April-2009 National Affairs
1. The Union Cabinet imposed President’s Rule in Meghalaya.
2. The facility to maintain and train pilots for the MiG 29 K frontline fighter
aircraft was inaugurated at the INS Hansa naval base in Goa by Vice-Admiral
J.J. Bedi, Commander-in-Chief, Western Naval command.
3. The Energy and Resources Institute and the Indian Mountaineering
Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding to study, preserve and
safeguard the Himalayan glaciers under the National Mission of Sustaining
the Himalayan Eco-system.
4. The Government of India observed April 21 as Civil Service Day, presenting
an occasion for civil servants to rededicate themselves to the cause of
citizens and renew their commitment to public service and excellence.
May-2009 National Affairs
1. UPA won the General Elections. It secured 263 seats out of 543. Congress
secured 206 seats, Trinamool congress-19, DMK-18, NCP-9, National
Conference -3, JMM-2 and AIMIM-1 among UPA.
2. Naveen Patnaik sworn as the CM of Orissa for the 3rd time as Biju Janata Dal
(BJD) secured a clear majority in the elections.
3. The President of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), Pawan Kumar Chamling
sworn as the CM of Sikkim for the 4th time.
4. Meghalaya chief minister DD Lapang heading the Congress-led coalition
United Meghalaya Alliance won the trust vote.
5. Cyclone Aila has hit West Bengal and Orissa which brought heavy rains and
nearly 60 people were dead.
6. Sabitha Indra Reddy sworn as India’s 1st woman Home Minister of Andhra
Pradesh
June-2009 National Affairs
1. Prof Yashpal and his committee members submitted final report to the
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). They have suggested the
scrapping of all higher education regulatory/monitoring bodies and creation
of a super regulator: a seven-member Commission for Higher Education and
Research (CHER). They also recommended that the deemed university status
be abandoned and that all deserving deemed varsities be either converted
full-fledged universities or scrapped and a GRE like test be evolved for
university education.
2. Ramesh Pokhariyal is the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
3. Centre bans CPI (Maoist) : The Centre banned the Communist Party of India
(Maoist), terming it a terrorist organization. It invoked Section 41 of the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the extremist outfit. The CPI
(Maoist) came into existence following the merger of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist-Leninist), the People’s War Group (PWG) and the Maoist
Communist Centre (MCC).
4. Liberhan Commission submitted report to the Prime Minister : The Justice
Liberhan Commission, which probed the sequence of events that led to the
Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, submitted its
report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
5. Inflation turns negative for first time since 1977-78 : The annual rate of
inflation (wholesale price index) turned negative and stood at -1.61 % for the
week ended 6 June 2009.
6. AP Govt. handed over Environment Protection Training & Research Institute
(EPTRI) to the Centre.
7. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal launched anti ragging helpline in New Delhi. The toll
free number of this helpline is 1800-180-5522, and the e-mail is
[email protected]. The other toll-free number 155222 is under
implementation.
8. Sukhoi 30 inducted into Air Force at Tezpur : Super fast Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter
aircraft has been inducted in the Tezpur Air Force Station of Assam. Initially,
four aircrafts were introduced in the Air Force Station at a simple function.
July-2009 National Affairs
1. Actress Nandita Das has been appointed chairperson of the Children’s Film
Society of India (CFSI).
2. Nandan Nilakeni took over as the head of Unique Identification Authority of
India (UIAI). Ramsevak Sarma took over as CEO of UIAI.
3. The solar eclipse of 22 July 2009 was the longest total solar eclipse during the
21st century. This will take place again in 2132. Totality lasted for up to 6
minutes and 39 seconds, with the maximum eclipse occurring in the Pacific
ocean at 02:35:21 about 100 km south of the Bonin Islands, southeast of
Japan. In Gujarat, it lasted for 6 min and 30 seconds.
4. Mohanlal, an actor was conferred the honorary title of Lieutenant Colonel in
the Territorial Army (TA), a citizen’s force of the Indian army.
5. The deepest sea port at Ganagvaram was opened which is 20meters deep
1km from the sea coast.
6. Two NSG centers were started at Mumbai and Hyderabad.
August-2009 National Affairs
1. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has set to make the Class
X board examination optional for students who will continue in the same
school for the senior secondary level.
2. Cabinet has approved 50% reservation for women in Panchayat Raj
Institutions. The center shall amend Article 243(d) to implement the
reservation.
3. India’s largest ICT event e-India 2009 was held at Hyderabad International
Convention Center.
4. AP Assembly has adopted a resolution urging the center to give SC status to
Dalit Christians.
5. Oil production was started in Cairn India’s on-land Mangala oilfield, Barmer,
Rajasthan. This is the country’s biggest oil find.
6. Law Commissions chairperson Justice AR Lakshmanan submitted 234th report
to law minister Veerappa Moily. The Law Commission has framed a set of
drastic recommendations to deal with rash and negligent driving, including
increasing punishment from two years in jail to 10 as well as making the
offence non-bailable.The Commission has suggested to amend Section 304A
of the Indian Penal Code. It recommended inserting a provision in the Motor
Vehicles Act for confiscation of vehicles fitted with LPG cylinders meant for
home kitchen and arrest and prosecution of owners/drivers of such vehicles.
7. A special cell to deal with the issues of women married to non resident
Indians (NRI) will be formally established on August 27. The Commission
chairperson Girija Vyas told that the NRI cell will function under the National
Commission for Women (NCW).
8. The Center has banned the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). A new
council will be formed in place of DGHC.
9. AP Govt. has extended the ban on Maoists for a year from August 17th, 2009
to August 16th, 2010.
10.227th Law Commission Report: The Law Commission has recommended
amendments to the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) and other personal laws to the
effect that a person whose marriage is governed by such legislation cannot
marry again even after changing religion unless the first marriage is
dissolved or declared null and void. The Commission was headed by Justice
A.R. Lakshmanan. It also suggested that amendments be made in the
Criminal Procedure Code to make bigamy a cognizable offence.
11.Parliament has cleared ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education Bill, 2009’ which envisages free and compulsory education to
children in the 6-14 age group with the Lok Sabha approving it by voice vote.
12.Thiruvavalluvar’s statue was unveiled in Bangalore by Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister Karunanidhi after a period of 18 years it was put on.
13.President Pratibha Patil inaugurated Armed Forces Tribunal An exclusive
court for members of the Army, Navy and Air Force, Armed Forces Tribunal,
was established by the President. The keenly awaited AFT will provide a
judicial forum for redressal of grievances among the 1.5 million military
personnel and over 2 million ex-servicemen.
September 2009 National Affairs
1. The Cabinet has decided to release an additional installment of DA to Central
government employees and dearness relief to pensioners… representing an
increase of 5 per cent over the existing rate of 22 per cent of the basic
pay/pension to compensate for price rise. On the International Literacy day
(September 8th), the Prime Minister launched National Mission for Female
Literacy (Sakshar Bharat Mission). The mission’s aim is to make 70 million
people ( 60 million of them women ) functionally literate by 2012 and reduce
the gender gap .The center and state governments will contribute in the ratio
of 75:25 respectively for this programme.
2. Venkateswara Ayurveda Nilayam Limited secured a patent for its anti-
diabetic herbo mineral composition VK4 DIACON and the process of preparing
it, for a period of 20 years with effect from December 12, 2005 in accordance
with Patents Act, 1970. It’s chairman is D V Sriramamurthy.
3. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy died in a chopper
accident on September 2nd and Rosaish sworn as the new Chief Minister.
4. The Executive Board of UNESCO has approved India’s proposal to set up a
Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable
Development as UNESCO Category I Institute at Delhi. This would be the first
Category-I Institute of Unesco to be established in the Asia Pacific region.
5. The Tirupati Tirumala Devastanam’s Laddu got its Geographical Indication
patent rights.
6. Operation Green Hunt was started in South Bastar of Chhattisgarh from
September 17th. State Police and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action
(COBRA) participated in the operation.
October 2009 National Affairs
1. According to Registrar General of India, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for the
year 2008 was 53 per 1000 infants which were 57 per 1000 in 2006. The
least IMR was in Kerala – 16 per 1000.
2. The highest broad-gauge railway line from Anantnag to Kajigund in Kashmir
was started by the Prime Minister. It was built on an altitude of 1772m. * The
Election Commission has recognised Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman
Sena as a State party in Maharashtra and will allot a permanent election
symbol of the party’s choice.
3. India has declared itself free from the Avian Influenza (H5N1). The notification
was issued to the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) on October 22.
A country can declare itself free from birdflu, if there is no outbreak for three
months. With the declaration, the country can hope to revive its poultry
trade. India notified the outbreak of Avian Influenza (H5N1) in Assam (18
epicentres), West Bengal (11) and Sikkim (1) between November 2008 and
May 2009.
4. Indian Pilgrims were advised not to visit Pakistan as the country is witnessing
terror attacks regularly.
5. Pranab Mukherjee started National Skill Development Corporation in New
Delhi. It’s a public private partnership organization which aims to develop
skills for 30% people by 2022.
