601 - 640 current affairs final - bank exam po 20…601 current affairs top rank making facts :...
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601
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Top Rank Making Facts : Current Affairs
m Chennai Super Kings IPL - 4 Champion
Chennai Super Kings under M.S.Dhoni defeated
Royal Challengers Bangalore to retain IPL -4.
4 Two new teams in IPL are Kochin Tuskers,
Kerala and Pune Warriors with them the total
number of teams in IPL is 10.
m Lasith Malinga : The Sri Lankan bowler of the
Mumbai Indian won the purple cap for his 28
wickets in the 16 matches of the IPL 4. His
economy rate was 5.95.
m Chris Gayle : The West Indian batsman of Royal
Challengers Bangalore won the orange cap for
his impressive 608 runs in 12 matches in IPL -4.
He also scored the highest number of sixes in
the match, 44 sixes in 12 matches.
m Yasmeen Abrar - Acting Chairman NCW
Yasmeen Abrar, member of the National
Commission for Women, has assumed charge
as chairperson of the National Commission for
Women following completion of the tenure of
Girija Vyas.
4 International Women’s Day March 8.
4 International Women’s Year : 1975
m Islam Karimov : The President of Uzbekistan
visited India in 2011.
m Jacob Mathew, Executive Editor of the Malayala
Manorama has unanimously been elected
president of WANIFRA at its annual general
meeting held in Dublin, Ireland. He is the first
Indian and second Asian, to be elected to this
office.
4 WANIFERA - World Association of
Newspapers and News Publishers
m Arjun Vajpayee, 17 year old mountaineer became
the youngest Indians to climb Mount Everest.
m The Union government has reconstituted the
Central Supervisory Board set up under the
Preconception and Pre-natal Diagnostic
Techniques Act, 1994 (PC & PNDT Act) to address
the sharp decline in the child sex ratio as reflected
in the provisional Census figures. The new Board
will have 35 members including Ghulum Nabi
Azad, Union Minister of Health & Fairly Welfare
as the chairperson and Krishna Tirath, Minister
of State (Women & Child Development) as Co-Chair.
m New Chief Ministers
Kerala : Oommen Chandy (Congress-I)
Assam : Tarun Gogai (Congress - I)
Tamil Nadu : J. Jayalalitha (AIADMK)
West Bengal : Mamatha Banerjee
(Trinamool Congress)
Puducherry : N. Ramaswamy
(All India NR Congress)
m Child Sen Ration had dropped to 914 females against
1000 males in the provisional census 2011.
4 In 2001 the ratio was 927 females against
1000 males.
m Jarbom Gamlin : On May 5, 2011, Gamlin sworn
in as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh.
He succeeded Dorjee Khandu who died in
helicopter accident.
m A three-day India Water Forum (IWF) was
organised by The Energy end Resources
Institute (TERI) and the Ministry of Water
Resources to discuss water issues faced by the
country from April 13 to 15, 2011 at the India Tabitat
Centre, New Delhi. Theme of the IWF was 'Water
Security and Climate Change: Challenges and
Opportunities'.
4 World Water Day - March 22
4 2011 World Water Day theme : Water for cities:
Responding to urban challenge
m Norman Anil kumar Browne has been appointed
as the Air Chief Marshal of India. He succeeded
Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik.
m Union Minister of State for Environment and
Forests Jairam Ramesh on April 15, 2011
announced that Nagpur will be promoted as the
tiger capital and a gateway to tiger land. Thirteen
of the country's 39 tiger reserves are in
Maharashtra. New tiger reserves have been
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
4 Members of BRICS : Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa
m Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettle
won both Turkish Grand Prix 2011 and Monaco
Grand Prix 2011.
m The grouping of India, Brazil and South Africa
(IBSA) on April 14, 2011 reaffirmed its relevance
despite the formation of BRICS (Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa). This was
endorsed in separate meetings Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh held with Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff and South African President
Jacob Zuma at Sanya.
4 April 12 : International Day of Human Space
Flight
m India’s Foreign Exchange Reserve increased by
$1.04 billion to $308.53 billion during the week
ended May 20, 2011 (Data released by RBI).
m Russia on April 12, 2011 marked a half century
since Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.
April 12 is marked in Russia every year as Day of
Cosmonautics. The U.N. General Assembly on
April 7, 2011 adopted a Russia-moved resolution
declaring April 12 "International Day of Human
Space Flight."
4 In April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the
first man in space.
m FDI in multi brand retail
The Inter - Ministerial Group (IMG) headed by its
chairman Kaushik Basu on May 27, 2011
suggested two major steps to control inflation.
1) Open up multi brand retails to foreign
companies.
2) Changes in agriculture marketing laws to
bridge the margin between farm gate prices
and retail prices.
4 India’s retail sector is closed to foreign firms
with 51% of FDI allowed only in the single brand
retail sector.
m India and Kazakhstan on April 16, 2011 signed
an inter-governmental framework agreement on
civil nuclear' cooperation and some other key
pacts, including a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.
India and Kazakhstan already Have civil nuclear
cooperation since January 2009 when Nuclear
Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and
Kazakh nuclear company KazAtomProm signed
an MoU during the visit of Nazarbaev to Delhi.
approved in the state at Nagzira-Navegaon and
Bor. The environment ministry also announced
that bamboo can now be treated a minor forest
produce (MFP). Also forest officials will now be
required to take mandatory permission of the
gram sabhas for filing cases against tribals.
m Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International
Understanding 2009 has been conferred to
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor.
m Project Tiger was launched in 1973. According to
2nd All India Censes of tiger population in 2011.
Tiger population in India is 1706 ( In the last
censes the number was 1411). It shows an
increase of 295 tigers.)
m BCCI Award 2009 -10
4 Polly Umrigar Award (India’s Cricketer of the
Year) : Sachin Tendulkar.
4 C.K. Nayudu Award for Lifetime Achievement:
Salim Durrani
m The Navy has started preparations to take charge
of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (Admiral
Gorshkov) from Russia, with the first batch of
officers and sailors having commenced training
there ahead of its induction next year.
m Bengal won Santhosh Trophy 2011: West Bengal
defeated Manipur 2-1 in the final of the 65th
Santhosh Trophy Football Tournament, at
Guwahati, Assam. This is Bengal’s 31st
Santhosh Trophy win.
m Bourn Hall Clinic, the world's first IVF (In-vitro
Fertilisation) clinic, has opened a centre in Kochi,
Kerala - the first one outside the United Kingdom.
The IVF pioneers, the 2010 Nobel laureate
Professor Robert Edwards and Dr. Patrick
Steptoen, set up the Bourn Hall Clinic in 1978
when they first revolutionised infertility treatment
with the birth of the first test tube baby, Louise
Brown.
m Azlan Shah Cup Hockey 2011 : Australia defeated
Pakistan to win Azlan Shah Cup, 2011
m BRICS leaders of five emerging economies
concluded their third Summit at Sanya, China on
April 14 2011. This year South Africa was formally
admitted to the Forum. All the five BRICS nations
are members of the UN Security Council and G-
20. The Summit was attended by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and Presidents of China-Hun
Jin tao, Russia-Dmitry Medvedev, Brazil-Dilmi
Rousseff and South Africa Jacob Zuma.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
Under the contract, KazAtomProm will supply
uranium for use by Indian reactors Another
agreement signed was the one between state-
run ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and Kazakhstan's
national oil firm KazMunaiGaz JSC' under which
the Indian company will acquire 25% stake in the
Sarpayev block in the Caspian Sea.
4 Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan
m Industrial output growth 7.8% in 2010 - 11
As per Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data
released by CSD on May 12, 2011, the poor
performance of the manufacturing and mining
sector pulled the overall growth of Industry to 7.8%
in 2010 - 11 from 10.5% in 2009 -10.
m The G-20 on April 15, 2011 announced that
International Monetary Fund (IMF) would review
policies of the world's seven largest economies,
including India and China, with the objective of
rectifying flaws before they imperil growth. The
US, Japan, Germany, France and Britain are the
other five countries that influence the global
economy significantly. The IMF will conduct its
evaluations based on methods the G-20
members have developed.
m To Double the Indian export
The Union Government on May 2, 2011 unveiled
a multi pronged strategy to more than double
India’s exports to $500 billion by 2013 -14 from
$246 billion in 2010 -11.
m From its overarching goal of 'schooling for all' as
its education strategy in the past, the World Bank
Group made a paradigm shift in its new Education
Strategy 2020 to 'learning for all' in (he developing
countries. In its Education Strategy 2020 unveiled
in Washington on April 12, 2011 with the accent
of investing in people's knowledge and skills to
promote development, the World Bank Group
said, since launching a project to build secondary
schools in Tunisia in 1962, it had traversed a
long way by investing $69 billion globally in
education via more than 1,500 projects in
developing countries including India over the years.
m India & Colombia sign DTAA
India signed on March 17, 2011 a Double Taxation
Avoidance Agreement with Colombia.
m The nuclear radiation crisis at the Fukushima
Daiichi plant in Japan was reclassified on April
12, 2011 as a "major accident" with the same
worst-case rating as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
4 2011 March 11 earthquake and Tsunami in
Japan resulted in the dissolution of
Fukushima nuclear power plant.
m $500 million Afghanistan
India announced a fresh commitment of $500
million to Afghanistan in the next five years for
development. Prime Minister visited Afghanistan
on May 12, 2011.
m The United Nations Security Council on April 11,
2011 passed a resolution that tackles the problem
of piracy for the first time. The UNSC Resolution
1976 adoptee by the Security Council 'strongly
condemned' the growing practice of hostage-
taking by pirates operating off the coast of Somalia
and expresses serious concern at the inhuman
conditions hostages face in captivity.
m India ratifies UN Convention against corruption
India completes the process of ratification of the
United Nation Convention against corruption.
It will enable India’s law enforcement agencies
to seize the illicit assets stolen by corrupt people.
m France on April 14, 2011 returned of ancient
Korean royal books, 145 years after its troops
looted them during a retaliatory raid on an island
west of Seoul in the earlier decades of the 20th
century. The books, returned by the National
Library of France, were illustrated manuals on
royal protocol written daring the Chosun Dynasty
(1392-1910). The books will be housed at South
Korea's National Museum.
m 1.718 billion people in India in 2060
According to the UN’s 2010 revision of the world
population, Indian population is projected to peak
at 1.718 billion in 2060 after which it will decline,
China, at its peak in 2025 will have 1.395 billion
people.
4 The world population in 2050 will be 9.31 billion.
In 2100 World population will be 10.1 billion.
m Sweden and Singapore ire tie most competitive
countries in the digital economy, according to a
study by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
m SAGA - 220
ISRO built India’s fastest computer SAGA - 220. It
will be used for solving complex aerospace
problems.
m World Parkinson's Disease Day was observed
on April 11, 2011.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m Manmohan Singh’s Africa Tour
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an official
visit to Africa. He visited Ethiopia and Tanzania.
In Ethiopia Singh represented India in the second
India-Africa Forum Summit held at Addis Ababa
on May 24, 204.
India offers $5 billion in the next three years under
lines of credit to help Africa achieve its
development goals.
The $5 billion credit lines represented an
increase of $1.6 billion over the $ 3.4 billion that
remains unpaid from the previous commitments.
4 India also offered an additional $700 million
for new institutions and training programms
to be established in consultation with African
Union.
4 Dr. Singh announced $300 million in Indian
support for the development of new railway
from Ethiopia to Djibouti.
m NASA on April 16, 2011 released a trove of data
from its sky-mapping mission, allowing
scientists and anyone with access to the Internet
to watch millions of galaxies, stars, asteroids and
other hard-to-see objects. The mission's finds
include more than 33,000 new asteroids floating
between Mars and Jupiter and 20 comets. NASA
launched the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,
which carried an infrared telescope, in December
2009 to scan the cosmos in finer detail than
previous missions. The spacecraft, known as
WISE, mapped the sky 1.5 times during its 14-
month mission, snapping more than 2.5 million
images from its polar orbit.
m Himachal Pradesh sign carbon credit
Himachal Pradesh became the first state in India
to sign an agreement with World Bank for
securing carbon credits for its Clean
Development Mechanism project. The project
named Reforestation Project - Improving
Livelihood and Watersheds.
m Lewis Binford, founder of the New Archaeology
movement and one of the seniormost figures in
world archaeology, passed a way at the age of
80 on April 11, 2011.
m GSAT - 8
India indigenously built communications Satellite
GSAT -8 was successfully launched into space
by Ariane -5 from the Guiana Space Centre,
Kourou, French Guiana on May 21, 2011.
GSAT -8 is a powerful communication
Satellite designed to augment television
broadcasting as well as radio networking. 3100
kg Satellite is ISRO’s largest and the heaviest
satellite till date.
m The Union Telecom Minister, Kapil Sibal, on April
11, 2011 announced the basic contours of the
National Telecom Polity 2011 (NTP-2011). NTP-
2011 will include for the first time, audit of
spectrum held by telecom players, spectrum
sharing, reduction in the tenure of renewed
telecom licences from 20 years to 10 years, and
liberalising of merger and acquisition norms. The
minister also announced the formation of a
committee to draft the National Spectrum Act,
which will be headed by retired judge Shivraj V. Patil
m Public Debt of India
The total public debt of the Central Government
rose by 1.3% to 29,21360 crore at the end, the
fourth quarter ie; the December - March 2010 -
11. from Rs. 2883880 crore in Q3 ended
December 2010. The Government debt
constitutes both external and internal debt. The
outstanding internal debt at Rs. 26,19,594 crore
constituted 33.3% of the GDP compared with the
32.8% at the end of December 2010. The external
debt amounted to Rs. 3, 01,766 crore as of March
2011 end.
m The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
on April 13, 2011 issued recommendations
related to manufacturing, infrastructure and green
telecom to promote structured growth of the
sector. It has also proposed investments of over
Rs. 1- lakh crore for technical upgradation and
improvement of manufacturing capabilities of the
sector. It has also recommended setting up of a
Telecom Manufacturing Fund (TMF) with an initial
amount of Rs.3,000 crore for providing venture
capital to Indian product manufacturers in the form
of equity and soft-loans. It has also called for
setting up of a Telecom Standards Organisation
(TSO) for carrying out all works related to telecom
standards, driving international standards and
drawing up specifications of the equipment to be
used in the Indian telecom networks, including
security standards.
m 58th National Film Awards
Best Feature film : Adaminte Makan Abu
Best Actors : Salim Kumar (Malayalam movie
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
Adaminte Makan Abu) and Dhanush (Tamil Film
Adukalam) declared join winners.
Best Actress : Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar and
Saranya Ponvannan (joint winners)
m In a survey conducted by IMRB for the Internet
and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the total
number of active internet users in rural area will
rise by 98 per cent to touch 24 million by the end
of this year from 12.1 million in December 2010.
m Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
Cabinet Committed on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
on May 11, 2011 allowed Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) for LLP firms. This policy
amendment is aimed at attracting more long term
foreign investments into the country. As per the
LLP Act 2008 LLP is a new business structure
with hybrid features of a partnership farm and
corporate body.
m The Union Finance Ministry is expected to soon
unveil a simpler income tax return form called
"Sugam" to reduce the compliance burden on
small businessmen and professionals.
m Ajith Kumar Seth : New Union Cabinet Secretary.
He succeeded K.M. Chandrasekhar.
m International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered
India's economic growth rate forecast to 8.2 per
cent for 2011 and warned that boom like
conditions could lead to over-heating of the
economy. The multilateral lending agency had
earlier projected the country's economy to grow
by 8.4 per cent in 2011.
m Nabi Al - Arabi, Arab League Chief
Nabi Al - Arabi, Foreign Minister of Egypt was
elected the new Chief of Arab League.
m The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has
fixed March 31, 2012 as the deadline for
digitisation of all cable systems in the four metro
cities - Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai.
m World Telecom Award for Pitroda
Sam Pitroda won the International Telecom
Union’s 2011 World Telecoms and Information
Society Award.
m The government on April 12, 2011 announced it
would issue biometric PAN cards to taxpayers
across the country to weed out the duplicate and
fake ones. The proposed new biometric
'Permanent Account Member' (PAN) cards would
bear the I-T assessee fingerprints {two from each
hand) and the face.
m Philip Roth (USA) won Man Booker International
Prize. The 60000 pound award is given in every
two years for the body of works published by the
author.
m A Tata company has won the largest-ever defence
contract awarded than Indian private sector
company through a competitive global tender. The
Ministry of Defence signed a Rs 1,094-crore
contract called Modernization of Airfield
Infrastructure (MAPI) with Tata Power's Strategic
Electronics Division (Tata Power SED) for
modernising 30 Indian Air Force (IAF) airbases
across the country in March 2011.
m Assange gets Sydney Peace Prize
Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange was awarded
the Sydney Peace Prize 2011.
m Indians work for 8.1 hours every day, more than
the average figure for the entire developed world,
a new global survey conducted by the
Organisation of Economic Co-operation and
Development (ECD) has found. The survey
unveiled in April 2011 shows that people in
Mexico work for the longest number of hours (10
hours) followed by Japan (9 hours) while
Belgium has been ranked lowest (7.1 hours).
m 64th Cannes Film Award
American director Mr. Terence Malik won the
Palme d’or for the best picture of Cannes film for
The Tree of Life.
Best Actor : Jean Dujardin for The Artist.
Best Actress : Kristen Dunset for Melancholia
Best Director : Nocolas Winding Refin for Drive
m The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation earned over
Rs.2 crore from the sale of its 82,000 Certified
Emission Reductions (CERs) under the carbon
credits scheme by the Japan Finance Carbon
Limited for the years 2008 and 2009. The DMRC
was the first railway project in the world to be
registered by that United Nations under the clean
development mechanism which enabled it to
claim carbon credits for the use of regenerative
braking system in its rolling stock (trains).
m Aminatta Forna
The British born Sierra Leonean novelist
Aminatta Forna won Commonwealth Writers
Prize 2011 for her novel. The Memory Love.
