Current Events 2009

InternationaI Current Affairs 2009

CIimate Conference in Copenhagen 6 to 18 December 2009 (16th Dec 2009)
n 2012 the Kyoto Protocol to prevent climate changes and global warming runs out. To keep the
process on the line there is an urgent need for a new climate protocol. At the conference in
Copenhagen 2009 the parties of the UNFCCC meet for the last time on government level before the
climate agreement need to be renewed. Therefore the Climate Conference in Copenhagen is essential
for the worlds climate and the Danish government and UNFCCC is putting hard effort in making the
meeting in Copenhagen a success ending up with a Copenhagen Protocol to prevent global warming
and climate changes.
arzai sworn in for second term afghan president (19th Nov 2009)
Afghan leader Hamid Karzai was sworn in as president pledging to fight graft and take control of his
country's security before his five-year term ends, after a fraud-marred election left his image in ruins.
Karzai said he hoped Afghanistan's own security forces could take responsibility for the entire country
within five years, and take the lead in unstable areas within three. t is a goal he will share with his
Western backers, who are seeking an exit strategy from the 8-year-old war.
GCC popuIation seen growing to 53 miIIion by 2020 (16th Nov 2009)
The population explosion in the Gulf region is predicted to continue with a new report seeing it rising by
a third in the next decade. Latest research by the Economist ntelligence Unit (EU) said the GCC's
population was likely to hit 53 million by 2020, with the vast majority of people under 25 years old. The
rapid growth and the relative youth of the population present serious challenges as well as major
opportunities faced by GCC.
7.7 quakes shake north ChiIe (15th Nov 2009)
Thousands of Chileans may have to sleep in the streets after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake rattled the
north part of the country, killing at least two people, injuring dozens and destroying hundreds of homes.
Chile has been the scene of hundreds of strong earthquakes throughout history, including the largest
one of the 20th century on May 22, 1960.
Sri Lanka miIitary chief 'quits' (12th Nov 2009)
Sri Lanka's armed forces chief Sarath Fonseka, who helped secure the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels in
May, has resigned, opposition politicians say.Gen Fonseka is reportedly considering challenging
President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an election to be held before April. He is due to make a speech
shortly. The resignation was swiftly accepted by the president Mahindra Rajapaksa.
GS Donates 50 MiIIion H1N1 Doses to WHO (11th Nov 2009)
GlaxoSmithKline signed an agreement with the World Health Organization to donate 50 million doses
of adjuvant H1N1 flu vaccine to developing countries around the world. The drug will be available to 95
developing countries despite industry-wide shortfalls affecting the ability of developed nations to
inoculate their own citizens. Twenty percent of production from GSK's Canadian vaccine production
facility has been allocated to developing countries.
Germany marks anniversary of anti-Semitic program (9th November 2009)
As Germany celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall more subdued tributes were
held to mark the 71st anniversary of the Nazi's Kristallnacht anti-Semitic pogrom. On Kristallnacht
the Night of Broken Glass at least 91 German Jews were killed, more than 200 synagogues were
destroyed, and thousands of Jewish businesses vandalized and looted in state sanctioned, riots. n the
capital, a special service was being held at a memorial outside the Jewish Community of Berlin's
building. The event was also to pay tribute to Anne Frank, whose poignant diary has inspired countless
people.
Earthquake rocks southern Iran (4th November 2009)
A 4.9-magnitude earthquake Rattled southern ran injuring about 700 people, officials said. ran lies
along seismic fault lines and has been rocked strong earthquakes, notably in December 2003 when a
6.6-magnitude quake devastated the ancient city of Bam, killing at least 30,000 people.
ASEAN Summit 2009 (25th October 2009)
Leaders of ASEAN countries has decided to increase cooperation in education at the 14th ASEAN
Summit held in Hua Hin, Thailand, on October 23-25, 2009.The cooperation agreement signed by the
leaders of the ten ASEAN member countries at the summit's closing ceremony on Sunday. The ASEAN
community in 2015 will be based on three pillars, security of the political community, economic
community, and socio-cultural community. Therefore, ASEAN leaders had been urged to step up
educational competency in their respective countries. All these efforts may serve as a common
reference for ASEAN to a better quality education.The member country had also expressed readiness
to establish a research convention on education. The result will serve as a basic framework for new
cooperation in the sector. The summit also announced a plan to observe ASEAN`s founding
anniversary every August 8, and introduce the history of the regional organization as well as its latest
developments to the students.
GIobaI popuIation to reach seven biIIion by 2011 (23rd October 2009)
The global population is expected to reach seven billion in 2011 and the increase would happen in just
12 years after reaching six billion in 1999, says the World Population Data Sheet prepared by the
Population Reference Bureau (PRB).n a statement issued by the nformation Services
Department,growth of the world's youth population was shifting to the poorest countries' especially Asia
and Africa, and latter's population of one billion was growing by about 24 million per year, and would
double by 2050.The bulk of today's 1.2 billion youth are in developing countries with 8 out of 10 living in
Africa and Asia.
Obama Wins NobeI peace prize 2009 (9th October 2009) The chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize
committee cited President Obama's outreach to the Muslim world and his push for sraeli-Arab peace in
explaining its decision to award him the prize."One of the first things he did was to go to Cairo to try to
reach out to the Muslim world, then to restart the Mideast negotiations and then he reached out to the
rest of the world through international institutions," Thorbjorn Jagland said in Oslo last Friday after
announcing that Obama had won the prize. The formal citation notes Obama's "extraordinary efforts to
strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" and his "vision of and work for a
world without nuclear weapons." Obama will receive the $1.4 million prize in Oslo on Dec. 10.
abuI's Indian Embassy attacked (8th October 2009)
A vehicle packed with explosives drove into the sidewall of the ndian Embassy in Kabul. A huge blast
followed. Seven Afghan civilians were killed and 45 more were wounded in a blast outside the ndian
embassy in the Afghan capital on Thursday, police sources said. The Taliban has claimed responsibility
for the suicide attack. On its website, it said it intended to target the Embassy. There was some
speculation whether the real targets were other government buildings nearby.
AI-Qaida caIIs for hoIy war against China (7th October 2009)
n a video message, a senior Al-Qaida leader has urged Muslims to launch a holy war against Chinese
"invaders" in response to the "massacre" of Uighurs in western China. "The atheist criminals have long
used the most despicable, cruel and brutal means against Muslims in Turkistan," said Abu Yayha al-
Libi, who is sometimes identified as the commander in Afghanistan of the international terrorist network
Al-Qaida.
China ceIebrates its 60th anniversary (1st October 2009)
A confident China on Thursday marked 60 years of Communist rule as it unveiled its military might
parading new generation battle tanks and long-range cruise missiles, with President Hu Jintao
asserting that only socialism can save the country.
Afghan PresidentiaI eIection (18th September 2009)
President Hamid Karzai won an absolute majority in Afghanistan's presidential election, according to a
final preliminary result released by the election commission. ncumbent Karzai won 54.6% of the vote in
the Aug 20 poll, nearly double the 27.8% of his nearest rival, former foreign minister Abdullah, the
commission said. Voter turnout was 38%, which accounts for more than 5.5 million votes cast on the
election day. Of that percentage, 42% were men and 38% were women, Daoud Ali Najafi, chief
electoral officer said.
US Iargest suppIier of arms in 2008 (7th September 2009)
Defying the trends of global recession, the United States has emerged as the largest supplier of arms,
accounting for more than two-third of the USD 55.2 billion of arms sales in the year 2008. The United
States has not only supplied arms and weapons to its traditional market, but also begun creating a pie
for itself in the traditional Russian supplier markets like that of ndia, says a latest Congressional report.
The increase in American weapons sales around the world was attributable not only to major new
orders from clients in the Near East and in Asia, but also to the continuation of significant equipment
and support services contracts with a broad-based number of US clients globally.
PowerfuI earthquake kiIIs 57 in Indonesia (3rd September)
At least 57 killed, another 400 injured, says disaster agencyTsunami watch quickly expires, Pacific
Tsunami Warning Center says Older buildings damaged in Tasikmalaya in ndonesian island of Java,
witness says Series of quakes hit ndonesia's Sumatra sland three weeks ago. ndonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Cianjur, and vowed to free up nearly $500,000 (5 billion rupiahs)
for emergency response efforts.
Angry student throws acid on professor in Vietnam (25th August 2009)
A college professor and 13 students were hurt, when a former student upset over an English test
splashed him with acid in Vietnam. Dang Huu Dung, a professor at the Agriculture and Forestry
University, received acid burns to a third of his body. The police arrested Tran Xuan Thanh, 28-year-old
who finished his four-year course in 2006 but did not graduate because he failed the English test on
mechanics. The former student wants to apply for another English test but the professor refused. The
student got angry and thrown acid on professor thinking Mr Dung was not fulfilling his responsibilities
towards his students.
Miss VenezuaIa win Miss Universe 2009 titIe (24th August 2009)
mpressing 12 judges and beating 84 contestants Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez crowned the
Miss Universe 2009 from Dayana Mendoza. 18-year-old Stefania is the sixth Venezuelan to win the
crown.
MichaeI Jackson is Dead (25th June 2009)
Michael Jackson, the King of pop died because of cardiac arrest at the age of 50 at Los Angeles. The
only man who neither needs any introduction nor any eulogy died leaving millions of fans grieving.
Keeping aside the controversies he stirred in the last few years, Michael Jackson was definitely an
extraordinary artist, musician and a performer. Jackson left behind some heart touching songs like
'Earth Song'.
RaciaI attack in AustraIia (15th June 2009)
So far there have been 14 attacks encountered by ndian students in Australia. ndian students are
continuing their street protest against the racially motivated attacks. The ndian community leaders in
Australia have asked the ndian students to stop violent protests in Harris Park in Melbourne. There
have also been some stray incidents of ndian students retaliating.
Air France 447 jet Crash (2nd June 2009)
The Air France 447 jet with 228 people on a flight to Paris vanished over the Atlantic Ocean after flying
into towering thunderstorms and sending 24 automated messages that the electrical system had failed.
Massive operations were taken to locate the, but all 228 passengers seem to have died. The hunt for
the black boxes and plane parts still continues. The total bodies recovered were only 50. The bodies
found were sent to perform DNA tests to the Legal Medical nstitute in Brasilia. The United States of
America has also joined in the efforts.
LTTE chief Prabhakaran's body found (18th May 2009)
The Tigers of Tamil Eelam "Velupillai Prabhakaran has been shot dead and his body has also been
found by the Lankan army. His son "Charles Antony has also been shot dead. Prabhakaran's top aides
came out of their last hiding place in a small convoy of van and an ambulance and tried to drive out of
the war zone, but were gunned down. The Tiger chief was killed with two others, who are believed to
be his closest associates - LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Sea Tigers' chief Soosoi. The
deaths of the top LTTE leaders came a day after Tamil Tigers conceded defeat saying the decades-old
battle has reached its "bitter end" and they have decided to "silence" their guns.
