Manmohan to attend G20 Summit in Seoul

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves New Delhi on November 10 for Seoul to attend the G20 Summit that will review the global economic situation and the status of the world recovery.

The two-day meet, beginning November 11, will also take stock of the progress of implementation regarding the past decisions of the international economic forum that has met four times since the global financial crisis in 2008.

³This is indicative of the importance, dynamism and credibility of the G20 as a grouping, which since the Pittsburgh Summit has been designated as the µpremier forum¶ for international economic cooperation.

The earlier summits have been held in Washington (November 2008), (April 2009), Pittsburgh (September 2009) and Toronto (June 2010). China¶s second lunar mission probe successful

China November 08 put on show pictures of µSinus Iridum¶, or µBay of Rainbows¶, the spot on the moon¶s surface where it plans to land its third lunar mission in 2013. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao unveiled pictures of the ¶Bay of Rainbows¶, marking the success of China¶s µChang¶e-2¶ lunar probe mission, official media here said.

The pictures were taken and sent back by µChang¶e-2¶, China¶s second lunar probe, which was launched on October 1.

The lunar probe named after a Chinese mythical moon goddess, is currently orbiting 100 km above the moon taking pictures of its surface with a high resolution camera.

¶Chang¶e-2¶, regarded as a trial run to land ¶Chang¶e-3¶ in 2013, is aimed at testing necessary technologies and continuing to transfer data back to earth for further research before eventually landing on the moon as an experiment for future lunar probes.

According to the new road map

, China also plans to send a probe to Mars by 2013 and to by 2015, besides setting up its own manned space station. LATEST CURRENT AFFAIRS QUESTIONS FOR COMPETITIVE EXAMS 1. The book, ³Keeping the Faith´, is written by which of the following authors? a. Somnath Chatterji b. Ram Jethmalani c. Salman Rushdie d. None of these

2. Dronacharya Award is an award presented by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching.. Which of the following personalities is heading the panel to pick the Dronacharya Awards 2010? a. Ashok Kumar b. Jaspal Rana c. M. S. Gill d. None of these

3. Which country is hosting the World Billiards Chamionship 2010? a. Japan b. Australia c. Netherland d. India

4. The Legatum Prosperity Index is the world's only global assessment of wealth and well being. What rank does India posses in the Legatum Prosperity Index ranking 2009? a. 45th rank b. 40th rank c. 30th rank d. 50th rank

5. In 2009, what rank does India posses in the Per Capita GDP ranking among the 104 countries? a. 100th b. 25th c. 83rd d. 99th

6. Which state in India added another feather in its cap to emerge as a steel manufacturing hub? It has serving the market of Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Turkey and the UAE. a. Karnataka b. Tamil Nadu c. Bihar d. Rajasthan

7. Who has been awarded the 3rd M.S.Swaminathan 'Best Agricultural Scientist Award'? a. Dr. Subramaniam Nagarajan b. c. A. K. Stevenson d. Robert Barclay

8. This bank became a Scheduled Bank under the Reserve Bank of India Act on May 11, 1935. It recently celebrated its 89th Founder's Day. Can you name it? a. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank b. Royal Bank of Scotland c. Bank of Baroda d. None of these

9. School of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Pennsylvania conferred this personality with the Dean's medal. He has topped Forbes India's rich list at $32 billion. Identify. a. Mukesh Ambani b. c. Rahul Bajaj d. Azim Premji

10. Which of the following country is the fi rst in Asia to host Embraer's small jet, The Phenom 100, a light jet developed by Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer? a. India b. Singapore c. Russia d. Australia

11. In a bid to provide employment to youth of Southern origin Sidi community, which IT major is all set to help create 'Little Africa' in Gujarat on the borders of Gir forest? a. HCL b. IBM c. Wipro d. Infosys

12. Which of the following is the largest gland in the human body? a. Liver b. Adrenal c. Pituitary d. Thymus

13. Women's tournament "Kremlin Cup", the successor of "Moscow Ladies Open", was renamed in 1996. Who has won the women's fi nal at the Kremlin Cup 2010? a. Francesca Schiavone b. Serena Williams c. Katrina Adams d. Elena Baltacha

14. Althingi is the parliament of which of the following countries? a. Iceland b. Canada c. Brazil d. Bhutan

15. Oceansat-2 is an Indian satellite designed to provide service continuity for operational users of the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) instrument on Oceansat-1. NASA signed an agreement with which of the following organisations for the use of the satellite oceansat-2? a. ISRO b. European Space organisation c. Czech Space office d. None of these

16. ISRO recently launched a spy satellite designed by the Israeli Aerospace Industries. Name it. a. RISAT-2 b. INSAT B c. Cartosat 1 d. Cartosat 2A

17. ³Mission Aditya´ is associated with which of the following? a. A ISRO mission to the sun b. A ISRO mission to the moon c. A military operation d. None of these

18. Which company launched a Cell phone Made From Recycled Water Bottles? a. Motorola b. Nokia c. HTC d. Samsung

19. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a cartel of twelve countries, which hosts regular meetings among the oil ministers of its Member Countries. In which city will you fi nd the headquarters of OPEC? a. Vienna b. Geneva c. Vatican d. London

20. Who is the chairman of TRAI, the regulator of telecommunicationbusiness? a. J. S. Sharma b. J. K. Sharma c. P. S. Sharma d. None of these

21. Who is the chief of integrated defense staff? a. Air Marshal Suresh Chand Mukul b. General V K Singh c. Admiral Verma d. Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston

22. Who is the President of Iraq? a. Jalal Talabani b. Jalal Hanid c. Hamid Ullah d. Zafar Mohammad

23. Name the oil Rig that is the cause of Oil spill in Gulf of mexico? a. Deep water Horizon b. Schoonebeek c. Zuidwal d. Vulcan

24. What is the amount that BP will pay as compensation? a. $20 Billion b. $30 Billion c. $18 Billion d. None of these

25. Who, amongst the following, made the symbol of rupee? a. D Udaya Kumar b. Udaya Kumar c. Udaya Raj d. Shankar Kumar

26. Which of the following is TRUE about the per capita income? a. National income divided by the population of the country b. Average income received by the citizen of a country in a year c. It is the indicator of the improvement in the economic position of a person d. All of the above are true

27. Ben Bernanke is the present chairman of « a. Federal Reserve Bank of America b. European Central Bank c. World Bank d. Asian Development Bank

28. Can you identify the venue of the World Food Summit that took place in the middle of November 2009, from the given options? a. Berlin b. Geneva c. Rome d. London

29. Also known as the Bible of the English Constitution, Magna Carta, was the Charter of Rights given to the Englishman by « a. King John b. King Richard c. King Edmund d. None of these

30. Diware temples are linked with« a. Hinduism b. Buddhism c. Jainism d. Sikhism

31. Which of the following represents the present strength of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)? a. 21 b. 24 c. 26 d. 28

32. Can you name the academy that the Council for Scientifi c and Industrial Research is going to start, which will award post graduate and doctoral degrees? a. Academy of Scientifi c and Innovative Research b. Academy of Innovative Research c. Institute of Scientific Research d. None of these

33. Spirit of Laws, is a famous book written by « a. Voltaire b. Jean Jacques Rousseau c. Montesquieu d. Diderot

34. Who had initiated the World Wide Web project? a. Tim Berners-Lee and Lew Kowarski b. Tim Berners-Lee and Georges Charpak c. Tim Berners-Lee and Carlo Rubbia d. Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau

35. Zoozoos are the mascots of Vodafone Essar, created by « a. JWT b. Trikaya Grey c. O&M d. Rediffusion Y&R

36. Who is known as the µLittle Corporal´? a. Adolf Hitler b. Napolean Bonaparte c. Saddam Hussain d. None of these

37. We have recently been reading the term Flea Market. Can you select the option that best suits the word? a. A flea Market is another name for a near perfect competitive market such as a vegetable market b. A Flea Market is a market where stolen goods are sold and purchased c. A Flea market is a market where used and old goods are sold and bartered d. A Flea Market is a market for insecticides

38. Recently which committee has recommended the implementation of Elimination of standard deduction? a. Abid Hussain Committee b. Vijay Kelkar Committee c. Kiran Karnik Committee d. Raja Chelliah Committee

39. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted a committee, Takeover Regulations Advisory Committee (TRAC) to review the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 1997 (Takeover Regulations) and to suggest suitable recommendations for amendments to the Takeover Regulations as it considers necessary. Can you recognise the chairman of the committee? a. C Achuthan b. Deepak Parekh c. Rangrajan d. Abid Hussain

40. has decided to set up 50 MW solar photovoltaic power project. The intended project will be the largest solar photovoltaic facility in the country. Can you recognise the state where it will be set? a. Maharastra b. Gujarat c. Tamilnadu d. West Bengal

41. As of July 2010, BSNL and MTNL are the largest in terms of "Wire line subscriber base". Which among the following is currently the third largest company? a. Bharti b. Videocon c. Reliance d. Vodafone

42. The Hindu Mela or National mela initiated in Calcutta was largely the product of the efforts of « a. Rajnarayan Basu b. Dwijendranath Tagore c. Nabagopal Mitra d. All of these

43. Free look period is associated with which of the following? a. Loans b. Cars c. Garments d. Insurance

44. The Four Asian Tigers are the countries with highly developed economies. They are the fi rst newly industrialised countries, noted for maintaining exceptionally high growth rates and rapid industrialisation between the early 1960s and 1990s. Which among the following country/ regions is not among the "Four Asian Tigers"? a. Hong Kong b. Singapore c. China d. Taiwan

45. As of August 2010, what is the current number of world heritage sites in India? a. 26 b. 27 c. 28 d. 29

46. Recently, the Pupils Own Language (POL) Policy made news. It gives the opportunity to the student to study in a language of his choice. Which of the following country has adopted the POL Policy? a. China b. Thaliand c. Malaysia d. Singapore

47. Political commentators and journalists uses the term Failed State to describe a state perceived as having failed at some of the basic conditions and responsibilities of a sovereign government. Which country ranks no. 2 in the latest Failed States Index? a. Somalia b. Chad c. Tanzania d. Congo

48. A Nobel laureate who authored the controversial work "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ", died recently. Identify him. a. Naguib Mahfouz b. Octavio Paz c. Joseph Brodsky d. José Saramago

49. Christ Redeemer has recently been added into the New Seven Wonders of the world. Which country is it located in? a. Mexico b. Italy c. Peru d. Brazil

50. The following personality was the Director, Human Resources Development in a PSU. He has now become the Chief Managing Director of the same organisation.Name him. a. MTNL b. BSNL c. NTPC d. BHEL

ANSWERS:

1. a. Somnath Chatterji 2. a. Ashok Kumar 3. c. 71 4. d. India 5. a. 45th rank 6. c. 83rd 7. a. Karnataka 8. a. Dr. Subramaniam Nagarajan 9. a. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank 10. a. Mukesh Ambani 11. a. India 12. b. IBM 13. a. Liver 14. a. Francesca Schiavone 15. a. Iceland 16. a. ISRO 17. a. RISAT-2 18. a. A ISRO mission to the sun 19. a. Motorola 20. a. Vienna 21. a. J S Sharma 22. a. Air Marshal Suresh Chand Mukul 23. a. Jalal Talabani 24. a. Deep water Horizon 25. b. $20 Billion 26. b. D Udaya Kumar 27. b. Average income received by the citizen of a country in a year 28. a. Federal Reserve Bank of America 29. c. Rome 30. a. King John 31. c. Jainism 32. d. 28 33. a. Academy of Scientifi c and Innovative Research 34. c. Montesquieu 35. d. Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau 36. c. O&M 37. b. O&M 38. c. A Flea market is a market where used and old goods are sold and bartered 39. b. Vijay Kelkar Committee 40. a. C Achuthan 41. b. Gujarat 42. a. Bharti 43. d. All of these 44. d. Insurance 45. c. China 46. b. 27 47. b. Chad 48. d. José Saramago 49. d. Brazil 50. b. BSNL

India signs $10-billion worth deals with U.S.