4 Craig Cliff of New Zealand won the prize for the
best first book for A Man Melting.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m The Vice-Chairman, Tata Steel Ltd and
Chairman, Tata International Ltd, B. Muthuraman,
has been elected President of the Confederation
of Indian Industry for 2011-12 on April 11, 2011
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director,
Infosys S. Gopalakrishnan, been elected as Vice-
President of CII for 2011-2012.
m Rs. 7000 crore to clean Ganga
The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs (CCEA) approved on April 28, 2011 a Rs.
7000 crore project to clean the Ganga. The
National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA)
will implement the protect.
m Tendulkar was on April 13, 2011 named Wisdens
Leading Cricketer in the World for the year 2010.
m Jaitapur Nuclear Project
The centre govt. on April 26, 2011 gave green
signal for the Ist phase of the controversial
Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant in Maharashtra.
m Commonwealth Games bronze winner Sanjeev
Rajput on April 14, 2011 became the third Indian
marks man to book berth for London Olympics
(2012) after winning tie gold medal at the 50m
Rifle 3 Positions Men Final at Shooting World
Cup in Changwon, Korea.
m 9 - 9.5% growth target for 12th plan
Planning Commission agreed on April 21, 2011
to work towards a growth target of 9 - 9.5% for the
12th Five Year Plan (2012 - 2017).
4 M.S. Ahluwalia is the Deputy Chairman of
Planning Commission
m The provisional figures of Census 2011 were
released in New Delhi on March 31, 2011 by Union
Home Secretary G. K. Pillai and Registrar-General
of India C. Chandramouli.
4 The population of the country as per the provi-
sional figures of Census 2011 is 1210.19 million
4 of which 623.72 million (51.54%) are males
4 and 586.46 million (48.46%) are females.
4 UP remains most populous state with 199
million.
4 Overall sex ratio at 940 - 7 point increase over
2001.
4 Literacy rate goes up to 74.04% from 64.83%.
m Central Tax Rs. 7.92 Lakh crore
The Central tax collection - direct and Indirect
reached Rs. 7.92 lakh crore in 2010 - 11
exceeding even the revised estimate on the back
of strong economic growth. Of the total, the direct
tax was about 4.50 lakh crore and indirect tax
about Rs. 3.42 lakh crore.
4 The total Budget estimate for direct and
indirect tax collection was 7.45 lakh crore for
2011 -11 which was revised upwards to 7.80
lakh crore. In 2009 -10, the Govt. had collected
about Rs. 5.75 lakh crore.
m The Government of India on April 9, 2011 issued
a notification constituting a Joint Drafting
Committee to prepare a draft of the Lok Pal Bill.
The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five
nominee Ministers of the Government of India
and five nominees of Anna Hazare (including
himself). The five nominee Ministers of the
Government of India are: (i) Pranab Mukherjee,
Union Minister of Finance; (ii) P. Chidambaram,
Union Minister of Home Affairs; (iii) Dr Veerappa
Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice; (iv) Kapil
Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and
Development and Minister of Communication and
Information Technology and Salman Khursheed,
Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister
of Minority Affairs. The five nominees of Anna
Hazare (civil group) are: (i) Anna Hazare; (ii)
Justice N. Santosh Hedge; (iii) Shanti Bhushan,
Senior Advocate; (iv) Prashan Bhushan, Advocate
and (v) Arvind Kejriwal. The Chairperson of the
Joint Drafting Committee shall be Pranab
Mukherjee while Shanti Bhushan shall be the
Co- Chairperson. The Convenor of the Joint
Drafting Committee shall be Dr M Veerappa Moily.
m PSLV - C16 successfully launched 3 satellite from
Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in
2011. They are Resourcesat 2, Youthsat and X-
sat.
m The Union Sports Ministry on April 6, 2011 formed
a committee, headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal,
Retd. Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab
and Haryana, to make appropriate
recommendations to fine-tune the draft National
Sports Development Bill that puts a limit on the
age and tenure of sports federation heads.
m Goodluck Jonathan : Reelected the President of
Nigeria.
m Ajay Maken, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Youth
Affairs and Sports, inaugurated Youth
Employability Skill (YES) Project at Imphal,
Manipur, on April 4, 2011 by enrolling 100 youths
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for skill development. Under the Project, skill relating
training would be given to the youths in the North-
Eastern Region to boost their chances of finding jobs
or starting their own enterprises. The National Skill
Development Corporation (NSDC), which has been
co-promoted by the Ministry of Finance to catalyze
private sector involvement in skill development, would
partner the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MoYAS)
for the YES venture.
m Martin Rees : The British astrophysicist won 2011
Templeton Prize. The award prize one million
sterling ($1.6 million) is world highest award.
m Veteran journalist Ajit Bhattacharjea, a leading
figure of the right to information movement,
passed away on April 4, 2011 at the age of 87. In
a career spanning 37 years, Bhattacharjea served
as Editor of The Hindustan Times, The Times of
India and The Indian Express and after retirement
had held that poet of Press Institute of India
Director among some of his assignments.
m Abbottabad (Pakistan) the World’s most wanted
terrorist and al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden
was shot dead at this place near Karachi.
m Astronomer Hafiz Saleh Mohammad Alladin, 80,
educational adviser to former president APJ
Abdul Kalam passed away on March 21, 2011.
He was known for his research on the solar and
lunar eclipses of 1934.
m India Export grows 37.55%
India export recorded an impressive jump of
37.55% to $245.86 billion in 2010 -11. The target
for export is set up at $300 billion for 2011 -12.
Import crossed $350 billion but it grew at a
lower price of 21.6% to $350.69 billion in 2010 -
11 over the previous year. The trade deficit of $
104.82 billion was less than the earlier forecast
of $120-130 billion.
m Joint commemoration of the 150th birth
anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, a Tagore
tourist circuit, Robi Tirtha, dramatisation of his
works and feature films on him, and expansion
of terms of the 1972 cultural agreement - these
were the issues discussed by Culture
Secretaries of India and Bangladesh on April 8,
2011.
m The Emperor of All Maladies : A Biography of
Cancer : won Pulitzel Prize 2011. The author
Siddhartha Mukherjee is and Indian - American
Physician.
m Sangeet Natak Akademi chairperson Leela
Samson and Member of Parliament Kapila
Vatsyayan launching the Akademi's first Hindi
quarterly magazine, "Sangia", in New Delhi on
April 4, 2011.
m Rajendra Pawer has been appointed the
chairman of the Executive council of the National
Association of Software and Services
Companies (NASSI COM)
m April 5, 2011 was celebrated as the National
Maritime Day. The theme or this year is "Indian
Coast Line-A New Opportunity".
m K. Balachander : won Dadasaheb Phalke Award
2010 for life long contribution to Indian Cinema.
m Pune-based Centre for Development of Advanced
Computing (C-DAC) has introduced a tool that
can help in detecting the problem of data
duplication where a single individual is issued
more than one copy of a document. The tool,
Namescape, can help in detecting names which
can be spelling variants or sound-alikes. The tool
was announced to mark C-DAC's 24th
Foundation Day on April 4, 2011. Apart from
Namescape, C-DAC has developed another tool
named Taxo Grid' that can help in rapid
identification of the causes of an epidemic.
m S.L.Bhyrappa : the Kannada writer won
Saraswathi Samman 2011 for his novel Mandra.
m NHAI has come out with a 'Secret Service Fund'
that is aimed at rewarding whistle-blowers and
cleansing the system if corruption in April 2011.
The fund with an allocation of Rs. 10 lakh for
2011-12 will be used to offer cash rewards to
informants providing authentic information,
regarding corruption and irregularities.
m Michel Martelly : Elected President of Haiti on
April 5, 2011.
m Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on April 6, 2011
signed a memorandum of understanding to set
up Aryabhatta Geo-Informatics and Space
Application Centre (AGiSAC) in Himachal
Pradesh. The centre to set in collaboration with
the Gandhinagar-based Bhaskaracharya
Institute for Space Application and Geo-
Informatics (BISAG) to facilitate use of geo-spatial
technologies for decision-making and planning
of developmental activities in the hill State.
m Duncan Fletcher (Zimbabwe) : Appointed coach
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
of the Indian Cricket team for two years on April
27, 2011.
m The World Health Organisation (WHO) has
called for intensification of the global commitment
to safeguard antibiotics for future generations on
the occasion of the World Health Day on April 7,
2011. The WHO has made "increasing effects of
antimicrobial resistance" as the theme of this
year's World Health Day.
m Sachin Tendulkar : was named Wisden’s
Leading Cricketer in the World for the year 2010.
m Michel Joseph Martelly was elected President of
Haiti following his victory in the Haitian
presidential election of 2011.
m Kanishtha Dhankhar : Pantaloons Femina Miss
India 2011.
m Kazakhstan's President of two-decades
Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected for another
five-year term winning an astonishing 95 per cent
of the vote in the poll on April 3, 2011 that saw a
record 90-per cent turnout.
m Nandita Das : was conferred the French honour
of Knight of the Order of Art and Letters. She is a
well known actor - director of Indian films.
m The UN on April 8, 2011 decided to send a three-
member commission under veteran war crimes
expert Prof Cherif Bassiouni to probe the human
rights excesses in Libya in the ongoing civil war
with both rebels and government agreeing to give
the panel an access.
m Nepal Amends interim constitution
On May 29, 2011 the major political parties in
Nepal amended the nations interim constitution
and extended the term of Constituent Assembly
by three months.
m The fourth South Asian Conference on Sanitation
(SACOSAN-IV) was organised in Colombo on April 4,
2011 to discuss plans for creating sanitation
facilities for the 700 million plus uncovered people
of the SAARC region. India has the largest
uncovered population in the world.
4 International Renewable Energy Agency
(IREA)
m Average life expectancy : 68
World Health Organisation (WHO) Health
statistics 2011 said that the global average life
expectancy at birth stood at 68 years in 2009 an
increase by 2 years since 2000.
Life expectancy at birth (2009) both sexes
Japan - 83
China - 74
Sri Lanka - 71
India - 65
m The UAE will house the permanent headquarters
of the International Renewable Energy Agency
(IRENA), the body that aims to help its 149
members define their strategy in renewable
energies.
4 This is the second headquarters of an
international agency affiliated to the UN in a
developing country after Nairobi in Kenya,
which 'houses the headquarters of UNEP
(United Nations Environment Programme).
m India and Thailand on April 4, 2011 agreed to
intensify Defence and security cooperation as well
as double bilateral trade over the next three years.
Bilateral trade between the two countries has
grown 6 fold in the last decade and touched US $
6 billion last year, growing at over 30% from the
previous year.
m Stephen Harper reelected the Prime Minister of
Canada.
m The Union Commerce and Industry Ministry on
April 6, 2011 launched a new product - 'Buyer's
Credit under The National Export Insurance
Account (NEIA)’ to boost project exports from
India. The product is to ensure that Indian
companies are in a competitive position in project
bids vis-a-vis their peers from other nations.
m 640 Districts : The Cabinet Committee on
infrastructure approved on April 20, 2011 the roll-
out of the e - district mission mode project in all
640 districts of the country.
m India has joined tie system for the Mutual
Acceptance of Data (MAD) in the Assessment of
Chemicals, a multilateral agreement supported
by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD). Its decision to join
the OECD pact in April 2011 makes India the third
key emerging economy after South Africa and
Singapore to get on board the platform for
ensuring that the results of its non-clinical
chemical safety testing will be accepted in all
other participating countries.
m Poverty in India - 32%
The latest Planning Commission date made
available on April 20, 2011 showed that poverty in
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
India has declined to 32% in 2009 -10 from 37.2%
five years ago. The estimate are based on the
formula suggested by the Tendulkar Committee
for computing the numbers of poor.
m Minimum Wages
The Union government has revised the minimum
wages, payable for any work, coming under the
schedule of employment, by Rs.15 per day and
fixed the new National Floor Level Minimum Wage
(NFLMW) at Rs.115 instead of Rs. 100/-per day
effective from April 1, 2011. The new rate has been
fixed or the basis of All - India Consumer Price
Index for Industrial Workers. The NFLMW is a non-
statutory measure.
m G - 20 to track Indias, Economy
At the meeting held in Washington, USA on April
16, 2011, the G-20 Finance Chiefs agreed on a
set of surveillance guidelines to examine the
financial regime in the world’s seven largest
economies, including India. Other are USA, China,
Japan, Germany, France and Britain.
The exercise is aimed at identifying and
dealing with any major imbalances that could
pose a risk for the global economy.
m An task force - comprising top representatives of
the health ministry, the Department of Industrial
Policy and Promotion, the National
Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, various drug
industry bodies and business chambers - has
been formed to bring out a report on a long-term
policy for the pharma sector. The task force,
headed by V M Katoch, director general of Indian
Council of Medical Research and secretary to
Department of health Research, has been asked
to give its report within three months of its first meeting.
m Russia celebrate 50 years space conquest
Russia marked on April 12, 2011 a half century
since Yuri Gagarin became the first person in
space in the history of mankind.
m National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF)
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on
April 7, 2011 approved the constitution of a
National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) along with
guidelines and modalities for approval of projects
to be eligible for financing under this fund. NCEF
will be used for funding research and innovative
projects in clean energy technologies.
Government assistance under it will not exceed
40 percent of the total project cost.
m ASEAN capital market
Seven stock exchange of the Association of South
East Asian Nations (ASEAN) started a
collaboration on April 8, 2011 to create ASEAN
Stock Exchange.
m The President of India on April 5, 2011 has
sanctioned the constitution of a Committee to
review the role, functioning and structure of the
Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) in
the changed economic scenario. The members
are: S. S. Khan Retired Member, Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT); Vijay Lakshmi Sharma
Member, Central Board of Excise and Customs
(CBEC); Dr. Kewal Ram, Senior Economic
Advisor Department of Consumer Affairs and
Deputy Director General (CEIB) Member
(Secretary) to the Committee.
m India 5th most powerful nations
The largest National Security Index (NSI)
designed by the country’s foremost security and
economic exports has put India at the 5th rank
among the 50 most powerful nations in the world.
m National Water Mission
The Union Cabinet on April 6, 2011 approved the
Comprehensive Mission Document of the
National Water Mission. The National Water
Mission is one of the 8 National Missions which
form the core of the National Action Plan for
Climate Change. Five goals identified in the
National Water Mission are Comprehensive
water data base in public domain and
assessment of the impact of climate change on
water resources; promotion of citizen and state
actions for water conservation, augmentation and
preservation; focused attention to vulnerable
areas including over-exploited areas; increasing
water use efficiency by 20%; and promotion of
basin level integrated water resources
management. A two-tier setup has been
proposed, one at Central level and the other at
State level for framing the policies and guidelines
for implementation of the National Water Mission.
m National Clean Energy Fund
Cabinet on April 6, 2011 cleared the creation of a
National Clean Energy Fund. The fund will finance
green energy project and research ventures
aimed at reducing India’s carbon foot print.
m ADB’s Forcast
The Manila-based Asian Development Bank
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
(ADB) on April 6, 2011 scaled down its projections
for India's economic growth in 2011-12 to 8.2 per
cent from earlier forecast of 8.7 per cent, expecting
high global crude prices and RBI's tight monetary
policy to cast shadow on economic expansion.
At 8.2 per cent, economic growth would be lower
by 0.4 percentage points over the expected
economic growth rate last financial year.
m National Water Mission
The cabinet approved the National Water Mission,
one of the eight national mission that constitute
the national action plan for climatic change.
m 18000 Tonnes Gold !
A study by the World Gold Council, India: Heart of
Gold', states Indian households hold the largest
stock of gold in the world at 18,000 tonnes.
m Muttiah Muralitharan retires
Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan took
retirement from One-day Cricket on April 2, 2011.
He has taken 800 and 534 wickets respectively
in Test and one day crickets respectively.
m BEE STAR Ver 1
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in April
2011 launched a voluntary endorsement label -
BEE STAR Ver 1 for notebook computers and
laptops, which will indicate that the product is
among the most energy efficient models
available in the country.
m Hu Jintao topped Forbes list
Chinese President Hu Jintao topped the Forbes
list of worlds most powerful persons released in
March, 2011.
m Pratip Chaudhuii SBI Chairman
Pratip Chaudhuii on April 8, 2011 took over as the
new Chairman of the country's largest
commercial bank State Bank of India (SBI).
m Lakshmi Mittal richest Indian
Steel businessman Lakshmi Mittal became the
worlds richest Indian as per Fobes list of worlds
richest.
m Sushil Munhot, Executive Director, IDBI Bank, was
in April 2011 appointed as Chairman and
Managing Director of the Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
m Mukesh in Bank of America
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries
Limited was appointed on March 17, 2011 as a
Director on the Board of Bank of America. He is
the first non American to join the Board.
m India is once again trying to acquire 'The Kraal'-
Mahatma Gandhi's house in Johannesburg. The
Union government, in March 2011, gave PSU Coal
India Ltd the approval to acquire the property and
convert it into a Gandhi memorial. The house
was designed by Hermann Kallenbach, whose
relation with the Mahatma was in news in Joseph
Lelyveld's new book 'Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi
and his Struggle with India'.
m Asian Development outlook 2011
The Asian Development outlook the annual
economic publication of Asian Development
Bank (ADB) was released on April 7, 2011.
ADB projected a regional GDP growth of
7.8% in 2011 and 7.7% in 2012.
