National Symbol of India

state emblem

The state emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. In the original, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus.
principal religions

National Song

The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana.


National Flower

Lotus, (Nelumbo Lucifera) is the national flower of India. It is a sacred flower and occupies a unique position in the art and mythology in ancient India and has been an auspicious symbol of Indian culture since time immemorial.

National Flag
The National flag is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesari) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three.

National Calendar
The national calendar is based on the Saka Era with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22 March 1957 along with the Gregorian calendar for the following official purposes:

NATIONAL BIRD
The Indian peacock, Pavo cristatus (Linnaeus), the national bird of India, is a colourful, swan-sized bird, with a fan-shaped crest of feathers, a white patch under the eye and a long, slender neck. The male of the species is more colourful than the female, with a glistening blue breast and neck and a spectacular bronze-green train of around 200 elongated feathers.

National Anthem
The song Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the national anthem of India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.

National Animal
The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris (Linnaeus), is a striped animal. It has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes.

General Knowledge in Hindi

GK Quiz In Hindi,

1 भारत की प्रथम सिंचाई परियोजना कौन सीथी।
- दामोदार घाटी सिंचाई परियोजना
2. भारत का प्रथम व्यवस्थित बसा शहर कौनसा है।
-चंडीगढ़
3. गैंडे के लिए प्रसिद्ध राष्ट्रीय उद्यान कौनसा है।

- काजीरंगा नेशनल पार्क (असम)
4. केंद्र राज्य वित्त संबंधों को निपटारा भारतीय संविधान के किस अनुच्छेद में वर्णन है।
- अनुच्छेद 280
5. भारत के नियंत्रण एवं महालेखा परीक्षक की नियुक्ति संविधान के किस अनुच्छेद के तहत की जाती है।
- अनुच्छेद 148
6. किस प्रधानमंत्री के कार्यकाल में दोउपप्रधानमंत्री एक साथ नियुक्त हुए थे।
- मोरारजी देसाई
7. लोकसभा में विरोधी दल के पहले मान्यता प्राप्त नेता थे।
- वाईवी च्हवाण
8. कोटा स्थित सेज में किसका उत्पादन होता है।
- सूचना प्रौद्योगिकी
9. स्वतंत्र भारत की प्रथम मंत्रिपरिषद में शामिल एकमात्र महिला मंत्री थी।
- राजकुमारी अमृत कौर
10. केंद्रीय मंत्री परिषद में राजस्थान के मंत्रियों के संख्या कितनीहै।
- छह
11. राज्य में सोयाबीन की खेती सर्वाधिककिस क्षेत्र में होती है।
- हाड़ौती क्षेत्र में
12. धान का कटोरा कौनसा जिला कहलाता है।
- गंगानगर
13. भारत में सर्वाधिक एफडीआई किस देश से होता है।
- मोरीसश
14. भारत में रु का अवमूल्य सर्वप्रथम कब किया गया।
- 1991 में
15. किस मुगल बादशाह ने राम-सिया नाम के सिक्के चलाए।
- अकबर
16. वर्तमान में भारत की राष्ट्रीय आय का अनुमान कौन लगाता है।
- सीएसओ
17. कौनसा देश मसालों का घर कहलाता है।
- भारत
18. महात्मा बुद्ध का जन्म स्थान लुंबिनी कहां पर स्थित है।
- बिहार में
19. राजस्थान में ओरियेंटल रिसर्च इंस्टीट्यूट कहां पर स्थित है।
- जोधपुर
20. उम्मेदसागर बांध किस स्थान से संबंधित है।
- कोटा

Union Budget 2013: Facts and figures

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The home of bank job aspirants(SBI, Associate banks, IBPS,RRB PO and clerk): The current affairs is updated everyday for exam preparation. Visit regularly to improve your awareness in banking and finance to score good in SBI & associate banks, IBPS, & RRB exams. Regular updation of general knowledge, current affairs, banking and finance terms, Model question papers & tips for appearing bank exams for IBPS, SBI & associate banks, RRB & other banks is available.


Fiscal deficit seen at 5.2 point of GDP in 2012/13
Fiscal deficit seen at 4.8 point of GDP in 2013/14


Faced with huge fiscal deficit, India had no choice but to rationalize expenditure

Gross market borrowing seen at 6.29 trillion rupees in 2013/14
Net market borrowing seen at 4.84 trillion rupees in 2013/14
Short-term borrowing seen at 198.44 billion rupees in 2013/14
To buy back 500 billion rupees worth of bonds in 2013/14


2013/14 major subsidies bill estimated at 2.48 trillion rupees from 1.82 trillion rupees

Petroleum subsidy seen at 650 billion rupees in 2013/14
Revised petroleum subsidy for 2012/13 at 968.8 billion rupees
Estimated 900 billion rupees spending on food subsidies in 2013/14
Revised food subsidies at 850 billion rupees in 2012/13
Revised 2012/13 fertiliser subsidy at 659.7 billion rupees

Duty free limit for Gold raised to Rs. 50,000 in case of a male passenger and Rs. 1 lakh for female passengers.
Tax Administration Reforms Commission to be set up to review tax laws


Total budget expenditure seen at 16.65 trillion rupees in 2013/14

Non-plan expenditure estimated at about 11.1 trillion rupees in 2013/14
India's 2013/14 plan expenditure seen at 5.55 trillion rupees
Revised estimate for total expenditure is 14.3 trillion rupees in 2012/13, which is 96 point of budget estimate
Set aside 100 billion rupees towards spending on food subsidies in 2013/14
Expect 133 billion rupees through direct tax proposals in 2013/14
Expect 47 billion rupees through indirect tax proposals in 2013/14
Target 558.14 billion rupees from stake sales in state-run firms in 2013/14
Expect revenue of 408.5 bln rupees from airwave surcharges, auction of telecom spectrum, licence fees in 2013/14


Rs. 1000-crore Nirbhaya Fund announced for the empowerment of women

National Housing Bank (NHB) to set up urban housing bank fund and Rs. 2,000 crore will be allocated in this regard

Rs. 14,000 crore capital infusion into public sector banks in 2013-14

PSU banks to have ATMs at all their branches by March 31, 2014
Rs. 6,000 crore to be allocated for rural housing fund in 2013-14

Defence allocation increased to Rs. 2.03 lakh crore

Rs. 6,275 crore to ministry of science and technology, Rs. 5,880 crore to Department of Atomic Energy
Tax-free infrastructure bonds of Rs.50,000 crore to be issued
Foodgrain production during 2013-13 estimated at 250 million tonnes
Person taking a home loan for his first home during the period 2013-14 will be entitled to an additional deduction of Rs. 1 lakh
Re-financing capacity of SIDBI increased to Rs. 10,000 crore from Rs. 5,000 crore for Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises
Rs. 27,049 crore allocation to the Agriculture Ministry in 2013-14

Rs. 7 lakh crore target fixed for agriculture credit for 2013-14 compared to Rs. 5.75 lakh crore in the current year.

Eastern Indian states to get Rs. 1,000 crore allocation for improving agricultural production

Govt committed to food security bill. 10,000 crores set apart for expenditure likely under the act

Rs. 37,330 crore allocated for Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

Rs. 3511 crore allocated to Minority Affairs Ministry which is 60 per cent of the revised estimates
Additional sum of Rs. 200 crore to Women and Child Welfare
Rs. 37,330 crore allocated for Ministry of Health & Family Welfare

General Knowledge Quiz 2013

General Awareness: Quiz on persons resigned 

1. Anindya Kumar Mitra resigned as the Advocate-General of .

a) West Bengal
b) Madhya Pradesh
c) Orissa
d) Uttar Pradesh

The correct answer is a) West Bengal

2.____  Solicitor-General of India resigned from his office

a) Rohinton F Nariman
b) Nitin Gadkari
c) BS Yeddyyurappa
d) Arjun Munda

The correct answer is a) Rohinton F Nariman

3._____ Resigned from the Post of BJP National President.

a) Rohinton F Nariman
b) Nitin Gadkari
c) BS Yeddyyurappa
d) Arjun Munda

The correct answer is b) Nitin Gadkar

4.Chief Minister of Jharkhand __________ Resigned and Recommended dissolution of State Assembly.

a) Rohinton F Nariman
b) Nitin Gadkari
c) BS Yeddyyurappa
d) Arjun Munda

The correct answer is d) Arjun Munda

5. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on _____________ resigned after 13months in office .

a) 21 December 2012
b) 20 January 2013
c) 01 September 2012
d) 16 May 2012

The correct answer is a) 21 December 2012

General Awareness: Music and Musicians quiz 

1.In music, how many quavers equal a minim?

a) 1

b) 2

c) 3

d) 4

The correct answer is d) 4

2.What musical instrument did Sherlock Holmes play?

a) Guitar

b) Violen

c) Sitar

d) Piano

The correct answer is b) Violen

3. Miles Davis is famous for playing which musical instrument?

a) Trumpet

b) Violen

c) Sitar

d) Piano

The correct answer is a) Trumpet

4. What is the highest pitched woodwind instrument?

a) Piccolo

b) Violen

c) Sitar

d) Piano

The correct answer is a) Piccolo

5. In which US city did the Carringtons live?

a) Denver

b) New York

c) Chicago

d) San Diego

The correct answer is a) Denver

States of India (2013)

States of India

Clickable Map of India:

Click to know about the history of the states. 

After the partition of British India into India and Pakistan, there were 9 provinces and about 460 princely states in India. Most of the princely states within the Indian territory consented to join India. Some joined India under their own initiative and others were convinced by Sardar Villabbhai Patel (a very senior member of the Indian Congress) to join India. Patel who held negotiations with the princely states, came to an agreement with the princely state rulers that they would continue getting monthly allowances as they were given to them by the British. And so began the designing of the internal map of India.

The big princely states of Mysore, Hyderabad and Kashmir remained in their original sizes and became new Indian states. To the big provinces like Bombay, Orissa and Bengal, small princely states around them were joined and these provinces also became new India's states. In north India some clinging princely states were joined together to create a new state. Rajastan was created in this way. Along with the states which the government created, there were also regions in India which for different reasons were subjected directly to the central government and were called union territories. For example Himachal Pradesh in north India was created by adjoining some princely states. It was a union territory.

Indian leaders and politicians who had different linguistic and cultural backgrounds demanded that the Indian states should be based on linguistic and cultural boundaries. The central government leaders, which belonged to the Congress party, opposed this idea. They feared that this could eventually lead towards separation of different Indian societies from India and would break the unity. But after a few years of opposition the central government agreed to create Indian states based on linguistic differences.

The first step in this direction was made in 1953 when Andra Pradesh, in south India, was created for the Telegu speakers. In 1956 began the first organized process of creating Indian states based on linguistic differences. Among the states created that year were, Andra Pradesh which was created by adjoining certain parts of Telegu speaking areas from former Madras province and most of Hyderabad. For speakers of Malyalam, the state of Kerala was created. For Kanadda speakers the state of Mysore was created (which later on changed its name to Karnataka) from the former Mysore state and also from Kanadda speaking regions in Bombay, Madras and Hyderabad states. Along with states created based on linguistic boundaries, some other big states were created by joining small nearby states. For example Madya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajastan.

The central Indian government did not accept demands of all different cultural leaders for an autonomous Indian state. For example, the Sikhs wanted an autonomous Punjabi state which would have a Sikh majority with its official language, Punjabi. The central government did not accept this demand, instead created in 1956 the state of Punjab, which included also Hindi speakers in its territory and did not have a Sikh majority. But the Sikhs did not give up and continued demanding the Punjab state and in 1966, Punjab was parted into three new states. One of three states remained with the name Punjab and most of the Sikh population of India lived within its territory, but they were not the complete majority of that state. Another demand the central government did not accept was of the Maithali speakers, in present day Bihar, who also demanded a separate autonomous state for Maithali speakers.

Maharashtra for Marathi speakers and Gujarat for Gujarati speakers were created in 1960. Gujarat was created on northern part of the former Bombay state and Maharashtra was created from southern Bombay state and were joined to it parts of Madya Pradesh and Hyderabad. This process erased from India's map the state of Hyderabad, which was now distributed within three different states. Not all Gujaratis were enthused by the creation of new Gujarati state because this division meant that they had to give up the city of Bombay to the Maharashtrians.

Later on other states were created. In east India the state of Assam was parted a few times to create some new states. In 1963, Nagaland was created. In 1972, Manipur was created and there were others small states created from parts of Assam. In west India, Goa was established as a state in 1987. Before their establishment as states, Goa; Manipur and Nagaland were union territories. In the states that exist in India today, there are demands by other communities of India to create new autonomous states for their communities.

These demands for new states in India rise and fall according to the political power of the demanders. To point out such demands, which exist or existed, one can point out the demand of Jammu residents for an autonomous Jammu state in present day Kashmir. The Buddhist of Ladakh in Kashmir also demand autonomous state. In Bihar there was a demand for a separate Maithali state for Maithali speakers. In west Bengal, the Gurkha demands an autonomous Gurkhaland in north Bengal. Along the borders of Orissa and Bihar some tribal communities demanded to create Jharkhand. Similar demands of the aboriginal tribes of India exist in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Andra Pradesh. 

In the year 2000, three new states were established in India. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttaranchal. Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were created from parts of Bihar and Orissa. And Uttaranchal was created from north Uttar Pradesh.

Prime Ministers of India

Prime Ministers of India

      Indian National Congress       Janata Party       Janata Dal       Bhartiya Janta Party

Name		Entered office	Left office
1	Jawaharlal Nehru  (14 Nov 1889 - 27 May 1964)	15-Aug-47	27-May-64
2	Gulzarilal Nanda  (4 Jul 1898 - 15 Jan 1998)	27-May-64	9-Jun-64
3	Lal Bahadur Shastri  (2 Oct 1904 - 11 Jan 1966)	9-Jun-64	11-Jan-66
2	Gulzarilal Nanda  (4 Jul 1898 - 15 Jan 1998)	11-Jan-66	19-Feb-66
4	Indira Gandhi  (19 Nov 1917 - 31 Oct 1984)	19-Jan-66	24-Mar-77
5	Morarji Desai  (29 Feb 1896 - 10 Apr 1995)	24-Mar-77	28-Jul-79
6	Choudhary Charan Singh  (23 Dec 1902 - 29 May 1987)	28-Jul-79	15-Jan-80
4	Indira Gandhi  (19 Nov 1917 - 31 Oct 1984)	15-Jan-80	31-Oct-84
7	Rajiv Gandhi  (20 Aug 1944 - 21 May 1991)	31-Oct-84	2-Dec-89
8	Vishwanath Pratap Singh (25 Jun 1931 - present)	2-Dec-89	10-Nov-90
9	Chandra Shekhar  (1 Jul 1927 - 8 Jul 2007)	10-Nov-90	21-Jun-91
10	P. V. Narasimha Rao  (28 Jun 1921 - 23 Dec 2004)	21-Jun-91	16-May-96
11	Atal Behari Vajpayee  (25 Dec 1924 - present)	16-May-96	1-Jun-96
12	H. D. Deve Gowda  (18 May 1933 - present)	1-Jun-96	21-Apr-97
13	Inder Kumar Gujral  (Dec 1919 - present)	21-Apr-97	19-Mar-98
11	Atal Behari Vajpayee  (25 Dec 1924 - present)	19-Mar-98	22-May-04
14	Manmohan Singh  (26 Sep 1932 - present)	22-May-04	present

Presidents of India

Presidents of India

      Indian National Congress       Janata Party       Independent A Acting

	President	Took office	Left office	Vice-President
1	Rajendra Prasad	Jan 26, 1950	May 13, 1962	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
2	Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	May 13, 1962	May 13, 1967	Zakir Hussain
3	Zakir Hussain	May 13, 1967	May 03, 1969	Varahagiri Venkata Giri
A	Varahagiri Venkata Giri	May 03, 1969	Jul 20, 1969
A	Muhammad Hidayatullah	Jul 20, 1969	Aug 24, 1969
4	Varahagiri Venkata Giri	Aug 24, 1969	Aug 24, 1974	Gopal Swarup Pathak
5	Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed	Aug 24, 1974	Feb 11, 1977	Basappa Danappa Jatti
A	Basappa Danappa Jatti	Feb 11, 1977	Jul 25, 1977
6	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy	Jul 25, 1977	Jul 25, 1982	Muhammad Hidayatullah
7	Giani Zail Singh	Jul 25, 1982	Jul 25, 1987	Ramaswamy Venkataraman
8	Ramaswamy Venkataraman	Jul 25, 1987	Jul 25, 1992	Shankar Dayal Sharma
9	Shankar Dayal Sharma	Jul 25, 1992	Jul 25, 1997	Kocheril Raman Narayanan
10	Kocheril Raman Narayanan	Jul 25, 1997	Jul 25, 2002	Krishan Kant
11	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam	Jul 25, 2002	Jul 25, 2007	Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
12	Pratibha Patil	Jul 25, 2007	Incumbent	Mohammad Hamid Ansari