world's top 100 varsity rankings 2014

world's top 100 varsity rankings 2014  

world's top 100 varsity rankings Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM),ICC Test rankings61st National Film Awards  ICC Rankings 2014 ,Edelweiss Financial Services 

The Bi-annual Additional Directors General and Deputy Directors General Conference, representing the Heads of National Cadet Corps (NCC) from all the states of the country was held at Headquarters, Directorate General of NCC in New Delhi on 29 and 30 Apr 2014. 

1. The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati has made it to the world's top 100 varsity rankings, bringing India for the first time on the list.
2. The International Monetary Fund has approved a USD 17 billion aid deal for Ukraine, even as Kiev fights to prevent pro-Moscow separatists from hiving off another chunk of the country.
3.   The 61st National Film Awards function will be held on 3rd May at Vigyan Bhawan. 
4. India climbed up a position and regained its number one ranking in Twenty20 Internationals after the annual of the ICC Rankings, which was announced.
5.   India's economy is likely to recover & achieve 6 pc growth in 2014-15 on back of sound economic policies & pick-up in investment, FM P Chidambaram said.
6. Edelweiss Financial Services has acquired high net-worth focused asset management firm Forefront Capital Management for an undisclosed amount. 
7.   Consumer confidence level in India jumped six points in the first quarter of the current fiscal, the highest optimism level since the fourth quarter of 2012, says a Nielsen global survey.
8. With 'Sholay 3D' as its opening selection, the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) was launched by Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the presence of Victorian minister for Tourism and major events Louise Asher and the festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange.
9.   India's dismal performance in the international season gone by pushed them down the ladder in the ICC Test rankings with the team finishing fifth in the annual updated list issued.

MORE GK

1. current affairs september 2012

 ‘Milkman of India’ is no more

Verghese Kurien, father of “White Revolution” and founder of the cooperative dairy movement in the country, died, aged 90. Dr. Kurien’s body was brought to Anand, the small town in central Gujarat that was his home for the last six decades and which he made famous as “the milk capital of India.” He was cremated at ‘Kailash Bhumi’, Anand’s ultra-modern crematorium, in the presence of hundreds of his admirers and staff of the milk cooperatives. From one milk project to a larger one, the “Milkman of India” saw India emerge from a milk-deficient country into the largest milk producer in the world, overtaking even the once milk-abundant Netherlands. It is because of Dr. Kurien that India today contributes about 17 per cent of the total milk production in the world. Amul, with a turnover of over Rs. 13,000 crore, is Asia’s top milk-producing brand and is counted, with one of the best recall values, among the world’s leading brands in any sector.

Mars mission possible in 2013

K. Radhakrishnan, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said that they were considering undertaking the Indian mission to study the conditions on Mars in October and November 2012. Dr. Radhakrishnan said that the mission would have to be taken up only when Mars would come close to the earth. These conditions would prevail in 2013, 2016 and 2018. The extended version of PSLV will be used in this and there will be an elliptical orbit. There are also plans to construct a second ‘vehicle assembly building’ at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR to increase the frequency of launches. Presently, there are two launch pads and only one vehicle assembly building at SHAR.

Goa should be part of Tiger Reserve Complex: WII

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has suggested inclusion of Goa as a part of the Tiger Reserve complex complimenting the sanctuaries in Maharashtra and Karnataka, which would help the coastal state in conserving wild cats. The Dehradun-based Institute, which submitted its report on the status of wildlife in Goa to the state forest department has established that tiger occupancy in Goa is about 322 square kilometres. Goa can be potentially be home to a small breeding population of tigers which would be sustained by immigrants from Anshi-Dandeli wildlife sanctuary (in Karnataka) as well as Sahyadri wildlife sanctuary (in Maharashtra). Goa has five wildlife sanctuaries and a national park. The report states that Goa forms part of the corridor connecting Anshi-Dandeli in Karnataka and Sahyadri tiger reserve in Maharashtra.

Isro's PSLV-C21 creates historic landmark

India's space odyssey crossed a historic landmark when a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C21) put two foreign satellites in orbit in the Indian Space Research Organization's 100th mission. PSLV-C21 lifted off at 9.53am. After 17 minutes and 49 seconds, it injected the first satellite, France's SPOT-6, into orbit. Seconds later it put the Japan's Proiteres in orbit. The launch was scheduled at 9.51am but was delayed by two minutes after India's Inertial Navigation System, which guides rockets and helps them put satellites in orbits with pinpoint precision, relayed an alert of a possible collision with space debris.

Aditya 1 launch delayed to 2015-16

At the Isro Satellite Centre in Bangalore and other scientific centres across the country, efforts are currently underway to launch India's first mission to study the sun in 2015 or 2016. The launch of Aditya 1, which was initially proposed at 2012, by then ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair in 2008, will now set sail for space only in 2015-16, plausibly due to unanticipated issues related to instrument designing, fabrication and development, according to experts working on the project.

