Important Financial Organizations

• 1955: Industrial credit and Investment Corporation India Ltd(ICICI)
• 1962: Deposit Insurance Corporation
• 1963: Agricultural Refinance Corporation
• 1964: Unit Trust of India
• 1964: Industrial Development Bank of India
• 1969: National Institute of Bank Management
• 1971: Credit Guarantee Corporation
• 1978: Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (The DIC and CGC were merged and renamed as DICGC)
• 1982: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
• 1982: Export-Import Bank of India
• 1987: Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research
• 1988: Discount and Finance House of India
• 1988: National Housing Bank
• 1990: Small Industries Development Bank of India
• 1994: Securities Trading Corporation of India
• 1995: Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited
• 1996: Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology
• 2001: Clearing Corporation of India Limited
• 2008: National Payments Corporation of India

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Param Vir Chakra Winners

1. IC-- 521 Major Som Nath Sharma, 4 Kumaon Regiment, November 3, 1947, Badgam Kashmir (posthumous)
2. IC-22356 Lance Naik Karham Singh M M, 1 Sikh Regiment, October 13, 1948, Tithwal Kashmir
3. SS-14246 Second Lt Rama Raghobe Rane, Corps of Engineers, April 8, 1948, Naushera, Kashmir
4. 27373 Naik Jadu Nath Singh, 1 Rajput Regiment, February 1948, Naushera, Kashmir (posthumous)
5. 2831592 Company Havildar Major Piru Singh, 6 Rajputana Rifles, July 17/18, 1948, Tithwal, Kashmir (posthumous)
6. IC-8497 Captain Gurbachan Singh Salaria, 3/1 Gurkha Rifles, December 5, 1961, Elizabethville, Katanga, Congo (posthumous)
7. IC-7990 Major Dhan Singh Thapa, 1/8 Gurkha Rifles, October 20, 1962, Ladakh, India
8. JC-4547 Subedar Joginder Singh, 1 Sikh Regiment, October 23, 1962, Tongpen La, Northeast Frontier Agency, India (posthumous)
9. Major Shaitan Singh, Kumaon Regiment, November 18, 1962, Rezang La (posthumous)
10. 2639885 Company Havildar Major Abdul Hamid, 4 Grenadiers, September 10, 1965, Chima, Khem Karan Sector (posthumous)
11. IC-5565 Lieutenant-Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore, 17 Poona Horse, October 15, 1965, Phillora, Sialkot Sector, Pakistan (posthumous)
12. 4239746 Lance Naik Albert Ekka, 14 Guards, December 3, 1971, Gangasagar (posthumous)
13. 10877 (P) Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, Indian Air Force, December 14, 1971, Srinagar, Kashmir (posthumous)
14. IC-25067 2/Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, 17 Poona Horse, December 16, 1971, Jarpal, Shakargarh Sector, (posthumous)
15. IC-14608 Major Hoshiar Singh, Grenadiers, December 17, 1971, Basantar River, Shakargarh Sector
16. Naib Subedar Bana Singh, 8 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, June 23, 1987, Siachen Glacier, Jammu and Kashmir
17. Major Ramaswamy Parmeshwaran, 8 Mahar Regiment, November 25, 1987, Sri Lanka (posthumous)
18. IC-57556 Captain Vikram Batra, 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, July 6, 1999(posthumous)
19. IC-56959 Lt Manoj Kumar Pandey, 1/11 Gorkha Rifles, July 3, 1999, Khaluber/Juber Top, Batalik sector, Kargil area, Jammu and Kashmir (posthumous)
20. No 2690572 Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav, 18 Grenadiers, July 4, 1999, Tiger Hill, Kargil area
21. Rifleman Sanjay Kumar, 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, July 5, 1999

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Headquarters of UN Agencies and other Organisations

1. Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) — Rome
2. International Labour Organisation (ILO) — Geneva
3. World Health Organisation (WHO) — Geneva
4. World meteorological Organisation (WMO) — Geneva
5. International Telecommunication Union (ITD) — Geneva
6. International Monetary Fund (IMF) — Washington
7. International Finance Corporation (IFC) — Washington
8. International Bank For Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) or World Bank — Washington
9. International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) —Montreal
10. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) — Paris
11. United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) — New York
12. Inter-governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation (IMCO) — London
13. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) —Vienna
14. United Nations Industrial Development Organizations (UNIDO) — Vienna, (Austria)
15. United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) — New York
16. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) — New york
17. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) — Geneva (Switzerland)
18. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) — Nairobi (Kenya)
19. Universal Postal Union (UPU) — Berne (Switzerland)

