curent affair

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April-2009 National Affairs 1. The Union Cabinet imposed President’s Rule in Meghalaya. 2. The facility to maintain and train pilots for the MiG 29 K frontline fighter aircraft was inaugurated at the INS Hansa naval base in Goa by Vice-Admiral J.J. Bedi, Commander-in-Chief, Western Naval command. 3. The Energy and Resources Institute and the Indian Mountaineering Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding to study, preserve and safeguard the Himalayan glaciers under the National Mission of Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system. 4. The Government of India observed April 21 as Civil Service Day, presenting an occasion for civil servants to rededicate themselves to the cause of citizens and renew their commitment to public service and excellence. May-2009 National Affairs 1. UPA won the General Elections. It secured 263 seats out of 543. Congress secured 206 seats, Trinamool congress-19, DMK-18, NCP-9, National Conference -3, JMM-2 and AIMIM-1 among UPA. 2. Naveen Patnaik sworn as the CM of Orissa for the 3rd time as Biju Janata Dal (BJD) secured a clear majority in the elections. 3. The President of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), Pawan Kumar Chamling sworn as the CM of Sikkim for the 4th time. 4. Meghalaya chief minister DD Lapang heading the Congress-led coalition United Meghalaya Alliance won the trust vote. 5. Cyclone Aila has hit West Bengal and Orissa which brought heavy rains and nearly 60 people were dead. 6. Sabitha Indra Reddy sworn as India’s 1st woman Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh June-2009 National Affairs 1. Prof Yashpal and his committee members submitted final report to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). They have suggested the scrapping of all higher education regulatory/monitoring bodies and creation of a super regulator: a

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April-2009 National Affairs

1. The Union Cabinet imposed President’s Rule in Meghalaya.

2. The facility to maintain and train pilots for the MiG 29 K frontline fighter

aircraft was inaugurated at the INS Hansa naval base in Goa by Vice-Admiral

J.J. Bedi, Commander-in-Chief, Western Naval command.

3. The Energy and Resources Institute and the Indian Mountaineering

Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding to study, preserve and

safeguard the Himalayan glaciers under the National Mission of Sustaining

the Himalayan Eco-system.

4. The Government of India observed April 21 as Civil Service Day, presenting

an occasion for civil servants to rededicate themselves to the cause of

citizens and renew their commitment to public service and excellence.

May-2009 National Affairs

1. UPA won the General Elections. It secured 263 seats out of 543. Congress

secured 206 seats, Trinamool congress-19, DMK-18, NCP-9, National

Conference -3, JMM-2 and AIMIM-1 among UPA.

2. Naveen Patnaik sworn as the CM of Orissa for the 3rd time as Biju Janata Dal

(BJD) secured a clear majority in the elections.

3. The President of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), Pawan Kumar Chamling

sworn as the CM of Sikkim for the 4th time.

4. Meghalaya chief minister DD Lapang heading the Congress-led coalition

United Meghalaya Alliance won the trust vote.

5. Cyclone Aila has hit West Bengal and Orissa which brought heavy rains and

nearly 60 people were dead.

6. Sabitha Indra Reddy sworn as India’s 1st woman Home Minister of Andhra

Pradesh

June-2009 National Affairs

1. Prof Yashpal and his committee members submitted final report to the

Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). They have suggested the

scrapping of all higher education regulatory/monitoring bodies and creation

of a super regulator: a seven-member Commission for Higher Education and

Research (CHER). They also recommended that the deemed university status

be abandoned and that all deserving deemed varsities be either converted

full-fledged universities or scrapped and a GRE like test be evolved for

university education.

2. Ramesh Pokhariyal is the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

3. Centre bans CPI (Maoist) : The Centre banned the Communist Party of India

(Maoist), terming it a terrorist organization. It invoked Section 41 of the

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the extremist outfit. The CPI

(Maoist) came into existence following the merger of the Communist Party of

India (Marxist-Leninist), the People’s War Group (PWG) and the Maoist

Communist Centre (MCC).

4. Liberhan Commission submitted report to the Prime Minister : The Justice

Liberhan Commission, which probed the sequence of events that led to the

Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, submitted its

report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

5. Inflation turns negative for first time since 1977-78 : The annual rate of

inflation (wholesale price index) turned negative and stood at -1.61 % for the

week ended 6 June 2009.

6. AP Govt. handed over Environment Protection Training & Research Institute

(EPTRI) to the Centre.

7. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal launched anti ragging helpline in New Delhi. The toll

free number of this helpline is 1800-180-5522, and the e-mail is

[email protected]. The other toll-free number 155222 is under

implementation.

8. Sukhoi 30 inducted into Air Force at Tezpur : Super fast Sukhoi 30 MKI fighter

aircraft has been inducted in the Tezpur Air Force Station of Assam. Initially,

four aircrafts were introduced in the Air Force Station at a simple function.

July-2009 National Affairs

1. Actress Nandita Das has been appointed chairperson of the Children’s Film

Society of India (CFSI).

2. Nandan Nilakeni took over as the head of Unique Identification Authority of

India (UIAI). Ramsevak Sarma took over as CEO of UIAI.

3. The solar eclipse of 22 July 2009 was the longest total solar eclipse during the

21st century. This will take place again in 2132. Totality lasted for up to 6

minutes and 39 seconds, with the maximum eclipse occurring in the Pacific

ocean at 02:35:21 about 100 km south of the Bonin Islands, southeast of

Japan. In Gujarat, it lasted for 6 min and 30 seconds.

4. Mohanlal, an actor was conferred the honorary title of Lieutenant Colonel in

the Territorial Army (TA), a citizen’s force of the Indian army.

5. The deepest sea port at Ganagvaram was opened which is 20meters deep

1km from the sea coast.

6. Two NSG centers were started at Mumbai and Hyderabad.

August-2009 National Affairs

1. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has set to make the Class

X board examination optional for students who will continue in the same

school for the senior secondary level.

2. Cabinet has approved 50% reservation for women in Panchayat Raj

Institutions. The center shall amend Article 243(d) to implement the

reservation.

3. India’s largest ICT event e-India 2009 was held at Hyderabad International

Convention Center.

4. AP Assembly has adopted a resolution urging the center to give SC status to

Dalit Christians.

5. Oil production was started in Cairn India’s on-land Mangala oilfield, Barmer,

Rajasthan. This is the country’s biggest oil find.

6. Law Commissions chairperson Justice AR Lakshmanan submitted 234th report

to law minister Veerappa Moily. The Law Commission has framed a set of

drastic recommendations to deal with rash and negligent driving, including

increasing punishment from two years in jail to 10 as well as making the

offence non-bailable.The Commission has suggested to amend Section 304A

of the Indian Penal Code. It recommended inserting a provision in the Motor

Vehicles Act for confiscation of vehicles fitted with LPG cylinders meant for

home kitchen and arrest and prosecution of owners/drivers of such vehicles.

7. A special cell to deal with the issues of women married to non resident

Indians (NRI) will be formally established on August 27. The Commission

chairperson Girija Vyas told that the NRI cell will function under the National

Commission for Women (NCW).

8. The Center has banned the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). A new

council will be formed in place of DGHC.

9. AP Govt. has extended the ban on Maoists for a year from August 17th, 2009

to August 16th, 2010.

10.227th Law Commission Report: The Law Commission has recommended

amendments to the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) and other personal laws to the

effect that a person whose marriage is governed by such legislation cannot

marry again even after changing religion unless the first marriage is

dissolved or declared null and void. The Commission was headed by Justice

A.R. Lakshmanan. It also suggested that amendments be made in the

Criminal Procedure Code to make bigamy a cognizable offence.

11.Parliament has cleared ‘The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory

Education Bill, 2009’ which envisages free and compulsory education to

children in the 6-14 age group with the Lok Sabha approving it by voice vote.

12.Thiruvavalluvar’s statue was unveiled in Bangalore by Tamil Nadu Chief

Minister Karunanidhi after a period of 18 years it was put on.

13.President Pratibha Patil inaugurated Armed Forces Tribunal An exclusive

court for members of the Army, Navy and Air Force, Armed Forces Tribunal,

was established by the President. The keenly awaited AFT will provide a

judicial forum for redressal of grievances among the 1.5 million military

personnel and over 2 million ex-servicemen.

September 2009 National Affairs

1. The Cabinet has decided to release an additional installment of DA to Central

government employees and dearness relief to pensioners… representing an

increase of 5 per cent over the existing rate of 22 per cent of the basic

pay/pension to compensate for price rise. On the International Literacy day

(September 8th), the Prime Minister launched National Mission for Female

Literacy (Sakshar Bharat Mission). The mission’s aim is to make 70 million

people ( 60 million of them women ) functionally literate by 2012 and reduce

the gender gap .The center and state governments will contribute in the ratio

of 75:25 respectively for this programme.

2. Venkateswara Ayurveda Nilayam Limited secured a patent for its anti-

diabetic herbo mineral composition VK4 DIACON and the process of preparing

it, for a period of 20 years with effect from December 12, 2005 in accordance

with Patents Act, 1970. It’s chairman is D V Sriramamurthy.

3. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy died in a chopper

accident on September 2nd and Rosaish sworn as the new Chief Minister.

4. The Executive Board of UNESCO has approved India’s proposal to set up a

Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable

Development as UNESCO Category I Institute at Delhi. This would be the first

Category-I Institute of Unesco to be established in the Asia Pacific region.

5. The Tirupati Tirumala Devastanam’s Laddu got its Geographical Indication

patent rights.

6. Operation Green Hunt was started in South Bastar of Chhattisgarh from

September 17th. State Police and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action

(COBRA) participated in the operation.

October 2009 National Affairs

1. According to Registrar General of India, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for the

year 2008 was 53 per 1000 infants which were 57 per 1000 in 2006. The

least IMR was in Kerala – 16 per 1000.

2. The highest broad-gauge railway line from Anantnag to Kajigund in Kashmir

was started by the Prime Minister. It was built on an altitude of 1772m. * The

Election Commission has recognised Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman

Sena as a State party in Maharashtra and will allot a permanent election

symbol of the party’s choice.

3. India has declared itself free from the Avian Influenza (H5N1). The notification

was issued to the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) on October 22.

A country can declare itself free from birdflu, if there is no outbreak for three

months. With the declaration, the country can hope to revive its poultry

trade. India notified the outbreak of Avian Influenza (H5N1) in Assam (18

epicentres), West Bengal (11) and Sikkim (1) between November 2008 and

May 2009.

4. Indian Pilgrims were advised not to visit Pakistan as the country is witnessing

terror attacks regularly.

5. Pranab Mukherjee started National Skill Development Corporation in New

Delhi. It’s a public private partnership organization which aims to develop

skills for 30% people by 2022.

6. Congress and NCP alliance has won in the general assembly elections of

Maharashtra. Asok Chavan was elected as the Chief Minister. Congress won

82 seats, NCP -62 and BJP and Sivasena – 90 out of 268 seats. In Haryana,

Congress won 40 seats, Indian National Lokda(INLD) – 31 and BJP – 4.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda was re-elected as the CM. In Arunachal Pradesh too

Congress stood out as the single major party. Dorjee Khandu was re-elected

as the CM.

7. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Union Ministry for

Environment and Forests (MoEF) would jointly initiate “National Institute for

Research on Climate and Environment” in Bangalore. The institute would use

space-based and ground-based observation systems to create an indigenous

“nucleus” for research into all issues relating to climate, including the impact

of climate change on aspects of the economy such as agriculture and water.

8. Two satellites would be launched between 2010 and 2011 to measure and

monitor greenhouse gases. While a micro-satellite would be launched in 2010

to study aerosols, another dedicated satellite in 2011 would monitor

greenhouse gases such as methane and trace gases.

9. Vice-President Mohammed Hamid Ansari released a book, ‘Unleashing India,

Water: Elixir of Life’ authored by Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, which

makes a strong case for a changeover from the existing conventional method

of flow or flood irrigation to total coverage under drip and sprinkler methods.

Mr Moily dedicated the book to former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S

Rajasekhar Reddy.

10.2010 was declared as the year of Tigers. ‘The Year of the Tiger’ will start on

February 14th at Corbett National Park.

11.The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) has appointed Abdul Rahman as

special Ambassador to Kashmir.

12.On the eve of 50th anniversary of Panchayat Raj system, 2009-10 was

declared as the year of “Gramasabha”. The NREG Act was renamed as

Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

13.Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were affected with severe floods.

14.The Centre has declared dolphins a national aquatic animal in order to save

the rare freshwater species from disappearing from the country’s aqua

map..::

November 2009 National Affairs

1. The Union Public Service Commission has recommended to the government

that a Civil Services Aptitude test replace the existing Civil Services

(Preliminary) examination.

2. Cyclone Phyan has hit Maharashtra and caused massive damage to the

coastal districts. 

3. The Shipping Ministry has decided to set up a broad-based committee,

comprising various agencies, for sharing information on traffic, port and

issues related to ship and coastal security. The Committee will comprise the

Ministry of Shipping, the Navy, Coast Guard, State police, Customs, members

of State maritime boards and the maritime State concerned.

4. The Union Cabinet has directed the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry to

make it mandatory for all oil marketing companies to sell petrol mixed with 5

per cent of ethanol.

5. India announced that issuance of paper visas stapled to passports by the

Embassy of China and its consulates in India would not be considered valid

for travel out of the country.

6. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a report revealing that

telephone users reached 50.93crore by the end of September 30th.

Broadband users reached 7.7million, telephone users were 43.50% and

Mobile phone users were 40.31%.

7. Home Ministry banned the use of prepaid mobile connections in Jammu and

Kashmir on security grounds.

8. India has 25lakh cancer patients and one million new cases are diagnosed

across the country every year. In Andhra Pradesh alone, nearly 3 lakh people

suffer from the many forms of the disease. These figures were disclosed at a

programme to mark National Cancer Awareness Day.

9. The government will introduce Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b)

pentavalent (five-in-one) vaccine in the routine immunisation programme

from next year. It will replace the DPT and Hepatitis ‘B’ vaccines. The Hib

vaccine will initially be introduced in 10 States that have an immunisation

coverage of more than 80 per cent

10.A special postage stamp in recognition of the contribution of Apollo Hospitals

towards Indian healthcare was released by Union Minister of Communications

and Information Technology A. Raja.

11.Twenty-one judges of the Supreme Court, including Chief Justice of India K.G.

Balakrishnan, have declared their assets, giving details of movable and

immovable property owned by them and their spouses in the Supreme Court

website.

12.Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been appointed first Goodwill Ambassador

of the ‘Smile Train,’ an international charity that provides free cleft lip and

palate surgery to children in need.

13.62nd World Newspaper Congress and other annual events of the World

Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) have started in

Hyderabad. Apart from the Congress, the 16th World Editors’ Forum and Info

Services Expo-2009 are being organised at the Hyderabad International

Convention Centre.

14.Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference has been hosted in

Chennai.

15.The President, Pratibha Patil took off in Sukhoy-30 at an altitude of 8000m

from Pune for half an hour.

16.Unit 5 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project, a 220 MW pressurized heavy

water reactor (PHWR), started power generation at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan.

With this, number of reactors in India are 18. The total atomic power capacity

has reached 4330MW.

17.South Indian Telugu film Sankarabharanam and Malayalam film

Bhoothakkannady were screened at International Film Festival of India (IFFI)

that was started in Goa.

18.Acting on the letter written by the Central Empowered Committee of the

Supreme Court, the AP State government decided to suspend mining

operations, including transportation of already mined material, in six iron ore

mines in Anantapur district.

19.According Liberhan Commission report, the demolition of the Babri Masjid

was planned, systematic, and was the intended outcome of a climate of

communal intolerance deliberately created by the Sangh Parivar and its sister

affiliates, including the Bharatiya Janata Party. Report has indicted Advani,

Joshi and Vajpayee.

20.The Centre on Monday launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

It is one of the eight key missions of the National Action Plan on Climate

Change and aimed at ensuring long-term energy security as well as

ecological security.

21.The mission recommends implementation in three stages leading up to an

installed capacity of 20,000 MW by the end of the 13th Plan in 2022.

22.16th International Children’s Film Festival started at Hyderabad on November

14th. 70 movies from different countries were screened at the film festival.

December 2009 National Affairs

1. A high-level task force for the information technology (IT) industry has

recommended constitution of ‘National Electronic Mission’, a nodal agency for

the electronics industry within the Department of Information Technology

(DIT) with direct interface to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

2. The report envisions a $140-billion electronics and $105-billion software and

services industry by 2014. It is headed by Chairman and CEO of HCL

infosystems.

3. India has announced that it would reduce carbon emission intensity by 20-

25% by 2020 on the 2005 levels through a number of policy measures that

will include mandatory fuel efficiency standards for all vehicles by 2011, a

model building code recommending to states and municipalities to shift to

green buildings, amending the Energy Conservation Act to introduce the

concept of an energy certificate for incentivizing energy efficiency in industry,

regular reporting to Parliament on state of forests, and ensuring 50% of new

thermal capacity are based on clean coal.

4. Gujarat Government moved the controversial “The Gujarat Local Authorities

Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009″, the State Assembly which will make voting

compulsory in all local body elections of the state. Women Reservation was

also raised to 50% from 33%.

5. Government said it will examine the report of Rangnath Mishra Commission

that recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for

other minorities.

6. The Rajya Sabha approved the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2009 which

was passed by the Lok Sabha. The Bill repeals and replaces the Competition

(Amendment) Ordinance, 2009. The Bill provides for transfer of anti-

competition cases pending before the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade

Practices Commission (MRTPC) to an appellate tribunal. With this, the

commission would cease to exist, two years ahead of its scheduled closure.

7. The Rajya Sabha approved re-naming the National Rural Employment

Guarantee Act (NREGA) as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Act (MGREGA).

8. Indian National Congress established in 28 December 1885 in The Gokuldas

Tejpal Sanskrit Mahavidyalays at Mumbai. Mr. VyomeshChandra Bannerji was

1st President of Indian national Congress and Mr. Allen Hume was the

secretary. Now Indian Congress completed its 125 year of establishment.

9. Shibu Soren will be sworn in as the CM of Jharkhand on December 30.

Supporting Soren were 18 of his own party MLAs, 18 of BJP, two of JDU, five of

AJSU and one of Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch (JMM).

10.President Pratibha Patil sailed in INS Viraat in Mumbai for 3 hours.

11.92nd annual conference of the Indian Economic Association was held at

Bhubaneswar.

January 2010 National Affairs

1. There were atleast 199,132 farmer suicides between 1997-2008, according to

the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The share of the Big 5 states or

’suicide belt’ in 2008- Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya

Pradesh and Chhattisgarh remained very high at 10,797 or 66.6 percent of

the total farm suicides in the country. Maharashtra remains the worst state in

the nation for farm suicides.

2. The brightest and biggest full moon of 2010 will be seen on Saturday. It will

be around 15 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than other full moons

during the year.

3. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the National Tobacco

Control Programme to facilitate the implementation of tobacco control laws

and to bring about greater awareness of tobacco’s harmful effects. The

programme will be implemented in the remaining years of XI plan in 42

districts of the 21 states within the National Rural Health Mission framework

with financial outlay of Rs. 182 crore, from 2010 – 2011.

4. The 16th Edition of the Partnership Summit 2010 was held in Chennai,

organised by the confederation of Indian Industry.

5. The Environment Ministers meeting of the BASIC Countries (Brazil, South

Africa, India and China) was held in New Delhi.

6. A currency issued by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Bank of Independence

has been made public in Bhopal on the eve of his 103rd birth anniversary.

7. The Andhra Pradesh government signed three agreements with the world

bank to receive loan assistance of Rs 3, 720 crore to fund three projects

taken up at a cost of Rs 5699 crore to develop roads, provide safe drinking

water and improve infrastructure in urban areas. This is the largest loan

amount availed of from the bank in recent times, as the bank’s share for the

Rs. 4,444 – Crore Nagarjuna Sagar modernization project is only Rs. 2,500

crore.

8. Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari Constituted a three – member

committee headed by supreme court judge V.S. Sirpurkar, that will

investigate the grounds for impeachment of karnataka chief – Justice

P.D.Dinakaran whose removal from office has been sought jointly by 75

Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha on corruption and land – grabbing

charges. Justice A.R.Dave, cheif Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High court and

eminent Jurist P.P.Rao are the other members of the panel.

9. President Pratibha Patil released a commemorative postage stamp at a

function to mark the platinum jubilee celebration of the Reserve Bank of

India.

10.The Andhra Pradesh Government unveiled a Rs. 10 crore plan to develop

Kondaveedu fort as a major tourist destination in Guntur district.

11.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched ”Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar

Mission (JNNSM) at the Solar Energy Conclave 2010, New Delhi. The Key high

lights of JNNSM: To create an enabling policy frame work for the deployment

of 20,000MW of Solar power by 2022. To create favourable conditions for

solar manufacturing capability for indigenous production and market

leadership. To promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000

MW by 2017 and 2000 MW by 2022. To achieve 15 million sq-meters solar

thermal collector area by 2017 and 20 million by 2022. To deploy 20 million

solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.

12.A boatload of sky watchers set sail from Kochi for the Maldives on board the

MV Aquamarine, the country’s first eclipse cruise, to chase the Ring of Fire or

the millennium’s longest annular solar eclipse.

13.Union Environment and Forests minister Jairam Ramesh announced a Rs. 200

crore grant for the Sunderbans, the world’s largest mangrove biosphere as

part of the World Bank’s Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project.

14.The govt. announced that the state-run oil firms will start supplying Euro-IV

grade petrol and diesel in 13 big cities from April 1st, 2010.

15.A Bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and

Justices Vikramjit Sen and S.Muralidhar held that the office of the Chief Justice

of India (CJI) is a “public authority” and comes within the ambit of the Right to

Information (RTI) Act and it is bound to provide information about the

declaration of asset details by Supreme Court judges.

16.Kite fliers from across 34 countries are expected to participate during the

International Kite Festival in Ahmedabad.

17.President Pratibha Patil delivering the valedictory address at the Pravasi

Bhartiya Diwas (Jan, 9) on the day Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915,

pointed out that: Overseas Indian’s estimated at over 250 lakhs had come to

be recognised as the “Knowledge Diaspora”. India’s remittances from

Overseas Indians estimated at over $ 50 billion last year are the highest in

the world.Of these about $ 20 billion comes from Overseas Indian workers in

the Gulf consisting of temporary contracted skilled and semi-skilled workers.

February 2010 National Affairs

1. Women Entrepreneurs 2010, a platform to promote Indian heritage weavers

and women entrepreneurs was held in Delhi.

2. The Department of posts released a commemorative stamp in honour of P.C.

Sorcar (Senior), the Man who “took the magic of India to the rest of the world.

3. The Union Cabinet approved the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2008 that seeks

to reserve 33 percent seats for women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.

The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha in

2008 and was subsequently referred to the Parliamentary standing

committee on Law, Justice and Personnel, which in its report submitted in

December last year had recommended its early passage in the present form.

4. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram laid the foundation for the Integrated

Check Post (ICP) at Attari on the India-Pakistan Border, one of the 13 planned

for eight states at a cost of Rs. 635 crore along various land routes to

Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar.

5. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh presented a Rs. 1.13 lakh crore budget for

2010-11. This is the 16th budget presented by him and 1st one as a chief

minister. The budget outlay is Rs. 8,516 crore higher than that of the current

fiscal (Rs.1.05 lakh crore). The plan outlay is Rs. 40,313 crore and non plan

outlay is Rs. 73,347 crore. There was the revival of the Constituency

Development Fund with allotment of Rs. one crore each to members of the

Assembly and the Legislative Council.

6. The Full Court, comprising 27 judges and headed by Chief Justice of India K.G.

Balakrishnan rejected the Law Commission’s suggestion that the Supreme

Court be split into Constitution Bench in Delhi and Cassation Benches in the

four regions.

7. Perambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala was declared the country’s 38th

tiger reserve.

8. Seethampeta, located in the north – western part of Srikakulam district in

Andhra Pradesh and home to the Konda Savaras has now become part of the

Food and Agricultural Organisation’s (FAO) Globally Important Agricultural

Heritage Systems (GIAHS). GIAHS has begun identifying and then

documenting unique agricultural systems across the world to create

‘agricultural heritage’.

9. The Cabinet Committee on security has approved the opening of an Officers

Training Academy at Gaya in Bihar in addition to the one in Chennai.

10.A five-judge constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that “The Supreme

Court and the High Courts have the power to order a CBI probe without a

state’s consent into a cognizable offence allegedly committed within the

state’s territory”.

11.Palakkad district in kerala is the first fully electrified district in the country.

12.The Union Minister for Environment and Forests JaiRam Ramesh had allocated

all Rs. 12 crore of his MPLADS share from 2004 on “Giripragathi”, a

programme for sustainable development of tribals in remote /hilly areas in

Andhra Pradesh.

13.Giripragathi covers eight mandals, three each in Adilabad and khammam and

two in warangal districts. Its total allocation over six years is Rs. 88 Crore.

14.The World Bank has agreed in principle to extend Rs.1, 000 crore assistance

to self-help groups under the third phase of Poverty Alleviation Programme in

Andhra Pradesh.

15.Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal took the decision to notify

the Right of children to free and compulsory education Act, 2009. The date

for it is fixed for April 1, 2010. From that date children in the 6 -14 age group

will finally get their right to education.

16.The Union Government announced the seven – point terms of reference of

the five – member B.N.Srikrishna committee on the telangana issue.

17.The 58th meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) was held in Gauwhati.

18.The two – member committee comprising former Director of Special

Protection Group (SPG) M.R.Reddy and former Director General of Civil

Aviation H.S.Khola Submitted a 110 – page report to the Government of

Andhra Pradesh on the cause of the Bell helicopter crash that killed former

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy and four others.

19.For the first time, the Union Government has agreed to formulate a general

amnesty plan for kashmiri youth undergoing training in terrorist camps in

Pakistan – Occupied Kashmir (POK)

20.The Indian Navy’s Multilateral Milan 2010 exercise was held in Port Blair.

21.The conference of the Chief Ministers on internal Security was held in Delhi.

22.The West Bengal government announced a 10 per cent quota in jobs for the

weaker sections among Muslims under the OBC category.

23.The Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the four per cent reservation

provided by the State government to selected sections of Muslims in

education and public employment.

24.The Sustainable Development Summit, organised by the Energy and

Research Institute was held in Delhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

addressed

25.All the judges of the Delhi High Court led by Chief Justice A.P. Shah made

their assets and investments public by uploading the details on the court’s

website.

26.The Ministries of Health and Family Welfare and Railways signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for developing health care

infrastructure along the railway network across the country.

27.The Government of India constituted a five – member committee headed by

the former Supreme Court Judge, Justice B.N. Sri Krishna to hold wide ranging

consultations with all sections of the people and all political parties and

groups in Andhra Pradesh. The other members of the committee are:

Professor (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, Vice.Chancellor, National Law University, Delhi;

Dr. Abusaleh Shariff, Senior Research fellow, International Food Policy

research institute, Delhi; Dr (Ms.) Ravinder kaur, Professor, Departmentof

Humanities and social sciences. IIT Delhi; and Vinod K.Duggal, former home

secretary.

28.The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,

MNREGS Sammelan 2010 was held in New Delhi.

29.Defence Minister A.K.Antony announced that,

30.The Indian Air Force has decided to procure 750 Akash missile systems from

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) at a cost of about Rs 4,000 crore.

31.The cabinet committee on security had cleared a proposal to sanction Rs.

8,000 crore for further development of the indigenously built Light Combat

Aircraft (LCA)

March 2010 National Affairs

1. Census 2011, the 15th census since 1872, billed as the largest census ever

attempted in the history of mankind, is set to take off on April 1st, 2010. It

will also involve the task of preparing, for the first time, the National

Population Register (NPR).

2. The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) approved the establishment of

National Knowledge Network (NKN), which seeks to inter-connect all

knowledge institutions in the country through high speed data

communication network, at an outlay of Rs 5,990 crore to be implemented by

NIC over a period of 10 years.

3. A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of Supreme Court K.G. Balakrishnan and

Justices J.M. Panchal and B.S. Chauhan lifted the stay on the Andhra Pradesh

government’s decision to provide four per cent reservation in jobs and

education for backward members of the Muslim community. As many as 14

Muslim groups, identified as socially and educationally backward sections by

the State Backward Commission, will now be eligible for the benefit. But the

Supreme Court referred to a special bench the issue of its constitutional

validity.

4. The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal of the Labour Ministry to amend

the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948, to provide medical facilities to

unorganised workers in ESIC hospitals and recognised private hospitals under

the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), a cashless health insurance

scheme. * Planning Commission in its mid-term review has reduced the

power generation capacity addition target by over 20 percent to 62,374 mw

for the 11th plan (2007-12) from the original 78,577 mw.

5. The Union cabinet cleared the Prohibition of Unfair practices in technical,

medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill, 2010 that seeks to

make capitation fee a cognizable offence. Two other Bills – The National

Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutional Bill

2010, proposing to setup an independent regulatory body which will register,

monitor and audit accreditation agencies and the Educational Tribunals Bill,

2010 providing an adjudicatory forum for speedy resolution of all issues that

arise in the higher Education sector – were also cleared.

6. The Union Government has officially confirmed its earlier decision to accord

classical language status to Telugu. It has addressed a communication to the

Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) Mysore, and the University Grants

Commission (UGC) to take steps immediately to give the status to Telugu.

This decision was the outcome of efforts by the late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy

culminating in the adoption of a unanimous resolution in the Assembly on

February 22, 2006.

7. A commemorative stamp on former Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy is

being issued by the Postal Department on September 2 to coincide with his

first death anniversary.

8. The Supreme Court appointed Central Vigilance Committee (CVC), headed by

Justice D.P. Wadhwa, while submitting its report to a Bench of Justices

Dalveer Bhandari and K.S. Radha Krishnan slammed the Public Distribution

System as one of the most corrupt sectors, saying the root cause of its failure

in several states is political interference.

9. As announced by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, A

seven-member core committee of vice-chancellors has been set up to focus

on central universities lagging behind in bench marks in academic and

research performance.

10.For the first time in 20 years, Jammu and Kashmir will have direct trunk

dialing facility with Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK).

11.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the world’s first green

legislature building, the Tamilnadu Legislative Assembly Secretariat Complex.

12.The Union Cabinet cleared the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of

Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010, for introduction in parliament. The bill seeks

to allow foreign education providers to set up campuses in the country and

offer degrees.

13.The government of Andhra Pradesh has decided to waive the loans taken by

weavers’ societies in the state from cooperative banks of APCOB and

commercial banks. This waiver which will place an additional burden of Rs.

312 crore on the ex chequer, will indirectly benefit a large number of

individual weavers.

14.Under the Indian Important Bird Areas (IBA) Programme, 12 more Important

Bird Areas (IBA) were identified in Kerala, which made it’s total gone up to 36.

The Indian IBA programme is funded by the Royal Society for the protection

of Birds.

15.India’s first open jail for women was inaugurated at the Yerawada Central

Prison in Pune by Maharashtra Home Minister R.R.Patil. The Open jail would

be made to agricultural work on the 17 acres of land adjoining the prison.

This would improve their physical and mental well being. They would also be

eligible for remission in their punishment, for every one year served in the

open jail, a year of their sentence would be reduced.

16.The Government of Andhra Pradesh is set to bring Information Technology

and IT Enabled Services (ITES) sectors under the Essential Services

Maintenance Act. A bill to amend ESMA would be introduced in the Current

Assembly session. The amendment, the Government felt necessary to spare

the IT industry from disruption to their mission critical applications during

agitations.

17.The Union government has set up an independent eight – member expert

committee under the chairmanship of Deepak Parekh to review the draft

guidelines of Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), a housing scheme for slum dwellers

and urban poor.

18.The historic Women’s Reservation Bill, formally known as 108th constitutional

amendment was passed in the Rajya Sabha with the House recorded its vote

of 186 for and 1 against. Now the bill must be passed by the Lok Sabha and

ratified by at least half the states for becoming effective.

19.The Secretary – General of the Supreme Court has challenged the Delhi High

Court Judgement that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a public

authority that comes urthin the ambit of the Right to Information Act. This

can termed as Supreme Court appealing to Supreme Court of its case.

20.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar

inaugurated the Women’s Leadership Summit 2010 on Inclusive Growth and

Empowering Women of Rural India in New Delhi.

21.The Sam Pitroda led high – level committee formed to suggest the

restructuring of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has submitted a report

to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

22.The first of the new generation Airbus A320 joined the Air India fleet. It has a

host of latest facilities, including advanced weather Radar System, Enhanced

Ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) and an LCD cockpit display

system.

23.National Socialist Council of Nagalim (ISak – Muivah) general Secretary

Thuingaleng Muivah met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Singalling the

Seriousness of his organisation to final a solution to the six – decade old

Nagaland issue.

April 2010 National Affairs

1. The cut motions moved by the Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha against

the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s economic policies

especially price rise, were defeated.Cut motion moved by Sushma Swaraj

defeated by- in favour 162 and against 246.The cut motion moved by

Gurudas Gupta was defeated by- in favour201 and against 289.

2. The former chief of the Border Security Force, E.N. Rammohan, submitted his

report to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the April 6 massacre of 76

security personnel by Maoists in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.

3. The 16-digit unique identification number to be assigned to each individual

by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will come under the

new name ‘AADHAR’ or foundation.

4. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh K. Rosaiah launched the Rs. 600-crore

Dr. YSR Protected Drinking Water Scheme in Rayadurg of Anantapur dist.

5. The 98th executive committee meeting of the All-India Council of Mayors

(AICM) was held in Hyderabad.

6. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a proposal

to set up 1,000 additional model schools as a benchmark of excellence in

educationally backward blocks (EBBs) through State governments. These

schools will have norms and standards equivalent to or better than Kendriya

Vidyalayas. The requirement for the 1,000 schools has been estimated at Rs.

3,304 crore, the Centre’s share being Rs. 2,478 crore.

7. The Navy plans to carve out an air enclave on the campus of the Cochin

International Airport Limited (CIAL) for sheltering the Navy’s future air assets,

especially the medium range maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

8. The Commission on Centre-State relations headed by M. M. Punchhi,

submitted its report to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.The panel was

constituted by UPA-I in April 2007 to take a fresh look at the relative role and

responsibilities of the various levels of government and Centre-State

relations.

9. The 59th year of birth of the Bhoodan Movement was celebrated at Bhoodan

Pochampalli in Nalgonda district on 18th April. Acharya Vinoba Bhave had

secured the first land donation on this day in 1951 at Pochampalli.

10.The Andhra Pradesh government launched the Praja Patham, the month-long

mass contact programme aimed at taking administration to the doorstep of

people. K. Rosaiah started the programme at Katarivaripalem in Vetapalem

mandal of Prakasam district. Praja Patham was a brainchild of the late YSR

who wanted elected representatives to go to the people during the difficult

summer months and redress their grievances pertaining to drinking water

and Aarogyasri and other health related services.

11.The draft Cinematograph Bill, 2010 could be introduced in the next session of

Parliament in which the India’s film rating system is set for a revamp. The

Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC), better known as the Censor

Board, will now be asked to certify films under the U, 12+, 15+, A and S

categories. Under the current Cinematograph Act, 1952, there are three

categories — U, A and UA.

12.The government of Andhra Pradesh acquired the “hazardous material”

handling vehicle for the Disaster Response & Fire Service (DSFS) Department

at a cost of Rs. 5 crore to tackle nuclear, biological, chemical accidents

besides the usual fires.

13.The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed the Inter-District Recruitment Bill

which bans inter-district recruitment and provides a quota for Scheduled

Castes in government jobs in all districts.

14.The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) launched the test phase of

Unique Identity Number (UID) project in Medak and Krishna districts of

Andhra Pradesh.

15.The Union government has decided to soon declare the world’s largest river

island of Majuli an eco-sensitive zone.

16.A new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Bill, likely to be introduced in

the next session of Parliament, will bring the institution of CAG under the

ambit of the Right to Information Act.

17.Delhi Metro Rail Corporation started the country’s first Standard Gauge

Railway line. This railway line width is 4ft 8inches.

18.Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit dedicated a Rs.40 crore sub-station 66/11

kV ‘green’ grid sub-station constructed by the power distribution company,

BYPL, in the record time of 13 months at the Commonwealth Games Village

to provide uninterrupted power supply for the event.

19.Addressing the nation to mark the implementation of the Right of Children to

Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

asked the States and Union Territories to work together as part of a common

national Endeavour.

20.The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 comes into

effect from April 1st 2010, and will directly benefit close to one crore children

who do not go to school. For the first time, education will become a

constitutional right in India. According to this act private institutes should

provide 25% reservation to economically backward students. Right to

education was made fundamental right in 2002 by 86th amendment. The

central and state governments should spend money in 55:45 ratio to

implement this act.

21.The plan outlay for Andhra Pradesh for 2010-2011 has been fixed at Rs.36,

800 crore, which is 9.86 per cent more than the outlay of Rs. 33,497 crore

fixed for 2009-2010. The actual increase is Rs.3, 303 crore this year.

22.The Union government has introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha, that provides

for constitution of a National Council consisting of representatives from the

Medical Council of India, the Dental Council, the Nursing Council etc., to

determine the standards for the clinics, classify them, develop the minimum

standards and their periodic review, compile, maintain and update a national

register of clinical establishments.

23.The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD) of Andhra Pradesh has deposited

4,475 kg of gold received by way of offerings in its temple Hundi in various

nationalized banks. TTD deposited 3,000 kg gold with SBI, 1,125 kg gold with

Corporation Bank and the rest 650 kilograms with Indian Overseas Bank and

will be earning an interest of over 1.6 and 1.5 per cent respectively over the

gold deposits.

24.The government of Andhra Pradesh launched the fifth phase of the

government’s land distribution programme all over the State from 14th April,

2010 coinciding with the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.An extent of

1.06 lakh acres will be distributed to 69,506 beneficiaries.

25.According to a report released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB),

Gujarat has been declared as the top contributor to the total hazardous waste

generation in the country. Gujarat generates almost 29 per cent of the 62

lakh metric tonnes of hazardous waste generated every year. It is followed by

Maharashtra (25 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (9 per cent).

26.The government of India has reconstituted the National Integration Council

(NIC) which will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Set up in the

early 60s by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the NIC held its first meeting in

1962. The council reviews matters relating to national integration and makes

recommendations over such issues.

27.According to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the first set

of identity numbers will be issued in February 2011.

28.During the sidelines of the 6th National Conference on Electoral Reforms

organised by the National Election Watch in Bhopal, Chief Election

Commissioner Naveen Chawla said that roughly 700 out of 1,000 registered

political parties do not contest polls and the Election Commission has no

power to de-register them.

29.The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) completed five years on 12th April

2010. May 2010 National Affairs * The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme

Court in its judgement upheld the intrinsic constitutional validity of the

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law

Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

30.The United Progressive Alliance government decided to set up a Group of

Ministers (GOM) on the issue of caste enumeration in Census 2011. The GOM

would work out the modalities of doing a caste headcount along with Census

2011 while looking into the issue of the practicality of such census.

31.The Central Board of Secondary Education launched worldwide, its self-

designed international curriculum (CBSE-i) at Dubai’s Indian High School (IHS)

that aims to compete with its western counterparts to produce the global

citizen of tomorrow.

32.World Telecom Development Conference was held in Hyderabad.

33.The Chief Justice and all the other judges of Himachal High Court have

declared their assets and properties.

34.An Air India Express plane IX-812 from Dubai overshot the table-top runway

at the Mangalore airport and plunged over a cliff into a wooded valley, killing

158 persons.

35.Cyclonic storm Laila which brought heavy losses to farmers crossed the

Andhra Pradesh coast near Bapatla in Prakasam district.

36.Under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling)

Rules, 2008, the depiction of new and more stringent pictorial warnings on

tobacco products has been deferred by six months to December 1 from the

earlier scheduled date of June 1 by the government of India.

37.President Pratibha Devisingh Patil signed an ordinance empowering the

government to dissolve the Medical Council of India, a regulatory body

responsible for maintaining standards of medical education. The government

created a seven-member Board of Governors that took over the functioning

of the 30-member executive council, the highest decision-making body of the

MCI. The Board of Governors is chaired by Dr. S.K. Sarin, Department of

Gastroenterology, and G.B. Pant Hospital.

38.The Union Health Ministry is all set to bring in an ordinance to supercede the

regulatory body and appoint in its place a Board of Governors. In place of the

present MCI team, the government intends to appoint seven eminent medical

practitioners and health experts to do the job that the MCI is performing at

present. The government would have no role in the new set-up.

39.The Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the former CBI Director, R.K.

Raghavan, which investigated Zakia Jaffry’s complaint that Gujarat Chief

Minister Narendra Modi and 62 others orchestrated the 2002 riots, submitted

its report to the Supreme Court.

40.The Union Cabinet accorded in-principle approval for the setting up of an

autonomous defence university in Gurgaon district of Haryana at a cost of

about Rs. 300 crore on a 200-acre campus that is expected to provide inputs

to strategic policy making. It will be set up under an Act of Parliament.

41.The Bihar government signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the objective of accelerating State-

wide improvements in maternal, newborn and child health.

42.A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the

constitutional validity of Articles 243 D (6) and243 T (6), providing for

reservation of seats in any panchayat or offices of Chairpersons in

panchayats and municipalities in favour of backward classes.

43.According to a decision taken by the Maharashtra government all students up

to Class VIII would be given promotion to the next class even if they did not

perform well in examinations.

44.The Visva-Bharati University at santiniketan celebrated the 150th birth

anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

45.The Supreme Court in its judgement holding that gas is a national asset and

the Centre’s pricing policy will prevail over any private agreement, has

directed Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) of the Mukesh Ambani group to initiate

renegotiations with Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. (RNRL) of the Anil

Ambani group for fixing the price of gas to be supplied to RNRL.The bench

thus rejected RNRL’s claim that it was entitled to get 28 mscmd of gas from

the KG Basin at $2.34 mBtu in terms of a 2005 Memorandum of

Understanding between Anil and Mukesh without any price approval by the

government.

46.A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that a Governor

cannot be removed on the ground that he/she is out of sync with the policies

and ideologies of the Union government or the party in power at the Centre.

Nor can he/she be removed on the ground that the Union government has

lost confidence in him/her. The bench gave this ruling in a petition filed by

the former Member of Parliament, B.P. Singhal.

47.The Lok Sabha Speaker made the following appointments for various

parliamentary committees Murli Manohar Joshi as the chairman of the Public

Accounts Committee for 2010-11, Congress MP from Goa Francisco Sardinha

as the chairman of the Committee on Estimates, V. Kishore Chandra S. Deo

as the chairman of the Committee on Public Undertakings, Gobinda Chandra

Naskar as the chairman of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes

and Scheduled Tribes.

48.The Supreme Court held that the Members of Parliament Local Area

Development (MPLAD) Scheme, under which every MP is allotted Rs. 2 crore

a year for constituency development was nothing unconstitutional. It held

that the scheme falls within the meaning of ‘public purpose’ aimed at

fulfillment of the development and welfare of the State as reflected in the

Directive Principles of State Policy.

49.The Rajya Sabha passed a Bill proposing to create a 78-member Legislative

Council for Tamil Nadu, 24 years after it was abolished.

50.Parliament approved the increase in the gratuity limit for employees from

Rs.3.5 lakh to Rs.10 lakh under the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill,

2010.

51.The Supreme Court held unconstitutional and violation of the ‘right to

privacy’ the use of narco analysis, brain-mapping and polygraph tests on

accused, suspects and witnesses without their consent.

52.The tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, his Gujarat counterpart Narendra

Modi and Union Minister for Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal to prepare

detailed project reports on linking of rivers that will benefit both the states.

53.The Lok Sabha passed the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2010 which

raises the ceiling of gratuity for employees in private sector to Rs.10 lakh

from Rs.3.5 lakh. The Lok Sabha also passed the Employees’ State Insurance

(Amendment) Bill, 2009, to provide for medicare to workers in the

unorganised sector, especially those below the poverty line (BPL).

54.A special sessions court judge M.L. Tahaliyani pronounced Mohammad Ajmal

Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai

terror attacks along with nine other terrorists and 20 co-conspirators in

Pakistan, guilty of waging war against India.

55.The two day National Consultation for Second Generation Reforms in Legal

Education was held in Delhi.

June 2010 National Affairs

1. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation of the 8.8-km-long

Rohtang tunnel at Dhundi near Manali(Himachal Pradesh).

2. The first World Classical Tamil Conference was held in Coimbatore. President

Pratibha Devisingh Patil presented the Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi Classical

Tamil Award to Asko Parpola for his work on the Dravidian hypothesis in the

interpretation of the Indus script.

3. The Group of Ministers (GoM) submitted their report to Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh addressing the legal, medical, humanitarian, environmental

and other aspects of the Bhopal gas leak disaster. The GoM recommended

Rs. 1,500-crore package for the victims.

4. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) endorsed the setting up of

the proposed National Commission for Higher Education and Research

(NCHER) as an apex body entrusted with framing policy, and to bring within

its ambit, medical education and other disciplines of higher education and

research.

5. The 75th conference of presiding officers of legislatives bodies from different

parts of the country was held in Srinagar (J&K).

6. The Planning Commission estimated four percent growth in the agriculture

sector during the XII Plan (2012-17).

7. The Representation of the People’s (Amendment) Bill aimed at NRIs for voting

rights in India was cleared by a GoM headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony

and is likely to be presented soon before the Cabinet.

8. The government of India has declared the Indian Mujahideen (IM), suspected

to be a shadow outfit of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India

(SIMI) and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist outfit.

9. Jharkhand came under Central rule with President Pratibha Patil accepting a

recommendation of the Union Cabinet after the Congress and the BJP gave up

efforts to form an alternative government following the resignation of Chief

Minister Shibu Soren.

July 2010 National Affairs

1. The first commercial landing of the Airbus A380, the largest aircraft of the

world, took place at the newly inaugurated Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi

International Airport in New Delhi.

2. As part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Rabindranath Tagore a

book was published on the Nehru-Gandhi family’s connection with

Santiniketan Titled “Three Chancellors” compiled by Nilanjan Bandopadhyay.

3. During the meeting of the Chief Ministers of the Naxal-affected States in New

Delhi, the Union government asked Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and West

Bengal, worst affected by Maoist violence, to set up a Unified Command

headed by the four States’ Chief Secretaries.

4. The prestigious Mahatama Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and

Sustainable Development (MGIEP), a UNESCO institute, will be unveiled on

the birth annniversary of Gandhiji on October 2 in New Delhi. It will be the

maiden category I institute of UNESCO to be located in Asia. Out of 11 such

institutes, nine are situated in the developed world and two is in Ethiopia and

Venezuela.

5. The Union government has set up an oversight committee chaired by Union

Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh to coordinate

and monitor the clean-up of the Bhopal gas leak disaster site.

6. The Union Health Ministry approved the revised draft that proposes a

National Committee for Accreditation and a National Medical Education and

Training Board that will register and accredit medical colleges and prepare

curricula for all streams of education in the health sector.

7. The Union Cabinet cleared the Nalanda University Bill 2010, paving the way

for the establishment of Nalanda University in Rajgir, Bihar near the original

Nalanda University site at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,005 crore.

April 2009 International Affairs

1. The International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2009 of the United Nations

Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) ranks India as the fourth

leading producer of automobiles, petroleum products, textiles, electrical

machinery and apparatus, basic metals, chemicals and chemical products,

leather products coke and nuclear fuel after China, USA and Italy.

2. On April 2, 2009, leaders of the Group of 20 countries met in London and

agreed to a $1.1 trillion (Rs 55 lakh crore) deal to combat the worst economic

downturn since the Great Depression.

3. North Korea announced that it had successfully conducted it’s second nuclear

test, defying international warnings.

4. Nejib Tun Razak sworn in as Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister in the

constitutional monarch’s palace in Kuala Lumpur.

5. A 6.3-magnitude earthquake striked Italy – its worst in three decades, killing

289 and leaving some 30,000 homeless.

6. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad opened a nuclear fuel plant in

Isfahan province and announced the testing of two high capacity centrifuges.·

Russia cancelled 1999 decree that imposed a regime of “anti-terror

operation” in Chechnya and formally declared it a zone of peace. It has

recalled the tight security regime that has been in force in the region for the

past decade.

7. France has announced to train a 500-strong Somali battalion to help support

the country’s fledging security forces against Islamist militants and pirate

gangs.

8. South Africa’s long dominant African National Congress has won

overwhelmingly in parliamentary elections. Jacob Zuma was re elected as the

president.

June-2009 International Affairs

1. American House passed climate bill : Climate bill was formulated under

American Clean Energy and Security act. According to this bill, green house

gases emission should be reduced by 17% in 2020 and by 83% in 2050 when

compared to 2005.

2. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) met at Yekaterinburg SCO is

an intergovernmental and inter-state grouping to enhance regional

cooperation in a multiple area, where Pakistan holds an Observer status on

SCO along with India, Iran, and Mongolia, while China, Russia, Kazakistan,

Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are full members of the organization.

3. BRIC Nations met in Russia.

4. European people’s parliament won EU parliament elections.

5. WHO declares swine flu as pandemic.

6. Mahmoud Ahmadi Nezhad won in Iran elections.

July-2009 International Affairs

1. Susilo Bambang was re elected as Indonesian President.

2. Yukayi Amano from Japan was elected as the Director General of IAEA.

3. US President Barack Obama said he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

are countering “a sense of drift” in relations between their nations with

preliminary agreement to reduce the world’s two largest nuclear stockpiles to

as few as 1,500 warheads each.

August-2009 International Affairs

1. Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) has made Rs.4125 crores

deal with Spielberg’s Dreamworks Studios to produce 5-6 movies per year.

2. Typhoon Morakot has hit Taiwan. The government has claimed at least 500

people dead and a loss of 3 billion dollars.

3. China Becomes India’s Largest Trade Partner China has emerged as India’s

largest trading partner, replacing US in 2008-09. Bilateral trade engagement

between India and China stood at Rs 1,63,202 crore (nearly $36 billion) in

April to February 2008-09, an increase of nearly 7% over Rs 1,52,713 crore in

the year ago period. In the same period, bilateral trade between India and the

US dipped 7.5% and stood at Rs 1,55,353 crore (approximately $34 billion).

4. Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as the Supreme Court’s first Hispanic justice

and only third female member in the top U.S. court’s 220-year history.

September 2009 International Affairs

1. The World report on road traffic injury prevention is the major report being

jointly issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank.

According to the most dangerous place in the world to travel on roads is in

the impoverished East African state of Eritrea and the safest road conditions

were found in Marshall Islands.

2. The opposition Democratic Party won election defeating Liberal Democratic

Party which ruled Japan for 54 years. Yukio Hatoyama will be chosen as the

Prime Minister.

3. Fiji has been suspended from the Commonwealth after it failed to respond to

a demand to begin restoring democracy to the island nation.

4. The Group of 20 countries met for two days to focus on the worldwide

financial crisis, and plot how to avoid a repeat in the future.

5. Irina Bokova, ex foreign minister of Bulgaria was elected as the chief of

UNESCO. She is the 1st woman chief of UNESCO.

6. According to “Global Times”, among the 60 most influential persons on

China, Tagore is in the 11th place and Nehru is in the 19th place.

7. Yukiyo Hatoyama, the leader of Democratic party of Japan sworn as the Prime

Ministe

October 2009 International Affairs

1. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was re elected as the President of Tunisia

consecutively for the fifth time. He has secured 89% votes.

2. The 15th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits were held on 23-25 October

2009 in Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand. Cha-am Hua Hin declaration on

strengthening cooperation on education to achieve an ASEAN caring and

sharing community was released. 7th India – ASEAN meeting too was held.

The next summit will be held at New Delhi.

3. Senior Environment Officials of SAARC met in New Delhi. The meeting has

decided to start 50 environment centers in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to

study Climate Change.

4. International Diabetes Federation (IDF) World 20th Diabetic Congress was

held at Montreal, Canada. It warned India that 9% of the population would

suffer with diabetes by 2033. Currently India is in the first place with 50.8

million diabetic patients followed by China. It also said that 258 million people

(7% of the population) in the world are diabetic patients.

5. World Health Summit took place in Berlin from October 14th to 18th. Modern

diseases like asthma and obesity were concentrated. 700 members from 60

countries participated in this summit.

6. Iran’s Nuclear Talks with USA, UK, China, Russia, France and IAEA was held in

Vienna.

7. Maldives Cabinet held the world’s first underwater meeting to highlight the

danger posed to low-lying nations by global warming.

8. Bosnia, Lebanon, Gabon, Brazil and Nigeria will join UN Security Council from

January 2010 for a period of 2 years.

9. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that 105 million more

people are suffering from hunger as a result of the current economic crisis.

Ensuring food security in a time of crisis is the theme of this year’s World

Food Day, marked on October 16th. Among them 642 million people are from

Asia Pacific region and 265 million from Sub Sahara region.

10.Angela Merkel was re-elected as the Chancellor of Germany. She forms the

government with her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party and Social

Union and Free Democratic Party.

11.Iran test fired Shaheb-3 and Sajjal missiles with a range of 1300 to 2000km.

They can carry payload of 100kgs.

12.The 10-member countries and observers of the Shanghai Cooperation

Organisation, met in Beijing. They pledged to work together on combating

terror and improving financial co-operation among Asian nations to combat

the financial crisis.

13.Greek socialists achieved resounding win in elections. George Papandreou-led

Pasok swept elections with 43% of vote after five years of New Democracy

government.

14.UNDP has announced Human Development Index (HDI) rankings for the year

2009. Norway (.971) stood first followed by Australia and Iceland. India (.612)

dropped to 134th rank from 128th (2008). USA was ranked 13th (12th in

2008) and China 92nd (99th in 2008).

November 2009 International Affairs

1. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) appealed for a day-long worldwide

hunger strike against chronic hunger. According to FAO statistics, 1.02 billion

people live in chronic hunger. The FAO has also launched an online anti-

hunger petition on www.1billionhungry.org Hunger Summit will be held at

Rome, Italy from 16th to 18th November, 2009.

2. The National University of Defence Technology (NUDT) unveiled China’s

fastest supercomputer. The supercomputer named Tianhe, meaning Milky

Way, will do more than 1 quadrillion calculations per second (one petaflop) at

peak speed.

3. China offered billions of dollars of concessional loans to Africa and pledged to

contribute significantly to the continent’s skilled human resources base.

4. A meeting of G20 Finance Ministers was held in Scotland. They failed to reach

an agreement on funding climate change.

5. The U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has launched a campaign

in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to mobilise people around the world to take part

in a drive to stop the pandemic of violence suffered by women.

6. 55th Golf World Cup was won by Italy in Shen Jen, China.

7. Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) took place at Port of

Spain. The Commonwealth Climate change Declaration has been agreed by

the 53 Heads of Commonwealth countries.

8. China has announced that it would cut carbon intensity to 40-45 per cent of

2005 levels by 2020.

9. U.S. proposed 17 per cent reduction below 2005 levels by 2020.

10.International Conference of Jurists 2009 on International Terrorism started in

New Delhi. It was organized by International Council of Jurists, All India Bar

Association, All India Senior Advocates Association and Indian Council of

Jurists.

11.Unfriend was declared as word of the year 2009 by New Oxford American

Dictionary. It is defined as to remove someone as a friend on a social

networking site.

12.India was ranked 84 with score of 3.4 out of 180 countries, by Transparency

International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2009. New Zealand,

Denmark and Singapore were ranked top 3 in low levels of corruption.

13.APEC 2009 summit was held in Singapore. Global financial crisis, free trade

etc were discussed at the summit.

14.Iceland has claimed the top spot of the World Economic Forum’s Global

Gender Gap Index 2009. India has been ranked 114th out of 134 countries

measured.

December 2009 International Affairs

1. Nepal’s Ministerial meeting was held at Kaala Pathar near Everest Himalayas.

PM Madhav Kumar and his 23 ministers participated in the meeting. This

meeting was held to convey the affects of Himalayas’ melting to their country

to the world countries.

2. Hyderabad has hosted 62nd World Association of Newspapers (WAN IFRA

2009). The 63rd meeting will be held at Beirut, Lebanon.

3. USA and BRIC countries signed an agreement in Copenhagen on carbon

reduction. According to this agreement, rise in temperatures should be

restricted to 2 degree centigrade, immediate release of 30 billion dollar for

environment help to poor countries. This would be raised to 100 billion dollar

by 2020. And carbon dioxide emissions will be monitored.

4. Iran successfully test-fired an improved version of its Sejil 2 medium-range

missile with a range of 2000km.

5. Bolivian President Evo Morales called on world leaders to hold temperature

increases over the next century to just 1°C. Mr. Morales also demanded rich

countries pay climate change reparations and proposed an international

climate court of justice to prosecute countries for climate “crimes”.

6. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati are

among the four Indians named in the Financial Times list of ‘50 People Who

Shaped the Decade’. NRI billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and India-born Pepsico

Chief Indra Nooyi are the other two Indians in the league of 50, which among

others also features Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden and US President

Barack Obama.

7. Hotels.com global poll of 10,000 travellers found that the Eiffel Tower is the

World’s Favourite Landmark. St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Rome and

India’s Taj Mahal, came second and third place respectively. Three American

icons – the Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty –

made up the remainder of the top six spots.

8. China carried out Death Sentence of a Britain Citizen, Akmal. He would be the

first citizen of a European country to be put to death in China in 50 years.

January 2010 International Affairs

1. The Chinese government’s official growth figures released shows 8.7 growth

in 2009. China is now on course to overtake Japan as the world’s second

largest economy, while Japan’s official GDP figures are yet to be released.

2. India is ranked 123rd in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) in

pollution control and natural resources management. Iceland was ranked 1st

in EPI.

3. Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa defeated the opposition consensus

candidate and former Army Chief, retired General Sarath Fonseka in the

presidential election. This is the second term for the Srilankan president

Rajapaksa.

4. The world’s largest aluminium producer, UC Rusal became the first Russian

firm to list in Hongkong and Paris stock exchanges.

5. The International Monetary Fund projected the India’s economic growth rate

to be 7.7 percent for 2010.

6. The group of four major emerging economics Brasil, South Africa, India and

China (BASIC) expressed their intention to communicate information on their

voluntary mitigation actions to the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change (UNFCCC). This decision was taken at the second ministerial

level meeting of the BASIC group of countries in New Delhi.

7. China and Japan have been added to the 39 non-traditional export markets

identified by the Union Government as part of series of new incentives to

encourage Indian exporters to explore non – traditional business avenues.

8. Billionaire Sebastian Pinera was elected Chile’s president with the victory

over ex-president Eduardo Frei.

9. India is the 88th best place to live, according to the 2010 quality of Life Index

published by travel magazine International living.

10.A 7.0 magnitude powerful earthquake rocked Haiti, killing possibly over one

lakh people.

11.China, the world’s largest producer of gold is set to overtake India as the

metal’s biggest consumer for the first time in history. China’s consumption of

gold is estimated as 450 tonnes in 2009 where as India’s consumption

forecast is 380 tonnes.

February 2010 International Affairs

1. China has denied claims by Google, the internet Giant, that it had faced cyber

attacks targeting the E – mail accounts of several Chinese human right

activists. American investigators have reportedly traced the attacks to two

Chinese universities.

2. Pakistan joined 52 other Asian States to endorse India’s candidature for non –

permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Out of 128 votes needed

to get the seat, India already has 122.

3. Japan and Australia pledged to help countries with atomic energy

programmes to stay clear of the nuclear-weapons path in the realm of “3S”.

The “3S” relate to nuclear non-prolife ration-related safeguards, safety and

security.

4. A diplomatic battle between Britain and Argentina is underway over oil

exploration around the Falklands as a rig hired by British companies is to

begin drilling off the coast of the remote archipelago. Geologists think the

territory, over which the two countries fought a war in 1982, could hold up to

60bn barrels of oil.

5. Octogenarian Tinoo was set free by the Myanmar’s military rulers and will

lead the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) as long as Nobel

peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.

6. The European Union member states have decided to temporarily withdraw

preferential tariff benefits known as GSP+ granted to Sri Lanka from August

on the ground that they are “significant shortcomings” in the implementation

of three U.N. human rights conventions.

7. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad, Hyderabad was

declared the World’s Best Airport under the 5 to 15 million passengers

category by Airports Council International (ACI). This is the first time that an

Indian airport will be featured among the top airports of the world.

8. International Conference on Biodiversity in relation to food and human

security was held in Chennai.

9. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while declaring the country to be a

‘nuclear state’ said, Iran had produced a first stock of 20 percent enriched

uranium for its nuclear programme and was capable of enriching it to 80

percent.

10.Ukraine’s Opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych narrowly beat Prime Minister

Yulia Tymoshenko in the presidential election.

11.The Secretary – General of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Anders

Fogh Rasmussen Said that, NATO’s troubles in Afghanistan showed it were

vital to boost ties with nations like China, India and Pakistan and transform

the alliance into a global security hub.

12.An Australian mining firm Resource House has signed a record $60 – billion

deal to supply 30 million tonnes of coal every year to China Power

International Development (CPI) for the next 20 Years. The deal is the biggest

– ever export contract in Australia’s history with the energy – hungry china.

13.The last Bo speaking person on earth, an 85-year old Andamanese woman

named Bo Sr, was dead. The Bo are believed to have existed for 65,000

years, making them the descendants of one of the oldest human cultures.

14.A landmark deal between Northern Ireland’s two major political parties, the

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein, removed the last hurdle to

granting full autonomy to the province envisaged in the 1998 Good Friday

agreement that brought decades of sectarian violence to an end. The deal

paves the way for transferring policing and justice powers from the central

government in London to the provincial administration in Belfast.

March 2010 International Affairs

1. China stood first in implementing death sentence in the world, according to

the report given by Amnesty International.

2. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced plans for a “New

Economic Model (NEM),” raising prospects of a fair deal for all racial groups.

3. During a session at the Arab League summit in Libya, the Arab leaders called

for a review of the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to create a

definitive plan for eliminating nuclear weapons development. These countries

view Israel and Iran’s nuclear programmes with alarm, and have repeatedly

called for an agreement to ban nuclear weapons from the region.

4. The Former interim Prime Minister of Iraq, Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiyah formation

has secured the maximum number of seats in Iraq’s March 7th parliamentary

elections, narrowly edging out the State of Law grouping led by incumbent

Premier Nouri al-Maliki.Out of the 325 seats, National Iraqi List (“Iraqiyah”) of

Mr. Allawi secured 91. Mr. Maliki’s State of Law grouping got 89.

5. India joined the world to celebrate Earth Hour, from 8.30 to 9.30 p.m. on 27th

march 2010 organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The event is the

largest global campaign on climate change with over one billion people

around the globe joined the campaign, involving more than 6,000 cities and

towns, to turn off lights in show of support for action on climate change.

6. The Agriculture Ministers of the BRIC nations — Brazil, Russia, India and China

have adopted a Moscow Declaration where they identified four areas for

quadripartite cooperation

7. To set up a common database of production and consumption of farm

products in their respective countries to facilitate comprehensive analysis of

food security and coordinate formation of national grain reserves.

8. The four countries to jointly draw up a BRIC food security strategy for

vulnerable sections of the population and share experience in providing food

for the poor.

9. To mitigate the impact of climate change on food security and adapt farming

to the changing climate.

10.To promote cooperation and exchanges in farm technology and innovation.

11.The United States and Russia have concluded a new Strategic Arms

Reduction Treaty (START) which include reduction by about one third the

nuclear weapons that the two countries would deploy and a significant

reductions in missiles and launchers and putting in place a strong and

effective verification regime.

April 2010 International Affairs

1. The World Expo 2010 was held in Shangai in China. 189 countries have

attended the event. The Chinese government has spent an estimated $ 45

billion on the Expo, upgrading Shanghai’s infrastructure in a bid to make the

city a “world financial capital” by 2020.

2. The 16th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

decided to establish an Inter-governmental Expert Group on Climate Change

to develop a clear policy direction and guidance for regional cooperation as

envisaged in the SAARC Plan of Action on Climate Change. The member-

states also resolved to commission a study, for presentation to the 17th

summit, on ‘Climate Risks in the Region: ways to comprehensively address

the related social, economic and environmental challenges’. It was also

decided to plant one crore trees over the next five years to build a “green

and happy South Asia.”

3. On the sidelines of the SAARC summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and

his Pakistani counterpart, Yusuf Raza Gilani, agreed to the resumption of

high-level dialogue, which has been disrupted since the Mumbai terror

attacks of November 2008.

4. The 16th summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

(SAARC) started in Thimpu, Bhutan. Sri Lankan President Mahinda

Rajapaksa,current head of the South Asian Association for Regional

Cooperation, took the chair. Other leaders of the grouping Manmohan Singh

of India,Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh,

Lyonchhen Jigmi Thinley of Bhutan, Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives,

Madhav Kumar Nepal of Nepal, and Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan

attended the summit. For the first time, Bhutan is hosting the summit.

5. Chamal Rajapaksa, brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was

unanimously elected Speaker of the newly elected Sri Lankan Parliament on

its opening day.

6. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari signed into law a landmark constitutional

amendment bill that will divest him of his sweeping powers.

7. Addressing representatives of over 60 countries and several international

organisations, at the start of a two-day conference on nuclear disarmament

in Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the

suspension of the United States from the International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA) and proposed a five-point plan to democratise the global security

architecture.

8. Russia has launched the construction of the $12-billion Nord Stream pipeline

to Europe that would carry up to 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas a year

from Siberian gas fields 900 km over land and 1,200 km under the Baltic Sea

from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald in Germany.

9. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has unveiled the first model of “third

generation” centrifuges that Tehran claims are six times more efficient than

the previous variants. Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony in Tehran marking the

fourth “national nuclear festival” that 60,000 new generation centrifuges

would be installed at the Natanz enrichment plant.

10.In the parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa-led

ruling alliance won in 120 constituencies of the 180 seats declared in the

225-member House. The main Opposition grouping, led by the United

National Party (UNP), bagged only 47 seats.

11.The Pakistan National Assembly passed the 18th Amendment Bill that seeks

to bring back the 1973 Constitution. The Bill , which proposes 102

amendments to the Constitution , was passed by a two-thirds majority after

the House rejected the amendments moved by some members on the

abolition of the concurrent list, renaming the North West Frontier Province

(NWFP), and removal of the provision for intra-party elections.

12.Presidents Barack Obama of the United States and Dmitry Medvedev of

Russia signed a Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty which will reduce their

nuclear weapons stockpiles by a third.

13.Anti-government protests broke out in Kyrgyzstan and its President

Kurmanbek Bakiyev has reportedly left the country and Prime Minister

Usenov resigned, clearing the way for the Opposition to form its own

government. A “Cabinet of people’s trust” has been headed by Opposition

leader Roza Otunbayeva.

14.Aid agencies are warning of an impending food emergency in South Sudan.

According to them, Akobo, in the eastern region of Jonglei, is now

the“hungriest place on earth.”

15.A volcano erupted under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, 120 km east of Reykjavik

in Iceland shooting smoke and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of

people to leave their homes.

16.A 7.1-magnitude quake struck a remote border area in north-west Qinghai

province in western China leaving at least 400 dead and more than 10,000

injured. The epicentre of the quake was in Yushu county, in a Tibetan

Autonomous Prefecture which borders Sichuan.

17.China is building a new airport near Mount Everest, to be called ‘Peace

Airport’ in Xigaze prefecture in Tibet.

18.The Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) was held in Washington in which 37 of

the participating 47 countries are represented at the level of President or

Prime Minister. The agenda of the summit was how to physically secure

sensitive nuclear materials around the world so that terrorists don’t get hold

of them. The next Nuclear Security Summit will be held in South Korea in

2012.

19.The President of Poland Lech Kaczynski and a high-level delegation were

killed when the president’s Tu-154 passenger jet carrying 97 people crashed

as it was approaching a Russian airport in the city of Smolensk.

20.Sudan geared up for its first multi-party elections in 24 years, with a 16-

million-strong electorate eligible to vote for President, MPs and local

representatives.

May 2010 International Affairs

1. According to Google’s web traffic data, Facebook.com is most visited website

with monthly visits by 540 million people, or slightly more than 35 per cent of

the Internet population.

2. Nepal political parties UCPN-Maoist, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML

agreed to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly by one year as part of

a crucial deal under which Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal agreed to

step down.

3. In the midst of heightened tensions, North Korea announced the unilateral

scrapping of its pact with South Korea on the prevention of naval clashes

between them.

4. The annual ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation

and Development (OECD) was held in Paris with Economy and Trade Ministers

from 40 countries, representing 80 per cent of the world economy attended.

India, Russia, Brazil ,China, Indonesia and South Africa have been invited to

participate as observers.

5. Citing lack of evidence, the Pakistan Supreme Court upheld the Lahore High

Court’s decision to release Jama’at-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed from house

arrest.

6. The world’s most expensive postage stamp “Treskilling Yellow” printed in

Sweden in 1857, was sold at auction in Geneva to an international

consortium.

7. The National Commission co-chaired by Bob Graham and William Reilly was

established to investigate the oil spill from British Petroleum’s Deepwater

Horizon rig that exploded on April 20 and has since been spewing massive

amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico seriously endangering its marine life

and the coastlands of Louisiana.

8. The French Cabinet approved a draft law to ban the Muslim full-face veil from

public spaces.

9. A deal was reached to swap a major part of Iran’s low enriched uranium

stocks on Turkish soil for an equivalent amount of uranium enriched to 19.75

percent among Iran, Turkey and Brazil.

10.Iran has freed Clotilde Reiss, French lecturer charged with spying following

last June’s presidential elections.

11.The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned that efforts to

eliminate the worst forms of child labour have slowed down and called for a

“re-energised” global campaign to end the practice. In its global report on

child labour, the ILO said the global number of child labourers had declined

from 222 million to 215 million, or 3 per cent, over the period 2004 to 2008,

representing a “slowing down of the global pace of reduction.”

12.The Conservative leader David Cameron took over as Prime Minister and his

Liberal Democrat counterpart Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister in the

Britain’s first post-war coalition government.

13.The second Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in which 32 nations

attended was held in Abu Dhabi.

14.The short film ‘Last of the Tattooed Head Hunters’, on one of North East’s

fiercest fighters, Konyak Nagas, directed by Vikeyeno Zao, will be screened at

the annual Cannes Film Festival beginning May 12.

15.Pakistan said it had successfully tested two surface-to-surface missiles

Ghaznavi and Shaheen capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional

warheads.

16.Britain’s most closely-contested election resulted in a hung Parliament and

the defeat for the ruling Labour Party after 13 years in power. The

conservative party ended up with 306 seats, 20 short of an outright

majority .The Labour party got 258 seats and the Liberal Democrats got 57

seats.

17.The four-week nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference was held

at the United Nations in New York.

18.Sri Lankan President government has decided to pardon journalist J.S.

Tissainayagam, who is out on bail after being convicted in August last year

under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The pardon coincided with the

World Press Freedom Day.

19.Iran and Syria have mooted the formation of a regional economic bloc with

Turkey and Iraq as their key partners. The two sides felt the move would yield

economic benefits and impart political stability and security to the region.

June 2010 International Affairs

1. Nepal’s Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned.

2. The resignation was part of an agreement among the three major political

parties,the opposition UCPN (Maoist) and the Nepali Congress and the CPN

(UML).Taiwan and China signed a historic trade pact “The Economic

Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA)”, hailed by both sides as a

milestone and the culmination of a Beijing-friendly policy introduced by

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou after assuming power in 2008.

3. Kyrgyzstan voted for a national referendum on a new Constitution. If

approved, the Constitution would transform Kyrgyzstan from a presidential to

a parliamentary republic, with main powers shifted from a nationally elected

President to a Prime Minister chosen by Parliament. This would make

Kyrgyzstan the first parliamentary democracy in former Soviet Central Asia.

4. The two-day G-20 summit or the meeting of the heads of the world’s major

industrialised powers was held in Toronto, Canada.

5. India has joined the Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) project, the next

generation astronomical observatory that will be located on Mauna Kea,

Hawaii.

6. Guinea, the West African country is holding in its first free election since

independence in 1958.

7. Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia’s first woman Prime Minister after Kevin

Rudd was toppled as the leader of the ruling Labour party.

8. A 500-kg bronze sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled at the Canadian

Museum of Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg city.

9. According to the findings of the United States Geological Survey, Afghanistan

has nearly one trillion dollars in mineral deposits and could become one of

the richest in the world.

10.Iran and Pakistan finalise gas pipeline project without India to supply 21

million cubic metres of natural gas daily from 2014 to Pakistan.

11.The Bangladesh government shut down Bengali daily Amar Desh, citing that

it has no authorised publisher. Mahmudur Rahman, owner and acting-editor

of the anti-government daily, was arrested on a cheating charge.

July 2010 International Affairs

1. The United States Senate passed a historic Wall Street reform bill on financial

reforms that will bring greater economic security to families and businesses

across the country.

2. Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalise same-sex

marriage.

3. The U.N. rejected to reopen the probe into the assassination of the former

Premier, Benazir Bhutto by a U.N.-appointed three-member headed by Chile’s

former U.N. ambassador Heraldo Munoz, as Pakistan had raised objections to

the report.

4. According to the report by the ‘Janasankhya Sthirta Kosh’ under the Union

ministry of health and family welfare, while India’s population grew by 1.4%

over the last five years, China saw only a 0.6% population growth for the

corresponding period. India’s total population in 2009 was 119.8 crore,

China’s 134.5 crore and Pakistan’s 18 crore. While India’s population will

increase to 161.38 crore by 2050, that of China will only reach 141.7 crore.

5. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), developed and applied by the

Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative with UNDP support reveals

that there are more ‘MPI poor’ people in eight Indian states (421 million in

Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar

Pradesh, and West Bengal) than in the 26 poorest African countries combined

(410 million).

6. The Chinese government signed a $525-million deal to help Pakistan build

two highways namely, 165-km-long highway between Jaglot and Skardu, and

a 135-km highway between Thakot and Sazin in the disputed Pakistan-

occupied Kashmir (PoK) region of Gilgit-Baltistan.

7. The International Monetary Fund has raised its world economic growth

forecast from 4 per cent to 4.5 per cent.

8. Ms. Rosa Otunbayeva (59), the first woman President in Central Asia was

sworn in Kyrgyzstan.

9. Bronislaw Komorowski of Civic Platform party won the Poland’s presidential

elections.

10.During the sidelines of a summit of the Eurasian Economic Community

(Eurasec) in Astana, Kazakhstan, the three countries Russia, Kazakhstan and

Belarus signed a declaration to launch a customs union as a first step

towards forming a broader EU-type economic alliance of former Soviet states.