Current Affairs – August 2012
1) Panchayat Sanchar Sewa Kendras (PSSKs) under the ‘Panchayat Sanchar Sewa Yojana’ scheme are opened at the Gram Panchayat Headquarters which is without Post Offices to provide basic postal facilities at Gram Panchayat Headquarters.
2) PM congratulates Vijay Kumar, Mary Kom and Saina Nehwal
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has congratulated Mary Kom on her winning the bronze medal in women’s boxing at London Olympics-2012. Following is the text of PM’s message: ‘I join the nation in congratulating boxer Mary Kom for winning the Olympic bronze medal in the 51 kg women`s boxing event.
3) India’s Ranking in Most Attractive Destination for Retail Investment
According to US-based global management consulting firm, A.T. Keamey’s Report on 2012 Global Retail Development Index, India has been ranked the fifth most attractive destination for retail investment among 30 developing countries.
4) DR. Zaidi took Over as New Election Commissioner
Dr. Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi has assumed the charge as Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India. He fills the vacancy in the Election Commission caused by the assumption of charge by Sh. V.S. Sampath as the 18th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) succeeding Dr. S.Y. Quraishi.
5) India is the Second-Largest Mobile Phone user in World
6) Second term for Hamid Ansari History repeated after five decades
when United Progressive Alliance nominee Hamid Ansari was re-elected as Vice President to get a second consecutive term after s. Radhakrishnan.who enjoyed two terms from 1952 to 1962. Mr. Ansari Won with a thumping majority against Jaswant Singh.
7) India and Belgium Sign MOU for Modernization of Railway
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by the visiting Deputy Prime Minister & Minister for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs of Belgium, Mr. Didier Reynders and the Union Minister of Railways of India Shri Mukul Roy on bilateral co-operation for the effective development and modernization of railway sector of both the countries.
8) The 31st edition of Summer Olympics will be held in Reo de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016.
9) India Signed Tax Information Exchange Agreement with MonacoGovernment of India and Government of Principality of Monaco have signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA).
10) Union Cabinet Approved Three New Extension Lines in Delhi Metro
11) China signed Economic Agreements with North Korea which includes the Development of SEZs.
12) The Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs Didier Reynders visited India from 1-5 August and 8-12 August 2012.
13) Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh, the Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences died of multiple organ failure at the Global Health City Hospital in Chennai on 14 August 2012.
14) India’s exports for the month of July 2012 stood at 22.4 billion dollar registering a decline of – 14.8 percent as compared to 26.3 billion dollar during the same month of 2011.
15) London Olympics 2012 concluded as US topped the Medal Tally
• US topped the medal tally with a total of 104 medals (46 Gold+29 Silver+ 29 Silver) followed by China, which bagged a total of 88 medals (38 Gold+27 Silver+23 Bronze).
• Great Britain with 65 medals (29 Gold+17 Silver+19 Bronze),
• Russia with 82 medals (24 Gold+26 Silver+32 Bronze) and
• South Korea with 27 medals (13 Gold+8 Silver+6 Bronze) finished third, fourth and fifth respectively.
• India with a total of 6 medals (2 Silver+4Bronze) finished 55th on the medal tally.
16) Major Medal winning Performances at London Olympics 2012
• Michael Phelps bagged 6 medals (4 Gold+2 Silver) in swimming, becoming the most decorated Olympian ever with 22 medals.
• Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt clinched three gold in three separate events (100 meter race, 200 meter race and 4X100 meter relay team race). He won the 100 metres gold medal with a time of 9.63 seconds, setting a new Olympic record for that distance. He took 19.32 seconds to clinch 200 meters gold. With a storming victory in both 100 and 200 meters race he became the only sprinter in the history to defend both Olympic titles.
• Germany beat Netherlands 2-1 to win men’s hockey gold.
• Mexico beat Brazil 2-1 to win Soccer gold
• United States defeated Spain to win men’s Basketball gold
• Andy Murray of Great Britain beat Roger Federer of Switzerland to win tennis men’s singles gold
• Russia defeated Brazil to win men’s volleyball gold
• Dan Lin of China beat Malaysian Chong Wei Lee to clinch Badminton men’s singles gold
17) Mascots have been a part of Olympic Games since Munich 1972, when Waldi, a dachshund, was the symbol of the Munich games. The mascots of London Games were Wenlock and Mandeville.
18) Olympic Torch is the symbol of Olympic Games which is lit in Olympia (modern day Greece).
19) There were 4700 medals (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) up for grab at the London Olympics 2012. On every medal there is the image of Nike, the Greek Goddess of victory.
20) Rory Mcllroy won the US PGA Golf Championship at Kaiwah island on 12 August 2012, claiming his second major title with a record-setting eight-shot victory.
21) Moody’s Analytics cut India’s growth forecast to 5.5 percent for the fiscal year 2012-13
22) Sushil Kumar, the star Indian grappler, won India its sixth medal on the very last day in London Olympics 2012. The wrestler bagged the silver after his Japanese opponent Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu overpowered him 3-1 in the gold medal bout in the 66-kg freestyle category on 12 August 2012.
23) Raghuram Rajan, former chief economist of International Monetary Fund (IMF) was appointed as the Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry.
24) The Union government allocated 150 crore rupees as interim relief for the flood affected people of Uttarakhand CM “Vijay Bahuguna”.
25) Keshub Mahindra stepped down as the Chairman of 15.4 billion dollar business conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra on 8 August 2012.
26) Mary Kom bagged Bronze in Women Flyweight Boxing at London Olympics 2012
27) India successfully test-fired Medium Range Ballistic Missile Agni – II
28) Pakistan’s Supreme Court on 8 August 2012 ordered the Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to appear before judges for he failed to write Swiss authorities to reopen corruption cases against the president Asif Ali Zardari.
29) Jet Airways Tied Up with HDFC Bank and Launched Credit Cards
30) Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi, a 1976 batch IAS officer of UP cadre, was appointed as an Election Commissioner on 7 August 2012. His appointment was approved by President Pranab Mukherjee. Zaidi had retired as Civil Aviation Secretary on 31 July 2012.
31) Fitch Ratings revised the Indian Retail Sector Outlook for the second half 2012-13 to Negative
32) RBI permitted Banks to lend to Telecom Companies for the Upcoming Auction for Spectrum
33) The US space agency NASA landed Curiosity, a huge new robot rover on Mars on 5 August 2012.
34) Saina Nehwal clinched Bronze in Women’s Singles Badminton Event at London Olympics 2012
35) RBI directed NBFCs to maintain Net-owned Funds (NOF) at Rs 3 crore by 31 March 2013
36) Vijay Kumar bagged Silver in Olympics 25 Metre Rapid Fire Pistol Event
37) Hero MotoCorp invested 20 million dollar in US based Erik Buell for R&D
38) Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 2 August 2012 stepped down as the UN special envoy to Syria.
39) Kaushik Basu Ended Tenure as the Chief Economic Advisor in New Delhi
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