NATIONAL FLAG

The National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on July 22nd, 1947, and presented to the nation at the midnight session of the Assembly on 14th August, 1947, on behalf of the women of India. The flag was unfurled on Parliament House.

Background : The tricolor flag was first born in the All India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting at Bezwada in 1912, when a flag was shown by an Andhra youth and improved by Mahatma Gandhi with the addition of a white band and Chakra

Dimension : The ratio of the width (proportion) of the flag to its length is 2:3. All the three bands are of equal width with deep saffron at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom.

Wheel : In the center of the white band is a wheel in navy blue color. The design of the wheel is that of the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capitol. Its diameter approximates the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes.

Colors:

Saffron : Signifies courage and sacrifice

White : Signifies truth and peace

Green : Signifies faith and chivalry

The wheel symbolizes India’s ancient culture, dynamism and peaceful change, and is adopted from the Dharma Chakra of Emperor Ashoka

Even an unusable National Flag cannot be destroyed. There is a code as to how to put aside the unusable National Flag prescribed by the government.

NATIONAL EMBLEM

The National Emblem and Seal of the Government of India is a replica of the Capitol of Ashoka’s Pillar at Sarnath. In the original capitol of the stone pilla, four lions are carved outstanding back to back. In the emblem, however, only three lions are visible as it appears in print, the fourth one remains hidden from the view.

The capitol is mounted on an abacus (base plate). There is a Dharma Chakra in the centre of the base plate, on the right of which is a figure of a bull and on the left that of a horse. There is an inscription in Devanagari script, a quotation from the Mundak Upanishad below the base plate which reads ‘Satya Meva Jayate’ which means ‘Truth Alone Triumphs’.

NATIONAL ANTHEM

Composer : Rabindranath Tagore in 1911

First Sung : 27 Dec, 1911, during the Indian National Congress Session at Calcutta

When Adopted : 24 Jan, 1950, by the Constituent Assembly of India

English Translation : Rendered by Tagore himself in 1919, under the title ‘Morning Song of India’

Playing Time : About 52 seconds for the full version.

Background : It was originally composed in Bengali language and first published in January 1912, under the title

‘Bharat Vidhata’ in Tatva-Bodhini Patrika edited by Tagore himself. The complete song consists of 5 stanzas. However, the first stanza has been adopted by the defence forces of India to be Sung on all ceremonial occasions and it constitutes the full version of the National Anthem.

NATIONAL SONG

Composer : Bankimchandra Chatterjee

First Sung : 1896 sessions of Indian National Congress

When Adopted : 24 January 1950, along with the National Anthem

English Translation : Rendered by Sri Aurobindo

Background : Both the National Song and the National Anthem were adopted together and have equal status. It has been taken from Bankimchandra Chatterjee’s novel Ananda Math published in 1882. It has been a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom.

NATIONAL CALENDAR (SAKA)

At the time of Independence, the Government of India followed the Gregorian calendar based on Christian era. From 22 March 1957, (Saka 1879) a unified Indian National Calendar to be used for official purposes was introduced based on the Saka era which began with vernal equinox of AD 78.

Chaitra is the first month and Phalguna is the last month of the Saka year. The normal Saka year has 365 days and the dates of the Saka year have permanent correspondence with the dates of the Gregorian calendar, Chaitra 1 falls on 22 March in a normal year and on 21 March in a leap year.

Use of National Calendar: Is used for the following official purposes of the Govt of India:

• Gazette of India
• News broadcasts Akashwani
• Communications addressed to the public by the Govt of India

It is issued by Government of India

The Changing Face

Money is not an organic creature but its value keeps changing with the society and its economic conditions. One rupee in 1947 is not the same as one rupee today, both in terms of appearance and purchasing power. The value of a country's currency is linked with its economic conditions and policies.

What does Devaluation mean?

• When the external value of the domestic currency depreciates while the internal value remains the same, such situation is known as the devaluation of the domestic currency.
• The basic difference between the devaluation and depreciation is that, the devaluation is done by the government of the country deliberately while the depreciation take place because of market forces i.e. demand and supply.