Taking India-U.S. trade relations to new territory, U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday announced that deals worth $10 billion (nearly Rs.44,000 crore) have been reached between India and the U.S. for creating more than 50,000 jobs back in the U.S.

³Several landmark deals have been done shortly before my arrival here. Boeing is going to sell dozens of planes to India and GE is going to sell hundreds of electric engines. The deals are worth $10 billion and will create more than 50,000 jobs in the U.S.,´ said President Obama while addressing the U.S-India Business and Entrepreneurship Summit here.

ADAG, SpiceJet sign agreement

Among the deals, SpiceJet has purchased 30 737-800 aircraft with a total cost of $2.8 billion from Boeing and the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group purchased power equipment for 2,400 MW plants from GE for $2 billion.

Increase in trade between the U.S. and India is a ³win-win situation for both nations´, said President Obama. The summit was jointly organised by U.S.-India Business Council, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). President Obama hoped that the trade between the two countries would be doubled in five years. ³There is no reason why India can't be our top trading partner. Trade with India is less than with the Netherlands, whose population and size is less than Mumbai,´ he said. Saying that economic relationship between India and the U.S. is still untapped, President Obama said, ³India can be U.S.'s largest trade partner instead of 12th´.

Tariffs However, Mr. Obama asked India to ease trade barriers to open up market access. India is the market of the future where Washington was willing to step up investments, provided uncertainties relating to tariffs and other barriers were taken care of.

He also expressed confidence that he was absolutely sure that relationship between the two countries was going to be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.

He said U.S. was committed to reciprocate by easing trade barriers. The U.S. also is ready to ease curbs on export of dual use of technology. He said he would work with India towards easing of export rules which could result in ending the technology denial regime against Indian entities such as DRDO and ISRO.

³Back-offices in India cost American jobs. We don't want one-way traffic in trade; It's a dynamic two-way relationship for jobs and higher living standards,´ he said.

U.S. was firm on its own commitments towards it. Referring to visa fee hike and outsourcing restrictions in the U.S., he said, ³We don't want to unfairly target companies or people in India.´ He said that India would be the largest supplier of workforce in the future and that the U.S. would compete with it in a healthy way in various areas.

President Obama started his speech wishing the gathering by acknowledging lighting up the diya on Diwali and ³saal mubarak´ (Happy New Year) to all.

He also reminded the gathering that he was the first U.S. President to celebrate Diwali at the White House. Lauding India's growth story he said that the sheer size and pace of India's progress was stunning in human history. A partnership built on flawed assumptions

For all its appeals to ³shared values´ like democracy as a counter to China, the United States has not fully understood the meaning and significance of Democratic India's emergence as a global player.

At one level, this is hardly surprising. The U.S. itself developed a full-blown capitalist system and rose to global pre-eminence at a time when a large section of its population did not have the right to vote. The same is true of Great Britain and Japan and Europe. In the post-World War II period, countries which registered the greatest success in establishing a free market system tended not to be democratic. If capitalism and multi-party democracy come as a package in many countries today, it is capitalism which got off the starting block first in virtually all of them, leaving its imprint on democracy.

India's ruling class, on the other hand, was handicapped by the need to harmonise in real time the anti- democratic consequences of a market-based economy with the procedural and substantial requirements of a democratic polity. Of course, economic elites have had the greatest influence in policymaking but their power has always been contested. As a result, universal adult suffrage ² and the wider deliberative process that comes along with it ² has had more of an impact on the development of capitalism in India than in the rest of the ³free world´. Unsurprisingly, the country's global outlook has also been tempered by this aspect of its polity.

The U.S. sees the macro growth data and has a fair idea of where India will be in economic terms two decades from now. It sees the rise and wants to get in at the ground floor. This was the meaning behind the gratuitous promise, made during the presidency of George W. Bush, of helping India emerge as a world power. But India is not in need of that ³help´. Its rulers have their own global ambitions and they are not interested in becoming a client state or even a military ally or partner. Those are the two kinds of relationships the United States is used to having with countries around the world. That is why early signs that India will play the power game differently have been greeted in Washington with bewilderment, consternation and even anger.

In the countdown to President Barack Obama's visit to India, American officials have expressed their frustration over the new nuclear liability law. They are also upset with India's reluctance to sign ³foundational´ defence agreements like the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) and the Communication and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). Having done the heavy lifting at the Nuclear Suppliers Group to win an exemption for India from the cartel's export ban in 2008, the U.S. fears its own companies may not be able to benefit from the multi-billion dollar Indian nuclear market. Westinghouse and GE are squeamish about selling their reactors because the new Indian law opens a door for them to be held liable in the event of an accident caused by defective equipment. The executive branch may have wanted a more lenient law but Parliament thought otherwise. Despite this, the American side is looking for ways to undo the legislation.

If the Indian liability law goes beyond the international norm in insisting that suppliers too shoulder a part of the risk involved in the nuclear power generation business, this is because India is the first democracy to go in for a massive expansion of nuclear capacity in recent years. If the U.S. administration is unable to appreciate the sensitivity of the question in a country which experienced the Bhopal disaster, it could at least look at how the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has forced a rethink of liability limits in the United States. Instead, suggestions are being made that the Indian nuclear operator contractually take on the entire liability burden of its supplier even when an accident is traced back to faulty equipment. The end result of this pressure, of course, is that Parliament is likely to demand the right to scrutinise any reference to liability in the commercial contracts the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) signs with American vendors.

On the defence side, the LSA and CISMOA aim to boost interoperability between the Indian and American militaries, and pave the way for more arms sales from the U.S. Washington has both commercial and strategic reasons for developing a close military-to-military relationship with India. Billions of dollars of business and thousands of American jobs are riding on the weapons choices India will make over the next few years. But the U.S. is also keen to use its intimacy with the Indian armed forces to outsource low-end operations in the region, particularly in disaster management and counter-piracy.

India, on the other hand, is reluctant to sign these agreements because it is wary of the wider strategic implications. The U.S. has been an expeditionary and even belligerent power in Asia and though the Indian government supports the American war in Afghanistan, the 2003 invasion of Iraq had disastrous consequences throughout the region. With many in Washington speaking of a looming confrontation with Iran over the nuclear issue ² a confrontation that would make the Iraq war look like a tea party ² why should India do anything to facilitate American military deployment in the region? Confronted with the Indian refusal to sign on the dotted line, American officials say the LSA and CISMOA texts on offer are identical to what dozens of countries have had no problem signing. In making this argument, the U.S. forgets that India is not an ally or a subordinate partner. Washington cannot hope to simply replicate the way it does business with Australia or Japan. Even if there are sections of the Indian establishment that would like to go along with these agreements, the political implications are far too complicated. This is a reality the U.S. will have to live with.

One test of the Indo-U.S. ³strategic partnership´ will be if it is able to survive an Indian refusal to spend billions of dollars on American military hardware. Though the technologies on offer seem tempting, India needs to proceed with caution given the end-use restrictions and the ban on modifications that America has imposed on all weapons it sells. Given the fickleness of the U.S. political system and the almost whimsical way in which technology and supply restrictions are imposed and lifted, India will place itself at risk by getting too dependent on American supplies for major weapon systems.

While the ³unreliability´ of the Americans is not in dispute, there are some in India who see this as a small price to pay in order to buy U.S. support against the ³unpredictability´ of the Chinese. It is true that the increasing assertiveness of China has rung alarm bells in many parts of Asia and that New Delhi needs to develop an effective strategy to manage what is likely to be an increasing complex relationship with Beijing. The White House has made much of the fact that Mr. Obama's visit to India will be followed immediately by visits to three other Asian democracies ² Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. ³There is a message in this to China,´ a senior U.S. official said in Delhi last month. After fantasising in 2009 about a joint condominium with Beijing, Washington today appears slowly to be moving to the other extreme. In a few years time, it will be ready to move right back. It is essential that India have excellent relations with the United States. But these relations have to be free-standing, built with all the confidence that a rising, democratic power can muster, our eyes looking forward rather than sideways at the constant swings of an American pendulum. U.S., India µconstructing paradigm beyond Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty'

In committing itself to supporting India's full membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and other multilateral export control regimes, the Obama administration has finally opened a door for the country to transcend the legal confines of a treaty that has defined global attitudes towards nuclear weapons for over four decades: the NPT.

The American decision to support India's membership in the NSG, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australian Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement was made public on Saturday by Deputy National Security Adviser Mike Froman and is conditional on these clubs deciding, by consensus, to change their rules on who can join.

³As the membership criteria of these four regimes evolve,´ said Mr. Froman, ³we intend to support India's full membership in them. And at the same time, India will take steps to fully adopt the regime's export control requirements to reflect its prospective membership.´

The current membership rules of the NSG, though not formally stated, require adherence to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or a regional nuclear weapons free zone (which in turn requires NPT membership). And the same treaty requirement applies in the case of the MTCR and the Wassenaar Arrangement ² a cartel of 40 states which governs the export of conventional weapons and dual-use goods and technologies. But Mr. Froman said the U.S. would ³encourage the evolution of a membership criteria of these regimes consistent with maintaining their core principles.´ Asked how the United States and India hoped to square the circle of compulsory membership of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that the NSG and other cartels insist on, a senior Indian official told The Hindu: ³We are constructing a paradigm beyond the NPT.´

Though President Barack Obama and his senior officials had upset India over the past year by signing on to calls at the United Nations and elsewhere for the universality of the NPT, Washington is acutely aware that India's accession to a treaty which would require it to give up its nuclear weapons is an impossibility. It is in this light that Mr. Froman's reference to new membership criteria acquires enormous significance.

