for
the last two years, But the junior weightlifting team has asked for the reinstatement of the coach in a letter
signed by all the players.

Tony Hayward

Current CEO of BP, who shall cease to be the CEO of the group company from October1, 2010, due to
the huge costs that company has to bear after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He will be replaced by
American Robert Dudley on Oct 1. BP reported a record quarterly loss and set aside $32.2 billion to
cover costs of the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP said the decision to replace Hayward, 53, with
the company’s first ever non-British chief executive was made by mutual agreement.

Kaing Guek Eav

Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was found guilty of murder
and torture, and crimes against humanity for running Tuol Sleng prison, a converted school that
symbolised the horrors of the ultra-communist regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths in 1975-79 during the
Khmer Rouge regime.

About Khmer Rouge-

It was a strict communist organization led by Pol Pot remembered for its policy of social engineering and
the genocide( mass killing).As an attempt at social engineering the city-dwellers were deported to the
countryside, where they were combined with the local population and subjected to forced labor. About 2
million Cambodians are estimated to have died in waves of murder, torture, and starvation, aimed
particularly at the educated and intellectual elite. The term "Khmer Rouge” means "Red Khmer” in French
and it was coined by Cambodian head of state Norodom Sihanouk.

Amit Shah

Tainted minister who quit as minister of state for home in the Gujarat government after CBI alleged his
involvement in the murder of Sohrabuddin sheik and Kausar Bi in a fake encounter.

Pooran Singh

Whose ashes were brought back to India by Kapil Dev and family members of Pooran Singh from
Australia to fulfil his last wish that his ashes be immersed in the Ganga. In 1899, Pooran Singh, aged 30,
left his family at Bilga and sailed to Australia, where he hawked goods from his horse-drawn wagon,
travelling from one country town to another. He was cremated in June 1947 and his ashes were kept safe
by Guyett's Funerals, a family funeral company, at Warrnambool.

Arundhati Roy, Indra Nooyi among 30 most inspiring women

India-born head of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi, and writer and activist Arundhati Roy have been named by
Forbes among the world's 30 most inspiring women, a list that also features Mother Teresa, media mogul
Oprah Winfrey and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 2

Ravi Baswani

Actor Ravi Baswani, who is best known for his roles as photographer Sudhir Mishra in the cult film
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and the carefree Lakhan in Chashme Badoor, passed away in Shimla following a
heart attack. He had gone to Shimla to scout shooting locations for his directorial debut film. Baswani
was a kind and encouraging person, was also known for his caustic sense of humour.

Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi

Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi is appointed as Chief Election Commissioner(CEC) by President Pratibha

Patil under Clause 2 of the Article 324 of the Constitution. Mr. Quraishi will assume office on July 30 as
the incumbent, Navin Chawla, demits office.

Keki Mistry

He is the Vice-chairman and CEO of HDFC Bank and will join the board of Bombay Stock exchange as a
shareholder Director.

Ivy Bean

Ivy Bean, 104, began tweeting last year from her residential home in the outskirts of Bradford in northern
England, and amassed over 56,000 followers with posts telling of food, family visits, and even an
invitation from Gordon Brown to meet the then Prime Minister in Downing Street. Ivy had fallen ill last
month, and her followers had been kept updated by Pat, the manager of Hillside Manor, over the last few
weeks. It was Pat who bore the bad news on Wednesday.

Jyoti Swaroop Pandey

Jyoti Swaroop Pandey, an IPS officer of 1976 batch, took over as Uttarakhand's fifth Director-General of
Police on Wednesday. Known as an upright, soft-spoken officer, he replaces Subhash Joshi who took
over as Special Director-General in the Central Reserve Police Force recently.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 3

 Business
Fortis Healthcare pulls out of Parkway Holdings

Fortis today agreed to sell its 25.37 per cent stake in Parkway Holdings to Malaysia's Khazanah for about
Rs 3,800 crore, ending a nearly two-month long battle for control over Parkway. Khazanah had offered to
fully acquire Parkway at an increased price of about $2.5 billion.

