Jal Hans is the first seaplane of India. It will be operated by Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd and cater to island-hopping tourists in India. First service will be operationalised in Andamans.

Martina Navrotilova lead a team of 27 climbers to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (at 5,895 meters), the world’s tallest free-standing mountain, to raise money and awareness for the Laureus Sport Good Foundation. She hit tennis balls off the top of Africa’s highest peak.

IndiaPay is India’s first indigenous payment gateway and is scheduled to be launched in mid-2011. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is the owner of IndiaPay and will make its first move by cutting charges levied to merchant establishments by half, compared with what MasterCard and Visa charge. IndiaPay’s shareholders consist of 10 banks, six of which are PSU banks, and is promoted by the Reserve Bank of India.

The world’s second-largest retailer, Carrefour, has opened its first ‘cash-and-carry’ outlet in India in New Delhi.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed on December 3.

World Aids Day is observed on December 1.

Queensland’s Gold Coast in Australia has been named as 2018 Commonwealth Games host.

Who was the first Ramon Magsaysay Award winner from India

Ans : Acharya Vinoba Bhave

The first recipient of Gandhi Peace Prize was

Ans : Dr. Julius N. Nyerera

Nehru Award is instituted for

Ans : International understanding and peace

Kalinga Prize, an International prize is awarded annually for the recognition of outstanding achievement in the interpretation and popularization of

Ans : Science

Magnifying glass was invented by

Ans : Roger Bacon

Polio vaccine was invented by

Ans : Jonas Edward Salk

Who discovered the Blood groups

Ans : Karl Landsteiner

Television was invented by

Ans : John L. Baird

Theory of relativity was explained by

Ans : Albert Einstein

Wireless Telegraph was invented by

Ans : Marconi

Incandescent lamp was invented by

Ans : Edison

X-Ray was discovered by

Ans : Wilhelm Roentgen

Chloroform was invented by

Ans : J.Y. Simpson

Who invented the practical Locomotive

Ans : Richard Trevithick

zone day is observed on

Ans : 16th September

World health day is on

Ans : 7th April

Navy day is celebrated on

Ans : 4th December

World Solar Energy Day

Ans : 3rd May

Commonwealth Day

Ans : Second Monday in March

World Employment Day

Ans : June 5

World Architectural Day

Ans : July 1

National Maritime Day

Ans : 5th April

Anti Terrorist Day

Ans : 21st May

World Anti-smoke Day

Ans : 31st May

Zone day is observed on

Ans : 16th September

World health day is on

Ans : 7th April

Navy day is celebrated on

Ans : 4th December

India’s longest rail tunnel, 10.96 km long, is situated in J&K. It connects Banihal in south side to Qazigund in the north side of the mountains and thus takes passengers from the Jammu side to Kashmir side in just six minutes.

“Sudarshan Shakti” was the massive joint exercise held by Indian Army, with Air Force and Navy.

The world’s cheapest tablet , and made in India as well, was launched on Wednesday. Priced at about Rs 2000, Aakash has been developed by the Indian Institute of Technology.

The low-cost tablet is primarily meant for educational purposes and features Android OS along with Wi-Fi connectivity. It features a 2GB Flash memory with 2GB Micro SD card that is expandable upto 32GB with two full USB ports, a miniSD card and a SIM card slot.

The device comes with a 2100mAh battery that will last upto two to three hours.The tablet has been developed as a part of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology that aims to link 25,000 colleges and 400 universities for an e-learning programme.

The device is expected to give some of the more costly tablet computers tough competition as it will also offer PDF reader, video conferencing functioning, sci-lab, media player, remote device management capability, multimedia input-output interface option and multiple content viewer.

Speaking at an award ceremony held in New Delhi by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) last month, Communications and Information Technology minister Kapil Sibal had said that the tablet would help children go beyond the boundary of classroom and teachers to acquire knowledge through IT.