The report says that developing Asia will
continue to expand solidly over the next two years.
m Imprisoned Iranian journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi
was on April 7, 2011 selected as winner of this
year's UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press
Freedom Prize.
m Global Trade to grow 6.5% in 2011 : WTO
According to WTO, world trade will grow by a
moderate 6.5% in 2011 as uncertainties continue
to persist in major economies.
4 Pascal Lamy is Director General of WTO.
m Kannada writer S. L. Bhyrappa was on April 5,
2011 chosen for the prestigious Saraswati
Samman for his novel 'Mandra'.
m Goa highest percapita in India
The centre announced that Goa recorded the
hightest per capita income (PCI) (Rs132,719)
among all states and Union Territories during
2009-10. It is followed by the Union Territories of
Chandigarh (Rs. 120, 912) and Delhi (Rs.
116886), Bihar recorded the lowest per capita
income (Rs. 16119) during the period.
4 Per capita income of Indian grow by 14.5% to
Rs. 46492 in 2009 -10 from Rs. 40605 in the
year ago period.
m World Cup winning captain of the Indian team,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was offered an honorary
commission in the Territorial Army, during his
meeting with the Chief of the Army Staff General
V.K. Singh in New Delhi on April 5, 2011.
m FIDE Grand Prix
India Koneru Humby won the 6th and final
tournament of FIDE women Grand Prix series
chess in Doha.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m India launched its first pollution cap and trade
scheme on March 24, 2011. The pilot scheme
will cover air pollution caused by 1,000 industries
in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat, and
could have a significant impact on public health.
m Three SIsters : Book authored by BI Feiyu which
won Asia top literary prize, the $30,000 Man Asian
Literary Prize.
m Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for
Environment and Forests launched the Real time
Ambient Noise Monitoring Network on March 23,
2011. The Network will cover seven metros in
Phase-I viz. Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai,
Bangalore and Chennai.
m Saina Nehwal : Indian Badminton player won the
Swiss Open Grand Prix title 2011.
m The government on March 22, 2011 cleared the
Bureau of Indian Standards (Amendment) Bill,
2011 paving the way for introduction of mandatory
hallmarking of more products including gold.
m Financial sector Legislative Reform
Commission (FSLRC)
The centre has constituted Financial sector
Legislative Reform Commission which is
headed by former Justice B.N. Srikrishna.
m Six New IITs
The Lok Sabha on March 24, 2011 passed a bill
to provide status of IIT to eight new institutes and
upgrade Banarus Hindu University institute of
technology into IIT. The Bill seeks to add eight
new institutes at Bhubaneshwar, Gandhi nagar,
Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhour, Mandi, Patna and
Ropar as IITs and integrate the Institute of
Technology, BHU within the ambit of the Act. All
the entities will also be declared as institutions
of national importance.
m Harish Mariwala FICCI President
Harish Mariwala, chairman and MD of Marico Ltd.
took over as the President of Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
m Odisha & Odia
Orissa will hereafter be called 'Odisha' and the
Oriya language will be known as 'Odia' with
Parliament on March 24, 2011 giving approval to
amendment of the Constitution and also passing
the related bill.
m Census - 2011
4 India’s population : 1.21 billion. A rise over
181 million from the last decade (1991-2001).
4 There are 914 female for every 1000 males
(in 2001 it was 927)
4 India has 17.5% world population.
4 Literary is 74%
m Pension Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority
The government on March 24, 2011 introduced
the PFRDA Bill in the Lok Sabha to give statutory
status to interim pension regulator and promoting
old age income security. The Bill provides for
establishing a statutory regulatory body to be
called the Pension Fund Regulatory and
Development Authority (PFRDA), which will
undertake promotional, developmental and
regulatory functions in respect to pension funds.
m Centre allocates Rs. 2500 crore for MSMEs.
The centre government create a Rs. 2500 crore
fund for technology modernisation of the Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by
2012.
m Code name given to the operation to kill Al-Qaeda
chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan - Operation
Geronimo
m World Tuberculosis Day was observed on March
24, 2011. On this day in 1882, Dr Robert Koch
had detected the cause of tuberculosis, the TB
bacillus. A new low-cost TB Drug, Risorine, was
launched by CSIR and Cadila on March 24.
m The Conservative Prime Minister of Canada: -
Stephen Harper
m The foundation stone for Sankhya, The National
Museum of Statistics at the University of
Hyderabad (UoH) campus was laid by former
President, A.PJ. Abdul Kalam in Hyderabad on
March 30, 2011.
m The name of the train which will run between
Kolkata and Dhaka – Sonar Tori (Golden Boat)
m Climate for you
March 23, 2011 was observed as 'World
Meteorological Day. World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) has decided to focus on
'Climate for You' as its theme for 2011.
m The US-Middle East envoy who resigned recently
– George J Mitchell
m The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) and the
Indian Navy (IN) conducted the annual Singapore
Indian Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) from
18 to 25 Mar 2011.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m One of the torch-bearers of Indian theater who
died recently in Kolkata – Badal Sircar
m The United Kingdom-based Global Risks Atlas
2011 March 25, 2011 described India as the 16th
riskiest country to invest in for the security hazards
it poses and rather embarrassingly clubs it with
Niger, Bangladesh and Mali. The four countries
flagged red as extreme risks are Somalia, Sudan,
Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of
Congo; in other words, un-investible. Pakistan is
not far behind at 7th. Denmark, Sweden, Finland
and Norway are listed as among the least risky
countries to invest; and Norway claimed the
overall crown as the safest place.
m The German Chancellor who has been chosen
for the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for
International Understanding recently. - Angela
Merkel
m NASA spacecraft Stardust has ended a 12-year
run that helped tie world better understand
comets and plan for future deep space missions,
said the U.S. space agency on March 25, 2011.
The spacecraft launched by NASA in February
1999, visited asteroid 5535 Annefrank, comet Wild
2 and comet Tempel 1.
m The first Arunachal women to scale Everest –
Tine Mena
m NATO will take over command and control of
military operations in Libya, in particular the
enforcement of the no-fly zone imposed under a
Security Council resolution, said its Secretary
General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on March
24,2011.
m The IMF chief who resigned but denied sex
charges – Dominique Strauss-Kahn
m Israel has decided to hand over ownership of a
czarist-era landmark in the heart of Jerusalem to
Russia, defusing a long dispute between the
two countries ahead of PM Benjamin
Netanyahu's visit to Moscow. The property known
as Sergei's Courtyard was built in 1890 to
accommodate Russian pilgrims to the Holy Land.
m The iconic American author who has won 2011
Man Booker International Prize—Philip Roth
4 His famous novels are, Goodbye Columbus,
Portnoy’s Complaint and The Human Stain
m Legendary Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor,
79, who captured hearts in National Velvet to
launch a film career that spanned five decades,
passed away on March 23, 2011.
m The country in which authorities has shut its
airspace after most active volcano began
spewing ash cloud 20 kilometers into the sky –
Iceland
m The Ministry of Water Resources celebrated
World Water Day-2011 on March 22, 2011. The
theme for World Water Day-2011 is 'Water for
cities: responding to the urban challenge'.
Commensurate with the theme the Congress has
special focus on the urban areas. Jagabalia
Watershed Association, an NGO from Orissa,
bagged the coveted National Water Award.
m The Tamil Nadu minister for Environment
Pollution Control and Minorities Welfare who was
killed in road accident on May 23 – Marian Pitchai
m World Forestry Day and the International Year for
Forests were observed on March 21, 2011.
m The UNESO has recently shortlisted the Western
Ghats for inclusion in the – World Heritage list
m The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
on March 23, 2011 selected John Willard Milnor
of the Institute for Mathematical Sciences in the
University of Stony Brook, U.S.A, for its prestigious
Abel Prize for the year 2011.
m The naval base in Karachi which has been
attacked by militants – Mehran
m MD Mallya, the chairman & managing director of
Bank of Baroda, got the Banker of the Year award.
m The second Africa-India summit was held in 2011
in – Addis Ababa
m The Modified National Agricultural Insurance
Scheme (MNAIS) was implemented on pilot basis
in rabi 2010-11. The new scheme takes
panchayat, as against district in the earlier
scheme, as a unit for insurance purposes.
m The last titular Maharaja of Jaipur who died
recently – Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh
m The Union government on March 24, 2011
issued the resolution notifying the constitution of
the 11-member Financial Sector Legislative
Reforms Commission (FSLRC), headed by
Justice (retired) B.N. Srikrishna.
m The Puducherry Lt Governor who said, on April
17, that he was ready to tender his resignation
over the Hasan Ali drama – Iqbal Singh
m Over 2.27 lakh rare medical formulations, which
were part of the country's ancient texts, have now
been digitized into the path breaking Traditional
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). This was
revealed at the International Conference on
Utilization of TKDL as a model for the protection
of Traditional Knowledge organised in New Delhi
on March 22, 2011.
m The popular singer-turned-politician who was,
on April 21, declared winner of Haiti’s presidential
election – Michel Martelly
m The government on March 2, 2011 inched a step
closer to the introduction of the Goods and
Services Tax (GST) by tabling a Constitution
Amendment Bill in Parliament that seeks to
provide powers to the Centre and states to make
laws for levying tax on supply of goods and
services. Now, states are not allowed to tax
services, while the Centre can not tax sale of
goods.
m The prime chart for retail buyers of diamonds
which has been launched by the All India Gems
and Jewellery Trade Federation – Diamond Retail
Benchmark
m The Banking Laws (amendment) Bill 2011, which
will allow promoters and shareholders of private
banks to exercise voting rights in proportion to
their shareholding, was tabled in Parliament by
Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee on March 22,
2011. At present, this right is restricted to 10 per
cent of the total voting rights of all the shareholders
of a banking company.
m The controversial Jaitapur power project site is
in Ratnagiri district of – Maharashtra
m The National Payments Corporation on March
21, 2011 finalised the proposed unique India
Card which once commercially launched would
be an domestic alternative to the global real-time
payment processing firms like Visa and Master
Card.
m The growth target for 12th Five-Year plan (2012-
17) has been set at – 9.0-9.5 per cent
The objectives of the 12th plan are:
4 100 per cent literacy
4 Inclusive growth
4 Development of physical and social infrastructure
4 Fiscal consolidation
m Levon Aronian of Armenia won the Amber
Blindfold and Rapid Chess tournament in
Monaco on March 25, 2011 followed by Magnus
Carslen of Norway and Viswanathan Anand of
India in second and third positions respectively.
m The 12th plan expects to increase expenditure
on health from 1.3 per cent of GDP to at least –
2.0-2.5%
m The Union Cabinet on March 15, 2011 approved
the establishment of the Mahatma Gandhi
Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable
Development as a Category I Institute of UNESCO
in New Delhi.
m The country was estimated to have recorded an
annual growth rate of 8.2 per cent during 11th
plan as against the target of – 9%
m A high-power committee has called for sweeping
changes in the higher education system. The
committee constituted to evolve a comprehensive
policy for autonomy of central educational
institutions' (CEIs) has recommended that the
legislative framework under which these
universities were established be uniformly
revised and brought under a common Act. The
committee was headed by N.R. Madhava Menon.
It submitted its report to Human Resource
Development Minister Kapil Sibal in March 2011.
m According to Planning Commission, the
additional power needed by the country during
12th plan period is – 1,00,000MW
4 The commission also said the pricing of
diesel and petrol should be revisited and LPG
and kerosene subsidy should be targeted only
towards – BPL
m Starting in 2011-12, the central government is
planning to screen the entire population above
30 years of age for non-communicable illnesses
such as diabetes and hypertension in five years.
The project will be rolled out in 100 districts of
the country during 2011-12. All pregnant women,
irrespective of age, will also be part of this
exercise.
m The three satellites which were put into orbit on
April 20 by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV-C16) are:
(i) Resourcesat -2
(ii) Youthsat
(iii) X-Sat
4 The Resourcesat-2 will replace the
Resourcesat-1, which was put into orbit in --
October 2003.
4 The Resourcesat-2 is India’s 18th – remote-
sensing satellite
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m Goa became the first state in the country to
announce an allowance for the unemployed,
when chief minister Digambar Kamat presented
the 2011-12 budget on March 17, 2011.
m The political party which has been launched by
the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) – Welfare Party
of India
m BJP on March 15, 2011 said Murli Manohar Joshi
will continue as Chairman of Parliament's Public
Accounts Committee for 2011-12, currently
looking into anomalies in the 2G spectrum scam.
m For the fiscal ending 2010-11, India’s exports
posted an impressive 37.1 per cent rise at --
$ 245.9 billion
4 The growth target for 2010-11 was set at -
$ 220 billion
4 Imports stand at - $ 350.3 billion
4 Trade deficit is down at - $ 104.4 billion
m India abstained from voting on a United Nations
Security Council (UNSC) resolution approving "all
necessary measures," including imposition of a
no-fly zone over Libya on March 18, 2011. The
resolution was passed with 10 members,
including the U.S., France, the U.K. and Lebanon,
voting in favour and five - Russia, China (both
permanent members with veto rights), Brazil and
Germany, besides India - abstaining.
m The Indian-American whose book The Emperor
of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer has won
the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in the general non-fiction
category – Siddhartha Mukherjee
m India has emerged as the largest importer of
conventional arms, accounting for nearly a tenth
of all arms transfer between 2006 and 2010, said
the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute (SIPRI) in its latest arms transfer report
published on March 15, 2011. The share of the
top four countries are India (9 per cent), China (6
per cent), South Korea (6 per cent) and Pakistan
(5 per cent). India imports 82 per cent of its list
from Russia. Britain (six per cent) and Israel
(three per cent) are the second and third largest
suppliers of arms for India.
m Pakistan, on April 19, claimed to have
successfully conducted the first flight test of the
newly developed short-range surface-to-surface
multitude ballistic missile named – Haft IX Nasr
m A NASA spacecraft named 'MESSENGER' began
orbiting Mercury on March 17, 2011, becoming
the first to fly around the solar system's
innermost planet. The spacecraft began its
journey more than six years ago, travelling
through the inner solar system and embarking
on flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury.
m The country in which more that 83 inmates died
when fire swept through the San Miguel prison –
Chile
m Iran has launched a rocket into space carrying a
test capsule designed to house an animal amid
Western concerns over Tehran's scientific
advances. The Kavoshgar-4 rocket was
launched on March 15, 2011.
m The 2011 annual India-European Union (EU)
summit was held in – Brussels
m Niger opposition leader Mahamadou Issoufou
of the Social Democratic Party won the
Presidential run-off election organised on March
12, 2011 with nearly 58% of the vote. Niger, a
largely desert nation in West Africa, has huge
reserves of uranium and has attracted billions of
dollars of investment.
m The person who was named for induction into
the International Boxing Hall of Fame and
Museum – Mike Tyson
m The newly appointed secretary- general of the
SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation), Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed of
Maldives, assumed office at the SAARC
Secretariat in the Nepali capital Kathmandu on
March 2 2011.
4 SAARC has 8 members
m The PSU which has topped the list of top 500
Indian companies compiled by the business
magazine Fortune – IOC
m The Chief of Amry Staff (CoAS) General V K Singh
on March 11, 2011 became the first Indian officer
to be inducted into the 'Hall of Fame' of US Army
War College, Carlisle, USA.
m The winner of the Hong Kong Open Women’s
Single Title – Saina Nehwal
m Author Julian Sarnes, whose novels include
Flaubert's Parrot and England, England, was
presented with the David Cohen Prize for
Literature in London on March 18, 2011.
m The winner of the Rajasthan Patrika Group’s KC
Kulish International Award for Excellence in Print
Media Journalism 2009 – New Crusading Guide
(Ghana)
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) will be
implemented in the coming year (2011-12) with a
budget of Rs. 7860 crore and nine sub-schemes.
m The noted Assamese film director who passed
away recently – Hridayananda Agarwal
m Credit rating agency CRISIL has assessed that
the retail loan portfolio of NBFCs, excluding
mortgages, is likely to equal that of commercial
banks by end March-2013. The report titled 'Retail
NBFCs: The shine is back, but will it last?' was
released on March 13, 2011.
m The Asian Television award for the Best Current
Affairs Presenter was presented to – Karan
Thapar
m In a move that will reduce uncertainty in liquidity
and short-term interest rates, a Reserve Bank of
India committee on March 16, 2011 suggested a
single policy rate regime, on the lines of the US
Fed Rate or the Bank Rate of the Bank of England.
The committee on the operating procedure of
monetary policy headed by Deepak Mohanty, an
executive director of RBI, said in its report the
repo rate should be the single policy rate to
unambiguously signal the stance of monetary
policy to achieve the macroeconomic objectives
of growth with price stability.
m The former UP chief secretary who has been
sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment
by the CBI special court – Neera Yadav
m The Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority (RKDA) on March 12, 2011 directed the
general insurance companies to augment the
Indian Motor Third Party Insurance Pool (IMTPIP)
reserves to maintain a solvency ratio of 150 per
cent by March 2014 from the present 126 per
cent in order to meet the cost of higher
compensation to le paid to road accident victims.
