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INTERNATIONAL

Palestinian Authority to be Named State of Palestine

On 7 January Palestinian Authority President MahmoudAbbas has signed a decree changing the name of thePalestinian Authority to the State of Palestine,"according to the organizations official news agency.

Pakistani Supreme Court Orders Arrest of PrimeMinister

On 15 January 2013 Pakistans Supreme Court orderedthe arrest of the prime minister in connection with acorruption case linked to power projects. The SupremeCourt gave authorities 24 hours to arrest Prime MinisterRaja Pervez Ashraf and 16 others.This is the first in thehistory of Pakistan to arrest a Prime Minister. The ordersof the Court came following the allegations in connection

with a corruption case linked to power projects, doneduring his office of the Water and Power Minister.

Obama Signed 23 Executive Orders on Gun Safety

On 16 January President Barack Obama announced 23executive actions on gun control laws, making themstricter,which would come into effect immediately after his

signatures. One of these measures include requiring thetarget shooters to keep their guns locked and also to banmilitary-style assault weapons, high capacity magazine aswell as to make the background check mandatory.Obamaannounced that this was his attempt to keep children safe,


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keeping in view the massacre of Newtown where 20 firstgrade children along with six adults were killed.

140 Nations Agreed On Global Mercury Limits

On 19 January , More than 140 nations have agreed onthe first legally binding treaty to curb mercurypollution.Delegates at UN discussed in Geneva approvedmeasures to control the use of the highly toxic metal,which is widely used in chemical production and small-scale mining, in order to limit mercury emissions.The

governments agreed to ban the production, export andimport of a range of products containing mercury by2020.The treaty has been discussed for four years, but itis only now that the negotiators agreed over the finalversion of the document. The treaty, known as theMinamata Convention on Mercury, provides controls andreductions across a range of products and processeswhere mercury is used, released and emitted.

Milos Zeman Elected as Czech Republic newPresident

On 25 January A leftist candidate Milos Zeman won theCzech Republics first presidential election decided bydirect vote.Milos Zeman, a former prime minister and headof the Citizens Rights Party, won with 54.8% of thevote.He defeated Karel Schwarzenberg, an aristocraticforeign minister with the TOP09 party, who garnered45.2%.Zeman replaces Vaclav Klaus, who must stepdown after serving the maximum of two terms.


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INDIA & WORLD

IndiaPakistan Exchanged Nuclear Units Lists

On 1 January India and Pakistan exchanged their nuclearunits lists , as it is customary since 20 years. The listwhich contains the names of nuclear units of twocountries, are exchanged between India and Pakistan as acustom and part of an agreement which prevents themfrom aiming the nuclear installations of each othersnations.

Thousands of illegal Indian Migrants in UK

According to a 2012 UK Home Office report, India hasbeen named along with Pakistan, China, Nigeria,Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Brazil andIran as the main sources of illegal immigration to

Britain.What the report does not mention is how many ofthe 863,000 illegal migrants that it says are living in the UKare students. This is a contentious area because critics ofthe coalition government claim it is counting studentsamong overall immigrants.

World Economic Forums Global Risks Report

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) report ,India ranks lowest among the worlds major economies forits preparedness to tackle global environmental risks andsecond-lowest for economic risks.Switzerland is bestplaced among the worlds 10 major economies for


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adapting to or recovering from global economic andenvironmental risks.While India is ranked 9th in terms ofits ability to tackle global economic risks, it comes last at

10th position for environmental risks.However, India faredrelatively better at 6th position in terms of thegovernments risk management effectiveness.The US andChina were ranked fourth and fifth respectively.

Indians Top the List of Working in Dream Jobs

According to survey conducted by networking website

LinkedIn,Indians have emerged at the top of the list ofpeople working in their dream job.The dream job leaguetable:1. India 44 percent 2. Indonesia 42 percent 3.United Arab Emirates 35.7 percent 4. Germany 33percent 5. Brazil 32 percent 6. Austria 31 percent 7.Switzerland 30 percent 8. USA 29 percent 9. France,Canada, Sweden, South Africa 28 percent 13.Singapore, Hong Kong 27 percent 15. Australia 26percent 16. New Zealand 25 percent 17. UK 21percent

India Vietnam Signed on Micro, Small & MediumEnterprises

On 15 January India and Vietnam signed an MoU aimedat building capacity for developing institutional framework

and identifying thrust areas and opportunities for micro,small and medium enterprises in this country.The MoUwas signed here between the Ministry of Planning andInvestments of Vietnam and Ministry of Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises (MSMEs) of India .


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India and Sri Lanka signed Anti-terror, Tax evasionAgreements

On 22nd January India and Sri Lanka signed two

separate agreements on combating international terrorismand avoidance of double taxation, eyeing elevation ofrobust bilateral ties to building of a special economic

partnership.The two key accords were signed after the 8thIndia-Sri Lanka Joint Commission meeting held at NewDelhi , both countries discussed enhanced cooperation ina range of areas including civil nuclear energy.At the

meeting, the Indian side was led by External AffairsMinister Salman Khurshid while the Lankans were led byhis counterpart G.L. Peiris.During the meet, both theparties also decided setting up of the Special EconomicZone at Trincomali and a textile and pharmaceuticalcluster in Sri Lanka.

International Tea Producers Forum formed

On 22 January India, along with five other tea producingcountries, has formed the International Tea ProducersForum (ITPF) at Colombo.Union Minister of State forCommerce and Industry D Purandesari signed the jointcommunique on behalf of India along with representativesof Kenya, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Rwanda and Malawi inColombo.The ITPF will initially be an independent bodybut in future may get affiliated to Food & AgricultureOrganisation of United Nations.

India , Bangladesh Signed Extradition and VisaAgreements


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On 28 January Bangladesh and India signed anextradition treaty and struck a deal to relax business visarestrictions between the neighbouring countries. However,

refusal provisions were incorporated into the extraditiontreaty.Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde signed theagreement with his Bangladeshi counterpart MohiuddinKhan Alamgir at the end of their bilateral talks.

India Dropped to 140th Rank in Press Freedom

According to the report Reporters Without Borders India

has dropped nine places to the 140th rank in the list of 179countries in the latest World Press Freedom Index.China(173rd, +1) shows no sign of improving. Its prisons stillhold many journalists and netizens, while increasinglyunpopular Internet censorship continues to be a majorobstacle to access information.As last year, the list istopped by three European countries Finland,Netherlands and Norway.Turkmenistan, North Korea and

Eritrea continue to be at the bottom of the list as has beenin the last three years.

NATIONAL

Govt Launched Direct Cash Transfer Scheme in 20

Districts

On 1 January 2013 The government launched its scaleddown Cash Transfer Benefit (CBT) in 20 districts,but food,fertiliser and fuel subsidies will not be covered in the initialphase. All 26 schemes are ready for rollout. On 1 January


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2013 the seven schemes in which payout is due in the (20selected) districts, the money will be transferred throughthe direct benefit transfer system using the UIDAI

platform.The scheme is going to be rolled out in 43districts by 1 March 2013, 20 districts from January 1, 11districts from February 1 and 12 districts from March 1. Byend of 2013, the direct cash benefit transfer will be rolledout in all the districts of the country.

PA Sangma launched National Peoples Party

PA Sangma, who broke away with the NCP in 2012 tocontest the presidential elections, though unsuccessfully,on 05 January 2013 launched National Peoples Party(NPP), and chosen a book as its symbol. Sangma haschosen to align his party with the BJP-led NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA).

President Released Stamps on Swami Vivekananda

On 12 January The President, Shri Pranab Mukherjeereleased the Commemorative Postage Stamps, at theCommemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of SwamiVivekananda, in New Delhi .

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012

On 17 January According to the Annual Status ofEducation Report (ASER) 2012 report has found thatlearning levels have dipped to an all-time low. So, almosthalf the 6-7 year-olds (Class I) in India cannot read evenone letter in any language, over 57% cannot read anyEnglish while almost 40% cannot recognize numbers


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between 1 and 9.The 12.8% children between Class I andV could not read a single letter while 10.7% could notrecognize numbers 1 to 9. The number of children in Class

V who could read Class II text fell from 53.7% in 2010 to46.8% in 2012. In 2010, seven out of 10 children couldsolve a two-digit subtraction problem with borrowing. Thishas come down to five out of 10 in 2012.

STATES

Odisha Launched Public Service Delivery System

On 2 January The Odisha government launched themuch-sought after Public Service Delivery System forcitizens under the Odisha Right to Public Service Act,2012.Under the new act, people will get services like issueof driving license, birth and death certificates, passport

and trade license within a stipulated time.Odisha is amongthe 12th state to implement the law.

