National Current Affairs   2010

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. 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 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 - 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 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 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 – KuttySrankb. I.G.A. for the Best first appearance movie : Hindi movie – Lahore for the

Directionc. Box office blockbuster (widespread entertainment): Hindi – 3 Idiotsd. N.D.A. for the Best motion picture on Patriotic Spirit: Hindi – Delhi 6e. Best motion picture on Society’s Matters: Bollywood – Well Done Abbaf. Motion Picture for Kids: Tied between Keshu (Malayalam) and Putaani

Party (Kannada)g. Direction: Rituparno Ghosh for Abohomanh. Actor: Amitabh Bachcha for Auro’s rolei. Actress: Ananya Chatterjeej. Child’s Performance: Tollywood’s Pasangak. Male Singer: Rupam Islam in Bengalil. Female Singer: Neelanjana Sarkar in Bengali

Current Affairs – August 2010

Nuclear liability bill passedNuclear 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 AccessSwiss 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 CWGPM 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 reopenedThe 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 prelimsThe 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 controversyWherein 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 hikedParliament 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 greenApproximately 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 controversyResearch 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 codeThe 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 floodA 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 IndiansNational 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 AnthemWhen 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 mosquitoesThe 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 disasterA 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 IndependenceAugust 15th, 2010 India celebrated the 63rd anniversary of its independence.

IBM Number two employerIBM is the second largest private sector employer in India after TCS . The company has more than one lakh people on its rolls.

Current Affairs - July 2010

Noose tightening for Politicos in Sohrab caseSohrab 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 yearsAddressing 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 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 stirFollowing 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’.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

International Current Affairs   2010

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 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 - 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 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 - August 2010

Mission AccomplishedThe 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 parliamentAustralians 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 taintedThe 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 FloodsAnnual 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 estimated that the floods in Pakistan have displaced people thrice the number displaced during partition.

Hike in Visa feeThe 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 ZeroA 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 routeOxford 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 - July 2010

Japan ElectionsDemocratic 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, IslamabadFailed 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 SpillMore 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.

GenocideOmar-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 DirectorPresident 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.

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).

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’. 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 2010 –   Sports

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. 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.

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.”

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 centuryA 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 GoldTejaswini 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 seriesThe 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 winnerArjun 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 hitThe 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 awardsSaina 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 SpainIn 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. 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.

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 Zhenguingo 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.

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

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.

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.

Current affairs – Persons in News –   2010

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 PanjabiRecently 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 AmbaniIt 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 BaglaPallava 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.

Roman PolanskiThe 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. 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. 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.

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. 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).

Nobel Prize Winners   2010

About Nobel Prize

Established by Alfred Nobel, Nobel prizes started in 1901. They are given every year for worldwide achievements in Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature and for Peace. The Nobel prize is administered by Nobel Foundation, Sweden. In 1968, an additional prize for Economics was added in memory of Alfred Nobel.

Nobel Prize includes an award, Nobel diploma and a cash prize. The prize money is distributed from the interest generated from funds originally initiated by Alfred Nobel. For 2010, the prize money is stipulated at Swedish kronor (SEK) 10 million per full Nobel Prize equivalent to 1.5 mil USD.

Nobel prize 2010 announcements were made this week and this hub is about the winners and their works.

Nobel Prize 2010 Physiology or Medicine goes to the father of the test tube baby

Nobel Prize 2010 for Physiology or Medicine – Robert G EdwardsThe Nobel prize 2010 for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Robert G Edwards.

Robert G Edwards was awarded the Nobel prize for medicine for his work ‘in vitro fertilization (IVF)’.

He started work on IVF as early as 1950s. Due to his efforts, world’s first test tube baby was born during 1978. In later years he and his team improved the process further and made it available to all.

The IVF technology discovered by him is used as a treatment for infertility. More than 10% of the couples worldwide are infertile and his discovery has been a boon to such people. Approximately 4 million people have been born using IVF till now.

Robert G Edwards is currently professor at the University of Cambridge.

