Moon mission

40 years affair with moon: In an impressive ceremony, commemorating the 40 years of Moon mission, President Obama honoured Apollo 11 Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and hailed them as "three iconic figures". In Photo: Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, is photographed walking near the lunar module during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity. Posted on 7/26/09

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World's largest gold reserves: The top 5

World's largest gold reserves: The top 5
1. United States of America
The country has 8,133.5 tonnes of gold which constitutes 77.4 per cent of the country's total forex reserves

2. Germany
The country has 3,408.3 tons of gold which comprises about 69.2 per cent of the country's total forex reserves.

3. IMF

It possesses 3,217.3 tonnes of gold.

4. Italy

The country is in possession of 2,451.8 tonnes of gold that comprises 66.6 per cent of the country's total forex reserves.

5. France

It possesses 2,445.1 tonnes of gold that makes up 70.6 per cent of the country's total forex reserves.

source: rediff

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General Awareness

21 May, 1927 – Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

Who founded the American Red Cross?
In 1861, when Clara Barton heard that many of the wounded from the First Battle of Bull Run in Virginia suffered because of a lack of medical supplies, she took matters into her own hands. She advertised for donations and formed an organization to distribute the goods she acquired. Over the next three years, she traveled among the battlefields in Virginia and South Carolina, bringing medical supplies when she could, caring for the sick and wounded, and overseeing some of the nurses. She also began a program for locating soldiers listed as MIA. It would take nearly twenty years for her organization to be formalized: on this date in 1881, Barton established the American Red Cross.


Organisers of this year's Commonwealth Games have promised tight security during the October event after bomb blasts in Bangalore. In this 2009 file photo, a dancer performs during the launch of the XIX Commonwealth Games Queen's Baton Relay at Buckingham Palace in London.

The first National Park in India was established in 1935, by Jim Corbett as the Hailey National Park, which aimed at the preservation of tigers and other animals and birds. Today, the efforts of the government have translated themselves into the formation of almost 80 National Parks in India, in addition to 441 sanctuaries and 23 tiger reserves in India.
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India 54th in networked readiness index
India has been ranked 54th among 134 countries in the latest edition of a global report that evaluated the capability of nations to leverage Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for their overall benefit and economic progress.
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Medical tourism: India ranks second. Thailand tops the list
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Indonesia most corrupt in Asia, S'pore the least
Indonesia and Thailand are perceived as Asia's most corrupt economies. An annual survey of foreign business executives showed.

Singapore and Hong Kong retained their top two rankings as the region's least corrupt economies, although there are concerns about private-sector fraud, according to the survey by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), made available to this agency.
India stood at fourth place in the survey.
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The 2009 World Water Summit was held in Istanbul capital of Turkey.
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Cave in Vietnam may be world's largest
A cave discovered in Vietnam's Quang Binh province may be the largest in the world, a team of British explorers says.

British Cave Research Association explorer Howard Limbert, whose team confirmed the cave's existence, said the possible record-setting cavern is 656 feet high, 492 feet wide and at least 4 miles long, the Vietnam News Service said April 24, 2009. The explorer said strong currents and flooding prevented his team from thoroughly exploring the cave.

Previously, the largest known cavern was Deer Cave in Malaysia. The Malaysian cave is 328 feet high, 295 feet wide and 1 mile long, the Saigon Giai Phong newspaper said.
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Man Utd’s Ryan Giggs wins PFA footballer of the year
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World Fair Trade Day is celebrated every second Saturday of May, and is endorsed by the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT), the global association of Fair Trade Organizations, comprised of 300 organizations from 70 countries around the world.
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The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Committee on Procedures and Performance Audit on Public Services (CPPAPS) has recommended introduction of Rs 10 coins.

The committee headed by former RBI deputy governor SS Tarapore has suggested RBI to consider paying incentive to banks for acceptance of return of uncurrent coins.
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In Himachal Pradesh, every citizen had a bank account.
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Tokyo and Osaka are the most expensive cities in the world according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey of 140 cities.
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What is the capital of California?
Sacramento
Veteran Genius Manoj Kumar Honored With Phalke Ratna Award

Ace actor Prithviraj Kapoor was posthumously honored with Phalke Kalpataru Award at the function.
Shammi Kapoor with Phalke Legend Actor Award, father of Anil-Boney and Sanjay Kapoor, veteran film producer Surinder Kapoor with L. V. Prasad Phalke Award and living legend singer Shamshad Begum with Phalke Golden Singer Award.

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The 5 Smallest Countries in the World (pigmediacraft.weebly.com)

The 5 Smallest Countries in the World.
1. Vatican City
2. Monaco
3. Nauru

4. Tuvalu


5. San Marino

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general KNOWLEDGE (http://pigmediacraft.weebly.com)