6. Congress and NCP alliance has won in the general assembly elections of
Maharashtra. Asok Chavan was elected as the Chief Minister. Congress won
82 seats, NCP -62 and BJP and Sivasena – 90 out of 268 seats. In Haryana,
Congress won 40 seats, Indian National Lokda(INLD) – 31 and BJP – 4.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda was re-elected as the CM. In Arunachal Pradesh too
Congress stood out as the single major party. Dorjee Khandu was re-elected
as the CM.
7. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Union Ministry for
Environment and Forests (MoEF) would jointly initiate “National Institute for
Research on Climate and Environment” in Bangalore. The institute would use
space-based and ground-based observation systems to create an indigenous
“nucleus” for research into all issues relating to climate, including the impact
of climate change on aspects of the economy such as agriculture and water.
8. Two satellites would be launched between 2010 and 2011 to measure and
monitor greenhouse gases. While a micro-satellite would be launched in 2010
to study aerosols, another dedicated satellite in 2011 would monitor
greenhouse gases such as methane and trace gases.
9. Vice-President Mohammed Hamid Ansari released a book, ‘Unleashing India,
Water: Elixir of Life’ authored by Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, which
makes a strong case for a changeover from the existing conventional method
of flow or flood irrigation to total coverage under drip and sprinkler methods.
Mr Moily dedicated the book to former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S
Rajasekhar Reddy.
10.2010 was declared as the year of Tigers. ‘The Year of the Tiger’ will start on
February 14th at Corbett National Park.
11.The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) has appointed Abdul Rahman as
special Ambassador to Kashmir.
12.On the eve of 50th anniversary of Panchayat Raj system, 2009-10 was
declared as the year of “Gramasabha”. The NREG Act was renamed as
Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
13.Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were affected with severe floods.
14.The Centre has declared dolphins a national aquatic animal in order to save
the rare freshwater species from disappearing from the country’s aqua
map..::
November 2009 National Affairs
1. The Union Public Service Commission has recommended to the government
that a Civil Services Aptitude test replace the existing Civil Services
(Preliminary) examination.
2. Cyclone Phyan has hit Maharashtra and caused massive damage to the
coastal districts.
3. The Shipping Ministry has decided to set up a broad-based committee,
comprising various agencies, for sharing information on traffic, port and
issues related to ship and coastal security. The Committee will comprise the
Ministry of Shipping, the Navy, Coast Guard, State police, Customs, members
of State maritime boards and the maritime State concerned.
4. The Union Cabinet has directed the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry to
make it mandatory for all oil marketing companies to sell petrol mixed with 5
per cent of ethanol.
5. India announced that issuance of paper visas stapled to passports by the
Embassy of China and its consulates in India would not be considered valid
for travel out of the country.
6. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a report revealing that
telephone users reached 50.93crore by the end of September 30th.
Broadband users reached 7.7million, telephone users were 43.50% and
Mobile phone users were 40.31%.
7. Home Ministry banned the use of prepaid mobile connections in Jammu and
Kashmir on security grounds.
8. India has 25lakh cancer patients and one million new cases are diagnosed
across the country every year. In Andhra Pradesh alone, nearly 3 lakh people
suffer from the many forms of the disease. These figures were disclosed at a
programme to mark National Cancer Awareness Day.
9. The government will introduce Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b)
pentavalent (five-in-one) vaccine in the routine immunisation programme
from next year. It will replace the DPT and Hepatitis ‘B’ vaccines. The Hib
vaccine will initially be introduced in 10 States that have an immunisation
coverage of more than 80 per cent
10.A special postage stamp in recognition of the contribution of Apollo Hospitals
towards Indian healthcare was released by Union Minister of Communications
and Information Technology A. Raja.
11.Twenty-one judges of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice of India K.G.
Balakrishnan, have declared their assets, giving details of movable and
immovable property owned by them and their spouses in the Supreme Court
website.
12.Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been appointed first Goodwill Ambassador
of the ‘Smile Train,’ an international charity that provides free cleft lip and
palate surgery to children in need.
13.62nd World Newspaper Congress and other annual events of the World
Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) have started in
Hyderabad. Apart from the Congress, the 16th World Editors’ Forum and Info
Services Expo-2009 are being organised at the Hyderabad International
Convention Centre.
14.Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference has been hosted in
Chennai.
15.The President, Pratibha Patil took off in Sukhoy-30 at an altitude of 8000m
from Pune for half an hour.
16.Unit 5 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project, a 220 MW pressurized heavy
water reactor (PHWR), started power generation at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan.
With this, number of reactors in India are 18. The total atomic power capacity
has reached 4330MW.
17.South Indian Telugu film Sankarabharanam and Malayalam film
Bhoothakkannady were screened at International Film Festival of India (IFFI)
that was started in Goa.
18.Acting on the letter written by the Central Empowered Committee of the
Supreme Court, the AP State government decided to suspend mining
operations, including transportation of already mined material, in six iron ore
mines in Anantapur district.
19.According Liberhan Commission report, the demolition of the Babri Masjid
was planned, systematic, and was the intended outcome of a climate of
communal intolerance deliberately created by the Sangh Parivar and its sister
affiliates, including the Bharatiya Janata Party. Report has indicted Advani,
Joshi and Vajpayee.
20.The Centre on Monday launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.
It is one of the eight key missions of the National Action Plan on Climate
Change and aimed at ensuring long-term energy security as well as
ecological security.
21.The mission recommends implementation in three stages leading up to an
installed capacity of 20,000 MW by the end of the 13th Plan in 2022.
22.16th International Children’s Film Festival started at Hyderabad on November
14th. 70 movies from different countries were screened at the film festival.
December 2009 National Affairs
1. A high-level task force for the information technology (IT) industry has
recommended constitution of ‘National Electronic Mission’, a nodal agency for
the electronics industry within the Department of Information Technology
(DIT) with direct interface to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
2. The report envisions a $140-billion electronics and $105-billion software and
services industry by 2014. It is headed by Chairman and CEO of HCL
infosystems.
3. India has announced that it would reduce carbon emission intensity by 20-
25% by 2020 on the 2005 levels through a number of policy measures that
will include mandatory fuel efficiency standards for all vehicles by 2011, a
model building code recommending to states and municipalities to shift to
green buildings, amending the Energy Conservation Act to introduce the
concept of an energy certificate for incentivizing energy efficiency in industry,
regular reporting to Parliament on state of forests, and ensuring 50% of new
thermal capacity are based on clean coal.
4. Gujarat Government moved the controversial “The Gujarat Local Authorities
Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009″, the State Assembly which will make voting
compulsory in all local body elections of the state. Women Reservation was
also raised to 50% from 33%.
5. Government said it will examine the report of Rangnath Mishra Commission
that recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for
other minorities.
6. The Rajya Sabha approved the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2009 which
was passed by the Lok Sabha. The Bill repeals and replaces the Competition
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2009. The Bill provides for transfer of anti-
competition cases pending before the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade
Practices Commission (MRTPC) to an appellate tribunal. With this, the
commission would cease to exist, two years ahead of its scheduled closure.
7. The Rajya Sabha approved re-naming the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (NREGA) as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MGREGA).
8. Indian National Congress established in 28 December 1885 in The Gokuldas
Tejpal Sanskrit Mahavidyalays at Mumbai. Mr. VyomeshChandra Bannerji was
1st President of Indian national Congress and Mr. Allen Hume was the
secretary. Now Indian Congress completed its 125 year of establishment.
9. Shibu Soren will be sworn in as the CM of Jharkhand on December 30.
Supporting Soren were 18 of his own party MLAs, 18 of BJP, two of JDU, five of
AJSU and one of Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch (JMM).
10.President Pratibha Patil sailed in INS Viraat in Mumbai for 3 hours.
11.92nd annual conference of the Indian Economic Association was held at
Bhubaneswar.
January 2010 National Affairs
1. There were atleast 199,132 farmer suicides between 1997-2008, according to
the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The share of the Big 5 states or
’suicide belt’ in 2008- Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh and Chhattisgarh remained very high at 10,797 or 66.6 percent of
the total farm suicides in the country. Maharashtra remains the worst state in
the nation for farm suicides.
2. The brightest and biggest full moon of 2010 will be seen on Saturday. It will
be around 15 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than other full moons
during the year.
3. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the National Tobacco
Control Programme to facilitate the implementation of tobacco control laws
and to bring about greater awareness of tobacco’s harmful effects. The
programme will be implemented in the remaining years of XI plan in 42
districts of the 21 states within the National Rural Health Mission framework
with financial outlay of Rs. 182 crore, from 2010 – 2011.
4. The 16th Edition of the Partnership Summit 2010 was held in Chennai,
organised by the confederation of Indian Industry.
5. The Environment Ministers meeting of the BASIC Countries (Brazil, South
Africa, India and China) was held in New Delhi.
6. A currency issued by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Bank of Independence
has been made public in Bhopal on the eve of his 103rd birth anniversary.
7. The Andhra Pradesh government signed three agreements with the world
bank to receive loan assistance of Rs 3, 720 crore to fund three projects
taken up at a cost of Rs 5699 crore to develop roads, provide safe drinking
water and improve infrastructure in urban areas. This is the largest loan
amount availed of from the bank in recent times, as the bank’s share for the
Rs. 4,444 – Crore Nagarjuna Sagar modernization project is only Rs. 2,500
crore.
8. Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari Constituted a three – member
committee headed by supreme court judge V.S. Sirpurkar, that will
investigate the grounds for impeachment of karnataka chief – Justice
P.D.Dinakaran whose removal from office has been sought jointly by 75
Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha on corruption and land – grabbing
charges. Justice A.R.Dave, cheif Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High court and
eminent Jurist P.P.Rao are the other members of the panel.
9. President Pratibha Patil released a commemorative postage stamp at a
function to mark the platinum jubilee celebration of the Reserve Bank of
India.
10.The Andhra Pradesh Government unveiled a Rs. 10 crore plan to develop
Kondaveedu fort as a major tourist destination in Guntur district.
11.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched ”Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar
Mission (JNNSM) at the Solar Energy Conclave 2010, New Delhi. The Key high
lights of JNNSM: To create an enabling policy frame work for the deployment
of 20,000MW of Solar power by 2022. To create favourable conditions for
solar manufacturing capability for indigenous production and market
leadership. To promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000
MW by 2017 and 2000 MW by 2022. To achieve 15 million sq-meters solar
thermal collector area by 2017 and 20 million by 2022. To deploy 20 million
solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.
12.A boatload of sky watchers set sail from Kochi for the Maldives on board the
MV Aquamarine, the country’s first eclipse cruise, to chase the Ring of Fire or
the millennium’s longest annular solar eclipse.
13.Union Environment and Forests minister Jairam Ramesh announced a Rs. 200
crore grant for the Sunderbans, the world’s largest mangrove biosphere as
part of the World Bank’s Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project.
14.The govt. announced that the state-run oil firms will start supplying Euro-IV
grade petrol and diesel in 13 big cities from April 1st, 2010.
15.A Bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and
Justices Vikramjit Sen and S.Muralidhar held that the office of the Chief Justice
of India (CJI) is a “public authority” and comes within the ambit of the Right to
Information (RTI) Act and it is bound to provide information about the
declaration of asset details by Supreme Court judges.
16.Kite fliers from across 34 countries are expected to participate during the
International Kite Festival in Ahmedabad.
17.President Pratibha Patil delivering the valedictory address at the Pravasi
Bhartiya Diwas (Jan, 9) on the day Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915,
pointed out that: Overseas Indian’s estimated at over 250 lakhs had come to
be recognised as the “Knowledge Diaspora”. India’s remittances from
Overseas Indians estimated at over $ 50 billion last year are the highest in
the world.Of these about $ 20 billion comes from Overseas Indian workers in
the Gulf consisting of temporary contracted skilled and semi-skilled workers.
February 2010 National Affairs
1. Women Entrepreneurs 2010, a platform to promote Indian heritage weavers
and women entrepreneurs was held in Delhi.
2. The Department of posts released a commemorative stamp in honour of P.C.
Sorcar (Senior), the Man who “took the magic of India to the rest of the world.
3. The Union Cabinet approved the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2008 that seeks
to reserve 33 percent seats for women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha in
2008 and was subsequently referred to the Parliamentary standing
committee on Law, Justice and Personnel, which in its report submitted in
December last year had recommended its early passage in the present form.
4. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram laid the foundation for the Integrated
Check Post (ICP) at Attari on the India-Pakistan Border, one of the 13 planned
for eight states at a cost of Rs. 635 crore along various land routes to
Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar.
5. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh presented a Rs. 1.13 lakh crore budget for
2010-11. This is the 16th budget presented by him and 1st one as a chief
minister. The budget outlay is Rs. 8,516 crore higher than that of the current
fiscal (Rs.1.05 lakh crore). The plan outlay is Rs. 40,313 crore and non plan
outlay is Rs. 73,347 crore. There was the revival of the Constituency
Development Fund with allotment of Rs. one crore each to members of the
Assembly and the Legislative Council.
6. The Full Court, comprising 27 judges and headed by Chief Justice of India K.G.
Balakrishnan rejected the Law Commission’s suggestion that the Supreme
Court be split into Constitution Bench in Delhi and Cassation Benches in the
four regions.
7. Perambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala was declared the country’s 38th
tiger reserve.
8. Seethampeta, located in the north – western part of Srikakulam district in
Andhra Pradesh and home to the Konda Savaras has now become part of the
Food and Agricultural Organisation’s (FAO) Globally Important Agricultural
Heritage Systems (GIAHS). GIAHS has begun identifying and then
documenting unique agricultural systems across the world to create
‘agricultural heritage’.
9. The Cabinet Committee on security has approved the opening of an Officers
Training Academy at Gaya in Bihar in addition to the one in Chennai.
10.A five-judge constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that “The Supreme
Court and the High Courts have the power to order a CBI probe without a
state’s consent into a cognizable offence allegedly committed within the
state’s territory”.
11.Palakkad district in kerala is the first fully electrified district in the country.
12.The Union Minister for Environment and Forests JaiRam Ramesh had allocated
all Rs. 12 crore of his MPLADS share from 2004 on “Giripragathi”, a
programme for sustainable development of tribals in remote /hilly areas in
Andhra Pradesh.
13.Giripragathi covers eight mandals, three each in Adilabad and khammam and
two in warangal districts. Its total allocation over six years is Rs. 88 Crore.
14.The World Bank has agreed in principle to extend Rs.1, 000 crore assistance
to self-help groups under the third phase of Poverty Alleviation Programme in
Andhra Pradesh.
15.Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal took the decision to notify
the Right of children to free and compulsory education Act, 2009. The date
for it is fixed for April 1, 2010. From that date children in the 6 -14 age group
will finally get their right to education.
16.The Union Government announced the seven – point terms of reference of
the five – member B.N.Srikrishna committee on the telangana issue.
17.The 58th meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) was held in Gauwhati.
18.The two – member committee comprising former Director of Special
Protection Group (SPG) M.R.Reddy and former Director General of Civil
Aviation H.S.Khola Submitted a 110 – page report to the Government of
Andhra Pradesh on the cause of the Bell helicopter crash that killed former
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy and four others.
19.For the first time, the Union Government has agreed to formulate a general
amnesty plan for kashmiri youth undergoing training in terrorist camps in
Pakistan – Occupied Kashmir (POK)
20.The Indian Navy’s Multilateral Milan 2010 exercise was held in Port Blair.
21.The conference of the Chief Ministers on internal Security was held in Delhi.
22.The West Bengal government announced a 10 per cent quota in jobs for the
weaker sections among Muslims under the OBC category.
23.The Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the four per cent reservation
provided by the State government to selected sections of Muslims in
education and public employment.
24.The Sustainable Development Summit, organised by the Energy and
Research Institute was held in Delhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
addressed
25.All the judges of the Delhi High Court led by Chief Justice A.P. Shah made
their assets and investments public by uploading the details on the court’s
website.
26.The Ministries of Health and Family Welfare and Railways signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for developing health care
infrastructure along the railway network across the country.
27.The Government of India constituted a five – member committee headed by
the former Supreme Court Judge, Justice B.N. Sri Krishna to hold wide ranging
consultations with all sections of the people and all political parties and
groups in Andhra Pradesh. The other members of the committee are:
Professor (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, Vice.Chancellor, National Law University, Delhi;
Dr. Abusaleh Shariff, Senior Research fellow, International Food Policy
research institute, Delhi; Dr (Ms.) Ravinder kaur, Professor, Departmentof
Humanities and social sciences. IIT Delhi; and Vinod K.Duggal, former home
secretary.
28.The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,
MNREGS Sammelan 2010 was held in New Delhi.
29.Defence Minister A.K.Antony announced that,
30.The Indian Air Force has decided to procure 750 Akash missile systems from
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) at a cost of about Rs 4,000 crore.
31.The cabinet committee on security had cleared a proposal to sanction Rs.
8,000 crore for further development of the indigenously built Light Combat
Aircraft (LCA)
March 2010 National Affairs
1. Census 2011, the 15th census since 1872, billed as the largest census ever
attempted in the history of mankind, is set to take off on April 1st, 2010. It
will also involve the task of preparing, for the first time, the National
Population Register (NPR).
2. The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) approved the establishment of
National Knowledge Network (NKN), which seeks to inter-connect all
knowledge institutions in the country through high speed data
communication network, at an outlay of Rs 5,990 crore to be implemented by
NIC over a period of 10 years.
3. A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of Supreme Court K.G. Balakrishnan and
Justices J.M. Panchal and B.S. Chauhan lifted the stay on the Andhra Pradesh
government’s decision to provide four per cent reservation in jobs and
education for backward members of the Muslim community. As many as 14
Muslim groups, identified as socially and educationally backward sections by
the State Backward Commission, will now be eligible for the benefit. But the
Supreme Court referred to a special bench the issue of its constitutional
validity.
4. The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal of the Labour Ministry to amend
the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948, to provide medical facilities to
unorganised workers in ESIC hospitals and recognised private hospitals under
the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), a cashless health insurance
scheme. * Planning Commission in its mid-term review has reduced the
power generation capacity addition target by over 20 percent to 62,374 mw
for the 11th plan (2007-12) from the original 78,577 mw.
5. The Union cabinet cleared the Prohibition of Unfair practices in technical,
medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010 that seeks to
make capitation fee a cognizable offence. Two other Bills – The National
Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutional Bill
2010, proposing to setup an independent regulatory body which will register,
monitor and audit accreditation agencies and the Educational Tribunals Bill,
2010 providing an adjudicatory forum for speedy resolution of all issues that
arise in the higher Education sector – were also cleared.