Nobel Prize 2010 in Physics

Nobel Prize 2010 Physics Andre Geim

Nobel Prize 2010 Physics Konstantin NovoselovThe Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 was awarded jointly to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov “for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene”

Andre and Novoselov, the teacher-student duo, derived the material ‘graphene’ from graphite. The black writing material used for pencils is graphite, which is a form of carbon. They extracted a thin layer of carbon particles from graphite, actually as thin as on atom width, making a new material graphine.

Andre and Novoselov discovered that Graphine has many interesting properties. It is as good a conductor as copper. It is the best conductor of heat as of now. It is completely transparent and yet, it does not allow the thinnest gas Helium through it.

Because of its unique properties, graphine will have vast range of applications starting from electronics to satellite. A computer chip made of graphine is expected to outperform the present silicon made chips, which means that in future we will have even faster computers. Already a test transistor was developed using graphine and its performance was equal to that of silicon transistor. A paper thin TV monitor screen can

be made using graphine. This new material, a form of carbon is a miracle that can find great usage in future.

Nobel Prize 2010 Chemistry

Nobel prize 2010 in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010 was awarded jointly to Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki “for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis”.

Organic Chemistry is one of the most important branches of chemistry finding applications in our day to life including paints and plastics. Organic chemistry essentially involves various arrangements of carbon atoms together in multiple configurations.

During the initial years, one of the main challenges in organic chemistry was to successfully combine carbon atoms together as carbon would not easily react with other similar atoms due to its structural configuration.

These three scientists discovered possible reactions using a catalyst Palladium so that in its presence, carbon reacts more easily. This tool has been in use for many decades though further improvements are still going on. This tool has been extensively used in chemistry labs as well as medicine factories in order to get the desired combinations.

Nobel committee stated that with the discovery of this tool, a major obstacle hindering progress in organic chemistry was removed.

Nobel Prize 2010 Literature

Nobel Prize 2010 Literature – Mario Vargas LlosaNobel Prize 2010 in Literature was awarded to Mario Vargas Llosa.

Mario Vargas Llosa was born on March 28, 1936 in Peru. After graduating from Colegio Nacional San Miguel in Piura, Mario Vargas Llosa studied law and literature in Lima and Madrid. As an author, he became internationally popular through his novel La ciudad y los perros (1963; The Time of the Hero, 1966), though this novel created big controversy in his home land.

He has lectured and taught at a number of universities in the USA, South America and Europe. His well known works include Conversación en la catedral (1969; Conversation in the Cathedral, 1975), La guerra del fin del mundo (1981; The War of the End of the World, 1984) and La fiesta del chivo (2000; The Feast of the Goat, 2001). He is also a noted journalist and essayist.

Nobel Prize 2010 for Peace

Nobel Prize for Peace 2010 – Liu XiaoboThe Nobel Committee announced that the Nobel Peace Prize 2010 was awarded to Liu Xiaobo “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China”.

For last few decades, China has experienced enormous economic growth and grew to become second largest economy in the world. However China’s record in following

international agreements as well as maintaining human rights internally has been questioned time and again.

Liu Xiaobo strongly advocated for fundamental rights in China. He took part in the Tiananmen protests in 1989; he was a leading author behind Charter 08, the manifesto of such rights in China which was published on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 10th of December 2008. The following year, Liu was sentenced to eleven years in prison and two years’ deprivation of political rights for “inciting subversion of state power”. Presently Liu is in prison due to this sentence. Following the Nobel Prize announcement recognizing his efforts for human rights and peace, the world has been requesting China to release him.

Nobel prize in economics 2010

Nobel Prize in Economics 2010 

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2010 was awarded jointly to Peter A. Diamond, Dale T. Mortensen and Christopher A. Pissarides “for their analysis of markets with search frictions”.

Normally any market is based on demand and supply. But many times, in reality, we find that there are many people looking for employment but at the same time there are many vacancies in companies, not able to find candidates. There are many who want to buy a house and there are many who want to sell and both conditions exist at the same time. This year’s nobel laureates developed a theory to answer these questions, which may help better solutions in these areas. They formulated a theoretical framework for search markets. Peter Diamond has analyzed the foundations of search markets and Dale Mortensen and Christopher Pissarides have expanded the theory and have applied it to the labor market.

Their theory is not just applicable to labor market but also to house, monitory theory and various areas of economics.

About the laureates:

Peter A. Diamond, is Institute Professor and Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA.