The Bush administration's initiatives from 2005 to 2008 saw the U.S. helping to peel away export restrictions that were never originally a part of the NPT itself. That is why the NSG was able to give India an exemption from its export restrictions without getting into the trickier issue of what India's legal status in relation to the treaty actually was. But with NSG membership essentially tied to the NPT, any new joining criteria will effectively establish for nuclear-armed India ² in clearer legal terms than anything else so far has done ² a parallel status equivalent to that of the five nuclear weapons states which are part of the NPT.

Apart from easing Indian access to sensitive high technology items, membership of these clubs ² ³which will come in a phased manner´ ² will give New Delhi a say in their rule-making process. Under the terms of the NSG's 2008 waiver, India is today in the anomalous position of being obligated to abide by future guidelines that NSG and even MTCR members may adopt without being part of their formal decision- making process. The MTCR deals the export of missiles with a range greater than 300 kilometres while the Australian Group regulates the export of materials that could be used for manufacturing chemical and biological weapons.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has been named the most powerful person in the world by Forbes, ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama who is ranked second among 68 people ³who matter,´ a list that also includes Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Ms. Gandhi ranks 9th on the Forbes 2010 list of the ¶World¶s Most Powerful People.¶ Dr. Singh comes in at number 18.

India¶s business tycoons Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Chairman Ratan Tata and head of ArcelorMittal, Lakshmi Mittal also make the list. Of the 6.8 billion people on the planet, Forbes¶ list comprises ³the 68 who matter.´ The heads of state, major religious figures, entrepreneurs and outlaws on the second annual list were chosen ³because, in various ways, they bend the world to their will.´

Jintao, 67, occupies the top slot for being the ³paramount political leader of more people than anyone else on the planet´ and one who ³exercises near dictatorial control over 1.3 billion people, one-fifth of world¶s population.´

Forbes said unlike his Western counterparts, Hu, head of the world¶s largest army in size, can ³divert rivers, build cities, jail dissidents and censor Internet without meddling from pesky bureaucrats, courts.´

His country, which refuses to ³kowtow´ to US pressure to change its exchange-rate regime, recently surpassed Japan to become the world¶s second-largest economy both in absolute and purchasing power terms.

China is also poised to overtake the US as the world¶s largest economy in 25 years.

³Creditor nation oversees world¶s largest reserves at 2.65 trillion dollars -- 1.5 trillion dollars of which is in US dollar holdings,´ Forbes said.

His handpicked successor, Xi Jinping, is set to assume the presidency in 2012.

Forbes said the second most powerful person in the world is Obama who has slipped in this year¶s ranking after occupying the top slot last year. His Democratic Party suffered a mighty blow in the just concluded US midterm elections, with the President decisively losing support of the House of Representatives and barely holding onto the Senate, Forbes said.

³It is quite a come-down for last year¶s most powerful person, who after enacting widespread reforms in his first two years in office will be hard-pressed to implement his agenda in the next two,´ the publication added.

The 49-year old first African-American President of the US can however ³take comfort´ in the fact that he remains commander-in-chief of the world¶s largest, deadliest military, leader of world¶s largest ² in spending -- and most dynamic economy and holds the unofficial title of ³Leader of the Free World,´ Forbes said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was not featured in Forbes¶ recent list of the world¶s most powerful women, is named the 9th most powerful person in the world. The 63-year old leader was recently elected to record fourth term as head of India¶s ruling Congress Party, ³cementing status as true heiress to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty.´

Forbes said despite her Italian birth, foreign religion and political reluctance, ³Gandhi wields unequaled influence over 1.2 billion Indians.´

Crediting her for ³handpicking brainy Sikh economist Manmohan Singh as prime minister,´ Forbes said Gandhi remains the real power behind the nuclear-tipped throne and is grooming 40-year-old son Rahul for prime minister role.

Singh, ³universally praised as India¶s best prime minister since Nehru,´ ranks 18th on the list.

Forbes said the soft-spoken Oxford-trained economist is ³ideally trained to lead the world¶s fourth-largest economy in terms of purchasing power into next decade.´ Credited with transforming India¶s quasi-socialist economy into the world¶s second-fastest growing, 78- year old Singh is now enjoying fruits of the free-market policies he implemented as India¶s finance minister in early 1990s.

³The World Bank forecasts India¶s GDP will surge 7.6 per cent in 2010, another 8 per cent in 2011; not far behind its 9 per cent forecast for China. Speaking of: Slow and steady will win the race.´

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud is ranked third, followed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (4), Pope Benedict XVI (5), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (6), UK Prime Minister David Cameron (7), Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (8) and spiritual leader the Dalai Lama (39).

Pakistan¶s Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the ³quiet army chief now Pakistan¶s de facto leader,´ ranks 29th.

Forbes said 58-year old Kayani took lead on flood crisis, ³controls Pakistan¶s powerful intelligence agency and recently demanded President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani dismiss corrupt members of their bloated 60-member cabinet.´ His term was extended three years in July.

On the 31st spot is North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Even though his health appears to be fading, 68-year old Kim remains in firm control of ³renegade nuclear power and its 22.7 million impoverished people.´

He keeps the world on edge with eccentric antics. His youngest son, Kim Jong Un, is now the Hermit Kingdom¶s heir apparent.

Other world leaders making it to the list are newly elected Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on the 16th spot, French President Nicolas Sarkozy (19), US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (20), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (24) and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (41).

Among the business leaders, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ranks 10th, followed by News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch (13), Apple CEO Steve Jobs (17), Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin (22), Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett (33), Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (40), ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson (49) and media personality Oprah Winfrey (64).

³In a clear sign of the times,´ Zuckerberg ranked 10 spots higher than the executive editor of The New York Times, Bill Keller (50).

Coming in at the 34th spot is the 53-year old ³business maharaja´ Mukesh Ambani. The Reliance Industries Chairman, who has been called Asia¶s richest person, also certainly likes to live like a king.

His one billion dollar 27-floor high-rise in Mumbai is the world¶s most expensive private residence, Forbes said.

His petrochemicals conglomerate Reliance Industries is India¶s most valuable private sector company with a market cap of USD 80 billion, accounting for nearly five per cent of India¶s GDP and 15 per cent of exports.

His refinery at Jamnagar in western India can process 1.24 million barrels daily making it the world¶s single largest refining complex in one location.

³Firm is setting up a joint venture in Marcellus Shale, one of the most promising gas deposit regions in the US,´ Forbes added. Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman of the world¶s largest steel company ArcelorMittal, is ranked 44th on the list. London¶s wealthiest resident, 60-year old Mittal is also sponsoring London¶s 2012 Olympic games, paying for most of a 400-foot twisting steel tower to be named ArcelorMittal Orbit at city¶s Olympic Park.

His company, which has operations in 60 countries, produces 73 million tons of steel, 8 per cent of world¶s output. One out of five cars in world is made with its materials. Through his foundation, he helps groom Indian athletes for the Olympics and other championship events.

Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata ranks 61 on the list.

Calling the 72-year old ³India¶s best brand ambassador,´Forbes said Tata made ³automotive history´ last year with his ¶People¶s Car¶, the USD 2,200 Tata Nano, world¶s cheapest car.

After Nano debuted in 2008, India¶s passenger car sales rose most in three years in 2009.

While environmentalists may call Nano an eco-disaster, ³three Tata competitors (are) now working on Nano copycats,´ Forbes said.

Pointing out that ³power can be used for good or for ill,´ Forbes said three criminals have also made the list this year. The world¶s most wanted terrorist al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden is ranked 57.

Despite infrequent communications and persistent rumours of his death, Forbes said 53-year old bin Laden¶s ³symbolic power´ remains undiminished.

³Impressionable youths continue to self-detonate in his name; casus belli of two US-led wars costing over one trillion dollars.´

JoaquGuzm the billionaire drug trafficker who heads Mexico¶s Sinaloa Cartel, comes in at number 60. India¶s most wanted man, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is ranked 63. Son of a police officer and now boss of Mumbai-based, 5,000-member organised crime syndicate D-Company, Dawood has been declared a global terrorist by the US, while the UN tried to freeze his assets.

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Current Affairs ʹ October 2010

y India gets UNSC non-permanent seat: The biggest news on the international front for India has been its inclusion into the UNSC as a non-permanent member after a gap of 19 years. Even as India͛s acclamation for a non- permanent bench on the body that includes fifteen members in total was an inevitable cessation afterwards Kazakhstan back out of the chase for the Asian bench beforehand in early January. India got an unbelievable 187 of the 191 votes in the UN General Assembly ballot on October 14th 2010. India͛s previous spell in the Security Council was way back in 1992. Almost immediately afterwards India͛s appointment, Indian agent to the United Nations Hardeep Singh Puri put it straight that New Delhi would make use of this couple of year valid span to build assurance and accord a feeling of aplomb to the five non changing associates (famously known as the P-5) ʹ the United States of America, Russia, Britain, France and China. Considering that Brazil, a running affiliate of the United Nation Security Council, and South Africa and Germany, which got appointed with India, on October 14th were as well in contention for a permanent membership, he stated: ͚Of course everybody of us will attempt to bring into play the two years we need to render our allies a feeling of aplomb and formulate trust and faith so that they are at ease with our role playing in the United Nation Security Council on a continued period of time͛. y India and Mozambique sign 3 agreements: India and Mozambique came together and signed three agreements and a credit band of 500 million United States dollars has been advanced to that nation state for works regarding the infrastructure, agronomics and power during a convention that featured President of Mozambique Armando Guebuza and Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh. Guebuza and Singh, who captivated entrustment level converses, resolved to actualize an affiliation following the lines of superior political meeting, deepening of bread-and-butter collaboration, deepening of defense and aegis collaboration, distinctively to get hold of sea lanes in opposition to piracy and, cooperation in competence building and human resource (or workforce) development. ͞Both of us together accord to the aforementioned Indian Ocean association and we carve up familiar issues. It is in our alternate absorption to ensure the assurance and aegis of sea lanes of communication in the Indian Ocean,͟ Dr. Manmohan Singh said in a collective journalist statement. India will back the enactment in preparation and setting up organizations in Mozambique to back capacity building in the coal business and will as well back the ability formation for the defense and patrolling personnel of that nation state, the Prime Minister alleged. Conveying worry over the assurance and aegis of sea lanes in Indian Ocean, Guebuza promised India it will accommodate all practical aid to safeguard them.