bengal-tigers
India successfully test fired the Astra, meaning "weapon" in Sanskrit, air-to-air missile from a specially-made launcher
Only 1411 tigers left in India (Zee news: February 12, 2008)
From 3,500 estimated in the last major survey in 2002, there are only 1,411 big cats left in the country
1. Kalinga award is presented by – UNESCO
2. UNICEF headquarters located in – New York
3. The highest building in the world is located in – Dubai
4. Founder of the Asaf Jahi dynasty – Chin Qilich Khan (Nizam –ul- Mulk)
5. Islam’s third holiest place, after Mecca and Medina – Al Aqsa Mosque (Jerusalem)
6. First Hydrogen bomb tested in Bikini (Pacific) Atoll in the Marshall islands
7. Who classified human blood into four groups – K Land Steiner
8. The largest bone of human body – femur in the thigh
9. World’s first skyscraper – Sears Tower, Chicago was built in 1885
10. Highest active volcano in the world – Cotopaxi (Ecuador)
11. World’s most visited site – Eiffel Tower
12. Who discovered blood circulation – William Harvey
13. When did Mahatma Gandhi return to India from South Africa – 1915
14. First spinning and weaving mill in Bombay was established in 1857
15. First screening of a film at Watson’s hotel, Bombay – 1896
16. Who coined the word Pakistan – Choudhry Rehmat Ali
17. National Education Day – November 11
18. USA bought Alaka from Russia in 1867
19. First Europeans to enter India – Portuguese
20. Who nationalized Suez canal – Nazar (1956)
21. What was the source of Egypt civilization – River Nile
22. What invention brought revolution in the field of production and commerce – wheel
23. Who wrote Indian Philosophy – Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
24. First Indian actress to be on Cannes jury – Aishwarya Rai
25. Founder of Swatantra Party – Chakravarti Rajagopala Chari
26. Founder of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – Dr CV Raman
27. Who translated Geetanjali into Telugu – Chalam
28. The national income of India is calculated by – Central Statistical Organization
29. First Indian to receive the Nobel Prize– Rabindranath Tagore
30. First woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics – Elinor Ostrom
31. Internet @ 40 years – October 29, 1969 birth date of internet
32. Who discovered the malaria parasite – Ronals Ross
33. River Ganga is known as Padma in Bangladesh. It is known as Jamuna after joining Brahmaputra
34. Who invented World Wide Web – Tim Berners Lee
35. The first municipal corporation in India was set up at Madras (civil services, 2009)
36. Who is called the father of local self government in India – Lord Ripon
37. The Hindu first published in September 1878
38. To whom did the British call the father of Indian unrest – Bal Gangadhar Tilak
39. December 9- International Anti-corruption Day
40. December 14 – National Energy Conservation Day
41. c-dot : center for development of telematics
42. Mercury is the nearest planet to Sun
43. Venus is the nearest planet of Earth
44. National Institute of Ocean Technology is in Chennai
45. Dronacharya award is given for excellence in coaching in sports
46. The biggest employer in India – Indian Railways
47. Name the US president who took decision to drop the first atom bomb – Henry Truman
48. PT Usha missed the Olympic medal by what fraction of time – 1/100th of a second
49. After whom the America named- Vespucci Amerigo (Italian explorer)
50. The fixed venue for the International Children’s Film Festival – Hyderabad
51. The first all India census was attempted in 1872
52. The battle of Plassey – 1757
53. India is the largest producer of mica in the world
54. What is the other name for Mahabharat – Jayasamhita
55. What will be the population of the world by 2050 as per UN – 9.2 billions
56. India’s share of land mass in the world – 2.4 per cent
57. The highest broad gauge railway line in India – Kajagund in Kashmir
58. Newspaper vending machine, for the first time in India started in Tamil Nadu
59. Commander of the British forces during the American war of independence – Charles Cornwallis
60. First capital of Pakistan – Karachi
61. Most populous city in India – Mumbai
62. The highest capital in the world – La Paz (Bolivia) (3621m)
63. Father of white revolution in India – Verghese Kurien
64. Father of space programme in India – Vikram Sarabhai
65. Father of atomic energy programme in Inida – Homi J Bhabha
66. Who is popularly known as the Missile man of India – APJ Abdul Kalam
67. Largest producer of rice in India – West Bengal
68. James Bond’s favorite drink – Smirn off vodka
69. The world’s largest office building – Headquarters of US Defence department, Pentagon (USA)
70. Gandhiji’s first fast in India was in connection with – the strike of mill workers at Ahmedabad
71. Speed of the earth – 1610 km per hour.
72. Who is known as Indian Nepolean – Samudragupta
73. The longest railway in the world – Trans-Siberian Railway
74. World’s highest lake – Tticaca (Peru-Bolivia border) 3810 m
75. The first Indian English film – Noorjahan (1931)
76. Who is known as the custodian of Lok Sabha – Speaker of Lok Sabha
77. India’s first genetically modified (GM) food for commercial use – Bt Brinjal
78. First country to implement right to vote for women – New Zealand (1893)
79. First woman ruler of India – Razia Sultana
80. Birth place of Rajiv Gandhi – Mumbai
81. One barrel of oil is equivalent to how many litres- 160
82. Life time of red blood cells – 120 days
83. Gold is also known as – Yellow metal
84. Which state has the highest number of agricultural labourers in India – Bihar
85. A giant tortoise can live upto how many years – 150
86. Indian Institute of Spice Research – Kozhikode
87. India’s first indigenously built nuclear submarine – INS Arihant
88. First woman in Asia to get Reuters Fellowship – Shobhaa De
89. In ‘circa 1750’ circa means – about
90. The disease that kills about 4,400 Indians every day – Tuberculosis
91. Asia’s busiest airport – Tokyo Haneda
92. FACEBOOK was founded by Mar Zuckerberg (it was launched on Feb 4, 2004)
93. Hippocampus is the par of the brain responsible for – memory
94. Mothers Day is observed on the second Sunday in which month – May
95. Yellow roses indicate – friendship
96. How many islands are there in India – 247
97. First economist to estimate national income in a scientific way – VKRV Rao
98. Which state has the highest share in National Income- Maharashtra
99. Which state started the pension scheme for rikshaw pullers for the first time in India – Tripura

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