Important General Knowledge Questions

1. P. Sathasivam on 29 June 2013 was appointed as the next Chief Justice of India after he justified the Collegiums System of appointment of Judges. The 64 year old Sathasivam will succeed the incumbent Chief Justice of India, Altamas Kabir, who will superannuate on 18 July 2013 from his office. Sathasivam will be the 40th Chief Justice of India (CJI) and his appointment to the post has been approved by Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India.

2. BCCI (Board of Control of Cricket in India) on 29 June 2013 was awarded a chance to host two major events of International Cricket namely World Twenty20 for the first time in 2016 and its fourth 50-over World Cup in 2023 by ICC (International Cricket Council).

3. Indian Government in the Month of June 2013 has banned the testing of Cosmetic product on animals and thus became the first country in South Asia to end such tests.

4. The Union Cabinet of India on 28 June 2013 gave its approval to the proposal of signing of a headquarters agreement between the Ministry of External Affairs and Nalanda University. This agreement would confer on the University and members of its academic staff privileges and immunities considered necessary to provide an overall framework for the efficient functioning and operation of the University, and allow it to obtain talent from across the globe. The Agreement will come into force immediately upon signing and notification.

5. The Rajasthan government on 27 June 2013 launched a unique scheme called Mukhyamantri Bijli Bachat Lamp Yojna for energy conservation. The State government will provide 2 CFL bulb free of cost to all electricity consumers of villages and BPL consumers in urban areas. This unique scheme will continue till August 2013.

6. The United States Senate on 27 June 2013 passed a landmark comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill to provide a pathway to citizenship to some 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. There are over 240000 illegal Indian migrants in the US.

7. Kevin Rudd on 27 June 2013 was sworn in as Australia’s new prime minister ousting Julia Gillard as Labor chief in a ballot. He was sworn in at Government House in Canberra by Governor General Quentin Bryce.

8. Muthoot Finance got in-principal approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for establishing as well as operating White Label ATMs (WLAs). The White Label ATMs (WLAs) are the ones which are not owned and operated by the bank but by another non-bank entity. By paying a stipulated fee, anyone can use it for the purpose of financial transaction with any other bank branch.

9. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on 26 June 2013 flagged off first train which connects Banihal in Jammu with Qazigund in Kashmir. This train started off from Banihal Railway Station to Qazigund through the Pir Panchal mountain range.

10. China, on 20 June 2013 conducted the first classroom lecture from space which was given by female Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping. Wang Yaping, 33, addressed around 330 primary as well as middle school students at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University in Beijing through live video feed from space module Tiangong-1

11. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to seven years in prisons and a lifetime ban on holding public office by a lower court of Milan as he was found guilty of soliciting sex from a minor and abusing his powers to cover up his actions

12. Connaught Place, the marketplace located in Delhi has been ranked fifth in the list of world’s most expensive office market due to its strong demand amid limited supply as per the CBRE report.

13. The British government in the second week of June 2013 planned to introduce a new scheme requiring visitors from high risk countries in Africa and Asia, including India and Pakistan, to put up a 4600 US dollars cash bond before entering Britain. The countries have been picked for their high number of visa applications and what the government views as relatively high levels of immigration abuse and fraud.

14. International Olympic Day was celebrated across the world on 23 June 2013. The day is celebrated for promotion of participation of people in the sports all across the world, irrespective of athletic, gender or age ability.

15. Nik Wallenda, said to be the 7th generation high-wire artist on 23 June 2013 successfully completed walking the 2-inch thick cable across Little Colorado River Gorge near the Grand Canyon. He finished this walk in merely 23 minutes. With this, he became the first man to cross Grand Canyon on the tightrope.

16. The largest as well as the brightest moon of the year 2013, called the Supermoon was observed on 23 June 2013 as it passed the closest point to Earth. Supermoon is said to be that situation when the natural satellite of the Earth is closer to Earth in the orbit than every day. This effect can be noticed when it happens at same time like the full moon.

17. The first Unit of ONGC’s Mega Power project in Tripura was formally dedicated to the Nation by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee at Palatana on 21 June 2013. This Unit 1 of the gas-based plant will generate 363.3 MW. The Unit II of the 726.6 MW power plant is expected to be commercially operational later this year. ONGC realized the audacious dream of transporting such heavy and over-dimensional equipment through the territories of Bangladesh.