Nobel laureate scientist dies days before award

Three scientists who unlocked secrets of the body’s immune system, opening doors to new vaccines and cancer treatments, won the 2011 Nobel prize for medicine yesterday.

American Bruce Beutler and French biologist Jules Hoffmann, who studied the first stages of immune responses to attack, share the $1.5 million (€1.1 million) award with Canadian-born Ralph Steinman, whose discovery of dendritic cells in the 1970s is key to understanding the body’s next line of defence against disease.

However, within minutes of the award being announced, a problem arose. It emerged that one of the three, Mr Steinman, had died of cancer just three days before he could be told of his award. A sufferer of pancreatic cancer, he used his own discoveries to extend his life.

Colleagues of Mr Steinman (68) at Rockefeller University in New York called it a “bittersweet” honour.

National Green Tribunal (NGT) is a judicial body constituted to try all matters related to environmental issues. The Tribunal is headed by Justice L.S. Panta. The first sitting of NGT was held on July 4, 2011.

1. Which of the following rocks is different from the remaining three on the basis of its mode of origin?
(A) Limestone
(B) Sandstone
(C) Shale
(D) Marble
Ans : (D)

2. Which of the following land forms is not associated with river erosion?
(A) Waterfall
(B) V-shaped valley
(C) Moraines
(D) Ox-bow lake
Ans : (C)

3. Which of the following latitudes is the longest?
(A) 23°N
(B) 66°N
(C) 0°
(D) 80°N
Ans : (C)

4. Two places on the same meridian must have the same—
(A) Length of summer
(B) Length of winter
(C) Latitude
(D) Solar time
Ans : (D)

5. When it is 6.00 AM on 0° meridian, at the same time what time would be there in India?
(A) 6.30 AM
(B) 9.30 AM
(C) 11.30 AM
(D) 5.30 AM
Ans : (C)

6. Which of the following processes helps in the formation of rift valley?
(A) Seismism
(B) Faulting
(C) Folding
(D) Volcanism
Ans : (B)

7. Which of the following names is given to the planetary winds blowing between the tropics?
(A) Monsoon
(B) Polar winds
(C) Westerlies
(D) Trade winds
Ans : (D)

8. Which of the following cities is not located on Varanasi-Chennai rail-route?
(A) Hyderabad
(B) Nagpur
(C) Jabalpur
(D) Allahabad
Ans : (D)

9. Where is Dead Sea situated in the following continents?
(A) Europe
(B) Australia
(C) Asia
(D) Africa
Ans : (C)

10. Which of the following industries is most developed in the Great Lakes region of North America?
(A) Cement and Paper
(B) Steel and Engineering
(C) Film industry
(D) Textile and Chemicals
Ans : (B)

11. Which of the following group of countries is most famous for exporting wool and meat?
(A) Australia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia
(B) Argentina, France, Chile
(C) Australia, Argentina, New Zealand
(D) New Zealand, Argentina, Italy
Ans : (C)

12. Which of the following soils is most suitable for the cultivation of cotton in India?
(A) Red soil
(B) Laterite soil
(C) Alluvial soil
(D) Regur soil
Ans : (D)

13. Which of the following state groups is the largest producer of iron-ore in India?
(A) Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar
(B) Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab
(C) Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh
(D) Bihar, W. Bengal, Orissa
Ans : (A)

14. Which of the following landforms is different from other three on the basis of the mode of origin?
(A) Fold
(B) Anticline
(C) Nappes
(D) Rift Valley
Ans : (D)

15. Which of the following landform is not associated with glaciation?
(A) Hanging valley
(B) Moraines
(C) Inselberg
(D) Drumlin
Ans : (C)

16. Which of the following order is given to the planets of solar system on the basis of their size?
(A) Saturn, Jupitar, Mercury, Neptune
(B) Jupitar, Saturn, Neptune, Mercury
(C) Jupitar, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn
(D) Neptune, Mercury, Saturn, Jupitar
Ans : (B)

