SOME IMPORTANT POINTS
Palme d’Or
The Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film. In 1964 it was replaced once again by the Grand Prix du Festival before being reintroduced in 1974. In 1955, the first Palme d’Or was awarded to Delbert Mann for Marty.
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention (formally, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat) is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971.
National Film Awards
The National Film Awards is one of the most prominent film award ceremonies in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government’s Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973. The National Film Awards are presented in two main categories: Feature Films and Non-Feature Films.
Orange Prize
The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction (previously Orange Prize for Fiction) is one of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious literary prizes, annually awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English, and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year. The prize was originally sponsored by Orange, a telecommunications company. In May 2012, it was announced Orange would be ending its sponsorship of the prize and the Baileys Irish Cream liquor brand then sponsored it.
Grameen Bank
The Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It makes small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requiring collateral. The name Grameen is derived from the word gram which means "rural" or "village" in the Bengali language. The Bank originated in 1976, in the work of Professor Muhammad Yunus who launched a research project to study how to design a credit delivery system to provide banking services to the rural poor. In 2006, the bank and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a scientific intergovernmental body under the auspices of the United Nations set up at the request of member governments. It was first established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Membership of the IPCC is open to all members of the WMO and UNEP. The IPCC is chaired by Rajendra K. Pachauri. The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared, in two equal parts, between the IPCC and Al Gore
Sulabh International
Sulabh International is an Indian based social service organization which works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education. It is the largest non-profit organization in India. It was founded by Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak in 1970.
Anandwan
Anandwan is located and is an ashram and a community rehabilitation centre for leprosy patients and the disabled from downtrodden sections of society. It was founded in 1948 by noted social activist, Baba Amte. He developed Anandwan to be a self-contained ashram where residents are self-sufficient in terms of basic subsistence through agriculture. Land fertility in the region has been revived and is maintained by using organic farming techniques and micro-water management.
Revolutions in the field of Agriculture in India
- Grey Revolution- Fertilizer Revolution
- Pink Revolution- Onion production/Pharmaceutical (India)/Prawn production
- Red Revolution- Meat & Tomato Production
- Round Revolution- Potato Revolution
- White Revolution- Milk/Dairy production (In India - Operation Flood)
- Yellow Revolution- Oil Seeds production
- Evergreen Revolution- Overall development of Agriculture
- Black Revolution- Petroleum Production
- Blue Revolution- Fish Production
Verghese Kurien
Verghese Kurien was a renowned Indian social entrepreneur and is best known as the "Father of the White Revolution”, for his 'billion-litre idea' (Operation Flood) — the world's biggest agricultural development programme. The operation took India from being a milk-deficient nation, to the largest milk producer in the world, surpassing the United States of America in 1998, with about 17 percent of global output in 2010-11.
A key achievement of his brainchild, Amul
was the invention of milk powder processed from buffalo milk, as opposed to that made from cow-milk. His achievements with the Amul dairy led Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri to appoint him as the founder-chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1965. He also received the World Food Prize and the Magsaysay Award for community leadership. ‘The Man Who Made The Elephant Dance’
is the name of his autobiography.
Norman Borlaug
Norman Ernest Borlaug was an American biologist, humanitarian and Nobel laureate who has been called "the father of the Green Revolution”, "agriculture's greatest spokesperson” and "The Man Who Saved A Billion Lives”. He is one of seven people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal and was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour.
During the mid-20th century, Borlaug led the introduction of high-yielding varieties of seeds combined with modern agricultural production techniques to Mexico, Pakistan, and India. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India, greatly improving the food security in those nations. These collective increases in yield have been labelled the Green Revolution, and Borlaug is often credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation.
The World Food Prize was created in 1986 by Norman Borlaug, as a way to recognize personal accomplishments, and as a means of education by using the Prize to establish role models for others. The first prize was given to Borlaug's former colleague, M. S. Swaminathan, in 1987, for his work in India. The next year, Swaminathan used the US$250,000 prize to start the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation for research on sustainable development.
- Animal, Tallest Giraffe
- Archipelago, Largest Indonesia
- Bird, Fastest- Swift
- Bird, Largest Ostrich
- Bird, Smallest Humming Bird
- Canal, Longest Suez Canal
- Capital, Highest La Paz (Boliva)
- City, Largest in Population Tokyo
- City, Costliest Tokyo
- Continent, Largest Asia
- Continent, Smallest Australia
- Country, Biggest (Area) Russia
- Country, Largest (Population) China
- Country, Largest (Electorate) India
- Creature, Largest Blue Whale
- Delta, Largest Sunderban (Bangladesh & India)
- Desert, Largest (World) Sahara (Africa)
- Desert, Largest (Asia) Gobi
- Epic, Largest Mahabharat
- Island, Largest Greenland
- Sea, Largest Mediterranean sea
- Lake, Deepest Baikal (Siberia)
- Lake, Highest Titicaca (Bolivia)
- Lake, Largest (Fresh water) Superior
- Lake, Largest (Salt water) Caspian
- Library, Largest United State Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
- Mountain Peak, Highest Everest (Nepal)
- Mountain Range, Longest Andes (S. America)
- Ocean, Largest Pacific
- Palace, Biggest Vatican (Italy)
- Park, Largest Yellow Stone National Park (U.S.A.)