6. The Union Government has officially confirmed its earlier decision to accord
classical language status to Telugu. It has addressed a communication to the
Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) Mysore, and the University Grants
Commission (UGC) to take steps immediately to give the status to Telugu.
This decision was the outcome of efforts by the late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy
culminating in the adoption of a unanimous resolution in the Assembly on
February 22, 2006.
7. A commemorative stamp on former Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is
being issued by the Postal Department on September 2 to coincide with his
first death anniversary.
8. The Supreme Court appointed Central Vigilance Committee (CVC), headed by
Justice D.P. Wadhwa, while submitting its report to a Bench of Justices
Dalveer Bhandari and K.S. Radha Krishnan slammed the Public Distribution
System as one of the most corrupt sectors, saying the root cause of its failure
in several states is political interference.
9. As announced by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, A
seven-member core committee of vice-chancellors has been set up to focus
on central universities lagging behind in bench marks in academic and
research performance.
10.For the first time in 20 years, Jammu and Kashmir will have direct trunk
dialing facility with Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK).
11.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the world’s first green
legislature building, the Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly Secretariat Complex.
12.The Union Cabinet cleared the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of
Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010, for introduction in parliament. The bill seeks
to allow foreign education providers to set up campuses in the country and
offer degrees.
13.The government of Andhra Pradesh has decided to waive the loans taken by
weavers’ societies in the state from cooperative banks of APCOB and
commercial banks. This waiver which will place an additional burden of Rs.
312 crore on the ex chequer, will indirectly benefit a large number of
individual weavers.
14.Under the Indian Important Bird Areas (IBA) Programme, 12 more Important
Bird Areas (IBA) were identified in Kerala, which made it’s total gone up to 36.
The Indian IBA programme is funded by the Royal Society for the protection
of Birds.
15.India’s first open jail for women was inaugurated at the Yerawada Central
Prison in Pune by Maharashtra Home Minister R.R.Patil. The Open jail would
be made to agricultural work on the 17 acres of land adjoining the prison.
This would improve their physical and mental well being. They would also be
eligible for remission in their punishment, for every one year served in the
open jail, a year of their sentence would be reduced.
16.The Government of Andhra Pradesh is set to bring Information Technology
and IT Enabled Services (ITES) sectors under the Essential Services
Maintenance Act. A bill to amend ESMA would be introduced in the Current
Assembly session. The amendment, the Government felt necessary to spare
the IT industry from disruption to their mission critical applications during
agitations.
17.The Union government has set up an independent eight – member expert
committee under the chairmanship of Deepak Parekh to review the draft
guidelines of Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), a housing scheme for slum dwellers
and urban poor.
18.The historic Women’s Reservation Bill, formally known as 108th constitutional
amendment was passed in the Rajya Sabha with the House recorded its vote
of 186 for and 1 against. Now the bill must be passed by the Lok Sabha and
ratified by at least half the states for becoming effective.
19.The Secretary – General of the Supreme Court has challenged the Delhi High
Court Judgement that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a public
authority that comes urthin the ambit of the Right to Information Act. This
can termed as Supreme Court appealing to Supreme Court of its case.
20.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar
inaugurated the Women’s Leadership Summit 2010 on Inclusive Growth and
Empowering Women of Rural India in New Delhi.
21.The Sam Pitroda led high – level committee formed to suggest the
restructuring of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has submitted a report
to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
22.The first of the new generation Airbus A320 joined the Air India fleet. It has a
host of latest facilities, including advanced weather Radar System, Enhanced
Ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) and an LCD cockpit display
system.
23.National Socialist Council of Nagalim (ISak – Muivah) general Secretary
Thuingaleng Muivah met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Singalling the
Seriousness of his organisation to final a solution to the six – decade old
Nagaland issue.
April 2010 National Affairs
1. The cut motions moved by the Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha against
the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s economic policies
especially price rise, were defeated.Cut motion moved by Sushma Swaraj
defeated by- in favour 162 and against 246.The cut motion moved by
Gurudas Gupta was defeated by- in favour201 and against 289.
2. The former chief of the Border Security Force, E.N. Rammohan, submitted his
report to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the April 6 massacre of 76
security personnel by Maoists in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.
3. The 16-digit unique identification number to be assigned to each individual
by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will come under the
new name ‘AADHAR’ or foundation.
4. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh K. Rosaiah launched the Rs. 600-crore
Dr. YSR Protected Drinking Water Scheme in Rayadurg of Anantapur dist.
5. The 98th executive committee meeting of the All-India Council of Mayors
(AICM) was held in Hyderabad.
6. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a proposal
to set up 1,000 additional model schools as a benchmark of excellence in
educationally backward blocks (EBBs) through State governments. These
schools will have norms and standards equivalent to or better than Kendriya
Vidyalayas. The requirement for the 1,000 schools has been estimated at Rs.
3,304 crore, the Centre’s share being Rs. 2,478 crore.
7. The Navy plans to carve out an air enclave on the campus of the Cochin
International Airport Limited (CIAL) for sheltering the Navy’s future air assets,
especially the medium range maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
8. The Commission on Centre-State relations headed by M. M. Punchhi,
submitted its report to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.The panel was
constituted by UPA-I in April 2007 to take a fresh look at the relative role and
responsibilities of the various levels of government and Centre-State
relations.
9. The 59th year of birth of the Bhoodan Movement was celebrated at Bhoodan
Pochampalli in Nalgonda district on 18th April. Acharya Vinoba Bhave had
secured the first land donation on this day in 1951 at Pochampalli.
10.The Andhra Pradesh government launched the Praja Patham, the month-long
mass contact programme aimed at taking administration to the doorstep of
people. K. Rosaiah started the programme at Katarivaripalem in Vetapalem
mandal of Prakasam district. Praja Patham was a brainchild of the late YSR
who wanted elected representatives to go to the people during the difficult
summer months and redress their grievances pertaining to drinking water
and Aarogyasri and other health related services.
11.The draft Cinematograph Bill, 2010 could be introduced in the next session of
Parliament in which the India’s film rating system is set for a revamp. The
Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC), better known as the Censor
Board, will now be asked to certify films under the U, 12+, 15+, A and S
categories. Under the current Cinematograph Act, 1952, there are three
categories — U, A and UA.
12.The government of Andhra Pradesh acquired the “hazardous material”
handling vehicle for the Disaster Response & Fire Service (DSFS) Department
at a cost of Rs. 5 crore to tackle nuclear, biological, chemical accidents
besides the usual fires.
13.The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed the Inter-District Recruitment Bill
which bans inter-district recruitment and provides a quota for Scheduled
Castes in government jobs in all districts.
14.The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) launched the test phase of
Unique Identity Number (UID) project in Medak and Krishna districts of
Andhra Pradesh.
15.The Union government has decided to soon declare the world’s largest river
island of Majuli an eco-sensitive zone.
16.A new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Bill, likely to be introduced in
the next session of Parliament, will bring the institution of CAG under the
ambit of the Right to Information Act.
17.Delhi Metro Rail Corporation started the country’s first Standard Gauge
Railway line. This railway line width is 4ft 8inches.
18.Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit dedicated a Rs.40 crore sub-station 66/11
kV ‘green’ grid sub-station constructed by the power distribution company,
BYPL, in the record time of 13 months at the Commonwealth Games Village
to provide uninterrupted power supply for the event.
19.Addressing the nation to mark the implementation of the Right of Children to
Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
asked the States and Union Territories to work together as part of a common
national Endeavour.
20.The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 comes into
effect from April 1st 2010, and will directly benefit close to one crore children
who do not go to school. For the first time, education will become a
constitutional right in India. According to this act private institutes should
provide 25% reservation to economically backward students. Right to
education was made fundamental right in 2002 by 86th amendment. The
central and state governments should spend money in 55:45 ratio to
implement this act.
21.The plan outlay for Andhra Pradesh for 2010-2011 has been fixed at Rs.36,
800 crore, which is 9.86 per cent more than the outlay of Rs. 33,497 crore
fixed for 2009-2010. The actual increase is Rs.3, 303 crore this year.
22.The Union government has introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha, that provides
for constitution of a National Council consisting of representatives from the
Medical Council of India, the Dental Council, the Nursing Council etc., to
determine the standards for the clinics, classify them, develop the minimum
standards and their periodic review, compile, maintain and update a national
register of clinical establishments.
23.The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD) of Andhra Pradesh has deposited
4,475 kg of gold received by way of offerings in its temple Hundi in various
nationalized banks. TTD deposited 3,000 kg gold with SBI, 1,125 kg gold with
Corporation Bank and the rest 650 kilograms with Indian Overseas Bank and
will be earning an interest of over 1.6 and 1.5 per cent respectively over the
gold deposits.
24.The government of Andhra Pradesh launched the fifth phase of the
government’s land distribution programme all over the State from 14th April,
2010 coinciding with the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.An extent of
1.06 lakh acres will be distributed to 69,506 beneficiaries.
25.According to a report released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),
Gujarat has been declared as the top contributor to the total hazardous waste
generation in the country. Gujarat generates almost 29 per cent of the 62
lakh metric tonnes of hazardous waste generated every year. It is followed by
Maharashtra (25 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (9 per cent).