17. As we go higher into the atmosphere, the air becomes—
(A) Thinner
(B) Denser
(C) Warmer
(D) Visible
Ans : (A)

18. From which of the following longitude the Indian standard time is determined?
(A) 82° 30′ East
(B) 80° West
(C) 90° East
(D) 81° 30′ East
Ans : (A)

19. Which of the following oceans are connected by Panama Canal?
(A) Pacific and Atlantic
(B) Atlantic and Indian Ocean
(C) Indian Ocean and Pacific
(D) Atlantic and North Ocean
Ans : (A)

20. For which crop production is ‘Saopalo’ famous?
(A) Cotton
(B) Maize
(C) Coffee
(D) Tea
Ans : (C)

21. Which of the following State group is largest producer of mineral oil in India?
(A) Gujarat, U. P., Maharashtra
(B) Maharashtra, W. Bengal, Assam
(C) Assam, U. P., Bihar
(D) Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra
Ans : (D)

22. Which of the following water-ways does not pass through the Panama Canal?
(A) London-Honolulu.
(B) New York-San francisco
(C) New York-Buenos Aires
(D) New York-Sydney
Ans : (C)

23. Which of the following latitudes is a great circle?
(A) Equator
(B) 66°N
(C) 20°S
(D) 23°S
Ans : (A)

24. Which of the following city is not located on Delhi-Kolkata rail route?
(A) Kanpur
(B) Allahabad
(C) Gaya
(D) Varanasi
Ans : (D)

25. Which of the following industries is famous in the Ruhr industrial region of Europe?
(A) Textile and Chemicals
(B) Steel and Engineering
(C) Cement and Paper
(D) Ship building
Ans : (B)

A speleologist studies caves.

Anagrams amused the ancient Greeks, Romans and Hebrews, and were popular during the Middle Ages.

“Aromatherapy” is a term coined by French chemist René Maurice Gattefossé in the 1920′s to describe the practice of using essential oils taken from plants, flowers, roots, seeds, etc., in healing.

Ballistics is the science that deals with the motion of projectiles.

Cannibalism, eating human flesh, is also called anthropophagy.

DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleicacid.

“Rhythms” is the longest English word without the normal vowels, a, e, i, o, or u.

The side of a hammer is a cheek.

The study of insects is called entomology.

The study of word origins is called etymology.

The symbol on the “pound” key (#) is called an octothorpe.

The white part of your fingernail is called the lunula.

The word “karate” means “empty hand.”

The word “samba” means “to rub navels together.”

The world’s largest alphabet is Cambodian, with 74 letters.

The ZIP in Zip-code stands for “Zoning Improvement Plan.”

A “Blue Moon” is the second full moon in a calendar month (it is rarely blue).

A bibliophile is a collector of rare books. A bibliopole is a seller of rare books.

A ghost writer pens an anonymous book.

A poem written to celebrate a wedding is called an epithalamium.

The name of the first airplane flown at Kitty Hawk by the Wright Brothers, on December 17, 1903, was Bird of Prey.

The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal. It was adopted as the international signal for distress in 1912, and the Titanic struck the iceberg in April of that year.

The worldwide “Spanish Flu” epidemic which broke out in 1918 killed more than 30 million people in less than a year’s time.

The first country to abolish capital punishment was Austria in 1787.

The first modern Olympiad was held in Athens in 1896. 484 contestants from 13 nations participated.

The Republic of Israel was established April 23, 1948.

The supersonic Concorde jet made its first trial flight on January 1, 1969.

Yellowstone is the world’s 1st national park. It was dedicated in 1872.

The shortest war on record, between Britain and Zanzibar in 1896, lasted just 38 minutes.

The 1st nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus, commissioned by the United States Navy in 1954, made her maiden voyage on Jan. 17, 1955.

Bock’s Car was the name of the B-29 Bomber that dropped the Atom Bomb on Nagasaki.

Acupuncture was first used as a medical treatment in 2700 BC by Chinese emperor Shen-Nung.