18. The Union Government of India on 22 June 2013 planned to introduce Visa-on-Arrival facilities for the Chinese nationals to give a boost to Indian tourism. China is among 30 countries for which his Ministry wants Visa-on- Arrival facility as Beijing has a huge potential for exchanges in the sector.

19. Six Forts of Rajasthan included in the list of World Heritage Site of UNESCO and won international recognition on 21 June 2013 in the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The six majestic forts include Amber (Jaipur), Kumbhalgarh, Chittorgarh, Jaisalmer, Ranthambhore (Sawai Madhopur) and Gagaron (Jhalawar).

20. First gas based Power Plant was commissioned by Pranab Mukherjee, the President of Indian Union on 21 June 2013 at Palatana in Tripura. The Palatana Gas Based Power Project is developed by ONGC and is the first such Power Company in India to be awarded with the Clean Development Mechanism by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

21. The official figures by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in Zurich on 20 June 2013 unveiled that the Indian money found in Swiss banks dropped down to record lowest level at 9000 crore Rupees or 1.42 billion Swiss francs. The official data released by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is a part of annual report of Swiss Banks released by SNB.

22. The Supreme Court of India on 19 June 2013 in its decision established that right to life and liberty, enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution, is available to foreign nationals also. The Supreme Court quashed the FIR registered by the Government of Maharashtra against three citizens of Uganda including an Advisor to the President of Uganda, based on the complaint given by Videocon.

23. NASA, the US Space agency, announced on 17 June 2013 that it had selected eight new NASA astronaut candidates, out of which 4 are women. It is important to note that this is the highest percentage of female astronauts chosen by NASA for any class in its history.

24. Architects building Nalanda International University at Bihar decided to make use of the Desiccant Enhanced Evaporative or the Devap air-cooling system. It is the first time that this kind of system will be used in India.

25. India signed an agreement for loan of 255 million US dollars with World Bank for the National AIDS Control Project (NACP-IV) in New Delhi on 18 June 2013. The Objective of the project is to increase safe behaviors among high risk groups in order to contribute to India’s national goal of reversal of the HIV epidemic by 2017.

26. A survey conducted by Top 500, revealed on 17 June 2013 that the Chinese supercomputer is the fastest computer of the world. This Chinese supercomputer is called Tianhe-2 and it replaced US machine called Titan, which was earlier said to be the fastest computer of the world.

27. Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India on 17 June 2013 took oath as the member of Rajya Sabha. He was elected to Rajya Sabha for the fifth consecutive term from Assam. In the election, he was the only contestant for the first preference vote seat.

28. AirAsia on 17 June 2013 appointed Ratan Tata, the ex-chairman of the Tata Group as the Chief Advisor of AirAsia’s India board. In the meanwhile, CEO of the AirAsia India was yet to be announced.

29. Kanji Ram became only the second Hindu to be part of the Pakistan’s Punjab assembly after Seth Bharta Ram who was elected a lawmaker in 1997. Kanji Ram is scheduled to take oath on 17 June 2013. Moreover, Saradar Ramesh Singh Arora on 1 June 2013 became the first ever Sikh to be elected as the member of the House since Pakistan’s creation in 1947

30. Union Government on 12 June 2013 decided to discontinue the Telegraph Services in India from 15 July 2013. Telegram in India was also known as Taar. The decision of ceasing the services of Telegraph came up after more than 160 years of its being into operations. The last time Telegraph would be used to send a telegram on 14 July 2013.

31. The Reserve Bank on 10 June 2013 imposed a fine of 5 crore Rupees on Axis Bank, 4.5 crore Rupees on HDFC Bank and 1 crore Rupees on ICICI Bank for violation of KYC norms and anti-money laundering guidelines.

32. The world’s tallest twisted tower, the Infinity Tower was launched in Dubai Marina on 10 June 2013. The Infinity tower features, its unique ability of twisting to 90 degrees and the shape of the tower being aesthetically unique also allows reduction of the wind forces on the tower because of its twisted shape.

