CLAT GYANS GK COMPENDIUM

[LENGTHY, COMPREHENSIVE AND NOW, WITH FOOTNOTES!]

OCTOBER THE 8TH, 2010

The BJP govt in Karnataka is still in crisis, although the leadership has confidence that they will win the trust vote. More and more rebel party legislators are returning to the fold and are trying to show their allegiance to Karnataka CM BS Yeddyurrappa. When the rebel legislators dissented, the party strength had reduced to 103 in a 225member assembly. [Homework: What is the minimum percentage of member-support required for government to be in confidence of the legislature? If the assembly/parliament is the legislature what is the government? What is so significant about the BJP forming a government in Karnataka?] Senior Income Tax Department official, PK Das (till recently he was Commissioner Investigations with the Central Board of Direct Taxes), will head the poll expenditure monitoring wing of the Election Commission of India to check the practice of paid news' and other abuses of money power in elections. He has a full division to support him in checking such malpractices in the overall context of money power in elections. (Press Council of India has defined paid news as any news or analysis appearing in the media (Print and Electronic) for a price in cash or kind as consideration.) India's Geeta won the gold in the 55kg freestyle category in the newly introduced women's wrestling discipline in the Commonwealth Games. Interpol has issued red corner notices against five Pakistani nationals, including two serving Army officers, for their alleged role in plotting terror attacks in India including the 26/11 Mumbai strike.

The notices have been issued against Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives Sajid Majid and Syed Abdur Rehman Hashim, Major Iqbal, Major Sameer Ali, and Harkat-ul-Jihad-alIslami chief Ilyas Kashmiri.

Its not important to learn the names. This piece of news was included to familiarize you with what a red corner notice is, and in the same context, what the other Interpol notices are. [The Other Red Corner Notices: http://www.interpol.int/Public/ICPO/FactSheets/GI02.pdf] The Enforcement Directorate has issued a Blue Notice against the former Indian Premier League chairman, Lalit Modi, in its probe into the finances of the T20 cricket tournament. (ok, good, one more Notice. Go Google!) Omar Abdulla remarked that Kashmir had not merged with India but only acceded to it. When asked for a solution to the Kashmir dispute. This created a furore in the J&K Assembly1 A newly developed town on the North-Eastern fringe of Kolkata has been renamed after veteran Communist leader Jyoti Basu2 The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is likely to become an intervener in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title suits case now that the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board has decided to move the Supreme Court against the September 30 verdict of the Allahabad High Court. Mario Vargas Llosa (74), a celebrated Peruvian-Spanish author and one of the most renowned novelists of his generation, has won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat. Some of his works:
Obviously, Homework: What is the difference between a merger and an accession, Read: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2739993.stm & http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/355280.stm and find out if what Abdulla says is right or wrong, and what do you think about the whole issue? Should nations have the right to seccede? Mail us and let us know, and if your work is good, well put it up on the website! 2 Longest serving Chief Minister of any Indian state, 23 years
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The Feast of the Goat (2000) Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (1977) The War of the End of the World (1981) Death in the Andes (1993) Diamantine: a new stone launched by Goldplus, a jewellery brand from Titan Industries, behaves like a diamond. The new stone has been created by utilising nano-diamond coating technology.

OCTOBER THE 9TH, 2010

Stalemate continues in the BJP-led Karnataka govt as 10 dissenters stick to their stand. Jailed Chinese political activist Liu Xiaobo, 54, has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the award went to Mr. Liu, who is in prison for his calls for political reform, for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.3 The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) - Vinod Rai. The Special CBI Court on Friday rejected the bail application of the former Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah, holding that there was substantial evidence against him in the Sohrabuddin-Kausar Bi murder case. Adding to the ever-growing list of Indians appointed to influential positions in the United States, Rahul Mehrotra, an architect from Mumbai, has been recruited by Harvard University as Professor of Urban Design and Planning A $1-billion fund to facilitate innovations for inclusive economic growth in India has been proposed.

Nobel Prize in Physics,Chemistry & Economics is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Peace: Norwegian Nobel Committee. Physiology: Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet. Literature: The Swedish Academy

The proposal, yet to be approved by the Centre, was agreed to at a recent meeting of the National Innovation Council, according to Sam Pitroda, Adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Information Infrastructure and Innovations. An SC Bench of Justices JM Panchal and Gyan Sudha Mishra4 stayed a Kerala High Court judgment upholding a directive of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to five self-financing medical college managements to dismiss 88 management-quota students admitted in 2007 as they could not score the minimum 50 per cent marks required for admission in the entrance test conducted during 2007-08. The empowered committee of state finance ministers was set up to lay out a road map for introducing the landmark reform in the indirect tax system(i.e., introduction of Goods and Services TaxGST) in India. The launch date was April 1, 2010. Chairman of the empowered committee: Asim Dasgupta. He is also the Finance minister of West Bengal CIL: Coal India Ltd. CIL Chairman: Partha S Bhattacharya SCOPE: Standing Conference of Public Sector Enterprises. CIL Chairman bags the SCOPE Special Award of the Jury SCOPE Excellence Awards are conceptualised and instituted to recognise the contribution of public enterprises and to encourage outstanding persons for their hard work and leadership qualities. SIAM: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers [President: Pawan Goenka]
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OCTOBER THE 10 , 2010

Show-cause notice issued to 10 rebel legislators in the trouble torn BJP govt in Karnataka. Ace shooter, Gagan Narang bags his 4th Gold at the CWG. Harminder Singh wins the first-ever medal (bronze) by an Indian walker in the 20-km walk race in the CWG. It is India's first-ever medal in the walks in the
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The only woman SC Judge as of now. And only the fourth since independence. The Other three are: Fatima Beevi, Sujata Manohar and Ruma Pal.