Current Affairs - September 2010

y Indians freed from Malay traffickers:Not less than 24 Indian men who were discovered bound up in a residence in a Malaysian boondocks were successfully freed from the arrest and two Pakistani men supposedly engaged in a human trafficking guild were detained with immediate effect. ͞Inquiries into the matter exposed that those people, age-old amid 20 and 30, were from Uttar Pradesh. If the reports of the media are to be trusted, the victims landed on to the capital͛s intl. airport four months back, afore getting picked by the accused people who were apparently looking for workers in an industrial unit in Johor,͟ he said. He further stated that the two men promised the Indian workers appealing wages as the bait. It is once again proved that Malaysia is a magnet for wide spread drug peddling and human trafficking. Unemployed workforce looking out for jobs is brought for added transfers to other Southeast Asian countries and to Australia. y Indian to lead FIDE:Indians have already proved their metal in various sports at the international level. Tennis, , Shooting, Boxing and also Chess. After Vishwanathan Anand, another lot of Indians are about to triumph on the World Chess Podium. D.V. Sundar has been elected has the President of the world body for the sport of chess, FIDE at Russia. Apart from that, the president for the Asian Continent was Mr. Dongre and Commonwealth Chess Federation President was revealed in the name of Mr. B.S. Chahuhan, a press statement by the All India Chess Federation revealed. y Make way for the new breed:The new world power calendar for 2010 has once again predicted that New Delhi͛s dominance in the world will see acceleration by 2025. Among the able coalition, the country has been placed at the fourth position afterwards the US, China and the European Union. ͚The Global Governance 2025͛ was together brought out by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) of the US and the European Union͛s Institutes for Security Studies (EUISS). In the current year, the US leads the lot of able countries/regions, cumulatively for about 22 percent of the worldwide supremacy. The US is chased by China at 12 percent, European Union at 16 percent and India at eight percent. India comes next to Japan, Russia and Brazil with beneath than 5 percent apiece. Following these global statistics, by 2025 the ability of the US, EU, Japan and Russia will cut down although that of China, India and Brazil will boost but this surge will see the positions unchanged. By 2025, the United States of America will continue to be the most dominating nation, but it will be possessing just a bit above 18 percent of the global authority. The US will be carefully trailed by China with 16 percent, European Union with 14 percent and India with 10 percent looking to overleap.

Current Affairs - August 2010

y Mission AccomplishedThe United States have finally started pulling its troops out of Iraq. President Barack Obama has confirmed that the US plans to withdraw significant number of combat troops from Iraq stating that the war was nearing an end. The remaining force of 50,000 soldiers will train Iraqi security forces and provide security for ongoing US Diplomatic efforts. y Australia with a hung parliamentAustralians failed to elect a new government in the polls held in August and were left with a hung parliament. The non-result elections between Julia Gillard͛s Labor and Abbott͛s Liberal party led to the first hung parliament in Australia since World War II. Three key Independents are now in the process of deciding which party to support to form a government. y Pakistani cricketers taintedThe Game of cricket gets murkier with alleged match-fixer Mazhar Majeed͛s claim of having rigged games played by Pakistan for three years. The British Police recovered cash from hotel rooms of Pakistani players involved in spot fixing. Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammed Asif were interviewed and their mobiles confiscated after Majeed͛s confession. The Anti-Corruption Unit of the ICC will probe all 82 international matches played by Pakistan during this time. The news came as a bolt for the flood-stricken and violence- plagued country where cricket is the national sport. y Pakistan FloodsAnnual monsoons rains have led to flooding in Pakistan leading to the death of 1500 people and rendering thousands homeless. In the worst flooding disaster in 80 years the floodwaters have affected about one-fifth of the country washing away millions of hectares of crops, submerging villages and destroying roads, bridges, schools, electricity and communication setting back the infrastructure by many years. Disease is fast spreading in these flood affected areas and there have been warnings that dams in the south may burst. It is estimated that the floods in Pakistan have displaced people thrice the number displaced during partition. y Hike in Visa feeThe Obama Regime has raised H-1B and L1 visa fees to protect its borders from illegal Mexican immigrants. This additional fee would be used to build operating bases and deploy unmanned aerial surveillance to beef up U.S.-Mexico border security. The impact of this hike will be substantial on Indian IT companies that account for approximately 50,000 H1 and L1 visas per year. y Mosque near ground ZeroA panel has cleared the way for the construction of a mosque near ground zero that has been causing a political uproar over religious freedom. The proposed construction of the mosque near ground zero has sparked debate all around the country. President Barack Obama, however, supported the right of having a mosque by asserting that Muslims have the same right to freedom of religion as everyone else in America. y China to launch space station Having finished the first module of a planned space station and testing its electronics and other systems China is all set to launch it into orbit next year. Changes were being made to the rocket that will carry the 8.5ton Tiangong 1 module into a set orbit. No finishing or manning dates have been given for the space station. The official Xinhua news agency said that The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft and Shenzhou 9 and 10 spacecraft would dock with it in the second half of 2011 and 2012 respectively. y Online routeOxford English Dictionary that has been in print for over a century may never appear in print for the future generations. The word reference Bible is likely to loose its existence to its online version. With the digital books becoming popular, the format that the 3rd edition, currently being worked upon, will take is anybody͛s guess.

Current Affairs - July 2010

y Japan ElectionsDemocratic Party of Japan suffered a heavy blow in the elections for the upper house of Japan͛s Diet (parliament) when it won ten seats fewer than expected thus loosing its majority. DPJ will now have to look for new coalition partners to restore its majority in the upper house and enable it to easily pass laws through the Diet legislature. After breaking the 55 year period of dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party and naming Naoto Kan the new prime minister just a month back the results have baffled the DJP. y July 15th Summit, IslamabadFailed talks between Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna and the Pakistani counterpart Mr. Shah Mehmood Qureshi͛s have once again proved that whenever efforts were initiated by India to improve the relations between the two countries. The Pak leaders and officials took deliberate steps to derail the process conveying a clear message to India that the talks can continue only on its terms. y Gulf of SpillMore than three months after the April 20 explosion aboard the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil platform, which killed 11 workers and sank the rig gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the most severe US environmental disaster ever is close to coming to an end. In an operation called ͞static kill͟ 2,300 barrels of mud was forced down into the well͛s opening overnight pushing the crude back down to its source. A cap over the wellhead has shut in leaking oil since July 15 and the static kill Ͷ also known as heading Ͷ probably would not have worked without the cap in place. y GenocideOmar-al-Bashir, President of Sudan has been charged with three counts of genocide over the Darfur Conflict, he was convicted by the International Criminal Court at The Hague. It is for the first time that a court has accused anyone of genocide. y Jacob Lew the new Budget DirectorPresident Barack Obama has chosen Mr. Jacob Lew as his new budget director. This is Mr. Lews second stint with the federal budget.

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National Current Affairs 2010

Current Affairs ± October 2010

y Third stage of Bihar polling completed: Polling was carried out affably in 48 electorates on 28th Oct 2010, estimating in the third appearance of Bihar Assembly elections, which witnessed an approximated 53% voter responsive. Electorates like Amnour, Taraya, Ramnagar, Balmikinagar and Patepur (Maoist followers) account about 45%-52% voting. Voters were carried by boats in the littoral areas of Raghopur Assembly electorate in Vaishali commune where the popular figure of Rabri Devi was in the tussle. The better half of RJD spearhead Lalu Prasad Yadav is as well battling from Sonepur bench in Saran constituency. More than 185 people were held during the balloting, which saw miniature incidents of affray and fracas. Unlike on a number of occasions before, this time Bihar polling did not see what it usually it experiences in terms of riots, booth capturing and other forms of unrest and violence that hampers the true and the honest spirit of competition. ͞Apart from this, it was nonviolent and silky,͟ stated by Neelmani (DG of Police). Approximately sixty cars were as well detained. In excess of one crore voters will adjudge the future of six ministers (of the state) in the third stage. The following round i.e. stage 4 will be carried out on Nov. 4 2010. y UID experiences technical hiccups: In order to overcome the challenge posed by the huge figure of people (approximately 1.03 billions) in the country, the chief of the dept. stated that the 16 digit long UID numbers will be released in the next year and half or so. He added that the epicenter of its working will be in the city of Bangalore. An easy remedy to the obstacles posed by the allotment of different IDs is to have a bench where every formerly sanctioned UID are kept and a fresh one is given only afterwards verifying that is actually a unique code. Fundamentally, we charge to break an extremely tough difficulty in dispersed schemes once we have copies of the bench (for dependability) and ought to accordingly respond/keep informed the table as questions are asked. Taking the point in consideration, provided the millions of accretion objects affiliated to the web, there is no scrutiny if a prime number selected is the similar chosen by somebody else before. If this is to happen, it is an aegis aperture of the aboriginal order for web; the possibly is, nevertheless, acutely undersized. Population on another instance has proven to be a major obstacle in the development and progress course of India. UID which was anticipated to be a huge success and particularly curb this issue is yet to combat the problem itself to even get kick started. y Haryana barricades polythene bags entry: In another attempt to safeguard the environmental and not add insult to the already injured state of the planet, like the govt. of Delhi, Haryana govt. has also decided to prohibit polythene bags in the state. The ban includes a complete no-no of recycling, storage and usage (in any form) within the state. A suggestion to this aftereffect has been supported by Bhupinder Singh Hooda (the honorable Chief Minister of the state), an authorized agent said in the capital on Saturday. The resolution was taken as it was empiric that fractional forbid on use of polythene bags of a clearly defined array bracket did not crop the needed consequences. There was consistent ambiguity over the array of poly bags in exercise and it had as well been discovered that nibbling of a great number of polythene bogs had resulted in deaths of cows on a regular basis, he said. This type of thinking and resolutions are the only way through which we can combat and better the ailing state of the plant Earth. If all other cities and states like previously Delhi and now Haryana think about the hazards the polythene bags can cost, we will be having better standards of health and hygiene.

