Current Affairs-2014

Gorakhpur railway station entered Limca Book of Records as World’s longest platform with 1355.40mts.

Allahabad High Court ordered CBI probe into alleged misappropriation of MGNREGS funds.

Heena Sandhu’s score of 203.8 in 10 mts. Air Pistal set at the Munich World cup in Nov’2013 was recognized as world record.

India over took Japan to become the 3^rd largest crude oil importer in the world.

Arun Kumar Gupta has been appointed as the CMD of shipping corporation of India.

India and Fiji signed Double Taxation avoidance agreement.

Kiwi Kathy cross became the 1^st woman to be appointed in an ICC umpire’s panel as an Associate and Affiliate panel of International umpires.

New Prime Minister of Tunisia- Mehdi Jomaa.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe(RBZ) announced Indian rupee as a legal Tender.

Six public sector units (PSUs) have signed a MOU to set up the World’s largest 4000 MW Ultra Solar Power project in Rajasthan.

World’s 1^st 3D-Printer object 500 CONNEX3 was launched.

Uttar Pradesh Government launched Samajwadi Pension Yojana.

National Constituent Assembly of Tunisia passed the new constitution on 26^th January’2014.

3^rd Quarter Monetary Policy Review by RBI. Repo rate increased from 7.75% to 8%. CRR ratio-4%.

India ranked 155^th in global Environment performance Index.

M S Dhoni became 1^st captain to play in four tied ODIs.

SBI launched its channel on Youtube.

Dhruva-3, an indigenous High performance computing system was inaugurated on 25-01-2014.

Ela Gandhi was awarded with Amadel Kufa in South Africa.

Stanislas Wawrinka won Australian Open men’s title-2014 by defeating Rafael Nadal.

National Voters Day – 25^th January.

National Girl child day- 24^th January.

India and Japan signed the memorandum in tourism.

Advanced Light Helicopter named Garuda Vasudha of Geological Survey of India launched from HAL.

Chilka Lagoon in Odisha was named Destination Flyways by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Egypt approved the new constitution in referendum. 

Uttarkhand Assembly passed new Lokayautaka Bill.

Aruna Bahuguna is the 1^st woman to be appointed chief of National Police Academy.

Union cabinet granted minority status to Jain community across India.

Agni IV is Surface-to-Surface missile.

Lewis Clarke became the youngest person to trek to the South Pole.

RBI issued new 5 rupees and 10 rupees coins bearing images of goddess Vaishno Devi.

Goa Govt. approved the proposal to increase Reservation for OBC to 27%.

Indian Coast Guard Ship, Abhinav was commissioned in Kochi.

Arunachal Pradesh witnessed the first trial run of a rail engine on 15^th January’2014.

The average life expectancy rate in India increased from 63.9 years in 2004 to 69.6 years in 2014.

Karnataka became the 1^st State in India to provide Universal Health Coverage to its population.

Anju Bobby George declared winner of World Athletics Final, 2005.

Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA Ballon d’or award 2013.

Delhi became the 1^st State to withdraw FDI in Multi brand Retail.

P.K.Goyal won Best CFO Award.

New Prime Minister of Bangladesh-Sheikh Hasina.

India completed 3 years without reporting any case of Polio on 13^th January’2014.

Sanil Shetty and Ankita Das won their maiden men’s and women’s singles championship at the 75^th senior National Table Tennis championships held on 12^th January’2014.

India’s first gun for women, Nirbheek was launched on 9^th January’2014.

The Pravasi Bhartiya Divas was organised in New Delhi from 7 to 9 January’2014.

Union Government introduced Know India programme for young Overseas Indians.

India won the under-19 Asia Cup-2014.

Chhattisgarh Govt. Launched Toll Free Number 1100 to curb corruption.

Prithvi-II is a surface-to-surface missile.

US Senate has confirmed the name of Janet Yellen as the first woman to lead the US Federal Reserve.

R.Chandra Sekhar was appointed as president of National Association of software and Services Company (NASSCOM).