Escaped BaIi Terror Suspect Is Caught in MaIaysia (8th May 2009)
A suspected terrorist leader who embarrassed Singapore last year by disappearing through a bathroom
window in a high-security prison has been caught in Malaysia. Mas Selamat bin Kastari, 47, was
arrested early last month, after Singapore Police failed to capture him. The Singapore government has
described Mr. Mas Selamat as the local leader of the regional slamist terrorist group Jemaah
slamiyah, which carried out the 2002 bombings in Bali, ndonesia. He was captured in southern
Malaysia, just across the Johor Strait from Singapore. An official investigation found that by letting the
water run in the bathroom and hanging a pair of pants over a ledge above the door, Mr. Mas Selamat
gave himself 11 minutes to make his getaway, even as a guard waited just outside the door. The
prisoner squeezed through the window, shinnied down a drainpipe onto a cushion of rolls of toilet
paper, climbed a fence and disappeared. He had asked for privacy in a bathroom as he changed.
Obama gets a 'B+ grade' for his presidency (29th April 2009)
Barack Obama celebrated his successful completion of 100 days (called as 'hallmark holiday') as US
president. Obama's first 100 days was fighting against global terror, an economic crisis worse than the
great depression of the 1930s and a pandemic, swine flu. He has made milestone changes in foreign
relations with Cuba and raq along with policy shifts towards China and Mexico. To improve economic
status, he has provided for 787-billion-dollar stimulus bill, along with environmental and health care
reforms on the launch. Robert Gibbs gave Obama a grade of "B plus," observing that 'there's always
room for improvement'. A survey on Obama's leadership showed positive reactions of the people and
63% approving his presidency.
Over 150 peopIe died due to Swine fIu in Mexico (29th April 2009)
The death toll has risen to 159 people in Mexico due to Swine flu disease. Out of a total of around
2,500 suspected cases of the virus, more than 1,300 people are reported to be in hospitals, some of
them 'seriously' ill. Most of the deaths occurred in Mexico City. Other affected states, such as
Aguascalientes and Veracruz have only seen a handful of deaths. The victims include all age groups
ranging from children, adults, and middle-aged people
6 kiIIed in murder-suicide bid in US (31st March 2009)
n a shocking incident 6 people, including 3 children, were shot dead and one critically injured
reportedly in a murder-suicide bid in Santa Clara, a city in the Silicon Valley. Media reports suggest that
an 'ndian passport' was found inside the house where the incident occurred.
The body of suspected shooter was found inside the house. Police also recovered two handguns used
in the killings. The killer was a man in his 40s. Mike Sellers, the Santa Clara Police Captain said, "t
does appear as though they (the victims) were related."
Titanic museum to open in U (31st March 2009)
A new museum charting the story of the Titanic could be built in Britain ahead of the 100th anniversary
of the ill-fated liner's sinking.
The 28 million pound museum in Southampton, from where the liner set sail in 1912 on her maiden
voyage, is set to feature a climb-aboard replica of the doomed ship, which hit an iceberg causing the
loss of 1523 lives.
BUSH GETS ATTACED BY SHOES IN IRAQ
An raqi TV reporter threw his shoes at President Bush during a news conference. Muntadhar al-Zaidi,
a reporter for the TV channel Al-Baghdadia, faced testing for alcohol and drugs to determine his state
of mind, said a government official.
At Sunday's news conference, the journalist whipped off his shoes and hurled them at Bush during the
president's unannounced stop in Baghdad. The reporter called his shoe-throwing, a traditional insult in
Arab culture, a "farewell kiss" to a "dog" who launched the 2003 invasion of raq
"This is the farewell kiss, you dog," the man shouted in Arabic. After the incident Bush apparently said
that he was ok and dismissed the incident as an example of a healthy democracy and an example of
free speech. LTTE LOSES MULLAITHIVU
The Sri Lankan military on Sunday announced the capture of Mullaithivu town, the last major settlement
of the LTTE in the only remaining district under its control. With this the Tigers are now confined to
Puthukkudiyiruppu and Vishwamadu areas in the same district.
The fall of Mullaithivu came three weeks after the military marched into Kilinochchi the administrative
and political headquarters of the Tigers. After Kilinochchi, the Tigers lost control of their strategic base
at Elephant Pass at the mouth of the Jaffna peninsula and the government gained total control of the A
9 highway for the first time since the departure of the ndian Peace Keeping Force (PKF) in 1990.
The rapid advance of the military into Mullaithivu town caught the political and diplomatic circles by
surprise. The manoeuvre was expected to take time in view of the large number of civilians in the war
zone, besides thick jungles and lagoons en route, not to mention the added threat of a possible attack
by the Tigers to defend their last citadel.
Mullaithivu town is situated in a narrow stretch of land between Nanthikandal lagoon and the ndian
Ocean. t has been under the control of the Tigers since 1996 and was considered their main military
base. ISRAEL ATTACS GAZA
sraeli warplanes killed 10 Palestinians on Tuesday in attacks that targeted Hamas government
buildings and other symbols of the slamist group on the fourth day of the fiercest air offensive in Gaza
in decades. sraeli missiles flattened five ministerial buildings and a structure belonging to the slamic
University in Gaza City, witnesses said.
The death toll from the attacks on Gaza continues to rise, reaching 345 dead with more than 1,400
injured. Hamas has retaliated against srael is with a deadly barrage of rockets that reached deep into
srael. With this evidence that airstrikes alone have not been able to stop all Hamas rocket launches,
srael is hinting that it will broaden its assault with a ground invasion:
srael hinted it was ready to broaden its assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip with a ground
operation after three days of air raids failed to bring an end to cross-border rocket attacks.
NationaI Current Affairs 2009
Sheikh Hasina chosen for Indira Gandhi Peace Prize (19th Nov 2009) Bangladesh Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina has been chosen for the prestigious ndira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and
Development this year for her "outstanding contribution to the promotion of democracy and pluralism".
After her re-election in December last year, Hasina embarked on her "Vision 2021", aimed at
transforming Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021, by eliminating poverty and inequity,
the Trust said. The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs. 25 lakh and a citation, would be presented
to her at a function to be held at a later date.
India retains 84th position among the worId's most corrupt nations (17th Nov 2009) Transparency
nternational has released their annual corruption index, and has ranked China as 79th and ndia 84th
out of 180 countries. The evaluation of the extent of corruption is based on opinion from country
experts resident and non-residents and business leaders. The corruption index measures perceived
levels of public sector corruption in a country. New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and
Switzerland are the top five least corrupt nations.
India second worst terror-hit country, says NGO (14th Nov 2009) ndia is the second worst
terrorism-afflicted country - behind only war-ravaged raq - facing eight terror attacks in 2008 alone and
losing over 3,500 lives in the last few years. Quoting a recent United States (US) report, city-based
NGO "Bombay First", said ndia follows raq in the number of lives lost in terror attacks last year.
.R. Narayanan Award for the Hindu Chief Editor N. Ram (13th Nov 2009) N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief
of Hindu has been chosen for this year's K.R. Narayanan Award for his outstanding contribution to
journalism in ndia. nstituted by the K.R. Narayanan Foundation in memory of the late President, the
award is to honor individuals who have excelled in various fields. t carries a statuette, citation and a
'ponnada.'
Madhu oda discharged, summoned by ED (9th November 2009)
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda was discharged from a hospital and will be questioned
by the ncome Tax department in a money laundering case on Nov 10 while the Enforcement
Directorate summoned him to appear before Nov 13 who is in the Rs 2,000 crore alleged Hawala and
illegal investments case.
India, Sweden to sign MOU on environment (5th November 2009)
ndia and Sweden are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on environment as
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeld visits ndia on Thursday for the 10th ndia-EU summit.The
MoU will cover climate change, clean technology, clean development mechanisms, environmental
protection, environmental governance and air-water quality.
Brave Rukhsana appointed as speciaI cop (2nd November 2009)
Rukhsana, the valiant and determined Jammu and Kashmir girl, who took on Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists
who barged into her house in September, has been appointed special police officer (SPO), a temporary
job which will fetch her Rs 3,000 a month. Rukhsana is currently in Delhi. Her brother, Aijaz, too has
been appointed SPO
Radhakrishnan takes over as new ISRO chief (31st October 2009)
Radhakrishnan, one of the key persons behind ndia's Chandrayaan-1 mission, on Saturday took over
as the Chairman of the ndian Space Research Organisation. Dr Radhakrishnan, also director of
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, succeeds Dr G Madhavan Nair. Dr K Radhakrishnan is an
accomplished technocrat with a distinguished career of more than 38 years in the fields of space
technology, applications and space programme management.
Dorjee handu became new chief minister of ArunachaI Pradesh (25th October 2009)
Dorjee Khandu, who led the Congress to a two-thirds majority in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly
elections, was sworn in as the fifth Chief Minister of the state. All the newly-elected MLAs were present
at the oath-taking ceremony. Khandu, a former army intelligence officer rewarded for his exploits during
the Bangladesh war, had turned a social activist before joining politics in 1980.
A.R.Rahman wins Ghent Award (23rd October 2009)
Oscar winner musician A. R. Rahman's 'Jai ho' has again won laurels at prestigious World Soundtrack
Academy awards in Ghent (Belgium).This song from SLUMDOG MLLONARE won "best original song
written for film" category at the ninth World Soundtrack Awards announced at Ghent.
Test fires nucIear-capabIe Prithvi-II missiIe(12th October 27, 2009)
ndia successfully test fired the nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi- missile twice from a test
range in Orissa, officials said. The missiles were fired from the ntegrated Test Range (TR) at
Chandipur in Balasore district, some 230 km from state capital Bhubaneswar first at 10.28 a.m. and
then again five minutes later at 10.33 a.m.
The tests were described as part of a "user trial. Two naval ships tracked and monitored both the
missiles hitting the targets accurately. All the radars and other sensors along the east coast monitored
the missiles' trajectory parameters. The missiles have a striking range of about 350 km.Prithvi is ndia's
first indigenously built ballistic missile. t is one of five missiles being developed under ndia's ntegrated
Guided Missile Development Programme (GMDP).Two versions of the missiles have already been
deployed with the Army and the Air Force. According to defense officials in the national capital, Prithvi
missile has the capability to carry 500-kg of warhead.
