Air Cargo in INDIA

               The estimated growth of air cargo business in India during 2011-12 is 11.8 per cent.  The growth in air cargo was approximately 5 per cent in 2008-09.  

               Airports Authority of India (AAI)  has  plans to develop cargo handling facilities at Srinagar, Surat and Agartala airports.

               The  airports where cargo handling facility is operated by  Airports  Authority of India (AAI) are Chennai, Kolkata,Guwahati,  Lucknow,  Coimbatore,  Amritsar  and  Indore.  In addition, airports where cargo handling facility is operated by  State  Government  Agencies  / others are Delhi, Mumbai, Amritsar,  Nagpur,  Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Varanasi, Calicut, Visakhapatnam, Trivandrum, Bagdogra, Goa, Cochin, Srinagar, Bhubaneshwar and Tiruchirapalli.

Additional reading--  Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport (MIHAN) project is in  NAGPUR

Trade Union in India

Trade Union in India is the primary instrument for promoting the union of trade union movement and championing the cause of working class in India. The Madras Labor Union was the first organized Trade Union in India followed by a large number of trade unions in the Indian industrial centers. The Indian government passed the Trade Unions Act in 1926, which legalized the registered Trade Union in India. The Act also gives protection to these trade unions against certain civil and criminal cases. 

Significant Trade Union in India:

 

There are at present many Trade Union in India which regulates the aspirations of the working classes. The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is the oldest Trade Union in India and till 1945 it remained the central trade union organization in India. 

 Some others are like -

•  All India Bank Officers Confederation- AIBOC is the premier organization of Bank Officers in India. This Trade Union in India stands apart from the others as it is organized purely on apolitical lines.

• All India State Government Employees Federation- AISGF is a trade union organization representing state employees and teachers of different states in India.
• Center of Indian Trade Unions -CITU is one of the major Trade Union in India, opposing imperialistic intentions and patronizing interest of the working classes.
• Hind Mazdoor Sabha - HMS is a progressive Trade Union in India that prefers to refrain from political control.
• National Confederation of Officer's Association -NCOA represents the managerial and supervisory staff of the Indian government owned public Enterprises.
• Trade Union International - TUI forms a part of the structure of World Federation of Trade Unions, representing the public employees, telecommunication employees, health services, financial sector employees & municipal employees of different countries of the world.

The Trade Union in India is engaged in protesting against the attacks on trade union right, right to strike, right to collective bargaining, reduction of social security, closure of industrial units and massive retrenchment of workers, and the endangering growth of unemployment.

Monopsony

In economics, a monopsony (from Ancient Greek μόνος (monos) "single" + ὀψωνία (opsōnia) "purchase") is a market form in which only one buyer faces many sellers. It is an example of imperfect competition, similar to a monopoly, in which only one seller faces many buyers. As the only purchaser of a good or service, the "monopsonist" may dictate terms to its suppliers in the same manner that a monopolist controls the market for its buyers.

Empirical measures (wikipedia)

Empirical measures

Money is used in final settlement of a debt and as a ready store of value. Its different functions are associated with different empirical measures of the money supply. Since most modern economic systems are regulated by governments through monetary policy, the supply of money is broken down into types of money based on how much of an effect monetary policy can have on each. Narrow measures include those more directly affected by monetary policy, whereas broader measures are less closely related to monetary-policy actions.^[6]Each measure can be classified by placing it along a spectrum between narrow and broad monetary aggregates. The different types of money are typically classified as Ms. The number of Ms usually range from M0 (narrowest) to M3 (broadest) but which Ms are actually used depends on the system. The typical layout for each of the Ms is as follows:

• M0: Notes and coins (currency) in circulation and in bank vaults.^[8] In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, M0 includes bank reserves, so M0 is referred to as the monetary base, or narrow money.^[9]

• MB: Equals M0 + reserves which commercial banks hold in their accounts with the central bank (minimum reserves and excess reserves). MB is referred to as the monetary base or total currency.^[10] This is the base from which other forms of money (like checking deposits, listed below) are created and is traditionally the most liquid measure of the money supply. ^[11]

• M1: M1 includes funds that are readily accessible for spending. M1 consists of: (1) currency outside Federal Reserve Banks, and the vaults of depository institutions; (2) traveler's checks of nonbank issuers; (3) demand deposits; and (4) other checkable deposits (OCDs), which consist primarily of negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts at depository institutions and credit union share draft accounts. ^[12] Bank reserves are not included in M1.