Haryana Government announced Kanyadan Schemefor Bride participants of Mass Marriages

The Government of Haryana on 3 January 2012announced its plan of launching a Kanyadan Scheme in

the state for brides participating in the mass marriageceremony, which would be organised by any of theregistered NGO or the Red Cross Society. The schemewould carry an incentive amount of 11000 rupees andwould come into effect from 1 April 2012. The incentiveamount of 11000 rupees would be given to brides from all


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castes, creeds, race, religion and the income category towhich the girl belongs.

Arunachal Pradesh Collaborated with NSDL for

Adoption of National Pension Scheme

On 9 January The state of Arunachal Pradesh entered intoan agreement with signing of MoU with National SecuritiesDepository Ltd (NSDL), permitting it to work as a CentralRecord Keeping Agency (CRA) for adoption of theNational Pension System (NPS).National Pension Scheme

NPS is an initiative of the Union Government of India andArunachal Pradesh is the 26th State to adopt it.

Gujarat Tops List of Indian States on EconomicFreedom Policy

According to the Economic Freedom of States in India report which was released by former Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) Governor and present Rajya Sabha MemberBimal Jalan.The top state in India in (terms of) economicfreedom in 2011 was western Indian state Gujarat. Itdisplaced southern Indian state Tamil Nadu which hadbeen at the top in 2009.Gujarat freedom index has beenrising fast and estimated at 0.64 points. The biggestimprovement has been registered by Madhya Pradeshwith freedom index score rose from 0.42 in 2009 to 0.56 in

2011 enabling it to move up from sixth to third position.

Assembly polls in Tripura,Meghalaya and Nagaland onFebrauary


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Assembly elections in Tripura will be held on February 14and in Meghalaya and Nagaland on February 23 and theirresults will be out on February 28, the Election

Commission announced on 10 January 2013.The EC alsoannounced byelections to nine assembly constituencies inMizoram, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Punjab onFebruary 23 and in Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra onFebruary 24, but their results will be out together onFebruary 28.

Presidents Rule Imposed on Jharkhand

On 18 January Pranab Mukherjee, the President of Indiaimposed Presidents Rule in Jharkhand under Article

356(1) of the Constitution.The Presidents Rule for thethird time since its formation 12 years ago.The decisioncame as a follow up of the recommendation made by theUnion Cabinet of India and fall of the state machinery inform of Government on 8 January after the Jharkhand

Mukti Morcha the supporting party to BJP led CoalitionGovernment withdrew its support from it. The state wasplaced under Presidents Rule in 2009 and 2010.

Three New High Courts for North East

The Centre has constituted three new High Courts in thenortheast Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura taking the total

number of High Courts in the country from 21 to24.According to Law Ministry sources, the strength of

judges in each High Court will be as follows: Tripura 4(including the Chief Justice), and Meghalaya and Manipur:three each (including the Chief Justice).


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CONFERENCES

100th Indian Science Congress held in Kolkata

The 100th Indian Science Congress was held from 3 to 7January in Kolkata (West Bengal) .The theme of thesession is Science for Shaping the Future of India .The session was inaugurated by Pranab Mukherjee

the President of India .In the session Prime MinisterManmohan Singh released The Science, Technologyand Innovation Policy(STI) 2013 .On 4 January FormerPresident Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam inaugurated a ChildrenScience Congress as part of the 100th Indian ScienceCongress .The 100th Indian Science Congress (ISC 2013)is also organized a special programme Womenempowerment for the development of the country toshowcase the contribution of women in science and

technology.This is the 13th time the Indian ScienceCongress is being hosted by Kolkata

11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held in Kochi

11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) was held from 7- 9January at Kochi (Kerala).Mauritius President RajkeswurPurryag was the chief guest of this official inaugural

session.2000 delegates from 40 countries attended theconvention.The theme for this years Pravasi BharatiyaDivas is Engaging Diaspora the Indian GrowthStory.On 7th January in the event they discussed onproblems that people from Kerala face in the region.Prime


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Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurated the annualflagship event and released the postage stamp on GhadarMovement on 8 January and President Pranab

Mukherjee will delivered the valedictory address onJanuary 9 and also presented the Pravasi BharatiyaSamman awards.Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) iscelebrated on January 9 every year to mark thecontribution of overseas Indian community in thedevelopment of India.The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, thefirst of its kind involving the Indian Diaspora, was held in2003 at New Delhi.

Fourth Meeting of ASEAN and India Tourism Ministersheld in Vientiane

The Fourth meeting of ASEAN and India Tourism Minister(4th M-ATM+ India) was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR from21 to January in conjunction with the ASEAN Tourism

Forum 2013 (ATF2013).The Meeting was jointly co-

chaired by H.E. Prof. Dr. Bosengkham Vongdara, Ministerof Information, Culture and Tourism, Lao PDR, and H.E.Dr. K. Chiranjeevi, Minister for Tourism, Government ofIndia.In the meeting Both the Ministers have signed theProtocol to amend the Memorandum of Understandingbetween ASEAN and India on Strengthening TourismCooperation.

World Economic Forum Summit Held in Davos

The 43rd World Economic Forum Annual Meeting heldfrom 23 27 January at Davos-Klosters inSwitzerland.The annual forum, which has been running for


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over 40 years, provides a platform for decision-makers inpolitics, non-governmental organisations and businessesto gather and to exchange views on the worlds most

pressing problems.The World Economic Forum (WEF)unites international political leaders, business leaders andjournalists from across the globe to discussed and shapeglobal, regional and industrial agendas with regards toeconomics, health and the environment.The WEF wasfounded in 1971 as a non-profit organization by theGerman Klaus Schwab, a business professor at theUniversity of Geneva.

AWARDS & HONOURS

Malala won 2012 Tipperary International PeaceAward

On 3 January Malala Yousafzai, the teenaged Pakistanischool girl shot by a Taliban gunman last year , has beenawarded the 2012 Tipperary International Peace Award from Ireland for her courage and determination to speakout in support of equal access to education forchildren.Malala is the second Pakistani to get the award.In 2007, it was given to late Benazir Bhutto.

Malala honored with the French Simone de Beauvoir Prize

On 9 January Malala Yousafzai (15), the schoolgirl fromPakistan shot by Taliban for campaigning girls education,received Frances Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Womens


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Freedom in Paris. Malalas father Ziaudin Yousafzaireceived the honour on her behalf. he award isaccompanied with 2.5 million RupeTes honorarium.

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award 2013

On 9 January Pranab Mukherjee President of Indiapresented the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Awards) 2013to 14 people, included Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar

Ravi and Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag, He wasalso the Chief Guest of 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

2013. In accordance to Tradition, Pravasi BharatiyaSamman (Awards) 2013 have been given to notableIndians living abroad.

The other awardees are Prof Dr Gurusharan SinghChhatwal of Germany for science, Dr Rasik Vihari Joshi(Mexico) for Literature, Gilbert Canabady Moutien(Reunion Island) and Mohammed Rabeeh Karuvanthodi

(Saudi Arabia) for business, Patricia Maria Rozario(UK) forMusic, Dr Narendra Ramakrishna Kumar (USA) forHealthcare, Subash Razdan (USA) and Islmail Ebrahim(South Afrcia) for Public service.

Dr Satendra Kumar Singh (New Zealand), Australia IndiaSociety of Victoria (Australia) and Bava Pandalingal(UAE), Ashok Shambhomal Vaswani (Guinea), Indian

Doctors Forum, Kuwait for community service, Tan SriRavindran Menon from Malaysia for Community service,are among others on the list of awardees.

Mamata Banerjee gets gift from PCB


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Overwhelmed by the hospitality at the Eden Gardensduring India-Pakistan second ODI in Kolkata, the PCBsent the gift as a silver-coated Quran to the Cricket

Association of Bengal who handed it over to the CMduring a function at the Netaji Indoor in Kolkata on 10January 2013.

Mahaveer Golechha Bags Award for AlzheimersDrug

On 17 January The London-based Indian researcher

Mahaveer Golechha, was selected to be felicitated for anaward that includes his work on a drug that can be apotential cure of Alzheimers disease.In the studyconducted by Golechha, he found discovered that naringinhas essential anti-Alzheimer activity.

70th Golden Globe Awards 2013

On January 13 The 70th Golden Globe Awards honoredthe best in film and television of 2012, was presented inCalifornia .

Best Film : Argo

Best Actor : Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Best Actress : Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Director - Ben Affleck (Argo)

Best Musical or Comedy -: Les Miserables

Best Foreign Language Film : Amour


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Best Animated Feature Film -: Brave

Krishi Karman Awards 2011- 2012

On 15 January President Pranab Mukherjee presentedthe Krishi Karman awards for the year 2011-12 at anaward ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The awardswere presented to the State Governments for theirexcellent performance in increasing the production of foodgrains in their respective states.