Dabur Acquires Hobi Kozmetik

FMCG player Dabur has said it has acquired Turkish personal care firm Hobi Kozmetik Group for $69
million (about Rs 324 crore) as part of its strategy to strengthen its presence in West Asia and North
Africa.

Moody’s raises Rupee rating

Moody's Investors Service raised the rating on India's local currency debt to one notch below investment
grade at "Ba1".The upgrade was prompted by the fiscal reforms initiated by the Indian Government. India
may be able to lower its fiscal deficit to 5.5 % of the GDP in the current year.’

Reliance Life ties up with Net Ambit

Financial services distribution company Net Ambit has forged a distribution partnership with Reliance Life
Insurance Company (RLIC), a part of Reliance Capital. With this tie-up, all RLIC products can now be
purchased through Net Ambit’s offices and outlets spread across 140 locations across the country, says a
company release.

Ramco Systems partners IDBLUE

Ramco Systems has announced a global partnership with IDBLUE, an operating unit of Cathexis
Innovations Inc. IDBLUE is an RFID (radio frequency identification) solution and consulting company
offering a range of RFID solutions, services, and products for the aerospace, oil and gas, and industrial
markets. Ramco Systems will provide end-to-end RFID solutions within the aerospace sector.

Cos sign CBM contract for 7 blocks

The Centre signed contracts with companies for the seven blocks awarded under the fourth round of Coal
Bed Methane (a natural gas) Policy-IV having a resource potential of 330 million cubic metres of gas
which are expected to attract over $150 million investment.

While four blocks have gone to Essar Oil, one each has been bagged by Great Eastern Energy
Corporation, Arrow Energy (AS) Pte Ltd. and Oil India consortium, an Arrow Energy (ST) Pte Ltd and Tata
Power Company consortium. These seven blocks are in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya

Pathfinder Education Services Page 4

Pradesh, Orissa and Tamil Nadu. With the conclusion of the fourth round of CBM, the government has
signed a total of 33 CBM contracts till date.

Noel Tata to become Tata International Managing Director

Noel Tata, who is speculated to be one of the contenders to succeed Ratan Tata as Chairman of the Tata
Group, will take charge of the overseas business of the over $70 billion conglomerate as Managing
Director of Tata International.

Noel Tata has been speculated to be among the contenders to take over the leadership of the group,
which had posted a revenue of $70.8 billion for the year ended March 31, 2009, once Mr. Ratan Tata
retires.

SBI ties up with Oxigen

State Bank of India tied up with Oxigen Services Pvt. Ltd. and its supported company Sahyog
Microfinance Foundation to offer banking services by connecting directly to SBI's core banking system by
Oxigen web retailers. This kiosk-based banking model will provide the necessary ease and comfort to
customers in all parts of India with inherent benefits like flexi timings and reach through current Oxigen
footprint of over 20,000 web enabled retailers.

Huawei unveils handset devices

China's Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. announced its entry into the Indian open market with the launch of
its new series of handset devices — Hangout and Android. To be available from August 1, these new
mobile phones utilize Qualcomm's advanced chipset solutions and would be priced above Rs. 2,000.

Joyalukkas wins distinction in UAE

Leading jewellery maker Joyalukkas has won the distinction of being a ‘superbrand' in the UAE. The
announcement was made at the Superbrands Tribute Event. The award was accepted by Joy Alukkas,
Chairman of the Joyalukkas Group, while the brand will be featured in the 2010 edition of the
Superbrands UAE book.

From its inception with a single jewellery showroom to its current stature of a $1 billion plus global
conglomerate, Joyalukkas has made a distinct mark in the jewellery retail industry through innovative
schemes as well as a unique business model.

BAE Systems and Rolls Royce to supply India with 57 Hawk trainer jets

In a deal worth around 700 million sterling ($1.09 billion), which BAE Systems, the biggest defence
contractor in Europe, Rolls Royce and India's state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd signed, BAE systems
and Rolls Royce have agreed to supply India with 57 Hawk trainer jets.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 5

Procter & Gamble enters into Olympic partnership

Procter & Gamble and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a global partnership for the
next five Olympic Games from London 2012 through the 2020 Olympic Games.The breadth of P&G's
portfolio, which includes 22 brands each generating $1 billion or more in annual sales, and the depth of
P&G's reach to four billion people worldwide, make this the most far-reaching Olympic partnership. Some
of P&G's most iconic brands participating in the partnership include Pampers, Tide, Ariel, Always,
Whisper, Crest, Pantene and Olay.