- Place, Coldest (Habitated) Verkhoyank (Siberia)
- Place, Dryest Iqique (In Atacama Desert, Chile)
- Place, Hottest Azizia (Libya, Africa)
- Place, Rainiest Mausinram (Meghalaya,India)
- Planet, Biggest Jupiter
- Planet, Brightest Venus
Plateau, Highest Pamir (Tibet)
- Platform, Longest Gorakhpur (India) (Kharagpur is the 2nd longest)
- Railway, Longest Trans-Siberian railway
- Railway Station, Longest Grand Central Terminal, Chicago (U.S.A.)
- River, Longest Nile (Africa)
- River, Largest Amazon (S. America)
- Star, Brightest Sirius
- Waterfall, Highest Angel (Venezuela)
- Water, Lowest body Dead Sea
- Zoo, Largest Kruger National Park, South Africa
National Sports Awards
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna- India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports.
• Arjuna Award— Recognises outstanding achievement in National sports.
• Dronacharya award- an award presented by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching.
• Dhyan Chand Award- India's highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and games.
Patriotic Awards
i) Wartime Gallantry awards
Param Vir Chakra : Highest military award for valour.
Maha Vir Chakra- The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) is the second highest military decoration
in India.
Vir Chakra-It is third in precedence in the war time gallantry.
ii) Peacetime Gallantry awards
Ashok Chakra Award- an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous
action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peace time equivalent of the Param
Vir Chakra.
Kirti Chakra-It is second in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards.
Shaurya Chakra-It is third in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry.
Civilian Awards
Bharat Ratna- Highest honour
Padma Vibhushan — Second highest honour.
Padma Bhushan — Third highest honour.
Padma Shri — Fourth highest honour.
Cropping Seasons in India
(a) Kharif:Sowing seasons-May to July Harvesting season-September to October
Important crops: Jowar, bajra, rice, maize, cotton, groundnut, jute, hemp, sugarcane, tobacco, ete.
(b)Rabi: Sowing season-October-December Harvesting season-February-April
Important crops: wheat, barley, gram, linseed, mus-tard, masoor, pea~ and potatoes.
(c) Zaid: Besides the kharif and rabi crops, there are certain crops which are being raised throughout the year due to artificial irrigation.
Zaid kharif crops are sown in August-September and harvested in December- January.
Important crops: rice, jowar, rapeseed, cotton, oilseeds.
Zaid rabi crops are sown in February-March. Harvesting is in April-May. Important crops: watermelon, toris, cucumber, leafy and other vegetables.
National Symbols of India
-Tricolour designed by Pingali Venkayya
-National Emblem of India: Lion Capital of Asoka
-National Calendar: Saka calendar
-National anthem: Jana Gana Mana by Rabindranath Tagore
-National song: Vande Mataram by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
-National flower: Indian lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)
-National fruit: Mango (Mangifera indica)
-National river: Ganga River
-National tree: Indian Banyan or Indian fig tree
-National animal: Royal Bengal Tiger
-National aquatic animal: Gangetic Dolphin or Ganges River Dolphin
-National Currency Symbol: Indian Rupee (The symbol, conceptualised and designed by D. Udaya Kumar
Features of the Indian Constitution borrowed from other countries
From U.K.
- Nominal Head - President (like Queen)
- Cabinet System of Ministers
- Post of PM
- Parliamentary Type of Govt.
- Bicameral Parliament
- Lower House more powerful
- Council of Ministers responsible to Lowe House
- Speaker in Lok Sabha
From U.S.
- Written Constitution
- Executive head of state known as President and his being the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces
- Vice- President as the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha
- Fundamental Rights
- Supreme Court
- Provision of States
- Independence of Judiciary and judicial review
- Preamble
- Removal of Supreme court and High court Judges
From USSR
- Fundamental Duties
- Five year Plan
From AUSTRALIA
- Concurrent list
- Language of the preamble
- Provision regarding trade, commerce and intercourse
From JAPAN
Law on which the Supreme Court function
From GERMANY
Suspension of Fundamental Rights during the emergency
From CANADA
- Scheme of federation with a strong centre
- Distribution of powers between centre and the states and placing. Residuary Powers with the centre
From IRELAND
- Concept of Directive Principles of States Policy(Ireland borrowed it from SPAIN)
- Method of election of President
- Nomination of members in the Rajya Sabha by President
