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BRAIN TREE
CIVIL SERVICES / GROUP-I EXAMINATION - 2004
CURRENT AFFAIRS - II

1. The second phase of the Multi Modal Transport System (MMTS) in Hyderabad would be launched between Secunderabad and Falaknuma in the first week of January, 2004.

2. The state owned Singareni collieries company limited has announced a dividend for the first time in 37 years.

3. Eleven prominent persons have been selected for Pratibha Puraskaram's for the year 2002. They are : i) T. Koteswara Rao ( Research and Criticism ), ii. A. Venkat Ratnam ( Poetry ), iii. U.R. Krishna Murthy ( Art), iv. K. Murali Krishna (Music ), v. Raja Radha Reddy ( Dance ), vi. C. Raghava Chary ( Journalism), vii. B. Subramanya Shasrty ( Theatre) , viii. M. Jaganadham ( Folk Arts ), ix. K. Vara Prasad ( Aradhanam), x. K. Kamala ( Scholar ), xi. Naveen ( Novel / Short Stories ). These awards are to be presented by the Potti Sriramulu University A.P..

4. Don Mc Kinnon, the incumbent Secretary General has been re-elected as the Commonwealth Secretary General for a second term defeating Lakshman Kadirgamar.

5. Australia will join the US Missile Defence Plan. Australia is the second country after Japan to associate itself with USA's Missile Defence Programme.

6. The Commonwealth Heads of the Government Meeting opened in Abuja, Nigeria.

7. The US President has scrapped the controversial Steel Tariffs 16 months ahead of schedule, averting a trade war with the European Union and Japan.

8. Rojana Davidson of Ireland has been crowned Miss World 2003 at a contest held in Sanya, China.
9. The Joshua Sahitya Puruskar 2002 has been awarded to the Telugu poet and writer Boyi Bheemanna. He is the first Telugu poet to win the award.

10. Air India will begin commercial operations to Nigeria after 16 years. Nigeria is the largest democracy on the African Continent and is India's largest trading partner in Africa.

11. The Group of 21 (G-21) meeting is to be held on December 12th in Brazil. The G-21 consists of 21 nations including Brazil, India and China.

12. The Bodo Liberation Tigers ( BLT) laid down their arms in Kokrajhar on the 6th of December. The BLT Commander in Chief Hagrama Basumatary shall be sworn in as the Chief Executive member of the Bodo Land Territorial Council.

13. U.S. Mishra has been appointed as the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation. He shall take charge from P.C. Sharma.

14. The Centre has announced that it shall seek another amendment to the Constitution making it mandatory for all State Governments to transfer atleast 11 of the 29 powers confered on the local bodies by the 73rd Amendment.

15. India's Forex Reserves surged ahead by $ 698 million to cross the $ 96 billion mark according to the RBI's weekly statistical supplement.

16. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited has identify five sites to setup nuclear power plants. Visakhapatnam, Nagarjuna Sagar and Srikakulam are among these sites.

17. The Gooty ( AP) Locomotive shed has completed 40 years of service. It specialises in servicing Railway Locomotives and has consistently won the efficiency shield since 1994 every year.

18. Karan Thapar was awarded the best Current Affairs presenter award and his programme `Face to Face' was awarded the best Current Affairs programme in the Asian Television Awards.

19. France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Malta (E.U.), Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia participated in summit called as the 5 plus 5 summit in Tunis, Tunisia. The countries agreed to fight terrorism jointly in addition to fighting illegal immigration, drug trafficking, money laundering etc.

20. The Naresh Chandra Committee on Civil Aviation has submitted its recommendations : The important recommendations are i) Lower Excise Duty and Sales Tax on Air Turbine Fuel, ii) A single cess to replace all aviation taxes and fees, iii) Establishment of a non-lapsable essential air services fund, iv) Allowing equity investments in domestic and international services upto 49% foreign capital, 100% foreign investment in the helicopter services, v) Hastening the privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai Airports.

21. Lok Sabha passed a bill converting the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) into a banking company.

22. The U.K. Government has decided to levy a surcharge on all foreigners wishing to live, study or work in Britain in addition to the work permit fee.

23. India shall setup to projects worth $ 750 million for expansion of an oil refinery and laying of a petroleum products pipeline in Port Sudan.

24. The Reserve Bank of India has decided to grant NRI status to students studying abroad. Hence forth students shall be entitled to all other facilities available to the NRIs under FEMA.

25. The first Test Match between India and Australia at Brisbane was declared a draw with Saurav Ganguli, the Indian Captain being declared the Man of the Match.

26. Grayson Perry, a British Artist who decorates ceramic vases with images and texts was awarded the Turner Prize, the most coveted award in Britain for contemporary art.

27. Dev Anand has been selected for the Dada Saheb Phalke Award- 2002 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to all aspects of film making.

28. Govardhan Mehta, Director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore has been selected for the Nayudamma Award.