New appointment by Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company

The board of directors of Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company has appointed M. B. N.
Rao, former chairman and managing director of Canara Bank and Indian Bank, as Chairman of the
company. He takes over from M. A. Alagappan, who retired. Simultaneously, the board has appointed
Vellayan Subbiah as the Managing Director of the company

Honda launches superbike

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) launched its international road-sport motorcycle ‘VFR1200F' in
the fun bike segment. Priced at Rs. 17.50-lakh, the superbike comes with 1,237cc fuel-injected, liquid
cooled engine and dual clutch transmission (DCT) technology.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 6

 Economy
Bill on ULIP Introduced

Indian government on Tuesday introduced a Bill in Parliament to allow insurers to sell unit-linked
insurance plans (ULIPs), without seeking the capital market regulator's approval.

What are ULIPS

ULIPs are a category of goal-based financial solutions that combine the safety of insurance protection
with wealth creation opportunities. In ULIPs, a part of the investment goes towards providing you life
cover. The residual portion of the ULIP is invested in a fund which in turn invests in stocks or bonds; the
value of investments alters with the performance of the underlying fund opted by you.

Simply put, ULIPs are structured in such a way that the protection element and the savings element are
distinguishable, and hence managed according to your specific needs. In this way, the ULIP plan offers
unprecedented flexibility and transparency.

Monetary Policy Review

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in the latest monetary policy review, raised key rates for a fourth time
this year due to continued inflation, above 10 %.

Repo and reverse repo rates

Repo rate increased by 25 basis points to 5.75 percent and reverse repo rate increased by 50 basis
points to 4.5 %. The former is the rate at which RBI lends to banks and the latter at which it borrows, to
absorb cash from the system.

CRR

The central bank, however, left the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) unchanged.

What is monetary policy?

Monetary policy is a tool used by the central bank to manage money supply in the economy in order to
achieve a desirable growth. The central bank controls the money supply by increasing and decreasing
the cost of money, the rate of interest.
Monetary policy can either be expansionary or contractionary in nature. Under an expansionary
policy, policy makers increase the money supply in the system by lowering interest rates. This is done
mainly to boost economic growth and decrease level of unemployment. On the other hand, in
contractionary policy, the cost of money is made dearer by increasing the rate of interest, which in turn
helps in reducing the money supply in the system and combat inflation. Thus, while expansionary policy is
followed to boost the economic growth, a contractionary policy is adopted to deal with an overheated
economy situation.

RBI implements the Base rate regime for banks

From July,1 2010 all banks in India have moved to a “base rate” regime for all the loans issued by banks.
Before the Base Rate Regime, Indian banks followed a system called BPLR (Benchmark Prime Lending
rate), where each bank had its own method to calculate its own benchmark rate.

What is the Base Rate?

Pathfinder Education Services Page 7

When someone borrows money to buy something, say, an immovable property like a house or an
appliance like TV, refrigerators etc, there is a minimum interest rate that he /she has to pay to the lender.
This minimum interest rate is the rate that a bank will lend money at. This base or minimum rate is also
the rate at which RBI shall allow a bank to lend money.

Earlier, banks used to price the loans they offered someone on a complicated system called benchmark
prime lending rate (BPLR). Each bank has its own BPLR methodology which made it difficult for
borrowers to compare rates across banks.

This will facilitate easier comparison of interest rates provided by different banks. The shift to a lower
base rate does not imply that a bank with a lower base rate will provide better interest or lower interest on
the loans. Thus this shift will have no impact on the existing loans. Further, the base rate that the bank
offers can change from time to time and is not fixed for a lifetime.