33. The rupee fell by a whopping 71 paise to hit a new life-time low of 57 rupees 77 paise on 9 June 2013. The fall comes after the persistent dollar demand from importers and banks amid the US currency gaining overseas. The rupee which resumed lower at 57 rupees 18 paise against dollar as against the last weekend's level of 57 rupees 6 paise per dollars, dropped further to an all-time low of 57 rupees 77 paise per dollar. This crosses its life-time closing low level of 57 rupees 32 paise touched in June-end 2012.

34. The United States of America on 5 June 2013 exempted India and eight other countries from sanctions for importing oil from Iran. India, China, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Taiwan have qualified for an exception to sanctions under America's Iran Sanctions Act.

35. To deal with the Crimes against the women, the first all-women police station started functioning in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh on 4 June 2013. With the opening of the first all-women police station, the state Government has tried to showcase its concern towards the protection of women in the state.

36. Gold coins said to be from Gupta period were unearthed on 1 June 2013 at Ahiran in West Bengal Murshidabad district. These coins were found during the construction of National Highway 34. The coins date back to fourth century A.D.

37. The Union Government of India on 5 June 2013 hiked the import duty on gold from 6 percent to 8 percent. The hike is aimed towards curbing the import of gold. Import of gold is mainly responsible for the rise in Current Account Deficit (CAD) and impacts the foreign exchange reserves of the country as well as the value of rupee.

38. Burundi's Lydia Nsekera became the first woman to be elected to the FIFA Executive Committee (ExCo) for a full term of four years at the FIFA Congress in Mauritius held on 30 May 2013. The two other women Moya Dodd of Australia and Sonia Bien-Aime of the Turks and Caicos Islands, were coopted on for one year.

39. Raghav Joneja became the youngest Indian to scale the Mount Everest on 21 May 2013 when he along with his five schoolmates climbed the fifth highest peak in the world.

40. Yes Bank became the first lender to hike lending and deposit rates. Others may follow as the RBI move has tightened liquidity in the markets. Yes Bank said it would hike its deposit rates by 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent in select tenors effective from 1August 2013. Yes Bank took this step following the RBI’s decision to keep key policy rates unchanged and cut growth forecast.

41. Mamnoon Hussain was elected as the 12th President of Pakistan on 30 July 2013. 73-year old Mamnoon Hussain belonged to the PML-N Party. He will be administered the oath on 9 September 2013.

42. As per the latest data released by Government on 23 July 2013, Odisha and Bihar registered the sharpest decline in poverty levels between 2004-05 and 2011-12.

43. Oscar Farnandes, the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways launched emergency care initiatives on 29 July 2013 on Gurgaon- Jaipur stretch of NH-8. For giving a boost to the emergency care of the accident victims, the Union Minister launched a pilot project for cashless treatment of accident victims on Gurgaon- Jaipur stretch of NH-8.

44. A new respiratory virus related to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) has killed 39 people in Saudi Arabia. Scientists have named this respiratory virus as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The new virus is related to the respiratory virus SARS that killed more than 800 people across the world in 2003. It belongs to a family of viruses that most often cause the common cold. SARS emerged in China.

45. India’s Weather Satellite INSAT-3D, carrying advanced weather monitoring payloads, was launched successfully on 26 July 2013 by Ariane-5 (VA214) launch vehicle from Kourou, French Guiana. After a smooth countdown lasting 11 hours and 30 minutes, the Ariane-5 launchvehicle lifted off right on schedule at the opening of the launch windowat 01:24 hours IST today. After a flight of 32 minutes and 48 seconds, INSAT-3D was placed in an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO),very close to the intended one.

46. Poverty Ratio in India declined to 21.9 percent in 2011-12 from 37.2 percent measured in 2004-05 on the basis of the increase in per capita consumption. The Planning Commission of India on 23 July 2013 released its report on the Poverty Estimates for 2011-12. The report was based on the Large Sample Surveys on Household Consumer Expenditure conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

47. The United Nations Health agency, the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggested India in 2009 to consider a ban on Monocrotophos, the pesticide blamed for the poisoning of mid day meal in Bihar on 16 July 2013.