• The amount that Wipro chairman Azim Premji has
donated towards educating the rural poor –
Rs. 8,846crore
m 9.5% interest for Provident Fund
The Union Finance Ministry on March 17, 2011
approved a 9.5 per cent interest rate to over 4.7
crore depositors with the Employees Provident
Fund Organisation (EPFO) for 2010-11.
m The author of the book Jawaharlal Nehru:
Civilizing A Savage World – Nayantara Sahgal
m National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
has reduced the switching fee for mobile money
transfers using the inter-bank mobile payment
service (IMPS) to 10 paise from the proposed 25
paise for a successful transaction to the remitting
bank. It would be effective from April 1 until the
end of the next fiscal.
m The RBI has reduced the statutory liquidity ratio
(SLR) of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs)
from 25 per cent to – 24 per cent
m Under Bharat Nirman, the Government envisages
to cover all the 2,50,000 village panchayats with
broadband by 2012. As of January 2011, 97,548
Village Panchayats have been covered with
broadband.
m The Chinese premier who visited India recently
– Wen Jiabao
m P.C. Chacko JPC Chairman
Senior Congress leader from Kerala and four-
time Lok Sabha member P.C. Chacko has been
named Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary
Committee (JPC) to probe the alleged scam in
the grant of 2G spectrum and telecom licences
from 1998 to 2009.
m The person who has been selected to be the
next Chief Information Commissioner –
Satyanand Mishra
m Veteran Congress leader and former MP CM and
Union Minister Arjun Singh passed away on
March 4, 2011 at the age of 81.
m The state government which has formally
announced its decision to do away with the MLA
Local Area Development (LAD) Fund – Bihar
m Tiger Man passed away
Celebrated conservationist Fateh Singh Rathore
passed away at the age of 79 on March 1, 2011.
The "Tiger Man", as he was popularly known in
conservation circles all over the world, was known
for his conservation efforts at the Ranthambhore
National Park in Rajasthan.
m The special envoy of US President Barack
Obama for Afghanistan and Pakistan who died
recently – Richard Holbrooke
4 He will be succeeded by – Frank Ruggiero
m Eminent astrophysicist, and son of the illustrious
Sir CV Raman, Venkatraman Radhakrishnan,
who is known for his work on pulsars, passed
away on March 3, 2011 at the age of 82.
m The founder and chief executive of the Facebook
social net working site who has been named
616
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Time magazine’s 2010 Person of the Year – Mark
Zuckerburg
m In its first major vote after joining the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the next two
years, India on February 27, 2011 voted in favour
of sanctions against Libyan leader Muammar
Qadhafi, his relatives and associates, in
Brussels.
m The socialist thinker and activist who died
recently – Surendra Mohan
m US State Department on March 1, 2011 informed
the Indian Embassy here that it has no objection
to the establishment of Indian Consulate in
Atlanta, Georgia. Currently besides the Indian
Embassy in Washington, India has four
consulates in the US - New York, Houston,
Chicago and San Francisco.
m The player who embraced history at Centurion
on December 18 by becoming the first batsman
to notch up 50 Test hundreds – Sachin Tendulkar
m Fiji has decided to delete the Queen's head from
all its coins and banknote amid diplomatic row
over Britain's support for the removal of the country
from the Commonwealth. She will be replaced
by engraving of native trees and animals when a
new batch of currency is issued in June.
m The founder of Wikileaks – Julian Assange
m Three international bodies, including the World
Bank, Global Facility for Disaster Reconstruction
and Recovery (GFDRR) and the UN International
Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) on March
2, 2011 announced the launch of a global
innovation competition aimed at showcasing
services, products and approaches to post-
disaster recovery and reconstruction.
m Iran’s atomic chief who officially took charge as
the new foreign minister after his predecessor
was fired by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad –
Ali Akbar Salehi
m The US on March 5, 2011 deposited its
instrument of acceptance to join the International
Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), becoming
its 63rd member.
m The new chief of Research and Analysis Wing
(RAW) – Sanjeev Tripathi
m Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus (born 1940)
was on March 2, 2011 sacked from his post of
Managing Director of Grameen Bank.
Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank,
sacked him saying he was past retirement age
and had been improperly installed in his post.
m 48th National Premier chess championship was
won by – Parimarjan Negi
m Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was on
March 2, 2011 given Russia's highest award, the
Order of St Andrew, to mark his 80th birthday.
m The promoter of Jaipur Foot who has been
honoured by the Philippine Parliament –
VR Mehta
Union Budget 2011 : Highlights
1. Indian economy expected to grow at 9% in
2011-12.
2. Direct Tax Code (DTC) to be effective from April01,
2012.
3. National Mission for Hybrid and Electric Vehicles
to be launched.
4. National Innovation Council set up. Additional
Rs.500 crore for National Skill Development Fund.
5. Fiscal deficit kept at 4.6% of GDP for 2011-12.
6. Income Tax exemption limit for general category
in individual tax payers enhanced from
Rs.1,60,000 to Rs.1,80,000.
7. Qualifying age for senior citizens lowered to 60;
senior citizen above 80 year to get Rs.5,00,000
IT exemption.
8. 130 items brought under Central excise: Of the
370 items that enjoy exemption from Central
excise duty but are chargeable to VAT, 130 that
are mainly in the nature of consumer goods will
be subject to a nominal Central excise duty of I
per cent. Basic food and fuel will continue to be
exempt. The remaining 240 items will be brought
into the tax net when GST is introduced.
9. Peak Customs duty remains 10%: Peak customs
duty will be retained at 10 per cent, in view of
continued uncertainties in the global economy.
However, some rationalisation is being done to
unify three rates i lamely, 2 per cent, 2.5 per cent
and 3 per cent at I he middle level of 2.5 per cent.
10. 20% export duty en iron ore : The export duty on
iron ore has beet raised and unified at 20 per
cent ad valort m. Full exemption from export duty
is being provided to iron ore pellets to encourage
the value addition process for fines.
11. Bringing green revolution in the east : Rs 400
crore has been allocated to bring in a green
revolution in the East. The programme will target
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
improvement in the rice-based cropping system
of Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand,
eastern Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
12. New mission for livestock: A National Mission
for Protein Supplements will be launched with
an allocation of Rs 300 crore. It will take up
activities to promote animal-based protein
production through livestock development, dairy
farming, piggery goat rearing and fisheries in
selected blocks.
13. Defence budget increases by 11.6%: With some
major deals expected to be clinched this year,
the Finance Minister substantially raised defence
budget allocation by 11.6 per cent to Rs 1,64,415
crore for 2011 12 torn last year's Rs 1,47,344
crore. Of the total outlay, Rs 69,199 crore has
been allocated for the aquisition of modern and
new weapon systems.
m The Union Cabinet on March 4, 2011 gave its
approval to the Banking Regulation (Amendment)
Bill, which proposes to increase the voting rights
of foreign investors in private sector banks.
m Mobile banking is set to get a boost from IMPS. It
stands for – Inter-Bank Mobile Payment Service
m India, has taken over as the co-chair of the Asia
Pacific Regional Review Group of the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental
policy-making body which sets global standards
to combat money laundering and terrorist
financing.
m The Himachal Pradesh- born actress who is
appointed as the state tourism’s brand
ambassador – Preity Zinta
m India on February 28, 2011 joined the elite club of
advanced countries producing Titanium sponge
when the Defence minister AK Antony inaugurated
the 500-tonne capacity Titanium Sponge plant at
Chavara near Kollam in Kerala.
m India has clarified that there are no travel or
residency restrictions for people with – Human
Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)
m India has emerged as one of the to ten
manufacturers of the world, even as the world
manufacturing value addition (MVA) gnv 5.3 per
cent in 2010, according to the United Nations
Industrial Development Organisation (UNDO) on
March 3, 2011.
m The Janata Dal (United ) leader who was sworn
in as the 32nd Chief Minister of Bihar for the
second consecutive term – Nitish Kumar
4 The Governor of Bihar who administered the
oath of office – Debanand Konwar
4 The Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic
Alliance, which contested the Assembly
elections on the development platform, won
the biggest ever election victory in the State,
bagging 206 of the – 243 seats
m The five day India-ASEAN Business Far &
Business Conclave 2011 was organised in New
Delhi from March 1-5, 2011.
m The new chief of Intelligence Bureau (IB) –
Nehchal Sandhu
m A multi-media campaign, "Swabhimaan", has
been launched to inform, educate and motivate
people to open bank accounts.
m The animal rights crusader who was presented
the Shining World Compassion Award along with
a cheque for 20,000 dollars from Supreme Master
Ching Hai International Association – Maneka
Gandhi
m The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) will launch an economic
survey of India in a big way in June this yeas to
explore the scope for cooperation between India
and OECD in the field of global tax reforms,
sharing of information among different countries
in cases of tax evasion and money laundering.
m The nuclear power project to be set up in
collaboration with a French firm in Maharashtra
that received clearance from the environment
ministry – Jaitapur
m ONGC has retained top position on the coveted
list of 10 profit-making PSUs, while Air India was
the biggest loss-making state firm on the list of
worst performers during the 2009-10 fiscal, says
a government survey released on February 27,
2011.
m The criminal lawyer and special government
counsel in the 26/11 attack case who will
represented India at a global convention on
terrorism to be held at the United Nations in New
York from December 1,2010 – Ujjawal Nikam
m Harsh Mariwala, chairman and managing director
of Marico Ltd, on March 4, 2011 took over as
President of the Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at the
conclusion of its 83rd annual general meeting in
New Delhi.
m The Indian company which has been ranked
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
globally at the 20th position in the Top 100
Chemical Companies list – Reliance Industries
Limited (RIL)
m After a fortnight-long sporting action, the curtain
was rung down on the 34th National Games at
the Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium at the Mega
Sports Complex in Ranchi on February 26, 2011.
Services emerged as the best sporting unit with
a haul of 70 gold, 50 silver and 42 bronze medals
for a total of 162. Richa Mishra of Delhi and
Virdhawal Khade of Maharashtra were adjudged
as the best female and male athletes of the
Games and were awarded IOA Trophies. Kerala
will host of the 35th edition in 7 cities spread
across the Stale in Dec 2012.
m The author of book The Masque of Africa –
VS Naipaul
m The Union government on February 18, 2011
annulled the controversial deal between the
Indian Space Research Organisation's
commercial arm Aitrix Corporation and
Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia. The
annulment comes in the wake of a controversy
over the deal, which according to estimates may
have resulted in a national loss of Rs 2 lakh crore
to the exchequer.
m The special scheme for the well-being and overall
empowerment of adolescent girls – Sabla or
Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Adolescent Girls
4The scheme has been launched as a pilot
project in 200 most backward districts
m A commission on minority institutions on February
22, 2011 granted minority status to Jamia Millia
Islamia.
m The outgoing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula
da Silva has been selected for the – Indira
Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and
Development for 2010
m The Parliamentary Forum on Children, the
UNICEF and the Union Ministry of Women and
Child Development released a report
"Adolescence: An Age of Opportunity" in New
Delhi on February 25, 2011. India has the highest
number of adolescents (243 million) in the world.
m The weekly magazine which has been selected
for the IPI India Award for Excellence in
Journalism, 2010 for outstanding journalistic
work – Tehelka
m The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is
being set up jointly by the Department of Atomic
Energy and Department of Science and
Technology at a site in Bodi West Hills near T.
Pudukottai village of Theni district, Tamilnadu.
m Who has been appointed by Obama as a
member of Foreign Claims Settlement
Committee - Anuj C.Desai
m The Centre will go by their recommendations of
the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
in deciding whether or not to ban Endosulfan, a
pesticide which had adversely affected some
cashew-growing districts in Kerala.
m Who has been appointed President of Central
Film Certification Board?
Leela Samson
m ISRO scientists on February 24, 2011 discovered
a giant underground chamber on the moon, which
could be used as a lunar base by astronauts for
inter-planetary missions.
m Thein Sein is elected President of which country?
Myanmar
m More than four years after laying the foundation,
the Smart City Kochi project, a joint venture of the
Kerala government and Dubai-based Tecom was
launched recently. The project, with an initial
investment of $350 million is expected to
generate about 90,000 jobs in the next 10 years.
m Who has been appointed as Managing Director
of Monetary Authority of Singapore?
Ravi Menon
m The National Seed Association of India (NSAI)
organised the two-day Indian Seed Congress
(ISC) - 2011 in Hyderabad on February 22-23,
2011. The objective was to "crystallise the
industry's views and seek policy support from
the Government to encourage investment in
technology and infrastructure".
m Who is the first female professional
photographer of India?
Homai Vyarwala
m Edge of Time
A biography of Kalpana Chawla, the India-born
American astronaut who died in the Columbia
space shuttle disaster, was released on
February 23, 2011 in Chandigarh. It is named
"Edge of Time".
m Who has been appointed by Obama as member
of Congressional Executive Commission of
National Council of the Arts? Desai Biswal
m The Maharashtra government on February 23,
619
CURRENT AFFAIRS
2011 roped in Vijay Kelkar, chairman of the 13th
Finance Commission, to head a committee on
alternative approaches to balanced regional
development.
m Who is Chairman of NTPC?
Arup Roy Choudhary
m Russia on February 26, 2011 launched a satellite
needed to create its own global navigation
system (GLONASS), intended to rival America's
Global Positioning System (GPS).
m How many teams will participate in next two ICC
World Cups ?
10
m Last Mission : Discovery
The shuttle Discovery on February 25, 2011 blast-
ed off on its final odyssey into orbit, marking the
beginning of the end for what has been a central
mission of the US space program for three de-
cades. NASA's most journeyed shuttle is on an
11-day trip to the International Space Station (ISS).
m According to census 2011, what is sex ratio of
Kerala?
1084
m Embattled French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-
Marie on February 27, 2011 announced her
resignation after weeks of criticism over her
contacts with the former Tunisian regime.
m Shunglu reports is related with which scam?
Commonwealth Games
m Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannou-
chi announced his resignation at a news confer-
ence in Tunis on February 27, 2011.
m According to census 2011, what is literacy rate of
India?
74%
m The Review of the Economy 2010 -11
The Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to
Prime Minister, Dr. C.Rangarajan released the
Review of the Economy 2010-11 in New Delhi on
February 21, 2011. Following are the highlights
of the Report :
1. Economy expected to grow at 8.6 per cent in
2010-11 and 9.0 % in 2011-12.
2. Agriculture expected to grow at 5.4% in 2010-11
and 3.0% in 2011-12.
3. Industry expected to grow at 8.1% in 2010-11 and
9.2% in 2011-12.
4. Services expected to grow at 9.6% in 2010-11
and 10.3% in 2011-12.
m How much expenditure is proposed for Gagan
Project?
Rs. 774 crore
m The Government of India on February 14, 2011
constituted a Task Force under the Chairman-
ship of Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Iden-
tification Authority of India (UIDAI) in order to evolve
a suitable mechanism for direct subsidies to in-
dividuals/families who are entitled to Kerosene,
LPG and Fertilizer and to evolve a model of direct
transfer of subsidies on these items by re-engi-
neering existing systems, processes and pro-
cedures in the implementation process.
m In which state of North East, RBI has opened its
Regional Office?
Agartala
m In one of the biggest foreign direct investments
(FDI) into India, BP, the world's fourth-largest
energy company, will pay $7.2 billion for a 30 per
cent stake in 23 oil and gas blocks of Reliance
Industries Ltd (RIL).
• Tim Berners Lee is founder of ------- WWW
m India has the world's fourth largest area under
genetically modified (GM) crops. The country's
GM crop was next only to the US, Brazil and
Argentina, a lead of Canada and China, according
to the latest global status report of the
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-
biotech Applications (ISAAA).
m Geeta Pasi has been nominated by Barak Obama
as ambassador of ------- Djibouti
m Arunchal Pradosh docked the highest economic
growth rate in the country of 22.43 per cent in
2009-10, followed by Mizoram (13.95%) and Goa
(13.03%), according to a government report on
February 23, 2011. The GSDP growth
performance of Rajasthan — at 3.95 per cent —
was the lowest among the 32 states and Union
Territories ill the country last fiscal.
m Who is the president of Kosovo?
Atifte Jahjaga
m Mumbai slipped by one place to sixth in the list of
the world's most expensive office locations in
2011, according to global realty consultant
Cushman & Wakefield on February 23, 2011. The
2011 list was topoed by Hong Kong, while
London and Tokyo came second and third in the
rankings, which valued Mumbai's office
occupancy cost at USD 114 per square foot a year.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m Who is the president of Nigeria?
Goodluck Jonathan
m Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel along with
16 other global telcos on February 24, 2011
launched the Europe India Gateway (EIG) cable
system that will enhance diversity and capacity
between Europe and India. The 15,000-km cable
has received investment of around $700 million
and has a capacity of 3.84 terabits per second.
EIG stretches from Mumbai in India to London in
UK, with landings enroute in UAE, Oman, Saudi
Arabia, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Monaco and
Marseilles, Gibraltar Portugal and the UK.
m Who has been elected as the President of
American Association of Physicians of Indian
Origin for 2011-12?
Sunitha Kanumuri
m India produced about 67 million tonnes of crude
steel and was ranked 5th largest steel producer
in the world in 2011). India is already the largest
producer of sponge iron in the world.
m Highest award of France Knight of The Order of
Arts and Letters has been given to which actress?
Nandita Das
m US-based Brighton Group on February 23, 2011
signed a memorandum of understanding with
the Government of Andhra Pradesh for setting up
a Rs 2,880 crore nuclear plant near port-town
Visakhapatnam. This is the maiden venture in
India of the Brighton Group that has a major
presence in China apart from the US.
m Who is Wisden top cricket player for 2010?
Sachin Tendulkar
m The country's largest commercial bank State
Bank of India on February 21, 2011 said it has
become a signatory investor to the Carbon
Disclosure Project (CDP), a global initiative for
sustainable development.
m Who has won Monte Carlo Master Title?
Rafael Nadal
m India is likely to become the world's largest
economy worth $85.97 trillion in a matter of just
40 years, surpassing China and the US. "China
should overtake the US to become the largest
economy in the world by 2020, then be overtaken
by India by 2050," said a report by financial
services group Citi on Global Growth Generators
on February 23, 2011.
m Who has won Chinese Grand Prix ?
Lewis Hemilton
m India Post organised INDIPEX 2011, World
Philatelic Exhibition at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi,
from February 12 to 18, 2011.
m On which country NATO army has attacked
recently?