Dale T. Mortensen, is from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Ida C. Cook Professor of Economics at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

Christopher A. Pissarides, is a Professor of Economics and Norman Sosnow Chair in Economics, all at London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.

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 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.

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 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

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 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 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.

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.

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.

“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 Authors Challenge and Strategy-Rethinking India’s Foreign Policy : Rajiv Sikri A Better India, A Better World : N R Narayana Murthy Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent

: Eduardo Galeano The Court and the Constitution of India: Summits and Shallows : O.

Chinnappa Reddy My Album: Pravin Mahajan Soldiers’ Saga Of Adventure: Col AP Tanwar If Cricket Is a Religion, Sachin Is God: Vijay Santhanam and Shyam

Balasubramaniam

Classical Dance of India

Dance State

Bharat Natyam Tamil Nadu

Bihu Assam

Bhangra Punjab

Chhau Bihar, Orissa, W. Bengal and Jharkhand

Garhwali Uttaranchal

Garba Gujarat

Hattari Karnataka

Kathak North India

Kathakali Kerala

Kutchipudi Andhra Pradesh

Khantumm Mizoram

Karma Madhya Pradesh

Laho Meghalaya

Mohiniattam Kerala

Mando Goa

Manipuri Manipur

Nati Himachal Pradesh

Nat-Natin Bihar

Odissi Orissa

Rauf Jammu & Kashmir

Yakshagan Karnataka

Folk and Tribal Dances

States Dances

Maharashtra Kathakeertan, Lezin, Dandaniya, Tamasha, Gafa, Dahikala, Lovani, Mauni, Dasavtar.

Karnataka Huttari, Suggi Kunitha, Yakashagana

Kerala Kaikottikali, Kaliyattam, Tappatikkali

Tamil Nadu Kolattam, Pinnal Kolattam, Kummi, Kavadi, Karagam

Andhra Pradesh Ghanta Mardala, Veedhi Natakam, Burrakatha

Orissa Ghumara Sanchar, Chadya Dandanata, Chhau

West Bengal Kathi, Chhau, Baul, Kirtan, Jatra, Lama

Assam Bihu, Khel Gopal, Rash Lila, Tabal Chongli, Canoe

Punjab Giddha (women), Bhangra (men)

J & K Rauf, Hikat

Himachal Pradesh Jhora, Jhali, Dangli, Mahasu, Jadda, Jhainta, Chharhi

Haryana Jhumar, Ras Leela, Phag dance, Daph, Dhamal, Loor, Gugga, Khoria, Gagor

Gujarat Garba, Dandiya Rass, Tippani, Gomph

Rajasthan Ginad, Chakri, Gangore, Terahtaal, Khayal, Jhulan Leela, Jhuma, Suisini

Bihar Jata Jatin, Jadur, Chhau, Kathaputli, Bakho, Jhijhiya, Samochakwa, Karma, Jatra, Natna

Uttar Pradesh Nautanki, Thora, Chappeli, Raslila, Kajri.

Famous Dancer

BharatnatyamBala Saraswati, C. V. Chandrasekhar, Leela Samson, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Padma Subramanyam, Rukmini Devi, Sanyukta Panigrahi, Sonal Mansingh, Yamini Krishnamurti

Kathak Bharti Gupta, Birju Maharaj, Damayanti Joshi, Durga Das, Gopi Krishna, Kumudini Lakhia, Sambhu Maharaj, Sitara Devi

Kuchipudi Josyula Seetharamaiah, Vempathi Chinna Sthyam

ManipuriGuru Bipin Sinha, Jhaveri Sisters, Nayana Jhaveri, Nirmala Mehta, Savita Mehta Debaprasad Das, Dhirendra nath Pattnaik, Indrani Rahman, Kelucharan Mahapatra, Priyambaba Mohanty, Sonal Mansingh

Instrumentalists

Sarod Ali Akbar Khan, Allaudin Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Bahadur Khan, Sharan Rani, Zarin S. Sharma

Tabla Alla Rakha Khan, Kishan Maharaj, Nikhil Ghosh, Zakir Hussain

Violin Baluswamy Dikshitar, Gajanan Rao Joshi, Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, M. S. Gopala krishnan, Mysore T. Chowdiah, T. N. Krishnan

