International Current Affairs (: January 2010
International Current Affairs (: January 2010
International Current Affairs (: January 2010
India, we are covering the 2010 january current affairs including politics current affair,
current affair news, science current affairs, general knowledge current affair, current
government affair and international current affairs. Only studying India's current affairs
or political current affairs is not sufficient as you have to cover international events
and current affairs along with the Indian current affairs, as well as those in the field of
science and sports.
Gilgit Baltistan region elected its first Chief Minister Mehdi Shah on the basis of
Gilgit Baltistan Empowerment & Self Governance Order 2009. The new
appointed CM declare the Gilgit Baltistan region as 5th province of Pakistan. The
Indian Govt has, however, of the view that the region was part of J & K, and thus
objected to the remarks of CM.
Venezuela devalued it currency ‘Bolivar’.
A massive earthquake strike Haiti, the Carribbean nation. Capital of Haiti is Port-
au-Prince.
Mahinda Rajapaksa won a second term as Sri Lanka’s President. He belongs to
Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visit India in Jan 2010. She belongs to
Awami League Party. The two countries signed five agreements – on mutual
legal assistance in criminal matters, on transfer of sentenced persons and on
combating international terrorism, organized crime & illicit drug trafficking besides
MOU on cooperation in the power sector and on cultural exchanges. India give
Bangladesh a $ 1 billion line of credit, the biggest it has given to any country so
far.
South Korea President Lee Myung Bak visit India in Jan 2010. The two countries
decided to double the bilateral trade to $ 30 billion by 2014. Four facts were
signed between two countries – cooperation in peaceful use of outer space, IT,
science & technology for the year 2010-12 and transfer of sentenced persons.
South Korean President was also the chief guest at 2010 Republic Day Parade.
Gujarat Local Authorities Law (amendment) Bill 2009- The Bill makes it the duty
of a qualified voter to vote during elections to local bodies. Voting is compulsory,
but the Bill allows voters to cast their vote in favour of none of the candidates.
Election officers will declare those who fail to vote defaulter, and serve them a
notice.
India and China has decided to start joint military exercise from 2011.
Najib Razak, Malaysia Prime Minister visit India in Jan 2010.
Govt launched Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Key highlights of the
mission are :
o To create an enabling policy framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW
of solar power by 2020.
o To create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability for
indigenous production and market leadership.
o To promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000 MW by
2017 and 2000 MW by 2022.
o To achieve 15 million sq. meters solar thermal collector area by 2017 and
20 million by 2022.
o To deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.
New Governors appointed : a) M K Narayanan – West Bengal, b)Shivraj Patil –
Punjab, c) Mohsina Kidwai – Jharkhand, d) Shekhar Dutt – Chhattisgarh, e) E S
L Narasimhan – Andhra Pradesh.
Govt plans to create a National Gas Highway Development Authority. The
present Gas Pipeline Density in India is 3.29 Km per 1000 Sq.Km.
Govt plans to set up a National Green Tribunal to control Carbon Emissions and
pollution. It will be responsible for implementing the low carbon roadmap to be
set forth in the 12th Five Year Plan.
U-19 World Cup 2010 held in New Zealand from 15 – 30 Jan 2010. Javagal
Srinath from India appointed as one of the match referee for the tournament.
Australia won the U-19 World Cup for the third time defeating Pakistan. India is
placed at 6th rank. Australia won the cup for the third time.
Rafael Nadal won the Capitala World Tennis Championsip, held at Abu Dhabi
defeating Robin Soderling.
Magnus Carlsen becomes the youngest World No.1 chess player at the age of
19 years breaking the Garry Kasparov’s record when he became the world’s top
ranked chess player at the age of 22 years in 1985. Magnus Carlsen is the 5th
player after Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov and V.Anand (India) to cross the 2800
ELO rating. In the Jan 2010 FIDE ranking, Carlsen stood at 1st place, Topalov at
2nd place and V Anand at 3rd place.
Marin Cilic defeated Staniglas Wawrinka to won Men’s singles title of Aircel
Chennai Open.