26.The government of India has reconstituted the National Integration Council
(NIC) which will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Set up in the
early 60s by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the NIC held its first meeting in
1962. The council reviews matters relating to national integration and makes
recommendations over such issues.
27.According to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the first set
of identity numbers will be issued in February 2011.
28.During the sidelines of the 6th National Conference on Electoral Reforms
organised by the National Election Watch in Bhopal, Chief Election
Commissioner Naveen Chawla said that roughly 700 out of 1,000 registered
political parties do not contest polls and the Election Commission has no
power to de-register them.
29.The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) completed five years on 12th April
2010. May 2010 National Affairs * The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme
Court in its judgement upheld the intrinsic constitutional validity of the
National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law
Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
30.The United Progressive Alliance government decided to set up a Group of
Ministers (GOM) on the issue of caste enumeration in Census 2011. The GOM
would work out the modalities of doing a caste headcount along with Census
2011 while looking into the issue of the practicality of such census.
31.The Central Board of Secondary Education launched worldwide, its self-
designed international curriculum (CBSE-i) at Dubai’s Indian High School (IHS)
that aims to compete with its western counterparts to produce the global
citizen of tomorrow.
32.World Telecom Development Conference was held in Hyderabad.
33.The Chief Justice and all the other judges of Himachal High Court have
declared their assets and properties.
34.An Air India Express plane IX-812 from Dubai overshot the table-top runway
at the Mangalore airport and plunged over a cliff into a wooded valley, killing
158 persons.
35.Cyclonic storm Laila which brought heavy losses to farmers crossed the
Andhra Pradesh coast near Bapatla in Prakasam district.
36.Under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling)
Rules, 2008, the depiction of new and more stringent pictorial warnings on
tobacco products has been deferred by six months to December 1 from the
earlier scheduled date of June 1 by the government of India.
37.President Pratibha Devisingh Patil signed an ordinance empowering the
government to dissolve the Medical Council of India, a regulatory body
responsible for maintaining standards of medical education. The government
created a seven-member Board of Governors that took over the functioning
of the 30-member executive council, the highest decision-making body of the
MCI. The Board of Governors is chaired by Dr. S.K. Sarin, Department of
Gastroenterology, and G.B. Pant Hospital.
38.The Union Health Ministry is all set to bring in an ordinance to supercede the
regulatory body and appoint in its place a Board of Governors. In place of the
present MCI team, the government intends to appoint seven eminent medical
practitioners and health experts to do the job that the MCI is performing at
present. The government would have no role in the new set-up.
39.The Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the former CBI Director, R.K.
Raghavan, which investigated Zakia Jaffry’s complaint that Gujarat Chief
Minister Narendra Modi and 62 others orchestrated the 2002 riots, submitted
its report to the Supreme Court.
40.The Union Cabinet accorded in-principle approval for the setting up of an
autonomous defence university in Gurgaon district of Haryana at a cost of
about Rs. 300 crore on a 200-acre campus that is expected to provide inputs
to strategic policy making. It will be set up under an Act of Parliament.
41.The Bihar government signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the objective of accelerating State-
wide improvements in maternal, newborn and child health.
42.A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the
constitutional validity of Articles 243 D (6) and243 T (6), providing for
reservation of seats in any panchayat or offices of Chairpersons in
panchayats and municipalities in favour of backward classes.
43.According to a decision taken by the Maharashtra government all students up
to Class VIII would be given promotion to the next class even if they did not
perform well in examinations.
44.The Visva-Bharati University at santiniketan celebrated the 150th birth
anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
45.The Supreme Court in its judgement holding that gas is a national asset and
the Centre’s pricing policy will prevail over any private agreement, has
directed Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) of the Mukesh Ambani group to initiate
renegotiations with Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. (RNRL) of the Anil
Ambani group for fixing the price of gas to be supplied to RNRL.The bench
thus rejected RNRL’s claim that it was entitled to get 28 mscmd of gas from
the KG Basin at $2.34 mBtu in terms of a 2005 Memorandum of
Understanding between Anil and Mukesh without any price approval by the
government.
46.A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that a Governor
cannot be removed on the ground that he/she is out of sync with the policies
and ideologies of the Union government or the party in power at the Centre.
Nor can he/she be removed on the ground that the Union government has
lost confidence in him/her. The bench gave this ruling in a petition filed by
the former Member of Parliament, B.P. Singhal.
47.The Lok Sabha Speaker made the following appointments for various
parliamentary committees Murli Manohar Joshi as the chairman of the Public
Accounts Committee for 2010-11, Congress MP from Goa Francisco Sardinha
as the chairman of the Committee on Estimates, V. Kishore Chandra S. Deo
as the chairman of the Committee on Public Undertakings, Gobinda Chandra
Naskar as the chairman of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes.
48.The Supreme Court held that the Members of Parliament Local Area
Development (MPLAD) Scheme, under which every MP is allotted Rs. 2 crore
a year for constituency development was nothing unconstitutional. It held
that the scheme falls within the meaning of ‘public purpose’ aimed at
fulfillment of the development and welfare of the State as reflected in the
Directive Principles of State Policy.
49.The Rajya Sabha passed a Bill proposing to create a 78-member Legislative
Council for Tamil Nadu, 24 years after it was abolished.
50.Parliament approved the increase in the gratuity limit for employees from
Rs.3.5 lakh to Rs.10 lakh under the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill,
2010.
51.The Supreme Court held unconstitutional and violation of the ‘right to
privacy’ the use of narco analysis, brain-mapping and polygraph tests on
accused, suspects and witnesses without their consent.
52.The tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, his Gujarat counterpart Narendra
Modi and Union Minister for Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal to prepare
detailed project reports on linking of rivers that will benefit both the states.
53.The Lok Sabha passed the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2010 which
raises the ceiling of gratuity for employees in private sector to Rs.10 lakh
from Rs.3.5 lakh. The Lok Sabha also passed the Employees’ State Insurance
(Amendment) Bill, 2009, to provide for medicare to workers in the
unorganised sector, especially those below the poverty line (BPL).
54.A special sessions court judge M.L. Tahaliyani pronounced Mohammad Ajmal
Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai
terror attacks along with nine other terrorists and 20 co-conspirators in
Pakistan, guilty of waging war against India.
55.The two day National Consultation for Second Generation Reforms in Legal
Education was held in Delhi.
June 2010 National Affairs
1. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation of the 8.8-km-long
Rohtang tunnel at Dhundi near Manali(Himachal Pradesh).
2. The first World Classical Tamil Conference was held in Coimbatore. President
Pratibha Devisingh Patil presented the Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi Classical
Tamil Award to Asko Parpola for his work on the Dravidian hypothesis in the
interpretation of the Indus script.
3. The Group of Ministers (GoM) submitted their report to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh addressing the legal, medical, humanitarian, environmental
and other aspects of the Bhopal gas leak disaster. The GoM recommended
Rs. 1,500-crore package for the victims.
4. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) endorsed the setting up of
the proposed National Commission for Higher Education and Research
(NCHER) as an apex body entrusted with framing policy, and to bring within
its ambit, medical education and other disciplines of higher education and
research.
5. The 75th conference of presiding officers of legislatives bodies from different
parts of the country was held in Srinagar (J&K).
6. The Planning Commission estimated four percent growth in the agriculture
sector during the XII Plan (2012-17).
7. The Representation of the People’s (Amendment) Bill aimed at NRIs for voting
rights in India was cleared by a GoM headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony
and is likely to be presented soon before the Cabinet.
8. The government of India has declared the Indian Mujahideen (IM), suspected
to be a shadow outfit of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India
(SIMI) and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist outfit.
9. Jharkhand came under Central rule with President Pratibha Patil accepting a
recommendation of the Union Cabinet after the Congress and the BJP gave up
efforts to form an alternative government following the resignation of Chief
Minister Shibu Soren.
July 2010 National Affairs
1. The first commercial landing of the Airbus A380, the largest aircraft of the
world, took place at the newly inaugurated Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi
International Airport in New Delhi.
2. As part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Rabindranath Tagore a
book was published on the Nehru-Gandhi family’s connection with
Santiniketan Titled “Three Chancellors” compiled by Nilanjan Bandopadhyay.
3. During the meeting of the Chief Ministers of the Naxal-affected States in New
Delhi, the Union government asked Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and West
Bengal, worst affected by Maoist violence, to set up a Unified Command
headed by the four States’ Chief Secretaries.
4. The prestigious Mahatama Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and
Sustainable Development (MGIEP), a UNESCO institute, will be unveiled on
the birth annniversary of Gandhiji on October 2 in New Delhi. It will be the
maiden category I institute of UNESCO to be located in Asia. Out of 11 such
institutes, nine are situated in the developed world and two is in Ethiopia and
Venezuela.
5. The Union government has set up an oversight committee chaired by Union
Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh to coordinate
and monitor the clean-up of the Bhopal gas leak disaster site.
6. The Union Health Ministry approved the revised draft that proposes a
National Committee for Accreditation and a National Medical Education and
Training Board that will register and accredit medical colleges and prepare
curricula for all streams of education in the health sector.
7. The Union Cabinet cleared the Nalanda University Bill 2010, paving the way
for the establishment of Nalanda University in Rajgir, Bihar near the original
Nalanda University site at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,005 crore.