Aditya Joshi became world no 1 junior badminton player.

ISRO successfully launched GSLV-D5 for placing communication satellite GSAT-14 into the orbit on 05-01-2014.

Manmohan Singh has launched total E-LITERACY project in Kerala.

Super Computer PARAM YUVA-II ranked 1^st in India and 44^th in the World.

Latvia became the 18^th member of Euro zone.

Mammen Mathew, the chief editor of Malayala Manorama has been chosen for prestigious journalism Lokmanya Tilak National Award.

Chandi Prasad Bhatt won Gandhi Peace Prize for 2013.

The author of the book ‘Ambedkar Awakening India’s Social Conscience’ was Dr. Narendra Jadhav, a member of Planning Commission.

The largest 130 MW solar power plant of India was launched at Bhagwanpur in Madhya Pradesh.

New Prime Minister of Egypt- Ibrahim Mahiab.

Bimal Jalan committee on New Bank licences submitted its report to RBI on 25-02-2014.

The G-20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was held at Sydney, Australia on 22 to 23 February’2014.

New Prime Minster of Italy-Matteo Renzi.

Chateshwar Pujara has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the Gujarat State Election Commission.

IRCTC launched E-WALLET Scheme to make payment process fast.

Akash missile is of Surface-to Air.

Union cabinet gave its nod for classifying Odia as a classical language on 20-02-2014.

The other 5 Indian languages declared as the classical languages are Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

The Telangana Bill dividing Andhra Pradesh was passed in the Lok Sabha on 18-02-2014.

Sikkim won National Tourism Award for 2012-13.

President Rule imposed in Delhi on 17-02-2014.

V V Dongre and Guocheng Zhang won International Gandhi Award-2013.

Legislative Assembly of Odisha passed Lokayukta Bill 2014 on 14-02-2014.

Union Government approved Pune Metro Rail project on 12-02-2014.

Assam became the 1^st state to legally ban consumption of all forms of smoke less tobacco including pan masala.

Karnataka won Irani Trophy for the 5^th time against the Rest of India on 12-02-2014.

Sikkim became the 1^st State in India to achieve 100 % sanitation coverage under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan scheme on 09-02-2014.

N.Ramachandran was elected President of Indian Olympic Association(IOA) on 09-02-2014.

The 101^st Annual Session of Indian Science congress was held at the University of Jammu from 3 to 7, February 2014.

The theme of the 101^st ISC was ‘INNOVATIONS IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT’.

Sushil Koirala was elected as the next Prime Minister of Nepal on 10-02-2014.

Satya Nadella appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft.

Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur has been appointed as the chairman of the central 7^th Pay commission.

UN appointed India based Vivel Lall as special advisor on cyber security.

New CM of Uttarkhand- Harish Rawat.

Winner of Ranji Trophy-2014 is Karnataka.

India’s 1^st mono rail service was inaugurated in Mumbai.

Simon Santoso of Indonesis won Malaysia Grand Prix gold-2014.

 

Expected Questions from PO Guide-I

Expected Questions from PO Guide-I

1) Maximum Weighs:

Letter	2 Kgs
Book Packet	5 Kgs
Post letter card	5 gms
Sample and pattern packet	2 Kgs
Book packet containing periodicals	5 Kgs
Blind literature packets	7 Kgs
Unregistered parcel	4 Kgs
Registered parcel if booked or deliverable at BOs	10 Kgs
Registered parcels in other cases	20             Kgs

2)  Classes of mails

1st class mail	2nd class mail
Letters	Book packets
Postcards	Registered news papers
Letter cards	Pattern and sample packets
	Blind literature

3)Points on air lift of mails:

1)    Under “ALL-up” scheme, all 1^st class mails are allowed for air lift within the limits of India without any special air surcharge.

2)     Second class mails are air lifted if they are marked for its transmission and are prepaid with the requisite air surcharge.

3)    Registered Newspapers are treated in sorting as in class mail but no air lift is allowed unless they bear the required surcharges.