India can hoId 2010 Games: CWG OfficiaIs (10th October 2009)
The Commonwealth Games Federation officials have expressed buoyancy over ndia's capability to
host the 2010 event, after completing the second day of inspection.
Visiting shooting range in Tughlaqabad, Jamia Milia complex, the Rugby 7s facility in Delhi University
and Siri Fort Complex where the badminton event is scheduled to take place, the delegates were
convinced that the country could hold 'great' Games in 2010. n the press release released by the
committee, Australia's Don Stockins has been quoted as saying "So far it's good. The block that we
visited in the Games Village was good; if all end up like that it will be great. Delhi will be a great host
and it is a very pretty city." Jamaican Olympic Association Vice-President Donald Anderson has also
expressed confidence in ndia's facility to host the games next year.
US announce $100,000 aid for India's fIood victims (8th October 2009)
Heavy rain and floods have inundated many parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra
killing over 200 people and leaving millions homeless. The US announced $100,000 aid for the victims
of recent floods in parts of southern and western ndia.'The heart-breaking personal loss, the
destruction of homes and property, and the loss of cattle and crops have been devastating,' US
ambassador to ndia Timothy J. Roemer said while announcing the aid.
DoIphin is nationaI aquatic animaI (5th October 2009)
Dolphin is now ndia's national aquatic animal. The decision was taken following a suggestion by Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at a meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA),
chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the new status
for the dolphin would help save the rare freshwater species from disappearing from the country's aqua
map.
Major FIoods in Andhra and arnataka (4th October 2009)
Five days of torrential rain have left at least 205 people dead and 750,000 displaced in southern ndia,
authorities said. Floods submerged villages, severed transport and communication links and raised
fears of disease spreading in relief camps. Large parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states
which weeks ago were suffering a severe drought have been inundated. Air force helicopters dropped
food and drinking water packages to hundreds of cut-off villages. The flooding worsened after
authorities released water from rain-swollen reservoirs to prevent them from bursting their banks.
Air India Strike (29th September 2009)
Air ndia cancels over 20 flights, pilots agitation continues. With the agitation by Air ndia Executive
pilots entering the fourth day, the airlines cancelled over 20 flights, including 15 from the national
capital, and suspended bookings for the next 15 days.
Talks between the management and the striking Executive pilots failed to break the deadlock over the
issue of cut in perks. The agitation by the pilots, who are protesting against the cut in the Productivity
Linked ncentives (PL), is likely to intensify as the executive pilots working with the airlines before its
merger also joined them.
Chandrayaan-1 Not A FaiIure, Finds Water on Moon (24th September 2009)
ndia's first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has found evidence of large quantities of water on the lunar
surface, before the project was terminated by SRO. This discovery is credited to the Moon Mineralogy
Mapper (developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). NASA's Moon Mineralogy
Mapper (M3), an imaging spectrometer, was one of the 11 instruments on board Chandrayaan-. M3
was aimed at providing the first mineral map of the entire lunar surface. Lunar scientist's debate for
possibility of water repositories came to an end. Chandrayaan-1 was ndia's first unmanned lunar probe
which was launched by SRO on 22 October 2008. After suffering from several technical issues
including failure of the star sensors and poor thermal shielding, Chandrayaan stopped sending radio
signals on 29 August 2009 shortly after which, the SRO officially declared the mission over.
Chandrayaan operated for 312 days as opposed to the intended two years but the mission achieved 95
per cent of its planned objectives.
Six European sateIIites Iaunched by India (23th September 2009)
ndia successfully launched a cluster of six European micro-satellites into low-earth orbit after deploying
its 960 kg remote sensing satellite Oceansat-2 in the polar sun-synchronous orbit. Of the six micro-
satellites, four are from Germany and one each from Switzerland and Turkey, with a combined weight
of 20 kg. The first four tiny spacecraft, named Cubsats, are educational satellites from European
universities weighing around 1 kg and developed to perform technology demonstration in space. The
other two spacecrafts are named Rubin-9.1 and Rubin-9.2 weighing 8 kg each, are primarily used for
the automatic identification system for maritime applications.
Earthquake in North Eastern Region of India (21th September 2009)
An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale felt by people in parts of Assam, other north-eastern
states of ndia, West Bengal and neighboring Bhutan Monday afternoon causing damage to various
properties in both the countries. The duration of this earthquake was around 5 seconds. The epicenter
was plotted in Munggar in Bhutan. Munggar, is located along the ndia-Bhutan border, 125 km
northwest of Guwahati where the abnormal movement of earthquake was observed.
ProbIems in BJP party (4th September 2009)
The BJP seems to be in the docks after the Lok Sabha defeat. BJP has expelled Jaswant Singh,
Sudheendra Kulkarni, Khanduri from the party. Also BJP has decided to break ties with the ndian
National Lok Dal (NLD) in Haryana. BJP president Rajnath Singh also asked senior Rajasthan leader
Vasundhara Raje to resign as leader of opposition. n the party meet it has been decided that Advani
will resign as party opposition leader and will not be primeministerial candidate for the next election.
Seems like a lot of "Manthan or churning within the party.
Andhra CM YSR died in a chopper crash (3rd September 2009)
The Dynamic Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh is no more. Mr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy was on his way
to Chittoor from Hyderabad in a Helicopter. After sometime in flight, the chopper went missing in the
dense forest area of Nallamalalla hill range. A massive hunt for the missing aircraft was launched.
Three ndian Air Force (AF) helicopters from Bangalore were involved in finding about the helicopter
and the missing YSR. After a day, the missing chopper was found in a mangled state along with five
burnt bodies. About 100 people died of shock after hearing the news of YSR's death.
Almost all the state ministers, about 22 MPs and several Congress legislators have pitched for
Jaganmohan Reddy, son of Late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to be the next CM of Andhra Pradesh. The
Congress meanwhile is waiting for the euphoria to settle before deciding.
Mumbai TV actress arrested for abusing minor (22th August 2009)
A Mumbai actress has been arrested for allegedly abusing her 10-year-old maid. The TV actress,
Urvashi Dhaanorkar who reportedly brought the minor girl to Mumbai in the pretext of adoption and
education and kept her captive and tortured her. She had received burns and injuries. The girl told
reporters that she was roughed up by the actresses. The case came to light when one of the
neighbours found the girl in a bad condition and decided to go to the police. The police who rescued
the girl from the Raheja Classic Society in Andheri arrested the actress under the Child Abuse Act.
Indian Navy jet crashes, piIot feared dead (21th August 2009)
An ndian Navy fighter jet crashed into the Arabian Sea and the pilot is presumed dead. The jet, a
British-made Sea Harrier, plummeted into the sea 15 kilometers off Goa's coast. The cause of the
crash was not immediately known.
Bhindra honored with Rajiv Gandhi Award (20th August 2009)
ndia's first Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, Bollywood actors Shahid Kapoor and Katrina Kaif
and other young achievers were felicitated with prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Award.
Businessman buys Gandhi's home, pIans for museum (30th July 2009)
Mahatma Gandhi's Johannesburg house, has been bought by a Bandra businessman, Pradeep
Bhavnani for about Rs 2.25 crore on July 30. Mahatma Gandhi lived in this house from 1908 for three
years while he fought against the racial discrimination in South Africa as a lawyer. The house that was
designed by artist Hermann Kallenbach is called 'The Kraal'. Pradeep Bhavnani, who is senior BJP
leader L K Advani's nephew and a self-professed Gandhian is planning to turn it into a museum. After
buying the house, he intends to buy 34 souvenirs and photographs from the Aditya Birla Group to
install them in the museum. After inaugurating the museum on Oct 2, Gandhi's birth anniversary, it will
be handed over to Government of ndia on the same day.
Rajmata Gayatri Devi Iaid to rest (28th July 2009)
Rajmata Gayatri Devi passed away after a prolonged illness at the age of 90. The people of the city
gave their daily routines a miss to catch a glimpse of the Queen's last journey. They grieved the fact
that the only person who really cared about their grievances had passed away. The Queen was
cremated with State Honours and the event was graced by the presence of the Rajasthan Governor
Shailendra Kumar Singh and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, along with several members of the State
Cabinet.
CIass X girI seIected for NASA training (26th July 2009)
Palak Agarwal, is one of the two school girls selected from ndia for NASA training in space shuttle
designing. She is a student of 10th class in a school in remote Karnal dist. She was selected under a
student programme under which a few students across the globe get an opportunity to get training in
NASA.
PM Iaunches India's first nucIear submarine (26th July 2009)
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur launched the country's first nuclear powered
attack submarine, NS Arihant in Vishakhapatnam. The NS Arihant will be commissioned in the ndian
Navy after extensive outfitting and sea trials. t is the first of three such vessels to be built in the
country. ts length is 112-metre-long. ndia has achieved a 'historic milestone in the country's defence
preparedness' with the launch of the submarine.
BiII Gates to receive Indira Gandhi Peace Prize (23th July 2009)
Bill Gates has received the ndira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development on behalf of
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. n 2003, the foundation launched Avahan, a 10-year initiative to
support ndia's efforts to reduce the spread of HV.
India's first sea bridge (30th June 2009)
The Congress president Sonia Gandhi inaugurated the Bandra Worli sea link in Mumbai. The 5.6
kilometers long cable-stayed bridge has been designed to allow for speedy road travel between Bandra
and Worli. t costs Rs. 50 to take a trip on the link, and will cost Rs. 75 for a round trip. t would be
nothing compared to the Rs 100 crore per year that the link will save in the vehicle operating cost
alone. The link is equipped for traffic monitoring, emergency support and an automated toll system. The
construction of the sea link would save people's time.
Union minister threatens HC judge to grant baiI (30th June 2009)
R Regupathi, a Madras High Court judge has threatened to write to the central government and the
prime minister about a Union Minister seeking to influence him to release a medical student petitioner
and his father, a doctor on anticipatory bail. The Central Bureau of nvestigation (CB) has booked both
of them in connection with a forged mark sheet case.
Government to make cIass X examination optionaI (25th June 2009)
Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) has suggested that the
government may make class X examination optional for students. He said that the examination system
would be reformed in accordance with the National Curriculum framework-2005. This will permit
students to continue in the same school. Schools may take an internal assessment test instead. This
he says, will be done in 100 days.
Air Force AN-32 aircraft Crash (10th June 2009)
ndian Air Force, Army and paramilitary forces made a search for missing Air Force AN-32 aircraft
which crashed over Arunachal Pradesh. The AF began aerial reconnaissance to trace the transport
aircraft while Army and paramilitary forces too have been pressed into the search operation. There
were 13 people on board including six AF officers and seven Army personnel and all of them are
feared dead. The aircraft had taken off from Machuka in Arunachal Pradesh on a supply sortie and was
on its way to Mohanbari in Assam when it went off radar due to bad weather and crashed. The last
radio contact with the missing aircraft was 35 miles from Machuka. Top-level sources in AF say that
the flying crew of the AN-32 was highly experienced and bad weather is suspected to be the reason for
the crash.