April 2009 International Affairs
1. The International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2009 of the United Nations
Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) ranks India as the fourth
leading producer of automobiles, petroleum products, textiles, electrical
machinery and apparatus, basic metals, chemicals and chemical products,
leather products coke and nuclear fuel after China, USA and Italy.
2. On April 2, 2009, leaders of the Group of 20 countries met in London and
agreed to a $1.1 trillion (Rs 55 lakh crore) deal to combat the worst economic
downturn since the Great Depression.
3. North Korea announced that it had successfully conducted it’s second nuclear
test, defying international warnings.
4. Nejib Tun Razak sworn in as Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister in the
constitutional monarch’s palace in Kuala Lumpur.
5. A 6.3-magnitude earthquake striked Italy – its worst in three decades, killing
289 and leaving some 30,000 homeless.
6. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opened a nuclear fuel plant in
Isfahan province and announced the testing of two high capacity centrifuges.·
Russia cancelled 1999 decree that imposed a regime of “anti-terror
operation” in Chechnya and formally declared it a zone of peace. It has
recalled the tight security regime that has been in force in the region for the
past decade.
7. France has announced to train a 500-strong Somali battalion to help support
the country’s fledging security forces against Islamist militants and pirate
gangs.
8. South Africa’s long dominant African National Congress has won
overwhelmingly in parliamentary elections. Jacob Zuma was re elected as the
president.
June-2009 International Affairs
1. American House passed climate bill : Climate bill was formulated under
American Clean Energy and Security act. According to this bill, green house
gases emission should be reduced by 17% in 2020 and by 83% in 2050 when
compared to 2005.
2. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) met at Yekaterinburg SCO is
an intergovernmental and inter-state grouping to enhance regional
cooperation in a multiple area, where Pakistan holds an Observer status on
SCO along with India, Iran, and Mongolia, while China, Russia, Kazakistan,
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are full members of the organization.
3. BRIC Nations met in Russia.
4. European people’s parliament won EU parliament elections.
5. WHO declares swine flu as pandemic.
6. Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad won in Iran elections.
July-2009 International Affairs
1. Susilo Bambang was re elected as Indonesian President.
2. Yukayi Amano from Japan was elected as the Director General of IAEA.
3. US President Barack Obama said he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
are countering “a sense of drift” in relations between their nations with
preliminary agreement to reduce the world’s two largest nuclear stockpiles to
as few as 1,500 warheads each.
August-2009 International Affairs
1. Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) has made Rs.4125 crores
deal with Spielberg’s Dreamworks Studios to produce 5-6 movies per year.
2. Typhoon Morakot has hit Taiwan. The government has claimed at least 500
people dead and a loss of 3 billion dollars.
3. China Becomes India’s Largest Trade Partner China has emerged as India’s
largest trading partner, replacing US in 2008-09. Bilateral trade engagement
between India and China stood at Rs 1,63,202 crore (nearly $36 billion) in
April to February 2008-09, an increase of nearly 7% over Rs 1,52,713 crore in
the year ago period. In the same period, bilateral trade between India and the
US dipped 7.5% and stood at Rs 1,55,353 crore (approximately $34 billion).
4. Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the Supreme Court’s first Hispanic justice
and only third female member in the top U.S. court’s 220-year history.
September 2009 International Affairs
1. The World report on road traffic injury prevention is the major report being
jointly issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank.
According to the most dangerous place in the world to travel on roads is in
the impoverished East African state of Eritrea and the safest road conditions
were found in Marshall Islands.
2. The opposition Democratic Party won election defeating Liberal Democratic
Party which ruled Japan for 54 years. Yukio Hatoyama will be chosen as the
Prime Minister.
3. Fiji has been suspended from the Commonwealth after it failed to respond to
a demand to begin restoring democracy to the island nation.
4. The Group of 20 countries met for two days to focus on the worldwide
financial crisis, and plot how to avoid a repeat in the future.
5. Irina Bokova, ex foreign minister of Bulgaria was elected as the chief of
UNESCO. She is the 1st woman chief of UNESCO.
6. According to “Global Times”, among the 60 most influential persons on
China, Tagore is in the 11th place and Nehru is in the 19th place.
7. Yukiyo Hatoyama, the leader of Democratic party of Japan sworn as the Prime
Ministe
October 2009 International Affairs
1. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was re elected as the President of Tunisia
consecutively for the fifth time. He has secured 89% votes.
2. The 15th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits were held on 23-25 October
2009 in Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand. Cha-am Hua Hin declaration on
strengthening cooperation on education to achieve an ASEAN caring and
sharing community was released. 7th India – ASEAN meeting too was held.
The next summit will be held at New Delhi.
3. Senior Environment Officials of SAARC met in New Delhi. The meeting has
decided to start 50 environment centers in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to
study Climate Change.
4. International Diabetes Federation (IDF) World 20th Diabetic Congress was
held at Montreal, Canada. It warned India that 9% of the population would
suffer with diabetes by 2033. Currently India is in the first place with 50.8
million diabetic patients followed by China. It also said that 258 million people
(7% of the population) in the world are diabetic patients.
5. World Health Summit took place in Berlin from October 14th to 18th. Modern
diseases like asthma and obesity were concentrated. 700 members from 60
countries participated in this summit.
6. Iran’s Nuclear Talks with USA, UK, China, Russia, France and IAEA was held in
Vienna.
7. Maldives Cabinet held the world’s first underwater meeting to highlight the
danger posed to low-lying nations by global warming.
8. Bosnia, Lebanon, Gabon, Brazil and Nigeria will join UN Security Council from
January 2010 for a period of 2 years.
9. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that 105 million more
people are suffering from hunger as a result of the current economic crisis.
Ensuring food security in a time of crisis is the theme of this year’s World
Food Day, marked on October 16th. Among them 642 million people are from
Asia Pacific region and 265 million from Sub Sahara region.
10.Angela Merkel was re-elected as the Chancellor of Germany. She forms the
government with her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and Social
Union and Free Democratic Party.
11.Iran test fired Shaheb-3 and Sajjal missiles with a range of 1300 to 2000km.
They can carry payload of 100kgs.
12.The 10-member countries and observers of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation, met in Beijing. They pledged to work together on combating
terror and improving financial co-operation among Asian nations to combat
the financial crisis.
13.Greek socialists achieved resounding win in elections. George Papandreou-led
Pasok swept elections with 43% of vote after five years of New Democracy
government.
14.UNDP has announced Human Development Index (HDI) rankings for the year
2009. Norway (.971) stood first followed by Australia and Iceland. India (.612)
dropped to 134th rank from 128th (2008). USA was ranked 13th (12th in
2008) and China 92nd (99th in 2008).
November 2009 International Affairs
1. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) appealed for a day-long worldwide
hunger strike against chronic hunger. According to FAO statistics, 1.02 billion
people live in chronic hunger. The FAO has also launched an online anti-
hunger petition on www.1billionhungry.org Hunger Summit will be held at
Rome, Italy from 16th to 18th November, 2009.
2. The National University of Defence Technology (NUDT) unveiled China’s
fastest supercomputer. The supercomputer named Tianhe, meaning Milky
Way, will do more than 1 quadrillion calculations per second (one petaflop) at
peak speed.
3. China offered billions of dollars of concessional loans to Africa and pledged to
contribute significantly to the continent’s skilled human resources base.
4. A meeting of G20 Finance Ministers was held in Scotland. They failed to reach
an agreement on funding climate change.
5. The U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has launched a campaign
in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to mobilise people around the world to take part
in a drive to stop the pandemic of violence suffered by women.
6. 55th Golf World Cup was won by Italy in Shen Jen, China.
7. Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) took place at Port of
Spain. The Commonwealth Climate change Declaration has been agreed by
the 53 Heads of Commonwealth countries.
8. China has announced that it would cut carbon intensity to 40-45 per cent of
2005 levels by 2020.
9. U.S. proposed 17 per cent reduction below 2005 levels by 2020.
10.International Conference of Jurists 2009 on International Terrorism started in
New Delhi. It was organized by International Council of Jurists, All India Bar
Association, All India Senior Advocates Association and Indian Council of
Jurists.
11.Unfriend was declared as word of the year 2009 by New Oxford American
Dictionary. It is defined as to remove someone as a friend on a social
networking site.
12.India was ranked 84 with score of 3.4 out of 180 countries, by Transparency
International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2009. New Zealand,
Denmark and Singapore were ranked top 3 in low levels of corruption.
13.APEC 2009 summit was held in Singapore. Global financial crisis, free trade
etc were discussed at the summit.
14.Iceland has claimed the top spot of the World Economic Forum’s Global
Gender Gap Index 2009. India has been ranked 114th out of 134 countries
measured.
December 2009 International Affairs
1. Nepal’s Ministerial meeting was held at Kaala Pathar near Everest Himalayas.
PM Madhav Kumar and his 23 ministers participated in the meeting. This
meeting was held to convey the affects of Himalayas’ melting to their country
to the world countries.
2. Hyderabad has hosted 62nd World Association of Newspapers (WAN IFRA
2009). The 63rd meeting will be held at Beirut, Lebanon.