The mass of Aditya-1 will be around 100 kgs and the cost of the mission currently is around Rs 60 crores. Once launched the spacecraft will operate from an 800 km orbit. The rocket which will carry the spacecraft will be the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. Page 2 of 3 10th September 2012

Pieta wins Venice top prize

South Korean director Kim Ki-duk’s drama 'Pieta' , the brutal story of a debt collector who cripples those who can’t pay until he meets a woman who claims to be his mother, won the Golden Lion for best film at the 69th Venice Film Festival. The Silver Lion for best director went to Paul Thomas Anderson for 'The Master' , a film inspired by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. The movie’s stars, Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, shared the prize for best actor. The best female actor award went to Israeli Hadas Yaron for her role in Rama Burshtein’s 'Fill the Void '. 'Paradise-Faith', by Austrian filmmaker Ulrich Seidl, took the special jury prize. The film, the second part in Mr. Seidl’s trilogy about three women from the same family on different quests, stars Maria Hofstaetter as a single woman who dedicates her vacation to missionary work

Putin announces pivot to the East

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced his country’s pivot to the East, vowing to expand trade with Pacific Rim countries and to focus on developing resource-rich Far East. The Russian leader called for upgrading the infrastructure of Russia’s eastern regions as “an uppermost task” for his government. He announced plans to build modern rail and motor roads, seaports and airports in order to develop sea and land transport corridors between Asia and Europe. The APEC leaders adopted a declaration pledging measures to boost economic growth, liberalise trade and stabilise finances to offset the fallout of the European debt crisis. The leaders also endorsed a plan to cut tariffs on eco-friendly goods such as solar batteries, wind turbines and waste-water treatment technologies to 5 per cent or less by 2015. The 2013 APEC summit will be held in Bali, Indonesia.

ITC hikes stake in EIH, buys 57.4 lakh shares for Rs 42 crore

Diversified business firm ITC raised its holding in hospitality company EIH by acquiring an additional one per cent stake for Rs 42 crore through open market transactions. ITC acquired 57.38 lakh shares in EIH through its subsidiary Russel Credit. The shares were purchased on an average price of Rs 73 apiece taking the deal size to Rs 41.89 crore. Meanwhile, global banking major HSBC offloaded its entire holding of one per cent in EIH, after having recently exited from three lenders Axis Bank, Yes Bank and Federal Bank.

Talks between SAIL/POSCO on for JV in Bokaro: SAIL Chairman

Steel Authority of India Limited Chairman C S Verma expressed optimism over a positive outcome in the ongoing talks with steel-making company POSCO for a joint venture in Jharkhand. “Talks regarding setting up a joint venture in Bokaro between the SAIL and the POSCO are going on,” Verma told. He said the public sector has set a target of 45 million tonne steel production by 2020. To expand its activity, Verma said the public sector was trying to get iron ore from Afghanistan, Australia and other countries. SAIL has embarked upon extension and modernisation of Bokaro Steel Plant (BSP) and would spend between `50,000 crore and talks between SAIL/POSCO on for JV in Bokaro: SAIL Chairman 60,000 crore, Verma said BSP’s steel production capacity would be increased to 17.5 MT from the current 4.5 MT.

Lenovo unveils new biz Ultrabook ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Chinese computer-maker Lenovo, which also sells the IBM brand of PCs, launched Ultrabook named ThinkPad X1 Carbon and said it plans to scale up its Think range of exclusive retail outlets to 30 in the domestic market. The company commands 17.1 percent market share with consumer segment accounting for nearly 12 percent and SMB segment seven percent.

Silver for Abhijeet Gupta, bronze for Tania Sachdev

India registered its best ever fourth-place finish in the women's Chess Olympiad besides a board prize in each section in Istanbul. In the 11th and final round, the sixth seed India overpowered France 2.5-1.5 for a tally of 17 match-points to miss the podium by a whisker. Russia (20) took the title ahead of China (19) and Ukraine (18). In the open section, Azerbaijan handed out India its only defeat following a 2.5-1.5 verdict. P. Hari Krishna’s defeat to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov proved decisive. The defeat pushed India to the 35th place. Armenia defeated Hungary to take the gold with 19 match-points, a tally matched by runner-up Russia.

Armenia was awarded the gold due to its superior tie-break tally. Ukraine collected the bronze medal.

Contador wins Tour of Spain

Spain’s Alberto Contador, racing in his first Grand Tour since returning from a two-year doping ban , won his second Tour of Spain crown. Contador, also a two-time Tour de France winner who lost his 2010 Tour and 2011 Giro titles after testing positive for clenbuterol in 2010, safely negotiated the 21st and final 115km largely flat stage from Cercedilla to Madrid to claim victory.

Lewis wins Italian GP

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton won the Italian Grand Prix and Formula One leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari finished third to extend his overall lead. Hamilton put speculation about his future and a possible switch to Mercedes behind him to claim his first victory at Monza and the 20th of his career. It’s unlikely to have much impact on the championship after an impressive race from Alonso, much to the delight of the fans at Ferrari’s home track. The Spaniard started from 10th on the grid after he had technical difficulties during qualifying. Hamilton moved past defending champion Sebastian Vettel to take second place in the drivers’ standings, 37 points behind Alonso.

Weirwolf wins 4th gold

Oscar Pistorius might have cemented his status as the icon of the London Paralympics. As for the star of the games, however, look no further than British wheelchair racer David Weir. The man nicknamed the “Weirwolf of London” has become a household name in the host nation by triumphing in the 800m, 1,500m and 5,000m.