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Seven New Wonders of World

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China, a memorable landmark, is the most popular tourist attraction in China. There were three main Chinese dynasties that contributed to the construction of the Great Wall: first, the Qin from 221-207 B.C., then the Han from 206 B.C – 220 A.D and the Ming from 1368-1644 A.D. Their common purpose was to stop the “barbaric” Huns in the North from invading the Chinese borders. The Great Wall length measures about 6,700 km long. Height wise, it is 4.5m to 9m. The existing Wall today was constructed by the Ming Dynasty over 600 years ago. During that time, the original wall was in ruins.

Petra

Petra is a site in the Arabian desert, Jordan that was discovered by a Swiss explorer

called Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812 Petra represents the ancient world’s heritage culture. It is now said to be one of the seventh wonder of the world and it belongs to the UNESCO world heritage site. Petra mainly is admired because of its picture perfect architecture, its complex structure, quality and the non mentionable mere size.

Taj Mahal in Agra

The Taj Mahal is a tomb situated in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in the memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is one of The Seven Wonders of the World and is said to be one of the finest art of the

Mughal architecture. The Taj became a part of the UNESCO, World heritage Site.

Chichen Itza in Yucatan Peninsula

Chichen was founded by the Mayan civilization in 400 AD and it is located in the north central, north of Yucatan Peninsula now called Mexico. Chichen has a history that is 1500 years old.

Colosseum of Rome

Colosseum is one of the greatest architecture ever built in the history of Rome. The Colosseum was originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre and is the largest amphitheatre to have ever been built in the Roman Empire. Its construction began sometime between 70 and 72 AD and was completed in 80 AD when Titus was the ruling emperor. Christ The Redeemer Statue on

Corcovado Mountain

Christ the Redeemer is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The statue is 120 ft tall and has a weight of 635 tones. It is now a part of the new Seven Wonders of the World. It is located in the Corcovado Mountain which is at a peak of 700 meters i.e. 2,300 feet in the Tujuca forest National Park overlooking the city.

Machu Picchu in Peru

Machu Picchu is the pre Columbian, Inca empire site that is located almost 8,000 feet above the sea level. The site is located on a mountain ridge above the

valley of Urubamba in Peru. The city is also called the “lost city of

Incas”. Machu Picchu was built in 146 AD.

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Governor Generals of India

Lord William Bentinck (1828-1835)

• Carried out social reforms like Prohibition of Sati (1829) and elimination of thug (1830)
• Made English medium of higher education in the country (after the recommendations of Macaulay)
• Suppressed female infanticide and child sacrifice
• Charter Act of 1833 was passed: made him the first Governor General of India before him, the designation was Governor General of Bengal

Sir Charles Metcalfe (1835-1836)

• Abolished all restriction on vernacular press (called Liberator of the Press)

Lord Auckland (1836-1842)

• The most important event of his reign was the first Afghan War, which proved to be a disaster for the English

Lord Elleborogh (1842-1844)

Lord Harding I (1844-1848)

Lord Dalhousie (1848-1856)

• Opened the first Indian Railway in 1853 (from Bombay to Thane)
• Laid out the telegraph lines in 1853 (first was from Calcutta to Agra)
• Introduced the ‘Doctrine of Lapse’ and captured Satara (1848), Jaipur and Sambhalpur (1849), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1853) and Nagpur (1854)
• Established the postal system on the modern lines through the length and breadth of the country, which made communication easier
• Started the public works department, many bridge were constructed and the work on grand trunk road was started. The harbors of Karachi, Bombay and Calcutta were also developed.
• Made Shimla the summer capital
• Started engineering college at Roorkee
• Encouraged Science, Forestry, Commerce, Mineralogy and Industry
• In 1854, ‘Wood’s Dispatch’ was passed, which provided for the properly articulated system of education from the primary school to the university
• Due to Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s efforts, remarriage of widows was legalized by Widow Remarriage Act, 1856

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Governor Generals of Bengal

Warren Hastings (1772-1785)

• Brought a duel Government of Bengal to an end by the Regulating Act, 1773
• Deprived zamindars of their judicial power and civil and criminal courts were established
• Maintenance of records was made compulsory
• Great patron of oriental learning founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal with William Johns in 1784. He wrote introduction to the first English translation of the Gita by Charles Wilkins.
• Impeachment proceeding started against him when he returned on the charges of taking bribe. After a trial of seven years, he was finally acquitted.