Pakistan’s cricketer Shahid Afridi was banned for two T20 internationals after he
was found guilty of ball tempering in a ODI against Australia.
Corus Chess Grandmaster Tournament won by Magnus Carlsen. V.Anand of
India ranked at 4th place. Hopman Cup 2010- Spain defeated Great Britain.
Australian Open 2010 : Women’s Single- Serena William defeated Justin Henin.
It is Serena’s 5th Australian Open title. It is also Serena’s 12th Grand Slam title
equaling the record of Billie Jean King.
Men’s Single- Roger Federer(Swiss) defeated Andy Murray(Britain). It is
Federer’s 4th Australian Open title. It is Federer’s 16th Grand Slam title.
Men’s Double- Mike Bryan & Bob Bryan defeated Daniel Nestor & Nenad
Zimonjic.
Women’s Double – Serena Williams & Venus Williams defeated Cara Black & L
Huber.
Mixed Double – Laender Paes (India) & Cara Black (Zimbabwe) defeated
Ekterina Makasova & Jaroslav Levinsky. It is Paes’s 11th Grand Slam title.
Billy Arjan Singh, wildlife conservationist and Padma Shri awardee died.
P D Dinakaran, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court faces impeachement
motion. The process was initiated in the Parliament. He is the first High Court
Chief Justice against whom impeachment motion have been initiated. Justice V
Ramaswami is the only judge to have faced impeachment proceedings in
parliament.
Justice V S Sirpurkar appointed to head a three member panel to look into
allegation of land grab and misconduct against Chief Justice P D Dinakaran in
the wake of impeachment motion initiated against him in Parliament.
Fahmida Mirza is the first woman Speaker of Pakistan National Assembly.
Ricky Ponting, Australian cricket team captain, has been named as ESPN
Cricinfo Player of the Decade for 2000.
Jyoti Basu, former West Bengal Chief Minister, died.
Mrinal Pande, appointed as Chairman, Prasar Bharti Board.
Lee Myung Bak, South Korea President was the Chief Guest at 2010 Republic
Day Parade.
Shiv Shankar Menon is appointed as National Security Advisor.
Vikram Srivastava appointed as Director General of CRPF(Central Reserve
Police Force).
Ranjit Kumar Bhatia appointed as Director General of ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border
Police).
For the very purpose of getting you ready for the challenge that is Current Affairs In
India, we are covering the 2010 current affairs including politics current affair, current
affair news, science current affairs, general knowledge current affair, current
government affair and international current affairs. Only studying India's current affairs
or political current affairs is not sufficient as you have to cover international events
and current affairs along with the Indian current affairs, as well as those in the field of
science and sports.
Current Affairs For February 2011
National
Former Telecom Minister A Raja was sent to Tihar Jail in Jail in Delhi on Feb 17th in
relation to the 2G scam. He will be in judicial custody for fourteen days until March 3rd.
He was also earlier arrested by the CBI on 2nd Feb and was held in their custody in view
of the evidence they had collected against him regarding his involvement in the 2G
scam. A. Raja has been accused of issuing 2G licenses at throw away prices creating
massive losses for the exchequer. According to the national auditor CAG, the 2G
spectrum phone licenses were sold in 2008 for a fraction of their value and this has
resulted in a notional loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crores. The 2 G scam has created major
uproar in Parliament and has sent shock waves across the country.
Leaders of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) met Home Minister P.