Awards in Different Segments :-

- The Awards for Special Contribution to Total FoodGrains Production - Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Manipur and Nagaland

- Award for Contribution to Production and Productivity ofRice Bihar

- Award for Contribution to Production and Productivity ofWheat - Haryana

- Award for Contribution to Production and Productivity ofPulses - Jharkhand

- Award for Contribution to Production and Productivity ofCoarse Cereals Uttar Pradesh

58th Filmfare Awards

The 58th Filmfare Awards were held honoring the bestfilms of 2012 from the Hindi-language film industry


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(commonly known as Bollywood). The ceremony was heldon January 20, 2013 at Mumbai.

Best Movie :- Barfi!

Best Actor :- Ranbir Kapoor (Film -Barfi!)

Best Actress :- Vidya Balan (Film Kahaani )

Best Director :- Sujoy Ghosh (Film Kahaani )

Lifetime Achievement Award :- Yash Chopra (After

Death)Prof C N R Rao awarded by Chinese Academy ofSciences

The Chinese Academy of Sciences was awarded Prof C NR Rao, National Research Professor and HonoraryPresident of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced

Scientific Research (JNCAR), the prestigiousInternational Scientific Cooperation Award 2012. Theaward is designed to acknowledge outstanding scientistsfor their contribution to science and for promoting globalnetworking of international science cooperation.

Padma Awards 2013

President of India Approved the Conferment of 108Padma Awards

On 25 January Pranab Mukherjee, the President of Unionof India approved conferment of 108 Padma Awards. Fourpeople have been conferred with Padma Vibhusan, twenty


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four are conferred with Padma Bhushan and 80 peoplewould be receiving Padma Shree Awards. Out of all theawardees twenty-four are ladies and 11 people belong to

categories like NRIs, PIOs, Foreigners and Posthumousawardees.

Padma Vibhushan

Raghunath Mohapatra, Art, Orissa

S Haider Raza, Art, Delhi

Prof Yash Pal, Science and Engineering, Uttar Pradesh

Prof Roddam Narasimha, Science and Engineering,Karnataka

Padma Bhushan

Sharmila Tagore, Art, Delhi

Dr (Smt) Saroja Vaidyanathan, Art, Delhi

Late Rajesh Khanna, Art, Maharashtra

Late Jaspal Singh Bhatti, Art, Punjab

Adi Burjor Godrej, Trade and Industry, Maharashtra

Prof Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Literature & EducationUSA

Rahul Dravid, Sports, Karnataka

H Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom, Sports, Manipur


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Padma Shri

Hosanagara Nagarajegowda Girisha, Sports, Karnataka ,

Subedar Major Vijay Kumar, Sports, Himachal Pradesh

Yogeshwar Dutt, Sports, Haryana

B Jayashree, Art, Karnataka

Sridevi Kapoor, Art, Maharashtra

Ramesh Gopaldas Sippy, Art, Maharashtra

359 Gallantry and Other Defence DecorationsAnnounced

On 26 January President Pranab Mukherjee has approvedawards of 359 Gallantry and other Defence decorations to

Armed Forces personnel and others on the eve of the 64thRepublic Day Celebrations .This includes 01 Kirti Chakra,

11 Shaurya Chakra, 56 Sena Medal (Gallantry), 01 Bar toNao Sena Medal (Gallantry), 03 Nao Sena Medal(Gallantry), 03 Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry), 28 ParamVishisht Seva Medal, 03 Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, 06 Barto Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, 44 Ati Vishisht Seva Medal,12 Yudh Seva Medal, 02 Bar to Sena Medal (Devotion toDuty), 37 Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 01 Bar to Nao

Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty), 07 Nao Sena Medal(Devotion to Duty), 14 Vayu Sena Medal (Devotion toDuty), 04 Bar to Vishisht Seva Medal and 116 VishishtSeva Medal..Major Abup J Manjali of the Rashtriya Rifleswas selected for the award of Kirti Chakra for his


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extraordinary bravery efforts in counter- terroristoperations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Taiwan Business Magnate Launched Tang Prize

(Asian Noble Prize)

On 28 January Samuel Yin , A business magnate tycoonfrom Taiwan has launched the Tang Prize(Asian Nobleprize) for outstanding achievements in natural and socialsciences.He announced that he would establish TangPrize Foundation which would have an initial donation of

103 million dollar.Tang Prize Foundation was decided thatthe prizes under the Tang Prize Foundation will beawarded every alternate year to the international leadersin sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science,the rule of law as well as the study of China.

SPORTS & GAMESKohli is CEAT International Cricketer of the Year

On 4 January Vice-captain of Indian Cricket team ViratKohli was named the International Cricketer of the Yearwhile Pakistan cricket team was named as the BestInternational Cricket Team in the 2011-2012 season at the

CEAT cricket awards in New Delhi. Unmukt Chand, wholed India to the U-19 World Cup win last year, got theinaugural Indian Youngster of the Year award.The FormerPakistan cricket captain Zaheer Abbas received theLifetime Achievement Award.


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Uttarakhand won 63rd National BasketballChampionship

On 4 January Uttarakhand won 63rd National basketball

championship mens title after defeated Punjab in the finalat Ludhiana (Punjab).In the womens section, Railwayswon the title against by first-time finalist Tamil Nadu in thefinal.

Tipsarevic won Chennai Open Tennis Title

On 6 January Second-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia

has won the ATP Chennai Open Title after defeatedRoberto Bautista-Agut of Spain in the final atChennai.Tipsarevic won the chennai open title for the firsttime in his career.

Nicol David won World Series Squash Title

On 6 January Nicol David won the World Series Squash

Finals womens title after defeated Englands LauraMassaro in the final at London.In the mens final, Egypts

Amr Shabana came from behind to beat Englands NickMatthew .

Australia Won Test Against Sri Lanka

Australia secured a five-wicket won in the third and final

Test match against Sri Lanka on 6 January at the SydneyCricket Ground (SCG) .

Brisbane International Tennis Winners 2013


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Womens Singles :Serena Williams (USA) won the WTABrisbane International womens singles title on 5 Januarywith a straight sets demolition of Russian Anastasia

Pavlyuchenkova.Mens Singles :In the Mens singles Category AndyMurray from scotland won the title after defeated BulgarianGrigor Dimitrov .

Womens Doubles : Sania Mirza and her partnerBethanie Mattek-Sands won the womens doubles trophy

by winning against Kveta Peschke and Anna-LenaGroenefeld

Mens Doubles : Marcelo Melo Tommy Robredo wonthe doubles title after defeated Eric Butorac Paul Hanley.

Pakistan won the Three Match Series

On 6 January Pakistan won the three-match series by 2-1against India.With this win over Pakistan, India lost thethree matches one day series .Nasir Jamshed of Paksitanwas declared as the Player of the tournament.MS Dhoniwas once again chosen as the Player of the match.

Lionel Messi, the man of the four Golden Balls

Lionel Messi became the first four-time winner of the FIFAPlayer of the Year award after shattering the world recordwith 91 goals last year(2012) for Barcelona and

Argentina.His 91 goals topped Gerd Muellers mark of 85for Bayern Munich and Germany in 1972.


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Bangar quits first-class cricket

Former India player and Railways captain Sanjay Bangarannounced his retirement from first-class cricket after

guiding his team to a 122-run victory over Bengal in thefinal league game of the Ranji Trophy on 01 January 2013in Kolkata.He played 165 first class matches amassing8342 runs at an average of 33.35 and has 300 wickets tohis credit.

National Table Tennis Championship Winners

On 11 January Soumyajit Ghosh became the youngestnational champion after he defeated six-time winner

Achanta Sharath Kamal in the summit clash of the 74thNational Table Tennis Championship mens singles final atRaipur.Shamini Kumaresan won the womens singlestitle.Sourav Chakraborty and Ganeshan Sathiyan won thedoubles title.In the Women doubles category K. Spoorthy

and Nikhat Banu (AP) defeated Madhurika Patkar andPooja Sahasrabudhe in the final and got the title.

Haryana girls retain U-20 hockey title

Haryana defeated Uttar Pradesh 1-0 to retain their under-20 women hockey national championship at theGachibowli Stadium on 16 January 2013.

Kerala won 61st National Volleyball ChampionshipTitle

On 16 January Kerala defeated Tamilnadu to retain themens title in the 61st Senior National Volleyball


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Championship at the Sawai Man Singh Indoor Stadium inJaipur.In the womens section, Railways defeated Keralaand won the title in the final.

Malaysian Open Badminton Championship Winners

Mens Singles: Lee Chong Wei (Indonesia) won theMens singles title after defeated Sony Dwi Kuncoro in thefinal at Kuala Lumpur on 20 January.

Mens Doubles: Mohd Ahsan (Indonesia) -HendraSetiawan (China) defeated Ko Sung-hyun-Lee Yong-dae

(Malaysia) in the final.