48. Prince Philippe was sworn-in as the new king of Belgium on 21 July 2013 after the abdication of his father Albert II due to his age and health.

49. The People's Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI) on 17 July 2013 reported that the North-East of India has the highest per capita language in the whole World. As per the survey, Arunachal Pradesh is a State that speaks 90 different languages.

50. A strong earthquake ripped through China's northwestern Gansu Province. The quake, measuring 6.6 on Richter scale, shook the area at the junction of the Minxian County and Zhangxian County. The epicenter, with a depth of 20 km, was 170 km away from the provincial capital Lanzhou. A 5.6-magnitude quake jolted the same area later in the morning.

51. Shane Warne, the spin legend retired from all forms of cricket officially. He announced retiring from Twenty20 League, thereby ending the overall competitive cricket career.

52. The World's first mission to south pole of the Moon for installation of a permanent telescope on the lunar surface was announced in July 2013. This installation of telescope would aid in the professional and amateur researchers. The announcement was made during the NASA Lunar Science Institute conference at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.

53. Earthquake of magnitude 6.9 on Richter Scale stuck Wellington, the Capital of New Zealand on 20 July 2013. As per the details of the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake struck under the Cook Strait 57 kilometres southwest of Wellington at a depth of 10 kilometres.

54. Reserve Bank of India on 20 July 2013 stated that India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by 21.1 million US dollars to 280.19 billion US dollars, the. The total forex reserves had decreased by 4.48 billion US dollars to 280.16 billion US dollars in the previous reporting week.

55. The measurements by Curiosity rover of NASA, the most advanced spacecraft to land on Mars, the Red Planet, re-instated the fact, in the month of July 2013, that the planet was composed of mostly carbon dioxide and a few other gases. These measurements match very closely with the findings of the Viking which had revealed about this in late 1970s. Apart from this, the scientists had also revealed the same earlier with clues from the Martian meteorites that fell on Earth.

56. India in the month of July 2013 has come into view as the second largest investor in the city of London with Indian companies led by software major Infosys encouraged by the investment fervour generated by the 2012 Olympic Games in the British capital.

57. Union Cabinet on 17 July 2013 approved amendments to the marriage law enabling a married woman to get a share of her husband's ancestral property as reparation in case of a divorce.

58. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India launched the nation-wide National Tobacco Control Campaign known as- Tears you apart. The aim of the campaign is to raise the public awareness regarding dangers of smokeless tobacco which is consumed by millions of Indians every day.

59. Bengaluru International Airport, Karnataka: The Union Cabinet of India on 17 July 2013 gave approval to rename the Bengaluru International Airport as Kempegowda International Airport. The demand to rename the airport was pending since a long time. The demand came from people of Karnataka along with the State Government of Karnataka.

60. The Supreme Court of India on 17 July 2013 refused to reduce the age of juvenile from 18 to 16 years and dismissed a plea that minors involved in heinous crimes should not be protected under the law. A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir ruled that interference in the Juvenile Justice Act is not necessary and dismissed a batch of PILs which were filed in the aftermath of the 16 December 2012 brutal gang-rape and murder case in which a minor was also allegedly involved.

61. Hemant Soren, leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and son of party Chief Shibu Soren, on 13 July 2013 sworn in as the ninth Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Syed Ahmed, the Governor of Jharkhand administered the oath of the office to Hemant Soren in the premises of Raj Bhavan in a swearing-in ceremony.

62. The Secretary General of United Nations, Ban-ki-moon on 11 July 2013 warned Myanmar to end Buddhist attacks on Minority Muslims (Rohingyas). The Secretary General also asked Myanmar to take necessary steps to address legitimate grievances including citizenship. Ban-ki-moon feared that failing to do so, would bring in negative regional impacts in the country and weaken the reform process also.

63. The Supreme Court in its landmark Judgement on 11 July 2013 barred Persons in Jail or Police Custody from contesting election for legislative bodies. The Supreme Court’s decision would help in bringing an end to the era of the under trial politicians, who contest elections from behind the bars.