3. USA and BRIC countries signed an agreement in Copenhagen on carbon
reduction. According to this agreement, rise in temperatures should be
restricted to 2 degree centigrade, immediate release of 30 billion dollar for
environment help to poor countries. This would be raised to 100 billion dollar
by 2020. And carbon dioxide emissions will be monitored.
4. Iran successfully test-fired an improved version of its Sejil 2 medium-range
missile with a range of 2000km.
5. Bolivian President Evo Morales called on world leaders to hold temperature
increases over the next century to just 1°C. Mr. Morales also demanded rich
countries pay climate change reparations and proposed an international
climate court of justice to prosecute countries for climate “crimes”.
6. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati are
among the four Indians named in the Financial Times list of ‘50 People Who
Shaped the Decade’. NRI billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and India-born Pepsico
Chief Indra Nooyi are the other two Indians in the league of 50, which among
others also features Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden and US President
Barack Obama.
7. Hotels.com global poll of 10,000 travellers found that the Eiffel Tower is the
World’s Favourite Landmark. St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Rome and
India’s Taj Mahal, came second and third place respectively. Three American
icons – the Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty –
made up the remainder of the top six spots.
8. China carried out Death Sentence of a Britain Citizen, Akmal. He would be the
first citizen of a European country to be put to death in China in 50 years.
January 2010 International Affairs
1. The Chinese government’s official growth figures released shows 8.7 growth
in 2009. China is now on course to overtake Japan as the world’s second
largest economy, while Japan’s official GDP figures are yet to be released.
2. India is ranked 123rd in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) in
pollution control and natural resources management. Iceland was ranked 1st
in EPI.
3. Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa defeated the opposition consensus
candidate and former Army Chief, retired General Sarath Fonseka in the
presidential election. This is the second term for the Srilankan president
Rajapaksa.
4. The world’s largest aluminium producer, UC Rusal became the first Russian
firm to list in Hongkong and Paris stock exchanges.
5. The International Monetary Fund projected the India’s economic growth rate
to be 7.7 percent for 2010.
6. The group of four major emerging economics Brasil, South Africa, India and
China (BASIC) expressed their intention to communicate information on their
voluntary mitigation actions to the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC). This decision was taken at the second ministerial
level meeting of the BASIC group of countries in New Delhi.
7. China and Japan have been added to the 39 non-traditional export markets
identified by the Union Government as part of series of new incentives to
encourage Indian exporters to explore non – traditional business avenues.
8. Billionaire Sebastian Pinera was elected Chile’s president with the victory
over ex-president Eduardo Frei.
9. India is the 88th best place to live, according to the 2010 quality of Life Index
published by travel magazine International living.
10.A 7.0 magnitude powerful earthquake rocked Haiti, killing possibly over one
lakh people.
11.China, the world’s largest producer of gold is set to overtake India as the
metal’s biggest consumer for the first time in history. China’s consumption of
gold is estimated as 450 tonnes in 2009 where as India’s consumption
forecast is 380 tonnes.
February 2010 International Affairs
1. China has denied claims by Google, the internet Giant, that it had faced cyber
attacks targeting the E – mail accounts of several Chinese human right
activists. American investigators have reportedly traced the attacks to two
Chinese universities.
2. Pakistan joined 52 other Asian States to endorse India’s candidature for non –
permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Out of 128 votes needed
to get the seat, India already has 122.
3. Japan and Australia pledged to help countries with atomic energy
programmes to stay clear of the nuclear-weapons path in the realm of “3S”.
The “3S” relate to nuclear non-prolife ration-related safeguards, safety and
security.
4. A diplomatic battle between Britain and Argentina is underway over oil
exploration around the Falklands as a rig hired by British companies is to
begin drilling off the coast of the remote archipelago. Geologists think the
territory, over which the two countries fought a war in 1982, could hold up to
60bn barrels of oil.
5. Octogenarian Tinoo was set free by the Myanmar’s military rulers and will
lead the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) as long as Nobel
peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.
6. The European Union member states have decided to temporarily withdraw
preferential tariff benefits known as GSP+ granted to Sri Lanka from August
on the ground that they are “significant shortcomings” in the implementation
of three U.N. human rights conventions.
7. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad, Hyderabad was
declared the World’s Best Airport under the 5 to 15 million passengers
category by Airports Council International (ACI). This is the first time that an
Indian airport will be featured among the top airports of the world.
8. International Conference on Biodiversity in relation to food and human
security was held in Chennai.
9. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while declaring the country to be a
‘nuclear state’ said, Iran had produced a first stock of 20 percent enriched
uranium for its nuclear programme and was capable of enriching it to 80
percent.
10.Ukraine’s Opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych narrowly beat Prime Minister
Yulia Tymoshenko in the presidential election.
11.The Secretary – General of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Anders
Fogh Rasmussen Said that, NATO’s troubles in Afghanistan showed it were
vital to boost ties with nations like China, India and Pakistan and transform
the alliance into a global security hub.
12.An Australian mining firm Resource House has signed a record $60 – billion
deal to supply 30 million tonnes of coal every year to China Power
International Development (CPI) for the next 20 Years. The deal is the biggest
– ever export contract in Australia’s history with the energy – hungry china.
13.The last Bo speaking person on earth, an 85-year old Andamanese woman
named Bo Sr, was dead. The Bo are believed to have existed for 65,000
years, making them the descendants of one of the oldest human cultures.
14.A landmark deal between Northern Ireland’s two major political parties, the
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein, removed the last hurdle to
granting full autonomy to the province envisaged in the 1998 Good Friday
agreement that brought decades of sectarian violence to an end. The deal
paves the way for transferring policing and justice powers from the central
government in London to the provincial administration in Belfast.
March 2010 International Affairs
1. China stood first in implementing death sentence in the world, according to
the report given by Amnesty International.
2. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced plans for a “New
Economic Model (NEM),” raising prospects of a fair deal for all racial groups.
3. During a session at the Arab League summit in Libya, the Arab leaders called
for a review of the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to create a
definitive plan for eliminating nuclear weapons development. These countries
view Israel and Iran’s nuclear programmes with alarm, and have repeatedly
called for an agreement to ban nuclear weapons from the region.
4. The Former interim Prime Minister of Iraq, Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiyah formation
has secured the maximum number of seats in Iraq’s March 7th parliamentary
elections, narrowly edging out the State of Law grouping led by incumbent
Premier Nouri al-Maliki.Out of the 325 seats, National Iraqi List (“Iraqiyah”) of
Mr. Allawi secured 91. Mr. Maliki’s State of Law grouping got 89.
5. India joined the world to celebrate Earth Hour, from 8.30 to 9.30 p.m. on 27th
march 2010 organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The event is the
largest global campaign on climate change with over one billion people
around the globe joined the campaign, involving more than 6,000 cities and
towns, to turn off lights in show of support for action on climate change.
6. The Agriculture Ministers of the BRIC nations — Brazil, Russia, India and China
have adopted a Moscow Declaration where they identified four areas for
quadripartite cooperation
7. To set up a common database of production and consumption of farm
products in their respective countries to facilitate comprehensive analysis of
food security and coordinate formation of national grain reserves.
8. The four countries to jointly draw up a BRIC food security strategy for
vulnerable sections of the population and share experience in providing food
for the poor.
9. To mitigate the impact of climate change on food security and adapt farming
to the changing climate.
10.To promote cooperation and exchanges in farm technology and innovation.
11.The United States and Russia have concluded a new Strategic Arms
Reduction Treaty (START) which include reduction by about one third the
nuclear weapons that the two countries would deploy and a significant
reductions in missiles and launchers and putting in place a strong and
effective verification regime.
April 2010 International Affairs
1. The World Expo 2010 was held in Shangai in China. 189 countries have
attended the event. The Chinese government has spent an estimated $ 45
billion on the Expo, upgrading Shanghai’s infrastructure in a bid to make the
city a “world financial capital” by 2020.
2. The 16th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
decided to establish an Inter-governmental Expert Group on Climate Change
to develop a clear policy direction and guidance for regional cooperation as
envisaged in the SAARC Plan of Action on Climate Change. The member-
states also resolved to commission a study, for presentation to the 17th
summit, on ‘Climate Risks in the Region: ways to comprehensively address
the related social, economic and environmental challenges’. It was also
decided to plant one crore trees over the next five years to build a “green
and happy South Asia.”
3. On the sidelines of the SAARC summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
his Pakistani counterpart, Yusuf Raza Gilani, agreed to the resumption of
high-level dialogue, which has been disrupted since the Mumbai terror
attacks of November 2008.
4. The 16th summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) started in Thimpu, Bhutan. Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa,current head of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation, took the chair. Other leaders of the grouping Manmohan Singh
of India,Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh,
Lyonchhen Jigmi Thinley of Bhutan, Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives,
Madhav Kumar Nepal of Nepal, and Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan
attended the summit. For the first time, Bhutan is hosting the summit.
5. Chamal Rajapaksa, brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was
unanimously elected Speaker of the newly elected Sri Lankan Parliament on
its opening day.
6. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari signed into law a landmark constitutional
amendment bill that will divest him of his sweeping powers.
7. Addressing representatives of over 60 countries and several international
organisations, at the start of a two-day conference on nuclear disarmament
in Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the
suspension of the United States from the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) and proposed a five-point plan to democratise the global security
architecture.