Current Affairs - September 2010

y PM and Sonia Gandhi inaugurate UID: The Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh and UPA Arch Sonia Gandhi shaped a record by accordingly ablution the world͛s aboriginal ID activity on September 29th 2010 forth with Nilekani, the arch man of the ministry is acclimated to accommodate Unique Identification Numbers for India͛s citizens (cumulatively well in billions), by rendering them the aboriginal collection of twelve digit figures to ten clannish. The PM as well as the UPA Chief were collectively congratulated in the presence of former Infosys headman. This ID Card is assumed to be nation͛s biggest ever tech adeptness action alleged ͚Aadhaar͛(base), that is due to be issued to all Indians to accommodate them within a lucrative nationally accurate and absolute individual antecedent of character affidavit through an authenticity vault and that will help to accomplish supply processes transparent. Biometric following abstracts include fingerprints and an iris browse getting acclimated for the aboriginal time wherever in the planet. y Yamuna raises its bar, causes menace: The baptize akin in the river rose to 206.70 accent recently, 1.87 accent aloft the crisis mark of 204.83 accent and is acceptable to go up added as neighboring Haryana would absolution added water in the river, a chief official of the flood ascendancy administration said. Waters from the flood reached into vicinities like of the local areas as well (Yamuna and Sonia Vihar, Usmanpur, Jaitpur are a few). A large number of localities that reside in the areas forth the banks of the river were apparent lined up on the footpaths on the ITO arch with whatsoever they had of their possessions. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had on Friday requested the inhibiters not to get into agitation and said all basic measures are getting put into abode to accommodated any possible occurrence. Over 100 cadre from National Disaster Response Force, were soon deployed to abetment the bounded authorities. The ascent Yamuna has affected the Northern Railways to abolish 25 trains and absent 36 others. The cancelled train were prominent ones (Kalka and Brahamaputra Mail, Shalimar, A.A. and G.N. Express, etc). The 90 trains that have to be detoured included the most heavily commuted ones and this has disrupted the life of the general public paralyzing their usual movements, a Northern Railway spokesmen stated. y Ayodha Verdict finally out, Allahabad Bench applauded: Culminating 60 years of anfractuous proceedings, asserts and counter-claims, optimism and desolation, Allahabad HC conventions in favor of improvised Ram temple on quarreled site; the remaining of acreage to be disconnected amid Hindus & Muslims. In what is conceivably the most of eagerly anticipated judgment in contempt times, a breach adjudication dispensed out by a three-member bank of Allahabad High Court were in full abounding of the claims of the Hindu petitioners while acclimation a three-way analysis of the acknowledged land. The cardinal provided acknowledged permit to the temporary Ram temple that came up afterwards the annihilation of the acknowledged anatomy in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. The entire panel of adjudicators ʹ the prominent faces of the country (Justice Agarwal, Khan and Sharma) ʹ was very much in favor of the acceptance that captivated the acknowledged land was the native land of the Hindu deity. Mr. Sharma and Mr. Agarwal settled with the long-held affirmation of the Sangh Parivar and an area of archaeologists that the acknowledged anatomy cannot be advised as an Islamic place of worship as it came into actuality adjoins the credo of Islam. y Lights, Camera and Applause: The 57th Edition of the National Film Award ceremony was concluded for the year 2009 in the month of September. The awards were given away in three groups namely, finest Feature Motion Picture Class led by Chairpersonship of Mr. Sippy, Non Feature Motion Picture Group led by Chairpersonship of Mr. Pandey, and Script on Movies beneath the Chairpersonship of Mr. S. Bandhopadhyay. y The following were the recipients of a few awards in various nominations: a. Motion Picture: Malayalam flick ʹ KuttySrank b. I.G.A. for the Best first appearance movie : Hindi movie ʹ Lahore for the Direction c. Box office blockbuster (widespread entertainment): Hindi ʹ 3 Idiots d. N.D.A. for the Best motion picture on Patriotic Spirit: Hindi ʹ Delhi 6 e. Best motion picture on Society͛s Matters: Bollywood ʹ Well Done Abba f. Motion Picture for Kids: Tied between Keshu (Malayalam) and Putaani Party (Kannada) g. Direction: Rituparno Ghosh for Abohoman h. Actor: Amitabh Bachcha for Auro͛s role i. Actress: Ananya Chatterjee j. Child͛s Performance: Tollywood͛s Pasanga k. Male Singer: Rupam Islam in Bengali l. Female Singer: Neelanjana Sarkar in Bengali

Current Affairs ± August 2010

y Nuclear liability bill passed Nuclear liability bill which was adopted by Rajya Sabha has now been approved by the process of Voice vote. The session of the Parliament lasted 48 hours extra than the scheduled time so that the legislation can be easily passed and approved. A total of 18 amendments were introduced in this bill by Lok Sabha before processing it further. Soon the bill was selected for a considerable hike in the liability of operator. This liability has now become 3 times then what it was in the past and now holds a value of rupees 1500 crore͛s in total. By virtue of progression of this bill and significant increase in the liability many overseas companies have shown their interests in setting up reactors in India. Special accidental care will now be provided for the employees operating in the various sections of the nuclear plants. The decision and the passing of the bill had been strongly opposed by the BJP leaders as they found it insignificant. y Swiss Bank Access Swiss Authorities will provide information to India on cases of tax fraud and tax evasion from January 1,2011under the reworked double tax agreement (DTA) signed by India and Switzerland. The Indian Authorities can now seek information about the account holders in Swiss banks who have a case filed against them for tax evasion. y Government Intervention for CWG PM and his select team of ministers takeover as CWG supervisors. Indian Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh took over the reigns of the forthcoming games in the wake of scandals and unfinished work surrounding the event. Committee of Secretaries, headed by a Cabinet Secretary, will now supervise the mega event to be held in October overtaking Organizing Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi. y Bhopal Case reopened The Supreme court of India has reopened the Bhopal Gas leak case in response to Government͛s petition for harsher punishment to the guilty for the worst tragedy of its kind in which at least 7,000 people perished within days of the release of the toxic methyl isocyanate gas at the Union Carbide pesticide plant on 3 December 1984, and a further 15,000 died later from exposure to the gas. The tragedy left countless others with lifelong damage to their health. y CSAT to replace the civil services prelims The new Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) will replace the existing civil services (preliminary) examination from 2011. The new scheme will test the candidates for their aptitude for civil services as well as their ethical and moral dimension of decision-making. There will now be two common papers with equal weightage in place of one common paper (general awareness) and one optional paper (any particular subject of choice). The civil services main exam and the interview will remain the same as of now. y Rahul creates controversy Wherein one place Mamta Banerjee is speaking in the favour of naxals and now Rahul Gandhi is sharing a dias with a suspected Maoist , this is the approach of the government in the fight against naxals. y Member Parliament salaries hiked Parliament recently in Delhi has made a decision to increase the salaries of MPs. A hike of about rupees 35000 will be introduced in the salary of each MPs thus taking it from figures like 20,000 to 55,000 or so. Because daily allowance has an important role to play hence parliament has also decided to exactly double the allowances issued daily to each Member of Parliament. Hence daily allowance of rupees 1000 will now become 2000. This daily allowance will be issued only when the parliament session is in progress. Other than the daily allowances the official expenses for every office per month have now been considerably raised and touch a 50,000 amount. That is not all the travel and conveyance charge issued will now become 4 times which were earlier around rupees 1,00,000. Retired members will now get a monthly pension of around rupees 20,000 which was around 10,000 in the past times. y Commonwealth with less green Approximately 40,000 trees have been either felled or transplanted for Delhi͛s preparation of Commonwealth Games 2010. Apart from the financial burden of creating world class infrastructure and transport facilities Delhites have to bear the loss of its green cover as the compensatory plantation cannot in any way compensate for the loss of a fully grown, mature tree. y Blackberry controversy Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of Blackberry has finally surrendered to Indian security agencies͛ demand for access to their server. The company has proposed for lawful access to its services including the messenger as well as the enterprise with immediate effect and the company would have to set up a server in India if it does not work to the satisfaction of Indian agencies. The security agencies already had access to voice data, SMS and general emails sent through Blackberry devices but Blackberry email and messaging services that are highly encrypted were major concerns for the security agencies. With this understanding in place the government has decided to serve notices to Google and Skype also to fall in line. y Direct tax code The Government deferred the direct tax code(DTC) by yet another year to April 2012 causing yet another disappointment to the taxpayers. Women taxpayers suffered a bolt as the preferential treatment meted out to them earlier is now proposed to be withdrawn. Senior citizens, however, enjoy a higher exemption limit. The bill that replaces the Income Tax Act 1961 seeks an increase in exemption threshold of individuals from Rs.1.6 lakh currently to Rs.2lakh. The corporate taxes will be reduced to a flat 30%. y Leh hit by flood A cloudburst on the intervening night of August 5 and 6 has led to flash floods and mudslides in the Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir. The cloudburst and the following floods have claimed over 175 lives and injured about 400 people, besides causing widespread damage to public and private property. The worst hit Chuglamsar has just turned into debris all over. y More rich than poor Indians National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has estimated in its report, ͞How India Earns, Spends and Saves͟, that despite the economic slowdown of the last three years, the number of high-income households in India has exceeded the number of low-income households. Households with high income or earnings have grown by over 3.7% in total and now touch the mark of around 21%. That is not all also the households with low income sources have fallen by around 3.2% and gone down to a mark of 18%. y CWG Anthem When everything is being prepared for the common wealth coming up in October then how could Music maestro A R Rahman stay away from it. Yes, the musician has launched the theme song for the Commonwealth Games 2010 that has the best lyrics covering khelo oh yaaro,,jeeto oh yaaro. During the launch of this theme song honorable Chief Minister Shiela Dixit, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and OC Chairman Suresh Kalmadi were present in the ceremony. y CWG breeding mosquitoes The fingers are already crossed and people fear further delay in the common wealth problems. When the earlier hurdles are not getting removed and new problems are coming into view. The sincere attention is being drawn by the mosquitoes breeding in various dumps. Because of heavy rainfall in the country water is collected in almost every venue and mosquitoes have converted these venues into their favorite breeding places and are increasing the fear of dengue disease. y Yet another marine disaster A foreign cargo ship MV Khalijia-111 which collided with MSC Chitra which was carrying about 1,200 containers with over 266 tonnes of fuel about 10 km off Mumbai harbour has spilled oil into the Mumbai seas. The collision tilted MSC Chitra causing 300 containers carrying oil to tumble into the Mumbai waters creating a thick oil slick two to three kms around the vessel Chitra causing a serious threat to the marine life. y India͛s Independence August 15th, 2010 India celebrated the 63rd anniversary of its independence. y IBM Number two employer IBM is the second largest private sector employer in India after TCS . The company has more than one lakh people on its rolls.