Shehnal Bismillah Khan

Sitar Nikhil Banerjee, Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan, Hara Shankar Bhattacharya

Flute Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pannalal Ghose, T. R. Mahalingam

Veena K. R. Kumaraswamy lyer, Doraiswami lyengar

Vocalists

Hindustani Shubha Mudgal, Bheemsen Joshi, Madhup Mudgal, Mukul Shivputra, Pandit

Jasraj, Parveen Sultana, Naina Devi, Girija Devi, Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Gangubai Hangal, Krishna Hangal, V. Rajput, Kumar Gandharva, Faiyyaz Khan, Mallikarjun Mansur.

Carnatic

M. S. Subbalakshmi, Balamuralikrishna, Bombay Jaishree, H. K. Raghavendra, H. K. Venkataram, Sitarajam, Mani Krishnaswamy, Akhil Krishnan, M. L. Vasanthakumari, M. D. Ramanathan, G. N. Balasubramaniam

Thumri Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Mazhar Ali Khan, Ustad Zawad Ali Khan, Rita Ganguli, Poornima Chaudhary, Shanti Heerananda, Naina Devi

Quwwali Ghulam Hasan Niyazi, Sultan Niyazi, Ghulam Farid Nizami, Chand Nizami, IqbalHussain Khan Bandanawaji, Aslam Sabari

DhrupadUstad Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar, Zahiruddin Dagar, Waslfuddin Dagar, Bundecha Bandhu, Uday Bhawalkar, Pt. Abhay Narayan Mallick, Pt. Ritwik Sanyal

State Chief MinisterAndhra Pradesh Shri K. RosaiahArunachal Pradesh Shri Dorjee KhanduAssam Shri Tarun GogoiBihar Shri Nitish KumarChhattisgarh Dr. Raman SinghDelhi Smt Sheila DikshitGoa Shri Digambar KamatGujarat Shri Narendra ModiHaryana Shri Bhupinder Singh HoodaHimachal Pradesh Prof. Prem Kumar DhumalJammu and Kashmir Shri Omar AbdullahJharkhand Shri Shibu SorenKarnataka Shri B. S. YeddyurappaKerala Shri V. S. AchuthanandanMadhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh ChouhanMaharashtra Shri Ashok ChavanManipur Shri Okram Ibobi SinghMeghalaya Dr. Dethwelson LapangMizoram Shri Pu LalthanhawlaNagaland Shri Neiphiu RioOrissa Shri Naveen PatnaikPuducherry Thiru. V. VaithilingamPunjab Shri Parkash Singh Badal

Rajasthan Shri Ashok GehlotSikkim Shri Pawan ChamlingTamil Nadu Kalaignar M. KarunanidhiTripura Shri Manik SarkarUttar Pradesh Kumari MayawatiUttarakhand Shri Ramesh PokhriyalWest Bengal Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India.

The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India and the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces. The President`s role is largely ceremonial, with real executive authority vested in the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister. The powers of the President of India are comparable to those of the monarch of the UK. There were in all 14 presidents till date.

Rajendra PrasadDr. Rajendra Prasad was the first President of Independent India. As the first President, he was indepedent and unwilling to allow the Prime Minister or the party to seize his constitutional rights. However, following the conflict over the passing of the Hindu Code Bill, he restrained his stand. He set several important rules for later Presidents to follow. He had also served as President of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the constitution of the Republic from 1948 to 1950.

Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanSarvapalli Radhakrishnan was born on September 5, 1888 and died on April 17, 1975. He was a philosopher and statesman. He became Vice President of India in 1952 and was elected President in 1962, he held office until 1967. In India, his birthday is celebrated as Teacher`s Day in his honour. He

was one of the first scholars of comparative religion and philosophy in his time, he built a bridge between Eastern and Western thought showing each to be understandable within the terms of the other. He introduced Western ideas into Indian philosophy and was the first scholar of importance to provide a comprehensive exegesis of India`s religious and philosophical literature to English speaking peoples.

