May 2012

General Awareness Facts of May 2012

ELECTION UPDATES 2012:

• Uttar Pradesh: Total Seats: 403. Samajwadi party won 224 seats and Mr. Akhilesh Yadav (39 yrs.) was made new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Took oath on 15 March 2012.
• Manipur: Total Seats: 60. Congress party won 42 seats and Mr. Okram Ibobi Singh (63 yrs.) was made new Chief Minister of Manipur. Took oath on 14 March.
• Punjab: Total Seats: 117. Akalidal and BJP won 68 seats and Mr. Prakash Singh Baadal was made new Chief Minister of Punjab. Took oath on 14 March.
• Goa: Total Seats: 40. B.J.P. won 24 seats and Mr. Manohar Parikar was made new Chief Minister of Goa. Took oath on 9 March.
• Uttarakhand: Total Seats: 70. Congress party won 32 seats and Mr. Vijay Bahuguna was made new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Took oath on 13 March.

Other Important News of May 2012

• New Rail Minister of Indian Railways is Mr. Mukul Roy.
• India became largest importer of arms in the world surpassing china.
• Bihar Completed 100 years of its foundation.
• Russia's new Prime Minister is Mr. Dmitri Medvedev.
• Russia's new President is Mr. Vladimir Putin.
• Mali's new President is Mr. Amadou Toumani Toure.
• IInd Nuclear Security summit 2012 was held at Seoul. The theme of the summit was Beyond Security Towards Peace.
• South Korea's new president is Lee Myung Bak.
• B.R.I.C.S. constitutes of 40% population of the world.
• IVth B.R.I.C.S. summit 2012 was held at New Delhi.
• Brazil's president is Dilma Rouseff.
• South Africa's president is Jacob Zuma.
• China's President is Hu Jintou.
• World's richest person as per forbes list is Mr. Carlos Slim.
• India's richest person as per forbes list is Mr. Mukesh Ambani.
• E.P.F. interest rates are reduced to 8.25%.
• Cheques will be valid for three months instead of 6 months.
• New president of World Bank is Ji Yong Kim.

Abbreviations

• I.D.F.: Infrastructure Debt Fund.

Appointments

• Bo Shin Seo: Managing Director of Hyundai Motor India Limited.
• General Vikram Singh: Army Chief of India.
• Harshpati Singhania: President of I.C.C. (International Chamber of Commerce).
• Jaochim Guack: President of Germany.
• Madukant Girdhari Lal Singhvi: CMD of Syndicate Bank.

Awards and Accolades

• Chameli Devi Jain Award: (Given for Journalism): Tusha Mittal.
• Women Empowerment Awards:

1. Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Award: Hipno Padam Kamlakar (Andhra Pradesh)
2. Kannagi Award: Kanwaljeet Kaur (Chandigarh)
3. Mata Jija Bai Award: Jagmati Malik (Haryana)
4. Queen Gadin Liu Zelling Award: Draupadi Ghimire (Sikkim)
5. Queen Rudramma Devi Award: Rakhi Gupta Bhandari (New Delhi)
6. Queen Laxmibai Award: Sandhya Pandey (Chattisgarh)

• 59th National Film Awards:

1. Best Film: Given to both Deool (Marathi) and Byari (Kannad).
2. Best Director: Gurvinder Singh for the film "Anhe Ghode da Daan".
3. Best Actor: Girish Kulkarni for Deool.
4. Best Actress: Vidya Balan for Dirty Picture.

• Saumitra Chatterjee has been awarded with the Dada Sahab Phalke Award 2011.

• Femina Miss India Awards:

1. Vanya Mishra of Chandigarh is chosen Femina Miss India 2012.
2. Rochelle Maria Rao of Chennai is chosen Miss India International 2012.
3. Prachi Mishra of Pune was chosen Miss India Earth.

• Saraswati Samman 2011: (given for Literature) Dr. A.A. Manvalan for his creation "Iram Kathaiyum Iramyakyulam"
• Abel Prize: (given for Maths): Mr. Endre Szemeredi of Hungary.
• Moorti Devi Award (2010 & 2011): (given for Literature): Mr. Gopichand Narang (2010) and Dr. Gulab Kothari (2011).
• FICCI frames excellence award (2012)

1. Best Film: Zindgi Na Milegi Dobara.
2. Best Actor: Ranbir Kapoor for Rockstar.
3. Best Actress: Vidya Balan for Dirty Picture.
4. Best Director: Imtiyaz Ali for Rockstar.
5. Best Music Director: A.R. Rehman for Rockstar.
6. Best Singer: Mohit Chauhan for Rockstar.
7. Best Newcomer (Female): Parineeti Chopra for Ladies V/s Rickey Behl.
8. Best Newcomer (Male): Vidyuti Jamval for Force.
9. Best Newcomer for Director: Abhinay Dev for Delhi Belly.

Deaths

• Joy Mukherjee, a bollywood star expired on 9.3.2012. He was 73 yrs old.
• Runako Morten: a West Indian cricketer expired on 4 March, 2012.

Operation/Expedition

• Near the border of China, Indian Airways eastern range has practiced a drill.
• Earh Hour 2012 is an initiative of WWF to save wildlife and nature. On last saturday of March 2012 on 31 march from 8.30 to 9.30 lights were switched off.

Books

• Nitish Kumar and The Rise of Bihar: Arun Sinha.
• The Lady and the Peacock- The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi: Peter Pofam.
• In My Mother's House: (Civil war in Sri Lanka): Sharika Thirangama.

Year/Week/Day

• 4 March: National Safety Day.
• 8 March: International Womens Day.
• 13 March: World Black Motiyabind Day.
• 15 March: World Cunsumer Rights Day.
• 22 March: Bihar Day.
• 22 March: World Water Day.
• 23 March: Sacrifice Day of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru.
• 23 March: National Day of Pakistan.
• 23 March: World Meteorological Day.
• 26 March: Independence Day and National Day of Bangladesh.
• 27 March: World Stage Day.
• 30 March: Rajasthan Foundation Day.