FamiIy donates their dead son's organs to 7 peopIe (9th June 2009)
A family in Andhra Pradesh mourning the loss of their 19-year-old member Ganpati in a road accident
has ensured his legacy by donating his organs and transforming the lives of seven people. Johnson, a
six-year-old boy, was suffering from the dangerous blue baby syndrome but now a critical heart surgery
has ensured he would live healthily. t's not just Johnson but six other people, too, who have received
vital organs including the kidneys and liver donated from Ganapati's body. Ganapati had met with an
accident and was brought to hospital brain dead. Doctors counselled with the family. Though it wasn't
an easy decision for Ganapati's family to donate his organs, Ganapati's elder brother Pradeep went
ahead, believing that his brother will live on by this deed. Ganapati's family is unaware of the identities
of any of the seven people who have benefited from his organs. But they do find solace in the thought
that Ganapati continues to live on.
Dream Houses / Mumbai FIats on rent for Rs. 800/- (3rd June 2009)
The common people of Mumbai may now dream of affordable homes. An ambitious low-cost housing
programme promises to provide flats on rent for as less as Rs 800. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region
Development Authority (MMRDA) announced that they are going to construct 133,000 flats near the
city. The MMRDA, in collaboration with real estate giant HDL, will construct the flats on 525 acres in
Virar suburb in Thane district north of Mumbai. The project aims to house around 2 lakh people in the
flats. The rent for the flats will range from Rs 800 to Rs 1,500 per month. Each flat measures 160 sq ft
and will be given on lease for a period of five years. The Metropolitan Commissioner told that 90,000
(flats) are made for free-sale components and 43,000 are purely rental housing tenements of 160 sq
feet each. Only people with a minimum monthly income of Rs 5,000 will be eligible to apply for houses.
Applicants should preferably be residing in Maharashtra but it isn't a compulsory requirement. The
MMRDA also announced eight other low-cost housing projects in the city to house 5 lakh families in the
next few years. The authority will earn Rs 5,000 crore in rent and builders will benefit as they would be
allowed to construct taller buildings with more flats.
Oz RaciaI attack: AP student battIing for Iife ( 28th May 2009)
Shravan Kumar, a 25-year-old student was attacked by teenagers in Australia is battling for life after he
and three of his friends from Andhra Pradesh were attacked on May 26. Doctors are not 'very
optimistic' about chances of his recovery. Shravan was critically injured after one of the boys attacked
him with a screwdriver. The other three identified as A Krian, Subhash and Sandip escaped with minor
injuries. The attackers abused the ndian students and asked them to leave Australia. While Shravan is
still in hospital, the other three moved out of the house. This is the second attack on ndian students in
a week. Meanwhile there are reports that the house where Shravan and his friends were staying is
apparently robbed by some miscreants.
Congress' victory, credit to Sonia's inner voice ( 18th May 2009)
The amazing victory of the Congress Party and the pathetic defeat of the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls
2009 has come as a surprise. Nobody expected that the Congress will bag over 200 seats on its own
and cross 260 with its allies. All political Pundits and Sephologists were predicting highly fractured
result on 16 May 2009, the day of counting. But May 16 became a 'black Saturday' for the Bharatiya
Janata Party with an astonishing victory for the Congress. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi once again
made it clear that she is not in race for the PM post of ndia. Ms Gandhi had made her point clear that
Manmohan Singh is the Prime Ministerial candidate of Congress. This cleared a long standing doubt in
the minds of many ndians who are not happy to see a foreigner as ndia's Prime Minister. This worked
and converted into votes.
UPSC resuIts: Women on top, 791 succeeded (5th May 2009)
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam results for the year 2008 were announced. A
higher number of women have topped these numbers. The top three ranks have been grabbed by
women for the first time. The Rank 1 holder, 30-year-old Shubhra Saxena from Ghaziabad has become
the talk of the country. She told the media that the risk of quitting her job to serve the rural masses was
worth it.
River Ganga stiII reeIs under PoIIution (4th May 2009)
The river Ganga remains highly polluted even after being declared the 'National River' by the Central
Government. Filled with chemical wastes, sewage and even the remains of human and animal corpses,
it poses major health risks to around 400 million people living by its side and all others who benefit from
it. The Ganga also suffers from another major problem called silting which results into chocking of its
flow.
People believe that constructing dams on the Ganga could be the cause of low water level in the river.
The residents say no steps have been taken to improve the condition of the Ganga. The condition of
the Ganga is deteriorating by the day. There is more sand in it. Though it is declared a 'National River',
no efforts are being made to clean it. f water is released from the dam, then only the water level will
increase in the river. Efforts have always made to clean up the Ganga since a long time but none have
been proved successful.
Satyam bidding CompIeted: Tech Mahindra wins bidding (13th April 2009)
n the Satyam Computers bidding process, three huge companies namely Tech Mahindra, Engineering
L&T, and Wilbur Ross had participated. Tech Mahindra has won in the Satyam bid by paying Rs. 1757
crore and now has 31% stake in Satyam. Tech Mahindra will pay Rs 58 per share; L&T had offered to
pay of 49 Rs per share and so lost out.
GirI dies due to asthma in DeIhi SchooI (22nd April 2009)
Aakriti Bhatia of class 12 student of the Modern School in Vasant Vihar of Delhi died due to an asthma
attack. Her parent's alleged negligence by the school resulting in her death. t seems while taking
Aakriti to hospital the school authorities removed the oxygen provided to her, also instead of calling an
ambulance they waited for Akriti's father's car to take her to hospital, which could have lead to the
death. However the school claims that they did everything possible to save her. Other parents and
people are demonstrating against the school.
Parents protest fee hike in schooIs (April 2009)
Hundreds of parents opposing the fee hike in schools protested at various places in Delhi and
demanded its immediate rollback. The parents association of Guru Nanak Public School staged a
demonstration and criticized the school authorities over the fee hike. All ndia Parents Association
(APA) also extended its support to the demonstration. The children also shouted slogans from the
classrooms. The matter of fee hike has been challenged in the Delhi High Court. The court would hear
the case on April 29.
Tata Nano The PeopIe's Car Launched (23rd March 2009)
People's car 'Nano' launched amidst much waiting and expectation.
Tata Motor's 'Nano' was commercially launched in Mumbai on 23/3/09 promising to meet the
expectations of people under some circumstances which is likely to bring about a change in the auto
market in the nation
Modi minister heId in post-Godhra riot case (March 2009)
As prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and chief minister Narendra Modi on 27/3/09 launched the
BJP's campaign at the Kankaria lakefront, a few kilometres away, in Gandhinagar, Maya Kodnani, a
minister in Modi's cabinet, was arrested in one of the post-Godhra riot cases of 2002.
Minister of state for women and child welfare and higher education, Kodnani was arrested after the
Gujarat high court cancelled her anticipatory bail on Friday in the Naroda Patia and Naroda Gam riots
case. A trained gynaecologist, she resigned from the ministry and surrendered before the SC-
appointed Special nvestigation Team in Gandhinagar with VHP leader Jaideep Patel.
Varun guiIty; EC asks BJP not to fieId Varun (March 2009)
The Election Commission has found the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Varun Gandhi guilty of
making remarks against Muslims in an election rally in Pilibit and in the wake, violating polls laws. The
EC has also declared that the CD was not doctored and said that it will initiate criminal proceedings
against him.
The EC has also asked BJP not to give a ticket to contest polls in Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh.
"The commission considered the speeches as a grave violation of the model code of conduct, apart
from amounting to promoting feelings of enmity and hatred between different classes on the ground of
religion, outraging the religious feeling of a particular community, and promoting hatred and ill-will
between two classes of citizens and provoking a section of the citizens to indulge in violence."
"Any sponsorship of his candidature by the BJP, or any other political party at this election, would be
perceived as endorsing his unpardonable acts of inciting violence and creating feelings of enmity and
hatred between different classes of citizens of ndia, destroying the social, democratic and plural fabric
of the country," it said. SATYAM FRAUD
The fraud at Satyam may well turn out to be the biggest of all scams unearthed from corporate ndia.
Through multiple routes involving a large number of related companies and myriad transactions, the
promoters of Satyam Computer Services, led by the company's Chairman Ramalinga Raju, are alleged
to have siphoned out a huge quantity of money from the firm. To cover that up, the accounts were
manipulated and documents were forged to declare nonexistent cash reserves and understate
liabilities.
The money that was taken out may have been used, among other things, to acquire large quantities of
land in what seems to be a set of speculative real estate ventures that could enrich the family. The
Maytas companies that had titles that spelt Satyam in reverse were important conduits in this process,
but there were clearly many more. According to reports, the Registrar of Companies has found that
''Satyam's annual report reveals several transactions with subsidiaries and other group companies by
way of investments, purchase of assets and other receivables'' that point to the concealed transfer of
funds out of the company.
Shockingly, one of the allegations made by the Crime nvestigation Department (CD) of Andhra
Pradesh is that the company had only 40,000 employees on its rolls as compared with the 53,000
claimed by it and the remaining 13,000 were mere fake salary accounts through which as much as Rs.
20 crore a month were taken out of the company over a period of five years. f true, this involves
descent to a level of manipulation and fraud that could spell the end for Satyam. MANGALORE PUB
ATTAC
Activists of a self-styled pro-Hindu moral brigade called Sri Rama Sene barged into a pub in the coastal
city of Mangalore in january and bashed up a few young girls for 'violating traditional ndian norms'.
At least two girls were punched and their hair pulled by the activists 4 p.m. Saturday at the pub
Amnesia - The Lounge in Mangalore, about 350 km from Bangalore. The young men accompanying
the girls to the pub on the busy Balmatta Road were also assaulted when they tried to protect their
friends.
Following this shocking incident, at least 10 of the activists have been arrested by Mangalore police.
From the accounts given by the eyewitnesses, who did not want to be identified, the girls were the
target of attack. About 40 men forcibly entered the pub claiming unethical activities were on inside and
pushed their way inside. They began assaulting the young men and women who ran for safety. At least
two of the girls started screaming for help and managed to flee from the attackers.
The ugly incident has a murky dimension also with leaders of Sri Rama Sene and Bajrang Dal, another
pro-Hindu organisation fighting to take credit for the attack in the name of punishing those going
against 'traditional ndian norms'. RAILWAY BUDGET 2009
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav Friday presented his sixth rail budget in February.He is the first
Railway Minister to introduce the low fare air-conditioned trains known as "Garib Rath". Fifteen such
trains are already running and five more are expected to start in the near future.