Zakir HussainZakir Hussain was born on February 8, 1897 and died on May 3, 1969. He was the third President of India from May 13, 1967 until his death. Hussain was born in Hyderabad. After serving as the Governor of Bihar from 1957 to 1962, and as the Vice President of India from 1962 to 196. In his inaugural speech he said that the whole of India was his home and all its people were his family.

Varahagiri Venkata GiriHe was born on August 10, 1894 and died on June 23, 1980 he was commonly known as V. V. Giri. He was the fourth president of the Republic of India. He received India`s highest civilianAward, the Bharat Ratna, in 1975. He was a prolific writer and a good orator. He has written books on `Industrial Relations` and `Labour problems in Indian Industry`. He was elected as Vice-

president of India in 1967. Giri became acting president of India in 1969 upon the death in office of Zakir Hussain and decided to run for that position in the election. The Congress Party led by Indira Gandhi chose to support Neelam Sanjiva Reddy for the position, but he was able to prevail anyway due to a last-minute change in the decision by Indira Gandhi, he served until 1974. He has served the office Twice as President.

Muhammad Hidayat UllahMuhammad Hidayatullah was born on 1905 and died on 1992. He was the acting President of India in 1969 and the second Muslim to hold the post. Hidayatullah was succeeded by the previous President, Varahagiri Venkata Giri. He was the first Muslim Chief Justice of India from January 1968 to February 1970. He was also Vice-President of India from August 1979 to August 1984. A National Law University has been established in his name at Jodhpur.

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was born on May 13 1905 and died on February 11, 1977. He was President of India from 1974 to 1977. He was educated at St. Stephen`s College and St Catharine`s College, Cambridge, and subsequently became an active member of the Congress Party. He was chosen for the presidency by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974, becoming the third

Muslim President in Delhi. He would later use his constitutional authority as head of state to allow her to rule by decree once emergency rule was proclaimed in 1975. He died in office

Basappa Danappa JattiBasappa Danappa Jatti was born on September 10, 1912 and died on June 7, 2002. Jatti graduated as a lawyer from Sykes Law College, Kolhapur and became a pleader in Jamakhandi. After the 1952 general elections, he was appointed Minister of Health and Labour of the then Bombay Government. Re-elected from Jamkhandi constituency in the third general elections, Jatti was appointed Finance Minister on July 2, 1962 in the Nijalingappa Ministry. He became acting President for a brief period after the death of Fakruddin Ali Ahmed.

Neelam Sanjiva ReddyNeelam Sanjiva Reddy was born on May 18, 1913 and died on June 1, 1996. He was the sixth President of the republic of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. He was also Union Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation, Shipping and Tourism from January 1966 to March 1967 in the Cabinet. He was Elected to the Lok Sabha from Hindupur constituency in Andhra

Pradesh. He was elected Speaker of Lok Sabha on March 17, 1967, where he won unprecedented acclaim and admiration. He was elected President by the electoral college in July 1977, and was the only person to be elected President of India unopposed.

Zail SinghGiani Zail Singh was born in Punjab on May 5, 1916 and died on December 25, 1994. He was the President of India from 1982-1987, and the first Sikh to hold India`s highest public office and honour. Giani Zail Singh Ramgarhia was elected to the highest office of the President of India on July 15, 1982. He was critisized for his dominating attitude towards the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. His relations with Rajiv Gandhi, the next Prime Minister, were rocky at best.

R. VenkataramanRamaswamy Venkataraman was born on December 4, 1910 was the 8th President of the Republic of India, serving from 1987 to 1992. Before his election as President, Venkataraman served nearly 4 years as the 7th Vice-President. He is currently the third oldest living former head of state in the world behind Aden Abdullah Osman Daar and Anthony Mamo. He is also the only living former President of India. Although re-elected to

Parliament in 1957, Venkataraman resigned his seat in the Lok Sabha to join the State

Government of Madras as a Minister. There Shri Venkataraman held the portfolios of Industries, Labour, Cooperation, Power, Transport and Commercial Taxes from 1957 to 1967. During this time, he was also Leader of the Upper House, namely, the Madras Legislative Council.

Shankar Dayal SharmaShankar Dayal Sharma was born on August 19, 1918 and died on December 26, 1999. He was the 9th President of republic of India serving from 1992 to 1997. Sharma served as Vice-President until 1992, when he was elected President. During his five-year term, he was active in ceremonial matters and was in charge of dismissing and appointing governors. During his last year as President, it was his responsibility to swear in three prime ministers. He did not run for a second term as President.