Libya
m The Election Commission has accepted a report
by the accounting regulator that calls for tough
norms and radical changes in the way political
parties prepare their accounts. The Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has
recommended that all political parties in the
country must prepare financial statements and
submit audited accounts "within six months of
the end of a financial year to the Election
Commission".
m Who is president of Cuba ?
Raul Castro
m The government has decided to bring workers
who have worked under the National Rural Em-
ployment Guarantee programme for a minimum
of 15 days under the ambit of the Rashtriya Sw-
asthya Bima Yojana (RSBY). The RSBY provides
cashless health insurance cover to below pover-
ty line families in the unorganised sector. The
scheme is extended to five members of the fam-
ily, which includes the head of the household,
spouse and up to three dependents, who are
each given cash coverage up to Rs 30,000 for
most diseases that require hospitalisation.
m When will India’s population exceed population
of China?
2025
m The Indian Air Force on February 5, 2011 inducted
C-130J Super Hercules aircraft at the Hindon Air
Force Station in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. The
C-130J is a four-engine turboprop aircraft
manufactured by Lockheed Martin. It can be used
for troop deployment, special operations, air-to-
air refuelling, disaster relief and humanitarian
aid operations.
m Who is the Chief of Prasar Bharati?
Mrinal Pandey
m An Indo-Norwegian meeting titled 'Pole to Pole'
was organised on February 3, 2011 in New Delhi
with the objective of promoting collaborative polar
research between the two countries. Geology,
glaciology and bacteriology were identified as the
key areas for future collaboration:
621
CURRENT AFFAIRS
m In which country Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
is situated?
Japan
m After three decades of Antarctic research, India
expanded its polar research by undertaking its
first Arctic expedition in August 2007 and setting
up its. Arctic research station 'Himadri' at Nye-
Alesimd in the Svalbard region of Norway in 2008
to mark the International Polar Year (IPY).
m What amount of food grains is expected to be
produced during 2010-11?
235.8 mn.tonne
m Asia's biggest aerospace exposition, Aero India-
2011 was organised by the Ministry of Defence at
Yelahanka air basis in Bengaluru from February
9 to 13, 2011.
m Pulitzer Prize is associated with --
Journalism, Art & Literature
m The 17th Commonwealth Law Conference
(CLC) was organised in Hyderabad from
February 5 to 9, 2011.
m Who has won Dubai International Open Chess
Tournament?
Abhijit Gupta
m Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president of
Egypt on February 12, 2011, after weeks of protest
in Cairo and other cities
m Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and his Struggle
with India is a book written by --------
Joseph Leyveld
m United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
on February 8, 2011 welcomed a historic
referendum granting independence to Southern
Sudan. People of South Sudan completed a
week-long referendum in January 2011 to decide
whether they wanted independence from North
Sudan.
m Which company has been included in Maharatna
category recently?
Coal India Ltd
m The 11th edition of the annual World Social
Forum (WSF) was organised in Dakar, Senegal
from February 6 to 12, 2011.
m On which date “Red Cross Day” is observed -
8 May
m Prime Minister, Dr. Manrnohan Singh conferred
the Jnanpith Award on Malayalam poet O.N.V.
Kurup at Thiruvanarthapuram in Kerala on
February 11, 2011. The 79-year-old poet was
named for the award for the year 2007.
m According to census 2011 which state is having
highest density of population in India - Bihar
m For which case trial Supreme Court has given
instructions to appoint a special court –
2G Spectrum
m The International Labour Organisation's Decent
Work Research Prize has been awarded to
economist Jayati Ghosh and Professor Eve Landau.
m Which state has attracted highest number of
industrial proposal in the country between August
1991 to August 2010?
Maharashtra
m The fourteenth National Conference on e-
Governance was organised in Aurangabad on
February 10, 2011. The theme for this year's
Conference was 'Rural e-Service Delivery Status
and Challenges'.
m Which institution acts as nodal authority to
maintain transparency in India - CVC
m Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Chairman and
Managing Director, Dilip Shanghvi was on
February 7, 2011 named the Ernst & Young
Entrepreneur of the Year 2010. He will represent
the country at the Ernst & Young World
Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Monte Carlo,
Monaco, in June.
m According to census 2011, what is total population
of India - 121 million
m India and Isle of Man signed a Tax Information
Exchange Agreement (TIEA) on February 4, 2011
in London. This is the second TIEA being signed
by India. First TIEA was signed by India with
Bermuda in Delhi in October 2010.
m After failure of GSLV which rocket launcher has
been successfully launched by ISRO- PSLVC-16
m The International Container Trans-shipment
Terminal (ICTT) project, Vallarpadam was
dedicated to the Nation by PM Manmohan Singh
at Cochin on February 11, 2011. The project is a
major milestone achieved in maritime sector in
the development of the country's logistics
infrastructure.
m Who is the founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan,
on whose petition the Supreme Court has
banned employment of children in circus?
Kaliash Satyarthi
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m The 15th Conference of Commonwealth
Statisticians was organised by the Ministry of
Statistics and Programme Implementation in New
Delhi from 7-10 February, 2011.
m What is the name of Pakistan’s ISI Chief whose
tenure has been extended by the Prime Minister
for another year?
Ahmad Shuja Pasha
m Indian’s travelling abroad for leisure are showing
more interest in new destinations such as China,
Maldtves, Indonesia, Africa and Bangladesh at
the expense of the most preferred destination
Singapore, according to a survey by the Nielsen
Company. But Singapore still remains the most
preferred destination with a 24 per cent share.
m Which country has made aviation history by
carrying out first successful biofuel flight using
an Airbus A320 aircraft - Mexico
m Book on women's cricket released; International
Cricket Council (ICC) President Sharad Pawar
and Sports Minister Ajay Maken released a coffee
table book on women's cricket, 'Women's Cricket
World,' in New Delhi on February 8, 2011. The
book, written by prominent woman cricketer
Anjum Chopra and Sunil Yash Kalra, relives the
journey of women's ticket from 1745, the year in
which the first recorded match was played.
m How much defence budget has been increased
by Pakistan?
18%
m The Srikrishna Committee on Telangana issue
has favoured maintaining the status quo of a
united Andhra Pradesh and described the
demand for a Telangana State as the "second
best option.' In its report which was made public
on January 6, 2010, the Committee found the
option of a united Andhra Pradesh the "most
workable" in the circumstances and in the best interests
of the social and economic welfare of people.
The Six options provided by the Srikrishna
Committee are:
1. Baintaining the status quo.
2. Bifurcation of the State into Seemandhra and
Telangana, with Hyderabad as a Union Territory,
and the two Stales developing their own capitals
in due course.
3. Bifurcation of the State into the Rayala-Telangana
and coastal Andhra regions, with Hyderabad
being an integral part of Rayala-Telangana.
4. Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Seemandhra
and Telangana, with an enlarged Hyderabad
metropolis as a separate Union Territory.
5. Bifurcation of the State into Telangana and
Seemandhra as per the existing boundaries, with
Hyderabad serving as the capital of Telangana,
and Seemandhra having a new capital.
6. Keeping the State united by simultaneously
providing certain definite constitutional/ statutory
measures for socio-economic development and
political empowerment of the Telangana region
by creation of a statutorily empowered Telangana
Regional Council.
m Which country has hosted BRICS Summit in
2011?
China
m The wage rates under MGNREGA have been
increased by the Ministry of Rural Development
with effect from 1st January 2011. This will result
in 17-30% enhancement of wages across the
country. The wage rates have been enhanced on
the basis of Consumer Price Index for the
agricultural labour calculated on the basis of Rs.
100 or the actual wage rate, whichever is higher
as on April 1st, 2009. Government is also waiting
for the report of the Pranab Sen Committee
constituted to deliberate upon a separate index
for MGNREGA.
m International meet to tackle piracy issue was held
at which place - Dubai
m The Ministry of Environment & Forests has
announced Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)
Notification, 2011 and Island Protection Zone
(IPZ) Notification, 2011. Objectives include: (i)
protection of livelihoods of traditional fisher-folk
communities; (ii) preservation of coastal ecology;
and (iii) promotion of economic activity that have
necessarily to be located in coastal regions. The
recommendations of an expert committee
comprising of Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Sunita
Narain, Dr. Shailesh Nayak and J.M. Mauskar
submitted to the MoE&F in July 2010 have also
been incorporated.
m According to Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Report Asian nations would account for how
much global economic output - 52%
m The Ministry of Culture has announced the launch
of 'Studio Theatre Scheme' to help the performing
arts groups to build their own performing spaces.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
With a support from the Government, going upto
60 % of the project cost, the performing arts
groups will be helped to build their own "creative
spaces", with a grant from the Ministry of Culture
that can go upto Rs. 50 lakhs in 'metro cities' and
Rs. 25 lakhs in other places,, if they contribute
their share of 40% of the project cost.
m Country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India
has total ------- plants in India - 6
m A new page in the Ministry of Human Resource
Development website dedicated to Non Resident
Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin
(PIOs) was launched by Kapil Sibal, Union
Minister for Human Resource Development. The
page will give information about the opportunities
available in India for faculty positions. It also
provides for registration by interested persons,
thus enabling creation of a data bank of NRIs /
PIOs so as to utilise their talent and expertise in
the creation of a knowledge society.
m Which institute will provide $ 150mn Credit in a
bid to diversify India’s Energy towards renewable
energy that finance private sector solar power
plants? - IMF
m The Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (PBD) 2011 was
held at New Delhi from 7-9 January 2011. The
focus of this year's PBD was on 'Education and
Health'. On this occasion, the Ministry of Human
Resource Development (MHRD) brought out a
booklet titled 'GYANDKEP-Building a Knowledge
Society' which aims at giving an overview of the
various proposals initiated by the Ministry for
bringing in reforms in the Higher Education sector
m Which of the following bank has won Asian
Banker Technology Implementation Award 2011
for Best Data and analytical project for
implementing an analytic solution?
IDBI
m The Union Cabinet has approved the
implementation of Phase I of the Centrally
Sponsored Scheme or National Cyclone Risk
Mitigation Project (NCRMP) for Andhra Pradesh
and Orissa at art estimated cost of Rs 1496.71
crores to address the vulnerability of coastal
community who are generally poor. The World
Bank assisted project has been conceived for
implementation in all the 13 cyclone prone
coastal States and Union Territories, namely,
Andhra Pradesh, Orissa., Gujarat, Tamil Nadu,
West Bengal, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka,
Kerala, Daman & Din, Puducherry, Lakshadweep
and Andaman & Niobar Islands. The NCRMP will
be implemented in three phases keeping in view
the vulnerability of the States and their readiness
with investment proposals. In Phase-1, Orissa
and Andhra Pradesh will be covered.
m Which company is India’s largest IT service
exporter in year 2010?
Wipro
m Divers of Indian Navy and the US Navy conducted
a Joint Salvaage Exercise (SALVEX) off Port Blair
in the Andaman Sea from Jan 5 to 11, Jan 2011.
INS Nireekshax, the diving tender of the Indian
Navy and USS Safeguard, a specialised
Salvage ship participated in the exercise.
m According to report of CNBC-TV, what is the net
profit of Infosys during the period of 2010?
Rs. 1856 crore
m Indian Civil Aviation has completed 100 years on
18th February, 2011. The year 2011-12 has been
declared as the Civil Aviation Centenary Year,
starting from 18th February, 2011 and ending on
the same date in 2012. On this date in 1911, the
first commercial plane flew in India between
Allahabad and Naini. Today India is the 9th
largest civil aviation market in the world.
m According to Fortune Magazine who is most
powerful business women in the world - Indra
Nooyi
m Defence Minister A.K. Antony laid the foundation
stone for the National Institute for Research and
Development in Defence Shipbuilding
(NIRDESH) at Kozhikdde, Kerala under the
Department of Defence Production. NIRDESH
would concentrate on enhancing self-reliance in
production capabilities relating to all kinds of
warships, submarines and other platforms
required by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard.
m What is the rank of Indians in receiving US Green
Cards in 2010?
Third
m Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a
special facility to provide life-long visa-free entry
into the country to the Indian diaspora. The
government has decided to merge the Overseas
Citizen of India (OCI) and the Persons of Indian
Origin (PIO) cards into a single facility. The
objective is to provide them rights of residency
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
and participation in business and educational
activities in the country.
m Who has been elected the Chairman of Audit
Bureau of Circulation?
Vijay Darda
m Indian scientists and research scholars are
observing 2011 as the International Year of
Chemistry (IYC) for the achievements and
contributions made by this important branch of
science to the well-being of human kind. The year
also coincides with the centenary year of the
Nobel Prize for chemistry to Marie Curie (1867-
1934) for her discovery of radioactivity.
m Where is the headquarters of European Central
Bank?
Frankfurt
m Suchitra Mitra, the legendary exponent of
Rabindra Sangeet, passed away at the age of 86
in Kolkata. Recipient of the Padma Shri award in
1973, she was also presented the Tagore Hymn
Prize in 1945 from the London Tagore Hymn
Society, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986
and several others including the 'Desikottam'
conferred on her by the Visva Bharati University.
m Who regulates the money circulation in India?
Reserve Bank of India
m World's first Art Exchange was launched by Paris-
based A&F Markets on January 10, 2011 in Paris.
The Exchange offers an opportunity for individuals
and institutions to buy and sell shares of famous
artworks.
m Who has been elected the President of the Indian
Newspaper society for the year 2010-11?
Kundan R. Vyas
m India on January 3, 2011 formally took its place in
the UN Security Council (UNSC) as a new non-
permanent member for a two-year term. Along
with India, Germany, South Africa, Columbia and
Portugal look took their places at the 15-member
UNSC
m Which is the most densely populated state of
India?
Arunachal Pradesh
m The Prime Minister of the Central Asian republic
has ordered that a peak in the Tien-Shan
Mountains be named after his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin.
m Which theory is generally included under micro
economics?
Price Theory
m The 98th Indian Science Congress was held at
Chennai in January, 2011. 'Quality Education and
Excellence in Science Research in Indian
Universities' was the focal theme of the
Congress. The 99th Indian Science Congress
will be held in Bhubaneswar from Jan.3 to 7, 2012.
m What is a better measure of economic
development?
National Income
m EminentMohiniyattam exponent Kalamandalam
Hemalatha on January 6, 2011 entered the Guin-
nesi Book of World Records for the 'longest dance
marathon' through her 123-hour performance.
m Recently, Armando Emilio Guebuza was on tour
in India. Who is he?
President of Mozambique
m The Akshaya e-literacy project of the Kerala IT
Department won the Manthan Award South Asia
2010, under the e-Governance category. 'Manthan
Awards' are one of South Asia's biggest events
in the field of information and communication
technology.
4 January 5 - Financial Inclusion Day
m Who has been conferred with honorary
Hungarian citizenship?
Dalai Lama
m Skoch Awards in Financial Inclusion were
presented to the winners on January 5, 2010,
which" was also commemorated as the Financial
Inclusion Day. Skoch Knowledge Repository on
Financial Inclusion - world's largest online
knowledge repository - was launched on the
Financial Inclusion Day. The winners include:
1. Central Bank of India: For its Bihar Rural
Livelihood Project (BRLP) also known as JEEViKA
in 2007 with support from the Government of
Bihar and the World Bank for poverty alleviation.
2. Indian Bank : For opening a branch at Dharavi,
Mumbai in 2007, as a part of its Urban Financial
Inclusion initiative.
3. State Bank of India: For introducing biometric
cards based on Smart Card technology
4. National Housing Bank: For initiatives such as
Golden Jubilee Rural Housing Finance Scheme
(GJRHFS) and Rural F Housing Fund (RHF).
m The ICAI Awards for Excellence in Financial
Reporting for the year 2009-10 were given away
on January 5, 2011. The list of winners of the top
award (Gold Shield) are as follows: Banking
625
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Sector: HDFC Bank Ltd., Insurance Sector: SBI
Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Manufacturing Sector :
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd., Service Sector
(other than banking & insurance): Tata
Consultancy Services Ltd., Not-for-Profit Sector:
Akshaya Patra Foundation.
m Who has been honoured with the 2010 ‘World
Statesman Award’?
Dr. Manmohan Singh
m Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi
on January 10, 2011 won the inaugural Fifa Ballon
d'Or award- a merger of the Fifa Player of the
Year prize and Ballon d'Or at Zurich.
m Which Indian film has been nominated for Oscar
Awards 2011?
Peepli Live
m The Experts Group formed by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh to study the recommendations
of the Sonia Gandhi-headed NAC on the
proposed National Food Security Bill and chaired
by the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory
Council Chairman, C. Rangarajan, favoured
mandatory entitlement of subsidised foodgrains
to the 'priority' category (Below the Poverty Line)
as recommended by the National Advisory
Council (NAC). The Group has also suggested
that the subsidised grain for the poor be linked to
inflation and indexed to the Consumer Price
Index. This means the rate at which 35 kg of wheat
(at Rs. 2 a kg) and rice (Rs. 3 a kg) is given per
month to a poor household will be revised later.
The Group also concurred with the Tendulkar
Committee's estimate of the poor at 41.8 per cent
in rural areas and 25.7 per cent in urban areas,
and added 10 per cent to it to cover those living
on-the "margins" to arrive at a figure that matches
the 'priority' number suggested by the NAC.
m What id the full form of ‘GAFTA’? - Greater Arab
Free Trade Area
m World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011 -
a report jointly prepared by the United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(DESA), UNCTAD and United Nations Regional
Commissions- was unveiled on Dec.r 7, 2010.
According to the report, India is projected , to grow
at 8.4, 8.2 and 8.4 in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.
m Who has been honoured with Lal Bahadur
Shastri Award?