The Railways minister cut rail fares across ticket categories by 2% and announced plans for 43 new
trains on Friday.
The fare cut will bring down rail fares on air-conditioned travel the most, mounting further pressure on
low-cost airlines, while fares for second-class, second-class sleeper, and general compartments will
also go down for tickets worth more than Rs 50 per passenger. Suburban commuters who use express
or mail trains will also see their ticket costs get Rs 1 cheaper.
The fare cuts, announced in the government's interim railway budget for 2009-10, are expected to set
the ndian Railways back by only around Rs 700 crore but will make little difference to its cash pile of
Rs 90,000 crore. n any case, Mr Prasad said a cut in fares would not necessarily lead to a loss of
revenues. The Railways has cut fares four times in as many years, lowering AC first class and AC two-
tier rates by 28% and 20%, respectively and taking the competition straight to the doors of the low-cost
airline sector.
The Minister also proposed starting 43 new trains during 2009-10, and said the Railways would extend
services of 14 existing trains. The frequency of various Rajdhani and other express trains will also be
increased taking into account the rise in the number of passengers. DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST
VALENTINE'S DAY
Activists of the Hindu fundamentalist political party Shiv Sena on Wednesday staged a token protest at
Central Delhis Jantar Mantar against St.Valentines Day celebrations in the capital. The activists said
that they viewed celebrations of St.Valentines Day contrary to ndian ethos and a proof of the growing
influence of western culture on rest of the world. Besides, the protestors said that the St.Valentines Day
was corrupting the ndian youth, as most of the youth on this day take advantage of the occasion and
indulge in immoral behaviour at public places.
Such protest were undertaken at quite a few places in ndia like Bhopal, Bangalore etc. n Uttar
Pradesh, Right-wing Hindu activists beat up young couples during Valentine's Day protests across the
country. Shiv Sena said it was holding protests across the country against Valentine's Day celebrations
which were against ndian culture and had a "corrupting influence" on ndian youth.
Protests by Hindu and Muslim groups were reported from the national capital Delhi, central Bhopal and
southern Hyderabad cities.Fifty activists of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party's student wing
attacked a shop selling Valentine's Day gifts in Hyderabad and set fire to the greeting cards. They
carried saffron flags and chanted slogans such as "Save Culture" and "Death to Valentine's Day."
Muslim groups also campaigned against Valentine's Day and displayed posters at public places asking
youth to refrain from celebrating the day.
n central Bhopal city, another Hindu right-wing group the Bajrang Dal held protests threatening to
marry off lovers found "misbehaving" in public places. Other Hindu religious organizations held protests
in the western Gujarat state distributing handbills to college students asking them to shun western
culture.
Valentine's Day has become popular in ndia over the past decade with shops selling romantic cards,
heart-shaped balloons, cuddly toys and other gifts. But the day has also seen regular protests by Hindu
and Muslim hardliners who claim the celebrations threaten ndian culture and social norms.
Sports 2009
Maradona fined and banned for fouI-mouthed tirade (16th Nov 2009) FFA's disciplinary body has
dished out a two month ban to Argentina's coach Diego Maradona, punishing him for the tirade after
this team grabbed a spot in the 2010 finals in South Africa.Apart from the ban effective from Nov 15 to
Jan 15, 2010, the body also slapped a fine of 25,000 Swiss francs ($24,600) on the football legend.
Novak Djokovic wins Paris Masters (15th Nov 2009) Third-seeded Novak Djokovic scrambled to a 6-
2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory over local favorite Gael Monfils to win the Paris Masters for the first time.The
victory gave Djokovic back-to-back ATP Tour titles after his win over top-ranked Roger Federer in the
Swiss ndoors final .The third-ranked Djokovic also beat World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in
Paris and will be a strong favorite when he'll try to defend his title at the eight-man ATP World Tour
Finals from Nov. 22-29 in London.
Bhupati and Paes exit Paris Masters in 2nd round (13th Nov 2009) Leander Paes and Mahesh
Bhupathi ended their campaign early in Paris Masters by making an exit in the second round with their
partners. Fourth seeded Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic were beaten 7-6(5), 4-6, 5-10 by
American Travis Parrott and Australian Jordan Kerr.
GoIden whistIe for Indian Hockey umpire (10th Nov 2009) Satinder Kumar has become the first
ndian umpire to get the golden whistle from the nternational Hockey Federation (FH) for officiating in
100 matches. Satinder is the 29th international umpire to get the honor, Hockey ndia said in a
statement. Satinder umpired in his 100th match at the ongoing World Cup Qualifiers in nvercargill,
New Zealand yesterday.
American swimmer Peter MarshaII beats own 50 backstroke worId record at short-course meet
(11th Nov 2009)
Peter Marshall of the United States has broken his own world record in the men's 50-meter backstroke
at a short-course World Cup meet. Marshall won the race in 22.73 seconds, beating his previous record
of 22.75 set in October in Durban, South Africa. t was the sixth world record set at the meet in
Stockholm. Earlier American teammate Jessica Hardy broke her own world record in the women's 50
breaststroke, finishing in 28.96.
AustraIia win series against India (11th Nov 2009)
Australia won the One-day nternational series against ndia 4-2 after the seventh and inconsequential
final match at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai was washed out due to cyclonic storm that hit the
western coast. The possibility of the match being played was remote due to heavy downpour in the city.
Murray beats Youzhny to win VaIencia Open tennis (8th Nov 2009)
Andy Murray won his sixth title of the season in his first tournament back from a wrist injury, beating
Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in the Valencia Open final. Murray won 26 of 29 first-serve points as
he improved his indoor record to 12-0 this season. Having saved two of three break points in the first
set, Murray jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second by dictating play from the baseline. He closed out
the victory with an ace.
Pankaj Advani wins bronze in Asian Indoor Games (7th Nov 2009)
Pankaj Advani capped his Asian ndoor Games campaign by winning a bronze medal in the English
Billiards singles' category. Advani blanked Myanmar's Kyaw 3-0 in the third place play off.
Indoor Asian Games: India win 2 goId on finaI day, end at 7th pIace (7th Nov 2009)
ndia claimed four medals, including 2 gold, on the final day of the competition to end the third Asian
ndoor Games on a high. ndia ended the continental event on seventh position with 40 medals- six
gold, nine silver and 25 bronze. M.C Mary Kom and Kavita Goyat won gold for ndia in the Asian ndoor
Games on Wednesday. The other ndians in the final, Sarita Devi and N. Usha lost their respective
bouts and had to contend with silver medals.
Schiavone wins women's remIin Cup finaI (26th October 2009)
Francesca Schiavone trounced Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-0 Sunday to capture the women's final at the
Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow. The talian, the event's eighth seed, lost just 11 points the
entire match, capping a week of avoiding the losses suffered by higher seeds in her second straight
final.
Davydenko beats NadaI to win Shanghai Masters (20th October 2009)
Shanghai Nikolay Davydenko upset top-seeded Rafael Nadal 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Sunday to win the
Shanghai Masters for his fourth title of the year. The sixth-seeded Davydenko broke decisively in the
sixth game of the second set to collect his 18th career title. His flat ground strokes and angled winners
denied the Spaniard a sixth title for this year and his first since the Rome Masters in May.Nadal had
reached the semifinals at Beijing last week on his return to the tour. The winner of six Grand Slam
tournament titles also was sidelined after the French Open for two months with tendinitis in both knees.
AustraIia wins Champions Trophy 2009 (6th October 2009)
Australia claimed their second successive Champions Trophy title in beating New Zealand by six
wickets in the final at Super Sport Park in Centurion, South Africa. Australia had a huge fight on their
hands at 2-6 against some inspired bowling, but Shane Watson again kept a cool head with his second
successive unbeaten century to steer Australia (4-206) side past New Zealand's 9-200.
India wins Compaq Cup 2009 (14th September 2009)
ndia wins the Compaq Cup tri-series after defeating Sri Lanka in a nail biting encounter. Chasing a
mammoth total, Sri Lankan showed brave face and reduced the defeat margin. After showing good
batting performance, ndian was poor at fielding and bowling. They dropped couple of easy catches
and missed run out chances. Finally managed to win by 46 runs.
CIisters Wins over Serena WiIIiams in U.S Open (13th September 2009)
On match point in the U.S. Open semifinals, defending champion Williams was penalized a point for
unsportsmanlike conduct a bizarre, ugly finish that gave a 6-4, 7-5 upset victory to Kim Clisters. The
match featured plenty of powerful ground strokes and lengthy exchanges.
EngIand Win the Ashes Series 2009 (23th August 2009)
England has regained the Ashes. Australia's defiance ended with England completing a 197 run victory
to spark loud scenes of celebration and jubilation at The Oval. Mike Hussey scored a dogged 121 as
Australia lived up to their promise of having a "crack at their history making target of 546 to win. But in
the end they ran out of batsmen and England cut through the tension in south London to regain the urn
surrendered in the whirl of an Ashes whitewash two years ago.
Sania Mirza cIinches Lexington ChaIIenger titIe (27th July 2009)
Sania Mirza defeated top-seed Frenchwoman Julie Coin 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to lift the nternational Tennis
Federation (TF) Lexington Challenger title. With this win, she climbed up three places in the latest
WTA singles rankings. She stands in the 80th place now. After the 2003 tournament, this was only the
second Challenger title for her.
Roger Federer and wife are proud parents of twins (24th July 2009)
Federer's wife, Mirka gave birth to twin girls Myla Rose and Charlene Riva. The children are healthy
along with their mother.
Sania & Sohrab exchange rings amid tight security (10th July 2009)
The Tennis star Sania Mirza exchanged rings with her childhood friend, Sohrab Mirza. The 22-year-old
Hyderabad girl wore the ring that signified her engagement with 23 year old MBA Student Sohrab
Mirza. The ceremony was graced by biggies like badminton player P Gopichand, Union Minister of
State for Human Resource D Purandareswari, her husband and legislator D Venkateshawara Rao,
Telugu film actor Vishnu and industrialist G V K Reddy. There was a tight security provided for the
event nearly 50 policemen surrounded the Taj hotel.
Federer Wins a record 15th Grand SIam TitIe (5th July 2009)
Roger Federer, the world no 1, has won the Wimbledon title in the men's single event for the sixth time
and crossed the record of 14 Grand Slam titles set by Pete Sampras. Federer defeated Andy Roddick
in one of the most interesting finals in the Wimbledon in London. The five setter final was won by
Federer 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6 and 16-14.