K. R. NarayananKocheril Raman Narayanan was born on 4 February 1921 and died on 9 November 2005. He was also known as K. R. Narayanan, was the tenth President of the Republic of India. He is the only Dalit and the only Malayali to have held the Presidency. K. R. Narayanan was elected as the

Presidency of India 17 July 1997 with 95% of the votes in the electoral college, from the Presidential poll 14 July. This is the only Presidential election to have been held with a minority government holding power at the centre.

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul KalamAvul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam Maraikkayar was born October 15, 1931, Tamil Nadu, India, usually referred to as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is the President of India from 26th July,2002 to 25th July 2007. A notable scientist and engineer, he is often referred to as the Missile Man of India for his work and is considered a leading progressive, mentor, innovator and visionary in

India.

Pratibha Patil is the 13th and current President of India. She is the first woman and first Maharashtrian to hold this post. The Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan sworn her as President of India on July 25, 2007.

International Awards and PrizesNobel Prizes-The Nobel prizes lore awarded each year under the will of Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist, engineer and inventor of dynamite, who died in 1896. The award is given to those who have made most outstanding contribution in the field of physics, chemistry and physiology or medicine, who have produced most distinguished literary work of an idealist tendency and those who have contributed most towards world peace. The Nobel Prize for economics was first awarded in 1969 and was established by Riksband, the Central Bank of Sweden. Other awards started in 1901.The fund is managed by a board of directors, the head of which is appointed by the Swedish Government.

Magsaysay Awards-This award was instituted in memory of the Philippines President Ramon Magsaysay who died in an air crash in 1957. The award carries a gold medal, $ 50,000 and a certificate a and is awarded for the following five services : (i) Government service; (ii ) Public service; (iii) Community Leadership; (iv) Journalism, Literature and Communicative Arts; (v) International Understanding. The awards have been given from 1958 onwards.

Kalinga Prize- This award is presented each year by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to a person with a distinguished career of service in the interpretation of science and research to the public.The prize was instituted by Biju Patnaik, industrialist and politician who is the founder and Chairman of the Kalinga Foundation Trust in the State of Orissa. UNESCO awarded the prize for the first time in 1952. The prize comprises an award of 1,000 UK pounds.

Templeton Foundation Prize- This is awarded by the Templeton – foundation for progress in religion and was instituted in 1972. The main intention of the prize is to call attention and provide recognition to ideas, insights, actions and accomplishments which have been or may be instrumental in widening man’s love in God.

Pulitzer Prizes-This has been established by Joseph Pulitzer an American publisher, in 1917 to encourage literature and journalism in USA. The awards are given in the fields of General Reporting, National Reporting, Feature Writing, Poetry, Biography, Fiction, Drama, History, Special Local Reporting, International Reporting and for public service.

E.M. Forster Award-This award is given to an Indian author for contribution to English literature and was instituted by a Publishing Company.

Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding-This award was instituted by the Government of India. It is an annual award given for outstanding contribution to the promotion of international understanding, good will and friendship among the peoples of the world. The award carries an amount of Rs. 15 lakh and a citation.

Indira Gandhi Peace Award -The government prize of Rs. 33 lakh or its equivalent in foreign exchange in memory of Mrs. Indira Gandhi for outstanding contributions in the field of peace, disarmament and development. The administration of the prize has been entrusted to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.

Simon Bolivar Prize- The $25,000 Prize is awarded by UNESCO every two years to reward activity of outstanding merit which, in accordance with the ideals of Simon Bolivar has contributed to freedom, independence and dignity of people and to the strengthening of new international economic, social and cultural order.

The Booker Prize- Established in 1968, the 50,000 pound Booker Prize, is awarded to the best novel published for the first time each year in UK by a British Publisher. The prize is open to novels written in English by citizen of the British Commonwealth,Republic of Ireland and South Africa.

Gandhi Peace Prize- Institute on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 1995, the annual award is the highest given by the Government of India in any field. The international peace prize, a Rs. 1 Crore worth award, was launched for recognizing socials economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian Methods.