Lord Cornwallis (1786-1835)

• Did the permanent settlement of Bengal (also called Zamindari System)
• First person to codify laws. The code separated the revenue administration from the administration of justice.
• Police Reforms: Each district was divided into 400 sq miles and placed under the Police Superintendent.
• The civil service was brought into existence

Sir John Shore (1793-1798)
Lord Wellesley (1789-1805)

• Adopted the policy of Subsidiary Alliance – A system to keep the Indian rulers under control and to make the British the paramount power
• The states that accepted this policy where the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Ruler of Mysore, the Raja of Tanjore, The Nawab of Awadh, the Peshwa, the Bhosle Raja of Berar, the Scindia, the Rajputs of Jodhpur, Jaipur, etc

George Barlow (1805-1807)

Lord Minto I (1807-1830)

• Concluded the treaty of Amritsar with Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1809)
• Charter Act of 1813 was passed

Lord Hastings (1813-1823)

Lord Amherst (1823-1828)

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First in World

• The first persons to reach Mount Everest – Sherpa Tenzing, Edmund Hillary
• The first person to reach North Pole – Robert Peary
• The first person to reach South Pole – Amundsen
• The first religion of the world – Hinduism
• The first country to print book – China
• The first country to issue paper currency – China
• The first country to commence competitive examination in civil services – China
• The first President of the U.S.A – George Washington
• The first Prime Minister of Britain – Robert Walpole
• The first Governor General of the United Nations – Trigveli (Norway)
• The first country to prepare a constitution – U.S.A
• The first Governor General of Pakistan – Mohd. Ali Jinnah
• The first country to host NAM summit – Belgrade (Yugoslavia)
• The first European to attack India – Alexander, The Great
• The first European to reach China – Marco Polo
• The first person to fly aeroplane – Wright Brothers
• The first person to sail round the world – Magellan
• The first country to send man to the moon – U.S.A
• The first country to launch Artificial satellite in the space – Russia
• The first country to host the modern Olympics – Greece
• First human in space - Yuri Gagarin (Russia)
• The first city on which the atom bomb was dropped – Hiroshima (Japan)
• The first person to land on the moon Neil Armstrong followed by – Edwin E. Aldrin
• The first shuttle to go in space – Columbia
• The first spacecraft to reach on Mars – Viking-I
• The first woman Prime Minister of England – Margaret Thatcher
• The first Muslim Prime Minister of a country – Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan)
• The first woman to climb Mount Everest – Mrs. Junko Tabei (Japan)
• The first woman cosmonaut of the world – Valentina Tereshkova (Russia)
• The first woman President of the U.N. General Assembly – Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
• The first batsman to score three test century in three successive tests on debut – Mohd. Azharuddin
• The first man to have climbed Mount Everest twice – Nawang Gombu
• The first U.S. President to resign Presidency – Richard Nixon
• Chinese Traveller to India – Fahein
• Foreign Invader to India – Alexander the Great
• Person in Space – Yuri Gagarin
• Person on Moon – Neil Armstrong
• The first woman to climb Mount Everest – Junko Taibei
• The first European to visit China – Marco Polo
• Man to walk in Space – Alexei Leonov
• The first woman Prime Minister of a country – Mrs. Srimavo Bhandarnaike
• The first woman President of a country – Maria Estela Peron
• The first woman to Command a Space Mission Colonel – Eileen Collins (U.S.A.)
• First talkie movie in the world – “The jazz Singer” (1927).
• The first residents of International Space station – Bill Shepherd (USA), Yuri Gidzanko and Sergei Krikalev (Russia)
• The first blind man to scale Mt. Everest – Erik Weihenmayer (USA, May 25, 2001)
• The first Muslim woman to become the Secretary General of Amnesty International – lrine Zubeida Khan
• The first space astronaut to go into space seven times till date – Jerry Ross (U.S.A.)
• The first South African to become the second space tourist – Mark Shuttleworth
• The first woman Prime Minister of South Korea – Ms. Chang Sang
• The first youngest grandmaster of the world in chess – Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine)
• The first adventurer flying successfully across the English Channel without aircraft – Felix Baumgartner (July 2003)
• China's first man in space – Yang Liwei
• The first Muslim woman to receive Nobel Prize – Shirin Ebadi (Nobel Peace Prize 2003)
• The woman with the highest individual Test score making a new world record – Kiran Baloch (Pakistani cricketer, scoring 242 runs playing women's cricket test against West Indies in Karachi in March, 2004)
• The first woman of the world to climb Mt. Everest four times – Lakpa Sherpa (Nepali)
• The first woman to cross seven important seas of the world by swimming – Bula Chaudhury (India)
• First Asian city to host Olympics – Tokyo, Japan (1964)
• First woman black tennis player to win a singles title at Wimbledon – A Gibson (1957)
• First woman to win a Grand Slam – Maureen Catherine (1953)
• First woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal – Charlotte Cooper, UK, Tennis singles (1900)
• First professional woman bullfighter – Patricia Mccormick (1952)
• First man to fly solo non stop across the Atlantic – Charles Lindbergh (1927)
• First person to cross Antarctic Circle  – James Cook (1773)
• First people to reach the North Pole – Lt Col. Joseph O. Fletcher and  Lt. William P. Benedict (1952)
• First person to conquer the Everest twice – Nawang Gombu Sherpa(1965)
• First person with only one arm to climb the Everest – American Gary Guller(2003)
• First woman to fly solo around the world – jerrie Fredritz Mock.(1964)
• First woman to fly solo across the English Channel – Hariiet Quimby
• First ascent of Everest without bottled oxygen  – Peter Habeler (Austria) and Reinhold Messner, (Italy)(1978)
• First woman to set foot on North Pole – Ann Bancroft, USA (1986) Jointly developed by Sony and Philips (1978)
• First Atom Bomb – “Little Boy” dropped over Hiroshima by the US during the second world war (1945)
• First manned space vehicle – Vostok 1,USSR (1961)
• First human to walk on the Moon  – Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11(1969)
• First human to walk in space – Alexei Arkhovich Leonov (1965)