Womens Singles: Tai Tzu-ying (Thailand) won thewomens singles title after defeated Yao Xue (Korea)

Womens Doubles: In the event Bao Yixin-Tian Qing(China) won the title after defeated Misaki Matsutomo-

Ayaka Takahashi (Japan)

Lalith Babu takes top honours

Lalith Babu defeated Swapnil Dhopade in the final roundto clinch the Chennai Super Kings InternationalGrandmaster chess tournament that concluded at theNehru Stadium in Chennai on 23 January 2013.LalithBabu won Rs.200,000 and the trophy after becoming the

first Indian player to claim the Chennai Open

Australian Open Tennis Tournament 2013 Winners

Womens Singles :- Victoria Azarenka of Belarus won theWomens Singles title of the Australian Open Tennis


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tournament after defeated Li Na of China in the final atMelbourne on 26 January .

Mens Singles:- Novak Djokovic (Serbia) has won the

mens singles title after defeating Andy Murray (Britain) infour sets. This is Djokovics fourth Australian Open andover all six Grand Slam single title.

Womens Doubles:- Top seeds Sara Errani and RobertaVinci won the title, defeating wild cards Ashleigh Barty andCasey Dellacqua in the final.

Mens Doubles : Top seeded American brothers Bob andMike Bryan won the mens doubles title. Americans Mikeand Bob Bryan won their record 13th Grand Slam doublestitle, defeating the Dutch team of Robin Haase and IgorSijsling .

Magnus Carlsen Won Tata Steel Chess Championship

Magnus Carlsen won Tata Steel 2013 Chess tournamenttitle in the final at Netherlands on 27 January .In the finalround tournament, he scored 10 points , winning clear firstahead of second-place finisher Aronian (Armenia).Worldchampion Viswanathan Anand at third position.

Mumbai won 40th Ranji Trophy Title

On 29 January Mumbai won its 40th Ranji Trophy titleagainst Saurashtra by an inning and 125 runs in the finalat Wankhede at Mumbai .Wasim Jaffar was declared Manof the Match. Ajit Agarkar was the captain of the winningteam.


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ECONOMY

Philippines introduced sin tax

A sin tax on cigarettes and alcohol was introduced in thePhilippines on 01 January 2013, as part of a governmentbid to boost finances.Many stores started selling tobaccoand drink at inflated prices before midnight , ahead of theofficial implementation of the tax hikes on January 01,hitting partygoers in the pocket.Tax on cigarettes will

gradually be raised to 30 pesos ($0.72) per pack by 2017,roughly doubling the current price to around 52pesos.Duty on alcohol will also increase gradually until2017, increasing the price of a bottle of beer by 23.50pesos, with varying levels for other drinks including wineand spirits.

LIC Launched New Jeewan Nidhi & Flexi Plus PoliciesThe Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India launchedtwo new Insurence policies New Jeevan Nidhi, a pensionscheme, and Flexi Plus on 3 January .New Jeewan Nidhiprovides the facility of insurance coverage of full amountwhile the insured person keeps depositing premiums.TheFlexi policy is a unit linked insurance product. The plan

not only provides a lump sum benefit on death but alsomaturity benefit irrespective of survival of the policy holder

Mukesh Ambani 18th richest man in world


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Indian business magnate Mukesh Ambani is the 18thrichest person in the world with a personal wealth of $24.7billion in 2012, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires

Index, a daily ranking of the worlds 100 wealthiestindividuals. Mexican telecommunications magnate CarlosSlim remained the worlds richest person last year holdinga personal fortune of more than $70 billion.Microsoftfounder Bill Gates and the founder of fashion retailer Zara,

Amancio Ortega, got a second and third placesrespectively.

Indian Companies Top Globally in R&D Investment

According to the European Commission report Indiancompanies have come on the top globally when it comesto growth in their research and development (R&D)investments, leaving their counterparts in the US andEurope far behind.Indian firms rank far below when itcomes to absolute R&D investments made by them and

the top-ranked company from the country.These are theonly 14 Indian companies present in a list of top-1500entities worldwide in terms of their annual R&Dinvestments.The top-ranked Indian company is Infosys at329th place and Japanese company Toyota Motorappears at the top of the ranking in the 2012 Scoreboard.

IMF forecasted Indian Economic Growth Rate to be 5.9percent in 2013

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 23 January2013 pegged Indias economic growth rate in 2013 at 5.9per cent and projected a higher growth of 6.4 per cent next


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year in line with the gradual strengthening of globalexpansion.

World Banks Global Economic Prospects 2013

Report

According to the World Bank Global Economic Prospects2013 report , Indias growth is expected to inch closer tothat of China in near future, in which the economies ofdeveloping countries like India, China and Brazil areprojected to be recovering and higher growth rate.The

World Bank expects that by 2015, the growth rate of Chinawould be 7.9% and that of India 7%.While the growth ofthe world economy growth is projected to inch up from2.3% in 2012 to 2.4% in 2013, with the high-incomecountries remaining at the same level of growth of 1.3% inboth 2012 and 2013, it is the emerging markets like India,China and Brazil that would show significant signs ofrecovery.They are expecting a recovery in India from 5.1%

growth in 2012 to 6.1% growth in 2013.

India 119th on Economic Freedom Index

According to the Heritage Foundation 2013 Index ofEconomic Freedom survey report , India has been rankedas the 119th freest country in the world and Indiaseconomic freedom score stood at 55.2, as its institutional

shortcomings continue to undermine the foundations forlong-term economic development.The top ten countries inthe list include Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, NewZealand, Switzarland, canada, Chili, Mauritius, Denmarkand US.


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India second in steel production globally

India is second only to China in terms of steel production.In the last 5 years Indias production grew by 33 percent,thus making it behind China among the top 5 steelproducing nation. World Steel Association (WSA) data hasrevealed that Chinas production grew by 39 per centduring 2008-2012, Indias by 33 percent and Indiasproduction grew constantly in the last five years from 57.8MT in 2008 to 63.5 MT in 2009, 69 MT in 2010, 73.6 MT in2011 and 76.7 MT in 2012

RBI cuts CRR, Repo Rates

On 29 January The Reserve Bank of India slashed its keyinterest rates by 0.25 per cent and released 18000 crorerupees additional liquidity into the system to perk upgrowth through reduced cost of borrowing. RBI in its thirdquarter monetary policy review surprised the market by

cutting short-term lending rate called repo, by 0.25 percent to 7.75 per cent and Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) bysimilar margin to 4 per cent.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

US approved First new Tuberculosis Drug

On 1 January The US Food and Drug administrationapproved a Johnson & Johnson tuberculosis drug in 40

years .This is the first new medicine to fight the deadly


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infection in more than four decades.The disease is rare inthe US, but kills about 1.4 million people a year worldwide.

Spiral galaxy IC 2233

Astronomers had captured one of the flattest galaxiesknown in the universe, sitting like a silver needle in thehaystack of space. The NASA/ESA Hubble SpaceTelescope produced a beautiful image of the spiral galaxyIC 2233, one of the flattest galaxies. The IC 2233 islocated about 40 million light-years away from Earth. This

galaxy was earlier discovered by British astronomer IsaacRoberts in 1894.

Immune system booster may hit cancer

Japanese research where stem cells were used to cloneand produce large numbers of a specialized type of whiteblood cell. These cells, known as cytotoxic T lymphocytes

(CTLs), are produced by the immune system and are ableto recognize specific markers on the surface of varioustumour cells, causing them to launch an attack to kill thetumour cells.The researchers are succeeded in using stemcells to mass-produce CTLs in laboratory conditions.

Chinese Biologists Discovered Antibiotic In PandaBlood

Chinese biologists have discovered that the blood of theendangered giant panda includes a compound called Cathelicidin-AM which acts as a natural antibiotic. Thenature of the blood compound makes it an attractivetreatment for so-called superbugs, those strains of disease


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that have become immune or resistant to traditionalantibiotics.

India to make worlds largest solar telescope

India is likely to begin construction of the worlds largestsolar telescope on the foothills of the Himalayas in Ladakhto understand the fundamental processes taking place onthe Sun by year-end.A 2-metre class, state-of-the-artNational Large Solar Telescope (NLST), built byBangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), will

permit Indian scientists to carry out cutting edge researchaimed to study Suns atmosphere.

Internet emits 830 mt of carbon dioxide annually

According to Researchers from the Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications (CEET) and Bell Labs,Internet and other components of information

communication and technology (ICT) industry annuallyproduces more than 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide(CO2), the main greenhouse gas, and is expected todouble by 2020

Lakshya Missile Successfully Tested

Indias indigenously developed, Lakshya was sucessfully

tested on 7 January .It was launched from the IntegratedTest Range ITR, at Odisha .25 meters in length, 100 kmaway from the target to the missile .