The Current Situation:

The rupee has lost nearly 3% of its value since the start of 2018, and it is the second-biggest loser in the BRICS group: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The Russian ruble is the only currency that has lost more value than the rupee in 2018 so far.

The reasons behind the depreciation of the Indian rupee:

Increase in the price of the crude oil:

• As we all know that India produces just 20% crude oil of her requirement and rest is imported from the other countries like Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other gulf countries. Crude oil is the biggest contributor in the import bill of India.
• As the demand of crude oil is increasing the bill of oil import is also increasing.
• So increase in the demand of crude oil will be followed by the increasing import bill in the form of payment of more dollars to oil exporting countries. Hence the demand of dollar will increase in the Indian market which will reduce the value of Indian rupee.

Beginning of trade war between the USA and China:

• The US President Donald Trump has initiated the trade war with China and European countries and India and these countries also retaliated in the same way.
• So due to this war the price of the imported commodities will go up which will further increase the outflow of dollar from the Indian market.

Increasing Trade Deficit of India:

• A situation, in which the import bill of a country exceeds its export bill, is called trade deficit.
• Indian merchandise trade deficit of $157 billion in 2017-18 was the widest since 2012-13. In the FY 2012-13, the country had reported a merchandise trade deficit of $190 billion. Trade deficit was around was $ 118 billion in the FY 2016.
• As per the law of demand; if the demand of a commodity increases, its price also follows it. In the same way; when more and more foreign currency i.e. dollar goes out of Indian market, its domestic price increases and the price of Indian rupee decreases.

Out flow of Foreign Currency:

• It is worth to mention that when the foreign investors find other attractive markets in the other parts of the world; they pull out their invested money by selling the equity shares. But they demand the most respected currency or easily accepted money i.e. dollar.
• In such a situation the demand of dollar increases which further increases its price.
• This also poses an inflationary risk given that imports are costlier when the currency depreciates.
• This would only add to RBI’s reasons for raising interest rates further
• The central bank has been raising interest rates to match the rising interest rates in the US.
• With more hikes in the offing, the already low credit growth figures could dip further.
• As the costs for hedging currency risks rise and as global interest rates rise, the external borrowing costs for Indian firms will only move up in the coming months.
• This will dampen corporate borrowing and weaken economic activity at a time when domestic banks are not in the best position to raise lending.

Sources :-

https://www.livemint.com/Money/glB9O4Bp6abJFjjt55pqWO/Why-a-falling-rupee-should-worry-us.html

https://www.businesstoday.in/moneytoday/cover-story/rupee-dollar-value-drop-factors-for-fall/story/21881.html

https://www.theatlas.com/charts/B1kvVwVnf

About Section 377:

Introduced during the British rule in the year 1862 the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalizes sexual activities “against the order of the nature” (Homosexuality). Considered as an archaic and regressive legislation, activist and members of the LGBT community have been fighting to strike down this anti-homosexuality legislation in courts ever since 2001.

The Supreme court in its 2013 verdict had upholded the section 377 criminalizing homosexuality.

The Section struck down:

A 5 member bench set up in 2017 by the Supreme Court to hear Petitions. The Five member bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra commenced hearing on 10th July 2018 and stuck down the Section 377 in a Historic Verdict on 6th September 2018.

(LGBT stands for Lesbians, Gays, Bi-sexuals and Transgenders)

The Legal Journey so Far:

Source: The Hindu

The Pride Movements:

Gay pride or LGBT pride is the positive stance against discrimination and violence toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people to promote their self-affirmation, dignity, equality rights, increase their visibility as a social group, build community, and celebrate sexual diversity and gender variance. Designed by gay artist Gilbert Baker in 1978, LGBT pride's rainbow flag initially had eight colours. However, it reduced to six colours by removing the pink and turquoise and replacing indigo with basic blue. In the current flag, red represents life, orange represents healing, yellow stands for sunlight, green represents nature, blue represents art and violet stands for human spirit.