• M2: Equals M1 + savings deposits, time deposits less than $100,000 and money market deposit accounts for individuals. M2 represents money and "close substitutes" for money.^[13] M2 is a broader classification of money than M1. Economists use M2 when looking to quantify the amount of money in circulation and trying to explain different economic monetary conditions. M2 is a key economic indicator used to forecast inflation.^[14]

• M3: Equals M2 + large time deposits, institutional money-market funds, short-term repurchase agreements, along with other larger liquid assets.^[15] M3 is no longer published or revealed to the public by the US central bank.^[16] However it is estimated by the web site Shadow Government Statistics. ^[17]

• MZM: Money with zero maturity. This measure equals M2 plus all money market funds, minus time deposits. It measures the supply of financial assets redeemable at par on demand.

SPV

A special purpose entity (SPE) (sometimes, especially in Europe, "special purpose vehicle" or simply SPV) is a legal entity (usually a limited company of some type or, sometimes, a limited partnership) created to fulfill narrow, specific or temporary objectives. SPE's are typically used by companies to isolate the firm from financial risk. A company will transfer assets to the SPE for management or use the SPE to finance a large project thereby achieving a narrow set of goals without putting the entire firm at risk. SPEs are also commonly used in complex financings to separate different layers of equity infusion. In addition, they are commonly used to own a single asset and associated permits and contract rights (such as an apartment building or a power plant), to allow for easier transfer of that asset.

WIKIPEDIA

GK watch

Short Name	Full Form or Abbreviations
3G	Third Generation
AAA	Asian Athletics Association
AAFI	The Amateur Athletics Federation of India
AC	Ante Christum (Before Christ), Ashok Chakra, Air Conditioner
ADB	Asian Development Bank
AFI	Athletics Federation of India
AFMC	Armed Forces Medical College
AI	Artifical Intelligence, Air India
AICTE	All India Council for Technical Education
AIFF	All India Football Federation
AIIMS	All India Institute of Medical Science
AITUC	All India Trade Union Congress
ALGOL	Algebric Oriented Language
AM	Ante Meridiem (before Noon), Amplitude Modulation
APEC	Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
ARPANET	Advanced Research Project Agency Network
ASCII	American Standard Code for Informa­tion Interchange
ASEAN	Association of South East Asian Na­tions
ASLV	Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle
AT&T	American Telegraphic and Telephone Co. Ltd.
ATC	Air Traffic Control
ATM	Automated Teller Machine
AVSM	Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
B2B	Busines to Business
B2C	Business to Consumer
BARC	Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
BBC	British Broadcasting Corporation
BBS	Bulletin Board Service
BC	Before Christ
BHEL	Bharat Heavy Electri-cals Ltd
BIOS	Basic Input Output System
BIT	Binary Digit
BPL	Below Poverty Line
BPO	Business Process Outsourcing
BPR	Business Process Re-engineering
bps	bytes per second
BSE	Bombay Stock Exchange
BSF	Border Security Force
BSNL	Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
C2C	Consumer to Consumer
CA	Chartered Accountant
CAD	Com­puter Aided Design
CAT	Common Admis­sion Test
CBI	Central Bureau of Investigation
CBSE	Central Board of Secondary Education
CDAC	Centre for the Development of Ad­vanced Computing
CDMA	Code Division Multiple Access
CEO	Chief Executive Officer
CFSL	Central Forensic Science Laboratory
CGI	Common Gateway Interface
CIA	Central Intelligence Agency
CID	Criminal Investigation Department
CISC	Complex instruction-set computing
CITU	Centre of Indian Trade Unions
CNN	Cable News Network
COMSAT	Communications Satellite Corporation
COPRA	Consumer Protection Act
CORBA	Common Object Request Broker Architecture
CPI(M)	Communist Party of India / Marxist
CPWD	Central Public Works Department
CRIS	Centre for Railway Information System
CSIR	Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
CTBT	Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
CYMK	Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Kinda
D.Litt.	Doctor of Literature
D.Phil.	Doctor of Philosophy
D.Sc	Doctor of Science
DC	Direct Current
DIG	Deputy Inspector General
DMA	Direct Memory Access
DMK	Dravida Munetra Kazhagam
DNA	Deoxyribo-nucleic Acid
DTP	Desktop Publishing
DVC	Damodar Valley Corporation
DVD	Digital Versatile/Video Disc

read more--http://www.onlinegk.com/general-knowledge/acronym.aspx

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GK bits

A.
Organisations HQ

1.UN New York
2.Int’ l Court of Justice The Hague
3.UNDP,UNICEF New York
4.UNEP Nairobi
5.UNHCR Geneva
6.IAEA,UNIDO Vienna
7.FAO Rome
8.UNESCO,ESRO Paris
9.IMF Paris & Geneva
10.World Bank (IBRD) Washington DC
11.WIPO,WTO Geneva
12.IMO London
13.UPU Berne
14.ICAO Montreal
15.ADB Manila
16.ASEAN Djakarta
17.CARICOM Georgetown (Guyana)
18.CIS Minsk(Belarus)