Aruna Roy
m A Price water house Coopers (PwC) report- The
World in 2050- projects a bullish outlook for India
in the next three decades. PwC forecasts that
India could be the fastest growing large economy
by 2050.
m What is the total number of WTO members?
153
m The Reserve Bank of India is to conduct a new
round of surveys to gauge the mood of industry
on growth prospects in the economy. RBI will carry
out: two surveys - on industrial outlook and on
capacity utilisation by the manufacturing sector.
It has mandated two institutions, the Delhi-based
Centre for Research Planning and Action (CRPA)
which will conduct the 'Quarterly Industrial Outlook
Survey (IOS) for January-March 2011', and the
Mumbai-based Centre for Monitoring India
Economy (CMIE), which will be responsible for
the 'Order Books, Inventories and Capacity
Utilisation Survey' (OBICUS).
m Which country will host the Twenty 20 World Cup
2012?
Sri Lanka
m The Andhra Pradesh Micro Finance Institutions
(Regulation of Money Lending) Act, 2011, which
aims at curtailing coercive practices by
microfinance institutions has come into effect
from January 1, 2011. The Act makes registration
of all MFIs mandatory. The state government will
establish a fast-track court in each district for
settlement of disputes of civil nature between
borrowers and MFIs. MFIs charging usurious
rates and using coercive practices for loan
recoveries will face penalties and even
cancellation of licenses.
m Who is the first cricketer to complete 14000 runs
in Test Cricket?
Sachin Tendulkar
m The Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Plant-2
at Tarapur nuclear power station was
commissioned by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh on January 7, 2011. The reprocessing
plant is a significant milestone in India's three-
stage indigenous nuclear programme.
Reprocessing is essential in the transition to the
second stage of fast breeder reactors (FBR)
which India has begun. In the subsequent hire
stage, the use of thorium in advanced reactors
will be undertaken.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m Who has won the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature?
Mario Vargas Llosa
m The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empow-
ered Committee (CEC) has recommended can-
cellation of mining leases to the Obulapuram
Mining Company (OMC) (owned by Karnataka
government ministers G. Janardhana Reddy and
G. Karunakara Reddy) for having openly flouted
various environmental laws in mining operations
in the Bellary Reserve Forest area.
m Who has won the 2010 Nobel Prize for Peace?
Liu Xiaobo
m The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects
the Indian economy to grow by 8.8% during the
current financial year, up from 7.4% a year ago,
mainly driven by robust growth in the farm sector
and pick-up in consumption. The multilateral
lending agency, however, expressed concerns
over rising prices and underlined the need for
controlling inflationary expectations by monetary
actions by the Reserve Bank of India.
m Which Indian music maestro has been awarded
with Indira Gandhi National Integration Award
2009?
A.R. Rahman
m The Union Government's net direct tax collections
registered 19.47 per cent increase in the first nine
months of the financial year (April-December
2010-11) to Rs 2,98,958 crore (Rs 2,50,232 crore
in Apr-Dec. 20 (19-10). With this collection level,
tie government has achieved 69.53 per cent of
the budgeted target of Rs 4.3 lakh crore for 2010-11.
m Who has won the ‘professional of the Year’
Award?
Vijay Goel
m The Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during
2010 were 5.58 trillion with a growth rate of 9.3%
as compared to the FTAs of 5.11 million and
growth rate of. (-) 3.3% during 2009. Foreign
Exchange Earnings (FEE) from tourism during
2010 were US $ 14193 million as compared to
US$ 11394 million during 2005 and US $ 11747
million during 2008.
m The ICC Cricket World Cup Final 2011 was
played in which city in India?
Mumbai
m According to the CRISIL report, 'India-Raising the
Growth Bar', strong domestic demand will enable
the Indian economy to register an average annual
growth of 8.4 per cent during next five fiscals.
CRISIL said the Indian economy faced five key
constraints which if addressed would accelerate
growth to 10 per cent annually, on a sustained
basis These involved quantity and quality of
physical infrastructure, skill shortages among the
workforce, faltering agriculture and high food
inflation, less spending on health, education and
physical infrastructure, and a governance deficit.
m Who has won the ‘Finance Minister of Asia’
Award?
Pranab Mukherjee
m China and the US have joined hands to develop
the world's largest solar power plant in the
country's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
m Who has been awarded with the 2010 Mahatma
Gandhi Peace Award?
John Brumby
m Subhir Chandra assumed charge as the new
Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT) on January 7, 2011.
m What is the current number of SBI’s Associate
Banks ?
5
m Nearly three decade after it was conceptualized,
the Initial Operational Clearance for the Light
Combat Aircraft was accorded on January 10,
2011 when the Defence Minister AK Antony
handed over a formal "Release to Service
Certificate" of Tejas aircraft to the Chief of Air Staff,
Air Chief Marshal PV Naik. The LCA design and
development was initiated in 1983 with a budget
of Rs. 560 crore and was christened 'Tejas' in
2004 by the then President A P J Abdul Kalam.
m In which field is the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Award
given?
Agriculture
m Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the
four-year-long 150th birth anniversary
celebrations of Swami Vivekananda, with a series
of programmes targeting the youth of the country,
at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on January 12,
2011. Swami Vivekenanda was born on January
12, 1863. Dr. Singh also released a book
"Awakening India" which contains the selected
writings of Swami Vivekananda in which he
addressed the youth.
m In which country India has opened its cultural
centre?
Bhutan
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m India Meteorological Department has declared
that 2010 was the warmest year since 1901.
According to the department, the annual mean
temperature averaged over the country as a whole
was 25.8023 degrees Celsius last year. The
previous record was achieved in 2009, when the
annual mean temperature averaged over the
country in its entirety was 25.7876 degrees
Celsius.
m For which State the Government of India has
appointed a group of three interlocutors to
maintain peace and order and defuse the
situation?
Jammu and Kashmir
m India and World Bank on January 14, 2011 signed
an agreement through which the latter will provide
a credit of $1155 million for the first phase of the
national programme to mitigate the impact of
cyclones.
m Who has received the 2010 UN Millennium
Development Goals Award for Poverty and
Hunger Alleviation?
IBSA Fund
m India Post released commemorative postage
stamp on January 15, 2011 in Ahmedabad on
'Doot', a magazine completing a centenary of
uninterrupted publication. Doot is a magazine
published from Gujarat since January 1911 by
the Catholic Church.
m Which country was become the head of
International Atomic Energy Agency?
Pakistan
m New Delhi and Dhaka have agreed to sign a 15-
year interim accord on sharing the waters of
common rivers Teesta and Feni. This was
decided at a Secretary-level meeting of the Indo-
Bangladesh Joint River Commission (JRC) in
Dhaka on January 10, 2011. The proposed accord
included formulation of a working plan on the
sharing of the waters of five other common rivers
- Dharla, Dudhkumar, Manu, Khowai, Gumti and
Muhuri.
m Which two countries have signed air transport
agreement to resume direct flight after three
decades?
Egypt and Italy
m Agricultural scientist K.V. Raman was on January
14, 2011 awarded the prestigious Bharat Jyoti
Award of the India International Friendship
Society for his contributions to science,
technology and development.
m Who is the first Australian Saint?
Mother Mary Mackillop
m The Social Network', the story of Facebook's birth,
won four- trophies including the best picture and
best director at the 68th annual Golden Globe
Awards on January 15, 2011. David Fincher was
named the best director. Natalie Portman won
the best dramatic actress trophy for her
performance in 'Black Swan'. British actor Colin
Firth took come the trophy for the best actor for
his performance of a stuttering King George VI in
royal drama 'The King's Speech'.
m With which bank Hindustan Motors has signed a
memorandum of understanding to provide
financing facilities to its customers?
Allahabad Bank
m The Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) 2008-09
data enviled on January 14, 2011 has showed
that Tamil Nadu houses the highest number of
working factories, accounting for 16.82 per cent
in the country, followed by Maharashtra at 13.17
per cent. In case of states with the highest share
of the invested capital, Maharashtra topped the
list at 17.01 per cent, followed by Gujarat at 16.08
per cent and Tamil Nadu at 9.57 per cent.
Maharashtra is also on top in terms of Net Value
Added with 21.39% followed by Gujarat (11.45%)
and Tamil Nadu (8.06%). The negative feature of
the survey, however, was the marginal decline in
efficiency as measured by changes in the capital
output ratio. The capital output ratio which is a
measure of the capital required to produce one
unit of net output (net value added) has increased
from 1.76 in 2007-08 to 2 in 2008-09. Similarly,
the capital required to produce one unit of gross
output has also increased from 0.3 to 0.
m With which country India has signed first Tax
Information Exchange Agreement ?
Bermuda
m State Bank of India on January 14,2011
announced the launch of 'Bank on Bike' initiative
for villages untouched by banking facilities so
far. Cheriyal in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh,
about 60 km from Hyderabad, became the first
village in the country to welcome SBI Bank on
Bike initiative. SBI has earlier introduced One
628
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Rupee Bank in Hyderabad for urban financial
inclusion through its kiosk banking model.
m Which date has been fixed for National Voters
Day?
January 25
m CII (Confederation of Indian industry) undertook
a caste census of its members spread across
22 states and Union territories of India. The
census covered its 8250 member companies
across the country, at which 35 lakh people are
employed. The caste census carried out by CII
revealed that the corporate employment for SC/
STs (Schedule Castes/Schedule Tribes) was not
proportionate to their population. The census
reveals that the proportion of SC and ST
employees in the private sector in some of the
most industrialised states of the country hardly
reflects their strength in the general population
of those states.
m Who has elected the first female president of
Brazil?
Dilma Rousseff
m The four-day Geospatial World Forum was
organised in Hyderabad from Jan. 18-21, 2011.
m Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was India’s Chief
Guest at the Republic Day 2011. He is President
of which country?
Indonesia
m A scientific paper released by the Environment
Ministry on January 17, 2011 has said that carbon
emissions account for a much lesser share in
global warming than currently believed. Physicist
and the former ISRO chairman, U.R. Rao, has
calculated that cosmic rays - which, unlike carbon
emissions, cannot be controlled by human activity
- have a much larger impact on climate change
than the claims made by Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change (IPCC). In fact, the contribution
of decreasing cosmic ray activity to climate
change is almost 40 per cent.
m Lyonchhen Jigmi Y.Thinely, who recently visited
india is the Prime Minister of which country?
Bhutan
m Bollywood actor Aamir Khan was on January 22,
2011 was selected as member of the international
jury of the 61st Berlin film festival. He has become
one of the seven jury members to pick the winner
of the prestigious Golden and Silver Bear prizes
at the festival.
m Who has bagged the ‘Icon of The Millennium’
honour at the second Sahara India Sports Awards
ceremony?
Sachin Tendulkar
m A Swiss Parliamentary Committee has given the
go-ahead to the revised tax treaty between India
and Switzerland that would eventually allow the
Indian government to access secret Swiss bank
accounts of Indian tax evaders.
m Who has received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
Award for the year 2010?
Saina Nehwal
m The Forum of Bangladesh, China, India and
Myanmar (BCIM) on January 19, 2011 agreed on
the need to improve the cooperation mechanism,
which would feature a multi-track initiative with
track I coordination, to promote regional prosperity
and harmony. The two-day, ninth meeting of the
Forum, which concluded in the Kunming city of
the Yunan province, agreed to rename the 'Forum
of Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar: on
Regional Economic Cooperation" as
"Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar
Regional Cooperation Forum."
m Who is the Miss World 2010?
Alexandria Mills
m Close to 99 per cent of south Sudanese voters
chose secession from the north in a referendum,
according to preliminary results posted on the
Southern.
m Who has been honoured with first Global
Fairness Initiative Award?
Ela Bhatt
m India is Asia's Fourth largest exporter of illicit
capital with an estimated outflow of a whopping
USD 104 million between 2000 and 2008,
according to a US-bused think tank, Global
Financial Integrity (GFI), which ranks China as
the number one source of illegal money on
January 18, 2011.
m Micro credit in India comes under which activity?
Non Banking Finance
m Music composer A.R. Rahman won the best
original song trophy at the 16th Critics' Choice
Awards for his number "If I Rise" in Danny Boyle's
film '127 Hours'.
m Who is the new Telecom Minister? - Kapil Sibal
m The Malegam Committee, set up by Reserve
Bank of India (RBI), on January 20, 2011
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
recommended a 24-per cent interest rate cap on
microfinance loans to individuals. It also
suggested creating a new category of non-
banking finance companies: NBFC-MFI.
m Who has been appointed the ambassador for
Cricket World Cup 2011? - Sachin Tendulkar
m According to Indicus Analytics report on foodgrain
production, in 2008, India ranked third in cereal
production, after China and the US, and first in
pulses production. In 2008-09, the top three states
producing rice were West Bengal, Andhra
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh; top wheat producers
were Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana; top
producers of coarse cereals were Rajasthan,
Karnataka and Maharashtra; and pulses
production was highest in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh and Rajasthan.
m Who is the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra?
Ajit Pawar
m The Reserve Bank of India on January 20, 2011
directed cooperative banks not to give housings
loans beyond 5 per cent of their total assets. State
cooperative banks (SCBs) and central
cooperative banks (CCBs) were earlier allowed
to extend housing finance up to 10 per cent of
their total loans and advances.
m The G-20 was organized in November 2010, in
which city?
Seoul
m The Planning Commission on January 19, 2011
said states would have to bear additional payment
towards the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) beyond the
amount prescribed by the Centre to match
minimum wages. This decision will not impact
states whose minimum wages are below or
close to that (prescribed under NREGS).
m Who is the 22nd Chief Minister of Maharashtra?
Prithviraj Chavan
m China has lent more money to developing
nations than the World Bank in the past two years,
the Financial Times said on January 18, 2011.
China lent at least $110 billion to governments
and firms in other developing countries in 2009
and 2010, surpassing the $100.3 billion by the
World Bank.
m Who is the author of the book “India-Pakistan
Coming to Terms”?
Ashutosh Misra
m The Union government on January 21, 2011
reconstituted the National Advisory Committee
on Accounting Standards (NACAS), a panel
whose advice forms the basis for deciding the
accounting standards and policies to be followed
by companies. The reconstituted NACAS will be
chaired by M.M. Chitale, chartered accountant,
and will have eleven members besides the
chairman.
m What is the present Retirement age of High Court
judges?
65 years
m Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched the
pan-India Mobile number portability (MNP)
service on January 21, 2011. MNP enables mobile
users to retain their telephone numbers when
changing from one mobile network operator to
another. MNP, which was launched in Haryana
circle in November, will now be available to about
700 million mobile subscribers (both GSM and
CDMA) across the country.
m ‘International Day for Tolerance’ is observed on
which day? - 16 November
m Google Inc co-founder Larry Page will take over
as CEO from Eric Schmidt, the company
announced on January 22, 2011.
m Who is the author of book “I Predict: A Century of
Hope Towards an Era of Harmony with Nature
and Freedom from Hunger”?
M.S. Swaminathan
m The Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, on
January 25, 2011 said the Government has
constituted a multi-disciplinary committee to get
studies conducted to estimate the quantum of
illicit funds generated by Indian citizens. He also
spelt out a five-point strategy that the Government
was adopting to address the issue of black
money. Three institutions - the National Institute
of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), National
Institute of Finance Management (NIFM) and
National Council of Applied Economic Research
(NCAER) - have been tasked with conducting the
studies.
m “Birdie “and” Eagle” are two terms related to
which sport?