Part 5: Union (Article 52-151)

The President

• Executive head of the State and the first citizen of India.
• Qualifications: Must be a citizen of India; of 35 years in age; eligible to be a member of the Lok Sabha and must not hold any office of profit.
• Election: Indirectly elected through Electoral College consisting of elected members of both the houses of the Parliament and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States.
• Supreme Court decides all disputes regarding President’s election.
• Tenure: The term is 5 years though there is no upper limit on the number of times a person can become the President. He can give resignation to the Vice-President before the full term.
• The salary of the President is Rs. 1,50,000 per month.
• In case the office of the President falls vacant due to death, resignation or removal, the Vice-President acts as the President. If he is not available then the Chief Justice of India, if not then the Senior most Judge of the Supreme Court shall act as the President of India.
• The first and only President who died in the office was Dr. Zakir Hussain. He was also the President with the shortest tenure.
• Impeachment Procedure:
  • It is a Quasi-judicial procedure. President can be impeached only on the grounds of violation of the Constitution. (Article 61)
  • The Impeachment Procedure can be initiated in either House of the Parliament.
• Powers of President:
  • He is the formal head of the administration
  • The President shall have the power to appoint and remove high authorities like, the Prime Minister, other Ministers of the Union, Judges, Governors of States, appoints Chief of Army, Navy and Air Force. He is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
  • He appoints 12 members of special repute in the Rajya Sabha and 2 members in th eLok Sabha of the Anglo-Indian Community
  • He has the power of Pardon to a criminal in special cases.
  • Declares wars and concludes peace, subject to the approval of the Parliament
  • President has the Veto power
  • Under Article 72, the President has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remission of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted with death sentence.
• Emergency Powers:
  • To declare National Emergency
  • To impose President Rule in a State.
  • To declare Financial Emergency.
  • Justice M Hidyutullah was the first Chief Justice of India to be appointed as the President.
  • Qualified Veto: Can be overridden by the Legislature with a higher majority
  • Suspensive Veto: Can be overridden by the Legislature with an ordinary majority
  • Pocket Veto: Delay in giving assent to the bill

* The Veto Power has been exercised only twice by Dr Rajendra Prasad

Vice-President

• Article 63 of the Constitution stipulates a Vice-President for India
• He is elected by both the Houses of Parliament.
• The Vice-President is the Ex-officio Chairman of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) as mentioned in the Article 64.
• Present salary of the Vice-President of India is Rs. 1,25,000 per month.
• The first Vice-President of India was Dr S Radhakrishnan.
• The first and only Vice-President who died in the office was Shri Krishna Kant (1997- 2002).

Council of Ministers

• Article 74 of the Constitution states that there shall be a Council of Ministers, with the Prime Minister as its head, to aid and advise the President.
• The Ministers can be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister
• A Minister must be a member of either House of Parliament or be elected within 6 months of assuming office
• The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, that is, a veto of no confidence even against a single minister means the entire Council must resign.

Prime Minister

• The Prime Minister is the head of the Government and the head of the Council of Ministers.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President on the basis of his being the leader of the majority party in th elok Sabha
• If no party gets an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha or a Prime Minister resigns or dies, the President can use his own discretion in the choice of the Prime Minister.
• The Prime Minister serves in the office for 5 years though he can be reappointed
• When the Lok Sabha is dissolved, he can continue in office upon the request of the President.
• If the Government is defeated in the Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister and the entire cabinet must resign, however, if defeated in the Rajya Sabha, resignation is not obligatory.

Tits-Bits:

• Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister and the longest serving so far.
• The first and the only acting Prime Minister was Gurzarilal Nanda
• Lal Bahadur Shastri was the first PM who died abroad, while in office at Takshent.
• Chaudhary Charan Singh was the only PM who did not face the Parliament, while being in office
• The youngest PM was Rajeev Gandhi and the oldest PM was Morarji Desai.
• AB Vajpayee (May 1996-June 1996) government had the shortest tenure (13 days)

Union Legislature

• Legislature of the Union is called the Parliament and consists of Rajya Sabha (Council of States) the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the President.
• The business of the Parliament is transacted either in Hindi or in English.