Current Affairs - July 2010

y Noose tightening for Politicos in Sohrab case Sohrab case getting murkier with CBI stepping up pressure on top Gujarat IPS Officers P.C.Pande, O.P.Mathur and Geeta Johri for their suspected involvement in scuttling the probe at the behest of former Gujarat Minister of State for home Amit Shah. Two Rajasthan BJP leaders Gulabchand Kataria and Om Mathur are also facing the CBI heat. Sohrabuddin Sheikh was killed in a fake encounter and his wife who was a witness to her husband͛s abduction was also later eliminated. The agency is investigating the police-politico nexus behind the killings. y Chidambaram confident of overcoming maoist problem in three years Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the ministry of home affairs, P Chidambaram informed that in a meeting of chief ministers of seven Naxal-affected states on July 14, a decision of unified command was agreed to namely inʹ West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand Ͷ for anti-Naxal operations. A two-pronged strategy of initiating development and police action in the affected areas was designed to overcome Maoist problem after consultations with the Naxal-affected states y Grooming for a succession? Noel Tata, chairman Ratan Tata͛s brother has been installed as the chairman and CEO of and the MD in Tata International while relinquishing his executive position in Ltd within the last two months. There is speculation that these moves are in line with the group͛s succession plan for top job i.e. the Chairmanship of Tata Sons in 2012 when Ratan Tata steps down. y Applaud or embarrassment? According to top sources from Central Vigilance Commission, fake certificates were being routinely issued to pass substandard work and material to the vendors of Commonwealth Games 2010 leading to huge gains for the contractors and vendors. All these certificates were issued without ground verification or technical examination. The compromise, herein, in the quality of materials and workmanship poses a serious threat to the sports personnel from countries all over the world lending a shameful picture of India and hence jeopardizing our ability to host such events in the future. y Valley stir Following the imposition of curfew in wake of the protest by Syed Ali Geelani demanding the release of dozens of arrested separatist leaders, violence was triggered in the valley due to a spate of civilian killings by security personnel leading to an indefinite curfew being clamped in Srinagar. Educational institutions, shops, post offices, banks, public transport and other business establishments were closed as a precautionary measure. The protests are part of the separatists͛ ͚Quit Kashmir͛ programme.

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Current Affairs 2010 Ȃ Sports

Current Affairs ± October 2010

y A century of Medals in CWG 2010: Thanks to the final in the woman badminton category that India was able to taste the sweet gland of a century tally of medals for the very first time in any CWG edition. India had tallied 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals which cumulatively read 101 medals. Even though India were shattered to an 8-0 defeat by the Aussies the woman shutters͛ heroics steered them to a total of medals that read 101. India finished ahead of England (142) and behind Australia (177). The culminating day (Oct 14th) saw the quest of an unimaginable 2nd place finish thanks to Jwala and Ashwini. They defeated Singapore͛s Sari Shanti Mulia and Yao Lei with some ease and become the lone pair so far to win gold in women badminton (doubles). But the cherry on the cake was put by Indian badminton pioneer ʹ Saina Nehwal. The hosts scalped addition one inclusive of a bronze medal when our table tennis masters Poulomi Ghatak and Mouma Das won in the doubles for women bronze medal final round alongside the Australian pair. Tan Zed Vivian and Peri Campbell-Innes. But the finals for the hockey men were a match to forget as they were thumped by the Kangaroos scoring 8 past their goal. Going into this match with some resilient attitude as shown in the semis, the Aussies brought them to ground by outplaying them with power play. y Master Blaster͛s the Best; ICC admits: Sachin Tendulkar (quite unsurprisingly) was shortlisted for the most decorated cricketing accolade in contempt period, an award given to the greatest cricketer for the year that is named after Sir Garfield Sobers. The Master Blaster turned out to be the second Indian to win the accolade following the success of Rahul Dravid in the same award six years before. Afterwards accumulating 1,000 runs in Test match cricket this calendar year more to the point becoming the aboriginal cricketer to score a double century in LOI cricket playing against South Africa on Feb 24th 2010 in Gwalior, Sachin completed a double of awards at the even by also winning the famous ʹ LG People͛s Choice Award. The Men in Blue had a lot extra to applaud about as their striking opener, , with 1,282 runs in the game͛s longer adaptation, was chosen as the Test Cricketer of the Year and M.S. Dhoni was selected as the of a World Test XI. In the previous, Sehwag͛s Delhi team mate as well as opening partner, Gautam Gambhir was given this privilege. Decorated Indian off-spinner, B.S. Bedi was introduced into the Hall of Fame (for ICC) forth along with the legendary West Indies͛ fast bowlers Garner and Walsh and Rachael Heyhoe Flint (ex-England women cricketer) The LOI (also known as ODI) Player of the Year was bagged by the South African cricketer A.B. de Villiers. y Kangaroos see BLUE in India: In a highly anticipated and evenly fought cricket competition between two giants of the beautiful game of cricket between India and Australia, the former proved to be good for the Aussies. The Australian team over a period of time has seen its main workforce in Gilchrist, Hayden, McGrath and others retiring had to rely majorly on the young breed of players lacking experience of play in the Indian subcontinent. India had slipped its rank down a bit from No. 1 and was in a quest to get it back. That͛s what actually transpired. Thanks to the great heroics of Sachin along with the rest of his teammates India were not only able to beat the Aussies but finish it as a clean sweep which the team Down Under hadn͛t experienced for quite some time. Sachin͛s double ton was the highlight of the series and imperative in order to retain the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Apart from the Test Series, India also won the ODI series without losing single game (1-0). Two of the three matches were abandoned due to bad weather conditions while the sole game played, India convincingly beat the Australians thanks to a solid partnership between Suresh Raina and Mohit Tiwary. The partnership between the two batsmen helped India to chase down a total just under 300.

Current Affairs ± September 2010

y Kalmadi and Co. pocket Common man͛s Wealth: The contempt letters of forgery and fraud in Commonwealth Games resulted in an abnormally affliction of our nation͛s picture. The bulk of finances used up on modernizing the venues for Commonwealth Games accommodate a prima facie affirmation of ample calibration enticement in the alignment of Commonwealth Games. The abstracts accessible on the Commonwealth Games website reveals that the amount of refurbishing the JNU stadium was USD 215 million; the IGI Stadium USD 150 million; the Hockey stadium (named after Dhyan Chand) USD 60 million; and the Shooting Alleys USD 35 million. An absolute sum of USD 10150 million was spent on renovations. The costs incurred in the advance of the lone cricket stadium in Delhi were USD 20 million. For the LBS stadium in Hyderabad was USD 18 million, and architecture of a contemporary and technology studded stadium in the city of oranges amounted USD 19 million. It is acute that the Central Government anon adjustment a top akin analysis into this arrangement and the dealings embarked on. It is abominable that such all-embracing abusage of communal resources has taken abode in the name of the Commonwealth Games. The accusations of inducement ambit from favoritism in accolade of affairs to big-ticket appoint of accessories for training and abrupt accretion in the costs of architecture treaties. y Bridge Collapses; Casualties cross double figures: Reportedly not less than 27 people were afflicted afterwards an under-construction foot over bridge burst within the close proximity of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the capital area of the Commonwealth Games, bidding the Organizing Committee (OC) to awning up by giving a statement or in other words a false sense of complacency and assurance that everything is being taken care of. The arch was to hotlink the amphitheater to parking for delegates and athletes. The Urban Development Minister, Jaipal Reddy has dismissed the pressures by quoting it is a negligible incident. The Public Works Department (PWD) has urged for an acoount of the structure from the builders. Later the aforementioned day, Organizing Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot addressed reporters: ͞We will put up a great show. He said the venues will be all set in the days to come and there would be added sprucing to accommodate top notch standards. However, the mishap is a concern to the CWG organizers, who are already nabbed amidst accuse of laziness and fraud for the XIX Edition. Previously, Mike Hooper, the main controller of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), remarked on the condition of hygiene at the Games Village as ͞dirty.͟ y Chennai are the Super Kings of Cricket: The Mahendra Singh Dhoni led are the champions of the second edition of the AirTel Champions League Twenty20 hosted by South Africa from September 10th to September 26th. Chennai Super Kings defeated their fellow finalists in some fashion by 8 in the final of the Champions League T20 2010.Warriors had won the toss earlier and decided to bat first but bootless to account an appropriate target, but only capable to set a minimal total of mere 128 runs for 7 wickets. Only Davy Jacobs͛s denticulate 34 runs were the notable contribution and was also the best from the entire batting lineup of the Warriors. Muttiah Muralidaran was the most booming bowler scalping 3 wickets for only 16 runs. Ashwin got a couple of wickets for 16 runs as well. Chennai Super Kings started off in some style by baking batting by Murali Vijay who denticulate a 58 run total. Michael Hussey fabricated 42 handy runs to the total. The Opening brace fabricated 103 runs which fabricated their way of triumph easier than it ever seemed. With this Murali Vijay became the highest run getter of the second edition of the Champions League Twenty20. He was facilitated with the Man of the Match Award. With such great triumph on the world stage, the Indian and CSK captain has silenced his critics and is still in contention to be the best ever captain in the world today.

Current Affairs - August 2010

y Sehwag denied century A deliberate no ball by the Srilankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv to prevent Virendar Sehwag from completing his century in the tri-series has left a bad taste in the mouth for all cricket lovers. Indians were just short of 5 runs from destination called victory and the opening batsman VEERU was just a run away from his ton. At the same time Lankan skipper chose spinner S. Randiv to come in and bowl. On the third bowl of his spell Virender Sehwag sent the bowl out of the fence with a huge six but the turning point was that it was a no ball which defended Virender Sehwag from completing his century. As per the declaration of the match referee it was been found out that it was an intentional attempt. y Shooting Gold Tejaswini Sawant created history by becoming India͛s first female shooter to clinch gold at the World Shooting Championship held in Munich, Germany. The 29-year-old, who shot a score of 597/600 (100, 100, 100, 99, 99, 99), equaling the world record in the process, won the 50m rifle prone event y wins the tri series The host Sri Lanka͛ eight victory over India in Dambulla represents its 25th win in a tournament final. Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara͛who won the toss decided to bat against India in the tri-series final. The Sri Lankans won the match by 74 runs in this game. With this it became the second team to win a tournament final on 25 occasions. Australia has won 52 tournament finals. y First Indian US PGA Tour winner Arjun Atwal has become the first Indian Golfer to win the US PGA tour. Atwal, who started playing at the age of fourteen, became one of the leading players on the Asian Tour and the European tour. He is the the first native East Indian golfer to become a member of, and later win the U.S. PGA Tour.