Golf
m The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in India has come
down to 50 (deaths per 1,000 live births) in 2009
from 53 in 2008. The latest data released by the
630
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Registrar-General of India (RGI) in its Sample
Registration System for the calendar year of 2009
shows a nine-point decline in rural IMR during
2005-2009 compared to six points in cities and
towns. The IMR is the lowest in Goa at 11, though
it was 10 in 2008, followed by Kerala at 12. The
worst performers are Madhya Pradesh at 67,
Orissa at 65, Uttar Pradesh at 63 and Assam at
61. In Tamil Nadu, the IMR has come down from
31 in 2008 to 28 in 2009. The government plans
to focus on nine not-so-well performing States
where the IMR is still above the national average
of 50 - these include U.P., M.P., Rajasthan, Bihar,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Uttarakhand,
and Assam.
m Which animal has been declared national
heritage animal by the Government of India
Elephant
m The Indian Navy launched the second sail training
ship -INS Sudarshini, built by Goa Shipyard Ltd
en January 26, 2011.
m Which country will launch indigenously RISAT-1
to boost all weather developed surveillance -
India
m The Gulmarg resort in Jammu and Kashmir was
or Jan 30, 2011 rated by CNN International as
Asia's seventh best ski destination. Appi Kogen
in Japan's Hornshu island tops the list as the
best ski resort in Asia.
m With which country India has signed a
comprehensive Economic Co-operation
Agreement - Malaysia
m India has launched year-long activities and
programmes in Canada to showcase the
country's rich art and culture, as well as its rise
as an economic power. Indian High
Commissioner SM Gavai on January 27, 2011
launched the 'Year of India in Canada' with a major
investment in Canada India Centre for Excellence
in Science, Technology, Trade and Policy at the
Carleton University.
m In which state the establishment of National
Centre for Molecular Materials has been approved
by Union cabinet - Kerala
m India is home to three of the world's 50 Greatest
Cultural Destinations, including the top one -Agra,
where the famous Taj Mahal is located. According
to a special supplement on Greatest Cultural
Destinations brought out by British newspaper
The Sunday Telegraph and travel experts Page &
Moy on January 24,2011, the other two cultural
destinations in India are Jaipur in Rajasthan and
Lucknow in UP.
m Which country has build world’s fastest
supercomputer Tianhe-IA -- China
m The commercial operation of India's first
seaplane - Jal Hans - began on January 24,2011
at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
m Which county has been elected as Vice President
at the UNCTAD Conference - India
m The Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVOA) scheme was
extended for the nationals of Cambodia, Laos,
Vietnam and Philippines with effect from January
1, 2011. Now, it has been decided to extend the
"Tourist Visa on Arrivar scheme for the citizens of
Myanmar and Indonesia also.
m According to Nielsen Company’s survey, India’s
company advertisement spends growth highest
in Asia-Pacific region. What is India’s total spend
in media - $ 6.7bn.
m Liechtenstein on January 23, 2011 declined help
in India's quest for suspected black money trail
to the small country bordering Switzerland, citing
absence of a bilateral treaty for such an
information exchange.
m Which country will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup
- Russia
m India and Bangladesh on January 22, 2011
opened a key joint land port at the northwestern
tip of Banglabandha bordering Phulbari of West
Bengal to boost bilateral trade. Phulbari-
Banglabandha land port was opened at a cross-
border ceremony attended by Indian Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Bangladesh's
agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury.
m Which country will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup
- Qatar
m S Ramadorai, former CEO of Tata Group's IT
631
CURRENT AFFAIRS
company TCS, was on Jan 29, 2011 appointed
as an advisor to the Prime Minister on skill
development.
m Which country will host the 17th Asian Games in
Incheon in 2014 - South Korea
m Jammu and Kashmir is all set to get its first
Information Commission after a high-power
committee cleared the name of a senior Indian
Revenue Service Officer for the post of Chief
Information Commissioner. The committee,
headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with
Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand and Leader of
the Opposition Mehbooba Mufti as members,
met in Jammu on January 27, 2011 and cleared
the name of G.R. Sufi, Chief Commissioner
Income Tax, Amritsar, as the first CTC of the State.
m The National Commodity and Derivatives
Exchange Limited is located in - Mumbai
m Singapore has appointed career diplomat Karen
Tan High Commissioner to India.
m In which country the 2014 FIFA World Cup and
the 2016 Olympic Games will be held - Brazil
m Legendary Hindustani vocalist Bhimsen Joshi
passed away at the age of 87 in Pune on July 24,
2011. A recipient of the Bharat Rama, the highest
civilian award, Joshi was the most-celebrated
exponent of the 'Kirana gharana' of Khansahib
Abdul Karim Khan. He improvised and combined
ragas to form new ragas like the Kalashri
(Kalavati and Rageshri). He has been the
recipient of several awards and honours: the
Padma Shri in 1972, the Sangeet Natak Akademi
Award in 1976, the Padma Bhushan in 1985, the
Padma Vibhushan in 1999 and the Bharat Rama
in 2008.
m Many a times we read a term in financial
newspapers GDR. What is the full form of same
- Global Depository Receipts
m Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on January
28, 2011 signed into law the ratification of a
landmark nuclear arms cut pact with the United
States, a day after Federation Council, the Upper
House of the Russian Parliament, unanimously
endorsed the pact. The U.S. Senate ratified the
START treaty in December 2010.
m Who has won the Hong Kong Open Super Series
Badminton Women’s Championship - Sania
Nehwal
m The annual World Economic Forum (WEF)
meeting was organised at Davos, Switzerland
from January 26-30 2011. A 130 - member
delegation from India comprising high-ranking
government officials, CEOs of major Indian
companies, media and civil society
representatives participated in the Summit . The
theme of the WEF annual meeting 2011 was red
Norms for a Mew Reality".
m Which country will host 2012 Asia Cup Cricket
Tournament - Bangladesh
m The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on January
23, 2011 said that the global economy will grow
faster this year than expected. The IMF revised
up its global growth forecast from 4.2% to 4.4%.
Emerging economies, however, should see
growth of 6.5% this year an d a similar expansion
in 2012. Growth projections for China and India
were unrevised at 9.6% and 8.4% respectively.
m Which company has been chosen for prestigious
Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises Award
2010 - Infosys
m The Maoist People's Liberaion Army (PLA) has
come under the control of the statutory Special
committee for Supervision, Integration and
Rehabilitation of former combatants in Nepal. The
handover of the PLA from the Maoist party to the
Special Committee took place at a formal
ceremony at the PLA third division cantonment in
Chitwan district on January 29, 2011.
m Which India city will host 20th International world
wide web conference in 2011 - Hyderabad
m The BBC on January 26, 20 1 confirmed plans to
close five of its 32 World Service language
services. Macedonian, Albanian and Serbian
services will be axed, as will English for the
Caribbean and Portuguese for Africa, in a bid to
save £46m a year. The World Service will also
cease short- wave transmission of six more
services in March 2011 - Hindi, Indonesian,
Kyrgyz, Nepali, Swahili and the Great Lakes
service (for Rwanda and Burundi).
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m Which year is declared as Civil Aviation Centenary
Year at the time of 100 years of Civil Aviation? -
2011-12
m Brazil's environment agency, Ibama, on January
27, 2011 gave the go-ahead for initial work to
begin on a huge hydroelectric dam on a tributary
of the Amazon River. The 1,000-megawatt dam
would be the third biggest in the world after the
Three Gorges in China and Itaipu, which is jointly
by Brazil and Paraguay.
m Muslims are expected to account for 16 per cent
of Indian population - up by a little over one per
cent - and Pakistan may surpass Indonesia as
the world's most populous Muslim nation in
2030, says a study. The study titled 'The Future of
the Global Muslim Population' by The Pew Forum
on Religion and Public Life was released on
January 27, 2011 in Washington. India is
projected to have a Muslim population of about
236 million in 2030 which would be nearly 16 per
cent of the projected Indian population in that year.
In 2010, there were an estimated 177 million
Muslims, which is 14.6 per cent of the total Indian
population.
m Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard on January
27, 2011 announced a new tax to help pay for
devastating floods that she says will cost A$5.6bn
($5.6bn; £3.5bn) in reconstruction. The 12-month
tax, starring from 1 July, would be levied on those
earning A$50,000 or more, and those affected by
floods would not pay.
m Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva
secured a landslide victory in the first round of
voting on January 23, 2011, promising to help
drag the country out of the current debt quagmire.
m US President Barack Obama on January 28, 2011
named two Indian-Americans - Vivek Murthy and
Islam Siddiqui - for key posts in his Administration.
Murthy has been appointed as member of the
advisory group on Prevention, Health, Promotion
and Integrative and Public Health. Siddiqui would
be Obama's Chief Agricultural Negotiator.
m J M Coetzee, Orhan Pamuk, Gulzar, Javed Akhtar,
Junot Diaz, Martin Amis, Jay Mclnerney were '
among the literary stars who converged on the
landscaped lawns of the 17th century Diggy
Palace for the sixth edition of the DSC Jaipur
Literature Festival organised from January 21 to
25, 2011. The first DSC Prize for South Asian
Literature was awarded to Karachi born Pakistani
author HM Naqvi for his book 'Home Boy'.
m N. Murali, Senior Managing Director of Kasturi
and Sons Limited, was presented the Music
Forum award for media excellence instituted by
the International Foundation for the Fine Arts at
the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA).
m A school boy from Moirang in Manipur - the place
where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian
National Army had hoisted the Tricolour for the
first time on Indian soil - has bagged the
International Peace Poster contest which will be
given away at the UN headquarters on March 18.
m "The King's Speech' on January 23, 2011 won
the Best Film accolade at the Producers Guild of
America Awards, beating off competition from
"The Social Network', 'Black Swan', '127 Hours',
'Inception', 'The Kids Art- All Right' and "The Fighter'.
m 'The King's Speech' won the Outstanding
Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Best
Film) award at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild
Awards presented in Los Angeles on January
29, 2011. The film also won the Outstanding
Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
(Best Actor) award for Colin Firth. Natalie Portman
won the Outstanding Performance by a Female
Actor in a Leading Role (Best Actress) for her
role in 'Black Swan'.
m Poet Jo Shapcott on January 26, 2011 won the
Costa Book o the Year award for her collection of
poems titled 'Of Mutability'.
m Internationally renowned music composer A.R.
Rahman was on J muary 26, 2011 honoured with
the Crystal Aware of the World Economic Forum
(WEF) at its annual summit prganised at Davos.
m In a major shift in policy on mobile telecom
services, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Jan
29, 2011 said that henceforth all operators would
have to p'ay market price for initial as well
additional spectrum. In future, the spectrum will
not be bundled with licence. The licence to be
633
CURRENT AFFAIRS
issued to tele:om operators will be in the nature
of 'Unified Licence’ and the licence holder will be
free to offer any of the multifarious telecom
services. There will also be a uniform rate of
revenue share to be paid by the operators as
spectrum charge to the government.
m The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on January 27,
2011 cleared tie appointment of U. K. Sinha as
the next chairman of India's market regulator, SEBI.
m The expert committee on ethanol pricing, headed
by Planning Co nmission member Saumitra
Chaudhuri, submitted its report on January 28,
2011. It has suggested that the price for sugar
companies in the current quarter should be Rs
26.76 per litre This is below the Rs 27
announced by a group of ministers last year. The
new price will be up for a quarterly review, based
on the previous quarter's price of petrol.
m India's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected
to grow 8.7 per cent in the year, according to the
Reserve Bank of India's professional forecasters'
survey.
m Global flows cf FDI remained unchanged
between 2009 and 2013, at $1.1 trillion, according
to the UNCTAD Global Investment Trend Monitor,
January 2011. However, there was a sharp shift
away from developed economies, as a result of
which, for the first time, developing and
transitional economies walked away with more
than half of all global flows. Developed
Economies attracted an FDI of $ 526.6 billion in
2010 ($ 565.9 billion in 2010) while Developing
Economies had $ 524.8 billion ($ 478.3 billion in
2009). However not all developing countries have
benefitted. In case of India,, FDI flows dropped
32 per cent in 2010 at 23.7 billion ($34.6 billion in
2009).
m A working, group on air cargo/express service
Industry under the Civil Aviation Economic Advisory
Council has been set up in the Ministry of Civil
Aviation in January 2011. The working group
comprises representatives from the airline
industry, airport infrastructure developers, cargo
associations, airport operators, Customs and the
Ministry. The responsibilities of the working group
entail preparation and presentation of the current
status of the industry and assessment of its
growth potential in India.
m Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the
country's biggest energy explorer, on January 28,
2011 said it had struck shale gas reserves in its
maiden well irt West Bengal. This is the first time
shale gas has been discovered in sedimentary
shale gas rocks outside the US and Canada.
m A joint venture firm between NTPC Ltd and
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd has been
incorporated on January 27, 2011 under
'Anushakti Vidhyut Nigam Ltd'. The venture is
slated to commence operations with the
execution of a 700-MWe indigenous pressurised
heavy water reactor-based project shortly. NPCIL
will hold 51 per cent of the equity share capital,
with NTPC having the balance 49 per cent. The
firm has been formed for development of nuclear
power projects in the country within the framework
of Atomic Energy Act, 1962.
m K Subrahmanyam, 82, widely regarded as India's
fore-most thinker on strategic policy, passed away
on February 3, 2011. He repeatedly declined a
Padma Bhushan, offered to him by successive
governments.
m Wajahat Habibullah took over as the new Chair
person of the National Commission for Minorities
on February 3, 2011 for a period of three years.
m The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
(ACC) on February 3, 2011 approved the
appointment of Expenditure Secretary Sushma
Nalh as Finance Secretary and Secretary,
Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.
m Unable to get justice in his two-year battle against
corruption in MGNREGS in Hardoi, Magsaysay
award winner Sandeep Pandey returned the
NREGS Employment Awareness Award on
February 2, 2011. The award was conferred to
Pandey's organisation Asha Trust by the Union
Ministry for Rural Development in 2009.
m Amitabh Mattoo has declined to take up his
appointment as Vice-Chancellor of the Jammu
Central University, citing personal reasons.
m In a major relief to South Korean steel major
634
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Pohang Steel Company (POSCO), the
environment ministry on February 1, 2011
approved the firm's Rs 54,000-crore ($12-billion)
steel plant. Seen as one of the largest foreign
direct investments in India, the project has been
in limbo for nearly six years. The Orissa
government and POSCO had signed an MoU on
June 22, 2005 to set up an integrated steel plant
with a total capacity of 12 million tonnes a year
(with 4 million tonnes in the f-irst phase) at
Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.
m Home Minister P. Chidambaram unveiled the
mascot of the census enumerators, in New Delhi
on February 2, 2011. No name has been given to
the mascot designed by DDB Mudra Group, to
keep it secular.
m The government on February 4, 2011 notified
rules that allow non-resident Indians (NRIs) who
fulfill certain criteria to vote in elections in India.
Currently, no person can be on the voters list if he
or she remains outside the country for more than
six months at a stretch. Under the revised rules,
NRIs holding Indian passports, who have not
acquired or applied for citizenship of another
country, and who satisfy the electoral officer of
the area/locality cited as address in his passport,
will be allowed to vote in elections in India.
m As per the latest Sample Registration System
(SRS) estimates released by the Registrar
General of India (RGI), Ministry of Home Affairs
for the year 2009 in February 2011, it is noted that
Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has dropped by 3 points
from 53 (during 2008) to 50 infants deaths per
1000 live births during 2009. The IMR for rural
areas has dropped by 3 points from 58 to 55
infant deaths per 1000 live births.
m Indigenous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
Nishant has successfully completed a series of
confirmatory trials conducted by the Army at
Chandan Range Pokharari, that Defence
Research Development Organisation (DRDO)
said on February 3, 2011.
m The 11th Delhi Sustainable Development
Summit was organised in New Delhi from
February 3-5, 2011. Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh was honoured with the Sustainable
Development , Leadership Award at the Summit
organised by The Energy and Resources
Institute (TERI). "Tapping Local Initiatives and
Tackling Global Inertia" was the theme of the
Summit.
m Thein Sein, a military general-turned-civilian
leader, was on Feb.4, 2011 elected Myanmar's
first President under its 2008 Constitution, which
came into force earlier.
m The New Start nuclear arms treaty limiting the
number of atomic warheads the US and Russia
are allowed to possess, has come into effect.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanged
ratification documents at the Munich Conference
on Security Policy of February 5, 2011. The treaty
replaces the 1591 Start treaty which expired in
December 2009.
m Some 99% of South Sudanese voted to secede
from the north, according to the first results of the
region's independence referendum on January
30, 2011. Early counting had put the outcome of
the ballot beyond doubt, indicating Southern
Sudan had secured a mandate to become the
world's newest nation.
m The World Wetland day was celebrated on
February 02, 2011. 2nd February marks the date
of adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2
February, 1971, in tie Iranian city of Ramsar on
the shores of the Caspian Sea.
m The Indian Air Force on January 30, 2011 bagged
the 'Best Marching Contingent' award amongst
the three Services at this year's Republic Day
Parade while the Indo-Tibetan Border Police has
been adjudged the test amongst the paramilitary
forces.
m Noted Indian statistician Prof. C.R. Rao, a nonage-
narian, was an Jan. 29, 2011 selected for the Guy
Medal in Gold of the Royal Statistical Society, UK.
m China has the highest installed wind power
capacity in the world now. It has leapfrogged past
Germany and the US to the top slot at the end of
2010. India retains its fifth position, according to
635
CURRENT AFFAIRS
details released by the Global Wind Energy
Council on February 2, 2011.
m Ending a six-week long stalemate, India on
February 3, 2011 decided to use euro to pay for
Iranian crude oil but will route the payment through
a German bank instead of the RBI.
m The Department of Posts on February 4, 2011
announced a strategic partnership with the
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for
registration and distribution of unique identifica-
tion (UID) cards to citizens. The UIDAI will lever-
age the DoP national network for its unique iden-
tity project AADHAR. The two organisations will
also collaborate to provide state-of-the-art bio-
metric and identity authentication services. All
AADHAR-based applications would be accessi-
ble through post offices.
m The International Jewellery Summit "Abhushan -
Design Dialogues in Jewellery" was organized
by World Craft Council in New Delhi from
February 4 to 6, 2011.
m The three-day 'Triton-3' exercises were organised
by the Indian Navy along Kerala coast to evaluate
its vulnerability and identify the gaps. Former
President A P J Abdul Kalam was on Dec. 10,
2010 conferred Honorary D.Sc. at IIT Kharagpur
during the International Conference on
Communication. Computers and Devices 2010.
m A state-of-the-art Navel Offshore Patrol Vessel
(NOPV), INS 'Sumitra' was launched at the Goa
Shipyard in December, 2011.
m Al Jazeera English, the global news and current
affairs channel, has been granted a down-linking
license to broadcast in India by the Information
and Broadcasting Ministry
m The Indira Gandhi National Open University
(IGNOU), in partnership with the Ministry of Home
Affairs, has launched a Certificate Course in Anti-
Human Trafficking
m During Sarkozy's visit to India, India and France
signed a framework agreement for sourcing two
reactor units from French film Areva SA and an
assurance on uranium supplies to fuel them.
m The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
signed two commercial agreements with Arianne
space during French President Nicolas Sarkozy's
visit under which Indian satellites GSAT 8 and
GSAT 10 would be launched in 2011 and 2012 by
Arianne space.
m The Eleventh European Union - India Summit
was held in Brussels where a joint report on the
progress of the FTA talks stated that the FTA is
likely to be inked by 2011 and would come into
operation by 2012.
m The Union government introduced the Protection
of Women Against Sexual Harassment at Work
Place Bill, 2010 in the Lok Sabha which aims to
fix the responsibility on the employer and district
authorities, while excluding the domestic workers
from its purview.
m In a global survey by Berlin-based Transparency
International (TI), India is the ninth most corrupt
country in the world, in a ranking of 86 countries,
with 54% of people reporting having paid a bribe.
m The Central Vigilance Commission has
launched Project 'VigEye' on the occasion of the
International Anti-Corruption Day on December
9, 2010 to encourage people to disclose
information on corruption.
m Chinese human rights dissident and
prodemocracy activist Liu Xiaobo was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia on December
9, 2010 in Oslo, Norway.
m The government of France has bestowed HDFC
Chairman Deepak Parekh with the title of Knight
in the Order of the Legion of Honour in recognition
of his contribution to the setting up of French firms
in India.
m The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has set
up an Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC)
as a not-for-profit-trust, in partnership with
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to promote
investment amongst the overseas Indians.
m As per the Report on employment and
unemployment survey (2009-10) brought out by
Labour Bureau unemployment rate on usual
principal status basis was estimated at 10.1 per
cent for rural areas and 7.3 per cent for urban
areas during 2009-10.