B. Rivers
Brahmaputra – 2900 km
Indus - 2900 km
Ganga - 2510 km
Godavari – 1450 km
Narmada – 1290 km
Krishna – 1290 km
Mahanadi – 890 km
Kaveri – 760 km

Ranking of rivers on the basis of length and direction (west to east ,north to south etc) is a frequently asked question in UPSC prelims. One should also have a good idea about the important international rivers. Ensemble’s Geography through Maps is a good book to follow even for non-geography optional students.

C. Information on important straits :
1.Gibraltar strait separates Spain and Morocco.
2.Magellan strait separates Chile and Tierra del Fugeo.
3.Bass strait separates Australia and Tasmania.
4.Torres strait separates Australia and Papua New Guinea.
5.Bab-al-Mandab strait separates Yemen and Djibouti.
6.Strait of Hormuz separates Iran and UAE.
7.Strait of Malacca separates Malaysia and Sumatra.
8.Selat-sunda strait separates Sumatra and Java.

One should look up all important straits in Atlas and in fact referring atlas should become an important part of reading newspaper.Whenever and wherever one encounters the name of any place or country that one cannot place geographically ,one must immediately look it up in Atlas and don’t stop there,go a step further by looking up nearby countries,mountain ranges,rivers and also whether any tropic or equator is passing through it.This will make the learning more complete and can very well make make the difference.

D.Random Information
1.Oxalic Acid – used to remove ink spots.
2.Sulphuric Acid – dehydrating agent.
3.Hydrogen Peroxide – bleaching agent.
4.Haber’s Process – Ammonia.
5.Ostwald’s Process – Nitric Acid.
6.Solvay Process – Sodium Carbonate.
7.Parke’s Process – Silver.

E.Research Institutes Locations
1.Potato - Shimla
2.Leather - Chennai
3.Poultry - B’lore
4.Tobacco - Rajamundry
5.Rice - Cuttack
6.Sugarcane - Lucknow
7.Jute - Barrackpore
8.Botanical Survey - Kolkata
9.Dairy Institute - Karnal
10.Dairy Corporation - Anand
11.Coffee - Chikmaglur
12.Tea - Jorhat
13.Bee - Pune
14.Cotton - Thane

F.Winds
1.Haboob - Sudan
2.Harmattan – West Africa
3.Khamsin – North Africa
4.Bora – Adriatic Coast
5.Zonda – Argentina

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What is 3G ?

* 3G is short for third-generation mobile telephony services.
* The technology is based on an International Telecommunication Union standard called IMT-2000.
* 3G phones work in higher bandwidths of 15-20 MHz, while currently available mobile phones are loosely regarded as 2G or 2.5G, and use 30-200 KHz bandwidth.
* Since the bandwidth for 3G is higher, it facilitates faster, better and simultaneous delivery of audio and non-audio data. 3G networks offer download speeds of 14.4 Mbits/second and uploads of 5.8 Mbits/second.
* Bandwidth is a measure of the width of a range of frequencies used while transferring data from one point to another, and is measured in hertz.
* While audio data is normally associated with telephone call, non-audio data comprise e-mail exchanges, instant messaging, and downloading information, all riding on the Internet.
* Now with 3G services telecom carriers will be able to provide video broadcast and other value-added services such as tele-medicine, mobile banking, stock transactions, e-learning etc, through wireless communications at a faster pace and with high quality.
* Various government services (e-governance) to the masses would be facilitated through the medium of mobile phone powered by a higher bandwidth of 3G.
* Acquiring 3G spectrum is expensive (Rs 1,600 crore for new licence holders according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India). So a telecom carrier would like to capitalise by ensuring widespread usage of mobile telephony.
* 3G services were first launched by NTT DoCoMo of Japan in October 2001, followed by Korea in January 2002.
* As of December 2007, 190 3G networks were operating in 40 countries.
* There are about 225 million 3G subscribers worldwide today