64. Lt Gen (Retd) AK Singh, on 8 July 2013 took over as the new Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

65. Chinese Troops on 17 June 2013 intruded into the Chumar Sector of Ladakh. This is the same area that sparked off tensions between the two sides in April 2013. The troops of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) intruded the Chumar sector and vandalized the observation bunkers and cut-down the wires of cameras, which were used to overlook the Chinese Territory.

66. TripAdvisor's 2013 Travellers Choice Attractions Awards ranked India's Taj Mahal among the top three landmarks in the world. Taj Mahal was ranked third in the list of Top 25 landmarks.

67. Multiple blasts rocked the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar on 7 July 2013 one of the holiest Buddhist shrines. Nine, low intensity bombs rocked the temple premises leaving injured two monks (one from Tibet and the other was a Myanmar national) at 5 am.

68. Vidya Balan on 6 July 2013 got the Best Actress award at 14th IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) awards 2013 held in Macau for her portrayal of a pregnant woman in search of her husband in Kahaani while Ranbir Kapoor was named Best Actor for Barfi.

69. The Supreme Court of India on 4 July 2013 ruled that employees can’t claim for the benefits of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) as a matter of right. As per the ruling of Supreme Court, the decision taking power of VRS benefits lies only in the hands of the employer.

70. Ghaziabad and Allahabad emerged as the two most air polluted cities in Uttar Pradesh according to a recent survey conducted by a research and advocacy organization called CSE. The report of the survey was released on 2 July 2013.

71. Himachal Pradesh on 2 July 2013 was declared as the first Smoke-free state of the country. The declaration was made in compliance to Section 4 of the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003.

72. Chelsea Elizabeth Manning, also known as Bradley Edward Manning, convicted as well as sentenced to the military prison for leaking important classified documents in Wikileaks case, announced the intention of living the life as a woman. He was diagnosed of gender-identity disorder by an Army psychiatrist. The Army Prison refused to provide hormone therapy to him.

73. The Rajya Sabha on 26 August 2013 passed The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 by voice vote. It seeks to amend the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and the Special Marriages Act, 1954 which provides for irretrievable breakdown on marriage as a ground for divorce as well as grants women the right to a share in the property of their husbands.

74. Papers of Jawaharlal Nehru from 1959, edited by historian Prof Madhavan Palat, under the sponsorship of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, were released in the month of July 2013. There are three volumes of these papers and more volumes were planned to be released every month. The released material is known as Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru.

75. Bangladesh Government on 25 August 2013 released the world's first zinc-enriched rice variety capable of fighting diarrhoea and pneumonia-induced childhood deaths and stunted growth.

76. Global digital measurement and analytics comScore stated in its report that India is the world’s third largest Internet user after China and USA. At present, India has almost 74 million Internet users which is a 31 percent increase over March 2012. Significantly, three-fourths of its online population is under 35

77. The Union Cabinet of India on 22 August 2013 approved the amendments to the Representation of the People Act, 1951. This is to negate the recent Supreme Court verdict on disqualification of convicted legislators. The amendmentas were proposed by Ministry of Law and Justice.

78. Robert Mugabe, the incumbent President of Zimbabwe on 21 August 2013 sworn in for his seventh term as the President of the country. He took oath to the office in the main sports stadium in Harare.

79. Thousands of people, including children were killed in the toxic gas attack on 21 August 2013 on the eastern suburbs of Damascus, the capital of Syria. Rocket barrages and intense artillery took place on 21 August 2013 and killed at least 100 people.

80. Citizens can now file RTI applications online in all central government ministries and departments through a portal. This facility was launched by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, V Narayanasamy in New Delhi on 21 August 2013.

81. Usain Bolt of Jamaica equalled the world record of highest golds after winning the 4x100m relay at the World Athletics Championships on 18 August 2013 at Moscow, Russia.

82. The captain of the Indian Cricket Team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 31, was ranked at the 16th position in the recent Forbes list of highest-paid athletes. Dhoni’s earning stood at 31.5 million US dollar or 180 crore Rupees. The values were calculated between June 2012 and June 2013.

83. The Rajya Sabha on 13 August 2013 passed Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 2012, under which marriages solemnized in India irrespective of the religion of the persons getting married will have to be compulsorily registered.

