General Knowledge for Preparing Various Exams in India Chapter 2

16. Krishnakumar Natarajan was appointed as the Chairman of Nasscom for the year 2013-14. He succeeded N Chandrasekaran.

17. Sharad Yadav was unanimously re-elected as the national President of Janata Dal (United) for third time in a row.

18. S Gopalakrishnan, the co-founder and Executive Co-Chairman of Infosys, was elected as the President of the industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the year 2013-14. He is succeeding Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Group.

19. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad resigned after falling out with president Mahmud Abbas. Salam Fayyad was tasked with the role of caretaker for the current government.

20. Earthquake that measured 7 on Ritcher Scale killed more than 167 and injured at least 5000 people in China’s western Sichuan Province on 20 April 2013.

21. An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 killed 37 leaving behind 850 people injured in Bushehr Province of south-west Iran.

22. Eighth Session of the India-Yemen Joint Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation (JCM) took place in New Delhi on March 11-12, 2013.

23. A conference of Chief Ministers on the fifth Report on Public Order of the second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) was held in New Delhi. The conference was chaired by the Union Home Minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde and attended by the Chief Ministers, Home Ministers of States and Lt. Governors & Administrators of Union Territories.

24. Foreign ministers from the G8 group of nations in a meeting held in London condemned North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

25. The fifth BRICS Summit was held at the Durban, South Africa. The theme of the 5th BRICS Summit was: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation.

26. The third SAARC Ministerial Level Meet on Poverty concluded in Nepal on 5 April 2013.

27. The Minister of Railways Pawan Kumar Bansal inaugurated International Conference on Dedicated Freight Corridor Challenges and Opportunities in New Delhi. This was organised by ASSOCHAM.

28. As per the 16th Annual Global CEO survey, Mahatma Gandhi figured among the top three most admired leaders of the world. An accountancy firm, PwC surveyed 1400 CEOs around the world. Winston Churchill topped the list. Steve Jobs was on second place.

29. The first test of Nirbhay cruise missile (1000 Km range)achieved partial success at Chandipur, Odisha on 12 March 2013.

30. Army Chief of Nepal, General Gaurav Shumsher Rana on 9 April 2013 flagged off a Joint Mountaineering expedition of Indian and Nepalese Army from Kathmandu to mark the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of the world’s highest peak.