8. Russia has launched the construction of the $12-billion Nord Stream pipeline
to Europe that would carry up to 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year
from Siberian gas fields 900 km over land and 1,200 km under the Baltic Sea
from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald in Germany.
9. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has unveiled the first model of “third
generation” centrifuges that Tehran claims are six times more efficient than
the previous variants. Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony in Tehran marking the
fourth “national nuclear festival” that 60,000 new generation centrifuges
would be installed at the Natanz enrichment plant.
10.In the parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa-led
ruling alliance won in 120 constituencies of the 180 seats declared in the
225-member House. The main Opposition grouping, led by the United
National Party (UNP), bagged only 47 seats.
11.The Pakistan National Assembly passed the 18th Amendment Bill that seeks
to bring back the 1973 Constitution. The Bill , which proposes 102
amendments to the Constitution , was passed by a two-thirds majority after
the House rejected the amendments moved by some members on the
abolition of the concurrent list, renaming the North West Frontier Province
(NWFP), and removal of the provision for intra-party elections.
12.Presidents Barack Obama of the United States and Dmitry Medvedev of
Russia signed a Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty which will reduce their
nuclear weapons stockpiles by a third.
13.Anti-government protests broke out in Kyrgyzstan and its President
Kurmanbek Bakiyev has reportedly left the country and Prime Minister
Usenov resigned, clearing the way for the Opposition to form its own
government. A “Cabinet of people’s trust” has been headed by Opposition
leader Roza Otunbayeva.
14.Aid agencies are warning of an impending food emergency in South Sudan.
According to them, Akobo, in the eastern region of Jonglei, is now
the“hungriest place on earth.”
15.A volcano erupted under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, 120 km east of Reykjavik
in Iceland shooting smoke and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of
people to leave their homes.
16.A 7.1-magnitude quake struck a remote border area in north-west Qinghai
province in western China leaving at least 400 dead and more than 10,000
injured. The epicentre of the quake was in Yushu county, in a Tibetan
Autonomous Prefecture which borders Sichuan.
17.China is building a new airport near Mount Everest, to be called ‘Peace
Airport’ in Xigaze prefecture in Tibet.
18.The Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) was held in Washington in which 37 of
the participating 47 countries are represented at the level of President or
Prime Minister. The agenda of the summit was how to physically secure
sensitive nuclear materials around the world so that terrorists don’t get hold
of them. The next Nuclear Security Summit will be held in South Korea in
2012.
19.The President of Poland Lech Kaczynski and a high-level delegation were
killed when the president’s Tu-154 passenger jet carrying 97 people crashed
as it was approaching a Russian airport in the city of Smolensk.
20.Sudan geared up for its first multi-party elections in 24 years, with a 16-
million-strong electorate eligible to vote for President, MPs and local
representatives.
May 2010 International Affairs
1. According to Google’s web traffic data, Facebook.com is most visited website
with monthly visits by 540 million people, or slightly more than 35 per cent of
the Internet population.
2. Nepal political parties UCPN-Maoist, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML
agreed to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly by one year as part of
a crucial deal under which Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal agreed to
step down.
3. In the midst of heightened tensions, North Korea announced the unilateral
scrapping of its pact with South Korea on the prevention of naval clashes
between them.
4. The annual ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) was held in Paris with Economy and Trade Ministers
from 40 countries, representing 80 per cent of the world economy attended.
India, Russia, Brazil ,China, Indonesia and South Africa have been invited to
participate as observers.
5. Citing lack of evidence, the Pakistan Supreme Court upheld the Lahore High
Court’s decision to release Jama’at-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed from house
arrest.
6. The world’s most expensive postage stamp “Treskilling Yellow” printed in
Sweden in 1857, was sold at auction in Geneva to an international
consortium.
7. The National Commission co-chaired by Bob Graham and William Reilly was
established to investigate the oil spill from British Petroleum’s Deepwater
Horizon rig that exploded on April 20 and has since been spewing massive
amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico seriously endangering its marine life
and the coastlands of Louisiana.
8. The French Cabinet approved a draft law to ban the Muslim full-face veil from
public spaces.
9. A deal was reached to swap a major part of Iran’s low enriched uranium
stocks on Turkish soil for an equivalent amount of uranium enriched to 19.75
percent among Iran, Turkey and Brazil.
10.Iran has freed Clotilde Reiss, French lecturer charged with spying following
last June’s presidential elections.
11.The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned that efforts to
eliminate the worst forms of child labour have slowed down and called for a
“re-energised” global campaign to end the practice. In its global report on
child labour, the ILO said the global number of child labourers had declined
from 222 million to 215 million, or 3 per cent, over the period 2004 to 2008,
representing a “slowing down of the global pace of reduction.”
12.The Conservative leader David Cameron took over as Prime Minister and his
Liberal Democrat counterpart Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister in the
Britain’s first post-war coalition government.
13.The second Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in which 32 nations
attended was held in Abu Dhabi.
14.The short film ‘Last of the Tattooed Head Hunters’, on one of North East’s
fiercest fighters, Konyak Nagas, directed by Vikeyeno Zao, will be screened at
the annual Cannes Film Festival beginning May 12.
15.Pakistan said it had successfully tested two surface-to-surface missiles
Ghaznavi and Shaheen capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional
warheads.
16.Britain’s most closely-contested election resulted in a hung Parliament and
the defeat for the ruling Labour Party after 13 years in power. The
conservative party ended up with 306 seats, 20 short of an outright
majority .The Labour party got 258 seats and the Liberal Democrats got 57
seats.
17.The four-week nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference was held
at the United Nations in New York.
18.Sri Lankan President government has decided to pardon journalist J.S.
Tissainayagam, who is out on bail after being convicted in August last year
under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The pardon coincided with the
World Press Freedom Day.
19.Iran and Syria have mooted the formation of a regional economic bloc with
Turkey and Iraq as their key partners. The two sides felt the move would yield
economic benefits and impart political stability and security to the region.
June 2010 International Affairs
1. Nepal’s Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned.
2. The resignation was part of an agreement among the three major political
parties,the opposition UCPN (Maoist) and the Nepali Congress and the CPN
(UML).Taiwan and China signed a historic trade pact “The Economic
Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA)”, hailed by both sides as a
milestone and the culmination of a Beijing-friendly policy introduced by
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou after assuming power in 2008.
3. Kyrgyzstan voted for a national referendum on a new Constitution. If
approved, the Constitution would transform Kyrgyzstan from a presidential to
a parliamentary republic, with main powers shifted from a nationally elected
President to a Prime Minister chosen by Parliament. This would make
Kyrgyzstan the first parliamentary democracy in former Soviet Central Asia.
4. The two-day G-20 summit or the meeting of the heads of the world’s major
industrialised powers was held in Toronto, Canada.
5. India has joined the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) project, the next
generation astronomical observatory that will be located on Mauna Kea,
Hawaii.
6. Guinea, the West African country is holding in its first free election since
independence in 1958.
7. Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia’s first woman Prime Minister after Kevin
Rudd was toppled as the leader of the ruling Labour party.
8. A 500-kg bronze sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled at the Canadian
Museum of Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg city.
9. According to the findings of the United States Geological Survey, Afghanistan
has nearly one trillion dollars in mineral deposits and could become one of
the richest in the world.
10.Iran and Pakistan finalise gas pipeline project without India to supply 21
million cubic metres of natural gas daily from 2014 to Pakistan.
11.The Bangladesh government shut down Bengali daily Amar Desh, citing that
it has no authorised publisher. Mahmudur Rahman, owner and acting-editor
of the anti-government daily, was arrested on a cheating charge.
July 2010 International Affairs
1. The United States Senate passed a historic Wall Street reform bill on financial
reforms that will bring greater economic security to families and businesses
across the country.
2. Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalise same-sex
marriage.
3. The U.N. rejected to reopen the probe into the assassination of the former
Premier, Benazir Bhutto by a U.N.-appointed three-member headed by Chile’s
former U.N. ambassador Heraldo Munoz, as Pakistan had raised objections to
the report.
4. According to the report by the ‘Janasankhya Sthirta Kosh’ under the Union
ministry of health and family welfare, while India’s population grew by 1.4%
over the last five years, China saw only a 0.6% population growth for the
corresponding period. India’s total population in 2009 was 119.8 crore,
China’s 134.5 crore and Pakistan’s 18 crore. While India’s population will
increase to 161.38 crore by 2050, that of China will only reach 141.7 crore.
5. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), developed and applied by the
Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative with UNDP support reveals
that there are more ‘MPI poor’ people in eight Indian states (421 million in
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, and West Bengal) than in the 26 poorest African countries combined
(410 million).
6. The Chinese government signed a $525-million deal to help Pakistan build
two highways namely, 165-km-long highway between Jaglot and Skardu, and
a 135-km highway between Thakot and Sazin in the disputed Pakistan-
occupied Kashmir (PoK) region of Gilgit-Baltistan.
7. The International Monetary Fund has raised its world economic growth
forecast from 4 per cent to 4.5 per cent.
8. Ms. Rosa Otunbayeva (59), the first woman President in Central Asia was
sworn in Kyrgyzstan.
9. Bronislaw Komorowski of Civic Platform party won the Poland’s presidential
elections.