All round internet connectivity by mid 2011

A senior official of the Department of Information Technology (DIT) of the Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology said that all the 100,000 Common Service Centres (CSC) rolled out across India
under the National e-Governance Plan would be provided with Internet connection by mid-2011 for
smooth functioning.

Sebi extends deadline for the ASBA facility in NFO’s

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has extended the date for providing ASBA -
Application Supported by Blocked Amount - facility to investors for new fund offers (NFOs) launched by
asset management companies (AMCs). In a circular issued on Wednesday, the market regulator has
extended the deadline to October 1, 2010. "

What is ASBA?

ASBA is a paperless facility wherein money remains blocked in the bank account of the investor at the
time of application. The account is debited only at the time of the allotment of the units.

Optimistic assessment of economic outlook Economic Affairs Committee (EAC)

EAC has predicted economy to grow by 8.5 % in 2010 and 9% in 2011-2012 respectively. The EAC's
assessment for the current year is predicated on a strong rebound in agriculture, growing by 4.5 per cent,
aided by satisfactory crop yields. Industry is expected to grow by 9.3 per cent and services by 8.9 per
cent. These projections are in line with recent trends in the respective segments and are achievable. The
monsoon has so far been satisfactory.

What is Economic advisory council ?

The Economic Advisory Council has been set up with a view to provide a sounding board for inculcating
awareness in Government on the different point of view on key economic issues. The present Economic
Advisory Council is headed by Dr. C. Rangarajan.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 8

 New Terms and Definitions
Algo Trading

This is also also known as automated trading, or algo trading, or black-box trading or robo trading. This
refers to the use of software/computer programs for the trading orders by many financial institutions.
These computer programs/ software decide what to order, how much to order and when to order with a
great deal of precision and accuracy. Thus no human intervention is needed to place the order.
Algorithmic trading is used widely by pension funds and mutual funds and other financial institutions to
break large orders into several small orders for maximum gains.

International News
“Jailbreaking” of iphone legalised in the US

The US copyright office issued exemptions to a copyright law, giving legal protection for people who
unlock their smart phones like Apple’s iPhone. Changing operators’ fixed phone settings — a concept
known as ‘jailbreaking’ — has become widely popular around the world since the 2007 introduction of
Apple’s iPhone. The move by the copyright office to give exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright
Act (DMCA), will undermine handset makers like Apple’s ability to control the installation of software
programs on their phones. The ruling also allows users to change the wireless service provider.
Currently, AT&T is the sole wireless service provider for Apple in the US.

India, US sign nuclear reprocessing deal

India and the United States have signed an agreement on the nuclear fuel reprocessing arrangements
under the India-US civil nuclear deal. The agreement signed by Indian ambassador to the US, Meera
Shankar, and the US Secretary of State at the State Department will enable reprocessing by India of
US-obligated nuclear material at a new national reprocessing facility. The new facility dedicated to the
reprocessing of safeguarded nuclear material would be established by India under International Atomic
Energy Agency safeguards.

Pakistan plane crash

A Pakistani aircraft Airblue flight ED 202, flying from Karachi to Islamabad with 152 people on board
crashed into the Margalla Hills surrounding the capital in the north leaving no survivors.

General News
Express highway along river Cooum

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has cleared the proposal to construct an elevated
expressway from Chennai Port to Maduravoyal. The Expert Appraisal Committee for Coastal Regulation
Zone (Infrastructure Development and Miscellaneous Projects), convened recently, accepted the Tamil
Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority's (TNSCZMA) recommendations and gave the Coastal

Pathfinder Education Services Page 9

Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance.The 19-km elevated expressway is aligned partly along the Cooum and
partly over Poonamallee High Road.

UIDAI, Petroleum Ministry sign MoU

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to facilitate close coordination and cooperation on the
latter's ambitious AADHAR project, which is primarily aimed at curbing pilferage of PDS kerosene and
domestic LPG. As per the MoU, oil marketing companies IOCL, BPCL and HPCL will act as registrars
for the UIDAI on behalf of the Ministry for implementation of the project.The 12-digit unique number that
the UIDAI will generate will be combined with the smart card project of the Ministry for distribution of
PDS kerosene and domestic LPG through biometric identification of beneficiaries. UIDAI chairman
Nandan Nilekani said Rs.50 would be given to the oil companies for every enrolment done. At present,
there were more than 11.5 crore LPG customers in the country and it is envisioned that by the year
2015, there would be 16 crore LPG customers.