84. Idea Cellular became Aditya Birla group’s most valuable company overtaking its flagship commodity business. The market cap of the telecom business overtook UltraTech BSE, India’s largest cement company.

85. The oldest penguin of the world named King Penguin Missy turned 36 years old on 12 August 2013. 36 years old for penguins is equal to 108 years old in humans. King Penguin Missy was brought to Birdland Wildlife Park in Gloucestershire, UK in the year 1982 at the age of 5 years.

86. The first Cyber Forensic Laboratory (CFL) of India was established in Tripura on 11 August 2013. The lab was established at the Tripura High Court and the purpose of the lab is to facilitate information related to court cases. The CFL was inaugurated by Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur.

87. Janata Party was merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 11 August 2013 following a meeting of Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy and BJP President Rajnath Singh. Subramanian Swamy had served as member of the Planning Commission of India.

88. Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh on 10 August 2013 created a national record by organizing a 21 kilometer long Half Marathon at the height of 10050 feet at Keylong. A total of 261 sportsmen from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Army participated in the event. The event was orgainsed with an aim of providing an exposure and platform at the national level to the youth living at high altitude.

89. Raghuram Govind Rajan, the Chief Economic Adviser was on 6 August 2013, appointed as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a time period of three years, i.e., till 2016. He succeeds D. Subbarao who demits the office on 4 September 2013. He will be the 23rd Governor of RBI.

90. Indian Junior Women Hockey team won its first ever Bronze medal in ERGO Hockey Junior World Cup at Monchengladbac, Germany on 4 August 2013. India beat England by 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out. The tournament was played at Mönchengladbach, Germany from 27 July to 4 August 2013. India ended at third position in the tournament.

91. Hassan Rouhani on 4 August 2013 took oath as the new President of Iran in the ceremony held at the Iranian Parliament in Tehran. –

92. Rakesh Sethi on 5 August 2013 took charge as the Executive Director of the Union Bank of India. Before being appointed as the executive director of the Union Bank of India, Rakesh Sethi was the General Manager with Bank of India and headed the National Banking position in Southern India

93. Researchers from the University of Chicago, in the first week of August 2013, revealed that dolphins had the longest memories among the non-human species. Researchers declared that even if these dolphins were separated for more than 20 years, they were capable of recalling the whistles of their former companions.

94. Ravindra Jadeja on 4 August 2013 became the first Indian bowler to top the bowlers' chart in the latest ICC ODI Player Rankings after former captain Anil Kumble claimed the top position in the ODI Rankings in 1996.

95. World’s first talking robot Kirobo was successfully sent into space on 4 August 2013 by Japanese Scientists. The robot was sent by H2B rocket from the island of Tanegashima. The rocket carried food, water and other supplies. Kirobo will serve as a companion for Japanese astronauts.

96. Urjit Patel was appointed as theDeputy Governor of theReserve Bank of India on 3 January 2013. Urjit Patel succeeds Subir Gokarn, who handled Monetary Policy in RBI. The three-year term of Subir Gokarn terminated in November 2012 but he was given an extension which ended finally on 31 December 2012.

97. South Korean court in landmark ruling on 3 January 2013 ordered the first-ever chemical castration of the country. The sentence of chemical castration was given to 31-year old pedophile (a person who is sexually-attracted to children) along with 15 years of jail term

98. The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah on 7 January 2013 launched the first civil aviation service from Kargil to Jammu. Mantra Airlines would be the company that will be operating the civil airline services, from Jammu to Kargil.

99. The Delhi Police Annual Report released on 19 January 2013 reported that Delhi witnessed the record number of highest rape cases, attempts to murder, robbery, rioting in the complete decade. The report claimed that the year 2012 witnessed 706 registered rape cases out of which 40 occurred at midnight including the brutal gang rape in the bus.

100. India celebrated its 64th Republic Day on 26 January 2013. Unfurling of National flag, the rich cultural heritage, and nation's achievements in various fields were the highlights of Republic Day Parade at Rajpath in Delhi. The well-turned out and synchronised military and police formations led by General Officer Commanding (Delhi) Lt General Subroto Mitra marched proudly to the tunes of bands through the Rajpath where President Pranab Mukherjee, the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces, took salute for the first time after assuming office in July 2012.

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