Rajya Sabha (Council of States)

• The Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of the Parliament and the first sitting of the Rajya Sabha was held on 3rd April, 1952.
• The maximum people strength of the Rajya Sabha is 250. Of these, 238 members are elected indirectly from the States and Union Territories, and 12 are nominated by the President for their expertise in art, literature, science and social services.
• Currently the strength of the Rajya Sabha is 245. Of these, 233 are elected from States and Union Territories and 12 are nominated members.
• The Rajya Sabha is a Permanent House and is not subject to dissolution and members enjoy a tenure of 6 years. One-third of the members retire every 2 years.
• It shares Legislative powers with the Lok Sabha, except in the case of Money Bill, where the Lok Sabha has overriding powers.

Lok Sabha (People’s House)

• The Lok Sabha is the Lower House of the Parliament and its first sitting took place on 13th May, 1952. The current Lok Sabha is the 16th Constituted Lok Sabha.
• Three sessions of the Lok Sabha are held every year, namely Budget Session (FebMay); Monsoon Session (July-Sapt); and Winter Session (Nov-Dec).
• Members: 530 from States, 20 from Union Territories and 2 nominated by the President, from the Anglo Indian Community.
• Election: the representatives of the states are directly elected by the people of the states on the basis of adult suffrage.
• Qualifications:
  • Citizen of India
  • At least 25 years of age for the Lok Sabha and 30 years of age for the Rajya Sabha; and
  • Possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed by the Parliament.
• Bills: It may be classified as Ordinary, Money, Financial and Constitutional Amendments.
• The Ordinary Bills can be introduced in either House of the Parliament, but Money bill can be initiated only in the House of the People.
• After a Money Bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha, it is sent to the Rajya Sabha for deliberations. The Rajya Sabha is given 14 days to make recommendations, which can be accepted or not by the Lok Sabha. Article 111 stipulates that a money bill cannot be returned to the House by the President for reconsideration.
• Speaker of the Lok Sabha: As soon as a new Lok Sabha is constituted, the President appoints a Speaker pro-tem, who is generally the senior most member of the House. A Deputy Speaker is also elected to officiate in the absence of the Speaker.

Facts About the Speaker

• GV Mavlankar was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha (1952-1956)
• MA Ayyangar was the first Deputy Speaker (1952-1956)
• Dr Balram Jakhar was the longest serving Speaker (1980-1989)
• GMC Balyogi is the first Speaker to die in office
• Meira Kumar is the first woman speaker of the Lok Sabha

ASIAN GAMES

These games were organized at the initiative of the late PM Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951 and have been held once in 4 years ever since. Motto, Emblem and Torch of Asian games the AGF adopted ‘Ever Onward’ given by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as the Motto of the Asian Games. The Emblem is a bright full rising Sun with interlocking rings. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s message to the participants of the first Asian Games “Play the game in the spirit of the game’.

OLYMPICS

Why it is called Olympics?

This is an international sports festival which originated in the city of Olympia, an ancient city of Greece, situated in the West Peloponnese.

Olympic Motto, Emblem Flag, Creed and Oath

Motto: “Citius, Altius, Fortius”. These are Latin words which mean ‘Swifter, Higher and Stronger’.

Emblem: The emblem is composed of 5 intertwined rings, each of a different color, representing 5 continents of the world placed at the centre of the Olympic Flag

Flag: The Olympic flag is white in color (originally made of cotton), 3 m x 2 m. the emblem placed in the middle is 206 cm × 60 cm.

Creed: The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

Olympic Torch: The Olympic flame symbolizes the continuity between the ancient and the modern Olympics.