SushiI umar wins goId medaI in wrestIing (28th June 2009)
Sushil Kumar won the gold medal in style, after emerging the champion in the 66 kg freestyle category.
ndia won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals, accounting for a total of five medals. Rahul
Balasaheb secured the gold medal in the 55 kg freestyle category. n 120 Kg freestyle category, Rajiv
Tomar secured the silver medal, Ravinder Singh and Ramesh Kumar won the bronze in the 60 kg
Greco Roman in 74 kg freestyle categories respectively.
Pakistan wins Twenty20 WorId Cup (22nd June 2009)
The Pakistan Team had scored a sensational victory against Sri Lanka and won the T20 World cup.
Pakistan achieved a139-run target for the loss of two wickets with eight balls to spare. This win is the
first major trophy since 1992, when mran Khan led them to victory in the 50-over World Cup in
Australia. As Pakistan scored the winning run with Shahid Afridi, people danced with joy, fired up
crackers and celebrated by distributing sweets at Lahore.
India knocked out of WorId T20 (15th June 2009)
Defending champion ndia was knocked out of the World Twenty20 title race after a three-run defeat at
the hands of an inspired England in the Super Eight match. Chasing a modest victory target of 154,
ndia's batting order crumbled when it mattered most and the defending champions could manage only
150 for five.
Federer won French Open (7th June 2009)
Roger Federer has won the French Open title by defeating Robin Soderling. The scores were 6-1, 7-6
(1), 6-4. The 14th major title won by Federer breaks the Pete Sampras record. He has now become the
sixth man to win all four Grand Slam championships. Federer won his 14th Grand Slam championship
at the age of 27. He will now try for the 15th Grand Slam title beginning in two weeks at Wimbledon,
which he has won five times already. He has also won the US Open for the past five years, and he has
three Australian Open titles with him.
Anand wins Chess Oscar for sixth time ( 8th May 2009)
The World Champion Viswanathan Anand continued to dominate supreme bagging the Chess Oscar
for the sixth time and becoming the first non-Russian to do so. He received the award from
nternational Chess Federation (FDE) President Kirsan lyumzhinov being contested between teams of
Azerbaijan and FDE World, in Baku. The ndian ace has earlier won the honour in 1997, 1998, 2003,
2004 and 2007 while Russia's Garry Kasparov has claimed it 11 times and Bobby Fischer of America
has taken it home thrice. The Chess Oscar is awarded by Russian chess magazine '64 - Chess
Review' on the basis of a poll carried out among chess journalists and experts. The Oscar comes in the
form of a statuette also called the "Fascinated Wanderer".
Brasa appointed Indian men's hockey coach ( 1st May 2009)
Spain's master coach Jose Brasa has been appointed as the new chief coach of the ndian men's
hockey team. Pravir Krishna, the Joint Secretary of Union Ministry of Sports said "Brasa will soon join
the ndian men's hockey team as the chief coach". He also informed that Brasa was handed a two-year
contract, but didn't rule out the chances of his agreement being extended till the 2012 London
Olympics. The Spaniard put forth a list of demands, including a free hand in running the team, the need
for technology and a good physiotherapist, and a support staff of 14 people, including two from Spain.
The Sports Ministry accepted his demands. The official also informed that Brasa would be coming to
ndia early next week to formally take charge of his duties.
BCCI nominates Gambhir, JhuIan for Arjuna award (30th April 2009)
The Board of Control for Cricket in ndia has recommended batman Gautam Gambhir and women's
team captain Jhulan Gosawmi for the esteemed sports award, the Arjuna Award.Gambhir, opener has
scored 1,579 test runs at an average of 75.19, and 1,494 runs at 46.38 in ODs. Jhulan won the CC
Women Cricketer of the Year Award in 2007.
Book on TenduIkar reIeased (24th April 2009)
A book, titled 'f Cricket s a Religion, Sachin is God' was released on Sachin's 36th birthday. The
authors of the book are Vijay Santhanam and Shyam Balasubramaniam who are graduates of M
(Ahmedabad). They believe that Tendulkar is one of the greatest sportspersons of our times and surely
the finest cricketer of our times. The most remarkable thing about Tendulkar is the way he has handled
himself and his fame right from his early teens, they feel.
India seaIs historic win in NZ after 41yrs (7th April 2009)
Though rain stopped ndia from winning the third and final test against New Zealand at Basin Reserve
in Wellington, it sealed the historic 1-0 series victory on Apr 7 after 41 years. The last time ndia won a
series in New Zealand was under the captaincy of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi in 1967-68. ndia had won
the first Test in Hamilton by 10 wickets and drew the second Test in Napier.
India win HamiIton Test, a win in NZ after 33 years (21st March 2009)
Dominant ndia defeated New Zealand by 10 wickets in the 1st Test to take 1-0 lead. This is ndia's first
Test win in New Zealand since 1976.
ndia wrapped up New Zealand's second innings on 279 with the hosts giving a 38-run lead in the 1st
Test. Harbhajan Singh took six wickets for his side.
India thrash New ZeaIand to seaI ODI series (Feb 2009)
ndia won the One day series against new zeland soil at first time.
Science and TechnoIogy 2009
NASA signs agreement with ISRO for use of Indian sateIIite oceansat-2 (19th Nov 2009) US space
agency NASA has signed an agreement with SRO to use data from ndian satellite Oceansat-2, for
various American agencies for research activities, including weather forecasting. Launched on
September 23, 2009 using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Sriharikota, Oceansat-2 is designed
to provide service continuity for operational users of the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) instrument on
Oceansat-1.
Scientists Create Bacteria that Light Up Around Landmines (16th Nov 2009) A stunning 87
countries around the world are still littered with undetonated landmines, and their impact is devastating.
Thousands of people are killed or injured by mines every year, and they pose a grave threat to
ecosystems and wildlife. But an unexpected solution may be on the way--scientists have developed a
special kind of bacteria that actually begins to glow in the presence of landmines. Scientists produced
the bacteria using a new technique called BioBricking, which manipulates packages of DNA. The
bacteria are then mixed into a colorless solution, which forms green patches when sprayed onto ground
where mines are buried. The bacterial stew can also be dropped via airplane in extremely sensitive
areas. Then, only a few hours after it's sprayed or dropped, the bacteria begins to glow green if it's next
to an undetonated explosive. This, of course, would be an invaluable asset in the ongoing quest to rid
nations like Somalia, Bosnia, and Cambodia of their atrocious, deadly minefields. Scientists are
especially optimistic about the bacteria because the solution is cheap and easy to mass produce.
"Significant" Moon Water ReIeased by NASA Crashes (13th Nov 2009) n October, NASA crashed
a two-ton rocket and the SUV-size LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) into the
permanently shadowed crater Cabeus on the moon's South Pole. The crashes were part of an effort to
kick up evidence of moon water. The LCROSS team took the known near-infrared light signature of
water and compared it to the impact spectra LCROSS near-infrared recorded after the probe had sent
its spent rocket crashing into the moon. They have good fits with each other. Additional support for
moon water came from LCROSS's ultraviolet spectrometer, which detected energy signatures
associated with hydroxyl, a byproduct of the breakup of water by sunlight.
New ocean forming in African desert (5th Nov 2009)
Geologists have confirmed that the African continent is being torn in two, forming a new ocean. An
international collaboration has shown that a 35 mile long rift in the Afar region of the Ethiopian desert,
which opened in 2005, is likely to be the beginning of a new sea. The recent study, published in the
journal Geophysical Research Letters, brings together seismic data from the formation of the rift,
showing that it is driven by similar processes to those at the bottom of oceans.
Snow on Mt. iIimanjaro to meIt in twenty years (3rd Nov 2009)
Scientists at the Ohio University predicted that the ice sheets of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's tallest
mountain peak, will melt in the next twenty years due to global warming. The ice that was present in
1912 gradually decreased by 85% by 2000, and by 2007 another 26% of the amount in 2000. This was
the first time that the volume of the ice in Kilimanjaro was measured. The tests were conducted by
Lonnie Thompson, a professor at Ohio University.
Scientists report discovery of 32 new exopIanets (20th Oct 2009)
With help from the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), scientists have reported
the discovery of 32 new exoplanets. The latest batch of exoplanets announced comprises not less than
32 new discoveries. ncluding these new results, data from HARPS have led to the discovery of more
than 75 exoplanets in 30 different planetary systems.
NobeI Prize in Chemistry to India-born scientist (October 7 2009)
Three Americans won 2009 Nobel Prize and one among them is ndia-born. They are Venkatraman
Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath. Ramakrishnan is ndia-born American and Ada Yonath
is sraeli. They were awarded with Nobel Prize in chemistry for mapping ribosomes. t is the protein-
producing factories within body cells, at the atomic level.
NASA teIescope discovers giant ring around Saturn (October 7 2009)
The Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered the biggest but never-before-seen ring around the planet
Saturn, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced. The thin array of ice and dust particles lies at
the far reaches of the Saturnian system and its orbit is tilted 27 degrees from the planet's main ring
plane, the laboratory said. Although the ring dust is very cold minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit it
shines with thermal radiation.
13-year-oId Indian to address UN cIimate change summit (September 21 2009)
A 13-year-old ndian girl from Lucknow, Yugratna Srivastava has won the honour to address US
President Barack Obama, President Hu Jintao of China and other world leaders on behalf of the world's
three billion youth and children. The UN summit that Yugratna would address is part of the UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's campaign to bring about a fair and ratifiable green house gas
reduction agreement at this year's Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. "World leaders must
recognise the energy and potential which lies in children and youth. This age group is just like flowing
rivers and they make their own way in the direction in which they march," said Yugratna, a lively,
committed and very passionate teenager.
Largest ever teIescope Iaunched from French Guiana ( May 15 2009)
Ariane 5 rocket, the world's largest telescope was launched on May 15 from the Kourou spaceport in
French Guiana to investigate the origins of the universe. The Herschel telescope was developed by the
European Space Agency (ESA) at a cost of 1.1 billion euros ($1.49 billion). The main objective of the
telescope is to determine how the stars and galaxies are formed in the universe. The Physicist Albrecht
Poglitsch, of the Max Planck nstitute for Extraterrestrial Physics, worked on the development of
Herschel's instruments. The stars are comprised of gas and dust, a mix that makes it impossible to see
into the star itself with light. Herschel's strength is to enable a look into the gas-dust clouds. The
primary mirror of the Herschel telescope is 3.5 meters in diameter, more than four times larger than
those of previous infrared space telescopes and almost one and a half times larger than the Hubble
space telescope. Herschel will tap into previously unexplored wavelengths and examine phenomena
that had been out of reach for other observatories. The telescope will begin to carry out its three-and-a-
half-year mission in about a month.