4)General Rule for unpaid and Insufficiently Paid Postal Articles:-

a)    If posted unpaid is charged on delivery with double the postage.

b)     If posted insufficiently prepaid is charged on delivery with double the amount of deficiency.

5)      Post Boxes:

   1)Only fully prepaid unregistered articles like letters, inland letter cards, post cards, aerogramme, registered news papers, books are delivered through post box.

  2) In the event of a renter changes his business address or shifting his office to another place, the renter has to inform the same to the Post Office within 7 days of such change.

    3) Failure to intimate the loss or damage to the key of the lock or lock will entail cancellation of the allotment of the post box.

  4)If the lock and key are not surrendered by the renter to the Postmaster within 15 days of the expiry of the period of rent or the renting of the box is not renewed within the aforesaid period, the deposit will be forfeited.

   5) The period of rental of a post box commences from the 1^st day of month in which the post box is allotted.

  6)The period of renewal of rental commences from the 1^st day of the month immediately succeeding the period of previous rental.

6.)     Rental rates for Post Box and Post Bags:

Post Box or Post Bag	One financial year	Rs.150/-
Post Box or Post Bag	3 calendar months or part thereof	Rs.50/-
Post Box and Post Bag(Both)	One financial year	Rs.250/-
Post Box and Post Bag(Both)	3 calendar months or part thereof	Rs.80/-

7)License fee for Franking Machine:

License fee - Rs.375/- for 5 years

Rebate- 3% on franked Postage.

Concession to bulk mailers- 2% on posting for post office wise pre-sorting of letters.

8) Identity cards:

1)Identity cards will be obtainable at any head post office by literate persons whose identity is well established in the locality in which they reside.

2)    Applications for issue of identification cards can also be made at Sub-Offices. The Sub-Postmaster will, after making enquiries forward the application to the Head Office for issue of the cards.

3) The card will contain a full description of its holder, his signature and photograph and will be current for a period of three years from the date of issue.

4) After the expiry of the period of validity of the card, a fresh card will have to be applied for.

5)The photograph to be affixed to the identity card will have to be supplied by the applicant for the card and must be of the size 88 millimeters by 63 millimeters, or slightly smaller.

6) In the event of the loss of a card, a duplicate will be issued to the holder on paying the prescribed fee and on his giving a written declaration absolving the department from all responsibility in the event of the misuse of the original.

7)    Fee for issue of identity card is Rs.9/-.

9)     BUSINESS REPLY SERVICE:

a) To avail this facility prior permission of the Head of the Division should be obtained.

b) The client will post a card, envelope or label without any postage.

c) The usual postage charges plus Rs.1/- per article will be collected from the addressee.

d)     The permit shall remain in force upto 31^st March of the financial year during which it is issued.

e)     The permit may be renewed during the month of March every year for a period of one year beginning on the 1^st of April, of that year on payment of a fee of Rs.200/- in respect of each renewal.

f)        Infringement of any of the conditions will render the Business reply Card or Envelop liable to be treated as unpaid letter.

g)      The fee for Business Reply Permit

During the 1st Quarter (1/04 to 30/06)	During the 2nd  Quarter (1/07 to 30/09)	During the 3rd Quarter (1/10 to 31/12)	During the 4th Quarter (1/01 to 31/03)
200	150	100	50

10)      Tariff to Post cards

Single cards	Rs.0.50
Reply cards	Rs 1.00
Printed Post card	Rs 6.00
Competition Post Card	Rs 10.00
Meghdoot Post Card	Rs 0.25

11)The weight of letter card is 5 grams. The tariff is Rs.2.50Ps.

12) Tariff to Post letters

For every 20 grams or part thereof   Rs. 5.00

Embossed Envelop                            Rs. 5.00

13) Tariff to Book Packets:

for the 1^st 50 grams        Rs.4.00

for the additional 50 grams or part thereof Rs.3.00

14)Tariff to Book Packets containing Printed Books:

For every 100 grams or part thereof          Rs. 1.00