Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Exam Preparation

The GST Council in its 28th meeting on Saturday reduced rates on a number of goods. From refrigerator to sanitary napkins, over 100 items became cheaper. After this reduction, only 38 items left in 28 percent tax bracket. Here is the list of items for which rate has been reduced Reduced to ZERO Sanitary Napkins Stone/Marble/Wood Deities Rakhi (other than that of precious or semi-precious material) Coir pith compost Sal Leaves, siali leaves and their products and Sabai Rope PhoolBhari Jhadoo (Raw material for Jhadoo) Khali dona Circulation and commemorative coins, sold by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL) to Ministry of Finance. Reduced to Five Ethanol for sale to oil marketing companies for blending with fuel (earlier 18 %) Solid biofuel pellets Chenille fabrics and other fabrics under heading 5801 Handloom dari Phosphoric acid (fertilizer grade only) Knitted cap/topi having retail sale value not exceeding Rs 1000 Reduc

Madras Music Academy has selected Carnatic vocalist Aruna Sairam for prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi Award of 2018. She is Vice-Chair of Sangeet Natak Academy. She has various awards and recognition in her name including the Padma Shri and US Congress Proclamation of Excellence. She is Music Ambassador of India, for successfully taking Indian music to the global arena. Sangita Kalanidhi The title awarded yearly to Carnatic musicians by Madras Music Academy. The first title was awarded to T. V. Subba Rao and M. S. Ramaswamy Iyer in 1929. Previous awardees in recent past 2017 -  Chitravina N. Ravikiran (Chitravina / Composer) 2016 -  A. Kanyakumari (Violinist) 2015 -  Sanjay Subrahmanyan (Vocalist) Aruna Sairam Born in Mumbai, 65 years old, Aruna Sairam born into a family with a deep love of music. In her early age, she met her Guru Sangita Kalanidhi Smt. T. Brinda, who trained her in the style of her own mentor, Veena Dhanammal (torchbearer of the school of Carnatic music).

Georges Lemaître was a Belgian priest, physicist, and cosmologist who made one of the greatest discovery in modern cosmology in 1927 — our universe is expanding. Four years later, he proposed that the universe began with a “single quantum” — what we now call the big bang. A civil engineer, Lemaître served as an artillery officer in the Belgian Army during World War I. In 1923, he was ordained a priest. He studied at the University of Cambridge’s solar physics laboratory (1923–24) and then at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (1925–27). Today is 124th Birthday of Georges Lemaître. He was born on July 17, 1894, in Charleroi, Belgium and died on June 20, 1966, in Leuven. Yet the public and many scientists remain unaware of Lemaître’s seminal achievements. Georges Lemaître Work on Timeline 1917 - Albert Einstein applied the new theory of Relativity to the universe as a whole. Einstein added the famous cosmological constant to the model - eternally static univ

President has nominated four new members to Rajya Sabha. Article 80 of the Constitution gives the President right to nominate twelve members in Rajya Sabha from people who have special knowledge or practical experience in art, literature, science and social service. The rationale behind this principle is to provide eminent persons a place in Rajya Sabha without going through the process of election. The current Rajya Sabha Nomination includes following four names: Sonal Mansingh Sonal Mansingh is a well-known Indian classical dancer and Guru Bharatanatyam and Odissi dancing style. She is a recipient of Padma Vibhushan (2003), Kalidas Samman, Sangeet Natak Academy Award among others. She is a highly respected choreographer, teacher, orator and social activist. Raghunath Mohapatra Internationally acclaimed sculptor, Mr. Mohapatra is an authority in stone carving because of his deep knowledge of the traditional style of sculpting in temple architecture. His long line of work

132nd edition of tennis tournament 2018 Wimbledon Championship held this July in All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. It was the 51st edition of the open era.  Of the current four Grand Slam tournaments, the Australian and US Open use hard courts, French Open is played on clay, and Wimbledon, the only Grand Slam to have always been played on the same surface, is played on grass. List of winners of Wimbledon 2018 Championship in all five categories: Men's Single Winner: Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 2nd Place: Kevin Anderson (South Africa) Score: 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 It was Djokovic's 13th Grand Slam titles and Fourth Wimbledon Title. Women's Single Winner: Angelique Kerber (Germany) 2nd Place: Serena Williams (United States) Score: 6-3, 6-3 Serena Williams holds 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. Men's Doubles Winner: Mike Bryan and Jack Sock (United States) 2

France has won the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow, Russia after defeating Croatia by 4-2. France won this title second time after 20 years. In 1998, it defeated Brazil in home ground. Uruguay and Argentina are two other countries who won the title twice. Top 4 Countries at 2018 FIFA World Cup France Croatia Belgium England 32 countries divided into eight groups having four teams in each played league matches, followed by quarter-finals, semi-final, and final. Croatia came all the way to Final and surprised everyone to become the smallest country to reach play FIFA World Cup final. 2018 FIFA World Cup Awards Harry Kane , Captain of the English team scored the highest six across six matches to win the Golden Boot Luka Modric of Croatia won the Golden Ball Thibaut Courtois of Belgium won the Golden Glove Kylian Mbappe  of France, 19 years old won the Young Player Award In the 65th minute, Mbappe became the first teenager to score in a final since Pele in 1958 with

UNSC accepted the resolution imposing the arms embargo on South Sudan. Now following this, UN members are called to prevent the sale, supply, transfer of arms and related and related material, and also withhold any training, technical or financial assistance related to the military. However, it exempts other humanitarian activities in this young countries. Civil War in South Sudan In 2013, tensions between factions loyal to President Salva Kiir, of the Dinka ethnic group, and those aligned with his former Vice President, Riek Machar, of theNuer ethnic group, exploded into fighting on the streets of Juba, the capital city. Since then, the civil war has ruined the country. Despite of several efforts to maintain peace, the International community and the UN has not gained any substantial achievement. South Sudan Timeline 1956 - The Republic of Sudan gained Independence from British Empire 1972-83 - First Sudanese Civil War, Southern Sudan Autonomous Region formed 2005 - Compreh

The government has chosen six institutes including three public and three private institutes to grant the status of Institute of Eminence. Among these three public institutes will be provided with Rs. 1000 cr. over next five years while other three private institutes will get academic and administrative autonomy (but no such fund). Institute of Eminence (Public sector) The Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai Indian Institute of Science, Bangaluru Institute of Eminence (Private sector) Manipal Academy of Higher Education Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Greenfield Jio Institute What is Jio Institute? The Jio Institute is yet-to-be-set-up by Reliance foundation and is going to receive a letter of intent instead of the title of eminence now. Only after establishment and delivering promises within three years, it will get the title. Former NITI Ayog chairman Arvind Panagariya considers this move as a