17 billion Earth-sized planets in Milky Way


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The Milky Way contains at least 17 billion planets the sizeof Earth.Astronomers using NASAs Kepler spacecraftfound that about 17 percent of stars in our galaxy have a

planet about the size of Earth in a close orbit.The MilkyWay is known to host about 100 billion stars, meaning thatabout one of every six has an Earth-sized planet around it.

Brahmos cruise missile test fired in successfully

Supersonic cruise missile BrahMos scored once again inits 34th launch on 09 January 2013 off Visakhapatnam in

the Bay of Bengal, hitting a decommissioned vessel withaccuracy.As it took off vertically from a naval warship,reached an altitude of 14 km, levelled out and startedcruising at three times the speed of sound, it performed adouble manoeuvre in S-form and hit the decommissionedship, about 290 km away.

Astronomers Found NGC 6872 Largest known

Spiral Galaxy

A team of astronomers from the United States, Chile andBrazil has crowned it the largest-known spiral galaxy, aspectacular behemoth five times bigger than our ownMilky Way, based on archival data from NASAs GalaxyEvolution Explorer (GALEX) mission.The title-holder isnow NGC 6872, a barred spiral found 212 million light-

years away in the southern constellation Pavo. Thedistance between NGC 6872s two huge spiral arms is522,000 light-years, compared to about 100,000 light-years for the Milky Way.


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Indian Scientists Discovered Molecule for CancerTreatment

A team of Indian researchers, led by Dr Sathees C

Raghavan of the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore,have identified a molecule which they claim willrevolutionise the cure for cancer.The molecule has beennamed after Sathees as SCR7 and a detailed account ofit has been carried in the international scientific journalCell".Scientists world over believe that the double strandbreak (DSB) of DNA is one of the most lethal form of DNA

damage, resulting in drastic consequences such asgenome instability, and cancer.

Largest Space structure in the Universe:LargeQuasar Group

An international team lead by astronomer Roger Clowes ofthe University of Central Lancashire in England discovered

the largest known structure in the universe, a clump ofactive galactic cores that stretches 4 billion light-yearsfrom end to end.This is the largest Space structure in theUniverse.This structure is known as a Large QuasarGroup(LQG).

Indian Scientists Discovered Molecule for CancerTreatment

A team of Indian researchers, led by Dr Sathees CRaghavan of the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore,have identified a molecule which they claim willrevolutionise the cure for cancer.The molecule has been


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named after Sathees as SCR7 and a detailed account ofit has been carried in the international scientific journalCell".Scientists world over believe that the double strand

break (DSB) of DNA is one of the most lethal form of DNAdamage, resulting in drastic consequences such asgenome instability, and cancer.

Worlds First Global Renewable Energy AtlasLaunched

On 13 January Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable

Energy Agency (IRENA) launched the worlds first cleanenergy atlas at IRENAS General Assembly , currentlyoffers open-access information on solar and wind powerthroughout the world and the creators plan to expand toother renewable energy resources over the next twoyears.The atlas includes information on clean energyresources in 37 countries, including those which have nodiplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates.The

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) isworking in partnership with the Renewable Energy PolicyNetwork for the 21st Century (REN21) to build aqualitative and quantitative data framework for renewableenergy in developing countries.

Ancient River Found on Mars

On 17 January The European Space Agency scientistshave revealed a 1500 km long and 7 kilometre wide riverthat once ran across Mars.The images which werecaptured by the ESAs Mars Express showed Reull Vallis,the river-like structure, which is believed to have formed


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when water ran from the surface of Mars in distant past.The structure which surprised the astronomers stretchesfor around 900 miles or 1500 km across the Martian

surface and also shows various tributaries. Thesestructures, it is believed, were formed somewhere around3.5 billion years ago.

India Increased Rafale Fighter Jets Order

India could buy up to 189 of the Rafale fighter jetscurrently being used by France to bomb Islamist militants

in Mali, sources close to negotiations on the multi-billiondollar deal .The possibility of an additional 63 jets beingadded to an expected order for 126 was raised by India.The Indian press has estimated the value of the deal for126 Rafales at $12 billion (nine billion euros).A 50 per centincrease in the number of planes ordered would take it toaround $18 billion, in a huge boost for the French defenceindustry.

Japan to replace Fukushima plant with worldslargest wind farm

In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster,Japan had decided to build the worlds largest offshorewind farm to replace the crippled nuke plant.The countryplans to build a total of 143 wind turbines on platforms 16

kilometres off the coast of Fukushima by 2020, which ishome to the stricken Daiichi nuclear reactor that hit theheadlines in March 2011 when it was damaged by asevere earthquake and tsunami.The wind farm willgenerate 1 gigawatt of power once completed, and is part


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of a national plan to increase renewable energy resourcesfollowing the post-tsunami shutdown of the countrys 54nuclear reactors.The wind farm will surpass the 504

megawatts generated by the 140 turbines at the GreaterGabbard farm off the coast of Suffolk, UK currently theworlds largest farm.

India, US finalise Rs 3,000 crore deal for jet engines

India and the US have finalised a Rs 3000-crore deal forsupplying 99 jet engines to be used in the indigenous Light

Combat Aircraft Tejas being developed by theDRDO.Around two years ago, India had selected theAmerican company General Electric over its rivalEuropean Eurojet 2000 for the LCA Mark II programmeexpected to be ready around 2014-15.The deal worth Rs3,000 crore has been finalised with the US for procuring99 engines for the LCA Tejas MkII.As per the contract, theorder could be for 99 engines initially but India will have

the option of ordering another 100 engines in the future.

INS Saryu Inducted into Indian Navy

On 21 January Air Marshal PK Roy, Commander-in-Chief,Andaman and Nicobar Command, commissioned INSSaryu into the Indian Navy at Goa .INS Saryu is the leadship of the indigenous Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel

(NOPV) Project designed and built by Goa ShipyardLimited, the ship aptly demonstrates the immensepotential of the countrys indigenous designing and shipbuilding capabilities.Capable of carrying a helicopter (ALH)onboard, the ships weapon and sensor outfit includes a


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SRGM 76.2 mm gun with an electro-optic fire controlsystem, two 30mm guns as close in weapon systems,latest navigational and early warning radars, chaff

launchers for self protection and an integrated ESMsystem to undertake all assigned missions.

MIT researchers Created Moisture Powered Polymer

MIT ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology ) researchershave created a new polymer film that can generate

electricity by drawing on a ubiquitous source: water

vapor.The new material changes its shape after absorbingtiny amounts of evaporated water, allowing it to repeatedlycurl up and down. Harnessing this continuous motioncould drive robotic limbs or generate enough electricity topower micro- and nanoelectronic devices, such asenvironmental sensors.

India Sucessfully Test Fired K-5 Ballistic Missile

On 27 January India successfully test fired medium rangeK-5 ballistic missile ,with a strike range of around 1500kilometres, from an underwater platform in Bay ofBengal.K-5 is part of the family of underwater missilesbeing developed by Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganization (DRDO) for the Indian strategic forcesunderwater platforms.

Iran successfully sent monkey into space

Iran on 28 January 2013 announced that it hadsuccessfully send a monkey to the space.It also declaredthat the monkey come back to the Earth successfully.The


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rocket called Pishgam (meaning Pioneer) reached at aheight of 120 km (75 miles) for a sub-orbital flight beforereturning its shipment intact. The first country to launch

the primate into space was US.

PERSONS IN NEWS

A) APPOINTMENTS

Asif Ibrahim appointed as chief Intelligence Bureau

Indian Police Service officer SA Ibrahim appointed as chiefof the Intelligence Bureau on 01 January 2013 and hebecoming the first from the countrys main minoritycommunity(Muslim Community) to hold the post. Ibrahim,an IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, has takenover as from Nehchal Sandhu who retired December 31.He will hold the post for two years.

Urjit Patel appointed as RBI deputy governor

On 02 January 2013 Urjit Patel, a consultant at BostonConsulting Group, had been appointed a deputy governorat the Reserve Bank of India, succeeding Subir Gokarnwho was aiding the governor in shaping the monetarypolicy.

YV Reddy to head 14th Finance Commission

On 02 January 2013 former RBI governor YV Reddy wasappointed chairman of the 14th finance commission to

suggest principles of sharing of revenues between the


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Centre and the states and insulate pricing of public utilitieslike electricity, water and public transport from policyfluctuations.

Ami Bera and Tulsi Gabbard Sworn In As USLawmakers

On 4 January Indian American physician from California,Ami Bera, and the young Iraq war veteran from Hawaii,Tulsi Gabbard, created history after being sworn in as newmembers of the US House of Representatives.Bera is only

the third Indian American have ever been elected to theHouse of Representatives.Tulsi Gabbard is the first Hinduever to won the Congressional election.

Malalas Father Appointed as Education Attache inBirmingham

On 3 January Malalas father Ziauddin Yousafzai has been

appointed as the education attache at the Pakistanconsulate in Birmingham, England.The job is believed tobe for up to three years.