India to have a ballistic Missile defence system by 2013

India's plans to put in place the initial phase of a robust Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield by 2012
received a big thrust on Monday, with a supersonic interceptor missile, Advanced Air Defence (AAD),
bringing down an incoming “enemy” ballistic missile (a modified Prithvi) of 2,000 km range, at an altitude
of 15 km over the Bay of Bengal. The proposed twin-layered BMD system envisages interception and
destruction of incoming enemy missiles in exo-atmosphere (altitude of 50-80 km) and endo-atmosphere
(altitude up to 30 km).

ISO certification for Rashtrapati Bhavan

Rashtrapati Bhavan was presented with an International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)
14001:2004 Certificate for having emerged as the country's first urban habitat with excellent
environmental management system. Ms. Patil initiated a project, “Roshni Programme,” which was aimed
at making the President's Estate a plastic-free zone and pushed for introduction of energy-efficient
practices.

Government Stops ads on Emergency Contraceptive Pills

The government has asked all marketers not to advertise oral emergency contraceptive pills
(ECPs).ECPs are to be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex to avoid pregnancy. These are not
scheduled drugs and can be bought over the counter, without a prescription. The Drug Controller-General
of India (DCGI) withdrew permission to advertise ECPs as the ads did not convey the fact that the pills
were to be consumed only in an emergency and the fact that the pills had side effects.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 10

Rajasthan Government bans the use of Polybags

The Rajasthan government announced a complete ban on the use of plastic carry-bags all over the
State from August 1. The ban will also apply to manufacture, storage, import, sale and transport of plastic
carry-bags. Violation of the order will attract prosecution under Section 15 of the Environment Protection
Act, which prescribes jail for five years or a fine of up to Rs.1 lakh or both. Recurrence of the offence may
lead to penalty of Rs.5,000 a day.

India & Myanmar reach security accord

India and Myanmar agreed to enhance security cooperation to deny sanctuary to insurgent groups in
each other's territory. The two countries also signed five agreements in the presence of Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and Myanmar's Senior General Than Shwe.

Nehru Stadium opened

The re-modeled Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the venue for the athletics events and opening and closing
ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games, was inaugurated by the Union Sports Minister, M.S. Gill.

Speaker Meira Kumar rejected the demand for an adjournment motion.

Speaker Meira Kumar rejected demand by the opposition for an adjournment motion on the issue of price
rise in the Lok Sabha, stating that it did not involve failure of the government in discharging its duties.

The NIA to set up another office in Hyderabad

The National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Central counter terrorism law enforcement agency in the
country, is setting up a unit here. This will be the first branch of the NIA outside Delhi.The decision to
establish a unit office was taken to probe terrorism-related cases in the four Southern States, along with
Maharashtra and Goa.

Cheetahs will find a home in India again

Cheetah – the only large wild mammalian species that India has lost – will now be reintroduced in the
country's three identified grasslands. The move will help restore grasslands and protect many other
endangered animals there. Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) was last spotted in Chhattisgarh in
1967.

Cheetahs will be obtained from Middle East, where North African Cheetahs are bred, Iran, Namibia and
South Africa. Initially, 18 cheetahs will be brought to three sites proposed in the report, “Assessing the
Potential for Reintroducing the Cheetah in India”, brought out by the Wildlife Trust of India and the Wildlife
Institute of India.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 11

The report, presented to the Ministry of Environment and Forests has identified Kuno-Palpur and
Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh and Shahgarh Landscape in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. All
the three sites require an initial investment of Rs.100 crore each for development before the animals are
imported in the next two to three years.

Cheetah as a flagship will evoke a greater focus on the predicament of the much abused dry-land
ecosystem and the need to manage them, which will benefit pastoralism in India, the report said.