First face transpIant patient in US shows face ( 6th May 2009)
Five years ago, Connie Culp, 46-year-old woman in a shotgun blast left a ghastly hole in the middle of
her face. Five months ago, she received a new face from a dead woman. She stepped forward to show
off the results of the nation's first face transplant, and her new look was a far cry from the puckered,
noseless sight that made children run away in horror. Culp's expressions are still a bit wooden, but she
can talk, smile, smell and taste her food again. Her speech is at times a little tough to understand. Her
face is bloated and squarish, and her skin droops in big folds that doctors plan to pare away as her
circulation improves and her nerves grow, animating her new muscles.
U scientists to deveIop Swine FIu vaccine (4th May 2009)
As the world is getting ready to fight against Swine Flu (H1N1 virus), researchers from all over the
world have stepped up to build a vaccine to fight the scary disease.
A team from National nstitute for Biological Standards and Control (NBSC) in Hertfordshire had
started their work for developing a vaccine against the H1N1 virus. The researchers aim to drill a hole
in hen's egg, considered for growing up flu viruses. The process involves injecting a small amount of
virus into each egg. The scientists are using two different techniques for the process.
The first one is 'reverse genetics', where scientists take the H and the N surface proteins from the
H1N1 virus and mix them with a laboratory virus known as PR8. This leads to a creation of a harmless
hybrid virus, which can be used for the vaccine.
The second technique involves injecting both the H1N1 and PR8 viruses into eggs and allowing the
hybrid strain to be created through a natural re-assortment of their genes. The vaccine will work by
dodging the immune system into it has been infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus so that it creates
antibodies against it. The researchers hope that the first seed strain of H1N1 swine flu vaccine will be
ready in three to four weeks. t will then take another four or five months for vaccine manufacturers to
produce the vaccine in bulk.
PET bottIes potentiaI heaIth hazard (29th April 2009)
Wagner, a lead researcher stated, "Drinking water from PET plastic bottles is harmful to human health.
t has a higher probability of drinking estrogenic compounds (which affects reproductive hormones)
through water. He analysed 20 samples of mineral water. Nine samples came out of glass bottles, nine
were bottled in PET plastic and two were in cardboard. The specialised yeast, which change colour in
the presence of estrogen like compounds, revealed estrogenic activity in seven of the nine plastic
bottles (and both cardboard samples), and compared with just three of the nine glass ones. The levels
of these compounds in the water were surprisingly high.
ISRO Iaunches RISAT-2 (20th April 2009)
The ndian Space Research Organisation successfully launched a revolutionary spy satellite RSAT-2.
t is designed by the sraeli Aerospace ndustries. t can take images through the thickest cloud cover,
rain and snow or fog conditions during night and day or even of the hundreds of winding mountain
valleys. t will be used extensively for purposes like mapping, managing natural disasters and surveying
the seas, it can also see through camouflage like cloth or foliage used to conceal camps or vehicles. t
will enable ndia to keep a watch on terror camps, military installations across boundaries, missile sites
and suchlike. t should also help keep track of ships at sea that could pose a threat. The RSAT will
reduce ndia's dependence on foreign suppliers like konos for satellite imagery.
March
Discovery Crew Returns Home From ISS
The Discovery space shuttle crew returned home to the Johnson Space Center in Houston on
Sunday(29/3/09) after completing a 12-day mission.
Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:14 p.m. Saturday(28/3/09), after
traveling more than 5.3 million miles. ts crew delivered solar arrays to help power the nternational
Space Station and science experiments taking place there. The astronauts completed three space
walks, lasting more than six hours each, to install, repair, and maintain equipment for the station.
The STS-119 flight marked the first trip to space and the first spacewalks for former science teachers
Joseph Acaba and Richard Arnold. Both are now NASA astronauts. The flight was Discovery's 36th trip
to space. t marked the 125th space shuttle mission and the 28th shuttle trip to the space station.
Internet Crime Up 33 Percent, FBI Reports
nternet-based crime increased by 33 percent last year, making 2008 the biggest year ever for reported
cybercrime incidents, according to an nternet Crime Complaint Center annual report.
The CCC, a nonprofit organization run by the FB and the National White Collar Crime Center
dedicated to monitoring online fraud, issued a report Monday showing that fraud losses incurred from
cybercrime reached a total of $264.6 million in 2008, compared to $239.1 million the previous year,
Reuters reports. Losses in recent years pose a sharp contrast to cybercrime losses of $18 million in
2001.
"2009 is shaping up to be a very busy year in terms of cybercrime," said John Kane, director of the
National White Collar Crime Center based in Richmond, Va., and the report's author, to Reuters.
Adobe, Facebook partner to create FIash deveIoper tooIs
Adobe has partnered with one of the most popular social networking Web sites, Facebook, to give
developers a new set of tools to create applications.
The applications will use Adobe's Flash platform and the new ActionScript 3 Client Library for
Facebook the two companies developed together. The client library is a free open source programming
language that supports Facebook application programming interfaces (APs) including Facebook
Connect.
Microsoft to discontinue Encarta
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) is to exit its Encarta encyclopedia business later this year after losing ground
over the years to freely available reference material on the nternet on web sites like Wikipedia.
"People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past," the
software maker said in a notice posted on its MSN website.
Microsoft, which axed 5,000 jobs earlier this year to cut costs and warned profit and revenue would fall
over the next two quarters, said it would stop selling Encarta software products by June. Encarta
websites worldwide, except Encarta Japan, would be discontinued on October 31 and Encarta Japan
will cease after December 31, the company said.
Obama to restore stem ceII research funding
US President Barack Obama on Monday signed an executive order reversing Bush administration
restrictions on Federal funding for stem cell research. He said that he would ensure that all research on
stem cells would be conducted ethically and with rigorous oversight.
This move would be in line with Mr Obama's campaign vow to restore funding to embryonic stem cell
research.This development impressed scientists who have long campaigned for the Bush policy to be
overturned, but will likely be condemned by conservative right-to-life groups.
Mr Bush barred Federal funding from supporting work on new lines of stem cells derived from human
embryos in 2001, allowing research only on a small number of embryonic stem-cell lines which existed
at that time.He argued that using human embryos for scientific research - which often involves their
destruction - crossed a moral barrier and urged scientists to consider other alternatives. Embryonic
stem cells are primitive cells from early-stage embryos capable of developing into almost every tissue
of the body.
India To Send Sun Mission Aditya In 2012
After the successful launch of the moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, ndian Space Research Organisation
(SRO) is now gearing up for a mission to the sun. The proposed sun mission christened as "Mission
Aditya", is aimed at unraveling the secrets of the sun. G Madhavan Nair, chairman of the ndian space
agency SRO, announced that, the agency is ready with its new space programme to explore the
corona of the Sun in 2012.
"Mission Aditya" will find out answers for how and why solar flares and solar winds disturb the
communication network and play havoc with electronics on the earth. t will also uncover the mysteries
surrounding the sun's corona that create geomagnetic field disturbances on the earth and often
damage man-made satellites and spacecraft moving in the sky under intense sunlight.
Though the sun mission of SRO has been on the cards for quite some time now, it got a boost after the
successful launch of Chandrayaan-1. The success of the Aditya Mission will provide vital clues to SRO
to protect its satellites and spaceware from being damaged by hot winds and flares ejected out of the
sun's corona.
Indian-American Scientist Vivek Pai Creates Top Web TechnoIogy
The researchers' team led by ndian American scientist Vivek Pai has developed a revolutionary way to
expand internet access around the world. The team of Princeton University computer science
researchers created a new efficient data storage system called HashCache which got listed as one of
the top emerging technologies of the year in scientific magazine, Technology Review. The scientific
magazine is being published by Massachusetts nstitute of Technology.
HashCache claims to store information more efficiently than current methods. The newly created data-
caching system is expected to expand web use in developing regions around the world by making
internet access more affordable. The new data storage system increases the possibilities of expanding
internet facility across the poorer regions as it is very affordable. Compared to RAM, HashCache is
capable of storing more information from frequently visited web sites on a local hard drive thereby
enabling direct data access. Vivek Pai explained that by increasing the efficiency of internet data
transfer, HashCache can reduce the cost of maintaining a hard drive.
February
Indian Scientists To CIone Pashmina Goat
A team of scientists from Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana is working on a project to clone the famous
pashmina goat. A success in this direction is expected to give boost to the dwindling trade in pashmina
wool. The project is under a World Bank aided project known as National Agriculture nnovation
Project.
The project 'Value Chain on Zone Free Cloned Embryos Production and Development of Elite Germ
Plasma Pashmina' hopes to change the pashmina production scenario in the state. A six-member team
will use somatic cells of the goat to clone the cell to produce new pashmina goat. Scientists will use a
hand-guided cloning technique and the four-phased project will run for next three years.
NASA's epIer Mission To Begin Quest To Find PIanets Hosting Life
NASA's Kepler spacecraft is all set to begin its maiden journey in search for worlds that could
potentially host life. The spacecraft is scheduled to blast-off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in
Florida aboard a Delta rocket on March 5, 2009. Kepler is the first mission with the ability to find
planets like Earth. The mission will study rocky planets that orbit sun-like stars in a warm zone where
liquid water could be maintained on the surface that is believed to be essential for the formation of life.
The mission will spend three-and-a-half years in the space. t will survey more than 100,000 sun-like
stars in the Cygnus-Lyra region of our Milky Way galaxy. t is expected to find hundreds of planets of
the size of earth and larger, at various distances from their stars.
ISRO To Use Home-Grown Cryogenic Engine For GSLV Launch
The ndia Space Research Organisation (SRO) will use an indigenously developed cryogenic engine
to launch the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). Reports say that RSO will undertake
the launch operation in July this year. The use of home-grown cryogenic engine to put GSAT-4 into
orbit will end ndia's dependency on Russia. ndia has been importing the cryogenic engines from
Russia since 1991. So far, ndia has launched five GSLV rockets. But now SRO has developed its own
cryogenic engines and all the tests have been completed successfully, the source added.
The launch of GSAT-4 communication satellite using an indigenously developed cryogenic engine will
provide internet connectivity in remote villages. The SRO is also considering to use the GSLV for the
Chandrayaan- mission scheduled for 2012. Earlier, SRO used PSLV to launch Chandrayaan-.
January
1.WorId's First Internet Car Radio UnveiIed
The Australian researchers have developed a new internet car radio for the first time which enables the
users to access 30,000 stations including online broadcasts and AM and FM stations from all round the
globe. The internet car radio developed by Melbourne-based online radio aggregator miRoamer was
launched in prototype form at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. miRoamer has
signed a deal with German-based Blaupunkt which is one of the largest producers of car radios in the
world.