Indian American Srinivasan re-nominated as FederalJudge

On 4 January Srikanth Srinivasan a brilliant Indian

American legal mind has been re-nominated by USPresident Barack Obama to serve as Federal Judge forthe District of Columbia Circuit.In June 2012 he wasnominated by Obama to serve on the US Court of Appealsfor the District of Columbia Circuit.


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Justice D K Jain appointed new Law Commissionchief

The Union Cabinet of India on 7 January 2013 appointed

Justice D K Jain as Chairman of 20th Law Commissionof India. He gives advice to the government on complexlegal issues. Justice Jain, 64, will take over as the chief ofthe law panel on January 24 after retiring from theSupreme Court on the same day.

John Brennan as a CIA director

U.S. President Barack Obama announced on )7 January2013 John Brennan wasnominated as director of the

American Intelligence Agency(CIA) and Chuck Hagel as aDefense secretary. John Brennan played a key role inencounter the Osama Bin Laden.

Indian-origin politician to be Singapores first woman

speakerIndian-origin politician Halimah Yacob elected as the firstwoman Speaker of Singapores Parliament on 08Janauary 2013.She take charges from 14 January2013.Halimah, a former labour lawyer, is a member ofParliament from the ruling Peoples Action Party (PAP).

Kulwant Singh Gill Took charge as new Commandantof NDA

On 8 January Air Marshal Kulwant Singh Gill took chargeas the new commandant of the National Defence

Academy (NDA) at Khadakwasla, Pune.The NDA provides


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three-year training in defence and academics to its cadetsbefore they move on to their respective officers trainingacademies for another one-year course and get

commissioned into the armed forces.R.K. Dubey Took Charge as Canara Banks new CMD

On 11 January R.K. Dubey has assumed charge as theChairman and Managing Director of Canara Bank .Mr.Dubey was previously worked as a Punjab National BankGeneral Manager in 2008 and was appointed as Executive

Director of Central Bank of India in 2010.Rajkumar Goyal Took Charge as Central Bank of Indianew ED

On 11 January Rajkumar Goyal has took charge asExecutive Director (ED) of Central Bank of India (CBI).Hewas previously with the bank of India as the General

Manager of Human Resources DepartmentObama nominated Jack Lew as new Treasury Chief

On 11 January President Barack Obama nominated hischief of staff, Jack Lew, to become the next Treasurysecretary and succeed Timothy Geithner.Last year, Lewwas named Obamas chief of staff, and before that he had

served as the White House budget director.First Gujarati in UK cabinet

Lord Dolar Popat has appointed a minister in the UKcabinet .He become the first Gujarati taking his place in


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the UK cabinet .Popat was appointed minister forbusiness, innovation & skills and transport.

Mohan Pieris assumes duties as 44th Chief Justice of

Sri Lanka

On 15 January 2013 ,Sri Lankan President MahindaRajapaksa appointed his cabinets legal advisor as thecountrys new Chief Justice to succeed ShiraniBandaranayake. Rajapaksa sworn in new Chief JusticeMohan Peiris to replace Sri Lankas first woman chief

justice who was impeached by the parliament in acontroversial move.Peiris, a British qualified solicitor whoretired in 2011 as the Attorney General was serving as thelegal advisor to the Cabinet.

Ved Prakash is UGC chairman

Ved Prakash, serving as acting chairman of the University

Grants Commission, had been appointed as its chairmanon 18 January 2013.The chairmans post remained vacantever since S. Thorat retired in February 2011. Since thenMr. Prakash had been the acting chairman.

Obama Sworn in as the US President for Second Term

On 20 January US President Barack Obama Barack

Obama was sworn in as the President of the country for asecond four-year term.Obama as the 44th president of theUnited States and also he is the third consecutivepresident to win two terms, after Bush and Clinton. JoeBiden sworn-in for second term as US vice-president.


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Suchitra Ella, Founding Chairwoman of CIIs womenwing

Suchitra K. Ella, Joint Managing Director, Bharat Biotech

International, had been nominated as the FoundingChairwoman of the Indian Women Network of CII. Thenetwork aims to provide a platform for working women tocome together and discuss issues and opportunities andshare best practices. She is currently the Chairperson ofCII Andhra Pradesh State Council for 2012-13. She hadearlier been elected to the CII Andhra Pradesh State

Council. She has been awarded the International WomenEntrepreneurial Challenge award 2007 by the Chamber ofCommerce of Barcelona, the Manhattan Chamber ofCommerce and the FLO GR8 Women Achievers Award2008 for entrepreneurial excellence.

B)RESIGNS

Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda resigned

Political uncertainty deepened in Jharkhand on 08 January2013, with Chief Minister Arjun Munda submitted hisresignation to Governor Syed Ahmed. On 07 January2013, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) announced thewithdrawal of its support to the BJP-led government.

Rajapaksa Dismissed First Woman Chief Justice ofthe Country

On 13 January Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of SriLanka dismissed the first woman chief justice of thecountry, Shirani Bandarnayake after endorsing her


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impeachment by the Parliament that caught her guilty onthe corruption charges.She appointed as a chief Justiceon May 2011.

C)DEATHS

Violin maestro MSG passes away

M.S. Gopalakrishnan legendary violinist known for hismastery of both the Carnatic and Hindustani systems ofclassical music passed away on 03 January 2013 inChennai.In his career spanning 75 years, he not only

broke new ground as an accompanist, but also rose tobecome one of the best solo violinists in the country, alongwith Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and T.N. Krishnan. The threeare considered the violin trinity of south Indian classicalmusic.Despite enviable success and accolades that camein the form of national honours such as the PadmaBhushan and Padma Shri, and innumerable titles,

including the Sangita Kalanidhi title awarded by TheMusic Academy, Chennai.

Pakistani singer Mehnaz Begum is no more

Renowned Pakistani singer Mehnaz Begum died on 19January 2013.Mehnaz specialized in ghazal, thumri,dadra, khayal, drupad and reciting salam, noha and

marsiya.Mehnaz was the daughter of popular sub-continental singer Kajjan Begum.She sang over 2,500songs for radio television and films in a variety of genreslike ghazal, thumri, dadra, khayal and drupad.

D)VISITORS


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Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag Visited India

Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag visited Indiafrom 3 10 January .During the visit Purryag met PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee on 4January in New Delhi. In Bihar , he visited his ancestralvillage , Bojeetpore near Patna.President Purryag alsothe chief guest of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas .He attendedthe 3 days event 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held inKochi (Kerala).

Vice President Hamid Ansari Visited VietnamVice President Hamid Ansari visited Vietnam from 14 to 17January.During the visit Ansari met Vietnams DeputyPrime Minister Vu Van Ninh and discussed the bothcountries bilateral issues , signed several agreements.Ansari attended the closing ceremony of the celebrationsto mark the 40th anniversary of the India-Vietnam

diplomatic ties.

Bhutan King Wangchuck Visited India

The King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuckvisited India from 23-30 January.During the visit heattended the Indias Republic Day celebrations as a ChiefGuest.Wangchuck met President Pranab Mukherjee,

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and the UnitedProgressive Alliances Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi.This isthe fourth time since 1954 that a Bhutanese King will be aChief Guest at Indias Republic Day celebrations.

E)MISCELLANEOUS


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Ex-Haryana CM Chautala, son get 10 years jail

Former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala andhis son Ajay had been sentenced to 10 years in jail in

connection with a teachers recruitment scam.Special CBIJudge Vinod Kumar sentenced the Chautalas and sevenothers to 10 years in jail while one convict was given fiveyears in jail and 45 others four years in jail.

Swaminarayan sect opens $100-million quake-prooftemple near Hollywood

One of the biggest Hindu temples in the US, built at awhopping cost of $100 million near the Hollywood city inLos Angeles .The 68th Swaminarayan temple ofBochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam SwaminarayanSanstha (BAPS) had been built using 35,000 pieces ofmeticulously hand carved Italian Carrara marble andIndian Pink Sandstone.

Premlata Conquers Summit of Mt Vinson in Antarctica

On 17 January Premlata Agrawal, the oldest woman inIndia to have climbed Mt. Everest, has conquered Mt.Vinson in Antarctica in pursuit of the MountaineeringChallenge of climbing the Seven Summits.Shecompleted her Mt. Vinson expedition on January .The

person successful in conquering all the seven summits isconsidered a member of the Hall of Fame formountaineers.Premlata will become the first Indian womanand one of the oldest in the world to conquer all sevensummits.