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Emergence of Communists in India

Various socialist and communist groups came into existence in the 1920s. The example of successful Russian revolution has aroused the interest of many people. They were dissatisfied with the outcome of the Non-cooperation movement and with the Gandhian political ideas and programs. On October 20, 1920, M. N. Roy (who had gone to Russia to attend the second Congress of Communists International and who, along with Lenin, helped evolved its policy toward the colonies), Abani Mukharjee and some Muhajirs (Khilafat enthusiasts who had joined the Hijarat and crossed over through Afghanistan into Soviet territory) like Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Shafiq, set up a communist party of India in Tashkent. Roy however shifted to Berlin when his hopes of penetrating India through Afghanistan faded in 1921. From there, he started the fortnightly ‘Vanguard of Indian Independence’ and later published ‘India in Transition’ other Indian revolutionaries groups abroad were meanwhile turning towards Marxism most notably the old Berlin group headed by Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendranath Dutt, and Barkatullah. By mid 1920s an important section of Ghadar movement in exile has also turned communist under Ratan Singh, Santokh Singh, and Teja Singh Swatantra.

By the end of 1922, through Nalini Gupta and Shaukat Usmani, Roy established contacts with the emerging communist groups in India especially in Bombay (S. A. Dange), Calcutta (Muzffar Ahmad), Madras (Singara Velu), and Lahore (Ghulam Hussain). In August, 1922 Dange brought out the weekly Socialist from Bombay, the first ever communist journal to be published in India. In a letter to Dange on November 2, 1922, Roy outlined a plan for a dual organization – one legal and another illegal – a secret Communist nucleus working within a broad front Workers’ and Peasants’ Party.

The emergence of even a few tiny communist groups in India created a panic in the British Government, explained probably by the fear of another Bolshevik Revolution. In May 1924, Muzaffar Ahmad, S A Dange, Shaukat Usmani and Nalini Gupta were jailed in the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case. However, the setback was only temporary. The Communist Party of India was founded in 1925. Of much greater significance was the setting up of a number of organizations between 1925 -27, embodying the idea of broad-front Workers’ and Peasants’ Party (WPP) to serve as a legal cover. The basic objective of the WPP was to work within the Congress to give it a more radical orientation, make it the ‘party of the people’, and independently organize workers and peasants in class organizations to first work towards the achievement of complete independence and ultimately socialism.

The Communists started developing real links with the working class. They were quite prominent in the Kharagpur railway workshop strikes of February and September 1927. Communist influence grew rapidly among the Bombay textile workers as well, from 1926 onwards, but there was little penetration as yet into the countryside. It may have been due to sheer paucity of cadres which made dispersal into village very difficult in the 1920s.

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