Dry land Ecosystem-Dry lands cover about 41% of Earth’s land surface and are inhabited by more than
2 billion people (about one third of world population). Dry lands are limited by soil moisture, the result of
low rainfall and high evaporation. Dryland ecosystems are vulnerable to degradation from human impacts
and climate change, and yet support the livelihoods of one billion rural poor people

Pastoralism -the practice of herding as the primary economic activity of a society.

Standing Committee approves on reservation for women in Panchayats

The Standing Committee on Rural Development approved the Constitution (110 th Amendment) Bill, 2009.
With this, reservation for women is set to increase to “not less than one-half” of total number of offices in
the Panchayats.

Government approves allocation to the RTE

The Centre has revised the financial allocation under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education Act over the next five years. As against the Rs.1,71,000 crore suggested earlier, the Finance
Ministry has now approved an allocation for Rs.2,31,000 crore.

The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) under the Finance Ministry has also agreed to increase the
Centre's share effectively to 68 per cent and reduce the States’ share to 32 per cent for implementing the
Right to Education (RTE) Act, which makes elementary education compulsory for children in the age
groups of six to 14 years.

Anticipatory bail back in U.P.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday approved the reintroduction of the provision of anticipatory bail
as provided for in the Indian Penal Code. The measure was abolished 34 years ago.

India, Nepal agreement on wildlife conservation

India and Nepal have agreed to strengthen their respective National Action Plans under the Global Tiger
Forum for tiger conservation in a time-bound implementation. As per the resolution, the two countries will
strengthen the capacity building of the personnel involved in tiger and wildlife conservation and protection
under the Forum. The implementation of projects for rhinos, elephants and other endangered species will
also be strengthened.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 12

 Deaths
Inder Mohan Mahajan :

The past president of the Indian Hockey Federation passed away on July 24, 2010.

Awards and Honours

YCH group wins innovation award

Singapore-based logistics and supply chain management company YCH Group has won the IDC-
Enterprise Innovation award. The award recognises the group's “SCM II–Project Cloud Hub” project, for
resourcefully utilising virtualisation and cloud computing to build flexible, cost-effective applications that
would transform the supply chain industry.

Biju Patnaik Award for scientific excellence – the first of its kind – instituted by the Orissa State
Government's Department of Science and Technology - would go to Kulamani Parida and Rajanikanta
Choudhury for both the years respectively. The award comprises a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh, a citation, a
memento, a certificate, a shawl and a silver medallion

Samanta Chandra Sekhar Award - named after the legendary astronomer of Orissa and presented for
outstanding research contribution in science and technology during the five years preceding the year of
award – have gone to Tapan Kumar Adhya (life sciences), Prafulla Kumar Sahoo (physical sciences) and
Rabindra Kishore Mishra (engineering and technology) for the year 2008.

Oriya Young Scientists Awards – each carrying a cash award of Rs.10,000 in addition to a certificate
and a citation – have gone to Sreerup Goswami (physical science) and Sachidananda Dehury
(engineering and technology) for the year 2008 while for the year 2009, the awardees have been Mamata
Mohapatra and Sandhyarani Biswas in the two categories respectively. Pranakrushna Parija popular
science writers' awards have been bagged by Murari Mohan Das and Manaswini Das for the year 2009.

Kerala Cricket Association Award

R.S. Saranya was chosen as the best woman cricketer for the year 2009-10 by the Kerala Cricket
Association.The award for the best junior women's cricketer was bagged by S. Asha. The best women's
cricketer for the year 2008-09 went to T. Shani.

The current Kerala captain Raiphy Vincent Gomez will be presented a special award for scoring 35 runs
in an over in a Subiah Pillai Trophy one-day match against Hyderabad last season. These awards were
decided at the AGM of the KCA which met in Kochi earlier this week.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 13

 Sports
Jagmohan Dalmiya re-elected CAB president

Jagmohan Dalmiya will continue at the helm of Bengal cricket getting elected uncontested for the third
consecutive term as the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, which had its 79th annual general
meeting.