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Ex-ISRO chairman Inducted in to Satellite Hall ofFame

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

announced its former chairman and Department of Spacesecretary Prof U R Rao by inducting him as the member ofthe prestigious Satellite Hall of Fame ,Washington.Since 1987, the SSPI Hall of Fame has beenrecognising the invaluable contribution of the visionarieswho have transformed life on planet earth for the betterthrough satellite technology. Members of the Hall of Fame

are recognised pioneers in communications, satelliterelated aerospace scientific research or development anddelivery of applications for business, institutions andgovernment via satellite.

David Headley sentenced for 35 years for 26/11role(Mumbai attacks)

Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist DavidHeadley was on 24 January 2013 sentenced to 35 yearsin jail by a Chicago court for his unquestionable role inthe massacre of 166 people in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Forbes India Celebrity 100 List

According to the Forbes India Celebrity 100 List The

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, topped theinaugural Forbes India Celebrity 100 list.Forbes Indiaestimates, the total earning of Shah Rukh from October2011 and September 2012 was 202.8 crore Rupees.Theranking was given based on the popularity as well as


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income of the biggest entertainers of India. Second on thelist was Salman Khan and MS Dhoni followed in the thirdposition.The special edition of Forbes India judged in eight

different categories directors, film actors, TVpersonailities, models, comedians, sports stars, authorsand singers/musicians.The youngest celebrity in the list ofForbes India was Saina Nehwal, aged 23 years.

Switzerland best place to be born, India 66th

Switzerland has been called the best place in the world to

be born in 2013 according to the The EconomistIntelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of TheEconomist. The worst place for a baby to start life wasviolence-hit African country Nigeria. The survey included80 nations and Australia ranked second followed byNorway, Sweden and Denmark. Singapore, Netherlands,Hong Kong, Canada and New Zealand were also rankedamong top 10. India was ranked 66th place.The survey

included significant parameters to judge the best countryto be born and these factors included demography,geography, cultural and social characteristics, state ofeconomy, future income per head as well as public policy.

PLACES IN NEWS

Strong Quake in Indonesia

On 22nd January A strong, shallow earthquake rockedparts of western Indonesia early killed 30 persons andpanicking residents and ruining homes. Several other


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people were injured.Indonesias meteorology andgeophysics agency put the preliminary magnitude at 6.0and said the inland quake caused no tsunami. It was

centered southwest of the city of Banda Aceh and 10miles (6 kilometers) beneath the earths crust, according tothe U.S. Geological Survey..

233 People Killed in Brazil Night Club Fire Accident

On 27 January The blaze in the university town of SantaMaria nightclub fire killed at least 233 people in southern

Brazil .Most of those who died were suffocated by toxicfumes that rapidly filled the crowded club after sparks frompyrotechnics used by the band for visual effects set fire tosoundproofing on the ceiling.

ABBREVIATIONS

CBT-Cash Transfer Benefit

EIUEconomist Intelligence Unit

CBSCentral Bureau of Statistics

NLST-National Large Solar Telescope

CEET-Centre for Energy-EfficientTelecommunications

CIAAmerican Intelligence Agency

WEF-World Economic Forum


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PBSPravasi Bhartiya Divas

MSMEMinistry of Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises

BWFBadminton World Federation

BOOKS IN NEWS

Swami Vivekananda The Monk as Man Book

ReleasedThe renowned Bengali writer Shankar wrote a The Monkas Man book on Swami Vivekananda ,who spread themessage of Indias spiritual heritage across the world.Inthe book Shankar described Vivekananda used toemphasise greatly on physical strength and is known forthe shocking statement Better to play football than read

the Gita.McChrystal My Share of the Task: A Memoir BookReleased

General Stanley McChrystal, the former Americancommander in Afghanistan, wrote a My Share of theTask: A Memoir, book which was released on 7 January

.In the book Chrystal explained that tensions between theWhite House and the Pentagon were evident in theObama administration from its opening months inoffice.This book is not just for aficionados of militaryhistory or for students of American foreign policy .


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COMMITTEES

Vijay Kelkar Committee for Fiscal Consolidation

The Vijay Kelkar Committee, which was appointed byFinance Ministry to suggest a roadmap for fiscalconsolidation, has suggested immediate hike in fuel pricesand complete deregulation of diesel prices by start of2014-15 fiscal.It also suggested raising kerosene and LPGrates.Now the Kelkar committee recommendation is still

at proposal stage.

Justice Verma Committee Submitted Report

On 23 January The three-member committee includedformer Chief Justice of India, J S Verma, who headed thecommittee, Justice (Retd.) Leila Seth, former Chief Justiceof Himachal Pradesh High Court and Gopal Subramanian,

former Solicitor General of India , set up to suggest waysto make rape laws stronger in the country, has submittedits report with recommendations to enhance and amendexisting laws dealing with cases of sexual crime.TheJustice Verma panel recognised failure of governance asprimary cause of sexual crimes.The Panel suggestedTrafficking should be made punishable with imprisonment

ranging from not less than 7 years to 10 years .There wasa need for the separate Bill of Rights for women that willmake sure that women would have their own rights forhaving sexual autonomy.

INTERNATIONAL


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UK, Afghan, Pakistan Leaders Hold Talks in Britain

On 4 February The leaders of Britain, Afghanistan andPakistan pushed for the Taliban to come to the table for

peace talks to end Afghanistans protracted conflict andgave themselves a six-month deadline to get a deal.BritishPrime Minister David Cameron hosted AfghanistansPresident Hamid Karzai and Pakistans President AsifZardari for trilateral talks on Afghanistans flounderingpeace and reconciliation process.

UNICEF Syria Crisis Humanitarian Situation ReportOn 8 February According to the UNICEF (United NationsChildrens Fund )Syria Crisis Humanitarian SituationReport, The vaccination effort in collaboration with theMinistry of Health is well underway, with over 53,000children receiving measles vaccinations, over 44,000receiving vitamin A supplements, and over 10,000 polio

doses administered.

Pakistan to Renamed Sindh Province to Sind

On 12 February 2013, the Sindh Assembly approved a billto rename the southern Pakistani province as Sind.Theassembly approved the Sindh Laws Amendment Bill of2012, whereby the letter h will be removed from the

name of the province.

Russia Rejected U.S. Nuclear Warheads Proposals

On 14 February Russia rejected U.S. president BarackObama proposals , which deployed nuclear warhead


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delivery systems including bombers, missile launchers andnuclear submarines a cut of about 60%.In 2010 Russiaand the United States signed on New START

agreement.The New Start treaty limits each side to nomore than 800 deployed nuclear warhead deliverysystems including bombers, missile launchers and nuclearsubmarines a cut of about 50%.

Rafael Correa Re-elected for 3rd term as EcuadorsPresident

On 17 February Ecuadoreans president Rafael Correa hasbeen re-elected for a third term with more than 50 percentof votes in his favour.As per the results, Rafael Correa got56.7 percent while his closest competitor Guillermo couldsecure only 23.3 percent.Correa is a socialist leader whowas first elected in 2006 December and he was sworn inon 15 January 2007 as the 56th president ofEcuador.Correa was re-elected to a second term in 2009.

Pakistan Hands Over Strategic Gwadar Port To China

On 18 February Pakistan and China signed an agreementto hand over control of the strategic Gwadar port on the

Arabian Sea to a Chinese company.Under the agreementfor transfer of concession rights, the deep sea port willremain the property of Pakistan while the Chinese

company will share profits from its operation. ChinaOverseas Port Holdings Limited will fully assumeresponsibility for Gwadar port in Balochistan province.


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Israels Netanyahu Announced Coalition Deal withTzipi Livni

On 19 Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has announced a

coalition deal with former Foreign Minister and the rivalcentrist Hatnua Party Chairwomen Tzipi Livni, atJerusalem. Under the deal agreement, Livni will serve asthe new Justice Minister and will oversee the peace effortswith the Palestinians.Tzipi Livni is an Israeli Politician andthe first women to be the leader of opposition in Israel.She is the leader of the new centrist party, Hatnuah. She

served Israel as its Foreign Minister from 2006 to 2009.

Russia and Brazil Signed on Defence CooperationAgreements

On 20 February Russia and Brazil signed a Defence,Energy and Agricultural agreements .Brazil agreed tonegotiate the purchase of Russian anti-aircraft missile

batteries on the condition that Russia transfer thetechnology to Brazilian defense companies withoutrestrictions.The agreements are signed by Russian PrimeMinister Dmitry Medvedev and Brazilian President DilmaRousseff .

Nicos Anastasiades Elected as Cyprus New President

On 24 February the centre-right DISY (the DemocraticRally) party leader Nicos Anastasiades, has won thepresidential elections of Cyprus with 57.5 percentvotes.Nicos Anastasiades had a very easy going victory


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over Communist-backed Stavros Malas who secured 42.5percent votes in the election.