29. Japan has decided to send its Self Defence Forces (SDF) to Iraq in small contingents over a one year period. It is a non-combat mission of reconstruction activities.

30. The United States General Assembly has sought the opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of the construction of the security barrier in occupied Palestinian lands by Israil which violates the UN 1949 brokered boundary known as the Green Line.

31. The USA has reemphasised upon the one China Policy and has warned Taiwan against any moves towards independence from main land China.

32. The Reserve Bank of India has called for the Establishment of an Investment Fluctuation Reserve ( IFR) provisioning for problem assets and putting in place systems that monitor unhedged external liabilities.

33. The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority ( IRDA) shall evolve a regulatory frame work to allow Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO's) and Self Help Groups ( SHG's) like the Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA) to sell micro insurance products in rural areas and tap the rural insurance potential.

34. Pakistan has served a notice on India asking it to stop work by December 31st on the Baglihar Hydro Power Project on the river Chenab. According to Pakistan this violates the 1960 Indus Water Treaty.

35. Andhra Pradesh has recorded an alarming fall in the girl child population during 1991 to 2001. The following table sourced from the Census Report shows the district wise sex ratio and female literacy rate :

Districts Sex
Rise in * Sex Change Female Female Percentage in Ratio Ratio in sex Literacy Literacy rise in
Andhra Pradesh 0-6 0-6 Ratio (1991) (2001) Female
State years years Literacy
(1991) (2001)

Srikakulam 986 976 -10 23.52 44.19 20.67
Vizianagaram 996 981 -15 22.47 40.73 18.26
Visakhapatnam 985 973 -12 34.60 49.99 15.39
East Godavari 994 978 -16 42.26 61.00 18.74
West Godavari 984 977 -07 46.98 69.45 22.47
Krishna 964 959 -05 45.54 65.05 19.51
Guntur 970 955 -15 35.85 54.17 18.32
Prakasam 969 966 -03 27.06 45.60 18.54
Nellore 937 955 +18 36.99 57.24 20.25
Chittoor 970 959 -11 36.44 56.48 20.04
Cuddapah 968 952 -16 32.35 50.76 18.41
Anantapur 962 963 +01 27.61 43.87 16.26
Kurnool 955 944 -11 26.04 41.07 15.03
Mahaboobnagar 981 957 -24 18.03 32.83 14.80
Ranga Reddy 972 970 -02 36.91 57.03 20.12
Hyderabad 963 950 -13 63.56 73.67 10.11
Medak 981 964 -17 19.24 40.68 21.44
Nizamabad 979 966 -13 21.35 40.57 19.22
Adilabad 986 964 -22 20.60 41.38 20.78
Karimnagar 981 977 -04 23.37 44.19 20.82
Warangal 977 955 -22 26.08 46.54 20.46
Khammam 981 968 -13 30.53 48.16 17.63
Nalgonda 981 962 -19 24.92 45.07 20.15

Total in A. P. State 975 964 -11 32.72 51.17 18.54

A few related details :
Ò Despite a massive rise in female literacy and success in empowering women through self help groups, Andhra Pradesh has seen a sharp 11 point fall in the child sex ratio during 1991 and 2001.
Ò During the same period the sex ratio of the total population increased 6 points from 972 to 978.
Ò Female literacy in the state grew almost 20 points from 32.72 percent (1991) to 51.17 percent (2001).
Ò The state also witnessed a sharp falls in the rate of population growth from 26 percent in 1981-91 to a little more than 13 percent in the decade 1991 - 2001.
Ò According to the Hindu, the fall in the child sex ratio seems to be the result of the sharp increase in female foeticide and infanticide in the state.

36. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has launched a Rs. 117 crore programme called AVAHAN to prevent the spread of HIV in Andhra Pradesh.

38. The Ministry of Information Technology has setup a separate cell to deal with violations of the intellectual property rights. This division will be located in the Information Technology Department.

39. The first Sanitary Mart in A.P. has been established in Kusumanchi, a village on the Khammam, Surya Pet High Way.

40. The International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics has signed an MOU with the Government of Andhra Pradesh's Genome valley for jointly promoting the establishment of a Bio-Tech Park at the Icrisat Campus, Hyderabad.

41. Iraq's, US installed interim government has established a war crimes tribunal to deal with crimes against humanity by the Saddam Hussain regime.

42. Shirin Ebadi of Iran became the first Muslim women to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She is a reformist lawyer who has worked for women and child rights in Iran.

43. The Hindi Film SUPARI became the World's First Film to be offered to end customers for downloading using a peer to peer file sharing software.

44. Researches at Harvard University have been able to completely stop light pulses in their tracks for a fraction of a second. This could help in reliable data storage and is a step further in the area of quantum computing.

45. J.V. Sai Tejasvi, a budding classical dancer from Cuddapah has been chosen for the National Childrens Talent Award 2002. This award is to be presented by the Union Human Resource Development Ministry and the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare.