[1]

International Current Affairs   2009

ASEAN Summit 2009 (25th October 2009)

Leaders of ASEAN countries has decided to increase cooperation in education at the 15th

ASEAN Summit held in Hua Hin, Thailand, on October 23-25, 2009.The cooperation

agreement signed by the leaders of the ten ASEAN member countries at the summit’s

closing ceremony on Sunday. The ASEAN community in 2015 will be based on three

pillars, security of the political community, economic community, and socio-cultural

community. Therefore, ASEAN leaders had been urged to step up educational

competency in their respective countries. All these efforts may serve as a common

reference for ASEAN to a better quality education.The member country had also

expressed readiness to establish a research convention on education.The result will

serve as a basic framework for new cooperation in the sector. The summit also

announced a plan to observe ASEAN`s founding anniversary every August 8, and

introduce the history of the regional organization as well as its latest developments to

the students.

Global population to reach seven billion by 2011 (23rd October 2009)

The global population is expected to reach seven billion in 2011 and the increase would

happen in just 12 years after reaching six billion in 1999, says the World Population Data

Sheet prepared by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB).In a statement issued by the

Information Services Department,growth of the world’s youth population was shifting to

the poorest countries’ especially Asia and Africa, and latter’s population of one billion

was growing by about 24 million per year, and would double by 2050.The bulk of today’s

1.2 billion youth are in developing countries with 8 out of 10 living in Africa and Asia.

Obama Wins Nobel peace prize 2009 (9th October 2009) 

The chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee cited President Obama’s outreach to

the Muslim world and his push for Israeli-Arab peace in explaining its decision to award

him the prize.“One of the first things he did was to go to Cairo to try to reach out to the

Muslim world, then to restart the Mideast negotiations and then he reached out to the

rest of the world through international institutions,” Thorbjorn Jagland said in Oslo last

Friday after announcing that Obama had won the prize. The formal citation notes

Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation

between peoples” and his “vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.”

Obama will receive the $1.4 million prize in Oslo on Dec. 10.

Kabul’s Indian Embassy attacked (8th October 2009)

[2]

A vehicle packed with explosives drove into the sidewall of the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

A huge blast followed. Seven Afghan civilians were killed and 45 more were wounded in a

blast outside the Indian embassy in the Afghan capital on Thursday, police sources said.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. On its website, it said it

intended to target the Embassy. There was some speculation whether the real targets

were other government buildings nearby.

Al-Qaida calls for holy war against China (7th October 2009)

In a video message, a senior Al-Qaida leader has urged Muslims to launch a holy war

against Chinese “invaders” in response to the “massacre” of Uighurs in western China.

“The atheist criminals have long used the most despicable, cruel and brutal means

against Muslims in Turkistan,” said Abu Yayha al-Libi, who is sometimes identified as the

commander in Afghanistan of the international terrorist network Al-Qaida.

China celebrates its 60th anniversary (1st October 2009)

A confident China on Thursday marked 60 years of Communist rule as it unveiled its

military might parading new generation battle tanks and long-range cruise missiles, with

President Hu Jintao asserting that only socialism can save the country.

Afghan Presidential election (18th September 2009)

President Hamid Karzai won an absolute majority in Afghanistan’s presidential election,

according to a final preliminary result released by the election commission. Incumbent

Karzai won 54.6% of the vote in the Aug 20 poll, nearly double the 27.8% of his nearest

rival, former foreign minister Abdullah, the commission said. Voter turnout was 38%,

which accounts for more than 5.5 million votes cast on the election day. Of that

percentage, 42% were men and 38% were women, Daoud Ali Najafi, chief electoral

officer said.

US largest supplier of arms in 2008 (7th September 2009)

Defying the trends of global recession, the United States has emerged as the largest

supplier of arms, accounting for more than two-third of the USD 55.2 billion of arms sales

in the year 2008. The United States has not only supplied arms and weapons to its

traditional market, but also begun creating a pie for itself in the traditional Russian

supplier markets like that of India, says a latest Congressional report. The increase in

American weapons sales around the world was attributable not only to major new orders

from clients in the Near East and in Asia, but also to the continuation of significant

equipment and support services contracts with a broad-based number of US clients

globally.

Powerful earthquake kills 57 in Indonesia (3rd September)

[3]

At least 57 killed, another 400 injured, says disaster agencyTsunami watch quickly

expires, Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says Older buildings damaged in Tasikmalaya in

Indonesian island of Java, witness says Series of quakes hit Indonesia’s Sumatra Island

three weeks ago. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Cianjur, and

vowed to free up nearly $500,000 (5 billion rupiahs) for emergency response efforts.

Angry student throws acid on professor in Vietnam (25th August 2009)

A college professor and 13 students were hurt, when a former student upset over an

English test splashed him with acid in Vietnam. Dang Huu Dung, a professor at the

Agriculture and Forestry University, received acid burns to a third of his body. The police

arrested Tran Xuan Thanh, 28-year-old who finished his four-year course in 2006 but did

not graduate because he failed the English test on mechanics. The former student wants

to apply for another English test but the professor refused. The student got angry and

thrown acid on professor thinking Mr Dung was not fulfilling his responsibilities towards

his students.

Miss Venezuala win Miss Universe 2009 title (24th August 2009)

Impressing 12 judges and beating 84 contestants Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez

crowned the Miss Universe 2009 from Dayana Mendoza. 18-year-old Stefania is the sixth

Venezuelan to win the crown.

Michael Jackson is Dead (25th June 2009)

Michael Jackson, the King of pop died because of cardiac arrest at the age of 50 at Los

Angeles. The only man who neither needs any introduction nor any eulogy died leaving

millions of fans grieving. Keeping aside the controversies he stirred in the last few years,

Michael Jackson was definitely an extraordinary artist, musician and a performer. Jackson

left behind some heart touching songs like ‘Earth Song’.

Racial attack in Australia (15th June 2009)

So far there have been 14 attacks encountered by Indian students in Australia. Indian

students are continuing their street protest against the racially motivated attacks. The

Indian community leaders in Australia have asked the Indian students to stop violent

protests in Harris Park in Melbourne. There have also been some stray incidents of Indian

students retaliating.

Air France 447 jet Crash (2nd June 2009)

The Air France 447 jet with 228 people on a flight to Paris vanished over the Atlantic

Ocean after flying into towering thunderstorms and sending 24 automated messages

that the electrical system had failed. Massive operations were taken to locate the, but all

228 passengers seem to have died. The hunt for the black boxes and plane parts still [4]

continues. The total bodies recovered were only 50. The bodies found were sent to

perform DNA tests to the Legal Medical Institute in Brasilia. The United States of America

has also joined in the efforts.

LTTE chief Prabhakaran’s body found (18th May 2009)

The Tigers of Tamil Eelam “Velupillai Prabhakaran” has been shot dead and his body has

also been found by the Lankan army. His son “Charles Antony” has also been shot dead.

Prabhakaran’s top aides came out of their last hiding place in a small convoy of van and

an ambulance and tried to drive out of the war zone, but were gunned down. The Tiger

chief was killed with two others, who are believed to be his closest associates – LTTE

intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Sea Tigers’ chief Soosoi. The deaths of the top LTTE

leaders came a day after Tamil Tigers conceded defeat saying the decades-old battle has

reached its “bitter end” and they have decided to “silence” their guns.

Escaped Bali Terror Suspect Is Caught in Malaysia (8th May 2009)

A suspected terrorist leader who embarrassed Singapore last year by disappearing

through a bathroom window in a high-security prison has been caught in Malaysia. Mas

Selamat bin Kastari, 47, was arrested early last month, after Singapore Police failed to

capture him. The Singapore government has described Mr. Mas Selamat as the local

leader of the regional Islamist terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, which carried out the

2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia. He was captured in southern Malaysia, just across the

Johor Strait from Singapore. An official investigation found that by letting the water run in

the bathroom and hanging a pair of pants over a ledge above the door, Mr. Mas Selamat

gave himself 11 minutes to make his getaway, even as a guard waited just outside the

door. The prisoner squeezed through the window, shinnied down a drainpipe onto a

cushion of rolls of toilet paper, climbed a fence and disappeared. He had asked for

privacy in a bathroom as he changed.

Obama gets a ‘B+ grade’ for his presidency (29th April 2009)

Barack Obama celebrated his successful completion of 100 days (called as ‘hallmark

holiday’) as US president. Obama’s first 100 days was fighting against global terror, an

economic crisis worse than the great depression of the 1930s and a pandemic, swine flu.

He has made milestone changes in foreign relations with Cuba and Iraq along with policy

shifts towards China and Mexico. To improve economic status, he has provided for 787-

billion-dollar stimulus bill, along with environmental and health care reforms on the

launch. Robert Gibbs gave Obama a grade of “B plus,” observing that ‘there’s always

room for improvement’. A survey on Obama’s leadership showed positive reactions of

the people and 63% approving his presidency.

Over 150 people died due to Swine flu in Mexico (29th April 2009)

[5]

The death toll has risen to 159 people in Mexico due to Swine flu disease. Out of a total

of around 2,500 suspected cases of the virus, more than 1,300 people are reported to be

in hospitals, some of them ‘seriously’ ill. Most of the deaths occurred in Mexico City.

Other affected states, such as Aguascalientes and Veracruz have only seen a handful of

deaths. The victims include all age groups ranging from children, adults, and middle-

aged people

6 killed in murder-suicide bid in US (31st March 2009)

In a shocking incident 6 people, including 3 children, were shot dead and one critically

injured reportedly in a murder-suicide bid in Santa Clara, a city in the Silicon Valley.

Media reports suggest that an ‘Indian passport’ was found inside the house where the

incident occurred.

The body of suspected shooter was found inside the house. Police also recovered two

handguns used in the killings. The killer was a man in his 40s. Mike Sellers, the Santa

Clara Police Captain said, “It does appear as though they (the victims) were related.”

Titanic museum to open in UK (31st March 2009)

A new museum charting the story of the Titanic could be built in Britain ahead of the

100th anniversary of the ill-fated liner’s sinking.

The 28 million pound museum in Southampton, from where the liner set sail in 1912 on

her maiden voyage, is set to feature a climb-aboard replica of the doomed ship, which hit

an iceberg causing the loss of 1523 lives.

Bush gets attacked by shoes in Iraq

An Iraqi TV reporter threw his shoes at President Bush during a news conference.

Muntadhar al-Zaidi, a reporter for the TV channel Al-Baghdadia, faced testing for alcohol

and drugs to determine his state of mind, said a government official.

At Sunday’s news conference, the journalist whipped off his shoes and hurled them at

Bush during the president’s unannounced stop in Baghdad. The reporter called his shoe-

throwing, a traditional insult in Arab culture, a “farewell kiss” to a “dog” who launched

the 2003 invasion of Iraq

“This is the farewell kiss, you dog,” the man shouted in Arabic. After the incident Bush

apparently said that he was ok and dismissed the incident as an example of a healthy

democracy and an example of free speech.

Ltte loses mullaithivu

[6]

The Sri Lankan military on Sunday announced the capture of Mullaithivu town, the last

major settlement of the LTTE in the only remaining district under its control. With this the

Tigers are now confined to Puthukkudiyiruppu and Vishwamadu areas in the same

district.

The fall of Mullaithivu came three weeks after the military marched into Kilinochchi — the

administrative and political headquarters of the Tigers. After Kilinochchi, the Tigers lost

control of their strategic base at Elephant Pass at the mouth of the Jaffna peninsula and

the government gained total control of the A 9 highway for the first time since the

departure of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in 1990.

The rapid advance of the military into Mullaithivu town caught the political and

diplomatic circles by surprise. The manoeuvre was expected to take time in view of the

large number of civilians in the war zone, besides thick jungles and lagoons en route, not

to mention the added threat of a possible attack by the Tigers to defend their last citadel.

Mullaithivu town is situated in a narrow stretch of land between Nanthikandal lagoon and

the Indian Ocean. It has been under the control of the Tigers since 1996 and was

considered their main military base.

Israel attacks Gaza

Israeli warplanes killed 10 Palestinians on Tuesday in attacks that targeted Hamas

government buildings and other symbols of the Islamist group on the fourth day of the

fiercest air offensive in Gaza in decades. Israeli missiles flattened five ministerial

buildings and a structure belonging to the Islamic University in Gaza City, witnesses said.

The death toll from the attacks on Gaza continues to rise, reaching 345 dead with more

than 1,400 injured. Hamas has retaliated against Israel is with a deadly barrage of

rockets that reached deep into Israel. With this evidence that airstrikes alone have not

been able to stop all Hamas rocket launches, Israel is hinting that it will broaden its

assault with a ground invasion:

Israel hinted it was ready to broaden its assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip with

a ground operation after three days of air raids failed to bring an end to cross-border

rocket attacks.

[7]

National Current Affairs   2009

A.R.Rahman wins Ghent Award (23rd October 2009) 

Oscar winner musician A. R. Rahman’s ‘Jai ho’ has again won laurels at prestigious World

Soundtrack Academy awards in Ghent (Belgium).This song from SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

won “best original song written for film” category at the ninth World Soundtrack Awards

announced at Ghent.

Test fires nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile(12th October 27, 2009)

India successfully test fired the nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile twice

from a test range in Orissa, officials said. The missiles were fired from the Integrated Test

Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Balasore district, some 230 km from state capital

Bhubaneswar first at 10.28 a.m. and then again five minutes later at 10.33 a.m.

The tests were described as part of a “user trial”. Two naval ships tracked and monitored

both the missiles hitting the targets accurately. All the radars and other sensors along

the east coast monitored the missiles’ trajectory parameters. The missiles have a striking

range of about 350 km.Prithvi is India’s first indigenously built ballistic missile. It is one of

five missiles being developed under India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development

Programme (IGMDP).Two versions of the missiles have already been deployed with the

Army and the Air Force. According to defense officials in the national capital, Prithvi

missile has the capability to carry 500-kg of warhead.

India can hold 2010 Games: CWG Officials (10th October 2009)

The Commonwealth Games Federation officials have expressed buoyancy over India’s

capability to host the 2010 event, after completing the second day of inspection.

Visiting shooting range in Tughlaqabad, Jamia Milia complex, the Rugby 7s facility in

Delhi University and Siri Fort Complex where the badminton event is scheduled to take

place, the delegates were convinced that the country could hold ‘great’ Games in 2010.

In the press release released by the committee, Australia’s Don Stockins has been

quoted as saying “So far it’s good. The block that we visited in the Games Village was

good; if all end up like that it will be great. Delhi will be a great host and it is a very

pretty city.” Jamaican Olympic Association Vice-President Donald Anderson has also

expressed confidence in India’s facility to host the games next year.

US announce $100,000 aid for India’s flood victims (8th October 2009)

Heavy rain and floods have inundated many parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and

Maharashtra killing over 200 people and leaving millions homeless. The US announced

$100,000 aid for the victims of recent floods in parts of southern and western India.’The

[8]

heart-breaking personal loss, the destruction of homes and property, and the loss of

cattle and crops have been devastating,’ US ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer said

while announcing the aid.

Dolphin is national aquatic animal (5th October 2009)

Dolphin is now India’s national aquatic animal. The decision was taken following a

suggestion by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at a meeting of the National Ganga River

Basin Authority (NGRBA), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Environment

Minister Jairam Ramesh said the new status for the dolphin would help save the rare

freshwater species from disappearing from the country’s aqua map.

Major Floods in Andhra and Karnataka (4th October 2009)

Five days of torrential rain have left at least 205 people dead and 750,000 displaced in

southern India, authorities said. Floods submerged villages, severed transport and

communication links and raised fears of disease spreading in relief camps. Large parts of

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states – which weeks ago were suffering a severe drought

– have been inundated. Air force helicopters dropped food and drinking water packages

to hundreds of cut-off villages. The flooding worsened after authorities released water

from rain-swollen reservoirs to prevent them from bursting their banks.

Air India Strike (29th September 2009)

Air India cancels over 20 flights, pilots agitation continues. With the agitation by Air India

Executive pilots entering the fourth day, the airlines cancelled over 20 flights, including

15 from the national capital, and suspended bookings for the next 15 days.

Talks between the management and the striking Executive pilots failed to break the

deadlock over the issue of cut in perks. The agitation by the pilots, who are protesting

against the cut in the Productivity Linked Incentives (PIL), is likely to intensify as the

executive pilots working with the airlines before its merger also joined them.

Chandrayaan-1 Not A Failure, Finds Water on Moon (24th September 2009)

India’s first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has found evidence of large quantities of water

on the lunar surface, before the project was terminated by ISRO. This discovery is

credited to the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (developed by the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration). NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an imaging spectrometer,

was one of the 11 instruments on board Chandrayaan-I. M3 was aimed at providing the

first mineral map of the entire lunar surface. Lunar scientist’s debate for possibility of

water repositories came to an end. Chandrayaan-1 was India’s first unmanned lunar

probe which was launched by ISRO on 22 October 2008. After suffering from several

technical issues including failure of the star sensors and poor thermal shielding,

[9]

Chandrayaan stopped sending radio signals on 29 August 2009 shortly after which, the

ISRO officially declared the mission over. Chandrayaan operated for 312 days as opposed

to the intended two years but the mission achieved 95 per cent of its planned objectives.

Six European satellites launched by India (23th September 2009)

India successfully launched a cluster of six European micro-satellites into low-earth orbit

after deploying its 960 kg remote sensing satellite Oceansat-2 in the polar sun-

synchronous orbit. Of the six micro-satellites, four are from Germany and one each from

Switzerland and Turkey, with a combined weight of 20 kg. The first four tiny spacecraft,

named Cubsats, are educational satellites from European universities weighing around 1

kg and developed to perform technology demonstration in space. The other two

spacecrafts are named Rubin-9.1 and Rubin-9.2 weighing 8 kg each, are primarily used

for the automatic identification system for maritime applications.

Earthquake in North Eastern Region of India (21th September 2009)

An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale felt by people in parts of Assam, other

north-eastern states of India, West Bengal and neighboring Bhutan Monday afternoon

causing damage to various properties in both the countries. The duration of this

earthquake was around 5 seconds. The epicenter was plotted in Munggar in Bhutan.

Munggar, is located along the India-Bhutan border, 125 km northwest of Guwahati where

the abnormal movement of earthquake was observed.

Problems in BJP party (4th September 2009)

The BJP seems to be in the docks after the Lok Sabha defeat. BJP has expelled Jaswant

Singh, Sudheendra Kulkarni, Khanduri from the party. Also BJP has decided to break ties

with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana. BJP president Rajnath Singh also

asked senior Rajasthan leader Vasundhara Raje to resign as leader of opposition. In the

party meet it has been decided that Advani will resign as party opposition leader and will

not be primeministerial candidate for the next election. Seems like a lot of “Manthan” or

churning within the party.

Andhra CM YSR died in a chopper crash (3rd September 2009)

The Dynamic Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh is no more. Mr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy was

on his way to Chittoor from Hyderabad in a Helicopter. After sometime in flight, the

chopper went missing in the dense forest area of Nallamalalla hill range. A massive hunt

for the missing aircraft was launched. Three Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters from

Bangalore were involved in finding about the helicopter and the missing YSR. After a day,

the missing chopper was found in a mangled state along with five burnt bodies. About

100 people died of shock after hearing the news of YSR’s death.

[10]

Almost all the state ministers, about 22 MPs and several Congress legislators have

pitched for Jaganmohan Reddy, son of Late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to be the next CM of

Andhra Pradesh. The Congress meanwhile is waiting for the euphoria to settle before

deciding.

Mumbai TV actress arrested for abusing minor (22th August 2009)

A Mumbai actress has been arrested for allegedly abusing her 10-year-old maid. The TV

actress, Urvashi Dhaanorkar who reportedly brought the minor girl to Mumbai in the

pretext of adoption and education and kept her captive and tortured her. She had

received burns and injuries. The girl told reporters that she was roughed up by the

actresses. The case came to light when one of the neighbours found the girl in a bad

condition and decided to go to the police. The police who rescued the girl from the

Raheja Classic Society in Andheri arrested the actress under the Child Abuse Act.

Indian Navy jet crashes, pilot feared dead (21th August 2009)

An Indian Navy fighter jet crashed into the Arabian Sea and the pilot is presumed dead.

The jet, a British-made Sea Harrier, plummeted into the sea 15 kilometers off Goa’s

coast. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Bhindra honored with Rajiv Gandhi Award (20th August 2009)

India’s first Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, Bollywood actors Shahid Kapoor and

Katrina Kaif and other young achievers were felicitated with prestigious Rajiv Gandhi

Award.

Businessman buys Gandhi’s home, plans for museum (30th July 2009)

Mahatma Gandhi’s Johannesburg house, has been bought by a Bandra businessman,

Pradeep Bhavnani for about Rs 2.25 crore on July 30. Mahatma Gandhi lived in this house

from 1908 for three years while he fought against the racial discrimination in South Africa

as a lawyer. The house that was designed by artist Hermann Kallenbach is called ‘The

Kraal’. Pradeep Bhavnani, who is senior BJP leader L K Advani’s nephew and a self-

professed Gandhian is planning to turn it into a museum. After buying the house, he

intends to buy 34 souvenirs and photographs from the Aditya Birla Group to install them

in the museum. After inaugurating the museum on Oct 2, Gandhi’s birth anniversary, it

will be handed over to Government of India on the same day.

Rajmata Gayatri Devi laid to rest (28th July 2009)

Rajmata Gayatri Devi passed away after a prolonged illness at the age of 90. The people

of the city gave their daily routines a miss to catch a glimpse of the Queen’s last journey.

They grieved the fact that the only person who really cared about their grievances had

passed away. The Queen was cremated with State Honours and the event was graced by [11]

the presence of the Rajasthan Governor Shailendra Kumar Singh and Chief Minister

Ashok Gehlot, along with several members of the State Cabinet.

Class X girl selected for NASA training (26th July 2009)

Palak Agarwal, is one of the two school girls selected from India for NASA training in

space shuttle designing. She is a student of 10th class in a school in remote Karnal dist.

She was selected under a student programme under which a few students across the

globe get an opportunity to get training in NASA.

PM launches India’s first nuclear submarine (26th July 2009)

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s wife Gursharan Kaur launched the country’s first

nuclear powered attack submarine, INS Arihant in Vishakhapatnam. The INS Arihant will

be commissioned in the Indian Navy after extensive outfitting and sea trials. It is the first

of three such vessels to be built in the country. Its length is 112-metre-long. India has

achieved a ‘historic milestone in the country’s defence preparedness’ with the launch of

the submarine.

Bill Gates to receive Indira Gandhi Peace Prize (23th July 2009)

Bill Gates has received the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development

on behalf of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2003, the foundation launched

Avahan, a 10-year initiative to support India’s efforts to reduce the spread of HIV.

India’s first sea bridge (30th June 2009)

The Congress president Sonia Gandhi inaugurated the Bandra Worli sea link in Mumbai.

The 5.6 kilometers long cable-stayed bridge has been designed to allow for speedy road

travel between Bandra and Worli. It costs Rs. 50 to take a trip on the link, and will cost

Rs. 75 for a round trip. It would be nothing compared to the Rs 100 crore per year that

the link will save in the vehicle operating cost alone. The link is equipped for traffic

monitoring, emergency support and an automated toll system. The construction of the

sea link would save people’s time.

Union minister threatens HC judge to grant bail (30th June 2009)

R Regupathi, a Madras High Court judge has threatened to write to the central

government and the prime minister about a Union Minister seeking to influence him to

release a medical student petitioner and his father, a doctor on anticipatory bail. The

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked both of them in connection with a

forged mark sheet case.

Government to make class X examination optional (25th June 2009)

[12]

Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) has suggested that

the government may make class X examination optional for students. He said that the

examination system would be reformed in accordance with the National Curriculum

framework-2005. This will permit students to continue in the same school. Schools may

take an internal assessment test instead. This he says, will be done in 100 days.

Air Force AN-32 aircraft Crash (10th June 2009)

Indian Air Force, Army and paramilitary forces made a search for missing Air Force AN-32

aircraft which crashed over Arunachal Pradesh. The IAF began aerial reconnaissance to

trace the transport aircraft while Army and paramilitary forces too have been pressed

into the search operation. There were 13 people on board including six IAF officers and

seven Army personnel and all of them are feared dead. The aircraft had taken off from

Machuka in Arunachal Pradesh on a supply sortie and was on its way to Mohanbari in

Assam when it went off radar due to bad weather and crashed. The last radio contact

with the missing aircraft was 35 miles from Machuka. Top-level sources in IAF say that

the flying crew of the AN-32 was highly experienced and bad weather is suspected to be

the reason for the crash.

Family donates their dead son’s organs to 7 people (9th June 2009)

A family in Andhra Pradesh mourning the loss of their 19-year-old member Ganpati in a

road accident has ensured his legacy by donating his organs and transforming the lives

of seven people. Johnson, a six-year-old boy, was suffering from the dangerous blue baby

syndrome but now a critical heart surgery has ensured he would live healthily. It’s not

just Johnson but six other people, too, who have received vital organs including the

kidneys and liver donated from Ganapati’s body. Ganapati had met with an accident and

was brought to hospital brain dead. Doctors counselled with the family. Though it wasn’t

an easy decision for Ganapati’s family to donate his organs, Ganapati’s elder brother

Pradeep went ahead, believing that his brother will live on by this deed. Ganapati’s

family is unaware of the identities of any of the seven people who have benefited from

his organs. But they do find solace in the thought that Ganapati continues to live on.

Dream Houses / Mumbai Flats on rent for Rs. 800/- (3rd June 2009)

The common people of Mumbai may now dream of affordable homes. An ambitious low-

cost housing programme promises to provide flats on rent for as less as Rs 800. The

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) announced that they are

going to construct 133,000 flats near the city. The MMRDA, in collaboration with real

estate giant HDIL, will construct the flats on 525 acres in Virar suburb in Thane district

north of Mumbai. The project aims to house around 2 lakh people in the flats. The rent for

the flats will range from Rs 800 to Rs 1,500 per month. Each flat measures 160 sq ft and

will be given on lease for a period of five years. The Metropolitan Commissioner told that

[13]

90,000 (flats) are made for free-sale components and 43,000 are purely rental housing

tenements of 160 sq feet each. Only people with a minimum monthly income of Rs 5,000

will be eligible to apply for houses. Applicants should preferably be residing in

Maharashtra but it isn’t a compulsory requirement. The MMRDA also announced eight

other low-cost housing projects in the city to house 5 lakh families in the next few years.

The authority will earn Rs 5,000 crore in rent and builders will benefit as they would be

allowed to construct taller buildings with more flats.

Oz Racial attack: AP student battling for life ( 28th May 2009)

Shravan Kumar, a 25-year-old student was attacked by teenagers in Australia is battling

for life after he and three of his friends from Andhra Pradesh were attacked on May 26.

Doctors are not ‘very optimistic’ about chances of his recovery. Shravan was critically

injured after one of the boys attacked him with a screwdriver. The other three identified

as A Krian, Subhash and Sandip escaped with minor injuries. The attackers abused the

Indian students and asked them to leave Australia. While Shravan is still in hospital, the

other three moved out of the house. This is the second attack on Indian students in a

week. Meanwhile there are reports that the house where Shravan and his friends were

staying is apparently robbed by some miscreants.

Congress’ victory, credit to Sonia’s inner voice ( 18th May 2009)

The amazing victory of the Congress Party and the pathetic defeat of the BJP in the Lok

Sabha polls 2009 has come as a surprise. Nobody expected that the Congress will bag

over 200 seats on its own and cross 260 with its allies. All political Pundits and

Sephologists were predicting highly fractured result on 16 May 2009, the day of counting.

But May 16 became a ‘black Saturday’ for the Bharatiya Janata Party with an astonishing

victory for the Congress. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi once again made it clear that she

is not in race for the PM post of India. Ms Gandhi had made her point clear that

Manmohan Singh is the Prime Ministerial candidate of Congress. This cleared a long

standing doubt in the minds of many Indians who are not happy to see a foreigner as

India’s Prime Minister. This worked and converted into votes.

UPSC results: Women on top, 791 succeeded (5th May 2009)

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam results for the year 2008 were

announced. A higher number of women have topped these numbers. The top three ranks

have been grabbed by women for the first time. The Rank 1 holder, 30-year-old Shubhra

Saxena from Ghaziabad has become the talk of the country. She told the media that the

risk of quitting her job to serve the rural masses was worth it.

River Ganga still reels under Pollution (4th May 2009)

[14]

The river Ganga remains highly polluted even after being declared the ‘National River’ by

the Central Government. Filled with chemical wastes, sewage and even the remains of

human and animal corpses, it poses major health risks to around 400 million people

living by its side and all others who benefit from it. The Ganga also suffers from another

major problem called silting which results into chocking of its flow.

People believe that constructing dams on the Ganga could be the cause of low water

level in the river. The residents say no steps have been taken to improve the condition of

the Ganga. The condition of the Ganga is deteriorating by the day. There is more sand in

it. Though it is declared a ‘National River’, no efforts are being made to clean it. If water

is released from the dam, then only the water level will increase in the river. Efforts have

always made to clean up the Ganga since a long time but none have been proved

successful.

Satyam bidding Completed: Tech Mahindra wins bidding (13th April 2009)

In the Satyam Computers bidding process, three huge companies namely Tech Mahindra,

Engineering L&T, and Wilbur Ross had participated. Tech Mahindra has won in the

Satyam bid by paying Rs. 1757 crore and now has 31% stake in Satyam. Tech Mahindra

will pay Rs 58 per share; L&T had offered to pay of 49 Rs per share and so lost out.

Girl dies due to asthma in Delhi School (22nd April 2009)

Aakriti Bhatia of class 12 student of the Modern School in Vasant Vihar of Delhi died due

to an asthma attack. Her parent’s alleged negligence by the school resulting in her

death. It seems while taking Aakriti to hospital the school authorities removed the

oxygen provided to her, also instead of calling an ambulance they waited for Akriti’s

father’s car to take her to hospital, which could have lead to the death. However the

school claims that they did everything possible to save her. Other parents and people are

demonstrating against the school.

Parents protest fee hike in schools (April 2009)

Hundreds of parents opposing the fee hike in schools protested at various places in Delhi

and demanded its immediate rollback. The parents association of Guru Nanak Public

School staged a demonstration and criticized the school authorities over the fee hike. All

India Parents Association (AIPA) also extended its support to the demonstration. The

children also shouted slogans from the classrooms. The matter of fee hike has been

challenged in the Delhi High Court. The court would hear the case on April 29.

Tata Nano The People’s Car Launched (23rd March 2009)

People’s car ‘Nano’ launched amidst much waiting and expectation.

[15]

Tata Motor’s ‘Nano’ was commercially launched in Mumbai on 23/3/09 promising to meet

the expectations of people under some circumstances which is likely to bring about a

change in the auto market in the nation

Modi minister held in post-Godhra riot case (March 2009)

As prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and chief minister Narendra Modi on 27/3/09

launched the BJP’s campaign at the Kankaria lakefront, a few kilometres away, in

Gandhinagar, Maya Kodnani, a minister in Modi’s cabinet, was arrested in one of the

post-Godhra riot cases of 2002.

Minister of state for women and child welfare and higher education, Kodnani was

arrested after the Gujarat high court cancelled her anticipatory bail on Friday in the

Naroda Patia and Naroda Gam riots case. A trained gynaecologist, she resigned from the

ministry and surrendered before the SC-appointed Special Investigation Team in

Gandhinagar with VHP leader Jaideep Patel.

Varun guilty; EC asks BJP not to field Varun (March 2009)

The Election Commission has found the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Varun Gandhi

guilty of making remarks against Muslims in an election rally in Pilibit and in the wake,

violating polls laws. The EC has also declared that the CD was not doctored and said that

it will initiate criminal proceedings against him.

The EC has also asked BJP not to give a ticket to contest polls in Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh.

“The commission considered the speeches as a grave violation of the model code of

conduct, apart from amounting to promoting feelings of enmity and hatred between

different classes on the ground of religion, outraging the religious feeling of a particular

community, and promoting hatred and ill-will between two classes of citizens and

provoking a section of the citizens to indulge in violence.”

“Any sponsorship of his candidature by the BJP, or any other political party at this

election, would be perceived as endorsing his unpardonable acts of inciting violence and

creating feelings of enmity and hatred between different classes of citizens of India,

destroying the social, democratic and plural fabric of the country,” it said.

Satyam fraud

The fraud at Satyam may well turn out to be the biggest of all scams unearthed from

corporate India. Through multiple routes involving a large number of related companies

and myriad transactions, the promoters of Satyam Computer Services, led by the

company’s Chairman Ramalinga Raju, are alleged to have siphoned out a huge quantity

of money from the firm. To cover that up, the accounts were manipulated and

documents were forged to declare nonexistent cash reserves and understate liabilities.[16]

The money that was taken out may have been used, among other things, to acquire

large quantities of land in what seems to be a set of speculative real estate ventures that

could enrich the family. The Maytas companies that had titles that spelt Satyam in

reverse were important conduits in this process, but there were clearly many more.

According to reports, the Registrar of Companies has found that ”Satyam’s annual report

reveals several transactions with subsidiaries and other group companies by way of

investments, purchase of assets and other receivables” that point to the concealed

transfer of funds out of the company.

Shockingly, one of the allegations made by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of

Andhra Pradesh is that the company had only 40,000 employees on its rolls as compared

with the 53,000 claimed by it and the remaining 13,000 were mere fake salary accounts

through which as much as Rs. 20 crore a month were taken out of the company over a

period of five years. If true, this involves descent to a level of manipulation and fraud

that could spell the end for Satyam.

Mangalore pub attack

Activists of a self-styled pro-Hindu moral brigade called Sri Rama Sene barged into a pub

in the coastal city of Mangalore in january and bashed up a few young girls for ‘violating

traditional Indian norms’.

At least two girls were punched and their hair pulled by the activists 4 p.m. Saturday at

the pub Amnesia – The Lounge in Mangalore, about 350 km from Bangalore. The young

men accompanying the girls to the pub on the busy Balmatta Road were also assaulted

when they tried to protect their friends.

Following this shocking incident, at least 10 of the activists have been arrested by

Mangalore police. From the accounts given by the eyewitnesses, who did not want to be

identified, the girls were the target of attack. About 40 men forcibly entered the pub

claiming unethical activities were on inside and pushed their way inside. They began

assaulting the young men and women who ran for safety. At least two of the girls started

screaming for help and managed to flee from the attackers.

The ugly incident has a murky dimension also with leaders of Sri Rama Sene and Bajrang

Dal, another pro-Hindu organisation fighting to take credit for the attack in the name of

punishing those going against ‘traditional Indian norms’.

RAILWAY BUDGET 2009

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav Friday presented his sixth rail budget in February.He

is the first Railway Minister to introduce the low fare air-conditioned trains known as

“Garib Rath”. Fifteen such trains are already running and five more are expected to start

in the near future.

[17]

The Railways minister cut rail fares across ticket categories by 2% and announced plans

for 43 new trains on Friday.

The fare cut will bring down rail fares on air-conditioned travel the most, mounting

further pressure on low-cost airlines, while fares for second-class, second-class sleeper,

and general compartments will also go down for tickets worth more than Rs 50 per

passenger. Suburban commuters who use express or mail trains will also see their ticket

costs get Rs 1 cheaper.

The fare cuts, announced in the government’s interim railway budget for 2009-10, are

expected to set the Indian Railways back by only around Rs 700 crore but will make little

difference to its cash pile of Rs 90,000 crore. In any case, Mr Prasad said a cut in fares

would not necessarily lead to a loss of revenues. The Railways has cut fares four times in

as many years, lowering AC first class and AC two-tier rates by 28% and 20%,

respectively and taking the competition straight to the doors of the low-cost airline

sector.

The Minister also proposed starting 43 new trains during 2009-10, and said the Railways

would extend services of 14 existing trains. The frequency of various Rajdhani and other

express trains will also be increased taking into account the rise in the number of

passengers.

Demonstrations against valentine’s day

Activists of the Hindu fundamentalist political party Shiv Sena on Wednesday staged a

token protest at Central Delhis Jantar Mantar against St.Valentines Day celebrations in

the capital. The activists said that they viewed celebrations of St.Valentines Day contrary

to Indian ethos and a proof of the growing influence of western culture on rest of the

world. Besides, the protestors said that the St.Valentines Day was corrupting the Indian

youth, as most of the youth on this day take advantage of the occasion and indulge in

immoral behaviour at public places.

Such protest were undertaken at quite a few places in India like Bhopal, Bangalore etc. In

Uttar Pradesh, Right-wing Hindu activists beat up young couples during Valentine’s Day

protests across the country. Shiv Sena said it was holding protests across the country

against Valentine’s Day celebrations which were against Indian culture and had a

“corrupting influence” on Indian youth.

Protests by Hindu and Muslim groups were reported from the national capital Delhi,

central Bhopal and southern Hyderabad cities.Fifty activists of the Hindu nationalist

Bharatiya Janata Party’s student wing attacked a shop selling Valentine’s Day gifts in

Hyderabad and set fire to the greeting cards. They carried saffron flags and chanted

slogans such as “Save Culture” and “Death to Valentine’s Day.” Muslim groups also

[18]

campaigned against Valentine’s Day and displayed posters at public places asking youth

to refrain from celebrating the day.

In central Bhopal city, another Hindu right-wing group the Bajrang Dal held protests

threatening to marry off lovers found “misbehaving” in public places. Other Hindu

religious organizations held protests in the western Gujarat state distributing handbills to

college students asking them to shun western culture.

Valentine’s Day has become popular in India over the past decade with shops selling

romantic cards, heart-shaped balloons, cuddly toys and other gifts. But the day has also

seen regular protests by Hindu and Muslim hardliners who claim the celebrations

threaten Indian culture and social norms.

[19]

Sports   2009

Davydenko beats Nadal to win Shanghai Masters (20th October 2009)

Shanghai Nikolay Davydenko upset top-seeded Rafael Nadal 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Sunday to

win the Shanghai Masters for his fourth title of the year. The sixth-seeded Davydenko

broke decisively in the sixth game of the second set to collect his 18th career title. His

flat ground strokes and angled winners denied the Spaniard a sixth title for this year and

his first since the Rome Masters in May.Nadal had reached the semifinals at Beijing last

week on his return to the tour. The winner of six Grand Slam tournament titles also was

sidelined after the French Open for two months with tendinitis in both knees.

Australia wins Champions Trophy 2009 (6th October 2009)

Australia claimed their second successive Champions Trophy title in beating New

Zealand by six wickets in the final at Super Sport Park in Centurion, South Africa.

Australia had a huge fight on their hands at 2-6 against some inspired bowling, but

Shane Watson again kept a cool head with his second successive unbeaten century to

steer Australia (4-206) side past New Zealand’s 9-200.

India wins Compaq Cup 2009 (14th September 2009)

India wins the Compaq Cup tri-series after defeating Sri Lanka in a nail biting encounter.

Chasing a mammoth total, Sri Lankan showed brave face and reduced the defeat margin.

After showing good batting performance, Indian was poor at fielding and bowling. They

dropped couple of easy catches and missed run out chances. Finally managed to win by

46 runs.

Clisters Wins over Serena Williams in U.S Open (13th September 2009)

On match point in the U.S. Open semifinals, defending champion Williams was penalized

a point for unsportsmanlike conduct — a bizarre, ugly finish that gave a 6-4, 7-5 upset

victory to Kim Clisters. The match featured plenty of powerful ground strokes and lengthy

exchanges.

England Win the Ashes Series 2009 (23th August 2009)

England has regained the Ashes. Australia’s defiance ended with England completing a

197 run victory to spark loud scenes of celebration and jubilation at The Oval. Mike

Hussey scored a dogged 121 as Australia lived up to their promise of having a “crack” at

their history making target of 546 to win. But in the end they ran out of batsmen and

England cut through the tension in south London to regain the urn surrendered in the

whirl of an Ashes whitewash two years ago.

[20]

Sania Mirza clinches Lexington Challenger title (27th July 2009)

Sania Mirza defeated top-seed Frenchwoman Julie Coin 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to lift the

International Tennis Federation (ITF) Lexington Challenger title. With this win, she

climbed up three places in the latest WTA singles rankings. She stands in the 80th place

now. After the 2003 tournament, this was only the second Challenger title for her.

Roger Federer and wife are proud parents of twins (24th July 2009)

Federer’s wife, Mirka gave birth to twin girls Myla Rose and Charlene Riva. The children

are healthy along with their mother.

Sania & Sohrab exchange rings amid tight security (10th July 2009)

The Tennis star Sania Mirza exchanged rings with her childhood friend, Sohrab Mirza. The

22-year-old Hyderabad girl wore the ring that signified her engagement with 23 year old

MBA Student Sohrab Mirza. The ceremony was graced by biggies like badminton player P

Gopichand, Union Minister of State for Human Resource D Purandareswari, her husband

and legislator D Venkateshawara Rao, Telugu film actor Vishnu and industrialist G V K

Reddy. There was a tight security provided for the event nearly 50 policemen surrounded

the Taj hotel.

Federer Wins a record 15th Grand Slam Title (5th July 2009)

Roger Federer, the world no 1, has won the Wimbledon title in the men’s single event for

the sixth time and crossed the record of 14 Grand Slam titles set by Pete Sampras.

Federer defeated Andy Roddick in one of the most interesting finals in the Wimbledon in

London. The five setter final was won by Federer 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6 and 16-14.

Sushil Kumar wins gold medal in wrestling (28th June 2009)

Sushil Kumar won the gold medal in style, after emerging the champion in the 66 kg

freestyle category. India won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals, accounting for

a total of five medals. Rahul Balasaheb secured the gold medal in the 55 kg freestyle

category. In 120 Kg freestyle category, Rajiv Tomar secured the silver medal, Ravinder

Singh and Ramesh Kumar won the bronze in the 60 kg Greco Roman in 74 kg freestyle

categories respectively.

Pakistan wins Twenty20 World Cup (22nd June 2009)

The Pakistan Team had scored a sensational victory against Sri Lanka and won the T20

World cup. Pakistan achieved a139-run target for the loss of two wickets with eight balls

to spare. This win is the first major trophy since 1992, when Imran Khan led them to

victory in the 50-over World Cup in Australia. As Pakistan scored the winning run with

[21]

Shahid Afridi, people danced with joy, fired up crackers and celebrated by distributing

sweets at Lahore.

India knocked out of World T20 (15th June 2009)

Defending champion India was knocked out of the World Twenty20 title race after a

three-run defeat at the hands of an inspired England in the Super Eight match. Chasing a

modest victory target of 154, India’s batting order crumbled when it mattered most and

the defending champions could manage only 150 for five.

Federer won French Open (7th June 2009)

Roger Federer has won the French Open title by defeating Robin Soderling. The scores

were 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4. The 14th major title won by Federer breaks the Pete Sampras

record. He has now become the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam championships.

Federer won his 14th Grand Slam championship at the age of 27. He will now try for the

15th Grand Slam title beginning in two weeks at Wimbledon, which he has won five times

already. He has also won the US Open for the past five years, and he has three Australian

Open titles with him.

Anand wins Chess Oscar for sixth time ( 8th May 2009)

The World Champion Viswanathan Anand continued to dominate supreme bagging the

Chess Oscar for the sixth time and becoming the first non-Russian to do so. He received

the award from International Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov being

contested between teams of Azerbaijan and FIDE World, in Baku. The Indian ace has

earlier won the honour in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2007 while Russia’s Garry

Kasparov has claimed it 11 times and Bobby Fischer of America has taken it home thrice.

The Chess Oscar is awarded by Russian chess magazine ’64 – Chess Review’ on the basis

of a poll carried out among chess journalists and experts. The Oscar comes in the form of

a statuette also called the “Fascinated Wanderer”.

Brasa appointed Indian men’s hockey coach ( 1st May 2009)

Spain’s master coach Jose Brasa has been appointed as the new chief coach of the Indian

men’s hockey team. Pravir Krishna, the Joint Secretary of Union Ministry of Sports said

“Brasa will soon join the Indian men’s hockey team as the chief coach”. He also informed

that Brasa was handed a two-year contract, but didn’t rule out the chances of his

agreement being extended till the 2012 London Olympics. The Spaniard put forth a list of

demands, including a free hand in running the team, the need for technology and a good

physiotherapist, and a support staff of 14 people, including two from Spain. The Sports

Ministry accepted his demands. The official also informed that Brasa would be coming to

India early next week to formally take charge of his duties.

[22]

BCCI nominates Gambhir, Jhulan for Arjuna award (30th April 2009)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has recommended batman Gautam Gambhir and

women’s team captain Jhulan Gosawmi for the esteemed sports award, the Arjuna

Award.Gambhir, opener has scored 1,579 test runs at an average of 75.19, and 1,494

runs at 46.38 in ODIs. Jhulan won the ICC Women Cricketer of the Year Award in 2007.

Book on Tendulkar released (24th April 2009)

A book, titled ‘If Cricket Is a Religion, Sachin is God’ was released on Sachin’s 36th

birthday. The authors of the book are Vijay Santhanam and Shyam Balasubramaniam

who are graduates of IIM (Ahmedabad). They believe that Tendulkar is one of the

greatest sportspersons of our times and surely the finest cricketer of our times. The most

remarkable thing about Tendulkar is the way he has handled himself and his fame right

from his early teens, they feel.

India seals historic win in NZ after 41yrs (7th April 2009)

Though rain stopped India from winning the third and final test against New Zealand at

Basin Reserve in Wellington, it sealed the historic 1-0 series victory on Apr 7 after 41

years. The last time India won a series in New Zealand was under the captaincy of

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi in 1967-68. India had won the first Test in Hamilton by 10

wickets and drew the second Test in Napier.

India win Hamilton Test, a win in NZ after 33 years (21st March 2009)

Dominant India defeated New Zealand by 10 wickets in the 1st Test to take 1-0 lead. This

is India’s first Test win in New Zealand since 1976.

India wrapped up New Zealand’s second innings on 279 with the hosts giving a 38-run

lead in the 1st Test. Harbhajan Singh took six wickets for his side.

India thrash New Zealand to seal ODI series (Feb 2009)

India won the One day series against new zeland soil at first time.

[23]

Science & Technology 2009

Nobel Prize in Chemistry to India-born scientist (October 7 2009)

Three Americans won 2009 Nobel Prize and one among them is India-born. They are

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath. Ramakrishnan is India-born

American and Ada Yonath is Israeli. They were awarded with Nobel Prize in chemistry for

mapping ribosomes. It is the protein-producing factories within body cells, at the atomic

level.

NASA telescope discovers giant ring around Saturn (October 7 2009)

The Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered the biggest but never-before-seen ring

around the planet Saturn, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced. The thin array of

ice and dust particles lies at the far reaches of the Saturnian system and its orbit is tilted

27 degrees from the planet’s main ring plane, the laboratory said. Although the ring dust

is very cold — minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit — it shines with thermal radiation.

13-year-old Indian to address UN climate change summit (September 21 2009)

A 13-year-old Indian girl from Lucknow, Yugratna Srivastava has won the honour to

address US President Barack Obama, President Hu Jintao of China and other world

leaders on behalf of the world’s three billion youth and children. The UN summit that

Yugratna would address is part of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s campaign to

bring about a fair and ratifiable green house gas reduction agreement at this year’s

Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. “World leaders must recognise the energy

and potential which lies in children and youth. This age group is just like flowing rivers

and they make their own way in the direction in which they march,” said Yugratna, a

lively, committed and very passionate teenager.

Largest ever telescope launched from French Guiana ( May 15 2009)

Ariane 5 rocket, the world’s largest telescope was launched on May 15 from the Kourou

spaceport in French Guiana to investigate the origins of the universe. The Herschel

telescope was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) at a cost of 1.1 billion

euros ($1.49 billion). The main objective of the telescope is to determine how the stars

and galaxies are formed in the universe. The Physicist Albrecht Poglitsch, of the Max

Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, worked on the development of Herschel’s

instruments. The stars are comprised of gas and dust, a mix that makes it impossible to

see into the star itself with light. Herschel’s strength is to enable a look into the gas-dust

clouds. The primary mirror of the Herschel telescope is 3.5 meters in diameter, more

than four times larger than those of previous infrared space telescopes and almost one

and a half times larger than the Hubble space telescope. Herschel will tap into previously

[24]

unexplored wavelengths and examine phenomena that had been out of reach for other

observatories. The telescope will begin to carry out its three-and-a-half-year mission in

about a month.

First face transplant patient in US shows face ( 6th May 2009)

Five years ago, Connie Culp, 46-year-old woman in a shotgun blast left a ghastly hole in

the middle of her face. Five months ago, she received a new face from a dead woman.

She stepped forward to show off the results of the nation’s first face transplant, and her

new look was a far cry from the puckered, noseless sight that made children run away in

horror. Culp’s expressions are still a bit wooden, but she can talk, smile, smell and taste

her food again. Her speech is at times a little tough to understand. Her face is bloated

and squarish, and her skin droops in big folds that doctors plan to pare away as her

circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating her new muscles.

UK scientists to develop Swine Flu vaccine (4th May 2009)

As the world is getting ready to fight against Swine Flu (H1N1 virus), researchers from all

over the world have stepped up to build a vaccine to fight the scary disease.

A team from National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) in

Hertfordshire had started their work for developing a vaccine against the H1N1 virus. The

researchers aim to drill a hole in hen’s egg, considered for growing up flu viruses. The

process involves injecting a small amount of virus into each egg. The scientists are using

two different techniques for the process.

The first one is ‘reverse genetics’, where scientists take the H and the N surface proteins

from the H1N1 virus and mix them with a laboratory virus known as PR8. This leads to a

creation of a harmless hybrid virus, which can be used for the vaccine.

The second technique involves injecting both the H1N1 and PR8 viruses into eggs and

allowing the hybrid strain to be created through a natural re-assortment of their genes.

The vaccine will work by dodging the immune system into it has been infected with the

H1N1 swine flu virus so that it creates antibodies against it. The researchers hope that

the first seed strain of H1N1 swine flu vaccine will be ready in three to four weeks. It will

then take another four or five months for vaccine manufacturers to produce the vaccine

in bulk.

PET bottles potential health hazard (29th April 2009)

Wagner, a lead researcher stated, “Drinking water from PET plastic bottles is harmful to

human health”. It has a higher probability of drinking estrogenic compounds (which

affects reproductive hormones) through water. He analysed 20 samples of mineral water.

Nine samples came out of glass bottles, nine were bottled in PET plastic and two were in

cardboard. The specialised yeast, which change colour in the presence of estrogen like

compounds, revealed estrogenic activity in seven of the nine plastic bottles (and both

[25]

cardboard samples), and compared with just three of the nine glass ones. The levels of

these compounds in the water were surprisingly high.

ISRO launches RISAT-2 (20th April 2009)

The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched a revolutionary spy

satellite RISAT-2. It is designed by the Israeli Aerospace Industries. It can take images

through the thickest cloud cover, rain and snow or fog conditions during night and day or

even of the hundreds of winding mountain valleys. It will be used extensively for

purposes like mapping, managing natural disasters and surveying the seas, it can also

see through camouflage like cloth or foliage used to conceal camps or vehicles. It will

enable India to keep a watch on terror camps, military installations across boundaries,

missile sites and suchlike. It should also help keep track of ships at sea that could pose a

threat. The RISAT will reduce India’s dependence on foreign suppliers like Ikonos for

satellite imagery.

March

Discovery Crew Returns Home From ISS

The Discovery space shuttle crew returned home to the Johnson Space Center in Houston

on Sunday(29/3/09) after completing a 12-day mission.

Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:14 p.m. Saturday(28/3/09),

after traveling more than 5.3 million miles. Its crew delivered solar arrays to help power

the International Space Station and science experiments taking place there. The

astronauts completed three space walks, lasting more than six hours each, to install,

repair, and maintain equipment for the station.

The STS-119 flight marked the first trip to space and the first spacewalks for former

science teachers Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold. Both are now NASA astronauts. The

flight was Discovery’s 36th trip to space. It marked the 125th space shuttle mission and

the 28th shuttle trip to the space station.

Internet Crime Up 33 Percent, FBI Reports

Internet-based crime increased by 33 percent last year, making 2008 the biggest year

ever for reported cybercrime incidents, according to an Internet Crime Complaint Center

annual report.

The ICCC, a nonprofit organization run by the FBI and the National White Collar Crime

Center dedicated to monitoring online fraud, issued a report Monday showing that fraud

losses incurred from cybercrime reached a total of $264.6 million in 2008, compared to

$239.1 million the previous year, Reuters reports. Losses in recent years pose a sharp

contrast to cybercrime losses of $18 million in 2001.[26]

“2009 is shaping up to be a very busy year in terms of cybercrime,” said John Kane,

director of the National White Collar Crime Center based in Richmond, Va., and the

report’s author, to Reuters.

Adobe, Facebook partner to create Flash developer tools

Adobe has partnered with one of the most popular social networking Web sites,

Facebook, to give developers a new set of tools to create applications.

The applications will use Adobe’s Flash platform and the new ActionScript 3 Client Library

for Facebook the two companies developed together. The client library is a free open

source programming language that supports Facebook application programming

interfaces (APIs) including Facebook Connect.

Microsoft to discontinue Encarta

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) is to exit its Encarta encyclopedia business later this year after

losing ground over the years to freely available reference material on the Internet on

web sites like Wikipedia.

“People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years

past,” the software maker said in a notice posted on its MSN website.

Microsoft, which axed 5,000 jobs earlier this year to cut costs and warned profit and

revenue would fall over the next two quarters, said it would stop selling Encarta software

products by June. Encarta websites worldwide, except Encarta Japan, would be

discontinued on October 31 and Encarta Japan will cease after December 31, the

company said.

Obama to restore stem cell research funding

US President Barack Obama on Monday signed an executive order reversing Bush

administration restrictions on Federal funding for stem cell research. He said that he

would ensure that all research on stem cells would be conducted ethically and with

rigorous oversight.

This move would be in line with Mr Obama’s campaign vow to restore funding to

embryonic stem cell research.This development impressed scientists who have long

campaigned for the Bush policy to be overturned, but will likely be condemned by

conservative right-to-life groups.

Mr Bush barred Federal funding from supporting work on new lines of stem cells derived

from human embryos in 2001, allowing research only on a small number of embryonic

stem-cell lines which existed at that time.He argued that using human embryos for

scientific research – which often involves their destruction – crossed a moral barrier and

[27]

urged scientists to consider other alternatives. Embryonic stem cells are primitive cells

from early-stage embryos capable of developing into almost every tissue of the body.

India To Send Sun Mission Aditya In 2012

After the successful launch of the moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO) is now gearing up for a mission to the sun. The proposed sun mission

christened as “Mission Aditya”, is aimed at unraveling the secrets of the sun. G

Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian space agency ISRO, announced that, the agency

is ready with its new space programme to explore the corona of the Sun in 2012.

“Mission Aditya” will find out answers for how and why solar flares and solar winds

disturb the communication network and play havoc with electronics on the earth. It will

also uncover the mysteries surrounding the sun’s corona that create geomagnetic field

disturbances on the earth and often damage man-made satellites and spacecraft moving

in the sky under intense sunlight.

Though the sun mission of ISRO has been on the cards for quite some time now, it got a

boost after the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1. The success of the Aditya Mission

will provide vital clues to ISRO to protect its satellites and spaceware from being

damaged by hot winds and flares ejected out of the sun’s corona.

Indian-American Scientist Vivek Pai Creates Top Web Technology

The researchers’ team led by Indian American scientist Vivek Pai has developed a

revolutionary way to expand internet access around the world. The team of Princeton

University computer science researchers created a new efficient data storage system

called HashCache which got listed as one of the top emerging technologies of the year in

scientific magazine, Technology Review. The scientific magazine is being published by

Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

HashCache claims to store information more efficiently than current methods. The newly

created data-caching system is expected to expand web use in developing regions

around the world by making internet access more affordable. The new data storage

system increases the possibilities of expanding internet facility across the poorer regions

as it is very affordable. Compared to RAM, HashCache is capable of storing more

information from frequently visited web sites on a local hard drive thereby enabling

direct data access. Vivek Pai explained that by increasing the efficiency of internet data

transfer, HashCache can reduce the cost of maintaining a hard drive.

February

Indian Scientists To Clone Pashmina Goat

[28]

A team of scientists from Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana is working on a project to

clone the famous pashmina goat. A success in this direction is expected to give boost to

the dwindling trade in pashmina wool. The project is under a World Bank aided project

known as National Agriculture Innovation Project.

The project ‘Value Chain on Zone Free Cloned Embryos Production and Development of

Elite Germ Plasma Pashmina’ hopes to change the pashmina production scenario in the

state. A six-member team will use somatic cells of the goat to clone the cell to produce

new pashmina goat. Scientists will use a hand-guided cloning technique and the four-

phased project will run for next three years.

NASA’s Kepler Mission To Begin Quest To Find Planets Hosting Life

NASA’s Kepler spacecraft is all set to begin its maiden journey in search for worlds that

could potentially host life. The spacecraft is scheduled to blast-off from Cape Canaveral

Air Force Station, in Florida aboard a Delta II rocket on March 5, 2009. Kepler is the first

mission with the ability to find planets like Earth. The mission will study rocky planets

that orbit sun-like stars in a warm zone where liquid water could be maintained on the

surface that is believed to be essential for the formation of life.

The mission will spend three-and-a-half years in the space. It will survey more than

100,000 sun-like stars in the Cygnus-Lyra region of our Milky Way galaxy. It is expected

to find hundreds of planets of the size of earth and larger, at various distances from their

stars.

ISRO To Use Home-Grown Cryogenic Engine For GSLV Launch

The India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will use an indigenously developed

cryogenic engine to launch the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). Reports

say that IRSO will undertake the launch operation in July this year. The use of home-

grown cryogenic engine to put GSAT-4 into orbit will end India’s dependency on Russia.

India has been importing the cryogenic engines from Russia since 1991. So far, India has

launched five GSLV rockets. But now ISRO has developed its own cryogenic engines and

all the tests have been completed successfully, the source added.

The launch of GSAT-4 communication satellite using an indigenously developed

cryogenic engine will provide internet connectivity in remote villages. The ISRO is also

considering to use the GSLV for the Chandrayaan-II mission scheduled for 2012. Earlier,

ISRO used PSLV to launch Chandrayaan-I.

January

1.World’s First Internet Car Radio Unveiled

[29]

The Australian researchers have developed a new internet car radio for the first time

which enables the users to access 30,000 stations including online broadcasts and AM

and FM stations from all round the globe. The internet car radio developed by Melbourne-

based online radio aggregator miRoamer was launched in prototype form at the 2009

Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. miRoamer has signed a deal with German-

based Blaupunkt which is one of the largest producers of car radios in the world.

Under the new deal, Blaupunkt will produce internet radios which will be fitted in latest

models by car manufacturers such as Ford, Holden, Mercedes, BMW and Audi. The

internet radio will also be sold separately for those who want to install it in their cars. It is

very imperative that radio lovers will prefer internet car radio to traditional broadcasters

as it offers a huge number of stations from all over the world. The new product is

expected to be launched in the US and Europe in the second half of 2009. In more ways

than one, the internet car radio is going to revolutionise the way people listen to radio.

2.Motorola Unveils Cellphone Made From Recycled Water Bottles

Motorola has unveiled a new kind of mobile phone called MOTO W233 Renew which is

made from recycled plastic water bottles. According to the handset manufacturing

company, MOTO W233 Renew is also a carbon neutral phone. The company is said to

have collaborated with Carbonfund.org to manufacture the new mobile phone.

Interestingly the container that holds the phone is also made from recycled material.

In order to uplift its recycling program for mobile phones and accessories, Motorola has

also entrusted another postage-paid box with the MOTO W233 Renew which can be used

by customers to mail their old phones back to the company for recycling. The postage-

paid box is also made from recycled paper, claimed Motorola.

The new MOTO W233 Renew offers nine hours of talk time with ChrystalTalk technology

and has messaging capabilities. The new mobile handset from Motorola is expected to be

launched at the 2009 International CES in Las Vegas. The phone will be available in the

market by the first quarter of 2009.

MOTO W233 Renew has been designed for eco-conscious consumers as well as for those

who loves to make phone calls. The recycling program of Motorola is ready to accept any

mobile phone or accessory for recycling which it feels will help to recover valuable

materials for reuse that will reduce environmental impact.

3.UK Doctors Deliver Cancer-Proof Baby

The first British baby genetically selected to be free of a breast cancer gene has been

born. She grew from an embryo screened to ensure it did not contain the faulty BRCA1

gene, which passes the risk of breast cancer down generations.

[30]

According to the sources of University College Hospital in London the mother, a 27-year-

old Londoner, and her little girl were in very good condition. Women in three generations

of the father’s family have been diagnosed with the disease in their 20s, including his

mother, grandmother, sister and cousin.

A girl born with the altered BRCA1 gene have a 50-80% chance of developing breast

cancer – but screening can prevent this. The technique used is known as Pre-

implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), which involves taking a cell from an embryo at the

eight-cell stage of development, when it is around three-days old, and testing it.

The treatment follows the green-signal given by Britain’s Human Fertilization and

Embryology Authority in 2006, which said doctors could test for ‘susceptibility genes’

such as BRCA1. A properly functioning BRCA1 protein helps stop cancer before it starts

but faulty genes greatly increase the risk of cancer.

BRCA1 and a related version of another gene, BRCA2, account for around 5% of breast

cancer.

Sony To Launch World’s Lightest 8-Inch Notebook PC

In a bid to capture the rapidly growing market for ultra-portable personal computers,

Sony Corp of Japan decided to launch 8-inch notebook PC which is considered to be one

of the lightest laptops in the world. The new Sony Vaio PC will have Microsoft Corp’s

Windows Vista operating system. Windows Vista operating system incorporated in Sony

laptops will support all the software programs found in full-sized notebooks.

While revealing the plan, Sony said that the new notebook weighs only 1.4 pounds and it

is as thin as a mobile phone. The notebooks will available for pre-orders and were

released in the market in the first week of February 2009. the Sony notebook is priced at

about $900, setting itself apart from Netbooks.

The Red Planet Of Mars May Have Life On It

NASA, the space agency of USA, may be ready to announce alien microbes living below

the Martian soil are the cause of a methane haze surrounding the Red Planet of Mars.

Researchers from around the world have shown a greater interest in the Red Planet, as

possible traces of water and ice dust have raised hopes of discovering signs of life on or

underneath the planet’s surface. Even though methane is created on Earth by volcanoes,

scientists haven’t found any active volcanoes on the Red Planet.

In addition, it seems NASA researchers found high levels of methane in the same regions

as water vapor clouds, which are absolutely necessary for life. The study was conducted

during a seven year examination of the planet.

[31]

Indian Scientists Conduct Anti-Warming Experiment In Antarctic Ocean

A group of scientists from India and Germany jointly conducted an anti-warming

experiment in Antarctic Ocean. It is believed that the experiment may find out a possible

solution to on-going global warming crisis. The scientists began their experiment by

scattering iron powder on hundreds of square kilometres of the Antarctic Ocean. The iron

powder will fertilize the growth of phytoplankton which will eventually remove carbon

dioxide from the atmosphere and take it deep under the ocean surface.

The technology of iron fertilization is likely to stop global warming at a very little cost.

About six tonnes of iron are to be scattered on 300 sq km of sea. The group of scientists

which left Cape Town on board the Polarstern on January 7 includes thirty Indian and 18

from other nations. The tiny organism called phytoplankton can eliminate carbon dioxide

which is the main greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. The technology used

by the Indian and German scientists can be path-breaking one in curbing global warming

which stands out to be a major threat to mankind.

[32]

Current Affairs Updates : International : September -October 2009

October 9, 2009: Nobel Peace Prize to Barak ObamaOctober 7, 2009: World record with 1,725-pound pumpkinOctober 7, 2009: UN climate chief urges to Stay with Kyoto protocolOctober 7, 2009: India’s New Rank in Human Development Index 2009 : 134October 7, 2009: Nobel prize Literature : Herta MüllerOctober 7, 2009: Nobel Prize PhysicsOctober 7, 2009: Nobel Prize MedicineOctober 7, 2009: Typhoon Parma & MoreOctober 7, 2009: Some facts From Recently released Reports of Food and Agriculture OrganizationOctober 7, 2009: World Bank-IMF meetings at istambulOctober 6, 2009: One-third of world’s child brides from India says a UNICEF ReportOctober 5, 2009: Japan & China proposed ‘East Asian Community’ similar to EUOctober 4, 2009: Report on “Possible Military Dimensions of Iran’s Nuclear Program”October 5, 2009: Japan & China proposed ‘East Asian Community’ similar to EUOctober 3, 2009 : Largest IPO of BangladeshSeptember 11, 2009 : 1.2 million children Killed by Pneumonia Every YearSeptember 11, 2009 : Life in Jail for Taiwan ex-president, wifeSeptember 12, 2009: Cuba revolution commander Juan Almeida dead

October 9, 2009: Nobel Peace Prize to Barak ObamaUS President Barack Obama was announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.The annual award’s committee bestowed the honor on Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

October 7, 2009: World record with 1,725-pound pumpkin!A woman from Ohio has grown a 1,725-pound pumpkin. Hristy Harp, of Jackson Township, a maths teacher, aced the Ohio Valley Giant Pumpkin Growers’ annual weigh-off held last week in Canfield .October 7, 2009: UN climate chief urges to Stay with Kyoto protocolMitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by industrialised countries is at the heart of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty meant to tackle global warming that is being caused by the emissions. “The rich countries were “trying to dump the protocol because they have seen they cannot mitigate,” this is what UN climate chief Yvo de Boer has said recently.

Please note that India, China and other developing countries are strongly opposing

Carbon Emission Mitigations.

October 7, 2009: India’s New Rank in Human Development Index 2009 : 134

Despite emerging as an economic superpower, India remains 134 among 182 countries

in human development index (HDI) of the United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP), thereby making no difference in the quality of life enjoyed by the country’s 1.1

billion people.

October 7, 2009: Nobel prize Literature : Herta Müller

Herta Müller (German) has been announced Nobel prize Literature Winner for 2009

October 7, 2009: Nobel Prize Physics

Charles Kao, Willard Boyle and George Smith, fathers of fibre optics and digital imaging,

won the 2009 Nobel prize for physics .

[33]

October 7, 2009: Nobel Prize Medicine

Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak won the 2009 Nobel prize for

medicine or physiology for for their work on chromosomes.

October 7, 2009: Typhoon Parma & More

A powerful typhoon ” Parma” pummelled the north-eastern Philippines recently , cutting

off power and communication in at least five provinces and killing dozens of people and

affecting lives of millions of people

October 7, 2009: Some facts From Recently released Reports of Food and

Agriculture Organization

As per a UN Food and Agriculture Organization FAO (Headquarters -Rome, Established

October 16, 1945, member 191) discussion paper published recently, climate change will

have a severe impact on food security and this could lead to increased dependency of

many developing countries on food imports.

October 7, 2009: World Bank-IMF meetings at Istambul

The annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund was formally

concluded recently (7.9.09) at Istanbul with an appeal to nations to pursue reforms while

dealing with the global economic crisis.

The next two annual IMF-World Bank meetings will be held at their headquarters in

Washington DC before then meeting in Egypt in 2012.

October 6, 2009: One-third of world’s child brides from India says a UNICEF

Report

As per a latest UNICEF report more than one third of the world’s child brides are from

India. Some facts:

1. Nearly 25 million women in India were married in the year 2007 by the age of 18.2. Children in India, Nepal and Pakistan may be engaged or even married before

they turned 10.3. Despite rising literacy levels and a ban on child marriage, tradition and religious

practices are keeping the custom alive in India, as well as in Nepal and Pakistan.4. More than 50% of world’s child brides are in south Asia.5. This leaves children beyond the reach and protection of state services and unable

to attend school or access basic healthcare.6. A 44 million, or 13 percent of all children in south Asia, are engaged in labour,

with more than half in India.

October 5, 2009: Japan & China proposed ‘East Asian Community’ similar to EU

Recently Japan and China have sent shockwaves around the world by proposing to create

an “East Asian Community,” very much similar to the European Union. This comunity

could make a fierce force to reckon with and improve economic and political

relationships in the region. The community would involve visa-free travel, public health,

energy and the environment.

Some facts:

[34]

Japan is world’s second largest economy, China is third. If India also joins hands with It will be able to become a big force in future. The talks are in primitive stage. The proposal will again be on the agenda when

the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea will meet in Beijing on October 10. The proposal was put forward by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to

Chinese President Hu Jintao during their first meeting, in New York on

October 4, 2009: Report on “Possible Military Dimensions of Iran’s Nuclear

Program”

Recently a report was released by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with the

title “Possible Military Dimensions of Iran’s Nuclear Program” which says that Iran has

acquired sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable atom bomb.

This said that a a complex program was apparantly began in 2002, by Iran’s Defense

Ministry with an aim to develop a nuclear payload to be delivered using the Shahab 3

missile system. However two years back, American intelligence agencies published a

detailed report concluding that Tehran halted its efforts to design a nuclear weapon in

2003.

October 3, 2009 : Largest IPO of Bangladesh

Grameenphone is Bangladesh’s telecom major. It recently launched largest initial public

offering (IPO) of the country with a hope to raise Taka 4.8 billion ($80 million

approximately) from the domestic market.

About Grameenphone:

Grameenphone or GP is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh which had than 20 million subscribers as of June 2008.

It is a joint venture enterprise between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation, a non-profit sister concern of the internationally acclaimed microfinance organization and community development bank Grameen Bank.

Telenor, the largest telecommunications company in Norway, owns 62% shares of grameenphone and Grameen Telecom owns the remaining 38%.

Grameen Bank (& Grameenphone) was pioneered by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. Muhammad Yunus before pioneering Grameenbank was a professor of economics where he developed the concept of microcredit. In 2006, Yunus and the Grameenbank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.”

September 11, 2009 : 1.2 million children Killed by Pneumonia Every Year

A research was published recently which said that 1.2 children under the age of 5 die

every year around the world from two pneumonia-causing diseases Streptococcus

pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae B or Hib which could be easily prevented with

vaccines.

Reason:

Safe and effective vaccines exist for both of the above strains however use of Hib vaccine has only recently expanded to low-income countries and pneumococcal vaccine is not included in national immunization programs in the developing world.

[35]

About Pneumonia: Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung also known as as lung parenchyma/alveolar inflammation and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid.

September 11, 2009 : Life in Jail for Taiwan ex-president, wife

Former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian has been found guilty of corruption on Friday

and sentenced to life in prison. he was two times president of Taiwan and was convicted

for six charges related to bribery and corruption. The case is 3 years old and involves his

wife ans some close people.

Prosecutors had charged Chen with embezzling T$104 million ($3.185 million) from a

special presidential office fund, accepting bribes of about $9 million related to a land

procurement deal and taking another $2.73 million in kickbacks to help a contractor win

its bid for a government project.

September 12, 2009: Cuba revolution commander Juan Almeida dead

Juan Almeida, who dies recently at the age of 82 was one of the original leaders of the

Cuban revolution. He was current vice president of Cuba.

About Cuban Revolution:

The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt that led to the overthrow of U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista of Cuba on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July Movement led by Fidel Castro.

Almeida was at the side of Fidel and Raul Castro from the earliest days of the revolution and was the only black commander in the leadership.

Fidel Castro took power after the rebels toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959, and ruled until Raul Castro succeeded him as president last year.

[36]

International Current Affairs   2010

Current Affairs - January 2010

Gilgit Baltistan region elected its first Chief Minister Mehdi Shah on the basis of

Gilgit Baltistan Empowerment & Self Governance Order 2009. The new appointed

CM declare the Gilgit Baltistan region as 5th province of Pakistan. The Indian Govt

has, however, of the view that the region was part of J & K, and thus objected to

the remarks of CM.

Venezuela devalued it currency ‘Bolivar’.

A massive earthquake strike Haiti, the Carribbean nation. Capital of Haiti is Port-

au-Prince.

Mahinda Rajapaksa won a second term as Sri Lanka’s President. He belongs to Sri

Lanka Freedom Party.

Current Affairs - February 2010

NATO forces carried out Marjah operation (dubbed Moshtarak) against Taliban

forces in Afghanistan.

European Union summit was held in Brussels. EU & IMF decided to giving support

to Greece in its struggle to bring its ballooning budget deficit under control. EU

President is Herman Van Rompuy.

Iran’s President Mahmood Ahmedinejad declared that Iran had produced first

batch of 20 % enriched uranium and now Iran became a nuclear state.

Iran launched ‘Kavoshger -3 rocket’ capable of carrying a satellite. It carried a

mouse, worms & two turtles.

Current Affairs - March 2010

China will launch in 2011 unmammed space mode ‘ Tiangong I’ for its future

space laboratory.

US internet giant Google close its business in China.

India’s largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel buy Zain’s Africa operations

for an enterprise value of $ 10.7 billion (Rs 49000 crore). Currently Bharti’s non-

India operations include Sri Lanka & Bangladesh.

Russia abolished two of its eleven time Zones.

[37]

Current Affairs - April 2010

Belgium became the Europe’s first country to ban burqa.

Pakistan’s National assembly passed a bill that takes away the President’s power

to dissolve parliament, dismiss a elected government and appoint the three

services Chiefs. Pakistan’s parliament passes 18th amendment which was later

signed by Presient cutting President’s powers.

USA and Russia signed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty(START) that allowed a

maximum of 1550 deployed overheads, about 30% lower than a limit set in 2002.

The treaty was signed in the Progue Castle.

Emergency was imposed in Thailand.

Nuclear Security Summit held at Washington.It was a 47 nation summit wherein

P.M. announced setting up of a global nuclear energy centre for conducting

research & development of design systems that are secure, proliferation resistant

& sustainable.

PM visit USA & Brazil, a two nation tour. He attended Nuclear Security Summit in

USA & India- Brazil-S.Africa(IBSA) and Brazil-Russia-India-China(BRIC) summit in

Brasilia (Brazil).

16th SAARC Summit held in Bhutan in 28-29 April. The summit was held in Bhutan

for the first time. It is the silver jubilee summit as SAARC has completed 25 years.

The summit central theme was ‘Climate Change’. The summit recommended to

declare 2010-2020 as the “Decade of Intra-regional Connectivity in SAARC”. The

17th SAARC summit will be held in Maldives in 2011.

Current Affairs - May 2010

G-15 summit was held at Tehran on 16-17 May.

Bangladesh handed over Ranjan Daimary of the National Democratic Front of

Bodoland to India. The group was responsible for serial bombing in Assam in

2008.

National League for Democracy (NLD) party of Myannmar’s democracy leader

Aung San Sui Kyi was abolished after deadline to re-register as a political party

was over.

EU-IMF provide a $ 1 trillion rescue package to the Greece to resolve its debt

crises.

[38]

Pakistan successfully test fired two short range ballistic missiles, Shaheen I( range

650 Km) and Ghazani (range 290 Km) capable of carrying nuclear war heads and

striking Indian cities.

Current Affairs - June 2010

Julia Gillard become Australia’s first women Prime Minister replacing Kevin Rudd

following a sudden revolt against him.

No more time for sorrow’ written by Robert Beeman. The author predict that

terrorist will set off an atom bomb in the USA by 2013.

Tuvalu become 187th member of IMF (International Monetary Fund). The island is

located in the Pacific Ocean.

Kyrgyzstan voted for a new constitution in a referendum. It is Central Asia’s first

parliament democracy.

G-20 summit held at Toronto, Canada.

Current Affairs - July 2010

Japan Elections Democratic Party of Japan suffered a heavy blow in the elections

for the upper house of Japan’s Diet (parliament) when it won ten seats fewer than

expected thus loosing its majority. DPJ will now have to look for new coalition

partners to restore its majority in the upper house and enable it to easily pass

laws through the Diet legislature. After breaking the 55 year period of dominance

of the Liberal Democratic Party and naming Naoto Kan the new prime minister

just a month back the results have baffled the DJP.

July 15th Summit, Islamabad Failed talks between Indian Foreign Minister SM

Krishna and the Pakistani counterpart Mr. Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s have once

again proved that whenever efforts were initiated by India to improve the

relations between the two countries. The Pak leaders and officials took deliberate

steps to derail the process conveying a clear message to India that the talks can

continue only on its terms.

Gulf of Spill More than three months after the April 20 explosion aboard the BP-

leased Deepwater Horizon oil platform, which killed 11 workers and sank the rig

gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the most severe US environmental disaster

ever is close to coming to an end. In an operation called “static kill” 2,300 barrels

of mud was forced down into the well’s opening overnight pushing the crude back

down to its source. A cap over the wellhead has shut in leaking oil since July 15

[39]

and the static kill — also known as bull heading — probably would not have

worked without the cap in place.

Genocide Omar-al-Bashir, President of Sudan has been charged with three

counts of genocide over the Darfur Conflict, he was convicted by the International

Criminal Court at The Hague. It is for the first time that a court has accused

anyone of genocide.

Jacob Lew the new Budget Director President Barack Obama has chosen Mr.

Jacob Lew as his new budget director. This is Mr. Lews second stint with the

federal budget.

Current Affairs - August 2010

Mission Accomplished The United States have finally started pulling its troops

out of Iraq. President Barack Obama has confirmed that the US plans to withdraw

significant number of combat troops from Iraq stating that the war was nearing an

end. The remaining force of 50,000 soldiers will train Iraqi security forces and

provide security for ongoing US Diplomatic efforts.

Australia with a hung parliament Australians failed to elect a new government

in the polls held in August and were left with a hung parliament. The non-result

elections between Julia Gillard’s Labor and Abbott’s Liberal party led to the first

hung parliament in Australia since World War II. Three key Independents are now

in the process of deciding which party to support to form a government.

Pakistani cricketers tainted The Game of cricket gets murkier with alleged

match-fixer Mazhar Majeed’s claim of having rigged games played by Pakistan for

three years. The British Police recovered cash from hotel rooms of Pakistani

players involved in spot fixing. Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammed

Asif were interviewed and their mobiles confiscated after Majeed’s confession.

The Anti-Corruption Unit of the ICC will probe all 82 international matches played

by Pakistan during this time. The news came as a bolt for the flood-stricken and

violence-plagued country where cricket is the national sport.

Pakistan Floods Annual monsoons rains have led to flooding in Pakistan leading

to the death of 1500 people and rendering thousands homeless. In the worst

flooding disaster in 80 years the floodwaters have affected about one-fifth of the

country washing away millions of hectares of crops, submerging villages and

destroying roads, bridges, schools, electricity and communication setting back the

infrastructure by many years. Disease is fast spreading in these flood affected

areas and there have been warnings that dams in the south may burst. It is

[40]

estimated that the floods in Pakistan have displaced people thrice the number

displaced during partition.

Hike in Visa fee The Obama Regime has raised H-1B and L1 visa fees to protect

its borders from illegal Mexican immigrants. This additional fee would be used to

build operating bases and deploy unmanned aerial surveillance to beef up U.S.-

Mexico border security. The impact of this hike will be substantial on Indian IT

companies that account for approximately 50,000 H1 and L1 visas per year.

Mosque near ground Zero A New York city panel has cleared the way for the

construction of a mosque near ground zero that has been causing a political

uproar over religious freedom. The proposed construction of the mosque near

ground zero has sparked debate all around the country. President Barack Obama,

however, supported the right of having a mosque by asserting that Muslims have

the same right to freedom of religion as everyone else in America.

China to launch space station Having finished the first module of a planned

space station and testing its electronics and other systems China is all set to

launch it into orbit next year. Changes were being made to the rocket that will

carry the 8.5ton Tiangong 1 module into a set orbit. No finishing or manning dates

have been given for the space station. The official Xinhua news agency said that

The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft and Shenzhou 9 and 10 spacecraft would dock with it

in the second half of 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Online route Oxford English Dictionary that has been in print for over a century

may never appear in print for the future generations. The word reference Bible is

likely to loose its existence to its online version. With the digital books becoming

popular, the format that the 3rd edition, currently being worked upon, will take is

anybody’s guess.

Current Affairs - September 2010

Indians freed from Malay traffickers: Not less than 24 Indian men who were

discovered bound up in a residence in a Malaysian boondocks were successfully

freed from the arrest and two Pakistani men supposedly engaged in a human

trafficking guild were detained with immediate effect. “Inquiries into the matter

exposed that those people, age-old amid 20 and 30, were from Uttar Pradesh. If

the reports of the media are to be trusted, the victims landed on to the capital’s

intl. airport four months back, afore getting picked by the accused people who

were apparently looking for workers in an industrial unit in Johor,” he said. He

further stated that the two men promised the Indian workers appealing wages as

the bait. It is once again proved that Malaysia is a magnet for wide spread drug

[41]

peddling and human trafficking. Unemployed workforce looking out for jobs is

brought for added transfers to other Southeast Asian countries and to Australia.

Indian to lead FIDE: Indians have already proved their metal in various sports at

the international level. Tennis, Cricket, Shooting, Boxing and also Chess. After

Vishwanathan Anand, another lot of Indians are about to triumph on the World

Chess Podium. D.V. Sundar has been elected has the President of the world body

for the sport of chess, FIDE at Russia. Apart from that, the president for the Asian

Continent was Mr. Dongre and Commonwealth Chess Federation President was

revealed in the name of Mr. B.S. Chahuhan, a press statement by the All India

Chess Federation revealed.

Make way for the new breed: The new world power calendar for 2010 has

once again predicted that New Delhi’s dominance in the world will see

acceleration by 2025. Among the able coalition, the country has been placed at

the fourth position afterwards the US, China and the European Union. ‘The Global

Governance 2025’ was together brought out by the National Intelligence Council

(NIC) of the US and the European Union’s Institutes for Security Studies (EUISS). In

the current year, the US leads the lot of able countries/regions, cumulatively for

about 22 percent of the worldwide supremacy. The US is chased by China at 12

percent, European Union at 16 percent and India at eight percent. India comes

next to Japan, Russia and Brazil with beneath than 5 percent apiece. Following

these global statistics, by 2025 the ability of the US, EU, Japan and Russia will cut

down although that of China, India and Brazil will boost but this surge will see the

positions unchanged. By 2025, the United States of America will continue to be

the most dominating nation, but it will be possessing just a bit above 18 percent

of the global authority. The US will be carefully trailed by China with 16 percent,

European Union with 14 percent and India with 10 percent looking to overleap.

Current Affairs – October 2010

India gets UNSC non-permanent seat:

The biggest news on the international front for India has been its inclusion into

the UNSC as a non-permanent member after a gap of 19 years. Even as India’s

acclamation for a non-permanent bench on the body that includes fifteen

members in total was an inevitable cessation afterwards Kazakhstan back out of

the chase for the Asian bench beforehand in early January. India got an

unbelievable 187 of the 191 votes in the UN General Assembly ballot on October

14th 2010. India’s previous spell in the Security Council was way back in 1992.

Almost immediately afterwards India’s appointment, Indian agent to the United

Nations Hardeep Singh Puri put it straight that New Delhi would make use of this

couple of year valid span to build assurance and accord a feeling of aplomb to the

[42]

five non changing associates (famously known as the P-5) – the United States of

America, Russia, Britain, France and China. Considering that Brazil, a running

affiliate of the United Nation Security Council, and South Africa and Germany,

which got appointed with India, on October 14th were as well in contention for a

permanent membership, he stated: ‘Of course everybody of us will attempt to

bring into play the two years we need to render our allies a feeling of aplomb and

formulate trust and faith so that they are at ease with our role playing in the

United Nation Security Council on a continued period of time’.

India and Mozambique sign 3 agreements:

India and Mozambique came together and signed three agreements and a credit

band of 500 million United States dollars has been advanced to that nation state

for works regarding the infrastructure, agronomics and power during a convention

that featured President of Mozambique Armando Guebuza and Prime Minister of

India Dr. Manmohan Singh. Guebuza and Singh, who captivated entrustment level

converses, resolved to actualize an affiliation following the lines of superior

political meeting, deepening of bread-and-butter collaboration, deepening of

defense and aegis collaboration, distinctively to get hold of sea lanes in opposition

to piracy and, cooperation in competence building and human resource (or

workforce) development. “Both of us together accord to the aforementioned

Indian Ocean association and we carve up familiar issues. It is in our alternate

absorption to ensure the assurance and aegis of sea lanes of communication in

the Indian Ocean,” Dr. Manmohan Singh said in a collective journalist statement.

India will back the enactment in preparation and setting up organizations in

Mozambique to back capacity building in the coal business and will as well back

the ability formation for the defense and patrolling personnel of that nation state,

the Prime Minister alleged. Conveying worry over the assurance and aegis of sea

lanes in Indian Ocean, Guebuza promised India it will accommodate all practical

aid to safeguard them.

Current Affairs – November 2010

Pakistan’s Initiative against Terrorism

Pakistan has been the victim of international terrorism in the past few months. As

a result of this, a top US official recently said that Islamabad should begin to crack

down on terrorists and terrorist groups operational within the country

immediately. Barrack Obama, President of the United States of America has also

agreed to this statement and feels that Pakistan has been one of the major

victims of international terrorism lately. President Obama also said that Pakistan

needs to take strong and immediate steps against all terrorist groups operating

on Pakistani soil. Furthermore, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central

Asia Robert Blake said that a number of terrorist groups are operating in a

[43]

syndicate and working together against American interests, not just in the US but

in other nations such as Afghanistan and India as well. Mr. Blake also stated that

the US has welcomed every step take by Pakistan so far and that it is in full

support of Pakistan as always.

UN’s terrorism sanctions list

In a recent and sudden move, a US committee took down several names of al-

Qaida and Taliban terrorists off its terrorism sanction lists. The committee said

that the reason for such an action was that several of the names on the sanctions

list were probably dead. The committee Chairman Thomas Mayr Harting said that

following this step, the committee had started investigations into how many

terrorists put on the list were actually dead. This committee was set up in 1999.

New Government in Iraq

Prolonged warring and quarrels between rival political factions in Iraq had caused

over an eight month deadlock over the issue of forming the next government.

Recently, the Iraqi Prime Minister appealed to these political factions to work

together and unite following his acceptance of the President’s request to form the

next government. Senior officials admitted that a Herculean task now lay before

them, that of forming a government comprising of members of all possible

political factions. The task has been made harder by the month long deadline to

form the government which will preside over the country’s affair as US troops

move out and power is handed back to the Iraqi people. The new government is

expected to have members from all the political factions such as the Kurds,

Shiites and Sunnis. Prime Minister Designate al-Maliki called upon al Iraqi citizens

and politicians to help him in this difficult task.

Friendly neighbor China

Rising concerns over China’s assertive and aggressive attitude in the Asian

continent has prompted China’s President Hu Jintao to assure all nations that

China is committed to being a friendly and helpful neighbor. China has been in the

news recently over its spats with neighboring nations over international borders

and territories. The reason for this has been said to be China’s interests in a group

of potentially resource rich islands in the Asian Pacific. Speaking to leaders at the

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Japan, President Hu said that China

was committed to the regional policy of building good neighborliness and

friendship.

Rolls Royce sued by Qantas

Australian flight safety officials have recently warned that manufacturing defects

have been found in the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines. Officials further urged

airlines using these engines to carry extensive checks before using them because

[44]

defects present in them could lead to catastrophic failures. In the meanwhile,

Qantas began court proceedings against Rolls Royce and was granted an

injunction by the federal court of Australia which ensured that the airline could

pursue legal action against the engine manufacturing giants.

Myanmar polls called fake

The first democratic polls in Myanmar after several years of military rule were

held among complaints of threats, intimidation and accusations of the polls being

a charade. In most constituencies, the poll was a competition between the Union

Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National Unity Party (NUS).

Several accusations were made by opposition parties against the USDP, claiming

that they illegally collected advanced ballots. USA and UK officials also voiced

their concerns about the transparency and fairness of these polls.

China’s slowest growth

China had its slowest rate of economic growth in a year during the September

quarter. In addition to this, a World Bank report hinted at a further decrease in its

economic growth. One of the reasons for this has been the long term inflation that

China has faced for almost two years. China’s industrial growth has also fallen

considerably in recent times. This slow growth in China’s economy has gotten

many people to believe that India might be the next economic superpower to rise

because of its high levels of industrial and economic growth in recent times.

Though not immediately, but experts predicted India’s rate of growth to exceed

that of China’s by a considerable margin in the next five years.

Current Affairs - December 2010

Sri Lanka abandons Tamil version of its national album

The Sri lankan government has decided to scrap the tamil version of the national

anthem in its official and state functions. This move may possibly further alienate

the tamil minorities in the country. A directive to use only the Sinhalese version as

been sent by the ministry as president Rajapakse pointed out that no country

uses two versions of the same language.

China reveals world’s fastest train

China unveiled its new high speed train CRH380 that can clock a maximum speed

of 486.1 kmph. It is said to be much faster than even the bullet trains of Japan. At

a cruising speed of 380 this is certainly a major accomplishment. China on its part

has gone ahead and is now working on a model that is expected to clock

600kmph.

Mark Zuckerberg, Times Person Of The Year

Times magazine has named Mark Zuckerberg as the person of the year . Mr

[45]

Zuckerberg is the founder of thesmash hit social networking site Facebook and is

also the world youngest billionaire currently. Although, Julian Assange the editor

in chief of wikileaks was the pick of the time readers, but Zuckerberg won

because of the scope and reach his website and how it has touched and

remodeled our thoughts on social networking bringing the world that much more

closer. Facebook has reached 500 million users this year all around the globe and

the numbers are still counting.

[46]

National Current Affairs   2010

Current Affairs – January 2010

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visit India in Jan 2010. She belongs to

Awami League Party. The two countries signed five agreements – on mutual legal

assistance in criminal matters, on transfer of sentenced persons and on

combating international terrorism, organized crime & illicit drug trafficking

besides MOU on cooperation in the power sector and on cultural exchanges. India

give Bangladesh a $ 1 billion line of credit, the biggest it has given to any country

so far.

South Korea President Lee Myung Bak visit India in Jan 2010. The two countries

decided to double the bilateral trade to $ 30 billion by 2014. Four facts were

signed between two countries – cooperation in peaceful use of outer space, IT,

science & technology for the year 2010-12 and transfer of sentenced persons.

South Korean President was also the chief guest at 2010 Republic Day Parade.

Gujarat Local Authorities Law (amendment) Bill 2009- The Bill makes it the duty of

a qualified voter to vote during elections to local bodies. Voting is compulsory, but

the Bill allows voters to cast their vote in favour of none of the candidates.

Election officers will declare those who fail to vote defaulter, and serve them a

notice.

India and China has decided to start joint military exercise from 2011.

Najib Razak, Malaysia Prime Minister visit India in Jan 2010.

Govt launched Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Key highlights of the

mission are :

o To create an enabling policy framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW

of solar power by 2020.

o To create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability for

indigenous production and market leadership.

o To promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000 MW by

2017 and 2000 MW by 2022.

o To achieve 15 million sq. meters solar thermal collector area by 2017 and

20 million by 2022.

o To deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.

[47]

New Governors appointed : a) M K Narayanan – West Bengal, b)Shivraj Patil –

Punjab, c) Mohsina Kidwai – Jharkhand, d) Shekhar Dutt – Chhattisgarh, e) E S L

Narasimhan – Andhra Pradesh.

Govt plans to create a National Gas Highway Development Authority. The present

Gas Pipeline Density in India is 3.29 Km per 1000 Sq.Km.

Govt plans to set up a National Green Tribunal to control Carbon Emissions and

pollution. It will be responsible for implementing the low carbon roadmap to be set

forth in the 12th Five Year Plan.

Current Affairs – February 2010

Kirit Parikh committee , set up to review petro pricing regime, submit its

recommendation. Its major recommendation are to deregulate the prices of petrol

& diesel as per market prices, reduce the subsidy on LPG.

India signed a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with the UK, which became

the 8th country to enter into such a pact, since the lifting of atomic trade

embargo in 2008.

Govt set up a panel under the Chairmanship of former Justice B N Srikrishna which

would consider the demand for splitting Andhra Pradesh.

India and Denmark signed a social security pact which will relieve their workers

from double taxation and provide for cooperation in areas of labour market

expansion and orderly migration.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Saudi Arabia in Feb 2010. He was the first

Indian PM in 28 years to visit the gulf country. Saudi Arabia is India’s largest

supplier of crude oil ( 23 %) followed by Iran ( 17 %) and Nigeria ( 11 %). India is

offering upto 10 % equity to Saudi petroleum firm Saudi Aramco in a refinery

being built in Orissa. PM addressed the Shoura council of Saudi Arabia.

Constitution 111th Amendment – Proposes to incorporate a new Part ( Part IX B) in

the Constitution so as to provide for legal framework to regulate the functioning of

cooperative societies. A new Article ( Article 43 B) is also proposed to be inserted

in Part IV of the Constitution (Directive Principles of State Policy) for the States to

promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning of cooperative societies.

Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2009 commonly known as Nuclear Liability

Bill will be introduced by Govt in Parliament in Winter session 2010. The draft bill

aims at limiting the liability of a nuclear plant operator to Rs. 300 crore in the

eventuality of an accident. The bill provides for the penalty to be paid by the

[48]

operator and not the supplier companies which would mainly be American in this

case. India has entered into civil nuclear cooperation agreement with eight

countries so far.

Current Affairs – March 2010

Govt launched National Mission for Empowerment of Women aimed at inter-

sectoral convergence of all pro- women programmes.

Constitution 108th Amendment Bill 2008 commonly known as women’s

reservation bill was passed by Rajya Sabha by 186 in favour 1 against 39

abstained (Current strength of Rajya Sabha is 233). The bill seeks to reserve a

third of the seats on the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for 15 years on a

rotational basis. It was first introduced in 1996. Sharad Joshi, an independent MP

is the only MP which cast vote against the bill. In the present Lok Sabha, there are

59 women MPs out of 543 MPs. Total MLAs in 29 state assemblies in India are

4093.

Yamunanagar (Haryana) and Vishakhapatnam (AP) are choosen for a pilot project

on saving household energy by replacing incandescent lamps with CFLs (Compact

Fluorescent Lamps).

Earth Hour 2010 has been celebrated on 27 March organized by World Wide Fund

for Nature, India. Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are official Earth Hour Cities

among 15 Indian cities.

Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia visit India in March 2010.

Supreme Court allowed religion based 4 % reservations in Govt jobs & educational

institutes in Andhra Pradesh. It extended the benefit to 14 OBC in muslims in the

state. The matter is further referred to Constitutional bench of Supreme Court.

’Bold Kurushetra’ a joint armour exercise between India and Singapore was held

at Jhansi(UP).

Prohibition of unfair practices in technical, medical educational institutions &

universities Bill is passed by Govt. It provided for 3 year imprisonment and a fine

of upto Rs 50 lakh for higher education providers guilty of misleading students.

Govt approved Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry & Operation)

Bill 2010. It provides foreign universities to set up campuses in India.

Govt amends Anti Hijacking Act 1982. It now provides for death sentence to the

hijackers.

[49]

Govt starts the scheme for creation of the National Population Register (NPR) of

Indian residents. The project will cover an estimated 1.2 billion people and total

cost of the project will be Rs. 3539.24 crore.

India became 1st country in the world to have a ‘manoeuvrable’ supersonic cruise

missile, when it successfully test fired 290 km range Brahmos missile.

Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu visit India in March 2010.

Current Affairs – April 2010

Naxals killed about 75 CRPF personal at Chintalnar-Tarmetla village in Dantewada

distt ,Chhattisgarh. Government appoint E.N. Rammohan, to probe the incident.

Uninque Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) now known as Aadhaar. It’s

Chairman is Nandan Nilekani. It will assign 16 digit identification number to all

residents in India.

NTRO- National Technical Research Organisation. The organization came to

limelight after allegation of phone tapping of politicians.

Indian navy commissioned India’s first indigenously built stealth warship ‘ INS

Shivalik’. The other stealth warship to be built are named as ‘INS Sahyadri’ and

INS Satpura’.

Right To Education Act is notified and will become a legally enforceable from 1

April 2010. Key features of RTE Act are : All children in 6-14 age group must get

free and compulsory eduction; No child shall be held back,expelled or required to

pass a board examination till Class VIII; There must be 25 % reservation for poor

children even in private & minority schools; There must be one teacher for every

30 students; A child rights commission will look into violations of the RTE law.

Govt start Census 2011. It is the 15th Census. It is in two phase. The first phase is

called –House listing & Housing Census and the second phase is called decadal

headcount which will be held in Feb 2011. The Registrar General of India is C

Chandramouli.

Current Affairs – May 2010

Naxalites killed 47 people in a landmine blast between Dantewada and Sukma in

Chattisgarh.

Test fire of nuclear capable Agni-II missile was successfully carried out from

Wheeler Island off the coast of Orissa on 17th May. Agni II has a range of 2000Km.

[50]

It is 20m long two stage solid propelled ballistic missile. It was developed by

Advanced System Laboratories alongwith DRDO & Bharat Dynamics Ltd.

Supreme Court in a recent judgement upheld a rule that allows the adjustment of

reserved category candidate SC/ST/OBC against their quota seats even if they

manage to qualify an examination for govt services on merit.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is the monitoring

authority for the Right to Education Act which became effective from April 1,

2010.

Current Affairs – June 2010

In the Global Peace Index 2010, India ranked at 128.

2010 Failed State Index- Somalia top the list followed by Zimbabwe, Sudan &

Chad. India is ranked at 87 place out of 177 countries. Norway in ranked at the

bottom of the list.

President Rule imposed in Jharkhand.

Amar Singh launches a new party ‘Akhil Bhartiya Lok Manch’.

South African president Jacob Zuma visited India.

Turkmenistan President Gurbaguly Bardimuhamedov visited India.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited India. India signed 7 pacts with

Sri Lanka. India will assist in building 50000 houses in the northen & eastern

provinces of Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh Govt has requested to rename the train linking West Bengal to

Tripura via Banglades as ‘ Sonar Tori’. Earlier the name of the train as envisaged

in the Railway Budget 2010 is ‘Epar Bangla Opar Bangla’. Sonar Tori is a collection

of poems written by Rabindranath Tagore, whose 150th birth anniversary is being

celebrated in 2010.

Maharastra will become first state in the country to have a real estate regulatory

authority.

BWA- Broadband Wireless Access. The BWA spectrum was auctioned by the Govt.

BWA Spectrum is essential for rolling out WiMAX services enabling hand held

devices and laptops to access Intranet. It will allow firms to offer high speed Net,

Web telephony & TV Services. The govt fixed Rs.1750 crore as base rate for BWA

license. The auction was held for 117 rounds and in 16 days. Rs.12848 crore was

the pan India BWA license price which was won by Infotel Broadband services ( in [51]

all 22 circles). The Govt auctioned the BWA license for a total of Rs.38,543 crore.

Mumbai had the highest bid of Rs.2293 crore followed by Delhi with Rs.2241 crore

respectively.

India signed Civil Nuclear agreement with Canada. The agreement was signed by

Manmohan Singh and Canada’s PM Stephen Harper. Canada is the 8th nation to

enter into such an agreement with India. Canada served nuclear ties with India in

1974 when India conducted its first nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974. India’s

nuclear power programme is based on the CANDU ( Canada Deuterium Uranium)

reactor.

India become a full fledged member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a

34 member inter governmental body that devises policies at both national &

international levels to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. FATF

membership will enable Indian authorities to access information on suspect

accounts in nations such as Switzerland & UK. India become its 34th member.

Current Affairs - July 2010

Noose tightening for Politicos in Sohrab case

Sohrab case getting murkier with CBI stepping up pressure on top Gujarat IPS

Officers P.C.Pande, O.P.Mathur and Geeta Johri for their suspected involvement in

scuttling the probe at the behest of former Gujarat Minister of State for home

Amit Shah. Two Rajasthan BJP leaders Gulabchand Kataria and Om Mathur are

also facing the CBI heat.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh was killed in a fake encounter and his wife who was a witness

to her husband’s abduction was also later eliminated. The agency is investigating

the police-politico nexus behind the killings.

Chidambaram confident of overcoming maoist problem in three years

Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the

ministry of home affairs, P Chidambaram informed that in a meeting of chief

ministers of seven Naxal-affected states on July 14, a decision of unified command

was agreed to namely in– West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand — for

anti-Naxal operations. A two-pronged strategy of initiating development and

police action in the affected areas was designed to overcome Maoist problem

after consultations with the Naxal-affected states

Grooming for a succession?

Noel Tata, chairman Ratan Tata’s brother has been installed as the chairman and

CEO of Tata Investment Corp and the MD in Tata International while relinquishing

his executive position in Trent Ltd within the last two months. There is speculation

[52]

that these moves are in line with the group’s succession plan for top job i.e. the

Chairmanship of Tata Sons in 2012 when Ratan Tata steps down.

Applaud or embarrassment?

According to top sources from Central Vigilance Commission, fake certificates

were being routinely issued to pass substandard work and material to the vendors

of Commonwealth Games 2010 leading to huge gains for the contractors and

vendors. All these certificates were issued without ground verification or technical

examination. The compromise, herein, in the quality of materials and

workmanship poses a serious threat to the sports personnel from countries all

over the world lending a shameful picture of India and hence jeopardizing our

ability to host such events in the future.

Valley stir

Following the imposition of curfew in wake of the protest by Syed Ali Geelani

demanding the release of dozens of arrested separatist leaders, violence was

triggered in the valley due to a spate of civilian killings by security personnel

leading to an indefinite curfew being clamped in Srinagar. Educational institutions,

shops, post offices, banks, public transport and other business establishments

were closed as a precautionary measure. The protests are part of the separatists’

‘Quit Kashmir’ programme.

Current Affairs – August 2010

Nuclear liability bill passed

Nuclear liability bill which was adopted by Rajya Sabha has now been approved by

the process of Voice vote. The session of the Parliament lasted 48 hours extra

than the scheduled time so that the legislation can be easily passed and

approved. A total of 18 amendments were introduced in this bill by Lok Sabha

before processing it further. Soon the bill was selected for a considerable hike in

the liability of operator. This liability has now become 3 times then what it was in

the past and now holds a value of rupees 1500 crore’s in total. By virtue of

progression of this bill and significant increase in the liability many overseas

companies have shown their interests in setting up reactors in India. Special

accidental care will now be provided for the employees operating in the various

sections of the nuclear plants. The decision and the passing of the bill had been

strongly opposed by the BJP leaders as they found it insignificant.

Swiss Bank Access

Swiss Authorities will provide information to India on cases of tax fraud and tax

evasion from January 1,2011under the reworked double tax agreement (DTA)

signed by India and Switzerland. The Indian Authorities can now seek information

[53]

about the account holders in Swiss banks who have a case filed against them for

tax evasion.

Government Intervention for CWG

PM and his select team of ministers takeover as CWG supervisors. Indian Prime

Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh took over the reigns of the forthcoming games in the

wake of scandals and unfinished work surrounding the event. Committee of

Secretaries, headed by a Cabinet Secretary, will now supervise the mega event to

be held in October overtaking Organizing Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi.

Bhopal Case reopened

The Supreme court of India has reopened the Bhopal Gas leak case in response to

Government’s petition for harsher punishment to the guilty for the worst tragedy

of its kind in which at least 7,000 people perished within days of the release of the

toxic methyl isocyanate gas at the Union Carbide pesticide plant on 3 December

1984, and a further 15,000 died later from exposure to the gas. The tragedy left

countless others with lifelong damage to their health.

CSAT to replace the civil services prelims

The new Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) will replace the existing civil services

(preliminary) examination from 2011. The new scheme will test the candidates for

their aptitude for civil services as well as their ethical and moral dimension of

decision-making. There will now be two common papers with equal weightage in

place of one common paper (general awareness) and one optional paper (any

particular subject of choice). The civil services main exam and the interview will

remain the same as of now.

Rahul creates controversy

Wherein one place Mamta Banerjee is speaking in the favour of naxals and now

Rahul Gandhi is sharing a dias with a suspected Maoist , this is the approach of

the government in the fight against naxals.

Member Parliament salaries hiked

Parliament recently in Delhi has made a decision to increase the salaries of MPs. A

hike of about rupees 35000 will be introduced in the salary of each MPs thus

taking it from figures like 20,000 to 55,000 or so. Because daily allowance has an

important role to play hence parliament has also decided to exactly double the

allowances issued daily to each Member of Parliament. Hence daily allowance of

rupees 1000 will now become 2000. This daily allowance will be issued only when

the parliament session is in progress. Other than the daily allowances the official

expenses for every office per month have now been considerably raised and

touch a 50,000 amount. That is not all the travel and conveyance charge issued

will now become 4 times which were earlier around rupees 1,00,000. Retired

[54]

members will now get a monthly pension of around rupees 20,000 which was

around 10,000 in the past times.

Commonwealth with less green

Approximately 40,000 trees have been either felled or transplanted for Delhi’s

preparation of Commonwealth Games 2010. Apart from the financial burden of

creating world class infrastructure and transport facilities Delhites have to bear

the loss of its green cover as the compensatory plantation cannot in any way

compensate for the loss of a fully grown, mature tree.

Blackberry controversy

Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of Blackberry has finally surrendered to

Indian security agencies’ demand for access to their server. The company has

proposed for lawful access to its services including the messenger as well as the

enterprise with immediate effect and the company would have to set up a server

in India if it does not work to the satisfaction of Indian agencies. The security

agencies already had access to voice data, SMS and general emails sent through

Blackberry devices but Blackberry email and messaging services that are highly

encrypted were major concerns for the security agencies. With this understanding

in place the government has decided to serve notices to Google and Skype also to

fall in line.

Direct tax code

The Government deferred the direct tax code(DTC) by yet another year to April

2012 causing yet another disappointment to the taxpayers. Women taxpayers

suffered a bolt as the preferential treatment meted out to them earlier is now

proposed to be withdrawn. Senior citizens, however, enjoy a higher exemption

limit. The bill that replaces the Income Tax Act 1961 seeks an increase in

exemption threshold of individuals from Rs.1.6 lakh currently to Rs.2lakh. The

corporate taxes will be reduced to a flat 30%.

Leh hit by flood

A cloudburst on the intervening night of August 5 and 6 has led to flash floods and

mudslides in the Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir. The cloudburst and the

following floods have claimed over 175 lives and injured about 400 people,

besides causing widespread damage to public and private property. The worst hit

Chuglamsar has just turned into debris all over.

More rich than poor Indians

National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has estimated in its

report, “How India Earns, Spends and Saves”, that despite the economic

slowdown of the last three years, the number of high-income households in India

has exceeded the number of low-income households. Households with high

[55]

income or earnings have grown by over 3.7% in total and now touch the mark of

around 21%. That is not all also the households with low income sources have

fallen by around 3.2% and gone down to a mark of 18%.

CWG Anthem

When everything is being prepared for the common wealth coming up in October

then how could Music maestro A R Rahman stay away from it. Yes, the musician

has launched the theme song for the Commonwealth Games 2010 that has the

best lyrics covering khelo oh yaaro,,jeeto oh yaaro. During the launch of this

theme song honorable Chief Minister Shiela Dixit, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and OC

Chairman Suresh Kalmadi were present in the ceremony.

CWG breeding mosquitoes

The fingers are already crossed and people fear further delay in the common

wealth problems. When the earlier hurdles are not getting removed and new

problems are coming into view. The sincere attention is being drawn by the

mosquitoes breeding in various dumps. Because of heavy rainfall in the country

water is collected in almost every venue and mosquitoes have converted these

venues into their favorite breeding places and are increasing the fear of dengue

disease.

Yet another marine disaster

A foreign cargo ship MV Khalijia-111 which collided with MSC Chitra which was

carrying about 1,200 containers with over 266 tonnes of fuel about 10 km off

Mumbai harbour has spilled oil into the Mumbai seas. The collision tilted MSC

Chitra vessel causing 300 containers carrying oil to tumble into the Mumbai

waters creating a thick oil slick two to three kms around the vessel Chitra causing

a serious threat to the marine life.

India’s Independence

August 15th, 2010 India celebrated the 63rd anniversary of its independence.

IBM Number two employer

IBM is the second largest private sector employer in India after TCS . The

company has more than one lakh people on its rolls.

Current Affairs - September 2010

PM and Sonia Gandhi inaugurate UID:

The Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh and UPA Arch Sonia Gandhi shaped a

record by accordingly ablution the world’s aboriginal ID activity on September

29th 2010 forth with Nilekani, the arch man of the ministry is acclimated to

accommodate Unique Identification Numbers for India’s citizens (cumulatively

[56]

well in billions), by rendering them the aboriginal collection of twelve digit figures

to ten clannish. The PM as well as the UPA Chief were collectively congratulated in

the presence of former Infosys headman. This ID Card is assumed to be nation’s

biggest ever tech adeptness action alleged ‘Aadhaar’(base), that is due to be

issued to all Indians to accommodate them within a lucrative nationally accurate

and absolute individual antecedent of character affidavit through an authenticity

vault and that will help to accomplish supply processes transparent. Biometric

following abstracts include fingerprints and an iris browse getting acclimated for

the aboriginal time wherever in the planet.

Yamuna raises its bar, causes menace:

The baptize akin in the river rose to 206.70 accent recently, 1.87 accent aloft the

crisis mark of 204.83 accent and is acceptable to go up added as neighboring

Haryana would absolution added water in the river, a chief official of the flood

ascendancy administration said. Waters from the flood reached into vicinities like

of the local areas as well (Yamuna and Sonia Vihar, Usmanpur, Jaitpur are a few).

A large number of localities that reside in the areas forth the banks of the river

were apparent lined up on the footpaths on the ITO arch with whatsoever they

had of their possessions. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had on Friday requested the

inhibiters not to get into agitation and said all basic measures are getting put into

abode to accommodated any possible occurrence. Over 100 cadre from National

Disaster Response Force, were soon deployed to abetment the bounded

authorities. The ascent Yamuna has affected the Northern Railways to abolish 25

trains and absent 36 others. The cancelled train were prominent ones (Kalka and

Brahamaputra Mail, Shalimar, A.A. and G.N. Express, etc). The 90 trains that have

to be detoured included the most heavily commuted ones and this has disrupted

the life of the general public paralyzing their usual movements, a Northern

Railway spokesmen stated.

Ayodha Verdict finally out, Allahabad Bench applauded:

Culminating 60 years of anfractuous proceedings, asserts and counter-claims,

optimism and desolation, Allahabad HC conventions in favor of improvised Ram

temple on quarreled site; the remaining of acreage to be disconnected amid

Hindus & Muslims. In what is conceivably the most of eagerly anticipated

judgment in contempt times, a breach adjudication dispensed out by a three-

member bank of Allahabad High Court were in full abounding of the claims of the

Hindu petitioners while acclimation a three-way analysis of the acknowledged

land. The cardinal provided acknowledged permit to the temporary Ram temple

that came up afterwards the annihilation of the acknowledged anatomy in

Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. The entire panel of adjudicators – the prominent

faces of the country (Justice Agarwal, Khan and Sharma) – was very much in favor

of the acceptance that captivated the acknowledged land was the native land of [57]

the Hindu deity. Mr. Sharma and Mr. Agarwal settled with the long-held

affirmation of the Sangh Parivar and an area of archaeologists that the

acknowledged anatomy cannot be advised as an Islamic place of worship as it

came into actuality adjoins the credo of Islam.

Lights, Camera and Applause:

The 57th Edition of the National Film Award ceremony was concluded for the year

2009 in the month of September. The awards were given away in three groups

namely, finest Feature Motion Picture Class led by Chairpersonship of Mr. Sippy,

Non Feature Motion Picture Group led by Chairpersonship of Mr. Pandey, and

Script on Movies beneath the Chairpersonship of Mr. S. Bandhopadhyay.

The following were the recipients of a few awards in various nominations:

a. Motion Picture: Malayalam flick – KuttySrank

b. I.G.A. for the Best first appearance movie : Hindi movie – Lahore for the

Direction

c. Box office blockbuster (widespread entertainment): Hindi – 3 Idiots

d. N.D.A. for the Best motion picture on Patriotic Spirit: Hindi – Delhi 6

e. Best motion picture on Society’s Matters: Bollywood – Well Done Abba

f. Motion Picture for Kids: Tied between Keshu (Malayalam) and Putaani Party

(Kannada)

g. Direction: Rituparno Ghosh for Abohoman

h. Actor: Amitabh Bachcha for Auro’s role

i. Actress: Ananya Chatterjee

j. Child’s Performance: Tollywood’s Pasanga

k. Male Singer: Rupam Islam in Bengali

l. Female Singer: Neelanjana Sarkar in Bengali

Current Affairs – October 2010

Third stage of Bihar polling completed:

Polling was carried out affably in 48 electorates on 28th Oct 2010, estimating in

the third appearance of Bihar Assembly elections, which witnessed an

approximated 53% voter responsive. Electorates like Amnour, Taraya, Ramnagar,

Balmikinagar and Patepur (Maoist followers) account about 45%-52% voting.

[58]

Voters were carried by boats in the littoral areas of Raghopur Assembly electorate

in Vaishali commune where the popular figure of Rabri Devi was in the tussle. The

better half of RJD spearhead Lalu Prasad Yadav is as well battling from Sonepur

bench in Saran constituency. More than 185 people were held during the

balloting, which saw miniature incidents of affray and fracas. Unlike on a number

of occasions before, this time Bihar polling did not see what it usually it

experiences in terms of riots, booth capturing and other forms of unrest and

violence that hampers the true and the honest spirit of competition. “Apart from

this, it was nonviolent and silky,” stated by Neelmani (DG of Police).

Approximately sixty cars were as well detained. In excess of one crore voters will

adjudge the future of six ministers (of the state) in the third stage. The following

round i.e. stage 4 will be carried out on Nov. 4 2010.

UID experiences technical hiccups:

In order to overcome the challenge posed by the huge figure of people

(approximately 1.03 billions) in the country, the chief of the dept. stated that the

16 digit long UID numbers will be released in the next year and half or so. He

added that the epicenter of its working will be in the city of Bangalore. An easy

remedy to the obstacles posed by the allotment of different IDs is to have a bench

where every formerly sanctioned UID are kept and a fresh one is given only

afterwards verifying that is actually a unique code. Fundamentally, we charge to

break an extremely tough difficulty in dispersed schemes once we have copies of

the bench (for dependability) and ought to accordingly respond/keep informed the

table as questions are asked. Taking the point in consideration, provided the

millions of accretion objects affiliated to the web, there is no scrutiny if a prime

number selected is the similar chosen by somebody else before. If this is to

happen, it is an aegis aperture of the aboriginal order for web; the possibly is,

nevertheless, acutely undersized. Population on another instance has proven to

be a major obstacle in the development and progress course of India. UID which

was anticipated to be a huge success and particularly curb this issue is yet to

combat the problem itself to even get kick started.

Haryana barricades polythene bags entry:

In another attempt to safeguard the environmental and not add insult to the

already injured state of the planet, like the govt. of Delhi, Haryana govt. has also

decided to prohibit polythene bags in the state. The ban includes a complete no-

no of recycling, storage and usage (in any form) within the state. A suggestion to

this aftereffect has been supported by Bhupinder Singh Hooda (the honorable

Chief Minister of the state), an authorized agent said in the capital on Saturday.

The resolution was taken as it was empiric that fractional forbid on use of

polythene bags of a clearly defined array bracket did not crop the needed

consequences. There was consistent ambiguity over the array of poly bags in [59]

exercise and it had as well been discovered that nibbling of a great number of

polythene bogs had resulted in deaths of cows on a regular basis, he said. This

type of thinking and resolutions are the only way through which we can combat

and better the ailing state of the plant Earth. If all other cities and states like

previously Delhi and now Haryana think about the hazards the polythene bags

can cost, we will be having better standards of health and hygiene.

Current Affairs – November 2010

Sensex drops 458 points

The Bombay Stock Exchange recently fell by a total of 458 points. The reasons for

the underperformance of the Indian Equity market have been said to be the series

of scams that were unearthed from mid November. Just last month, CBI officials

discovered a bribe for loan scandal that involved several officials from financial

firms and a few state run banks. The 10.8% rise in industrial growth since last

month could not help and several indices ended with huge losses. Major loses

were mainly suffered by PSUs, realty, consumer durables and healthcare.

Satyam Trial Case

The examination of the first witness in the infamous multi crore Satyam Computer

accounting scam would begin from the first of November Additional Chief

Metropolitan Magistrate Court. CBI officials submitted a list of six witnesses to the

courts who were officials of a number of different banks. All ten accused including

company founder B Ramalinga Raju were present in court during the hearing of

the case. The DIG of police who operates under the department of CBI said that

the agency requested permission to set up LCD projectors and screens in the

court so that both parties could observe and take notes on all the documents that

would be brought up in court. Since cases in the Supreme Court need to be

resolved at the earliest, CBI officials submitted close to a thousand documents to

the court to speed up the prosecution. The bail of the owner of company and the

other 5 individuals associated has been rejected.

Baba Ramdev Temple under threat

An anonymous letter was received at the Ramdev Baba temple in Jaisalmer that

contained threats to blow up the temple on November 9th. District Collector G S

Kushwaha received this letter by normal post. Following this letter security around

the temple and the surrounding complex was tightened by posting additional

number of policeman around the temple complex. Around 5 million devotees are

said to visit the temple every year.

Ashok Chavan’s fate

Disgraced Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chauhan’s would be decided after

the Diwali holiday season, i.e. after November 8th said the Congress party. [60]

Recently Chief Minister Ashok Chauhan’s name had come in the Adarsh Housing

Society scam. Following this allegation, Mr. Ashok Chauhan immediately offered

to resign from his post. No mention of either the Adarsh Housing Society scam or

the commonwealth Games fiasco was made by the Congress in its AICC session.

Also present at the meeting were Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, Common

Wealth Games Organizing Committee Chaiperson Suresh Kalmadi, Heavy

Industries Minister and former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and

Maharashtra PCC President Manikrao Thakre.

Adjournment of Ajmer Dargah blast case

The hearing of the Ajmer Gargah blast case was recently adjourned to November

8 by a sessions court due to leave taken by the presiding judge. Over an 800 page

charge sheet was produced before the court of the Additional Chief Judge

Magistrate on the 22nd of October by the Rajasthan ATS. The five accused in the

case have alleged links with the radical Hindu group Abhinav Bharat. Only one

accused was brought to the court while the other two are being questioned about

the Hyderabad Mecca blast case. The accused have been booked under various

sections of the Indian Penal Code like conspiracy to murder, attempt to murder

and murder. Over one hundred and thirty witnesses have been cited by the

prosecution of the case.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s concern

The finance minister of the country Pranab Mukherjee recently raised his fears

over the rising of inflation in the country. Minister Mukherjee said that the Reserve

Bank of India would take steps at its next monetary policy review to check rising

prices because of increased inflation. He further added that rising food prices

were solely the reason for this sudden inflation. Inflation for the month of

September was estimated to be close to 8.6% much above the acceptable rate of

5%. As said by Finance Minister Mukherjee, food prices had the highest amount of

inflation which in Mid October was estimated to be over 13%. Recently, Minister

Pranab Mukherjee was in talks with the Reserve Bank of India Governor over the

the possible rate hike action by the Central Bank. The global financial crisis, which

was worsened by the total collapse of financial firm Lehman Brothers, is being

said to be the reason behind the RBI’s recent reversal of its soft monetary policy

that it started back in September 2008. Adding to these has been the sudden

drop in industrial growth from 15.2% to 5.6%. To combat the aforementioned rise

in inflation, the Reserve Bank of India has hiked its key short term lending and

borrowing times several times this year.

Protest during Obama visit by Bhopal Gas tragedy victims

Victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy are said to be planning to stage a protest at

Jantar Mantar on the 8th of November, during the time of US President Barrack

[61]

Obama’s visit to the capital. Several tonnes of the poisonous gas methyl iso-

cyanide, leaked from the Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal in 1984, killing over 3000

people the same night and causing the deaths of over 25000 people over the

subsequent years. Five different voluntary organizations working for the gas

tragedy victims recently held a press conference where they stated that they

would be requesting to President Obama to use his Presidential powers to bring

the Union Carbide Corporation to Indian Courts and be answerable to them. The

verdict of this case many years back had found seven top officials of this

corporation to be guilty but as these guilty persons were bailed out within minutes

of the verdict, many people till date question the justice imparted in the case. The

voluntary organizations further added that hundreds of people regularly fall sick

and die every month due to the long term poisonous effects of the leaked gas on

the soil and water. They further plan to ask President Obama for his help as the

US government has been largely unhelpful these last few years. The sit in protest

organized by the voluntary organizations is said to be comprised of over 5000 gas

tragedy victims.

Current Affairs – December 2010

CBI seeking closure in Arushi Talwar case.

CBI has sought closure after being unable to comprehensively solve the Arushi

Talwar murder case which has hogged the limelight for over two years now. The

report claims that they have hit a road block and lack of evidence as main

reasons for not being able to solve the case. However the report as named the

victims father Dr Rajesh Talwar as a possible suspect.

Chandra Babu Naidu ends fast

Telugu Desam Party president finally ended his hunger strike of eight days on the

insistence of visiting leaders like Thambi Durai, Arunkumar, Amba Durai, Maitreya,

Prakash Karat, Bardan, Om Prakash Choutala, Sharad Yadav and Ajit Singh. Mr

Naidu undertook the fast citing that the Andhra Govt should revise its

compensation package for the rain hit farmers of the state. The visiting leaders

promised Mr Naidu that they would bring the issue to the notice of the Prime

Minister Mr Manmohan Singh by taking an all party delegation to New Delhi.

Congress blames Sanjay Gandhi for the emergency excesses

The congress party which is celebrating its 125th birthday this month has accused

Sanjay Gandhi for many of the excesses committed during the emergency of

1975-77. Sanjay Gandhi received notoriety for many ruthless measures like slum

clearance and mass sterilization programs. The congress has always had to walk a

tight rope when it comes to defending Indira Gandhis decision to enforce

[62]

emergency which led to one of the most turbulent times in Indian history since

independence.

Citibank employee Shivraj Puri accused of fraud surrenders

Citibank employee Shivraj Puri who is said to be involved in a massive fraud,

finally surrendered to the police after almost 48 hrs since the incident came to

light. Mr Puri who works as a relationship manager has been accused of siphoning

of money to the tune of 400 crores from atleast 20 clients to other fictitious

accounts.

Opposition unrelenting on its demand in JPC probe

The opposition has been steadfast in its demand for the JPC with regard to the 2G

scam. The PM Dr Manmohan Singh had earlier offered to appear himself before

the PAC headed by BJP stalwart Mr. Murali Manohar Joshi. The opposition still feels

the JPC would be the best option that would help to bring this case to its logical

conclusion.

Human rights activist Dr Binayak Sen convicted, gets life term

The session’s court of Raipur has convicted Dr Binayak Sen and three others on

grounds of sedition and conspiracy thereby sentencing them for life due to their

links with the Maoists. Dr Sen has been held guilty under Chhattisgarh Special

Public Security Act 2005, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, of being a

conduit between Naxals and of meeting Narayan Sanyal in jail. The trio has also

been convicted under provisions of section 124 IPC (sedition) and 120 B IPC

(conspiracy). Dr Sen is a pediatrician and alumni of Christian medical college. The

58 year old doctor has provided over 28 years of selfless service to the poorer

sections of Chattisgarh.

Prices of onions hit through the roof

The prices of onions have undergone a steep rise with a kg costing close to Rs 80

in the national capital and its surrounding areas. Other parts of India too have

started feeling the pressure and the prices are continuously shooting up. The

Government on it part has suspended the export of onions until January in an

attempt to bring down the prices. According to traders, they are attributing the

supply crunch due to torrential downpours in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Southern

states which has lead to a poor yield.

Indias GSLV vehicle fails during launch.

ISRO suffered a serious setback when its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle

(GSLV-F06) failed on its course, forcing the team at SriHarikota to abort the

mission and self destruct the launch vehicle. The vehicles on board computer lost

control of the actuation system raising serious questions about ISROS other

ambitious projects that includes a mission to the moon. The GSAT-5P satellite

[63]

which the launch vehicle was supposed to send into orbit was one of the heaviest

and cost ISRO 125 crores. Had it been successful, the satellite would have served

the needs of the telecommunication sector and the weather department. It would

have eventually replaced the INSAT-2E satellite that was sent up in 1999.

India and China set $100bn trade target by 2015

India and China have agreed upon a new $100billion trade target by 2015 which

is more than the $6 billion agreed upon in 2010.With the arrival of Chinese PM

Wen Jiabao accompanied by 400 Chinese business leaders in India, the two

countries signed around 50 deals in power,steel ,wind energy , food and marine

products and telecommunications worth $16 billion. This overtakes the $10bn of

agreements signed between Indian and American businesspeople during the

recent visit of US President Barack Obama.

[64]

Current Affairs 2010 –   Sports

Current Affairs – December 2010

Saina Nehwal wins Honk Kong Open Super Series.

Indias star sportswoman Saina Nehwal rallied around from a one game deficit to

win 15-21, 21-16, 21-17 over Wang Shixian of China. Saina finished of her year on

a wonderful note and has an unmatched record compared to any Indian player

with regard to winning the super series title.

Sachin Tendulkar scores fifty centuries in test cricket

Sachin Tendulkar scored his fiftieth test century in the second innings of the first

test against South Africa at the Centurion. The master blasted scored his century

in196 balls with 12 fours and one six. Even thought India lost the first test

Sachin’s century helped about bringing some respectability to the proceedings.

Incidentally he has also been named the ICC player of the year.

Indian cricket teams wins its second test at Durban.

The Indian team had a poor game at the centurion where they were bundled out

by an innings and twenty five runs by their South African counterparts. The

second test they came back with a much more inspired performance with both

bat and bowl leading to their first ever win in Durban which had always troubled

them in the past. India had scored 205 and 228 in their two innings while the

South Africans could score only 131 and 215 respectively.The star of the match

was V.VS Laxman whose 96 helped India seal victory.

Current Affairs – November 2010

Chelsea lose third match out of fourth

Birmingham City defeated Chelsea by a score of 1-0 at Birmingham City making

this the third defeat to be suffered by Chelsea in the four matches that it has

played so far. This win helped Manchester United to move up in the English

Premier League rankings. Birmingham gained three points in the rankings thanks

to the one and only winning goal scored by its player Lee Bowyer. Newcastle lost

5-1 to Bolton while West Ham lost 3-0 to Liverpool alongside Blackpool and Stoke

who claimed their respective victories. In their game against Tottenham Hotspur,

Chelsea let slip past their initial lead of 2-0, to finally lose the game at a score of

3-2. The game was at a score of 2-0 till half time with Chelsea winning but a

combination of lack of concentration in players and simple bad luck cost Chelsea

the match.

[65]

Cricket in 2014 Asian Games

Rumors recently originated that cricket had been removed from the list of

proposed sports and events of the 2014 Asian games. The reason for these

rumors has been said to be the decision of the Olympic Committee of Asia to limit

the number of sporting events in the Asian games to a maximum of 35. However,

these fears proved out to be false as the OCA recently confirmed the inclusion of

cricket in the list of sporting events for the Asian games 2014. For the time being

cricket and karate have been confirmed as two out of the seven non Olympic

events in these games while the other five are still to be decided. However, South

Korean organizers are said to not be in support of this decision.

Nadal and Clijsters

Rafael Nadal continues to hold the top spot in the ATP rankings with his score

being close to 11900 points while Roger Federer holds the spot of number two. On

the other hand Kim Clijsters fell to the third position in the WTA rankings released

recently followed by Serena Williams on the fourth position.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Following his win in the Korean Grand Prix, third position in Brazil and third

position in the qualifiers of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari

looked like the possible winner. However the title slipped out of his hands, much

to his surprise and landed into the hands of Vettel making him the youngest

Formula One champion in the history of F1 racing aged just 23 years.

Current Affairs – October 2010

A century of Medals in CWG 2010:

Thanks to the final in the woman badminton category that India was able to taste

the sweet gland of a century tally of medals for the very first time in any CWG

edition. India had tallied 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals which

cumulatively read 101 medals. Even though India were shattered to an 8-0 defeat

by the Aussies the woman shutters’ heroics steered them to a total of medals that

read 101. India finished ahead of England (142) and behind Australia (177). The

culminating day (Oct 14th) saw the quest of an unimaginable 2nd place finish

thanks to Jwala and Ashwini. They defeated Singapore’s Sari Shanti Mulia and Yao

Lei with some ease and become the lone pair so far to win gold in women

badminton (doubles). But the cherry on the cake was put by Indian badminton

pioneer – Saina Nehwal. The hosts scalped addition one inclusive of a bronze

medal when our table tennis masters Poulomi Ghatak and Mouma Das won in the

doubles for women bronze medal final round alongside the Australian pair. Tan

Zed Vivian and Peri Campbell-Innes. But the finals for the hockey men were a

match to forget as they were thumped by the Kangaroos scoring 8 past their goal.

[66]

Going into this match with some resilient attitude as shown in the semis, the

Aussies brought them to ground by outplaying them with power play.

Master Blaster’s the Best; ICC admits:

Sachin Tendulkar (quite unsurprisingly) was shortlisted for the most decorated

cricketing accolade in contempt period, an award given to the greatest cricketer

for the year that is named after Sir Garfield Sobers. The Master Blaster turned out

to be the second Indian to win the accolade following the success of Rahul Dravid

in the same award six years before. Afterwards accumulating 1,000 runs in Test

match cricket this calendar year more to the point becoming the aboriginal

cricketer to score a double century in LOI cricket playing against South Africa on

Feb 24th 2010 in Gwalior, Sachin completed a double of awards at the even by

also winning the famous – LG People’s Choice Award. The Men in Blue had a lot

extra to applaud about as their striking opener, Virender Sehwag, with 1,282 runs

in the game’s longer adaptation, was chosen as the Test Cricketer of the Year and

M.S. Dhoni was selected as the captain of a World Test XI. In the previous,

Sehwag’s Delhi team mate as well as opening partner, Gautam Gambhir was

given this privilege. Decorated Indian off-spinner, B.S. Bedi was introduced into

the Hall of Fame (for ICC) forth along with the legendary West Indies’ fast bowlers

Garner and Walsh and Rachael Heyhoe Flint (ex-England women cricketer) The

LOI (also known as ODI) Player of the Year was bagged by the South African

cricketer A.B. de Villiers.

Kangaroos see BLUE in India:

In a highly anticipated and evenly fought cricket competition between two giants

of the beautiful game of cricket between India and Australia, the former proved to

be good for the Aussies. The Australian team over a period of time has seen its

main workforce in Gilchrist, Hayden, McGrath and others retiring had to rely

majorly on the young breed of players lacking experience of play in the Indian

subcontinent. India had slipped its rank down a bit from No. 1 and was in a quest

to get it back. That’s what actually transpired. Thanks to the great heroics of

Sachin along with the rest of his teammates India were not only able to beat the

Aussies but finish it as a clean sweep which the team Down Under hadn’t

experienced for quite some time. Sachin’s double ton was the highlight of the

series and imperative in order to retain the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Apart from the Test Series, India also won the ODI series without losing single

game (1-0). Two of the three matches were abandoned due to bad weather

conditions while the sole game played, India convincingly beat the Australians

thanks to a solid partnership between Suresh Raina and Mohit Tiwary. The

partnership between the two batsmen helped India to chase down a total just

under 300.

[67]

Current Affairs – September 2010

Kalmadi and Co. pocket Common man’s Wealth:

The contempt letters of forgery and fraud in Commonwealth Games resulted in an

abnormally affliction of our nation’s picture. The bulk of finances used up on

modernizing the venues for Commonwealth Games accommodate a prima facie

affirmation of ample calibration enticement in the alignment of Commonwealth

Games. The abstracts accessible on the Commonwealth Games website reveals

that the amount of refurbishing the JNU stadium was USD 215 million; the IGI

Stadium USD 150 million; the Hockey stadium (named after Dhyan Chand) USD

60 million; and the Shooting Alleys USD 35 million. An absolute sum of USD 10150

million was spent on renovations. The costs incurred in the advance of the lone

cricket stadium in Delhi were USD 20 million. For the LBS stadium in Hyderabad

was USD 18 million, and architecture of a contemporary and technology studded

stadium in the city of oranges amounted USD 19 million. It is acute that the

Central Government anon adjustment a top akin analysis into this arrangement

and the dealings embarked on. It is abominable that such all-embracing abusage

of communal resources has taken abode in the name of the Commonwealth

Games. The accusations of inducement ambit from favoritism in accolade of

affairs to big-ticket appoint of accessories for training and abrupt accretion in the

costs of architecture treaties.

Bridge Collapses; Casualties cross double figures:

Reportedly not less than 27 people were afflicted afterwards an under-

construction foot over bridge burst within the close proximity of the Jawaharlal

Nehru Stadium, the capital area of the Commonwealth Games, bidding the

Organizing Committee (OC) to awning up by giving a statement or in other words

a false sense of complacency and assurance that everything is being taken care

of. The arch was to hotlink the amphitheater to parking for delegates and

athletes. The Urban Development Minister, Jaipal Reddy has dismissed the

pressures by quoting it is a negligible incident. The Public Works Department

(PWD) has urged for an acoount of the structure from the builders. Later the

aforementioned day, Organizing Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot

addressed reporters: “We will put up a great show. He said the venues will be all

set in the days to come and there would be added sprucing to accommodate top

notch standards. However, the mishap is a concern to the CWG organizers, who

are already nabbed amidst accuse of laziness and fraud for the XIX Edition.

Previously, Mike Hooper, the main controller of the Commonwealth Games

Federation (CGF), remarked on the condition of hygiene at the Games Village as

“dirty.”

[68]

Chennai are the Super Kings of Twenty20 Cricket:

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings are the champions of the

second edition of the AirTel Champions League Twenty20 hosted by South Africa

from September 10th to September 26th. Chennai Super Kings defeated their

fellow finalists in some fashion by 8 wickets in the final of the Champions League

T20 2010.Warriors had won the toss earlier and decided to bat first but bootless

to account an appropriate target, but only capable to set a minimal total of mere

128 runs for 7 wickets. Only Davy Jacobs’s denticulate 34 runs were the notable

contribution and was also the best from the entire batting lineup of the Warriors.

Muttiah Muralidaran was the most booming bowler scalping 3 wickets for only 16

runs. Ashwin got a couple of wickets for 16 runs as well. Chennai Super Kings

started off in some style by baking batting by Murali Vijay who denticulate a 58

run total. Michael Hussey fabricated 42 handy runs to the total. The Opening

brace fabricated 103 runs which fabricated their way of triumph easier than it

ever seemed. With this Murali Vijay became the highest run getter of the second

edition of the Champions League Twenty20. He was facilitated with the Man of the

Match Award. With such great triumph on the world stage, the Indian and CSK

captain has silenced his critics and is still in contention to be the best ever captain

in the world today.

Current Affairs - August 2010

Sehwag denied century

A deliberate no ball by the Srilankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv to prevent Virendar

Sehwag from completing his century in the tri-series has left a bad taste in the

mouth for all cricket lovers. Indians were just short of 5 runs from destination

called victory and the opening batsman VEERU was just a run away from his ton.

At the same time Lankan skipper chose spinner S. Randiv to come in and bowl. On

the third bowl of his spell Virender Sehwag sent the bowl out of the fence with a

huge six but the turning point was that it was a no ball which defended Virender

Sehwag from completing his century. As per the declaration of the match referee

it was been found out that it was an intentional attempt.

Shooting Gold

Tejaswini Sawant created history by becoming India’s first female shooter to

clinch gold at the World Shooting Championship held in Munich, Germany. The 29-

year-old, who shot a score of 597/600 (100, 100, 100, 99, 99, 99), equaling the

world record in the process, won the 50m rifle prone event

Sri Lanka wins the tri series

The host Sri Lanka’ eight wicket victory over India in Dambulla represents its 25th

win in a tournament final. Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara’who won the toss

[69]

decided to bat against India in the tri-series final. The Sri Lankans won the match

by 74 runs in this game. With this it became the second team to win a tournament

final on 25 occasions. Australia has won 52 tournament finals.

First Indian US PGA Tour winner

Arjun Atwal has become the first Indian Golfer to win the US PGA tour. Atwal, who

started playing at the age of fourteen, became one of the leading players on the

Asian Tour and the European tour. He is the the first native East Indian golfer to

become a member of, and later win the U.S. PGA Tour.

Current Affairs – July 2010

Saina Nehwal: A smash hit

The Indian Open Grand Prix Gold, the Singapore Open Super Series and then the

Indonesian Open Super Series at Jakarta have given enough reasons to Saina to

celebrate. The World No.3 defeated a fighting Sayaka Sato of Japan 21-19, 13-21,

21-11 in the badminton finals. Just two notches away from the badminton World

No. 1, Saina is now indisputably India’s top female athlete.

Khel awards

Saina Nehwal to be conferred the country’s top sporting honour-the Rajiv Gandhi

Khel Ratna award. While Jhulan Goswami skipper of womens cricket team, boxer

Dinesh Kumar and Sandeep Singh are tipped to receive the Arjuna Awards in

recognition of their outstanding achievements during the last one year, Footballer

Sunil Chhetri and Deepak Mondal have also been nominated for the award that

will be given away in Rashtrapati Bhawan on 29th Aug by President Pratibha Patil.

World cup for Spain

In a historic football victory Spain lifted their first-ever World Cup after defeating

Netherlands 1-0 in Johannesburg. Andres Iniesta secured the only goal of an

enthralling final against the Netherlands four minutes from the end of extra-time

on Sunday leading his team to victory.

Current Affairs - June 2010

French Open 2010 :

o Men’s singles – Rafael Nadal defeated Robin Soderling. He is the second

person after Bjorn Borg to win 5th French Open titles.

o Women’s singles- Francesca Schiavone (Italy) defeated Samantha Stosur

(Australia). She became first Italian women to won the French open.

[70]

o Men’s Doubles- Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic defeated Lukas Dlouhy &

Leander Paes.

o Women’s Doubles- Serena Williams & Venus Williams defeated Kveta

Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik.

o Mixed Doubles – Katarina Srebotnik & Nenad Zimonjic defeated Yavoslava

Shvedova & Julian Knowle.

Saina Nehwal defeated Choo Wong Mew to win women’s single title in Yonex-

Sunrise Indian Open badminton championship. In the Men’s singles Yunus

Alamsyah won the title.

Saina Nehwal defeated Japan’s Sayaka Sato to win women’s singles title in

Indonesian Open Super Series 2010.

Indian Ronjan Sodhi won the double trap gold medal at ISSF World Cup in Lonato,

Italy.

India defeated Sri Lanka to won Asia Cup(Cricket) 2010. India won the title after

15 years i.e. it won the cup in 1995.

Saina Nehwal won the Women’s singles title in Singapore Super Series badminton

championship 2010 defeating China’s Tzu Ying Tai. It was her 2nd consecutive

title.

3000th ODI( One day international) cricket match was played between England &

Australia.

Current Affairs - May 2010

England won 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Cricket tournament defeating Australia.

The tournament was held at West Indies. Kevin Pieterson of England has been

declared as Player of the Tournament.

Australia won 2010 Women’s World Twenty20 Cricket tournament defeating New

Zealand.

India and South Korea were declared joint winner of 2010 Sultan Azlan Shah

Hockey Cup, after suspension of the final match due to heavy rains.India’s Sardar

Singh has been declared as Best Player of the Tournament. Australia won the

Bronze medal. The tournament was held at Ipoh (Malaysia). India had won the

tournament earlier in 1985, 1991, 1995 & 2009.

China won Thomas Cup ( Men’s Badminton) defeating Indonesia.

[71]

In the World Youth Boxing Championship, held at Baku, Azerbaijan, India won 1

Gold & 1 Silver. Gold medal was won by Vikas Krishan and Silver medal was won

by Shiva Thapa.

India won bronze medal in the 2nd Asian Paragliding Championship held at

Nishiewa, Japan.

World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand retained his title after defeating

Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the World Chess Championship 2010.

Current Affairs - April 2010

IPL3 season won by Chennai Super Kings defeating Mumbai Indians.

Youth Olympics Games 2010 to be held in Singapore in Aug 2010.

World Youth Championship was held at Baku, Azerbaijan.

Lawn tennis legend Martina Navratilova diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

‘Jumbo’ chosen as 2011 World Cricket Cup Mascot.

World Kabbadi Cup 2010- India defeated Pakistan to won World Cup Kabbadi 2010

held at Ludhiana.

Pankaj Advani won the Asian Billiards Championship defeating Singapore’s Peter

Gilchrist for the consecutive third time.

Badminton Asia Championship, Delhi :

o Men’s singles – Lin Dan defeated Wang Zhenguing

o Women’s singles-Li Xiurei defeated Liu Xin.

Current Affairs – March 2010

Tamil Nadu defeated West Bengal to won Vijay Harare Cricket Trophy.

Australia won World Hockey Cup 2010 defeating Germany. India ranked at 8th

place.

India won six gold medal in the Commonwealth Boxing Championship held at

Delhi.

Two new IPL teams, Kochi was auctioned for Rs 1533 crore and Pune was

auctioned for Rs 1702 crore. Kochi was auctioned to Rendezvous Adventure

Sports Ltd. Pune was auctioned to Sahara Adventure Sports Ltd.

[72]

Current Affairs – February 2010

Sachin Tendulkar became first player in the world to score a double century in ODI

(One day International). He scored 200 (Not out) against South Africa.

11th South Asian Games 2010 : Held at Dhaka, Bangladesh from 29 Jan to 8 Feb.

Originally scheduled to take place in 2009, but due to general elections in

Bangladesh, the games were held in 2010. This was the third time that the Dhaka

hosted the Games, thus becoming the first city to hold the games three times. 8

countries participated in the games in 23 different sports, including T20 cricket,

which was introduced for the first time in SAG. The 8 countries included are

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka.

1The logo of the games was ‘Kutumb’, a flying doel , which is the national bird of

Bangladesh. The mascot of the games featured a magpie robin, which was

holding the torch to begin the games. The final medal tally include : India – 1st

place with 90 G 55 S 29 B Total 174, Pakistan- 2nd place with 19 G 25 S 36 B Total

80, Bangladesh- 3rd place with 18 G 23 S 56 B Total 97.

West Zone won Duleep Trophy ( 2009-10) defeating South Zone.

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar won the Asian Tour International Trophy 2010. It is his

2nd consecutive title.

Euro 2012 to be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine.

2010 Winter Olympic Games were held at Vancouver, Canada. Mascot of the

game was MIGA (a sea bear), QUATCHI( a sasquatch) and SUMI (animal guardian

spirit). The logo of the games was Ilnaaq meaning Friend in Inuktut. There were

86 events in 7 sports. The games were held from 12 Feb to 28 Feb. Final medal

tally. Canada- 14 G 7 S 5 B, Germany- 10 G 13 S 7 B, USA- 9 G 15 S 13 B.

IOC (International Olympic Committee ) has approved ICC (International Cricket

Council) bid to join the Olympic games 2020. The first time cricket was included in

the Olympic games was in Paris Olympic 1900.

11th World Hockey Cup 2010- To be held in Delhi, India. This is 2nd WHC which

India is hosting. India also hosted the WHC in 1982 at Mumbai. 12 countries

participated in the tournament. WHC is held in the years between two summer

Olympics. First WHC was held at Barcelona in 1971. Pakistan has won the cup four

times, Netherland three times, Germany two times, India & Australia once each.

India won the WHC in 1975.

[73]

Commonwealth Shooting Championship was held in New Delhi in Feb 2010. India

stood at first place with 35 Gold 25 Silver and 14 Bronze. England stood at 2nd

place with 4 gold and Wales stood at 3rd place.

Current Affairs - January 2010

U-19 World Cup 2010 held in New Zealand from 15 – 30 Jan 2010. Javagal Srinath

from India appointed as one of the match referee for the tournament.

Australia won the U-19 World Cup for the third time defeating Pakistan. India is

placed at 6th rank. Australia won the cup for the third time.

Rafael Nadal won the Capitala World Tennis Championsip, held at Abu Dhabi

defeating Robin Soderling.

Magnus Carlsen becomes the youngest World No.1 chess player at the age of 19

years breaking the Garry Kasparov’s record when he became the world’s top

ranked chess player at the age of 22 years in 1985. Magnus Carlsen is the 5th

player after Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov and V.Anand (India) to cross the 2800

ELO rating. In the Jan 2010 FIDE ranking, Carlsen stood at 1st place, Topalov at

2nd place and V Anand at 3rd place.

Marin Cilic defeated Staniglas Wawrinka to won Men’s singles title of Aircel

Chennai Open.

Pakistan’s cricketer Shahid Afridi was banned for two T20 internationals after he

was found guilty of ball tempering in a ODI against Australia.

Corus Chess Grandmaster Tournament won by Magnus Carlsen. V.Anand of India

ranked at 4th place. Hopman Cup 2010- Spain defeated Great Britain.

Australian Open 2010 : Women’s Single- Serena William defeated Justin Henin.

It is Serena’s 5th Australian Open title. It is also Serena’s 12th Grand Slam title

equaling the record of Billie Jean King.

Men’s Single- Roger Federer(Swiss) defeated Andy Murray(Britain). It is Federer’s

4th Australian Open title. It is Federer’s 16th Grand Slam title.

Men’s Double- Mike Bryan & Bob Bryan defeated Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic.

Women’s Double – Serena Williams & Venus Williams defeated Cara Black & L

Huber.

Mixed Double – Laender Paes (India) & Cara Black (Zimbabwe) defeated Ekterina

Makasova & Jaroslav Levinsky. It is Paes’s 11th Grand Slam title.

[74]

[75]

Current affairs – Persons in News –   2010

Persons in News December 2010

Congress Veteran Karunakaran passes away

Veteran congress leader Karunakaran finally breathed his last after a prolonged

bout of illness. He was 92 and is survived by his daughter Padmaja Venugopal and

son K Muraleedharan. He was a four time CM of Kerala and is affectionately called

‘Leader’ by his admirers. He was known to be a master tactician and often played

the role of troubleshooter for his party.

Premji Donates 8,846 crores to improve education in India

Aziz Premji . Chairman of WIPRO will transfer 213 million equity shares valued at

8846 crores to an irrevocable trust for charity. This will add a lot of muscle to the

Aziz Premji Foundation which was set up few years back in its quest to improve

the standard of education. The foundation will focus on providing quality

education in rural India and the the government has also pitched in to open the

Aziz Premji foundation where higher education will be provided.

Persons in News November 2010

Leslie Nielson passes away

Beloved actor Leslie Nielson best remember as bumbling police detective Lt.

Frank Drebin of the Naked Gun series of movies, passed away recently aged 84

from complications arising as a result of Pneumonia. He was surrounded on his

death bed y his loving wife, friends and long time agent. Leslie Nielson had over a

60 year long career in motion pictures which started back in the 1950s. He was

initially cast as a leading man in serious movies such as The Forbidden Planet and

Poseidon Adventure. The former flopped while the latter was a big success in its

time. However, Nielson soon found his forte in comedy movies when he first acted

in the 1980 comedy motion picture, Airplane. The movie was a huge hit and

Nielson’s popularity as a comedy actor soared. He then appeared in a number of

comedy movies, the most famous of them being the Naked Gun series, all of

which were big hits. Some of these were repossessed, Dracula- dead and loving it

and Spy hard. Leslie was married thrice in his lifetime and has two daughters with

his second wife.

I-phone versus Google Android

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Inc. recently praised the operating system on

Google’s smart phones. The operating system called Android was further praised

by Mr. Wozniak who said that these phones had more features to offer as

compared to the I-phone. He however, further added that while Google’s smart

[76]

phones offer people more number of choices, Apple I-phones on the other hand

were much better in terms of quality.

Persons in News August 2010

Michael Kirk Douglas diagnosed with throat cancer

Michael Kirk Douglas, winner of three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards,

was diagnosed with throat cancer in August this year. He received the AFI

(American Film Institute) Life Achievement Award in 2009. The 65-year-old actor,

a heavy smoker, was informed of his condition labeled as Stage 4 cancer after his

doctor’s appointment for an extremely sore throat. Douglas who is to undergo

chemotherapy and radiation is optimistic about his chances for recovery

Archie Panjabi

Recently 62nd Emmy awards were held and the best part was to hear about

actress Archie Panjabi from the Indian-origin who has won the award for best

supporting actress in the movie “The Good Wife”. Her performance has been

rated to be the best in the international release recognized as “Bend it like

Beckham”. Many others were nominated for the same designation but because

the best performance deserves to be on the top hence the results proved it and

Archie Panjabi took the award.

Anil Aggarwal to overtake Mukesh Ambani

It was Anil Aggarwal who laid the foundation of Vedanta Resources Corporation, a

UK based corporation and all by the virtue of it that he has been designated as

the non-resident Indian billionaire. By this effort he has become the largest

promoter of a corporate house thus overtaking Mukesh Ambani.

Pallava Bagla

Pallava Bagla from India has won the David Perlman Award for Excellence in

Science Journalism by American Geophysical Union (AGU). Pallav won this award

for his articles on the impact of change in climate on the Himalayan glaciers.

Bagla is an author and freelancer for BBC and the likes. His latest book is

“Destination Moon: India’s Quest for Moon, Mars and beyond”.

Persons in News July 2010

Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro a Cuban revolutionary visited Havana scientific facility; it was his first

public appearance.

The former Cuban President, now 83, who went into seclusion four years back

after falling ill looked healthy said the reports.

[77]

Roman Polanski

The Swiss government rejected US government’s request to extradite Roman

Polanski where he is charged with unlawful sex with a minor on the ground that

the US authorities failed to provide confidential testimony about Polanski’s

sentencing procedure in 1977-1978. Polanski, who has been held under house

arrest in Switzerland since December, has been declared a free man by the Swiss

authorities. However, the American prosecutors vowed to continue their pursuit of

the film director.

Persons in News June 2010

Former CJI K G Balakrishnan is appointed as Chairman of National Human Rights

Commission.

O P Bhatt has been elected as Chairman , Indian Banker’s Association for the year

2010-11.

Tenzin Norzon, a resident of Varanasi crowned as Miss Tibet 2010.

J G Farrell won the Lost Man Booker Prize for his novel ‘Troubles’.

Sachin Tendulkar conferred with Indian Air Force’s honorary rank of Group

Captain. Till now 21 persons have been granted honorary ranks by the IAF. The

first person was Raja of Jawhar- Raja Yaswant Rao in 1994. Tendulkar is the first

sportsperson to be conferred with this honour.

Sharad Pawar will be 7th President of ICC. He become 2nd Indian after Jagmohan

Dalmia to occupy the position. He succeeded David Morgan.

Wrestler and 1970’s Asian Games Gold medalist, Chandagi Ram Kaliram died.

Persons in News May 2010

Gita Gopinath an Indian origin associate professor at Harvard Univ has been

appointed a full professor, the first Indian woman in the Institution’s history to ge

given this appointment.

Former Vice President of India, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat died.

Rima Fakih was crowned Miss USA 2010. She became the first ever muslim

American Miss USA. She is of Lebanese muslim descent.

Singer Christina Aguilera was named Ambassador against hunger by the United

Nations World Food Programme.

[78]

Rushanara Ali became first person of Bangladesh origin to be elected to the

British Parliament.

David Cameron elected Prime Minister of Britain. Nick Clegg became the Dy Prime

Minister. Britain gets first coalition govt since World War-II. It is between

Conservative and Liberal Democrats.

Justice S H Kapadia sworn as new Chief Justice of India.

Hari S Bhartia elected as President of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) for

2010-11.

Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail unassisted around the world

in a yatch.

Persons in News April 2010

Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra was sworn in as Judge of Supreme Court of India. She

became the 4th women judge to be elevated to the Supreme Court of India.

Justice S H Kapadia will be next Chief Justice of India.

Mukul Sangma shown in as Meghalaya Chief Minister.

Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski died in a air crash at Moscow.

Juan Antonia Samaranch, Former President of International Olympic Committee

(IOC) died.

Persons in News March 2010

Rajan Bharti Mittal appointed President FICCI.

Major Dimple Singla became first women army officer in the country who has

been sentenced to imprisonment for corruption.

Bhubneshwar Kalita has been choosen as the Chef de Mission of the Indian

contingent at Commonwealth Games 2010.

Cricketer Kapil Dev has been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

Former Supreme Court judge P V Reddy appointed as Chairman, Law Commission

of India.

Lt Gen V K Singh appointed as new Army Chief.

[79]

Sonia Gandhi appointed head of National Advisory Council. NAC advice the govt

on policy matters, monitor flagship programmes and prepare the ground for other

pro-poor legislatures.

Lyricist Javed Akhtar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Dr Ram Dayal Munda, Dr Balchandra

Mungekar and Kannada Actress B Jayashree are among other persons nominated

to Rajya Sabha.

Austrian base jumper Felix Baumgartnar will became the first person to leaps

from the edge of space at a height of 37 km above earth’s surface. He become

the first man to break the speed of sound hitting a top speed of about

11000km/hr. He will jump on 11 April 2010.

Katie Spotz became the youngest person to complete a solo journey across the

Atlantic Ocean.

Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepal Ex Prime Minister died. He was 5th time Nepal PM.

Persons in News February 2010

Horst Kochler , Germany President visit India in Feb 2010.

Abdullah Gul, Turkey President visit India in Feb 2010.

Economist Kokkadan Nandanath Raj, who made a significant contribution in the

preparation of first Five Year Plan(1951-56) died.

Sharad Chandra Sinha is appointed as Director General of National Investigation

Agency(NIA).

Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President visit India in Feb 2010.

Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob of Malaysia appointed Chairman, International

Atomic Energy Agency.

Govt appointed R S Pandey as its mediator for talk with NSCN(IM) in Nagaland to

carry forward the peace process.

Former Justice P V Reddy will be appointed as Chairman, Law Commission of

India.

Ram Baran Yadav, Nepal President visit India in Feb 2010. It was the first visit by

Yadav to any foreign country after taking over as Nepal’s President. Yadav is the

first President of Nepal since monarchy ended in 2008. India extended $ 250

million soft line of credit to Nepal.

[80]

Rajinder Singh became first non-white and also first Asian member of the right

wing British National Party, after it amended its constitution to allow black and

Asian to be its member.

Amitabh Bachan became the brand ambassador of Gujarat state.

Amnesty International, the global human right organization has appointed Salid

Shetty as its next Secy General from June 2010. He will be the first Indian to head

the organization.

Shah Rukh Khan & Kajol become the first Indian bollywood actors to ring the

opening bell of the world’s biggest stock exchange’ NASDAQ’.

Rajiv Satav appointed President, Indian Youth Congress.

Katrina Kaif awarded with 2009 Excellence in Performing Arts Award established

by ASSOCHAM.

M H Hussain, famous painter accepted citizenship of Qatar.

Persons in News January 2010

Billy Arjan Singh, wildlife conservationist and Padma Shri awardee died.

P D Dinakaran, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court faces impeachement motion.

The process was initiated in the Parliament. He is the first High Court Chief Justice

against whom impeachment motion have been initiated. Justice V Ramaswami is

the only judge to have faced impeachment proceedings in parliament.

Justice V S Sirpurkar appointed to head a three member panel to look into

allegation of land grab and misconduct against Chief Justice P D Dinakaran in the

wake of impeachment motion initiated against him in Parliament.

Fahmida Mirza is the first woman Speaker of Pakistan National Assembly.

Ricky Ponting, Australian cricket team captain, has been named as ESPN Cricinfo

Player of the Decade for 2000.

Jyoti Basu, former West Bengal Chief Minister, died.

Mrinal Pande, appointed as Chairman, Prasar Bharti Board.

Lee Myung Bak, South Korea President was the Chief Guest at 2010 Republic Day

Parade.

Shiv Shankar Menon is appointed as National Security Advisor.

[81]

Vikram Srivastava appointed as Director General of CRPF(Central Reserve Police

Force).

Ranjit Kumar Bhatia appointed as Director General of ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border

Police).

[82]

Current Affairs 2010 – Science and   Technology

97th Indian Science Congress held at Tiruvananthapuram in Jan 2010. The theme

of this year congress was ‘ Science & Technology of 21st Century- National

Perspective’.

The longest annular solar eclipse on the third millennium occur on 15 Jan 2010.

The next annular solar eclipse will be visible in year 3043. Annular eclipse is

occurred when the sun is visible like a ring of fire, with the moon darkening its

centre. The last annular solar eclipse visible from India was occurred in 1976. In

July 2010 also, a total solar eclipse will be occurred.

There are three strains of wild Polio virus namely P1, P2 & P3. Type 2 wild Polio

virus (P2) was eliminated from the world in 1999.

First public hearing on the introduction of Bt Brinjal (First Genetically Modified

Food Crop in India) was held in Kolkatta. Seven such public hearing are being

organized by Centre for Environment Education, for opinion of public in respect of

introduction of Bt Brinjal. 2nd hearing was held at Hyderabad.

50th anniversary of creation of LASER is being celebrated in 2010. Theodore

Maiman constructed the first LASER in May 1960. LASER stands for Light

Amplification for Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Charles H Townes was father

of MASER.

[83]

Important Current Relevant Facts – Current   Affairs

The leader of South Africa’s African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, has been

officially elected on 6 May 2009 the country’s president by

members of parliament. The ANC won the general

election in South Africa. Jacob Zuma was fired as vice-

president after being implicated in a graft scandal. The

charges were dropped just before last month’s election

– amid evidence of government meddling in pursuing

the case. In February 2006, the controversial polygamist

was acquitted of rape in a separate case, though he was

widely criticised for his comments about sex and

HIV/Aids.

A group of Nepalese political parties has agreed to form a “national government”

a day after Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned on 5 May 2009.

After a meeting in Kathmandu, members of the Communist UML party agreed to

head the government. Mr Dahal, best known as Prachanda, resigned after the

president opposed his decision to sack the army chief. The Maoists boycotted the

all-party meeting.

Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was convicted of spying and sentenced

to 8 years in prison on April 18,2009. 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen

was arrested in January 2009 and initially accused of working without press

credentials. A freelance journalist Roxana Saberi was reporting for National Public

Radio and other media. She had been living in Iran for six years.

Jatiya Party leader and former President Gen H M Ershad was cleared of 1982

‘powergrab’ charges on March 30,2009. He was sued for usurping state power,

suspension of the constitution and declaration of martial law in Bangladesh on

Mar 24, 1982. Inu, now an MP as part of the same AL-led electoral alliance as

Ershad’s Jatiya Party, sued the former general for his takeover of state power. The

CID final report was submitted to a Dhaka Metropolitan magistrate’s court on Jan

30. Inu was asked to appear in the court to respond to the police report but did

not. The court accepted the report and cleared Ershad.Copyright © 2009

WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

Supreme National Security Council Secretary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr

Saeed Jalili, visited India on 28th March 2009. This visit was in keeping with the

tradition of high level exchanges between the two countries. The two sides

conducted a strategic review of India Iran relations and prospects for their further

expansion. Their wide ranging discussions also covered regional and international

[84]

issues including terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan and energy

security.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

The name of the sleek aircraft inducted by the IAF for flying VVIPs is Rajdoot. It

was rolled out from the tarmac of the Palam airport on April 1,2009. The aircraft

with the first citizen of the country onboard took its maiden flight to Assam

without a glitch and the exclusive passengers enjoyed its style and comfort.

Former Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra was appointed chairman of the

advisory board of Price Waterhouse India on April 22,2009. Price Waterhouse India

(PW) recently set up an advisory board, which was expected to help the audit

company reflect on the voice of external stakeholders in its strategic decision

making.

Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India V K Shunglu and former Chief

Election Commissioner BB Tandon are other eminent members, who were

inducted to the board.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

Indian-American Sonal Shah was appointed head of the new Office of Social

Innovation and Civic Participation in the Obama administration. Sonal Shah, a

India Abroad Person of the Year in 2003 and co-founder of India Corps was a

member of the Obama transition project’s advisory board and co-chairperson of a

transition group that made recommendations about technology and innovation,

including innovation and civil society.

Advocate Anjali Waghmare was removed on grounds of professional misconduct

as Mohammad Ajmal Kasab’s lawyer. Allegedly she had first accepted brief of a

witness in this case before deciding to defend Kasab. She was earlier on March

30,2009 appointed by the court to represent Kasab, the long surviving terrorist

captured by police for the attacks that took place on November 26, 2008.

Fiji’s President Ratu Josefa Iloilo abolished the constitution, assumed all governing

power and revoked all judicial appointments on April 10,2009 following the

country’s second-highest court ruled that armed forces chief Commodore Frank

Bainimarama’s government that took power after a 2006 coup was illegal. Fiji’s

military commander and Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama relinquished the

prime minister’s post but later he was sworn in again as Fiji’s Prime Minister as

the head of the interim government.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

A sedition case was registered against MDMK general secretary V. Gopalsamy

known as Vaiko by the Chennai City police on April 9,2009. He warned in a speech

that India would not remain one country if the war against the LTTE in Sri Lanka

was not stopped.

[85]

The case was registered under 13 (1) b of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)

Amendment Act, 2004 (advocating, abetting, advising or inciting the commission

of any unlawful activity) and also under Section 124 -A and Section 505 (1) (b) of

the Indian Penal Code. Section 124-A relates to sedition (attempting to bring into

hatred or contempt or exciting or attempting to excite disaffection towards the

Government established by law in India).

Former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori was convicted of human rights crimes

and sentenced to 25 years in prison on April 7,2009. A three-judge panel

convicted him of ordering a military death squad to carry out two massacres that

killed 25 people during his 1990-2000 rule, when he was battling communist

guerrillas. Later, he appealed to Peru’s Supreme Court to overturn his 25-year

prison sentence. A corruption scandal involving his spy chief, Vladimiro

Montesinos, sank his government in 2000. Fujimori fled to exile in Japan. He was

later arrested in Chile and extradited to Peru, where he often snoozed through

testimony and took off his socks. First time a democratically elected Latin

American president has been found guilty in his own country of such offenses.

Other Latin American rulers faced trials over human rights crimes before Fujimori

were military dictators or prosecuted outside their home countries. Alberto

Fujimori was 45th President of Peru and he was in office from July 28, 1990 to

November 22, 2000.

According to Sri Lankan Defence Ministry, the head of the intelligence wing of the

LTTE, Pottu Amman took overall command of the outfit due to fast deteriorating

mental health condition of Velupillai Prabakaran. Pottu Amman has not battlefield

experience, so he appointed Velawan, the last of LTTE’s battle-hardened cadre, as

the LTTE’s new military chief.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

According to the overall ranking, compiled by the Wall Street Journal, Mobile

phone maker Motorola’s India-born chief Sanjay Jha became America’s top paid

CEO. Citigroup’s Vikram Pandit tops the league among bailed out bank. Another

Indian on the list is PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi at the 36th slot with a pay package of

13.98 million dollar. Jha is the only CEO to get a compensation package exceeding

100 million dollar, with Occidental’s Ray Irani at a distant second with 49.9 million

dollar. Irani is followed by Walt Disney’s Robert Iger third rank.

Advocate S G Abbas Kazmi was appointed by court as the lawyer of Mohammed

Amir Ajmal Qasab, the lone surviving gunman in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

He replaced Anjali Waghmare, who was removed by court. Another lawyer to

defend Qasab is KP Pawar, who was appointed with Anjali Waghmare. The 54-

year-old S G Abbas Kazmi had defended 25 to 30 accused in the 1993 Mumbai

serial bomb blasts case and 3 accused in the Gulshan Kumar murder case who

[86]

were ultimately acquitted by the court. Copyright © 2009

WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

A native of Tamil Nadu and 1973 batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre,

Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath took over as the third election commissioner

following the elevation of Navin B. Chawla as Chief Election Commissioner on April

21,2009. V S Sampath was Union Power Secretary prior to his elevation as the

election commissioner in the Election Commission of India. Navin B. Chawla

succeeded N Gopalaswami as the new Chief Election Commissioner of

India.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen selected as the new NATO

Secretary-General on April 4. Later on he resigned as Denmark’s prime minister

on April 5,2009. NATO leaders agreed unanimously to appoint him as the next

head of the 28-member alliance after US President Barack Obama convinced

Turkey to drop its objections in NATO summit held at Strasbourg and Kehl.

Rasmussen will succeed Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of the Netherlands, who steps

down at the end of July 2009.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

Shikha Sharma was appointed Managing Director and Chief Exicutive Officer of

Axis Bank on April 20,2009. She was working as chief of the ICICI group’s life

insurance business.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

An Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1969 batch Nirupam Sen was appointed

Special Senior Advisor to the President Miguel D Escoto Brockmann of the 192-

member UN General Assembly on world financial and economic crisis. After

retirement as Indian Ambassador to UN on March 31,2009 Nirupam Sen had been

made India’s high commissioner to Sri Lanka.

Virginia’s secretary of technology Aneesh Chopra was appointed as the Chief

Technology Officer in Obama Administration. He included in a three-man team

formed by U.S. President Barack Obama to help break Washington’s ‘bad habits’

of wasteful spending and move recession-hit America from recovery to prosperity.

She was appointed country head and group general manager of the Hongkong

and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) India on April 15. Famous woman

banker Naina Lal Kidwai had been with HSBC as CEO and deputy CEO for the last

five years. Padma Shri awardee Naina Lal Kidwai is the first Indian woman to

graduate from the Harvard Business School. She was listed the World’s Top 50

Corporate Women from 2000 to 2003 by Fortune magazine.Copyright © 2009

WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

[87]

Indian American star of Mira Nair’s ‘The Namesake’, Kal Penn joined the White

House staff as an associate director in the Office of Public Liaison. Born to Indian

immigrant parents from Gujarat, the 31-year-old actor Kalpen Suresh Modi had a

recurring role on Fox’s popular TV show ‘House’ will play a new role connect

Obama with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as arts

groups.

According to recently released International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2009

by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido), the share of

developing countries in the world’s manufacturing value-added output has almost

doubled in the last 18 years due to the shift of production units and outsourcing of

services from developed nations. Developing countries produced almost 30% of

world manufacturing value added (MVA) at the end of 2008 as compared to 16%

in 1990. The per capita MVA doubled as early as 2006, while the industrialised

world achieved merely 30% increase. Among industrialised countries, Japan

accounts for most MVA per capita, followed by Switzerland, Singapore, Ireland,

Finland, Sweden, USA, Germany and Austria. Luxemburg, Republic of Korea,

Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Belgium, United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands, Italy

and France come lower down the list. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

For India, the growth rate of MVA output rose from 6.9% in 2000-2005 to 12.3% in

2005-2007. The MVA per capita grew 10.6 % in 2005-2007 compared to 5.2% in

2000-2005. The share of MVA in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at

14.8% in 2006 compared to 13.8% in 2001. Manufacturing still contributes around

15% of GDP in India. International Yearbook 2009 ranks India among the world’s

leading 12 producers of textiles (ranked 4th after China, the U.S. and Italy);

electrical machinery and apparatus (5th); basic metals (6th); chemicals and

chemical products (7th); leather, leather products and footwear (10th); coke,

refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel (10th); machinery and equipment

(12th); and motor vehicles (12th), based on 2007 figures. Among the leading

developing countries, India figures among the top five.

Mughal Trust was set up on April 6,2009 to find and then help the families of the

Mughal lines of descent. The Trust is brainchild of businessman Mohd Shahid

Khan. The trust will also create pressure on the government to bring back the

remains of Bahadur Shah Zafar from Myanmar.

India successfully test-fired an improved version of nuclear-capable ‘Prithvi-II’

ballistic missile from a Tatra transporter erector launcher from the Integrated Test

Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore, off the Orissa coast on April

15,2009. The indigenously developed surface-to-surface ‘Prithvi-II’ missile’s range

is 350 km. The 8.56 meter-long and one meter wide twin engine missile features

[88]

to deceive any anti ballistic missile and is equipped with “added inertial

navigation” system. The missile is designed to operate with both liquid as well as

solid fuel. It can carry conventional or nuclear pay loads of 500 kg.

N. Gopalaswami retired from the post of Chief Election Commissioner of India on

March 20,2009. A 1966 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, N. Gopalaswami was

appointed as Election Commissioner in January 2004. Later on June 30 2006, he

succeeded B. B. Tandon as Chief Election Commissioner of India.

Home minister of Canada’s British Columbia province, John van Dongen resigned

on April 27,2009 after he was caught and fined for over-speeding. He was also

fined 368 US dollar for his offence.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

Leading film producer and director Shakti Samant passed away on April 9,2009 in

Santacruz. He was 83. Shakti Samant launched the career of Sharmila Tagore with

film, ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ and directed films like Kashmir Ki Kali, Aradhana, An

Evening in Paris, Amanush, Amar Prem, Anurodh,Anuraag, Ajnabee and Kati

Patang. He directed Rajesh Khanna in films like Aradhana, Kati Patang, Amar Prem

and Anuraag. Shakti Samant started his career with the cinema from the black

and white era with Howrah Bridge.

Noted Hindi writer and Gandhian Vishnu Prabhakar died on April 11,2009 in New

Delhi. He was 97. He wrote in almost all forms of prose-story, novels, plays,

biography etc. Born on January 29, 1912, in the Mirapur village of Muzaffarnagar

district in Uttar Pradesh, Dr Prabhakar was best known for his engaging biography

of Bengali litterateur Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, ‘Awara Maseeha’. His first

play was ‘Hatya ke Baad’. His body of works included ‘Dhalti Raat’ and

‘Swapnamayi’ (novel), ‘Navprabhat’ an ‘Doctor” (drama), ‘Sangharsh ke Baad’

(short stories), ‘Prakash Aur Parchhaiyan’, ‘Barah Ekanki’ and ‘Ashok’ (plays) and

‘Awara Maseeha’ (biography). He had over 50 published works to his credit.

He was awarded Padma Bhushan and the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel

Ardhanarishvara (The Androgynous God or Shiva). Dr Prabhakar had decided to

donate his body organs in his will so his body was donated to the All India Institute

of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Bollywood actor-producer-director famous as style icon Feroz Khan passed away

on April 27,2009 at his farmhouse in Bangalore after a prolonged battle with

cancer. He was 69. Famous for his blockbusters like ‘Qurbani’ and ‘Dharmatma’,

Feroz Khan appeared in more than 50 films. He made his Bollywood debut as the

co-star in the movie Didi in 1960 and went on to star in a number of films in the

1970s and 1980s. The last film he acted in was Welcome in 2007. He won a

Filmfare award for best supporting role in ‘Aadmi Aur Insaan’ in 1970 and was

[89]

honoured with the lifetime achievement award in 2000. He was elder brother of

actor-producer-director Sanjay Khan and father of Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan.

Veteran economist Raja Jesudoss Chelliah died in Chennai on April 7,2009. He was

86. He was chairman of the Tax Reforms Committee and worked as Fiscal Adviser

in the Union Finance Ministry. Padma Vibhushan awardee, founding Chairman of

the Madras School of Economics, Raja J Chelliah wrote nearly 15 books and

various research papers.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Govind Singh Gurjar passed away in New Delhi

on 6th April,2009. He was born in 1932 in Balakanangal village of Rajasthan. He

was appointed to the post of Lt. Governor in March 2008 during the tenure of

former Chief Minister N. Rangasamy.

Former President of Argentina Raul Alfonsin, who guided Argentina’s return to

democracy in the 1980s after seven years of brutal military rule, passed away on

March 31,2009. He was 82. He was president from 1983 to 1989 and won

international admiration for putting on trial and jailing the former military leaders.

Former heavyweight champion Greg Page passed away on April 27,2009 at his

Louisville home at the age of 50. He lifted the WBA belt in 1984 during the post-

Ali, pre-Tyson era.

Stunt master in Tamil cinema industry Rajkumar died at the age of 53. He is

remembered as the fight master whose action choreography was strikingly similar

to Sylvester Stallone in Rambo. Rambo Rajkumar has worked for over 450 films in

five languages, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

Rugby legend of Ireland Karl Mullen, who captained the 1948 Grand Slam winning

team passed away at the age of 82. He won 25 international caps for Ireland in

the 1940s and 1950s, playing at hooker. Copyright © 2009

WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

Emergency was lifted on April 24 in Thailand. Earlier Prime Minister Abhisit

Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in the capital, Bangkok, and five

provinces on April 12,2009 and Police and military units were deployed to enforce

the decree. Summit between India and the Association of South East Asian

Nations (ASEAN) was postponed. India’s Union Commerce and Industry Minister

Kamal Nath and other leaders were safely evacuated from the venue at the resort

town of Pattaya on April 11,2009.

More than 200 died in a quake in in L’Aquila of central Italy. A strong tremor

shook on April 6,2009 damaged buildings and some of the 17000 left homeless.

[90]

The four-day Naval Commanders’ Conference was held at the Eastern Naval

Command headquarters, in Visakhapatnam, from April 13 to 15,2009. The

conference focused on macro level issues pertaining to military strategy,

operational logistics and matters impacting the welfare and enhancement of

satisfaction level amongst all ranks and ‘Coastal Security’. The Naval

Commanders’ Conference is the highest decision making body of the navy. It

meets annually to deliberate upon major operational issues that have a bearing

on the nation’s maritime interests, coastal and offshore security, naval strategy,

and operational and acquisition plans. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

The 5th Summit the Americas was held at Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago

from April 17-19,2009. The theme was ‘Securing Our Citizens’ Future by

Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability.’

The Summit of the Americas is the name for a continuing series of summits

bringing together the leaders of North America, Central America and South

America. First summit was held at Miami in the United States.

NATO summit of heads of state and heads of government held in Strasbourg,

France, and in Kehl and Baden-Baden, Germany, on 3-4 April 2009. The summit

marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO). To symbolize an evolving vision of European cooperation,

for the first time a NATO summit was jointly hosted by two member nations

France and Germany. The summit reaffirmed the values, objectives and

obligations of the Washington Treaty which unite Europe with the United States

and Canada.

The Leaders of the Group of Twenty, met in London on 2 April 2009. They decided

to treble resources available to the IMF to 750 billion dollar, to support a new SDR

allocation of 250 billion dollar, to support at least 100 billion dollar of additional

lending by the MDBs, to ensure 250 billion dollar of support for trade finance, and

to use the additional resources from agreed IMF gold sales for concessional

finance for the poorest countries, constitute an additional 1.1 trillion dollar

programme of support to restore credit, growth and jobs in the world

economy. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

They also pledged to do whatever is necessary to restore confidence, growth, and

jobs, repair the financial system to restore lending, strengthen financial regulation

to rebuild trust, fund and reform our international financial institutions to

overcome this crisis and prevent future ones, promote global trade and

investment and reject protectionism, to underpin prosperity and build an

inclusive, green, and sustainable recovery.

[91]

International Labour Organisation (ILO) released ‘Global Employment Trends for

Women’. The report suggests that there is a gender aspect too to its impact on

jobs. Stating that the emerging trends are extremely worrying for both men and

women, the report explained the time has come for a coordinated effort

internationally to stop the slowdown. At the global level, the share of the

vulnerable employed among all women employed is as high as 52.7 per cent

compared with 49.1 per cent for men. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

“Recently many cases of Swine Influenza Virus were found in number of Asian and Latin American countries. 103 people have died of swine flu and about 1600 people have been infected with the virus in Mexico. The US has confirmed 20 cases. Mexico is recognised as the source of the virus.

Many countries have issued a negative travel advice for Mexico, and China has ordered a ban on the import of pork from Mexico and a number of Latin American countries, after Russia took a similar measure earlier. Swine influenza is known to be caused by influenza a subtypes H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2 and H2N3

SIV refers to influenza cases that are caused by Orthomyxoviruses endemic to pig populations. “

Books and AuthorsChallenge and Strategy-Rethinking India’s Foreign Policy : Rajiv SikriA Better India, A Better World : N R Narayana MurthyOpen Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent : Eduardo GaleanoThe Court and the Constitution of India: Summits and Shallows : O. Chinnappa ReddyMy Album: Pravin MahajanSoldiers’ Saga Of Adventure: Col AP TanwarIf Cricket Is a Religion, Sachin Is God: Vijay Santhanam and Shyam Balasubramaniam

[92]

General Study Notes on Current Affairs   2010

International Current Affairs 2010

Sri Lanka abandons Tamil version of its national anthem (13th Dec 2010)

The Sri lankan government has decided to scrap the tamil version of the national anthem

in its official and state functions. This move may possibly further alienate the tamil

minorities in the country. A directive to use only the Sinhalese version as been sent by

the ministry as president Rajapakse pointed out that no country uses two versions of the

anthem.

China reveals world’s fastest train (8th Dec 2010)

China unveiled its new high speed train CRH380 that can clock a maximum speed of

486.1 kmph. It is said to be much faster than even the bullet trains of Japan. At a cruising

speed of 380 this is certainly a major accomplishment. China on its part has gone ahead

and is now working on a model that is expected to clock 600kmph.

Pakistan’s Initiative against Terrorism (23th Nov 2010)

Pakistan has been the victim of international terrorism in the past few months. As a

result of this, a top US official recently said that Islamabad should begin to crack down on

terrorists and terrorist groups operational within the country immediately. Barrack

Obama, President of the United States of America has also agreed to this statement and

feels that Pakistan has been one of the major victims of international terrorism lately.

President Obama also said that Pakistan needs to take strong and immediate steps

against all terrorist groups operating on Pakistani soil. Furthermore, Assistant Secretary

of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said that a number of terrorist groups

are operating in a syndicate and working together against American interests, not just in

the US but in other nations such as Afghanistan and India as well. Mr. Blake also stated

that the US has welcomed every step take by Pakistan so far and that it is in full support

of Pakistan as always.

Mark Zuckerberg, Times Person Of The Year (16th Nov 2010)

Times magazine has named Mark Zuckerberg as the person of the year . Mr Zuckerberg

is the founder of thesmash hit social networking site Facebook and is also the world

youngest billionaire currently. Although, Julian Assange the editor in chief of wikileaks

was the pick of the time readers, but Zuckerberg won because of the scope and reach his

website and how it has touched and remodeled our thoughts on social networking

bringing the world that much more closer. Facebook has reached 500 million users this

year all around the globe and the numbers are still counting.

[93]

UN’s terrorism sanctions list (16th Nov 2010)

In a recent and sudden move, a US committee took down several names of al-Qaida and

Taliban terrorists off its terrorism sanction lists. The committee said that the reason for

such an action was that several of the names on the sanctions list were probably dead.

The committee Chairman Thomas Mayr Harting said that following this step, the

committee had started investigations into how many terrorists put on the list were

actually dead. This committee was set up in 1999.

Friendly neighbor China (15th November 2010)

Rising concerns over China’s assertive and aggressive attitude in the Asian continent has

prompted China’s President Hu Jintao to assure all nations that China is committed to

being a friendly and helpful neighbor. China has been in the news recently over its spats

with neighboring nations over international borders and territories. The reason for this

has been said to be China’s interests in a group of potentially resource rich islands in the

Asian Pacific. Speaking to leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in

Japan, President Hu said that China was committed to the regional policy of building good

neighborliness and friendship.

New Government in Iraq (11th Nov 2010)

Prolonged warring and quarrels between rival political factions in Iraq had caused over an

eight month deadlock over the issue of forming the next government. Recently, the Iraqi

Prime Minister appealed to these political factions to work together and unite following

his acceptance of the President’s request to form the next government. Senior officials

admitted that a Herculean task now lay before them, that of forming a government

comprising of members of all possible political factions. The task has been made harder

by the month long deadline to form the government which will preside over the country’s

affair as US troops move out and power is handed back to the Iraqi people. The new

government is expected to have members from all the political factions such as the

Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis. Prime Minister Designate al-Maliki called upon al Iraqi citizens

and politicians to help him in this difficult task.

Myanmar polls called fake (10th November 2010)

The first democratic polls in Myanmar after several years of military rule were held

among complaints of threats, intimidation and accusations of the polls being a charade.

In most constituencies, the poll was a competition between the Union Solidarity and

Development Party (USDP) and the National Unity Party (NUS). Several accusations were

made by opposition parties against the USDP, claiming that they illegally collected

advanced ballots. USA and UK officials also voiced their concerns about the transparency

and fairness of these polls.

[94]

Rolls Royce sued by Qantas (8th November 2010)

Australian flight safety officials have recently warned that manufacturing defects have

been found in the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines. Officials further urged airlines using

these engines to carry extensive checks before using them because defects present in

them could lead to catastrophic failures. In the meanwhile, Qantas began court

proceedings against Rolls Royce and was granted an injunction by the federal court of

Australia which ensured that the airline could pursue legal action against the engine

manufacturing giants.

China’s slowest growth (5 November 2010)

China had its slowest rate of economic growth in a year during the September quarter. In

addition to this, a World Bank report hinted at a further decrease in its economic growth.

One of the reasons for this has been the long term inflation that China has faced for

almost two years. China’s industrial growth has also fallen considerably in recent times.

This slow growth in China’s economy has gotten many people to believe that India might

be the next economic superpower to rise because of its high levels of industrial and

economic growth in recent times. Though not immediately, but experts predicted India’s

rate of growth to exceed that of China’s by a considerable margin in the next five years.

India gets UNSC non-permanent seat (12 October 2010)

The biggest news on the international front for India has been its inclusion into the UNSC

as a non-permanent member after a gap of 19 years. Even as India’s acclamation for a

non-permanent bench on the body that includes fifteen members in total was an

inevitable cessation afterwards Kazakhstan back out of the chase for the Asian bench

beforehand in early January. India got an unbelievable 187 of the 191 votes in the UN

General Assembly ballot on October 14th 2010. India’s previous spell in the Security

Council was way back in 1992. Almost immediately afterwards India’s appointment,

Indian agent to the United Nations Hardeep Singh Puri put it straight that New Delhi

would make use of this couple of year valid span to build assurance and accord a feeling

of aplomb to the five non changing associates (famously known as the P-5) – the United

States of America, Russia, Britain, France and China. Considering that Brazil, a running

affiliate of the United Nation Security Council, and South Africa and Germany, which got

appointed with India, on October 14th were as well in contention for a permanent

membership, he stated: ‘Of course everybody of us will attempt to bring into play the two

years we need to render our allies a feeling of aplomb and formulate trust and faith so

that they are at ease with our role playing in the United Nation Security Council on a

continued period of time’.

India and Mozambique sign 3 agreementss (5 October 2010)

[95]

India and Mozambique came together and signed three agreements and a credit band of

500 million United States dollars has been advanced to that nation state for works

regarding the infrastructure, agronomics and power during a convention that featured

President of Mozambique Armando Guebuza and Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan

Singh. Guebuza and Singh, who captivated entrustment level converses, resolved to

actualize an affiliation following the lines of superior political meeting, deepening of

bread-and-butter collaboration, deepening of defense and aegis collaboration,

distinctively to get hold of sea lanes in opposition to piracy and, cooperation in

competence building and human resource (or workforce) development. “Both of us

together accord to the aforementioned Indian Ocean association and we carve up

familiar issues. It is in our alternate absorption to ensure the assurance and aegis of sea

lanes of communication in the Indian Ocean,” Dr. Manmohan Singh said in a collective

journalist statement. India will back the enactment in preparation and setting up

organizations in Mozambique to back capacity building in the coal business and will as

well back the ability formation for the defense and patrolling personnel of that nation

state, the Prime Minister alleged. Conveying worry over the assurance and aegis of sea

lanes in Indian Ocean, Guebuza promised India it will accommodate all practical aid to

safeguard them.

Indians freed from Malay traffickers: (3 September 2010)

Not less than 24 Indian men who were discovered bound up in a residence in a Malaysian

boondocks were successfully freed from the arrest and two Pakistani men supposedly

engaged in a human trafficking guild were detained with immediate effect. “Inquiries into

the matter exposed that those people, age-old amid 20 and 30, were from Uttar Pradesh.

If the reports of the media are to be trusted, the victims landed on to the capital’s intl.

airport four months back, afore getting picked by the accused people who were

apparently looking for workers in an industrial unit in Johor,” he said. He further stated

that the two men promised the Indian workers appealing wages as the bait. It is once

again proved that Malaysia is a magnet for wide spread drug peddling and human

trafficking. Unemployed workforce looking out for jobs is brought for added transfers to

other Southeast Asian countries and to Australia.

Indians to lead FIDE: (September 2010)

Indians have already proved their metal in various sports at the international level.

Tennis, Cricket, Shooting, Boxing and also Chess. After Vishwanathan Anand, another lot

of Indians are about to triumph on the World Chess Podium. D.V. Sundar has been

elected has the President of the world body for the sport of chess, FIDE at Russia. Apart

from that, the president for the Asian Continent was Mr. Dongre and Commonwealth

Chess Federation President was revealed in the name of Mr. B.S. Chahuhan, a press

statement by the All India Chess Federation revealed.

[96]

Make way for the new breed: ( September 2010)

The new world power calendar for 2010 has once again predicted that New Delhi’s

dominance in the world will see acceleration by 2025. Among the able coalition, the

country has been placed at the fourth position afterwards the US, China and the

European Union. ‘The Global Governance 2025’ was together brought out by the National

Intelligence Council (NIC) of the US and the European Union’s Institutes for Security

Studies (EUISS). In the current year, the US leads the lot of able countries/regions,

cumulatively for about 22 percent of the worldwide supremacy. The US is chased by

China at 12 percent, European Union at 16 percent and India at eight percent. India

comes next to Japan, Russia and Brazil with beneath than 5 percent apiece. Following

these global statistics, by 2025 the ability of the US, EU, Japan and Russia will cut down

although that of China, India and Brazil will boost but this surge will see the positions

unchanged. By 2025, the United States of America will continue to be the most

dominating nation, but it will be possessing just a bit above 18 percent of the global

authority. The US will be carefully trailed by China with 16 percent, European Union with

14 percent and India with 10 percent looking to overleap.

Mission Accomplished (19 August 2010)

The United States have finally started pulling its troops out of Iraq. President Barack

Obama has confirmed that the US plans to withdraw significant number of combat troops

from Iraq stating that the war was nearing an end. The remaining force of 50,000 soldiers

will train Iraqi security forces and provide security for ongoing US Diplomatic efforts.

Australia with a hung parliament (23 August 2010)

Australians failed to elect a new government in the polls held in August and were left

with a hung parliament. The non-result elections between Julia Gillard’s Labor and

Abbott’s Liberal party led to the first hung parliament in Australia since World War II.

Three key Independents are now in the process of deciding which party to support to

form a government.

Pakistani cricketers tainted (30 August 2010)

The Game of cricket gets murkier with alleged match-fixer Mazhar Majeed’s claim of

having rigged games played by Pakistan for three years. The British Police recovered

cash from hotel rooms of Pakistani players involved in spot fixing. Salman Butt,

Mohammad Amir and Mohammed Asif were interviewed and their mobiles confiscated

after Majeed’s confession. The Anti-Corruption Unit of the ICC will probe all 82

international matches played by Pakistan during this time. The news came as a bolt for

the flood-stricken and violence-plagued country where cricket is the national sport.

Pakistan Floods (2 August 2010)

[97]

In the worst flooding disaster in 80 years the floodwaters have affected about one-fifth of

the country washing away millions of hectares of crops, submerging villages and

destroying roads, bridges, schools, electricity and communication setting back the

infrastructure by many years. Disease is fast spreading in these flood affected areas and

there have been warnings that dams in the south may burst. It is estimated that the

floods in Pakistan have displaced people thrice the number displaced during partition.

Hike in Visa fee (11 August 2010)

The Obama Regime has raised H-1B and L1 visa fees to protect its borders from illegal

Mexican immigrants. This additional fee would be used to build operating bases and

deploy unmanned aerial surveillance to beef up U.S.-Mexico border security. The impact

of this hike will be substantial on Indian IT companies that account for approximately

50,000 H1 and L1 visas per year.

Mosque near ground Zero(28 August 2010)

A New York city panel has cleared the way for the construction of a mosque near ground

zero that has been causing a political uproar over religious freedom. The proposed

construction of the mosque near ground zero has sparked debate all around the country.

President Barack Obama, however, supported the right of having a mosque by asserting

that Muslims have the same right to freedom of religion as everyone else in America.

China to launch space station(17 August 2010)

Having finished the first module of a planned space station and testing its electronics and

other systems China is all set to launch it into orbit next year. Changes were being made

to the rocket that will carry the 8.5ton Tiangong 1 module into a set orbit. No finishing or

manning dates have been given for the space station. The official Xinhua news agency

said that The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft and Shenzhou 9 and 10 spacecraft would dock with

it in the second half of 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Online route(30 August 2010)

Oxford English Dictionary that has been in print for over a century may never appear in

print for the future generations. The word reference Bible is likely to loose its existence

to its online version. With the digital books becoming popular, the format that the 3rd

edition, currently being worked upon, will take is anybody’s guess.

Japan Elections(10 July 2010)

Democratic Party of Japan suffered a heavy blow in the elections for the upper house of

Japan’s Diet (parliament) when it won ten seats fewer than expected thus loosing its

majority. DPJ will now have to look for new coalition partners to restore its majority in the

upper house and enable it to easily pass laws through the Diet legislature. After breaking [98]

the 55 year period of dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party and naming Naoto Kan

the new prime minister just a month back the results have baffled the DJP.

July 15th Summit, Islamabad(15 July 2010)

Failed talks between Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna and the Pakistani counterpart Mr.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s have once again proved that whenever efforts were initiated by

India to improve the relations between the two countries. The Pak leaders and officials

took deliberate steps to derail the process conveying a clear message to India that the

talks can continue only on its terms.

Gulf of Spill(15 August 2010)

More than three months after the April 20 explosion aboard the BP-leased Deepwater

Horizon oil platform, which killed 11 workers and sank the rig gushing oil into the Gulf of

Mexico, the most severe US environmental disaster ever is close to coming to an end. In

an operation called “static kill” 2,300 barrels of mud was forced down into the well’s

opening overnight pushing the crude back down to its source. A cap over the wellhead

has shut in leaking oil since July 15 and the static kill — also known as bull heading —

probably would not have worked without the cap in place.

Genocide(12 July 2010)

Omar-al-Bashir, President of Sudan has been charged with three counts of genocide over

the Darfur Conflict, he was convicted by the International Criminal Court at The Hague. It

is for the first time that a court has accused anyone of genocide.

Jacob Lew the new Budget Director(13 July 2010)

President Barack Obama has chosen Mr. Jacob Lew as his new budget director. This is Mr.

Lews second stint with the federal budget.

Current Affairs [June 2010]

Julia Gillard become Australia’s first women Prime Minister replacing Kevin Rudd

following a sudden revolt against him.

No more time for sorrow’ written by Robert Beeman. The author predict that

terrorist will set off an atom bomb in the USA by 2013.

Tuvalu become 187th member of IMF (International Monetary Fund). The island is

located in the Pacific Ocean.

Kyrgyzstan voted for a new constitution in a referendum. It is Central Asia’s first

parliament democracy.

[99]

G-20 summit held at Toronto, Canada.

Current Affairs [May 2010]

G-15 summit was held at Tehran on 16-17 May.

Bangladesh handed over Ranjan Daimary of the National Democratic Front of

Bodoland to India. The group was responsible for serial bombing in Assam in

2008.

National League for Democracy (NLD) party of Myannmar’s democracy leader

Aung San Sui Kyi was abolished after deadline to re-register as a political party

was over.

EU-IMF provide a $ 1 trillion rescue package to the Greece to resolve its debt

crises.

Pakistan successfully test fired two short range ballistic missiles, Shaheen I( range

650 Km) and Ghazani (range 290 Km) capable of carrying nuclear war heads and

striking Indian cities.

Current Affairs [April 2010

]

Belgium became the Europe’s first country to ban burqa.

Pakistan’s National assembly passed a bill that takes away the President’s power

to dissolve parliament, dismiss a elected government and appoint the three

services Chiefs. Pakistan’s parliament passes 18th amendment which was later

signed by Presient cutting President’s powers.

USA and Russia signed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty(START) that allowed a

maximum of 1550 deployed overheads, about 30% lower than a limit set in 2002.

The treaty was signed in the Progue Castle.

Emergency was imposed in Thailand.

Nuclear Security Summit held at Washington.It was a 47 nation summit wherein

P.M. announced setting up of a global nuclear energy centre for conducting

research & development of design systems that are secure, proliferation resistant

& sustainable.

PM visit USA & Brazil, a two nation tour. He attended Nuclear Security Summit in

USA & India- Brazil-S.Africa(IBSA) and Brazil-Russia-India-China(BRIC) summit in

Brasilia (Brazil).

[100]

16th SAARC Summit held in Bhutan in 28-29 April. The summit was held in Bhutan

for the first time. It is the silver jubilee summit as SAARC has completed 25 years.

The summit central theme was ‘Climate Change’. The summit recommended to

declare 2010-2020 as the “Decade of Intra-regional Connectivity in SAARC”. The

17th SAARC summit will be held in Maldives in 2011.

Current Affairs [March 2010]

China will launch in 2011 unmammed space mode ‘ Tiangong I’ for its future

space laboratory.

US internet giant Google close its business in China.

India’s largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel buy Zain’s Africa operations

for an enterprise value of $ 10.7 billion (Rs 49000 crore). Currently Bharti’s non-

India operations include Sri Lanka & Bangladesh.

Russia abolished two of its eleven time Zones.

Current Affairs [February 2010

]

NATO forces carried out Marjah operation (dubbed Moshtarak) against Taliban

forces in Afghanistan.

European Union summit was held in Brussels. EU & IMF decided to giving support

to Greece in its struggle to bring its ballooning budget deficit under control. EU

President is Herman Van Rompuy.

Iran’s President Mahmood Ahmedinejad declared that Iran had produced first

batch of 20 % enriched uranium and now Iran became a nuclear state.

Iran launched ‘Kavoshger -3 rocket’ capable of carrying a satellite. It carried a

mouse, worms & two turtles.

Current Affairs [January 2010]

Gilgit Baltistan region elected its first Chief Minister Mehdi Shah on the basis of

Gilgit Baltistan Empowerment & Self Governance Order 2009. The new appointed

CM declare the Gilgit Baltistan region as 5th province of Pakistan. The Indian Govt

has, however, of the view that the region was part of J & K, and thus objected to

the remarks of CM.

Venezuela devalued it currency ‘Bolivar’.

[101]

A massive earthquake strike Haiti, the Carribbean nation. Capital of Haiti is Port-

au-Prince.

Mahinda Rajapaksa won a second term as Sri Lanka’s President. He belongs to Sri

Lanka Freedom Party.

National Current Affairs 2010

CBI seeking closure in Arushi Talwar case (13th Dec 2010)

CBI has sought closure after being unable to comprehensively solve the Arushi Talwar

murder case which has hogged the limelight for over two years now. The report claims

that they have hit a road block and lack of evidence as main reasons for not being able

to solve the case. However the report as named the victims father Dr Rajesh Talwar as a

possible suspect.

Chandra Babu Naidu ends fast (13th Dec 2010)

Telugu Desam Party president finally ended his hunger strike of eight days on the

insistence of visiting leaders like Thambi Durai, Arunkumar, Amba Durai, Maitreya,

Prakash Karat, Bardan, Om Prakash Choutala, Sharad Yadav and Ajit Singh. Mr Naidu

undertook the fast citing that the Andhra Govt should revise its compensation package

for the rain hit farmers of the state. The visiting leaders promised Mr Naidu that they

would bring the issue to the notice of the Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh by taking

an all party delegation to New Delhi.

Congress blames Sanjay Gandhi for the emergency excesses (13th Dec 2010)

The congress party which is celebrating its 125th birthday this month has accused Sanjay

Gandhi for many of the excesses committed during the emergency of 1975-77. Sanjay

Gandhi received notoriety for many ruthless measures like slum clearance and mass

sterilization programs. The congress has always had to walk a tight rope when it comes

to defending Indira Gandhis decision to enforce emergency which led to one of the most

turbulent times in Indian history since independence.

CBI seeking closure in Arushi Talwar case (13th Dec 2010)

Citibank employee Shivraj Puri accused of fraud surrenders

Citibank employee Shivraj Puri who is said to be involved in a massive fraud, finally

surrendered to the police after almost 48 hrs since the incident came to light. Mr Puri

who works as a relationship manager has been accused of siphoning of money to the

tune of 400 crores from atleast 20 clients to other fictitious accounts.

Opposition unrelenting on its demand in JPC probe (13th Dec 2010) The opposition

has been steadfast in its demand for the JPC with regard to the 2G scam. The PM Dr

[102]

Manmohan Singh had earlier offered to appear himself before the PAC headed by BJP

stalwart Mr. Murali Manohar Joshi. The opposition still feels the JPC would be the best

option that would help to bring this case to its logical conclusion.

Human rights activist Dr Binayak Sen convicted, gets life term (13th Dec

2010) The session’s court of Raipur has convicted Dr Binayak Sen and three others on

grounds of sedition and conspiracy thereby sentencing them for life due to their links

with the Maoists. Dr Sen has been held guilty under Chhattisgarh Special Public Security

Act 2005, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, of being a conduit between Naxals

and of meeting Narayan Sanyal in jail. The trio has also been convicted under provisions

of section 124 IPC (sedition) and 120 B IPC (conspiracy). Dr Sen is a pediatrician and

alumni of Christian medical college. The 58 year old doctor has provided over 28 years of

selfless service to the poorer sections of Chattisgarh.

Prices of onions hit through the roof (13th Dec 2010) The prices of onions have

undergone a steep rise with a kg costing close to Rs 80 in the national capital and its

surrounding areas. Other parts of India too have started feeling the pressure and the

prices are continuously shooting up. The Government on it part has suspended the

export of onions until January in an attempt to bring down the prices. According to

traders, they are attributing the supply crunch due to torrential downpours in

Maharashtra, Gujarat and Southern states which has lead to a poor yield.

Indias GSLV vehicle fails during launch. (13th Dec 2010) ISRO suffered a serious

setback when its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) failed on its

course, forcing the team at SriHarikota to abort the mission and self destruct the launch

vehicle. The vehicles on board computer lost control of the actuation system raising

serious questions about ISROS other ambitious projects that includes a mission to the

moon. The GSAT-5P satellite which the launch vehicle was supposed to send into orbit

was one of the heaviest and cost ISRO 125 crores. Had it been successful, the satellite

would have served the needs of the telecommunication sector and the weather

department. It would have eventually replaced the INSAT-2E satellite that was sent up in

1999.

India and China set $100bn trade target by 2015 (16th Dec 2010)

India and China have agreed upon a new $100billion trade target by 2015 which is more

than the $6 billion agreed upon in 2010.With the arrival of Chinese PM Wen Jiabao

accompanied by 400 Chinese business leaders in India, the two countries signed around

50 deals in power,steel ,wind energy , food and marine products and telecommunications

worth $16 billion. This overtakes the $10bn of agreements signed between Indian and

American businesspeople during the recent visit of US President Barack Obama.

Sensex drops 458 points (November 2010)

[103]

The Bombay Stock Exchange recently fell by a total of 458 points. The reasons for the

underperformance of the Indian Equity market have been said to be the series of scams

that were unearthed from mid November. Just last month, CBI officials discovered a bribe

for loan scandal that involved several officials from financial firms and a few state run

banks. The 10.8% rise in industrial growth since last month could not help and several

indices ended with huge losses. Major loses were mainly suffered by PSUs, realty,

consumer durables and healthcare.

Satyam Trial Case (2 November 2010)

The examination of the first witness in the infamous multi crore Satyam Computer

accounting scam would begin from the first of November Additional Chief Metropolitan

Magistrate Court. CBI officials submitted a list of six witnesses to the courts who were

officials of a number of different banks. All ten accused including company founder B

Ramalinga Raju were present in court during the hearing of the case. The DIG of police

who operates under the department of CBI said that the agency requested permission to

set up LCD projectors and screens in the court so that both parties could observe and

take notes on all the documents that would be brought up in court. Since cases in the

Supreme Court need to be resolved at the earliest, CBI officials submitted close to a

thousand documents to the court to speed up the prosecution. The bail of the owner of

company and the other 5 individuals associated has been rejected.

Baba Ramdev Temple under threat (2 November 2010)

An anonymous letter was received at the Ramdev Baba temple in Jaisalmer that

contained threats to blow up the temple on November 9th. District Collector G S

Kushwaha received this letter by normal post. Following this letter security around the

temple and the surrounding complex was tightened by posting additional number of

policeman around the temple complex. Around 5 million devotees are said to visit the

temple every year.

Ashok Chavan’s fate (5 November 2010)

Disgraced Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chauhan’s would be decided after the

Diwali holiday season, i.e. after November 8th said the Congress party. Recently Chief

Minister Ashok Chauhan’s name had come in the Adarsh Housing Society scam. Following

this allegation, Mr. Ashok Chauhan immediately offered to resign from his post. No

mention of either the Adarsh Housing Society scam or the commonwealth Games fiasco

was made by the Congress in its AICC session. Also present at the meeting were Delhi

Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, Common Wealth Games Organizing Committee Chaiperson

Suresh Kalmadi, Heavy Industries Minister and former Maharashtra chief minister

Vilasrao Deshmukh and Maharashtra PCC President Manikrao Thakre.

[104]

Adjournment of Ajmer Dargah blast case (27 November 2010)

The hearing of the Ajmer Gargah blast case was recently adjourned to November 8 by a

sessions court due to leave taken by the presiding judge. Over an 800 page charge sheet

was produced before the court of the Additional Chief Judge Magistrate on the 22nd of

October by the Rajasthan ATS. The five accused in the case have alleged links with the

radical Hindu group Abhinav Bharat. Only one accused was brought to the court while the

other two are being questioned about the Hyderabad Mecca blast case. The accused

have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code like conspiracy to

murder, attempt to murder and murder. Over one hundred and thirty witnesses have

been cited by the prosecution of the case.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s concern (29 November 2010)

The finance minister of the country Pranab Mukherjee recently raised his fears over the

rising of inflation in the country. Minister Mukherjee said that the Reserve Bank of India

would take steps at its next monetary policy review to check rising prices because of

increased inflation. He further added that rising food prices were solely the reason for

this sudden inflation. Inflation for the month of September was estimated to be close to

8.6% much above the acceptable rate of 5%. As said by Finance Minister Mukherjee, food

prices had the highest amount of inflation which in Mid October was estimated to be over

13%. Recently, Minister Pranab Mukherjee was in talks with the Reserve Bank of India

Governor over the the possible rate hike action by the Central Bank. The global financial

crisis, which was worsened by the total collapse of financial firm Lehman Brothers, is

being said to be the reason behind the RBI’s recent reversal of its soft monetary policy

that it started back in September 2008. Adding to these has been the sudden drop in

industrial growth from 15.2% to 5.6%. To combat the aforementioned rise in inflation, the

Reserve Bank of India has hiked its key short term lending and borrowing times several

times this year.

Protest during Obama visit by Bhopal Gas tragedy victims (6 November 2010)

Victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy are said to be planning to stage a protest at Jantar

Mantar on the 8th of November, during the time of US President Barrack Obama’s visit to

the capital. Several tonnes of the poisonous gas methyl iso-cyanide, leaked from the

Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal in 1984, killing over 3000 people the same night and

causing the deaths of over 25000 people over the subsequent years. Five different

voluntary organizations working for the gas tragedy victims recently held a press

conference where they stated that they would be requesting to President Obama to use

his Presidential powers to bring the Union Carbide Corporation to Indian Courts and be

answerable to them. The verdict of this case many years back had found seven top

officials of this corporation to be guilty but as these guilty persons were bailed out within

minutes of the verdict, many people till date question the justice imparted in the case.

[105]

The voluntary organizations further added that hundreds of people regularly fall sick and

die every month due to the long term poisonous effects of the leaked gas on the soil and

water. They further plan to ask President Obama for his help as the US government has

been largely unhelpful these last few years. The sit in protest organized by the voluntary

organizations is said to be comprised of over 5000 gas tragedy victims.

Third stage of Bihar polling completed (28 Oct 2010)

Polling was carried out affably in 48 electorates on 28th Oct 2010, estimating in the third

appearance of Bihar Assembly elections, which witnessed an approximated 53% voter

responsive. Electorates like Amnour, Taraya, Ramnagar, Balmikinagar and Patepur

(Maoist followers) account about 45%-52% voting. Voters were carried by boats in the

littoral areas of Raghopur Assembly electorate in Vaishali commune where the popular

figure of Rabri Devi was in the tussle. The better half of RJD spearhead Lalu Prasad Yadav

is as well battling from Sonepur bench in Saran constituency. More than 185 people were

held during the balloting, which saw miniature incidents of affray and fracas. Unlike on a

number of occasions before, this time Bihar polling did not see what it usually it

experiences in terms of riots, booth capturing and other forms of unrest and violence

that hampers the true and the honest spirit of competition. “Apart from this, it was

nonviolent and silky,” stated by Neelmani (DG of Police). Approximately sixty cars were

as well detained. In excess of one crore voters will adjudge the future of six ministers (of

the state) in the third stage. The following round i.e. stage 4 will be carried out on Nov. 4

2010.

UID experiences technical hiccups (Oct 2010)

In order to overcome the challenge posed by the huge figure of people (approximately

1.03 billions) in the country, the chief of the dept. stated that the 16 digit long UID

numbers will be released in the next year and half or so. He added that the epicenter of

its working will be in the city of Bangalore. An easy remedy to the obstacles posed by the

allotment of different IDs is to have a bench where every formerly sanctioned UID are

kept and a fresh one is given only afterwards verifying that is actually a unique code.

Fundamentally, we charge to break an extremely tough difficulty in dispersed schemes

once we have copies of the bench (for dependability) and ought to accordingly

respond/keep informed the table as questions are asked. Taking the point in

consideration, provided the millions of accretion objects affiliated to the web, there is no

scrutiny if a prime number selected is the similar chosen by somebody else before. If this

is to happen, it is an aegis aperture of the aboriginal order for web; the possibly is,

nevertheless, acutely undersized. Population on another instance has proven to be a

major obstacle in the development and progress course of India. UID which was

anticipated to be a huge success and particularly curb this issue is yet to combat the

problem itself to even get kick started.

[106]

Haryana barricades polythene bags entry (Aug 2010)

In another attempt to safeguard the environmental and not add insult to the already

injured state of the planet, like the govt. of Delhi, Haryana govt. has also decided to

prohibit polythene bags in the state. The ban includes a complete no-no of recycling,

storage and usage (in any form) within the state. A suggestion to this aftereffect has

been supported by Bhupinder Singh Hooda (the honorable Chief Minister of the state), an

authorized agent said in the capital on Saturday. The resolution was taken as it was

empiric that fractional forbid on use of polythene bags of a clearly defined array bracket

did not crop the needed consequences. There was consistent ambiguity over the array of

poly bags in exercise and it had as well been discovered that nibbling of a great number

of polythene bogs had resulted in deaths of cows on a regular basis, he said. This type of

thinking and resolutions are the only way through which we can combat and better the

ailing state of the plant Earth. If all other cities and states like previously Delhi and now

Haryana think about the hazards the polythene bags can cost, we will be having better

standards of health and hygiene.

PM and Sonia Gandhi inaugurate UID: (28 Sep 2010)

The Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh and UPA Arch Sonia Gandhi shaped a record

by accordingly ablution the world’s aboriginal ID activity on September 29th 2010 forth

with Nilekani, the arch man of the ministry is acclimated to accommodate Unique

Identification Numbers for India’s citizens (cumulatively well in billions), by rendering

them the aboriginal collection of twelve digit figures to ten clannish. The PM as well as

the UPA Chief were collectively congratulated in the presence of former Infosys

headman. This ID Card is assumed to be nation’s biggest ever tech adeptness action

alleged ‘Aadhaar’(base), that is due to be issued to all Indians to accommodate them

within a lucrative nationally accurate and absolute individual antecedent of character

affidavit through an authenticity vault and that will help to accomplish supply processes

transparent. Biometric following abstracts include fingerprints and an iris browse getting

acclimated for the aboriginal time wherever in the planet.

Yamuna raises its bar, causes menace: (28 Sep 2010)

The baptize akin in the river rose to 206.70 accent recently, 1.87 accent aloft the crisis

mark of 204.83 accent and is acceptable to go up added as neighboring Haryana would

absolution added water in the river, a chief official of the flood ascendancy

administration said. Waters from the flood reached into vicinities like of the local areas as

well (Yamuna and Sonia Vihar, Usmanpur, Jaitpur are a few). A large number of localities

that reside in the areas forth the banks of the river were apparent lined up on the

footpaths on the ITO arch with whatsoever they had of their possessions. Chief Minister

Sheila Dikshit had on Friday requested the inhibiters not to get into agitation and said all

basic measures are getting put into abode to accommodated any possible occurrence.

[107]

Over 100 cadre from National Disaster Response Force, were soon deployed to abetment

the bounded authorities. The ascent Yamuna has affected the Northern Railways to

abolish 25 trains and absent 36 others. The cancelled train were prominent ones (Kalka

and Brahamaputra Mail, Shalimar, A.A. and G.N. Express, etc). The 90 trains that have to

be detoured included the most heavily commuted ones and this has disrupted the life of

the general public paralyzing their usual movements, a Northern Railway spokesmen

stated.

Ayodha Verdict finally out, Allahabad Bench applauded: (Sep 2010)

Culminating 60 years of anfractuous proceedings, asserts and counter-claims, optimism

and desolation, Allahabad HC conventions in favor of improvised Ram temple on

quarreled site; the remaining of acreage to be disconnected amid Hindus & Muslims. In

what is conceivably the most of eagerly anticipated judgment in contempt times, a

breach adjudication dispensed out by a three-member bank of Allahabad High Court

were in full abounding of the claims of the Hindu petitioners while acclimation a three-

way analysis of the acknowledged land. The cardinal provided acknowledged permit to

the temporary Ram temple that came up afterwards the annihilation of the

acknowledged anatomy in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. The entire panel of

adjudicators – the prominent faces of the country (Justice Agarwal, Khan and Sharma) –

was very much in favor of the acceptance that captivated the acknowledged land was

the native land of the Hindu deity. Mr. Sharma and Mr. Agarwal settled with the long-held

affirmation of the Sangh Parivar and an area of archaeologists that the acknowledged

anatomy cannot be advised as an Islamic place of worship as it came into actuality

adjoins the credo of Islam.

Lights, Camera and Applause: (Sep 2010)

The 57th Edition of the National Film Award ceremony was concluded for the year 2009

in the month of September. The awards were given away in three groups namely, finest

Feature Motion Picture Class led by Chairpersonship of Mr. Sippy, Non Feature Motion

Picture Group led by Chairpersonship of Mr. Pandey, and Script on Movies beneath the

Chairpersonship of Mr. S. Bandhopadhyay.

The following were the recipients of a few awards in various nominations:

a. Motion Picture: Malayalam flick – KuttySrank

b. I.G.A. for the Best first appearance movie : Hindi movie – Lahore for the Direction

c. Box office blockbuster (widespread entertainment): Hindi – 3 Idiots

d. N.D.A. for the Best motion picture on Patriotic Spirit: Hindi – Delhi 6

[108]

e. Best motion picture on Society’s Matters: Bollywood – Well Done Abba

f. Motion Picture for Kids: Tied between Keshu (Malayalam) and Putaani Party

(Kannada)

g. Direction: Rituparno Ghosh for Abohoman

h. Actor: Amitabh Bachcha for Auro’s role

i. Actress: Ananya Chatterjee

j. Child’s Performance: Tollywood’s Pasanga

k. Male Singer: Rupam Islam in Bengali

l. Female Singer: Neelanjana Sarkar in Bengali

Nuclear liability bill passed (Aug 2010)

Nuclear liability bill which was adopted by Rajya Sabha has now been approved by the

process of Voice vote. The session of the Parliament lasted 48 hours extra than the

scheduled time so that the legislation can be easily passed and approved. A total of 18

amendments were introduced in this bill by Lok Sabha before processing it further. Soon

the bill was selected for a considerable hike in the liability of operator. This liability has

now become 3 times then what it was in the past and now holds a value of rupees 1500

crore’s in total. By virtue of progression of this bill and significant increase in the liability

many overseas companies have shown their interests in setting up reactors in India.

Special accidental care will now be provided for the employees operating in the various

sections of the nuclear plants. The decision and the passing of the bill had been strongly

opposed by the BJP leaders as they found it insignificant.

Swiss Bank Access (Aug 2010)

Swiss Authorities will provide information to India on cases of tax fraud and tax evasion

from January 1,2011under the reworked double tax agreement (DTA) signed by India and

Switzerland. The Indian Authorities can now seek information about the account holders

in Swiss banks who have a case filed against them for tax evasion.

Government Intervention for CWG (28 Aug 2010)

PM and his select team of ministers takeover as CWG supervisors. Indian Prime Minister

Dr.Manmohan Singh took over the reigns of the forthcoming games in the wake of

scandals and unfinished work surrounding the event. Committee of Secretaries, headed

by a Cabinet Secretary, will now supervise the mega event to be held in October

overtaking Organizing Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi.

[109]

Bhopal Case reopened (Aug 2010)

The Supreme court of India has reopened the Bhopal Gas leak case in response to

Government’s petition for harsher punishment to the guilty for the worst tragedy of its

kind in which at least 7,000 people perished within days of the release of the toxic

methyl isocyanate gas at the Union Carbide pesticide plant on 3 December 1984, and a

further 15,000 died later from exposure to the gas. The tragedy left countless others with

lifelong damage to their health.

CSAT to replace the civil services prelims (Aug 2010)

The new Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) will replace the existing civil services

(preliminary) examination from 2011. The new scheme will test the candidates for their

aptitude for civil services as well as their ethical and moral dimension of decision-

making. There will now be two common papers with equal weightage in place of one

common paper (general awareness) and one optional paper (any particular subject of

choice). The civil services main exam and the interview will remain the same as of now.

Rahul creates controversy (Aug 2010)

Wherein one place Mamta Banerjee is speaking in the favour of naxals and now Rahul

Gandhi is sharing a dias with a suspected Maoist , this is the approach of the government

in the fight against naxals.

Member Parliament salaries hiked (Aug 2010)

Parliament recently in Delhi has made a decision to increase the salaries of MPs. A hike

of about rupees 35000 will be introduced in the salary of each MPs thus taking it from

figures like 20,000 to 55,000 or so. Because daily allowance has an important role to play

hence parliament has also decided to exactly double the allowances issued daily to each

Member of Parliament. Hence daily allowance of rupees 1000 will now become 2000. This

daily allowance will be issued only when the parliament session is in progress. Other than

the daily allowances the official expenses for every office per month have now been

considerably raised and touch a 50,000 amount. That is not all the travel and

conveyance charge issued will now become 4 times which were earlier around rupees

1,00,000. Retired members will now get a monthly pension of around rupees 20,000

which was around 10,000 in the past times.

Commonwealth with less green (Aug 2010)

Approximately 40,000 trees have been either felled or transplanted for Delhi’s

preparation of Commonwealth Games 2010. Apart from the financial burden of creating

world class infrastructure and transport facilities Delhites have to bear the loss of its

[110]

green cover as the compensatory plantation cannot in any way compensate for the loss

of a fully grown, mature tree.

Blackberry controversy (Aug 2010)

Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of Blackberry has finally surrendered to Indian

security agencies’ demand for access to their server. The company has proposed for

lawful access to its services including the messenger as well as the enterprise with

immediate effect and the company would have to set up a server in India if it does not

work to the satisfaction of Indian agencies. The security agencies already had access to

voice data, SMS and general emails sent through Blackberry devices but Blackberry

email and messaging services that are highly encrypted were major concerns for the

security agencies. With this understanding in place the government has decided to serve

notices to Google and Skype also to fall in line.

Direct tax code (Aug 2010)

The Government deferred the direct tax code(DTC) by yet another year to April 2012

causing yet another disappointment to the taxpayers. Women taxpayers suffered a bolt

as the preferential treatment meted out to them earlier is now proposed to be

withdrawn. Senior citizens, however, enjoy a higher exemption limit. The bill that

replaces the Income Tax Act 1961 seeks an increase in exemption threshold of

individuals from Rs.1.6 lakh currently to Rs.2lakh. The corporate taxes will be reduced to

a flat 30%.

Leh hit by flood (Aug 2010)

A cloudburst on the intervening night of August 5 and 6 has led to flash floods and

mudslides in the Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir. The cloudburst and the following

floods have claimed over 175 lives and injured about 400 people, besides causing

widespread damage to public and private property. The worst hit Chuglamsar has just

turned into debris all over.

More rich than poor Indians (Aug 2010)

National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has estimated in its report, “How

India Earns, Spends and Saves”, that despite the economic slowdown of the last three

years, the number of high-income households in India has exceeded the number of low-

income households. Households with high income or earnings have grown by over 3.7%

in total and now touch the mark of around 21%. That is not all also the households with

low income sources have fallen by around 3.2% and gone down to a mark of 18%.

CWG Anthem (Aug 2010)

[111]

When everything is being prepared for the common wealth coming up in October then

how could Music maestro A R Rahman stay away from it. Yes, the musician has launched

the theme song for the Commonwealth Games 2010 that has the best lyrics covering

khelo oh yaaro,,jeeto oh yaaro. During the launch of this theme song honorable Chief

Minister Shiela Dixit, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and OC Chairman Suresh Kalmadi were

present in the ceremony.

CWG breeding mosquitoes (Aug 2010)

The fingers are already crossed and people fear further delay in the common wealth

problems. When the earlier hurdles are not getting removed and new problems are

coming into view. The sincere attention is being drawn by the mosquitoes breeding in

various dumps. Because of heavy rainfall in the country water is collected in almost

every venue and mosquitoes have converted these venues into their favorite breeding

places and are increasing the fear of dengue disease.

Yet another marine disaster (Aug 2010)

A foreign cargo ship MV Khalijia-111 which collided with MSC Chitra which was carrying

about 1,200 containers with over 266 tonnes of fuel about 10 km off Mumbai harbour has

spilled oil into the Mumbai seas. The collision tilted MSC Chitra vessel causing 300

containers carrying oil to tumble into the Mumbai waters creating a thick oil slick two to

three kms around the vessel Chitra causing a serious threat to the marine life.

India’s Independence (Aug 2010)

August 15th, 2010 India celebrated the 63rd anniversary of its independence.

IBM Number two employer (Aug 2010)

IBM is the second largest private sector employer in India after TCS . The company has

more than one lakh people on its rolls.

Noose tightening for Politicos in Sohrab case (July 2010)

Sohrab case getting murkier with CBI stepping up pressure on top Gujarat IPS Officers

P.C.Pande, O.P.Mathur and Geeta Johri for their suspected involvement in scuttling the

probe at the behest of former Gujarat Minister of State for home Amit Shah. Two

Rajasthan BJP leaders Gulabchand Kataria and Om Mathur are also facing the CBI heat.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh was killed in a fake encounter and his wife who was a witness to her

husband’s abduction was also later eliminated. The agency is investigating the police-

politico nexus behind the killings.

Chidambaram confident of overcoming maoist problem in three years (July 2010)

[112]

Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the ministry of

home affairs, P Chidambaram informed that in a meeting of chief ministers of seven

Naxal-affected states on July 14, a decision of unified command was agreed to namely

in– West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand — for anti-Naxal operations. A two-

pronged strategy of initiating development and police action in the affected areas was

designed to overcome Maoist problem after consultations with the Naxal-affected states

Grooming for a succession? (July 2010)

Noel Tata, chairman Ratan Tata’s brother has been installed as the chairman and CEO of

Tata Investment Corp and the MD in Tata International while relinquishing his executive

position in Trent Ltd within the last two months. There is speculation that these moves

are in line with the group’s succession plan for top job i.e. the Chairmanship of Tata Sons

in 2012 when Ratan Tata steps down.

Applaud or embarrassment? (July 2010)

According to top sources from Central Vigilance Commission, fake certificates were being

routinely issued to pass substandard work and material to the vendors of Commonwealth

Games 2010 leading to huge gains for the contractors and vendors. All these certificates

were issued without ground verification or technical examination. The compromise,

herein, in the quality of materials and workmanship poses a serious threat to the sports

personnel from countries all over the world lending a shameful picture of India and hence

jeopardizing our ability to host such events in the future.

Valley stir (July 2010)

Following the imposition of curfew in wake of the protest by Syed Ali Geelani demanding

the release of dozens of arrested separatist leaders, violence was triggered in the valley

due to a spate of civilian killings by security personnel leading to an indefinite curfew

being clamped in Srinagar. Educational institutions, shops, post offices, banks, public

transport and other business establishments were closed as a precautionary measure.

The protests are part of the separatists’ ‘Quit Kashmir’ programme.

Current Affairs [June 2010]

In the Global Peace Index 2010, India ranked at 128.

2010 Failed State Index- Somalia top the list followed by Zimbabwe, Sudan &

Chad. India is ranked at 87 place out of 177 countries. Norway in ranked at the

bottom of the list.

President Rule imposed in Jharkhand.

Amar Singh launches a new party ‘Akhil Bhartiya Lok Manch’.

[113]

South African president Jacob Zuma visited India.

Turkmenistan President Gurbaguly Bardimuhamedov visited India.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited India. India signed 7 pacts with

Sri Lanka. India will assist in building 50000 houses in the northen & eastern

provinces of Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh Govt has requested to rename the train linking West Bengal to

Tripura via Banglades as ‘ Sonar Tori’. Earlier the name of the train as envisaged

in the Railway Budget 2010 is ‘Epar Bangla Opar Bangla’. Sonar Tori is a collection

of poems written by Rabindranath Tagore, whose 150th birth anniversary is being

celebrated in 2010.

Maharastra will become first state in the country to have a real estate regulatory

authority.

BWA- Broadband Wireless Access. The BWA spectrum was auctioned by the Govt.

BWA Spectrum is essential for rolling out WiMAX services enabling hand held

devices and laptops to access Intranet. It will allow firms to offer high speed Net,

Web telephony & TV Services. The govt fixed Rs.1750 crore as base rate for BWA

license. The auction was held for 117 rounds and in 16 days. Rs.12848 crore was

the pan India BWA license price which was won by Infotel Broadband services ( in

all 22 circles). The Govt auctioned the BWA license for a total of Rs.38,543 crore.