Raul Castro re-elected for Second Term as Cubas

President

On 25 February Raul Castro has been re-elected asCubas president officially to his last five-year term.TheNational Assembly of Peoples Power approved, in thecapital Havana, Army General Raul Castro Ruz aspresident of the Council of State, and elected Miguel Diaz-

Canel Bermudez, as its first vice president.Raul Castrobecame interim president when his brother, revolution iconFidel, took ill in 2006. He then formally became presidentin 2008.

INDIA & WORLD

India-Malaysia Double Taxation Agreement in Force

On 2 February India and Malaysia signed on double-taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA). Dividends paid byIndian companies to Malaysian investors or entities willattract a lower withholding tax of 5 percent against 10 percent earlier. The new agreement has also, in line with

international practice, introduced a new article for taxingcapital gains from alienation of property.

India Failed To Curb Sexual Violence Against Women


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According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) WorldReport 2013 India has been accused of failure to curbincidents of sexual violence against women and for

restrictions on right to free speech, India has a thrivingcivil society, free media, and an independent judiciary, thecity-based rights group said in its assessment of rightsabuses in India.

Six Indian Institutes in Global 150 Top Think-Tanks

On 3 February Six Indian research institutes, including

Centre for Civil Society (CCS), are among top 150 globalthink tanks in the annual list released by the Universityof Pennsylvania for the year 2012.The list was topped byBrookings Institution (United States) followed by ChathamHouse (United Kingdom) and Carnegie Endowment forInternational Peace (United States).Other Indian think-tanks featured in the list are:- Institute for Defence Studiesand Analysis , Indian Council for Research on

International Economic Relations , The Energy andResources Institute , Observer Research Foundation andDevelopment Alternatives.

India and Austria Signed a Social Security Agreement

On 5 February India and Austria signed a social securityagreement at Vienna, under which the Indian

professionals working in Austria would be exempted frompaying the social security contribution of the country, ifsuch payments are already made in India. OverseasIndian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi and Austrian Minister


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for Labour and Social Security, Rudoulf Hundstorfersigned on the agreement.

India Pledges $100m For Mali Reconstruction

On 5 February India pledges $100m for Malireconstruction .India has committed to giving $1 million forthe upgrade of the Malian army with a pledge to ramp upcontributions for reconstruction to $100 million after thesituation stabilizes.

India and China Tourists Triple Australian Visits

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics report ,Chinese and Indian visitors, with tourist numbers fromthose countries tripled in the past decade.630,000 visitsfrom Chinese tourists in 2012 compared with 190,000 in2002. Indian visits went from 45,000 to 160,000 in thesame period.Despite a high Australian dollar, Australias

short-term visitor numbers were up by nearly five percentsince 2011 with 6.1 million short trips made to Australia270,000 more than in 2011.

Special Purpose Vehicle Formed for TAPI PipelineProject

On 7 February The Union Cabinet gave its approval for

formation of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for theTurkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) PipelineProject and to permit GAIL India Ltd. to join the SPV. Thefour countries involved in the TAPI Gas pipeline project,signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement along with aGas Pipeline Framework Agreement


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(GPFA).Turkmenistan and Pakistan agreed to theformation of TAPl Ltd. The 1,680 km pipeline will carry 90million metric standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) of

gas, and is scheduled to become operational in 2018.India and Japan to Strengthen Cooperation in TourismSector

India and Japan have resolved to strengthen cooperationin tourism sector. This was decided at a meeting betweenthe visiting Japanese Senior Vice-Minister of Tourism, Mr.

Hiroshi Kajiyama and Union Tourism Minister Shri KChiranjeevi in New Delhi on 12 February 2013.

India and France Signed 22 Agreements

On 14 February France and India have signed on 22agreements after French President Francois Hollandesmeetings with the Indian president and the prime minister

in New Delhi.Both nations exchanged views on a numberof bi-lateral, regional and multilateral issues and signed aMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to facilitatetechnical cooperation in Railways to each other.Chairman,Railway Board, India and Chairman and CEO SNCF fromthe French side signed this MoU.Both the nations alsoconcluded negotiations on the short range surface to Airmissile to be co-produced in India. They also agreed on

the need to reinvigorate economic engagement betweenthe two countries.

India and Bangladesh Signed Land BoundaryAgreement


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On 16 February India and Bangladesh held the secondJoint Consultative Commission meeting in Dhaka .Afterthe meeting , both countries exchanged one strip map as

part of the process of the implementation of the agreementsigned to resolve land boundary issues between them.Inaddition, two MOUs were also signed for the constructionof a rail link to connect Akhaura in Bangladesh to Agartalain India and for setting up a thinktank to be calledBangladesh-India Foundation.The India-Bangladesh JointConsultative Commission is an interministerial body of thetwo countries headed by the Minister of External Affairs of

India and Foreign Minister of Bangladesh.

CBI probe Ordered into Rs 3700 crore Italian ChopperDeal Scam

In February 2010, India had inked the deal with ItalainFinmeccanica to acquire the 12 three-engine AW-101helicopters from AgustaWestland for IAFs eliteCommunication Squadron ,which ferries around thePresident, PM and other VVIPs.The deal came under thescanner of Italian agencies after allegations of kickbackgiven in India surfaced.The agencies arrested GiuseppeOrsi, the head of Italian defence and aerospace giantFinmeccanica as part of their probe related to internationalcorruption.Around 50 million euros , about 10 per cent of

the deal, were alleged to have been given as bribes toensure that the company won the contract.On FebruaryThe Defence Ministry has ordered CBI probe into allegedscam in a Rs 3600 crore defence helicopter deal after


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arrest of head of Italian firm Finmeccanica on charges ofbribery.

India and Britain Discussed on Nuclear Cooperation

On 19 February Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singhand Britain Prime Minister David Cameron discussed onregional and global issues ,which included key issues ofnuclear energy cooperation, security, terrorism and trade.The two sides have also decided to commencenegotiations on a bilateral Civil Nuclear Agreement.Britain

has assured that it will extend all cooperation to any Indianprobe into the multi-million-dollar helicopter scam whichinvolves Italian defense giant Finmeccanicas UK-basedsubsidiary AgustaWestland.David Cameron announcedthat his country is going to introduce sameday visa servicefor Indian businessmen in a bid to accelerate the bilateraltrade between the two sides.

India won Kishanganga Case Against Pakistan

On 18 February the Court of Arbitration at the Hagueallowed India to go ahead with the Construction of theKishanganga hydroelectric project in Gurez valley nearBandipura in North Kashmir, the court rejected the plea ofPakistan that the construction was a violation of 1960Indus Water Treaty.The Court of Arbitration, chaired by

Stephen M. Schwebel in its orders stated that India canmove ahead with the diversion of water plans ofKishanganga that is a tributary of Jhelum, for generation ofhydro-electric power. But it restrained India from adoptionof the drawdown technique of flushing for clearing the


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sedimentation of the run-of-the river project that had beendesigned and asked it to adopt a different technique forgeneration of 330 MW power facilities.

NATIONAL

President Gave Assent to the Criminal Law(Amendment) Ordinance, 2013

On 3 February President Pranab Mukherjee gave his

assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013which provides for, amongst other things, stricterpunishment for crimes against women. The Ordinancewas to be largely based on the recommendations of theJustice Verma Committee.However, the Ordinance willhave to be passed by Parliament within six monthsotherwise the same shall lapse.

All Juvenile Crimes 64% by 16-18 yr Old Age Group

On 4 February According to the National Crime RecordsBureau (NCRB) data shows that most juvenile crimes arecommitted by those in the age group of 16-18 years.In2011 the growth in rape by juveniles (34%) over 2010 wasagain among the highest.In 2011, 64% of all juvenile

criminals fall in the age group of 16-18. In 2011, 33,887juveniles were arrested for 25,178 instances of crime.Alltogether make for over 50% of all rape cases by juveniles.

Aero India 2013 Held in Bangalore


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The Asias biggest airshow Aero India 2013, a biennialair show and aviation exhibition held from 6 10thFebruary at the Yelehanka Air Force Station in Bangalore

.In the event displays magnificent aerobatic skills andbelongings that created a chance of winning potentialbusiness tieups and networking. Defence Minister of India,

A K Antony inaugurated the Air Show on 6 February .Inthe event 53 civil and military aircraft and 27 countriesparticipated and 78 delegations attended from US, Israeland Russia.The first Edition of the show was organised forthe first time in 1996.The next Aero India show is

scheduled to be held from 18 February to 22 February2015 at Bangalore.

Cabinet Approved Rs.38500 cr Rural RoadDevelopment Plan

On 7 February The Union Cabinet approved a Rs 38,500crore rupees for road connectivity under the Prime

Ministers Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).The schemesapproved were mainly for connectivity to villages in tribalareas, desert and hilly areas, with a population of at least250 each.In 82 areas hit by Naxalite violence, villages withless than 250 people are also to be connected under thescheme.

Parliament Attack Case

january_february_march_april and may 2013 current affair

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