Khel Ratna for Saina Nehwal

India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was selected for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the
country's sporting honour, for her oustanding achievements on the badminton court. National sports
awards (Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna and Dhyan Chand) selection committee headed by P T Usha
decided to bestow the Khel Ratna on Saina after considering her brilliant performance in the last one
year. She climbed to No. 2 in world rankings recently following three major titles in a row in Chennai,
Singapore and Indonesia.She also became the first Indian woman to reach the semifinals of the All
England and Asian championships.

15 named for prestigious Arjuna Award

Indian women's cricket team captain, Jhulan Goswami, who won the ICC Women's Player of The Year
Award in 2007, was on Friday, named for the Arjuna Award for the year 2009 by the committee headed
by former track queen PT Usha. The committee named the country's top-15 sportspersons for the
prestigious award. Another committee constituted by the Sports Ministry has named five coaches for
the Dronacharya Award and three players for the Dhyanchand Award. Dinesh Kumar, who won gold in
the Commonwealth Championships in Delhi, will get the Arjuna in boxing. He also represented the
country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and won bronze in the World Cup the same year. Footballer Sunil
Chhetri, who is currently playing professional league in the US, has been named, along with Deepak
Mondal.

Drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and Jajseet Kaur again brought the small Haryana town of Shahbad into
the spotlight after the two were short-listed for the Arjuna award. Last year, women's team captain,
Surinder Kaur, became the first player from the city to get the award.

Of the 15 Arjuna awardees, five Dinesh (boxing), Krishna Poonia (athletics), Sanjeev Rajput (shooting),
Sandeep and Jasjeet (both from hockey) are from Haryana.

Jajseer Singh, the 24-year-old athlete from Rajasthan, has been named for the Arjuna in the para-
sports category. Jajseer, currently training at NIS Patiala, is considered one of the country's strong
medal contenders at the Commonwealth Games. He won bronze in 100m at the 9th Asiad in Kuala
Lumpur in 2006 and bagged gold in the World Championships in Taiwan in 2007. He also represented
the country in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. He also holds the national mark in long jump.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 14

Dronacharya for Bansal

Hockey coach, AK Bansal, who was chosen for the Dronacharya, is the man behind the success of
former captain Dilip Tirkey. Bansal was the coach of the young Orissa team, which made it to the
semifinals of the senior national championships in 1993 at Bikaner. Fourteen of the 16 boys were
offered jobs at the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala.

CWG Brand ambassadors Announced

The Commonwealth Games committee has announced the names of the six ambassadors – they are
all sports stars who made India proud. Olympians Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar and Vijender Singh,
shuttler Saina Nehwal, shooter Samaresh Jung, the best athlete in the previous Games, and woman
boxer MC Mary Kom are the chosen six.

Science and Technology

Creating ice at room temperature

Researchers have studied the underlying mechanisms of water condensation in the troposphere and
found a way to make artificial materials to control water condensation and trigger ice formation at room
temperature. Their work may lead to new additives for snowmaking, improved freezer systems, or new
coatings that help grow ice.

Scientists had predicted that materials with crystal faces exhibiting a structure similar to that of hexagonal
ice, the form of all natural snow and ice on Earth, would be an ideal agent to induce freezing and trigger
rain.

Barium fluoride (BaF2), a naturally occurring mineral, was studied. Despite having the desired hexagonal
structure, BaF2 turned out to be a poor ice-nucleating material. But when the mineral's surface has
defects, its condensation efficiency is enhanced. They are now preparing artificial materials to improve
water condensation in a controllable way.

The researchers' goal now is to produce environmentally-friendly synthetic materials for efficiently
inducing snow. Water that condenses in an ordered way at ambient temperature, at ambient conditions
can be called room-temperature ice.

Pathfinder Education Services Page 15

Landscape and gene movement

Genetic analysis of giant pandas has shown that features of their landscape have a profound effect on
the movement of genes within their population. Physical barriers can separate giant pandas into isolated
genetic groups.

Debatable Topics
-Rights of Lower Riparian states

-India's place in an expanding East Asia

Pathfinder Education Services Page 16