636
CURRENT AFFAIRS
m The Pranab Sen Committee on December 15,
2010 has given a new definition for slums i.e. "a
compact settlement of at least 20 households
with a collection of poorly built tenements, mostly
of temporary nature, crowded together usually
with inadequate sanitary and drinking water
facilities in unhygienic conditions".
m The 2010 India Corruption Survey, undertaken by
the New Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies
(CMS), in December 2010, stated that there has
been a significant decline in the extent of
corruption faced by citizens while availing public
services such as telephones, passports,
electricity and railway reservations, since 2005.
m 'Global Wage Report 2010-11 : Wage policies in
times of crisis', a study by the International La-
bour Organisation (ILO) was released on De-
cember 19, 2010. The study reveals that the glo-
bal financial and economic crisis has led to a
considerable slow down in the rate of growth of
real wages around the world.
m The UN General Assembly on Dec. 22, 2010
declared June 23 as International Widows Day.
m The first seaplane service in the country named
'Jal Hans' was launched at the Juhu aerodrome
in Mumbai on December 27, 2010. The service
will run on the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
m Sudhir K. Sopory will be the new Vice-Chancellor
of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University.
m Brazil's first woman President, Dilma Rousseff,
was sworn into office on December 31, 2010.
She took over from Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who
stepped down after two terms as the most
popular president in the country's history.
Rousseff was appointed energy minister in
President Lula's government in 2003 and served
as his chief of staff from 2005 to 2010.
m India has become the largest borrower from the
International Development Association (IDA), the
soft loan affiliate of the World Bank, which helps
the world's poorest countries, with a total
borrowing of $2,578 million in the fiscal year
ended June 2010.
m The government plans to introduce another index
called the producer price index (PPI) to record
price movements of commodities. The PPI is a
measure of change over time in the selling price
for producers. It is usually the first commercial
transaction in goods and services produced. PPI
is a measure of what the producer gets and not
what buyer pays, thus excluding taxes.
m According to the Asian Development Bank report
on a survey of Indian cities, the top 15 cities to
invest in India are, as per rank: Delhi, Greater
Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad,
Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chandigarh,
Nagpur, Visakhapatnam, Vadodara, Jaipur and
Thiruvananthapuram. The ADB has ranked cities
under five major categories: city prosperity index,
urban governance, business environment,
infrastructure index and quality of life.
m The Headquarters of Air India Express is to be
shifted from Mumbai to Kerala. While the
Operational and Administrative offices would be
in Kochi, the engineering hub would be in
Thiruvananthapuram.
m Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG)
has renamed itself' as Reliance Group, dropping
the name of owner Anil Ambani.
m India's supersonic cruise missile, Brahmos, was
successfully flight-tested on December 2, 2010
from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur,
Orissa. Brahmos missile is nine metres long,
has a diametre of 70 cm and weighs 3.9 tonnes
with the canister. 11 hat a range of 290 km and
can carry conventional was 'heads weighing 300 kg.
m A committee set up by Ministry of Housing and
Urban Poverty Alleviation has projected the
number of people living in slums is likely to cross
93 million by 2011, marking an increase of around
23 per cent since 2001.
m The number of national parties in the country has
come down to six from seven after the Election
Commission derecognising several parties for
not fulfilling the minimum eligibility criteria for
getting recognition as "National" or "State" parties.
The six recognised national parties are the
Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the
Communist Party of India (CPI), the CPI (M), the
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
Bahujan Samaj Party and the Nationalist
Congress Party.
m The total number of people living with HIV
infections in tie country is close to 24 lakh;
including 9.3 lakh women, according to the latest
figures released by the National Aids Control
Organisation (NACO) on the World AIDS Day
(December 1, 2010).
m The second World Social Security Summit was
organised by the International Social Security
Association in Capetown, South Africa, on
December 3, 2010.
m The World Organ Donation Day was celebrated
in India for the first time on November 27, 2010.
m Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram 01
November 19, 2010 launched Rajiv Gandhi
Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls
(RGSEAG) - SABLA - for the well-being and overall
empowerment of adolescent girls. The scheme
has been launched as a pilot project in 200 most
backward districts. Under the scheme, an
integrated package of services will be provided
to adolescent girls. It includes nutrition provision
of 600 calories and 18-20 grams of protein and
micronutrients, at a rate of Rs. 5 a beneficiary a
day for 300 days a year.
m Mamata Banerjee inaugurated work on the
Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor in West
Bengal on November 16, 2010. The 1,806-km
eastern corridor will extend from Dankuni to
Ludhiana and pass through several mining and
industrial towns such as Asansol, Dhanbad,
Sonnagar, Khurja and Saharanpur. It is being
designed for a maximum train speed of 100
kmph.
m India's first indigenously developed Airborne Early
Warning and Centre: System (AWACS) is ready
and is being sent to Brazil shortly to be integrated
with an Embraer 145 jet.
m An Indian Language Technology Proliferation
and Deployment Centre (ILTP-DC) in New Delhi
was launched on November 12, 2010.
m Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on November
6, 2010 announced visa on arrival facility for the
nationals of Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and
the Philippines at the 8th India-ASEAN summit
in Hanoi, Vietnam. The facility can be availed
starting January 1, 2011.
m The Union Cabinet on November 4, 2010
approved the renaming of the Rajasansi
International Airport at Amritsar as "Sri Guru Ram
Dass Jee International Airport, Amritsar".
m The Union Cabinet on Nov.4, 2010 approved the
establishment of a National Centre for Molecular
Materials (NCMM) at Thiruvananthapuram in
Kerala .
m India and South Korea have reached an
agreement on civil nuclear cooperation, marking
the ninth such pact that New Delhi has finalised
since getting the NSG waiver in 2008. Korea will
be the ninth country with which India will be
signing the nuclear agreement after it got the
waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG)
in 2008. The others are the US, France, Russia,
Canada, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and
Namibia.
m The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry
has pushed back the target date for achieving
population stabilisation to 2070 from 2045,
stipulated in the National Population Policy (NPP) 2000.
m The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on
October 20, 2010 approved the implementation
of Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY)
on pilot basis in selected 52 districts during the
remaining period of 11th Five Year Plan at a total
cost of Rs 1000 crore.
m Rustom 1, a medium-altitude and long-
endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV),
developed by the Bangalore-based Aeronautical
Development Establishment (ADE), was
successfully test-flown on October 16, 2010.
m The country's first floating disaster response
base of the National Disaster Response Force
(NDRF), anchored on tie banks of the
Brahmaputra, was inaugurated on Oct. 18, 2010.
m The Union government on October 13, 2010
appointed a group of three interlocutors to hold
sustained dialogue with all sections of the
people in Jammu and Kashmir. They are, Dr.
Dileep Padgaonkar, a noted journalist, Prof. MM.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
Ansari, Information Commissioner and Prof.
(Mrs) Radha Kumar, trustee, Delhi Policy Group.
Dr. Dilip Padgaonk are will chair the meetings of
the Group.
m India has been ranked 67, much lower than
neighbouring China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and
Nepal in the 2010 Global Hunger Index (GHI)
Report released on October 11, 2010. India's
score improved from 131.7 to 24.1 during the
same period.
m The indigenously built INS Kalpeni, the latest fast
attack craft, was on October 14, 2010
commissioned into the Indian Navy.
m The Union cabinet approved the declaration of
January 25 every year as 'National Voters' Day'
beginning from 2011 and to provide voters a
badge with its logo and the slogan "Proud to be a
voter -- Ready to vote".
m The 19th Law Commission of India was
constituted for a period of three years w.e.f. from
September 1, 2009 to August 31, 2012. At present,
Justice P. V. Reddi, retired Judge, Supreme Court
of India, is the Chairman and Dr. B. A. Agarwal, is
the Member-Secretary of the Commission. The
Government on October 27, 2010 approved the
appointment of Narsingha Mishra (Senior
Advocate. High Court of Orissa) as a Part-time
Member in the Commission.
m India on October 19, 2010 launched the National
Green Tribunal (NGT), a special court to deal with
environmental issues, thereby becoming the
third country after Australia and New Zealand to
do so. Former Supreme Court Justice Lokeshwar
Singh Panta took over as the Chairman of NGT,
which have its headquarters in Delhi and four
circuit benches across the country.
m The world's first Tiger Summit, a high-profile
conservation conference called by Russian
President Vladimir Putin and World Bank chief
Robert Zoellick to mobilise political, financial and
celebrity support behind a goal of doubling the
number of wild tigers by 2022, concluded at St.
Petersburg on November 24, 2010.
m The two-day OSCE Summit of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
concluded in Astana, Kazalhstan on December
2, 2010. Lithuania will hold the OSCE
Chairmanship for 2011.
m The eighth World Philosophy Day was observed
at the United Nations on November 18, 2010.
m The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has
succeeded in creating a miniature version of the
Big Bang by smashing stripped-down lead
atoms together.
m The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on
November 6, 2010 approved proposals that will
lead to an overhaul of the fund's quotas and
governance and put India among the top 10
members. The 10 largest members of the fund
will now be the US, Japan, the BRICs (Brazil,
China, India, Russia), and die four largest
European countries (France, Germany, Italy, the
United Kingdom).
m The 20th Anniversary edition of the Human
Development Report (HDR) of the UNDP titled
'The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human
Development' was released on November 3,
2010. The top five countries in 2010 Human
Development Index (HDI) rankings of 169
countries are Norway, Australia, New Zealand,
the United States and Ireland. While the bottom
five are Mozambique, Burundi, Niger, Congo and
Zimbabwe. India ranks 119th of 169 countries
measured on the index, with China at 89, South
Africa at 110, Pakistan at 125 and Bangladesh at
129. India is classified as a medium human
development country.
m Singapore remains the best country in which to
run a business, according to an annual report by
the World Bank. Hong Kong came in second
place, with New Zealand third, and the US behind
the UK in fifth place. However, India still has a
long way to traverse, as it ranks one of the lowest
- sixth among South Asian countries, with only
Bhutan and Afghanistan ranked lower.
m In November, 2010 published Forbes magazine's
fifth annual ranking (2010) of the Best Countries
for Business, Denmark ranked on top again.
Denmark comes out on top once again followed
by Hong Kong, New Zealand, Canada and
Singapore. India is at 77th position ahead of
China (90th).
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
m The rich among the G-20 nations agreed to give
emerging countries slightly greater
representation on the board of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) at the G-20 finance ministers'
and central bankers' meeting in Gyeongju, South
Korea on October 22, 2010. The quota share of
India in the IMF will improve to about 2.75% from
the present level of 2.44%.
m The fifth East Asia Summit (EAS) opened in
Hanoi, Vietnam on October 30, 2010. Leaders of
ASEAN and six dialogue partners have gathered
to discuss strategic issues of relevance to the
region. The six dialogue partners include China,
Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New
Zealand and ASEAN member countries - Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
m India is ranted 88th, out of 110, on the 2010 Global
Prosperity Index, created by the London-based
Legatum Institute as a measure of "wealth and
well-being".
m Finance ministers from the G20 leading econo-
mies have agreed reforms of the International
Monetary Fund, giving major developing nations
more of a say at a meeting in Gyeongji, South
Korea on October 23, 2010. Tie ministers also
agreed to refrain from competitive devaluations
of their currencies and move towards more mar-
ket-determined currency systems.
m The world's population is expected to reach 9.15
billion in 2050 from the current 6.908 billion, ac-
cording to the State of World Population 2010
report, issued by World Population Fund in Stock-
holm on October 21, 2010. India will become the
world's largest country with a population of 1.6138
billion from the current 1.2145 billion, replacing
China whose population will reach 1.417 billion
in 2050 from the current 1.3541 billion. The theme
of this year's report was "From conflict and crisis
to renewal: generations of change".
m The first World Statistics Day was observed on
October 20, 2010 et the Kolkata-based Indian
Statistical Institute (ISI).
m India was elected as a non-permanent member
of the United Nations Security Council at the U.N.
General Assembly meeting in New York on
October 12, 2010. It has been on the Council six
times before - having last served in 1992. Other
countries elected as non-permanent members
of the UN Security Council for a two-year term are
South Africa, Colombia, Germany and Portugal.
m The BASIC group of large developing nations-
India, China, Brazil and South Africa-have
intensified their efforts to win the crucial support
of small island States on the climate change
debate ahead of the year-end U.N. summit at
Cancun in Mexico.
m Saxena committee: The Environment Ministry
had earlier stayed the clearance for Posco after
the N C Saxena committee had pointed to
violations of the Forest Rights Act by the Orissa
government while carrying out acquisition of land
for the project.
m Gupta committee: Next to come was the report
of the Meena Gupta committee set up specifically
to review Posco for compliance with all green
laws. Three out of the four members of the Gupta
committee pointed to grave violations of FRA and
other green laws as well as collusion and
fabrication by the state government in an attempt
to secure the forest clearance.
m Five Indians in Fortes' 'World's Most Powerful
People' list
China's President Hu Jintao has topped the 2010
Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People.
m For the top spot, Jintao pipped US President
Barack Obama, who comes in at second place.
Of the 6.8 billion people on the planet, Forbes'
list comprises "the 68 who matter".
m Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, Tata Sons, Chairman
Ratan Tata, Reliance Industries Chairman
Mukesh Ambani and ArcelorMittal Chairman
Lakshmi Mittal are the five Indians in this year's
list of 68 people "who matter".
m India, Japan Landmark trade pact
The conclusion of negotiations on the bilateral
Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Agreement (CEFA) was declared in a joint
statement after a meeting between Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and Japanese Prime
Minister Naoto Kan in Tokyo.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS
AWARDSm The Bengali film maker Gautam Ghosh's film
"Moner Manush" bagged the coveted Golden
Peacock Award and cash prize of Rs 20 lakh for
the Best Film at the 41st International Film
Festival of India 2010.
m Silver Peacock Award for the Best Director has
gone to Susanne Bier of Denmark for her film "In
a Better World".
m 'Just Another Love Story' from India and "Boy" from
New Zealand won the Special Jury Award.
m The Best Actor Award of Rs. 10 lakh went to the
Turkish actor Guven Kirac for his role in the film
"The Crossing" whereas the Best Actress Award
was won by Magdalena Boozarska of Poland for
her role in "Little Rose".
m The 11-day extravaganza, which began on
November 22, concluded on December 02, 2010.
mmmmm Dayawati Modi Award 2010 :
Vice President M. Hamid Ansari on November
24, 2010 presented the 'Dayawati Modi Award
2010 for Art, Culture and Education to Dr. Karan
Singh, Member of Parliament and former
Ambassador of India to the US, in recognition of
his contribution to Indian culture and literature.
m Dr. Singh is currently the Chairman, Ethics
Committee of the Upper House of Parliament;
Chairman, Governing Board of the Auroville
Foundation, Chancellor of the prestigious
Benaras Hindu University and President of the
Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR),
having a rank equal to a Central Cabinet Minister.
mmmmm Indira Gandhi Prize :
Outgoing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva was on November 19, 2010 selected for
the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament
and Development for 2010.
mmmmm Dadasaheb Phalke Awards
President Pratibha Patil presented the
Dadasaheb Phalke Award to D. Ramanaidu
during the 57th National Film Awards 2009
ceremony at the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi on
October 22, 2010.
mmmmm Man Booker Prize :
Author and columnist Howard Jacobson has won
the Man Booker Prize for his comic novel "The
Finkler Question'.
m Jacobson, who beat contenders including
double winner Peter Carey, received the £50,000
prize at London's Guildhall on October 12, 2010.
mmmmm Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration
2009 :
m Oscar-winning compose A.R. Rahman and the
Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, located in
Chhattisgarh's Narainpur, have been jointly
selected for the 25th Indira Gandhi Award for
National Integration for the year 2009 for their
services in promoting a id preserving national
integration.
mmmmm Literature : Noble Prize 2010
Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded
the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2010 for 'his
cartography of structures of power and his
trenchant images of the individual's resistance,
revolt, and defeat'.
mmmmm Peace : Noble Prize 2010
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaobo for 'his
long and non-violent struggle for fundamental
human rights in China'.
mmmmm Economics : Noble Prize 2010
Two Americans and a British-Cypriot economist
won the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic
Sciences 2010 (Nobel economics prize) on
October 11,2010 for developing a theory that helps
explain why many people can remain
unemployed despite a large number of job
vacancies.
mmmmm Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award:
John Brumby, Prime Minister of the Australian
province of Victoria, was on October 13, 2010
was presented with the 2010 Mahatma Gandhi
Peace Award by Hindu Foundation of Australia
for bringing the Parliament of the World's
Religions (PWR) to Melbourne in 2009.
mmmmm UNESCO suspends Obiang Mbasogo
International Prize:
Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) decided on
October 21, 2010 to suspend the UNESCO-
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize
sponsored by Equatorial Guinea President
Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.