CUPS AND TROPHIES ASSOCIATED WITH SPORTS

• Air Racing: King’s Cup, Schneider Cup

• Archery: Federation Cup

• Athletics: Charminar Trophy, World Cup

• Badminton: Uber Cup, World Cup, Yonex Cup

• Chess: Naidu Trophy, Khaitan Trophy, Limca Trophy, World Cup, Corus Cup, Amber Cup

• Cricket: Ashes, Asia Cup, Champions Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Gillette Cup, Jawaharlal Nehru Cup, Ranji Trophy, Reliance Cup

• Football: European Cup, Federation Cup, Gold Cup, Lal Bahadur Shastri Trophy, Merdeka Cup, Santosh Trophy, Asia Cup, America Cup, Indira Gandhi Trophy, Rajiv Gandhi Trophy

• Golf: Prince of Wales Cup, Ryder Cup, Walker Cup, US Open, British Open

• Hockey: Agha Khan Cup, Azlan Shah Cup, Champions Trophy, Dhyanchand Trophy, Gurunanak Cup, Indira Gandhi Gold Cup, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Cup, Lal Bahadur Shastri Cup, BMW Trophy, Nehru Trophy, Sanjay Gandhi Trophy, Wellington Cup, World Cup.

• Horse Racing: Derby

• Kabaddi: Federation Cup

• Kho-Kho: Federation Cup

• Tennis: Davis Cup, Federation Cup, Hamlet Cup, Mercedes Cup, Nation’s Cup, Wimbledon Trophy, U.S. Open, French Open, Australian Open, Hopman Cup

Myanmar Leader striped of 7th Honour over Rohingya Crisis

• • Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of her Freedom of Edinburgh award over her refusal to condemn the violence against Rohingyas.
• • This is the seventh honour that the Nobel Peace Prize winner has been stripped of over the past year.
• • She was given the award in 2005 for championing democracy while she was under house arrest.

Donald Trump warns of market meltdown if he’s impeached

• • He also pointed at the Uptick in the US economy that “from all accounts has extended now into the largest bull run in the History.
• • His warning comes as Americans are weighing conviction of two of his closest former aides in campaign finance violations.
• • Trump has warned that “markets would crash” and “everyone would be very poor” if he is impeached.

Indian Navy rescued 17000 people from Kerala Flood

• • The Indian Navy recalled all rescue teams deployed for Kerala on August 22, calling off its Operation Madad after requests for rescue stopped coming.
• • Operation Madad was launched on August 9 to assist the Kerala state administration to undertake disaster relief operations.
• • No deaths by drowning were reported in any area where Naval teams systematically organized their rescue efforts.

SpiceJet: India’s first biofuel-powered flight completes maiden trip

• • The airline flew a Bombardier Q400 aircraft using 75% aviation turbine fuel and 25% biojet fuel from Dehradun to New Delhi
• • Around 20 people including officials from the aviation regulator and SpiceJet were onboard the test flight that lasted for around 25 minutes.

Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathway confirms Investment in PayTm

• • World's third richest person Warren Buffett-led American conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway confirmed that the company has made an investment in Paytm's parent company One97 Communications.
• • However, it clarified that Buffett is not directly involved in the transaction.
• • Earlier reports said the company is investing up to ₹2,500 crore for 3-4% stake in Paytm, valuing the startup at $10 billion.

Tejinder Pal Singh wins India’s 1st Athletic Gold at Asiad 2018

• • Tejinderpal Singh won India's first Athletics medal at the Asian Games 2018 in the form of his Shot Put gold on Saturday.
• • The 23-year-old threw 20.75 metres in his fifth attempt to take the first spot in the final of the event.
• • Tejinderpal's gold-winning attempt was an Asian Games record and a national record.

Imran Khan takes oath as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan

• • Khan emerged winner of General assembly elections which were held on 25th July 2018, after he outvoted the PML-N Prime Ministerial candidate Shahbaz Sharif.
• • He took oath on the 18th August 2018 administered by President Mamnoon Hussain.
• • The ceremony at the President’s House in the Capital marked the end of decades of rotating leadership between the ousted Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), punctuated by periods of Army rule.
• • Imran Khan belongs to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party which he had founded in 1996

South Korea to ban about 20,000 BMW Vehicles after Engine Fires

• • The driving ban comes after 27 engines went up in flames between January and July this year.
• • This prompted BMW’s South Korea unit to apologize last week and recall of 106,000 diesel vehicles including 520d from August 20th

Lateral Entry: Over 6000 private sector specialists apply for 10 Joint Secretary posts in Govt

• • The government had recently opened up 10 Joint Secretary posts in select departments for private sector professionals.
• • The term lateral entry relates to the appointment of specialists, mainly those from private sector in government organisations.
• • The central government has started the shortlisting process.

