Indian Culture

1. Amir Khusrau was the disciple of sufi saint Niamuddin Auliya.

2. Abdul Hamid Lahori – famous historian of Shahjahan’s time – he wrote Padshahnama.

3. Marco Polo- entered into the service of Kublaikha, the Mangol emperor of China.

4. Nicolo Conti- Italian-visited Vijay Nagar empire during the period of Dev Raya I.

5. Bernier- He was a French Doctor in the court of Shahjahan.

6. Ramanuja born in 11^th century – propounder of ‘Vishishtadvaita’.

7. Kalhan wrote Rajtarangini, described the history of Kashmir till 11^th century.

8. Shankaracharya- established four maths at Dwarka, Kedarnath, Puri and Shringeri.

9. Jyotishpeath – Badrinath, Goverdhan Peath – Jaggannath Puri Sharda Peeth – Dwarika Shringeri Peeth – Shringeri

10. In ‘Siddhant Shiroman’ Bhaskaracharya wrote that earth is round with enormous power of gravitation.

11. Vachaspati enunciated the Principle of trigonometry of cubical areas.

12. 9^th Century – Shankracyarya – Adwaitvad

13. 12^th Century – Ramanujacharya – Vishistadwaitvad.

14. 13^th century – Madhvacharya – Dwaitvad.

15. 13^th Century – Vishnuswami – Shuddhadwait.

13^th Century – Nimbarkacyarya – Dwaitadwaitvad.

Current G.K.

1. Non-permanent member of UN Security Council: - Brazil, Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon and Gabon (January 1, 2010 – Dec 31,2011)

2. Other five Non-permanent member of UN SC : - India, Germany, Colombia, Portugal and South Africa. (January1, 2011- Dec 31,2012).

3. The oldest Indian Woman to conquer Mt. Everest : - Premlata Agarwala (45years ) from Jharkhand.

4. Bina Refinery : - located in Madhya Pradesh recently dedicated to nation by PM. Capacity of refinery is 6 mt per annum.

5. Largest and heaviest satellite built by ISRO: - GSAT-8 recently launched by Ariane 5.

6. Astra Missile: - Air to Air interceptor missile recently launched from Chandipur in Orissa. The missile is envisaged to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft at supersonic speeds.

7. Rustom I : - unmanned aerial vehicle developed by DRDO.

8. The winner of Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding 2009 is – Angela Merkel.

9. Aminatta Forna: - British born Sierra Leonean novelist has won the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for her novel, ‘The Memory of Love’.

10. P.H. Parekh: - Senior advocate has been elected President of the Supreme Court Bar Association for 2011-12.

11. Binayak Sen: - Human right activist who was granted bail by Supreme Court in connection with the charge of sedition has been made member of the Planning Commission’s Sterring Committee on Health.

12. James Bevan: - He has been appointed as British High Commission to India.

13. Ajit Kumar Seth: -Senior IAS officer will be the next cabinet secretary.

14. Nabi Al- Arabi: - Foreign Minister of Egypt has been selected as the new chief of Arab League.

15. Ψ Himachal Pradesh became the first state in India to sign an agreement with the World Bank for securing carbon Credits for its ‘Clean Development Mechanism’ project. The project , named ‘Reforestation Project- improving Livelihood and Watersheds’ is being implemented in 177 panchyats in 11 watershed divisions in the State. The emission reduction purchase agreement has been signed for 10 years ending 2018. The project would accure income of around Rs. 2000 crore per hectare per annum to the community and stakeholders and 4,000 hectares area would be covered. One tonne of carbon dioxide emission would be equivalent to one credit unit.

16. India ratifies UN Convention Against Corruption. The ratification will help the government to undertake legal and administrative reforms. It will enable India’s law enforcement agencies to seize the illicit assets stolen by corrupt people. India ratified the convention six years after signing it.

17. According to the UN’s 2010 revision of the World Population Prospects, India’s population is projected to peak at 1.718 billion in 2060, after which it will decline.

18. Jarbom Gamlin: - He was sworn in as the CM of Arunachal Pradesh. He succeeded the late Dorjee Khandu who died in a helicopter accident.

19. The first in the country to address the agriculture sector in such a big way with the setting up the specific cabinet on agriculture – Bihar.

20. The founder of WikiLeaks , who has been awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation’s top honour for ‘exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights’ – Julian Assange.

21. First state in India to launch an e-payment system for commercial tax-payers : - Karnataka.

22. ISRO recently unveiled India’s fastest supercomputer in terms of theoretical peak performance of 220 Tera FLOPS. The supercomputer has been named as – SAGA 220.

23. SC Chetal: - He has taken over as Director of the Indira Ganhi Centre for Atomic Research at Kalpakkam.

24. Aasha Jee: - He has become the first Kashmiri Pandit woman in the Muslim dominated Kashmir valley to be elected as a Panch in the J& K Panchayat polls.

25. Saif al-Adel: - He has been chosen as interim leader of the violent extremist group Al-Qaida in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death. He is former Egyptian Special Force Officer.