Chidambaram on Feb 10 to signify the start of the much long-awaited peace talks aimed
at ending 30 long years of insurgency in Assam. History was created when the eight
member ULFA team headed by Arabinda Rajkhowa met Chidambaram at his North
Block office for a first round of peace talks. This is a highly significant development
considering ULFA has been trying since 1979 to carve out an independent homeland of
Assam. While ULFA has not put up any demands or finalised any agenda for talks, the
beginning of talks itself is being seen as a very positive step to restoring peace in the
state.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that his government would set up the Joint
Pariamentry Committee (JPC) to investigate the 2G spectrum scam. The government
finally agreeing to introduce the JPC does not come about as unexpected. With the
opposition being absolutely unrelenting in their demands for the introduction of the
probe, the Congress had to finally give in. The previous years winter session in
parliament ended with only ten working hours on record. In order to ensure that the
budget session does not get similarly affected, several meetings with the different
political parties were set up and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tried to bring about
a compromise, which in the end proved to be futile. In the Lok Sabha, on the first day of
the budget session the PM said “On account of the controversy relating to allocation of
2G spectrum, the winter session of Parliament was lost. Our country can ill-afford
this...in paralyzing Parliament, we all do disservice to those who have elected us.” Later
on he also announced the introduction of the probe when he went on to add “It is in
these special circumstances that our government agrees to a JPC...we are a functioning
democracy and must try to resolve our difference is the spirit of collaboration not
competition.”
With the Income Tax Department celebrating 150 years of taxation in the country the
government will issue coins of Rs. 150 in denomination. The special coins which also
includes Rs 5 denomination would be released by the Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee ahead of his budget speech. The Rs 150 coin is prepared from an alloy of
copper, nickel, silver and zinc. ‘Sathyameva Jayathe’ and ‘India’ would be engraved on
the front side of the coin while the back side will feature a portrait of portrait of 'Chanakya
and lotus with honeybee'. The Rs 5 coins will also be minted in a similar fashion. This is
a special occasion with the IT department having completed 150 years of taxation from
1860 to 2010.
The Bombay High Court on Feb 21 confirmed the death penalty to 26/11 terrorist Ajmal
Kasab and termed the case being the rarest of rare and held that there was "no scope of
reform" of the convict. This comes nine months after the lone 26/11 terrorist who was
captured alive was ordered to be sent to the gallows by the trial court on May 6, 2010.
Kasab, an LeT operative was captured alive at Girgaum Chowpatty in Mumbai on
November 26, 2008 while none other operatives who has come with him were gunned
down by the security forces at the terror sites. Justice Ranjana Desai told Kasab through
video conferencing "Aapko saza-e-maut yeh adalat barkarar karti hai. Aap Supreme
Court mein appeal zari kar sakte hain (Your death sentence is upheld. You can appeal
before the Supreme Court,"
Malkangiri District Collector RV Krishna and Junior Engineer Pabitra Majhi were finally
released by the Maoists after being kept for a week in captivity. The two were abducted
by the Maoists on Feb 16th and the Maoists in a letter to the government, listed 14
demands for the safe release of the two hostages. These included halting anti-Maoist
operations by security forces, release of all political prisoners, scrapping of accords with
MNCs for land transfer and projects, and compensation for the families of Maoist
sympathizers killed in police custody. Dandapani Mohanty and academicians G.
Haragopal and R. Someswar Rao were chosen as mediators and had discussions with
the Maoists. The negotiators had made the government agree to 14 key demands
including the release of Ganti Prsadam, Padma (wife of top Maoist Ram Krishna), and
Sriramulu Srinivas, another top Maoist. After intense round of negotiations the
government finally relented and made arrangements to secure bails for the jailed
Maoists. A further twist in the tale occurred when the Maoists released only Majhi and
held back the Collector making a fresh list of demands. However after another round of
discussion, common sense prevailed and the Maoists released the collector a day later.
Sports News
The 10th edition of the ICC cricket World Cup, was officially launched on 17th Feb with a
grand opening ceremony being held in Dhaka, Bangaldesh. The stadium was filled with
spectators and evening proved to be visual spectacle with colourful fireworks, songs and
dance routines to mark the start of the eagerly awaited event. Bangladeshi Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina declared the event open amid thundering cheers while the
fourteen participating Captains were revealed to the public being carried in tricycles.
Shankar Ehsaan Loy and other popular artists performed at the venue with the show
stopper being Bryan Adams.
The 34th National Games, was finally held in Jharkand and the event turned to be very
successful. The games were held from 12th February 2011 to 26th February 2011.Many
athletes all over the country took part in various disciplines and quite a few records were
broken in the process. The long-postponed 34th National Games was originally
scheduled for 2007. The Games have been deferred six times – four times due to delay
in developing infrastructure and then postponed again due to the coming of Assemble
Elections.