Mumbai had the highest bid of Rs.2293 crore followed by Delhi with Rs.2241 crore

respectively.

India signed Civil Nuclear agreement with Canada. The agreement was signed by

Manmohan Singh and Canada’s PM Stephen Harper. Canada is the 8th nation to

enter into such an agreement with India. Canada served nuclear ties with India in

1974 when India conducted its first nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974. India’s

nuclear power programme is based on the CANDU ( Canada Deuterium Uranium)

reactor.

India become a full fledged member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a

34 member inter governmental body that devises policies at both national &

international levels to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. FATF

membership will enable Indian authorities to access information on suspect

accounts in nations such as Switzerland & UK. India become its 34th member.

Current Affairs [May 2010]

Naxalites killed 47 people in a landmine blast between Dantewada and Sukma in

Chattisgarh.

[114]

Test fire of nuclear capable Agni-II missile was successfully carried out from

Wheeler Island off the coast of Orissa on 17th May. Agni II has a range of 2000Km.

It is 20m long two stage solid propelled ballistic missile. It was developed by

Advanced System Laboratories alongwith DRDO & Bharat Dynamics Ltd.

Supreme Court in a recent judgement upheld a rule that allows the adjustment of

reserved category candidate SC/ST/OBC against their quota seats even if they

manage to qualify an examination for govt services on merit.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is the monitoring

authority for the Right to Education Act which became effective from April 1,

2010.

Current Affairs [April 2010]

Naxals killed about 75 CRPF personal at Chintalnar-Tarmetla village in Dantewada

distt ,Chhattisgarh. Government appoint E.N. Rammohan, to probe the incident.

Uninque Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) now known as Aadhaar. It’s

Chairman is Nandan Nilekani. It will assign 16 digit identification number to all

residents in India.

NTRO- National Technical Research Organisation. The organization came to

limelight after allegation of phone tapping of politicians.

Indian navy commissioned India’s first indigenously built stealth warship ‘ INS

Shivalik’. The other stealth warship to be built are named as ‘INS Sahyadri’ and

INS Satpura’.

Right To Education Act is notified and will become a legally enforceable from 1

April 2010. Key features of RTE Act are : All children in 6-14 age group must get

free and compulsory eduction; No child shall be held back,expelled or required to

pass a board examination till Class VIII; There must be 25 % reservation for poor

children even in private & minority schools; There must be one teacher for every

30 students; A child rights commission will look into violations of the RTE law.

Govt start Census 2011. It is the 15th Census. It is in two phase. The first phase is

called –House listing & Housing Census and the second phase is called decadal

headcount which will be held in Feb 2011. The Registrar General of India is C

Chandramouli.

Current Affairs [March 2010]

Govt launched National Mission for Empowerment of Women aimed at inter-

sectoral convergence of all pro- women programmes.

[115]

Constitution 108th Amendment Bill 2008 commonly known as women’s

reservation bill was passed by Rajya Sabha by 186 in favour 1 against 39

abstained (Current strength of Rajya Sabha is 233). The bill seeks to reserve a

third of the seats on the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for 15 years on a

rotational basis. It was first introduced in 1996. Sharad Joshi, an independent MP

is the only MP which cast vote against the bill. In the present Lok Sabha, there are

59 women MPs out of 543 MPs. Total MLAs in 29 state assemblies in India are

4093.

Yamunanagar (Haryana) and Vishakhapatnam (AP) are choosen for a pilot project

on saving household energy by replacing incandescent lamps with CFLs (Compact

Fluorescent Lamps).

Earth Hour 2010 has been celebrated on 27 March organized by World Wide Fund

for Nature, India. Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are official Earth Hour Cities

among 15 Indian cities.

Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia visit India in March 2010.

Supreme Court allowed religion based 4 % reservations in Govt jobs & educational

institutes in Andhra Pradesh. It extended the benefit to 14 OBC in muslims in the

state. The matter is further referred to Constitutional bench of Supreme Court.

’Bold Kurushetra’ a joint armour exercise between India and Singapore was held

at Jhansi(UP).

Prohibition of unfair practices in technical, medical educational institutions &

universities Bill is passed by Govt. It provided for 3 year imprisonment and a fine

of upto Rs 50 lakh for higher education providers guilty of misleading students.

Govt approved Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry & Operation)

Bill 2010. It provides foreign universities to set up campuses in India.

Govt amends Anti Hijacking Act 1982. It now provides for death sentence to the

hijackers.

Govt starts the scheme for creation of the National Population Register (NPR) of

Indian residents. The project will cover an estimated 1.2 billion people and total

cost of the project will be Rs. 3539.24 crore.

India became 1st country in the world to have a ‘manoeuvrable’ supersonic cruise

missile, when it successfully test fired 290 km range Brahmos missile.

Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu visit India in March 2010.

[116]

Current Affairs [February 2010]

Kirit Parikh committee , set up to review petro pricing regime, submit its

recommendation. Its major recommendation are to deregulate the prices of petrol

& diesel as per market prices, reduce the subsidy on LPG.

India signed a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with the UK, which became

the 8th country to enter into such a pact, since the lifting of atomic trade

embargo in 2008.

Govt set up a panel under the Chairmanship of former Justice B N Srikrishna which

would consider the demand for splitting Andhra Pradesh.

India and Denmark signed a social security pact which will relieve their workers

from double taxation and provide for cooperation in areas of labour market

expansion and orderly migration.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Saudi Arabia in Feb 2010. He was the first

Indian PM in 28 years to visit the gulf country. Saudi Arabia is India’s largest

supplier of crude oil ( 23 %) followed by Iran ( 17 %) and Nigeria ( 11 %). India is

offering upto 10 % equity to Saudi petroleum firm Saudi Aramco in a refinery

being built in Orissa. PM addressed the Shoura council of Saudi Arabia.

Constitution 111th Amendment – Proposes to incorporate a new Part ( Part IX B) in

the Constitution so as to provide for legal framework to regulate the functioning of

cooperative societies. A new Article ( Article 43 B) is also proposed to be inserted

in Part IV of the Constitution (Directive Principles of State Policy) for the States to

promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning of cooperative societies.

Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2009 commonly known as Nuclear Liability

Bill will be introduced by Govt in Parliament in Winter session 2010. The draft bill

aims at limiting the liability of a nuclear plant operator to Rs. 300 crore in the

eventuality of an accident. The bill provides for the penalty to be paid by the

operator and not the supplier companies which would mainly be American in this

case. India has entered into civil nuclear cooperation agreement with eight

countries so far.

Current Affairs [January 2010]

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visit India in Jan 2010. She belongs to

Awami League Party. The two countries signed five agreements – on mutual legal

assistance in criminal matters, on transfer of sentenced persons and on

combating international terrorism, organized crime & illicit drug trafficking

besides MOU on cooperation in the power sector and on cultural exchanges. India

[117]

give Bangladesh a $ 1 billion line of credit, the biggest it has given to any country

so far.

South Korea President Lee Myung Bak visit India in Jan 2010. The two countries

decided to double the bilateral trade to $ 30 billion by 2014. Four facts were

signed between two countries – cooperation in peaceful use of outer space, IT,

science & technology for the year 2010-12 and transfer of sentenced persons.

South Korean President was also the chief guest at 2010 Republic Day Parade.

Gujarat Local Authorities Law (amendment) Bill 2009- The Bill makes it the duty of

a qualified voter to vote during elections to local bodies. Voting is compulsory, but

the Bill allows voters to cast their vote in favour of none of the candidates.

Election officers will declare those who fail to vote defaulter, and serve them a

notice.

India and China has decided to start joint military exercise from 2011.

Najib Razak, Malaysia Prime Minister visit India in Jan 2010.

Govt launched Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Key highlights of the

mission are :

o To create an enabling policy framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW

of solar power by 2020.

o To create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability for

indigenous production and market leadership.

o To promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000 MW by

2017 and 2000 MW by 2022.

o To achieve 15 million sq. meters solar thermal collector area by 2017 and

20 million by 2022.

o To deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.

New Governors appointed : a) M K Narayanan – West Bengal, b)Shivraj Patil –

Punjab, c) Mohsina Kidwai – Jharkhand, d) Shekhar Dutt – Chhattisgarh, e) E S L

Narasimhan – Andhra Pradesh.

Govt plans to create a National Gas Highway Development Authority. The present

Gas Pipeline Density in India is 3.29 Km per 1000 Sq.Km.

Govt plans to set up a National Green Tribunal to control Carbon Emissions and

pollution. It will be responsible for implementing the low carbon roadmap to be set

forth in the 12th Five Year Plan.

[118]

Sports Current Affairs 2010

Sachin Tendulkar scores fifty centuries in test cricket (19th Dec 2010)

Sachin Tendulkar scored his fiftieth test century in the second innings of the first test

against South Africa at the Centurion. The master blasted scored his century in196 balls

with 12 fours and one six. Even thought India lost the first test Sachin’s century helped

about bringing some respectability to the proceedings. Incidentally he has also been

named the ICC player of the year.

Indian cricket teams wins its second test at Durban. (16th Dec 2010)

The Indian team had a poor game at the centurion where they were bundled out by an

innings and twenty five runs by their South African counterparts. The second test they

came back with a much more inspired performance with both bat and bowl leading to

their first ever win in Durban which had always troubled them in the past. India had

scored 205 and 228 in their two innings while the South Africans could score only 131

and 215 respectively.The star of the match was V.VS Laxman whose 96 helped India seal

victory.

Saina Nehwal wins Honk Kong Open Super Series. (12th Dec 2010)

Indias star sportswoman Saina Nehwal rallied around from a one game deficit to win 15-

21, 21-16, 21-17 over Wang Shixian of China. Saina finished of her year on a wonderful

note and has an unmatched record compared to any Indian player with regard to winning

the super series title. Current Affairs

Chelsea lose third match out of fourth (16th Nov 2010)

Birmingham City defeated Chelsea by a score of 1-0 at Birmingham City making this the

third defeat to be suffered by Chelsea in the four matches that it has played so far. This

win helped Manchester United to move up in the English Premier League rankings.

Birmingham gained three points in the rankings thanks to the one and only winning goal

scored by its player Lee Bowyer. Newcastle lost 5-1 to Bolton while West Ham lost 3-0 to

Liverpool alongside Blackpool and Stoke who claimed their respective victories. In their

game against Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea let slip past their initial lead of 2-0, to finally

lose the game at a score of 3-2. The game was at a score of 2-0 till half time with Chelsea

winning but a combination of lack of concentration in players and simple bad luck cost

Chelsea the match.

Cricket in 2014 Asian Games (15th Nov 2010)

Rumors recently originated that cricket had been removed from the list of proposed

sports and events of the 2014 Asian games. The reason for these rumors has been said

to be the decision of the Olympic Committee of Asia to limit the number of sporting [119]

events in the Asian games to a maximum of 35. However, these fears proved out to be

false as the OCA recently confirmed the inclusion of cricket in the list of sporting events

for the Asian games 2014. For the time being cricket and karate have been confirmed as

two out of the seven non Olympic events in these games while the other five are still to

be decided. However, South Korean organizers are said to not be in support of this

decision.

Nadal and Clijsters (Nov 2010)

Rafael Nadal continues to hold the top spot in the ATP rankings with his score being close

to 11900 points while Roger Federer holds the spot of number two. On the other hand

Kim Clijsters fell to the third position in the WTA rankings released recently followed by

Serena Williams on the fourth position.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Nov 2010)

Following his win in the Korean Grand Prix, third position in Brazil and third position in the

qualifiers of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari looked like the possible

winner. However the title slipped out of his hands, much to his surprise and landed into

the hands of Vettel making him the youngest Formula One champion in the history of F1

racing aged just 23 years. Current Affairs

A century of Medals in CWG 2010: (15th Oct 2010)

Thanks to the final in the woman badminton category that India was able to taste the

sweet gland of a century tally of medals for the very first time in any CWG edition. India

had tallied 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals which cumulatively read 101 medals.

Even though India were shattered to an 8-0 defeat by the Aussies the woman shutters’

heroics steered them to a total of medals that read 101. India finished ahead of England

(142) and behind Australia (177). The culminating day (Oct 14th) saw the quest of an

unimaginable 2nd place finish thanks to Jwala and Ashwini. They defeated Singapore’s

Sari Shanti Mulia and Yao Lei with some ease and become the lone pair so far to win gold

in women badminton (doubles). But the cherry on the cake was put by Indian badminton

pioneer – Saina Nehwal. The hosts scalped addition one inclusive of a bronze medal when

our table tennis masters Poulomi Ghatak and Mouma Das won in the doubles for women

bronze medal final round alongside the Australian pair. Tan Zed Vivian and Peri

Campbell-Innes. But the finals for the hockey men were a match to forget as they were

thumped by the Kangaroos scoring 8 past their goal. Going into this match with some

resilient attitude as shown in the semis, the Aussies brought them to ground by

outplaying them with power play.

Master Blaster’s the Best; ICC admits:

Sachin Tendulkar (quite unsurprisingly) was shortlisted for the most decorated cricketing

[120]

accolade in contempt period, an award given to the greatest cricketer for the year that is

named after Sir Garfield Sobers. The Master Blaster turned out to be the second Indian to

win the accolade following the success of Rahul Dravid in the same award six years

before. Afterwards accumulating 1,000 runs in Test match cricket this calendar year

more to the point becoming the aboriginal cricketer to score a double century in LOI

cricket playing against South Africa on Feb 24th 2010 in Gwalior, Sachin completed a

double of awards at the even by also winning the famous – LG People’s Choice Award.

The Men in Blue had a lot extra to applaud about as their striking opener, Virender

Sehwag, with 1,282 runs in the game’s longer adaptation, was chosen as the Test

Cricketer of the Year and M.S. Dhoni was selected as the captain of a World Test XI. In

the previous, Sehwag’s Delhi team mate as well as opening partner, Gautam Gambhir

was given this privilege. Decorated Indian off-spinner, B.S. Bedi was introduced into the

Hall of Fame (for ICC) forth along with the legendary West Indies’ fast bowlers Garner

and Walsh and Rachael Heyhoe Flint (ex-England women cricketer) The LOI (also known

as ODI) Player of the Year was bagged by the South African cricketer A.B. de Villiers.

Kangaroos see BLUE in India:

In a highly anticipated and evenly fought cricket competition between two giants of the

beautiful game of cricket between India and Australia, the former proved to be good for

the Aussies. The Australian team over a period of time has seen its main workforce in

Gilchrist, Hayden, McGrath and others retiring had to rely majorly on the young breed of

players lacking experience of play in the Indian subcontinent. India had slipped its rank

down a bit from No. 1 and was in a quest to get it back. That’s what actually transpired.

Thanks to the great heroics of Sachin along with the rest of his teammates India were not

only able to beat the Aussies but finish it as a clean sweep which the team Down Under

hadn’t experienced for quite some time. Sachin’s double ton was the highlight of the

series and imperative in order to retain the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Apart from

the Test Series, India also won the ODI series without losing single game (1-0). Two of

the three matches were abandoned due to bad weather conditions while the sole game

played, India convincingly beat the Australians thanks to a solid partnership between

Suresh Raina and Mohit Tiwary. The partnership between the two batsmen helped India

to chase down a total just under 300.

Current Affairs [September 2010

]

Kalmadi and Co. pocket Common man’s Wealth:

The contempt letters of forgery and fraud in Commonwealth Games resulted in an

abnormally affliction of our nation’s picture. The bulk of finances used up on

modernizing the venues for Commonwealth Games accommodate a prima facie

affirmation of ample calibration enticement in the alignment of Commonwealth

[121]

Games. The abstracts accessible on the Commonwealth Games website reveals

that the amount of refurbishing the JNU stadium was USD 215 million; the IGI

Stadium USD 150 million; the Hockey stadium (named after Dhyan Chand) USD

60 million; and the Shooting Alleys USD 35 million. An absolute sum of USD 10150

million was spent on renovations. The costs incurred in the advance of the lone

cricket stadium in Delhi were USD 20 million. For the LBS stadium in Hyderabad

was USD 18 million, and architecture of a contemporary and technology studded

stadium in the city of oranges amounted USD 19 million. It is acute that the

Central Government anon adjustment a top akin analysis into this arrangement

and the dealings embarked on. It is abominable that such all-embracing abusage

of communal resources has taken abode in the name of the Commonwealth

Games. The accusations of inducement ambit from favoritism in accolade of

affairs to big-ticket appoint of accessories for training and abrupt accretion in the

costs of architecture treaties.

Bridge Collapses; Casualties cross double figures:

Reportedly not less than 27 people were afflicted afterwards an under-

construction foot over bridge burst within the close proximity of the Jawaharlal

Nehru Stadium, the capital area of the Commonwealth Games, bidding the

Organizing Committee (OC) to awning up by giving a statement or in other words

a false sense of complacency and assurance that everything is being taken care

of. The arch was to hotlink the amphitheater to parking for delegates and

athletes. The Urban Development Minister, Jaipal Reddy has dismissed the

pressures by quoting it is a negligible incident. The Public Works Department

(PWD) has urged for an acoount of the structure from the builders. Later the

aforementioned day, Organizing Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot

addressed reporters: “We will put up a great show. He said the venues will be all

set in the days to come and there would be added sprucing to accommodate top

notch standards. However, the mishap is a concern to the CWG organizers, who

are already nabbed amidst accuse of laziness and fraud for the XIX Edition.

Previously, Mike Hooper, the main controller of the Commonwealth Games

Federation (CGF), remarked on the condition of hygiene at the Games Village as

“dirty.”

Chennai are the Super Kings of Twenty20 Cricket:

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings are the champions of the

second edition of the AirTel Champions League Twenty20 hosted by South Africa

from September 10th to September 26th. Chennai Super Kings defeated their

fellow finalists in some fashion by 8 wickets in the final of the Champions League

T20 2010.Warriors had won the toss earlier and decided to bat first but bootless

to account an appropriate target, but only capable to set a minimal total of mere

128 runs for 7 wickets. Only Davy Jacobs’s denticulate 34 runs were the notable [122]

contribution and was also the best from the entire batting lineup of the Warriors.

Muttiah Muralidaran was the most booming bowler scalping 3 wickets for only 16

runs. Ashwin got a couple of wickets for 16 runs as well. Chennai Super Kings

started off in some style by baking batting by Murali Vijay who denticulate a 58

run total. Michael Hussey fabricated 42 handy runs to the total. The Opening

brace fabricated 103 runs which fabricated their way of triumph easier than it

ever seemed. With this Murali Vijay became the highest run getter of the second

edition of the Champions League Twenty20. He was facilitated with the Man of the

Match Award. With such great triumph on the world stage, the Indian and CSK

captain has silenced his critics and is still in contention to be the best ever captain

in the world today.

Current Affairs [August 2010]

Sehwag denied century

A deliberate no ball by the Srilankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv to prevent Virendar

Sehwag from completing his century in the tri-series has left a bad taste in the

mouth for all cricket lovers. Indians were just short of 5 runs from destination

called victory and the opening batsman VEERU was just a run away from his ton.

At the same time Lankan skipper chose spinner S. Randiv to come in and bowl. On

the third bowl of his spell Virender Sehwag sent the bowl out of the fence with a

huge six but the turning point was that it was a no ball which defended Virender

Sehwag from completing his century. As per the declaration of the match referee

it was been found out that it was an intentional attempt.

Shooting Gold

Tejaswini Sawant created history by becoming India’s first female shooter to

clinch gold at the World Shooting Championship held in Munich, Germany. The 29-

year-old, who shot a score of 597/600 (100, 100, 100, 99, 99, 99), equaling the

world record in the process, won the 50m rifle prone event

Sri Lanka wins the tri series

The host Sri Lanka’ eight wicket victory over India in Dambulla represents its 25th

win in a tournament final. Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara’who won the toss

decided to bat against India in the tri-series final. The Sri Lankans won the match

by 74 runs in this game. With this it became the second team to win a tournament

final on 25 occasions. Australia has won 52 tournament finals.

First Indian US PGA Tour winner

Arjun Atwal has become the first Indian Golfer to win the US PGA tour. Atwal, who

started playing at the age of fourteen, became one of the leading players on the

Asian Tour and the European tour. He is the the first native East Indian golfer to

become a member of, and later win the U.S. PGA Tour.[123]

Current Affairs [July 2010

]

Saina Nehwal: A smash hit

The Indian Open Grand Prix Gold, the Singapore Open Super Series and then the

Indonesian Open Super Series at Jakarta have given enough reasons to Saina to

celebrate. The World No.3 defeated a fighting Sayaka Sato of Japan 21-19, 13-21,

21-11 in the badminton finals. Just two notches away from the badminton World

No. 1, Saina is now indisputably India’s top female athlete.

Khel awards

Saina Nehwal to be conferred the country’s top sporting honour-the Rajiv Gandhi

Khel Ratna award. While Jhulan Goswami skipper of womens cricket team, boxer

Dinesh Kumar and Sandeep Singh are tipped to receive the Arjuna Awards in

recognition of their outstanding achievements during the last one year, Footballer

Sunil Chhetri and Deepak Mondal have also been nominated for the award that

will be given away in Rashtrapati Bhawan on 29th Aug by President Pratibha Patil.

World cup for Spain

In a historic football victory Spain lifted their first-ever World Cup after defeating

Netherlands 1-0 in Johannesburg. Andres Iniesta secured the only goal of an

enthralling final against the Netherlands four minutes from the end of extra-time

on Sunday leading his team to victory.

Current Affairs [June 2010]

French Open 2010 :

o Men’s singles – Rafael Nadal defeated Robin Soderling. He is the second

person after Bjorn Borg to win 5th French Open titles.

o Women’s singles- Francesca Schiavone (Italy) defeated Samantha Stosur

(Australia). She became first Italian women to won the French open.

o Men’s Doubles- Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic defeated Lukas Dlouhy &

Leander Paes.

o Women’s Doubles- Serena Williams & Venus Williams defeated Kveta

Peschke & Katarina Srebotnik.

o Mixed Doubles – Katarina Srebotnik & Nenad Zimonjic defeated Yavoslava

Shvedova & Julian Knowle.

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Saina Nehwal defeated Choo Wong Mew to win women’s single title in Yonex-

Sunrise Indian Open badminton championship. In the Men’s singles Yunus

Alamsyah won the title.

Saina Nehwal defeated Japan’s Sayaka Sato to win women’s singles title in

Indonesian Open Super Series 2010.

Indian Ronjan Sodhi won the double trap gold medal at ISSF World Cup in Lonato,

Italy.

India defeated Sri Lanka to won Asia Cup(Cricket) 2010. India won the title after

15 years i.e. it won the cup in 1995.

Saina Nehwal won the Women’s singles title in Singapore Super Series badminton

championship 2010 defeating China’s Tzu Ying Tai. It was her 2nd consecutive

title.

3000th ODI( One day international) cricket match was played between England &

Australia.

Current Affairs [May 2010

]

England won 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Cricket tournament defeating Australia.

The tournament was held at West Indies. Kevin Pieterson of England has been

declared as Player of the Tournament.

Australia won 2010 Women’s World Twenty20 Cricket tournament defeating New

Zealand.

India and South Korea were declared joint winner of 2010 Sultan Azlan Shah

Hockey Cup, after suspension of the final match due to heavy rains.India’s Sardar

Singh has been declared as Best Player of the Tournament. Australia won the

Bronze medal. The tournament was held at Ipoh (Malaysia). India had won the

tournament earlier in 1985, 1991, 1995 & 2009.

China won Thomas Cup ( Men’s Badminton) defeating Indonesia.

In the World Youth Boxing Championship, held at Baku, Azerbaijan, India won 1

Gold & 1 Silver. Gold medal was won by Vikas Krishan and Silver medal was won

by Shiva Thapa.

India won bronze medal in the 2nd Asian Paragliding Championship held at

Nishiewa, Japan.

[125]

World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand retained his title after defeating

Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the World Chess Championship 2010.

Current Affairs [April 2010]

IPL3 season won by Chennai Super Kings defeating Mumbai Indians.

Youth Olympics Games 2010 to be held in Singapore in Aug 2010.

World Youth Championship was held at Baku, Azerbaijan.

Lawn tennis legend Martina Navratilova diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

‘Jumbo’ chosen as 2011 World Cricket Cup Mascot.

World Kabbadi Cup 2010- India defeated Pakistan to won World Cup Kabbadi 2010

held at Ludhiana.

Pankaj Advani won the Asian Billiards Championship defeating Singapore’s Peter

Gilchrist for the consecutive third time.

Badminton Asia Championship, Delhi :

o Men’s singles – Lin Dan defeated Wang Zhenguing

o Women’s singles-Li Xiurei defeated Liu Xin.

Current Affairs [March 2010

]

Tamil Nadu defeated West Bengal to won Vijay Harare Cricket Trophy.

Australia won World Hockey Cup 2010 defeating Germany. India ranked at 8th

place.

India won six gold medal in the Commonwealth Boxing Championship held at

Delhi.

Two new IPL teams, Kochi was auctioned for Rs 1533 crore and Pune was

auctioned for Rs 1702 crore. Kochi was auctioned to Rendezvous Adventure

Sports Ltd. Pune was auctioned to Sahara Adventure Sports Ltd.

Current Affairs [February 2010]

Sachin Tendulkar became first player in the world to score a double century in ODI

(One day International). He scored 200 (Not out) against South Africa.

[126]

11th South Asian Games 2010 : Held at Dhaka, Bangladesh from 29 Jan to 8 Feb.

Originally scheduled to take place in 2009, but due to general elections in

Bangladesh, the games were held in 2010. This was the third time that the Dhaka

hosted the Games, thus becoming the first city to hold the games three times. 8

countries participated in the games in 23 different sports, including T20 cricket,

which was introduced for the first time in SAG. The 8 countries included are

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka.

1The logo of the games was ‘Kutumb’, a flying doel , which is the national bird of

Bangladesh. The mascot of the games featured a magpie robin, which was

holding the torch to begin the games. The final medal tally include : India – 1st

place with 90 G 55 S 29 B Total 174, Pakistan- 2nd place with 19 G 25 S 36 B Total

80, Bangladesh- 3rd place with 18 G 23 S 56 B Total 97.

West Zone won Duleep Trophy ( 2009-10) defeating South Zone.

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar won the Asian Tour International Trophy 2010. It is his

2nd consecutive title.

Euro 2012 to be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine.

2010 Winter Olympic Games were held at Vancouver, Canada. Mascot of the

game was MIGA (a sea bear), QUATCHI( a sasquatch) and SUMI (animal guardian

spirit). The logo of the games was Ilnaaq meaning Friend in Inuktut. There were

86 events in 7 sports. The games were held from 12 Feb to 28 Feb. Final medal

tally. Canada- 14 G 7 S 5 B, Germany- 10 G 13 S 7 B, USA- 9 G 15 S 13 B.

IOC (International Olympic Committee ) has approved ICC (International Cricket

Council) bid to join the Olympic games 2020. The first time cricket was included in

the Olympic games was in Paris Olympic 1900.

11th World Hockey Cup 2010- To be held in Delhi, India. This is 2nd WHC which

India is hosting. India also hosted the WHC in 1982 at Mumbai. 12 countries

participated in the tournament. WHC is held in the years between two summer

Olympics. First WHC was held at Barcelona in 1971. Pakistan has won the cup four

times, Netherland three times, Germany two times, India & Australia once each.

India won the WHC in 1975.

Commonwealth Shooting Championship was held in New Delhi in Feb 2010. India

stood at first place with 35 Gold 25 Silver and 14 Bronze. England stood at 2nd

place with 4 gold and Wales stood at 3rd place.

Current Affairs [January 2010]

[127]

U-19 World Cup 2010 held in New Zealand from 15 – 30 Jan 2010. Javagal Srinath

from India appointed as one of the match referee for the tournament.

Australia won the U-19 World Cup for the third time defeating Pakistan. India is

placed at 6th rank. Australia won the cup for the third time.

Rafael Nadal won the Capitala World Tennis Championsip, held at Abu Dhabi

defeating Robin Soderling.

Magnus Carlsen becomes the youngest World No.1 chess player at the age of 19

years breaking the Garry Kasparov’s record when he became the world’s top

ranked chess player at the age of 22 years in 1985. Magnus Carlsen is the 5th

player after Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov and V.Anand (India) to cross the 2800

ELO rating. In the Jan 2010 FIDE ranking, Carlsen stood at 1st place, Topalov at

2nd place and V Anand at 3rd place.

Marin Cilic defeated Staniglas Wawrinka to won Men’s singles title of Aircel

Chennai Open.

Pakistan’s cricketer Shahid Afridi was banned for two T20 internationals after he

was found guilty of ball tempering in a ODI against Australia.

Corus Chess Grandmaster Tournament won by Magnus Carlsen. V.Anand of India

ranked at 4th place. Hopman Cup 2010- Spain defeated Great Britain.

Australian Open 2010 : Women’s Single- Serena William defeated Justin Henin.

It is Serena’s 5th Australian Open title. It is also Serena’s 12th Grand Slam title

equaling the record of Billie Jean King.

Men’s Single- Roger Federer(Swiss) defeated Andy Murray(Britain). It is Federer’s

4th Australian Open title. It is Federer’s 16th Grand Slam title.

Men’s Double- Mike Bryan & Bob Bryan defeated Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic.

Women’s Double – Serena Williams & Venus Williams defeated Cara Black & L

Huber.

Mixed Double – Laender Paes (India) & Cara Black (Zimbabwe) defeated Ekterina

Makasova & Jaroslav Levinsky. It is Paes’s 11th Grand Slam title.

[128]

Current Affairs: Economy Issues: June’09 –   April’10

Economy Issues

Brief Description:

Satyam bidding Completed: Tech Mahindra wins bidding

In the Satyam Computers bidding process, three huge companies namely Tech

Mahindra, Engineering L&T, and Wilbur Ross had participated.

Tech Mahindra has won in the Satyam bid by paying Rs. 1757 crore and now has

31% stake in Satyam. Tech Mahindra will pay Rs 58 per share; L&T had offered to

pay of 49 Rs per share and so lost out.

India’s ‘Most Admired Marketers

Vodafone, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Nokia and PepsiCo are India’s ‘Most

Admired Marketers’, best in the marketing class of India Inc 2009.

The top-flight marketing companies are India Inc’s most admired, thanks to

marketing and strategy innovation, million-dollar ad budgets and some of the

finest marketing executives in the business.

Inflation at sub-zero levels

The wholesale price index (WPI)- based inflation went sub-zero for the first

time in 35 years for the first week of June, but top policy makers and

economists dismissed it as a short-term statistical phenomenon, with no real

implications for either the country’s growth or its monetary policy.

The inflation index fell by 1.61% for the week ended June 6 over the year-ago

period, after gaining 0.13% in the previous week, according to data released on

Thursday.

On GHG emissions in India and the types of emissions allocation schemes

India’s per capita carbon dioxide emission is very low — only 1.21 tonnes

per annum, roughly one-fourth of the world average per capita emission of 4.50

tonnes per annum.However, in aggregate terms, India is the fifth-largest

emitter of fossil fuel-derived carbon dioxide, and its total emissions are

growing rapidly.

The two main types of emissions allocation schemes are:

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o Grandfathered Emissions Allocation (GEA) scheme in which permits

are allocated on the basis of the aggregate emissions level of a

predetermined year, say, 2010.

o Equal Per Capita Emissions Allocation (EPCEA) scheme in which the

aggregate emissions entitlements for India in different years are arrived at

by multiplying the average global per capita emission (4.58 tonne per

capita as estimated to be in 2010) with India’s population for the

corresponding years.

o The developed countries favour the grandfathered emissions allocation

scheme, while the developing countries — particularly, China and India —

advocate the EPCEA scheme.

[130]