1 year after Dhoklam, China intrudes 400m into Ladakh

• • People’s Liberation Army (PLA) the armed forces of China intruded around 400 meters inside the Demchok sector of Eastern Ladakh.
• • PLA removed three of their tents after brigadier level talks between the two armies.
• • Demchok is among the 23 disputed and sensitive areas identified on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Teen cyclist creates history by claiming India's first ever medal

• • Teen cyclist Esow Alben has created history by claiming India's first ever medal - a silver- at the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Aigle, Switzerland.
• • He put enormous pressure on Czech Republic's Jakub Stastny in the final sprint before settling for the silver medal.
• • Esow finished just 0.017 seconds behind gold medalist Stastny in the thrilling photofinish of a race.
• • The 17-year-old from Andaman and Nicobar trains in Delhi at the Sports Authority of India's National Cycling Academy.

India is a Sovereign, Secular, Democratic Country which is part of the Asian Continent. It has the mighty Himalayan Ranges to its North and is a peninsula Covered by Water bodies on the 3 sides. It attained its Independence from the British on 15th August 1947 and was a Republic on 26th January 1950. The Country comprises of 29 States and 7 Union Territories. New Delhi is the Capital of the Country with all the Governing body head quartered there. Mumbai is known as the Financial capital of the country.

• Area: With an area of 32,87,240 Sq. Km. India is the Seventh Largest country in the world.
• Location: India lies to the North of the Equator in Southern Asia.
• Population: With 1.35 billion in population it is second only to China and will overtake them in the next 10 years.
• Life Expectancy: 66.9 years (Men) and 69.9 years (Women)
• Languages: Hindi, English, Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Meitei, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu.
• Total Land Border: 15,106 Km
• Coastline: 7,517 Km
• Border Sharing Countries: 7 (Bangladesh, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, Afghanistan)
• Largest State: Rajasthan (3,42,239 Sq.Km.)
• Smallest State: Goa (3,702 Sq.Km.)
• Wettest Place: Cherrapunji in the state of Meghalaya holds the record for the highest rainfall in the world so it is also known as the wettest place on Earth.
• Highest Point: Mount Kanchenjunga at 28,169 feet (8586m).
• Farthest points: North- Siachen Glacier; South- Indira Point, Nicobar Island; East- Kibithu, Arunachal Pradesh; West- Guhar Moti, Gujarat)
• Political System and Government: Largest Democracy implemented by the constitution with bicarmel Parliament. The Country has a Federal structure with elected State Governments.
• Chief of State: President, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind (since July 2017)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi (since May 2014)
• Religions: Hindu, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism.
• Currency: Indian Rupee (INR)
• Gross Domestic Product(GDP): An economy of $2.597 trilllion has made India the 6th largest in the World.
• Foreign Exchange: India’s Foreign exchange reserves were $405.14 billion in the week upto July, 2018.
• Foreign Direct Investment(FDI): FDI for 2017-18 were $44.86 billion
• Gross Value Added composition: Servives: 53.9%; Industries- 29.1%; Agricultutre- 17%
• Fiscal Year: April 01 – March 31
• Airports: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) manages 125 airports in the country, which includes 11 International Airports, 8 customs Airport, 81 Domestic Airports and 25 civil enclaves at Defence Air fields.
• Some Important Airports: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Thiruvananthapura, Port Blair, Srinagar, Jaipur, Nagpur, Calicut.
• Railways: The Indian Railways network is spread over 1,08,706 Km, with 12, 617 passenger and 7,421 freight trains plying from 7,172 Railway Stations each day carrying 23 million passengers and 3 million tonnes of freight daily.
• Roadways: The Indian Road network of 4.87 million Km is the second Largest in the world. The number of vehicles are growing with a pace of 10.16 percent every year.
• Important Ports: Chennai, Ennore, Haldia, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Kolkata, Deen Dayal, Kochi, Karwar, Mormugao, Mumbai, New Managalore, Paradip, Tuticoin, Vishakapatnam.