India played Bangladesh at Mirpur in the first WC match of the tournament on Feb 19.
India started with a bang scoring 375 with both Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli hitting
sensational hundreds to take the match away from the hosts. Sehwag particularly looked
murderous. The Indian team was expected to be under pressure to perform well against
Bangladesh as their previous campaign in 2007 resulted in an early exit and left many
disappointed fans back at home.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand played against Magnus Carlsen of Norway to end
the match in hard fought draw and finished second in the Bilbao Final Masters chess
tournament. But the icing on the cake was when the Indian ace dethroned Carlsen from
the number one ranking in Live rating list for the first time since January this year and
ended up as the top player in ratings too.
Former Brazil striker Ronaldo announced his retirement from soccer on Feb 14. The 34-
year-old three-time world player had a year end contract with Corinthians. But a shock
loss led to an early elimination from the Libertadores Cup and violent protests from fans.
Ronaldo further added that frequent injury problems were one of the main reasons in
him deciding to announce his retirement. Thus ends a brilliant career in which he scored
more than 400 goals including a record 15 at World Cups.
International News
The people of Egypt went wild with celebrations after President Hosni Mubarak resigned
and handed power to the military on 11th February. For eighteen days thousands of
people had taken to the streets all over Egypt demanding the ouster of their autocratic
President who had been in power for the past thirty years. One of the key reasons for
such public outrage has been widespread poverty, inflation and rampant corruption in
the government for many years. Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the anti-government
protests burst with joy when the announcement was made. This has been a hard fought
struggle for the people of Egypt after many episodes of violence having been reported
between the public and Mubaraks forces.
China has now overtaken Japan as the world's second-biggest economy. Japan's
economy was worth $5.474 trillion (£3.414 trillion) at the end of 2010, figures from Tokyo
have shown while that of China's economy is closer to $5.8 trillion for the same period.
China has been enjoying a manufacturing boom for quite a few years now and it is
expected that at its current rate of growth, analysts see China replacing the US as the
world's top economy in about a decade. The US economy is currently almost three times
the size of the Chinese economy in dollar terms.
A massive earthquake on 22nd Feb has caused massive destruction in the city of
Christchurch, New Zealand. The 6.3-magnitude earthquake was the second in five
months for the city and the death toll continues to increase with the police having
confirmed 148 deaths with 200 still missing. The damage caused has been said to be
much worse than the 7.1-magnitude quake on 4 September, which left two people
seriously injured but no fatalities. The city's historic cathedral was one of the many
buildings that got significantly damaged, while cars lay in a mangled heap under a pile of
rubble and roads cracked open with fissures as a result of the tremors. Dazed, bleeding
residents could be seen wandering through streets strewn with debris and piles of
concrete.
Inspired by the outcomes of Tunisia and Egypt over the past few weeks the people of
Libya have also taken out to the streets in their cries for freedom against their autocratic
leader Muammar Gaddafi. Thousands of people have joined the struggle and there have
been continuous reports of frequent clashes with the Muammars loyalists and the
protesting public. Scores of people have been reported killed in continuing violence in
the Libyan capital, Tripoli, amid escalating protests against Muammar Gaddafi's 40-year
rule across the North African nation. With each passing day the leader seems to be
losing support from people working in his own government and is also under increasing
pressure from International powers to step down.
The Kings Speech Wins Best Picture at the 83rd Annual Academy
Awards
‘The Kings Speech’ had a great outing at this years Oscars winning four awards. The
film won in the best picture category and its director Tom Hooper received Best Director.
Colin Firth received the award for best actor for his central role in Kings Speech while
best female actor went to Natalie Portman for Black Swan. ‘The Best Supporting Actor’
and The Best Supporting Actress’ awards were bagged by Christian Bale and Melissa
Leo for their performances in film, ‘The Fighter’. Indian musician AR Rahman missed out
on his two nominations for his score in ‘127 hours.’