history of CWG. This medal brought the Indian athletics team's tally to two medals. Kavita Raut had won a bronze in 10000m running race. Australian High Commissioner to India: Peter Varghese. Four Indian naval ships INS Tir, INS Shardul, INS Tarangini and ICGS Varuna arrive in Sri Lanka for training and exercises with the Sri Lankan Navy. Maritime security measures moves up a notch as the Coast Guard gets a state-of-the art Pollution Control Vessel (PCV), touted to be the first of its kind in South Asia in terms of sophistication of technology. It is called Samudra Prahari' or Guardian of the Sea'. The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has dropped the references to Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as independent entities in its 2010 report and has initiated a review of system for designating countries and territories. FAO is HQd in Rome and its chief is Jacques Diouf. It also awards the Agriculture Nobel known as the World Food Prize, its first winner was M. S. Swaminathan and in 2010 it was bagged by David Beckmann and Jo Luck Venue of 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference: Cancun, Mexico. From 29 November to 10 December 2010. The 2010 UNFCCC is a.k.a COP 16 as this is the 16th session of the meetings. COP-Conference of Parties. Telangana Praja Front (TPF): A new outfit to fight for the cause of separate Telangana President of TPF: ballad singer Gadar. It is an 85-member strong front. Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi appeals to Indian citizens living abroad to register their names with the embassies as it is important for the implementation of the recent amendment to the Representation of People Act seeking to give Non-Resident Indians voting rights.

Eminent writer, historian and columnist Khushwant Singh was conferred the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, an honour reserved for the immortals of literature.

Sahitya Akademi secretary Agrahara Krishna Murthy General Jones to step down as the National Security Advisor of the US. To be replaced by Thomas Donilon.

Kyrgyzstan goes to polls. This marks the transformation of Kyrgyzstan from a presidential to a parliamentary republic. [Haha! WHERE is Kyrgyzstan? Find out, find out!]

OCTOBER THE 11 , 2010

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Crucial confidence vote in the Karnataka Legislative assembly. Sushil Kumar (wrestling) and Somdev Devvarman (singles tennis) win gold at the CWG.

The Medical Council of India suspends the licence of its former chief Ketan Desai to practise medicine. He was arrested in May after he allegedly took a bribe of Rs. 2 crore for granting recognition to a medical college in Punjab.

South Asian Cinema Foundation's life-time achievement award: Gulzar The cold desert' of Leh enters the Guinness Book of World Records after 50,300 saplings were planted at a village there in less than an hour by 9,000 volunteers under a drive supported by Buddhist monks to mark the green' Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Previous record: Peru-40,000 saplings-60 minutes-8,000 volunteers.

Talal Bugti, president of Jamhoori Watan Party (a Baloch based party) has announced a prize money of Rs.1 billion ($1.1 million) to anyone who kills Pervez Musharraf.

OCTOBER THE 12 , 2010

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Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj recommend to President Pratibha Patil to impose President's rule in the State.

BJP wins the confidence motion. Karnataka Assembly Speaker K.G. Bopaiah, disqualifies 11 BJP MLAs and five independents from the membership of the Legislative Assembly under the antidefection law [Also the 10th Schedule of the Indian Consti]

Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha President: Swami Chakrapani. General secretary: Indira Tiwari.

AOSIS: Association of Small Island States Chair of AOSIS: Grenada (an island on the Caribbean Sea)

Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letter of an American Visionary is a book which is a collection of personal letters and journal entries of the former U.S. Senator and Ambassador to India, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan. It has been edited by Steven R Weisman. This book alleges that the Congress party took money from the United States during the Indira Gandhi era.

India is all set to get a seat in the United Nations Security Council as a nonpermanent member after a gap of 19 years, through the elections in the General Assembly. India is expecting an easy win as Kazakhstan pulled out from the race earlier this year and there is no other challenger from the region5

The SC of Pakistan rejected the govts plea of deferring the implementation of the SCs order of nullifying the NRO. (The National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) was an ordinance issued by the former President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, on October 5, 2007. It granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats who were accused of corruption, embezzlement, money laundering, murder, and terrorism between January 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999, the time between two states of martial law in Pakistan. It was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on December 16, 2009, throwing the country into a political crisis.)

[Each region has a representation in the UNSC]

The parliamentary election in Kyrgyzstan produced no clear winner, setting the stage for a fractured legislature, as there were 5 winning parties; 2 of the 5 winning parties vowed to restore presidential form of govt in the country

OCTOBER THE 13TH, 2010

After the disqualification of the rebel MLAs, BJP becomes helpless and goes on trust vote once again. India voted as the non-permanent member of the UNSC. It was the sole candidate from Asia. It received the highest number of votes 187 out of 192. Guest of honour at the closing ceremony of the CWG- Mahinda Rajapaksa. While most of the governments represented at the Stockholm Convention are taking stands in favour of a global ban on Endosulfan, India is opposing it as the Mayee committee found no link between the use of this chemical in plantations and health problems.Mayee committee was set up by the Kerala govt to review the safety of Endosulfan.Endosulfan is an organochlorine compound that is used as an insecticide and pesticide. U.S. doctors began the first tests of human embryonic stem cells in patients, by treating a man with spinal cord injuries. The stem cells were provided by biotech company Geron Corporation. Australian opera legend Dame Joan Sutherland passes away. She was hailed as La Stupenda and voice of the century. Manasa M Dhar CG