Source: https://www.ibef.org/economy/indiasnapshot/about-india-at-a-glance

1. Imran Khan was sworn-in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He is a leader of which Political Party?

• a) Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf
• b) Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz
• c) Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians
• d) Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan

2. The Startup India Yatra was launched in which state on July 30?

• a) Telangana
• b) Jharkhand
• c) Chhattisgarh
• d) Odisha

3. India’s first in-phone tourism guide and mobile application “Go whats That” has launched in which city?

• a) New Delhi
• b) Pune
• c) Chandigarh
• d) Lucknow

4. Which Indian state has become the first one to implement biofuel policy?

• a) Kerala
• b) Karnataka
• c) Rajasthan
• d) Uttarakhand

5. The museum for all former Prime Ministers of India will be constructed in which city?

• a) New Delhi
• b) Gandhinagar
• c) Lucknow
• d) Kolkata

6. Which institution recently ruled that Assam-NRC Draft cannot be basis of any action?

• a) Prime Minister
• b) Election Commission
• c) President
• d) Supreme Court

7. Which Indian city, known as the walled city, has been proposed for UNESCO World Heritage tag?

• a) Lucknow
• b) Jaipur
• c) Delhi
• d) Mathura

8. Which state recently signed MoU to build its first Cow Sanctuary?

• a) Haryana
• b) Punjab
• c) Gujarat
• d) Rajasthan

9. The Union government constituted which high-level committee to check mob lynching?

• a) Rajiv Gauba committee
• b) Rajnath Singh committee
• c) Sushil Modi committee
• d) Piyush Goyal committee

10. Name the Indians who won the 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award?

• a) Nileema Mishra and Arvind Kejriwal
• b) Sanjiv Chaturvedi and Deep Joshi
• c) Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk
• d) Harish Hande and Kulandei Francis

11. Which city hosted the BRICS Summit 2018?

• a) New Delhi
• b) Johannesburg
• c) Beijing
• d) Moscow

12. A massive underground lake has been detected for the first time on which planet?

• a) Jupiter
• b) Saturn
• c) Mars
• d) Moon

13. India’s first state-run all-woman hotel will soon come up in which state?

• a) Kerala
• b) Karnataka
• c) Goa
• d) Uttarakhand

14. Which country has decided to remove five zeroes from ailing currency?

• a) Spain
• b) Brazil
• c) Mexico
• d) Venezuela

15. RBI will soon issue new 100 Rupee notes with motif of which UNESCO World Heritage site?

• a) Rani Ki Vav
• b) Sun Temple
• c) Taj Mahal
• d) Sanchi Stupa

16. Pawan Shah, who is in news recently, is associated with which sports?

• a) Badminton
• b) Cricket
• c) Hockey
• d) Basketball

17. Who is the author of the book “The Dhoni Touch: Unravelling the Enigma That Is Mahendra Singh Dhoni”?

• a) Nuwan Kulasekara
• b) Vijaya Kumar
• c) Jagdish Singh Rajput
• d) Bharat Sundaresan

18. Who has won the 2018 Formula 1 German Grand Prix tournament?

• a) Kimi Raikkonen
• b) Sebastian Vettel
• c) Valtteri Bottas
• d) Lewis Hamilton

19. Which Indian personality has been crowned the Miss Asia (Deaf) 2018?

• a) Deshna Jain
• b) Pratista Sharma
• c) Sonali Bhargav
• d) Chandra Prabha Kumari

20. Which of the following is the official mascot for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games?

• a) Someity
• b) Keito
• c) Zabivaka
• d) Miraitowa

About:

According to the Indian Constitution a Government should always have Majority support in the Parliament to be in Power. A No Confidence Motion is passed if it is felt that the Government doesn’t hold majority. The Government has to then demonstrate its Majority on the floor. No Confidence Motion can be raised by any Member of the Parliament in the Lower House (Lok Sabha) with support of at least 50 MP’s.

Under such circumstances the Prime Minister has to prove his Majority in the House. Failing to which the Motion gets passed and the Council of Minister have to resign. The President then invites another person to prove Majority and form the Government.

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