Current Affairs ± July 2010

y Saina Nehwal: A smash hit The Indian Open Grand Prix Gold, the Singapore Open Super Series and then the Indonesian Open Super Series at Jakarta have given enough reasons to Saina to celebrate. The World No.3 defeated a fighting Sayaka Sato of Japan 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 in the badminton finals. Just two notches away from the badminton World No. 1, Saina is now indisputably India͛s top female athlete. y Khel awards Saina Nehwal to be conferred the country͛s top sporting honour-the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. While Jhulan Goswami skipper of womens cricket team, boxer Dinesh Kumar and Sandeep Singh are tipped to receive the Arjuna Awards in recognition of their outstanding achievements during the last one year, Footballer Sunil Chhetri and Deepak Mondal have also been nominated for the award that will be given away in Rashtrapati Bhawan on 29th Aug by President Pratibha Patil. y World cup for Spain In a historic football victory Spain lifted their first-ever World Cup after defeating Netherlands 1- 0 in Johannesburg. Andres Iniesta secured the only goal of an enthralling final against the Netherlands four minutes from the end of extra-time on Sunday leading his team to victory.

Current affairs Ȃ Persons in News Ȃ 2010

Persons in News August 2010

y Michael Kirk Douglas diagnosed with throat cancer Michael Kirk Douglas, winner of three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards, was diagnosed with throat cancer in August this year. He received the AFI (American Film Institute) Life Achievement Award in 2009. The 65-year-old actor, a heavy smoker, was informed of his condition labeled as Stage 4 cancer after his doctor͛s appointment for an extremely sore throat. Douglas who is to undergo chemotherapy and radiation is optimistic about his chances for recovery y Archie Panjabi Recently 62nd Emmy awards were held and the best part was to hear about actress Archie Panjabi from the Indian-origin who has won the award for best supporting actress in the movie ͞The Good Wife͟. Her performance has been rated to be the best in the international release recognized as ͞Bend it like Beckham͟. Many others were nominated for the same designation but because the best performance deserves to be on the top hence the results proved it and Archie Panjabi took the award. y Anil Aggarwal to overtake Mukesh Ambani It was Anil Aggarwal who laid the foundation of Vedanta Resources Corporation, a UK based corporation and all by the virtue of it that he has been designated as the non-resident Indian billionaire. By this effort he has become the largest promoter of a corporate house thus overtaking Mukesh Ambani. y Pallava Bagla Pallava Bagla from India has won the David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism by American Geophysical Union (AGU). Pallav won this award for his articles on the impact of change in climate on the Himalayan glaciers. Bagla is an author and freelancer for BBC and the likes. His latest book is ͞Destination Moon: India͛s Quest for Moon, Mars and beyond͟.

Persons in News July 2010

y Fidel Castro Fidel Castro a Cuban revolutionary visited Havana scientific facility; it was his first public appearance. The former Cuban President, now 83, who went into seclusion four years back after falling ill looked healthy said the reports. y Roman Polanski The Swiss government rejected US government͛s request to extradite Roman Polanski where he is charged with unlawful sex with a minor on the ground that the US authorities failed to provide confidential testimony about Polanski͛s sentencing procedure in 1977-1978. Polanski, who has been held under house arrest in Switzerland since December, has been declared a free man by the Swiss authorities. However, the American prosecutors vowed to continue their pursuit of the film director.

Important Current Relevant Facts Ȃ Current Affairs

y The leader of South Africa͛s African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, has been officially elected on 6 May 2009 the country͛s president by members of parliament. The ANC won the general election in South Africa. Jacob Zuma was fired as vice-president after being implicated in a graft scandal. The charges were dropped just before last month͛s election ʹ amid evidence of government meddling in pursuing the case. In February 2006, the controversial polygamist was acquitted of rape in a separate case, though he was widely criticised for his comments about sex and HIV/Aids. y A group of Nepalese political parties has agreed to form a ͞national government͟ a day after Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned on 5 May 2009. After a meeting in Kathmandu, members of the Communist UML party agreed to head the government. Mr Dahal, best known as Prachanda, resigned after the president opposed his decision to sack the army chief. The Maoists boycotted the all-party meeting. y Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was convicted of spying and sentenced to 8 years in prison on April 18,2009. 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen was arrested in January 2009 and initially accused of working without press credentials. A freelance journalist Roxana Saberi was reporting for National Public Radio and other media. She had been living in Iran for six years. y Jatiya Party leader and former President Gen H M Ershad was cleared of 1982 ͚powergrab͛ charges on March 30,2009. He was sued for usurping state power, suspension of the constitution and declaration of martial law in Bangladesh on Mar 24, 1982. Inu, now an MP as part of the same AL-led electoral alliance as Ershad͛s Jatiya Party, sued the former general for his takeover of state power. The CID final report was submitted to a Dhaka Metropolitan magistrate͛s court on Jan 30. Inu was asked to appear in the court to respond to the police report but did not. The court accepted the report and cleared Ershad. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y Supreme National Security Council Secretary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr Saeed Jalili, visited India on 28th March 2009. This visit was in keeping with the tradition of high level exchanges between the two countries. The two sides conducted a strategic review of India Iran relations and prospects for their further expansion. Their wide ranging discussions also covered regional and international issues including terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan and energy security.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y The name of the sleek aircraft inducted by the IAF for flying VVIPs is Rajdoot. It was rolled out from the tarmac of the Palam airport on April 1,2009. The aircraft with the first citizen of the country onboard took its maiden flight to Assam without a glitch and the exclusive passengers enjoyed its style and comfort. y Former Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra was appointed chairman of the advisory board of Price Waterhouse India on April 22,2009. Price Waterhouse India (PW) recently set up an advisory board, which was expected to help the audit company reflect on the voice of external stakeholders in its strategic decision making. y Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India V K Shunglu and former Chief Election Commissioner BB Tandon are other eminent members, who were inducted to the board.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y Indian-American Sonal Shah was appointed head of the new Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the Obama administration. Sonal Shah, a India Abroad Person of the Year in 2003 and co-founder of India Corps was a member of the Obama transition project͛s advisory board and co-chairperson of a transition group that made recommendations about technology and innovation, including innovation and civil society. y Advocate Anjali Waghmare was removed on grounds of professional misconduct as Mohammad Ajmal Kasab͛s lawyer. Allegedly she had first accepted brief of a witness in this case before deciding to defend Kasab. She was earlier on March 30,2009 appointed by the court to represent Kasab, the long surviving terrorist captured by police for the attacks that took place on November 26, 2008. y Fiji͛s President Ratu Josefa Iloilo abolished the constitution, assumed all governing power and revoked all judicial appointments on April 10,2009 following the country͛s second-highest court ruled that armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama͛s government that took power after a 2006 coup was illegal. Fiji͛s military commander and Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama relinquished the prime minister͛s post but later he was sworn in again as Fiji͛s Prime Minister as the head of the interim government.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y A sedition case was registered against MDMK general secretary V. Gopalsamy known as Vaiko by the Chennai City police on April 9,2009. He warned in a speech that India would not remain one country if the war against the LTTE in Sri Lanka was not stopped. y The case was registered under 13 (1) b of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2004 (advocating, abetting, advising or inciting the commission of any unlawful activity) and also under Section 124 -A and Section 505 (1) (b) of the Indian Penal Code. Section 124-A relates to sedition (attempting to bring into hatred or contempt or exciting or attempting to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India). y Former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori was convicted of human rights crimes and sentenced to 25 years in prison on April 7,2009. A three-judge panel convicted him of ordering a military death squad to carry out two massacres that killed 25 people during his 1990-2000 rule, when he was battling communist guerrillas. Later, he appealed to Peru͛s Supreme Court to overturn his 25-year prison sentence. A corruption scandal involving his spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, sank his government in 2000. Fujimori fled to exile in Japan. He was later arrested in Chile and extradited to Peru, where he often snoozed through testimony and took off his socks. First time a democratically elected Latin American president has been found guilty in his own country of such offenses. Other Latin American rulers faced trials over human rights crimes before Fujimori were military dictators or prosecuted outside their home countries. Alberto Fujimori was 45th President of Peru and he was in office from July 28, 1990 to November 22, 2000. y According to Sri Lankan Defence Ministry, the head of the intelligence wing of the LTTE, Pottu Amman took overall command of the outfit due to fast deteriorating mental health condition of Velupillai Prabakaran. Pottu Amman has not battlefield experience, so he appointed Velawan, the last of LTTE͛s battle-hardened cadre, as the LTTE͛s new military chief.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y According to the overall ranking, compiled by the Wall Street Journal, Mobile phone maker Motorola͛s India-born chief Sanjay Jha became America͛s top paid CEO. Citigroup͛s Vikram Pandit tops the league among bailed out bank. Another Indian on the list is PepsiCo͛s Indra Nooyi at the 36th slot with a pay package of 13.98 million dollar. Jha is the only CEO to get a compensation package exceeding 100 million dollar, with Occidental͛s Ray Irani at a distant second with 49.9 million dollar. Irani is followed by Walt Disney͛s Robert Iger third rank. y Advocate S G Abbas Kazmi was appointed by court as the lawyer of Mohammed Amir Ajmal Qasab, the lone surviving gunman in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. He replaced Anjali Waghmare, who was removed by court. Another lawyer to defend Qasab is KP Pawar, who was appointed with Anjali Waghmare. The 54-year-old S G Abbas Kazmi had defended 25 to 30 accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case and 3 accused in the Gulshan Kumar murder case who were ultimately acquitted by the court. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y A native of Tamil Nadu and 1973 batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath took over as the third election commissioner following the elevation of Navin B. Chawla as Chief Election Commissioner on April 21,2009. V S Sampath was Union Power Secretary prior to his elevation as the election commissioner in the Election Commission of India. Navin B. Chawla succeeded N Gopalaswami as the new Chief Election Commissioner of India.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen selected as the new NATO Secretary- General on April 4. Later on he resigned as Denmark͛s prime minister on April 5,2009. NATO leaders agreed unanimously to appoint him as the next head of the 28-member alliance after US President Barack Obama convinced Turkey to drop its objections in NATO summit held at Strasbourg and Kehl. Rasmussen will succeed Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of the Netherlands, who steps down at the end of July 2009.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y Shikha Sharma was appointed Managing Director and Chief Exicutive Officer of Axis Bank on April 20,2009. She was working as chief of the ICICI group͛s life insurance business.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y An Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1969 batch Nirupam Sen was appointed Special Senior Advisor to the President Miguel D Escoto Brockmann of the 192-member UN General Assembly on world financial and economic crisis. After retirement as Indian Ambassador to UN on March 31,2009 Nirupam Sen had been made India͛s high commissioner to Sri Lanka. y Virginia͛s secretary of technology Aneesh Chopra was appointed as the Chief Technology Officer in Obama Administration. He included in a three-man team formed by U.S. President Barack Obama to help break Washington͛s ͚bad habits͛ of wasteful spending and move recession-hit America from recovery to prosperity. y She was appointed country head and group general manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) India on April 15. Famous woman banker Naina Lal Kidwai had been with HSBC as CEO and deputy CEO for the last five years. Padma Shri awardee Naina Lal Kidwai is the first Indian woman to graduate from the Harvard Business School. She was listed the World͛s Top 50 Corporate Women from 2000 to 2003 by Fortune magazine.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y Indian American star of Mira Nair͛s ͚The Namesake͛, Kal Penn joined the White House staff as an associate director in the Office of Public Liaison. Born to Indian immigrant parents from Gujarat, the 31-year-old actor Kalpen Suresh Modi had a recurring role on Fox͛s popular TV show ͚House͛ will play a new role connect Obama with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as arts groups. y According to recently released International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2009 by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido), the share of developing countries in the world͛s manufacturing value-added output has almost doubled in the last 18 years due to the shift of production units and outsourcing of services from developed nations. Developing countries produced almost 30% of world manufacturing value added (MVA) at the end of 2008 as compared to 16% in 1990. The per capita MVA doubled as early as 2006, while the industrialised world achieved merely 30% increase. Among industrialised countries, Japan accounts for most MVA per capita, followed by Switzerland, Singapore, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, USA, Germany and Austria. Luxemburg, Republic of Korea, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Belgium, United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands, Italy and France come lower down the list. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y For India, the growth rate of MVA output rose from 6.9% in 2000-2005 to 12.3% in 2005-2007. The MVA per capita grew 10.6 % in 2005-2007 compared to 5.2% in 2000-2005. The share of MVA in India͛s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 14.8% in 2006 compared to 13.8% in 2001. Manufacturing still contributes around 15% of GDP in India. International Yearbook 2009 ranks India among the world͛s leading 12 producers of textiles (ranked 4th after China, the U.S. and Italy); electrical machinery and apparatus (5th); basic metals (6th); chemicals and chemical products (7th); leather, leather products and footwear (10th); coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel (10th); machinery and equipment (12th); and motor vehicles (12th), based on 2007 figures. Among the leading developing countries, India figures among the top five. y Mughal Trust was set up on April 6,2009 to find and then help the families of the Mughal lines of descent. The Trust is brainchild of businessman Mohd Shahid Khan. The trust will also create pressure on the government to bring back the remains of Bahadur Shah Zafar from Myanmar. y India successfully test-fired an improved version of nuclear-capable ͚Prithvi-II͛ ballistic missile from a Tatra transporter erector launcher from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore, off the Orissa coast on April 15,2009. The indigenously developed surface- to-surface ͚Prithvi-II͛ missile͛s range is 350 km. The 8.56 meter-long and one meter wide twin engine missile features to deceive any anti ballistic missile and is equipped with ͞added inertial navigation͟ system. The missile is designed to operate with both liquid as well as solid fuel. It can carry conventional or nuclear pay loads of 500 kg. y N. Gopalaswami retired from the post of Chief Election Commissioner of India on March 20,2009. A 1966 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, N. Gopalaswami was appointed as Election Commissioner in January 2004. Later on June 30 2006, he succeeded B. B. Tandon as Chief Election Commissioner of India. y Home minister of Canada͛s British Columbia province, John van Dongen resigned on April 27,2009 after he was caught and fined for over-speeding. He was also fined 368 US dollar for his offence.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y Leading film producer and director Shakti Samant passed away on April 9,2009 in Santacruz. He was 83. Shakti Samant launched the career of Sharmila Tagore with film, ͚Kashmir Ki Kali͛ and directed films like Kashmir Ki Kali, Aradhana, An Evening in Paris, Amanush, Amar Prem, Anurodh,Anuraag, Ajnabee and Kati Patang. He directed Rajesh Khanna in films like Aradhana, Kati Patang, Amar Prem and Anuraag. Shakti Samant started his career with the cinema from the black and white era with Howrah Bridge. y Noted Hindi writer and Gandhian Vishnu Prabhakar died on April 11,2009 in New Delhi. He was 97. He wrote in almost all forms of prose-story, novels, plays, biography etc. Born on January 29, 1912, in the Mirapur village of Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, Dr Prabhakar was best known for his engaging biography of Bengali litterateur Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, ͚Awara Maseeha͛. His first play was ͚Hatya ke Baad͛. His body of works included ͚Dhalti Raat͛ and ͚Swapnamayi͛ (novel), ͚Navprabhat͛ an ͚Doctor͟ (drama), ͚Sangharsh ke Baad͛ (short stories), ͚Prakash Aur Parchhaiyan͛, ͚Barah Ekanki͛ and ͚Ashok͛ (plays) and ͚Awara Maseeha͛ (biography). He had over 50 published works to his credit. y He was awarded Padma Bhushan and the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Ardhanarishvara (The Androgynous God or Shiva). Dr Prabhakar had decided to donate his body organs in his will so his body was donated to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). y Bollywood actor-producer-director famous as style icon Feroz Khan passed away on April 27,2009 at his farmhouse in Bangalore after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 69. Famous for his blockbusters like ͚Qurbani͛ and ͚Dharmatma͛, Feroz Khan appeared in more than 50 films. He made his Bollywood debut as the co-star in the movie Didi in 1960 and went on to star in a number of films in the 1970s and 1980s. The last film he acted in was Welcome in 2007. He won a Filmfare award for best supporting role in ͚Aadmi Aur Insaan͛ in 1970 and was honoured with the lifetime achievement award in 2000. He was elder brother of actor-producer-director Sanjay Khan and father of Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan. y Veteran economist Raja Jesudoss Chelliah died in Chennai on April 7,2009. He was 86. He was chairman of the Tax Reforms Committee and worked as Fiscal Adviser in the Union Finance Ministry. Padma Vibhushan awardee, founding Chairman of the Madras School of Economics, Raja J Chelliah wrote nearly 15 books and various research papers.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Govind Singh Gurjar passed away in New Delhi on 6th April,2009. He was born in 1932 in Balakanangal village of Rajasthan. He was appointed to the post of Lt. Governor in March 2008 during the tenure of former Chief Minister N. Rangasamy. y Former President of Argentina Raul Alfonsin, who guided Argentina͛s return to democracy in the 1980s after seven years of brutal military rule, passed away on March 31,2009. He was 82. He was president from 1983 to 1989 and won international admiration for putting on trial and jailing the former military leaders. y Former heavyweight champion Greg Page passed away on April 27,2009 at his Louisville home at the age of 50. He lifted the WBA belt in 1984 during the post-Ali, pre-Tyson era. y Stunt master in Tamil cinema industry Rajkumar died at the age of 53. He is remembered as the fight master whose action choreography was strikingly similar to Sylvester Stallone in Rambo. Rambo Rajkumar has worked for over 450 films in five languages, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. y Rugby legend of Ireland Karl Mullen, who captained the 1948 Grand Slam winning team passed away at the age of 82. He won 25 international caps for Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s, playing at hooker. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y Emergency was lifted on April 24 in Thailand. Earlier Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in the capital, Bangkok, and five provinces on April 12,2009 and Police and military units were deployed to enforce the decree. Summit between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was postponed. India͛s Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and other leaders were safely evacuated from the venue at the resort town of Pattaya on April 11,2009. y More than 200 died in a quake in in L͛Aquila of central Italy. A strong tremor shook on April 6,2009 damaged buildings and some of the 17000 left homeless. y The four-day Naval Commanders͛ Conference was held at the Eastern Naval Command headquarters, in Visakhapatnam, from April 13 to 15,2009. The conference focused on macro level issues pertaining to military strategy, operational logistics and matters impacting the welfare and enhancement of satisfaction level amongst all ranks and ͚Coastal Security͛. The Naval Commanders͛ Conference is the highest decision making body of the navy. It meets annually to deliberate upon major operational issues that have a bearing on the nation͛s maritime interests, coastal and offshore security, naval strategy, and operational and acquisition plans. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y The 5th Summit the Americas was held at Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago from April 17- 19,2009. The theme was ͚Securing Our Citizens͛ Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability.͛ The Summit of the Americas is the name for a continuing series of summits bringing together the leaders of North America, Central America and South America. First summit was held at Miami in the United States. y NATO summit of heads of state and heads of government held in Strasbourg, France, and in Kehl and Baden-Baden, Germany, on 3-4 April 2009. The summit marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). To symbolize an evolving vision of European cooperation, for the first time a NATO summit was jointly hosted by two member nations France and Germany. The summit reaffirmed the values, objectives and obligations of the Washington Treaty which unite Europe with the United States and Canada. y The Leaders of the Group of Twenty, met in London on 2 April 2009. They decided to treble resources available to the IMF to 750 billion dollar, to support a new SDR allocation of 250 billion dollar, to support at least 100 billion dollar of additional lending by the MDBs, to ensure 250 billion dollar of support for trade finance, and to use the additional resources from agreed IMF gold sales for concessional finance for the poorest countries, constitute an additional 1.1 trillion dollar programme of support to restore credit, growth and jobs in the world economy. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM y They also pledged to do whatever is necessary to restore confidence, growth, and jobs, repair the financial system to restore lending, strengthen financial regulation to rebuild trust, fund and reform our international financial institutions to overcome this crisis and prevent future ones, promote global trade and investment and reject protectionism, to underpin prosperity and build an inclusive, green, and sustainable recovery. y International Labour Organisation (ILO) released ͚Global Employment Trends for Women͛. The report suggests that there is a gender aspect too to its impact on jobs. Stating that the emerging trends are extremely worrying for both men and women, the report explained the time has come for a coordinated effort internationally to stop the slowdown. At the global level, the share of the vulnerable employed among all women employed is as high as 52.7 per cent compared with 49.1 per cent for men. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

³Recently many cases of Swine Influenza Virus were found in number of Asian and Latin American countries. 103 people have died of swine flu and about 1600 people have been infected with the virus in Mexico. The US has confirmed 20 cases. Mexico is recognised as the source of the virus.

Many countries have issued a negative travel advice for Mexico, and China has ordered a ban on the import of pork from Mexico and a number of Latin American countries, after Russia took a similar measure earlier. Swine influenza is known to be caused by influenza a subtypes H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2 and H2N3

SIV refers to influenza cases that are caused by Orthomyxoviruses endemic to pig populations. ³