Under the new deal, Blaupunkt will produce internet radios which will be fitted in latest models by car
manufacturers such as Ford, Holden, Mercedes, BMW and Audi. The internet radio will also be sold
separately for those who want to install it in their cars. t is very imperative that radio lovers will prefer
internet car radio to traditional broadcasters as it offers a huge number of stations from all over the
world. The new product is expected to be launched in the US and Europe in the second half of 2009. n
more ways than one, the internet car radio is going to revolutionise the way people listen to radio.
2.MotoroIa UnveiIs CeIIphone Made From RecycIed Water BottIes
Motorola has unveiled a new kind of mobile phone called MOTO W233 Renew which is made from
recycled plastic water bottles. According to the handset manufacturing company, MOTO W233 Renew
is also a carbon neutral phone. The company is said to have collaborated with Carbonfund.org to
manufacture the new mobile phone. nterestingly the container that holds the phone is also made from
recycled material.
n order to uplift its recycling program for mobile phones and accessories, Motorola has also entrusted
another postage-paid box with the MOTO W233 Renew which can be used by customers to mail their
old phones back to the company for recycling. The postage-paid box is also made from recycled paper,
claimed Motorola.
The new MOTO W233 Renew offers nine hours of talk time with ChrystalTalk technology and has
messaging capabilities. The new mobile handset from Motorola is expected to be launched at the 2009
nternational CES in Las Vegas. The phone will be available in the market by the first quarter of 2009.
MOTO W233 Renew has been designed for eco-conscious consumers as well as for those who loves
to make phone calls. The recycling program of Motorola is ready to accept any mobile phone or
accessory for recycling which it feels will help to recover valuable materials for reuse that will reduce
environmental impact.
3.U Doctors DeIiver Cancer-Proof Baby
The first British baby genetically selected to be free of a breast cancer gene has been born. She grew
from an embryo screened to ensure it did not contain the faulty BRCA1 gene, which passes the risk of
breast cancer down generations.
According to the sources of University College Hospital in London the mother, a 27-year-old Londoner,
and her little girl were in very good condition. Women in three generations of the father's family have
been diagnosed with the disease in their 20s, including his mother, grandmother, sister and cousin.
A girl born with the altered BRCA1 gene have a 50-80% chance of developing breast cancer - but
screening can prevent this. The technique used is known as Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD),
which involves taking a cell from an embryo at the eight-cell stage of development, when it is around
three-days old, and testing it.
The treatment follows the green-signal given by Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority
in 2006, which said doctors could test for 'susceptibility genes' such as BRCA1. A properly functioning
BRCA1 protein helps stop cancer before it starts but faulty genes greatly increase the risk of cancer.
BRCA1 and a related version of another gene, BRCA2, account for around 5% of breast cancer.
Sony To Launch WorId's Lightest 8-Inch Notebook PC
n a bid to capture the rapidly growing market for ultra-portable personal computers, Sony Corp of
Japan decided to launch 8-inch notebook PC which is considered to be one of the lightest laptops in
the world. The new Sony Vaio PC will have Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista operating system.
Windows Vista operating system incorporated in Sony laptops will support all the software programs
found in full-sized notebooks.
While revealing the plan, Sony said that the new notebook weighs only 1.4 pounds and it is as thin as a
mobile phone. The notebooks will available for pre-orders and were released in the market in the first
week of February 2009. the Sony notebook is priced at about $900, setting itself apart from Netbooks.
The Red Planet Of Mars May Have Life On t
NASA, the space agency of USA, may be ready to announce alien microbes living below the Martian
soil are the cause of a methane haze surrounding the Red Planet of Mars.
Researchers from around the world have shown a greater interest in the Red Planet, as possible traces
of water and ice dust have raised hopes of discovering signs of life on or underneath the planet's
surface. Even though methane is created on Earth by volcanoes, scientists haven't found any active
volcanoes on the Red Planet.
n addition, it seems NASA researchers found high levels of methane in the same regions as water
vapor clouds, which are absolutely necessary for life. The study was conducted during a seven year
examination of the planet.
Indian Scientists Conduct Anti-Warming Experiment In Antarctic Ocean
A group of scientists from ndia and Germany jointly conducted an anti-warming experiment in Antarctic
Ocean. t is believed that the experiment may find out a possible solution to on-going global warming
crisis. The scientists began their experiment by scattering iron powder on hundreds of square
kilometres of the Antarctic Ocean. The iron powder will fertilize the growth of phytoplankton which will
eventually remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and take it deep under the ocean surface.
The technology of iron fertilization is likely to stop global warming at a very little cost. About six tonnes
of iron are to be scattered on 300 sq km of sea. The group of scientists which left Cape Town on board
the Polarstern on January 7 includes thirty ndian and 18 from other nations. The tiny organism called
phytoplankton can eliminate carbon dioxide which is the main greenhouse gas contributing to global
warming. The technology used by the ndian and German scientists can be path-breaking one in
curbing global warming which stands out to be a major threat to mankind.

Imprints of 2009 on The Year 2010

As usuaI, the year wiII be fuII of events and happenings, and expectations Iike any other year. 2010 wiII be
different from the year 2009 in many ways, but the opinions, ideas, and decisions of 2009 wouId certainIy
impact and shape the course of 2010. In the present year, we wouId cIoseIy foIIow some important
deveIopments of 2009 that wouId concIude or couId transform in this year.
In 2010, recovery of the worId economy from gIobaI economic recession wiII be tracked aII aIong the year.
It is a big question for aII us whether we wouId be abIe to overcome the gIobaI meItdown compIeteIy or just
survive it with counter actions and gain marginaI growth, or as some anaIysts predict face future crisis.
The gIobaI sIowdown continued in the whoIe of 2009 with signs of recovery in economic indicators of
many Nations, positive economic growth for some and negative in others. According to WorId Bank and
other predictions, worId economy in 2010 wiII have sIuggish growth with a growth rate of 2%. But, the
recovery rate of economies wiII vary across the gIobe. Emerging economies are expected to recover faster
compared to USA, Germany, France and other deveIoped Nations. Asian economies Iike China, India and
Indonesia wiII pIay a big roIe in reversing the crisis. It is viewed that US economy wiII have a Iimited and
uneven growth; the unempIoyment rate couId go down. WhiIe many economies in 2010, incIuding
deveIoped ones predictabIy wiII continue to suffer.
The progress of gIobaI economy wiII depend much on new and revised reguIations for stabIe financiaI
system, baIanced growth between sociaI and private sectors, Iiquidity rates and government spending.
Long-term effective soIutions, continuation of stimuIus packages and a unified approach to soIve the
crisis wiII be very essentiaI for gIobaI recovery.
The Indian economy registered a good 7.9% growth in the third quarter of 2009, which was mostIy powered
by the private sector. In 2010, India is expected to have a strong performance making it to bounce back
from the recession. The economy is predicted to post a growth of 7-8% in 2010. On the other hand, fiscaI
deficit, high infIation and future threats can chaIIenge the growth rate.
Year 2009 saw increased foreign institutionaI investments in India, resuIting in Rupee appreciation against
a weakening DoIIar. With high Iiquidity rate this scenario couId continue in 2010. For Indian stock markets,
2009 was a good year as it attracted Iarge FIIs. If FII infIow continues in 2010, stock markets are expected
to do weII. The IndustriaI growth raised by 11.7% in November 2009 because of increase in demand and
production, and a boost given by consumer durabIes sector. Future of this sector in 2010 wiII IargeIy
depend on eIectricity production. In 2009, export markets suffered due to Rupee appreciation and
decrease in demands. To tackIe this situation, the commerce ministry wiII announce financiaI aids to
certain export sectors this year.
In the previous year, agricuIture productivity was hit by poor monsoon. Owing to deficient monsoon,
market constraints and other financiaI factors the year witnessed high food infIation rates. AnaIysts
predict this condition is expected to prevaiI in 2010.
Moving from economy to environment, 2009 observed discussions and debates on gIobaI warming and
cIimate change. 15th Conference of the Parties was heId in Copenhagen in December this year, to sign a
gIobaI cIimate agreement on IegaIIy binding emission reducing targets. The meeting ended without signing
an agreement. AIthough, the summit did not adopt the Copenhagen accord, it is seen as a first step
towards IegaIIy binding emission cuts. In December 2010, the 16th Conference of the Parties wiII be heId in
Mexico City.
2010 wiII carry important NationaI news and events which wouId be Iinked to 2009. NationaI Counter
Terrorism Centre wiII be set by the end of this year. CentraI Government wiII design a mechanism and
roadmap to resoIve the present crisis in Andhra Pradesh. The verdict in 26/11 Mumbai attack case is
expected this year. 2010 couId see some action on the bifurcation of Home ministry. Low-cost
indigenousIy deveIoped A (H1N1) InfIuenza vaccines and testing tooIs wiII be avaiIabIe in India. ISRO wiII
make progress in Chandrayaan-II mission. The proposed Goods and Services Tax wouId come into effect.
Auction for 3G mobiIe services wiII take pIace this year. New DeIhi wiII be gearing up to host the
nineteenth CommonweaIth games scheduIed from 3-14 October 2010.



GeneraI studies 2009

InternationaI Affairs 2009
Fiji's president Ratu Josefa loilo repealed the country's constitution and appointed himself head of the
State and set a 2014 election deadline.
Switzerland expanded its border upto 150 meters into talian territory because of melting glaciers in the
high Alps.
Venezuela's Stefania Fernandez become Miss Universe 2009. This is the 2nd consecutive year Miss
Venezuela has won the title. Venezuela has so far won the title for the record six times. Miss Ada de la
Cruz (Dominican Republic) is 1st runner up. Miss Marigona Dragusha is the 2nd runner up. Miss
Universe 2009 contest was held in Bahamas.
Patent Cooperation Treaty(PCT) is an agreement that binds 141 countries in a pact that facilitates the
process of seeking protection for an invention in multiple countries. The PCT which is administered by
WPO ( World ntellectual Property Organization) is particularly valuable option for any company
operating internationally. t is a procedural treaty first launched in 1978. Recently PCT is in news
because it is under modification/ reformation which ndia is opposing.
Pakistan govt clears construction of the $ 8.5 billion Diamer-Bhasha power project of 4500 MW
capacity on the ndus river in the Gilgit region in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Under the ndus water
treaty signed with ndia, Pakistan is free to build dams anywhere on the ndus river. The treaty gives
ndia first right over the waters of the Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers and Pakistan the same privileges
over the ndus, Chenab and Jhelum rivers.
70th anniversary of the beginning of World War ( 1 Sep 1939) celebrated on 1 Sep. OSCE
(Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) parliamentary assembly recently grouped
Germany and Soviet Union, pronouncing them to be equally responsible for World War . Yukio
Hatoyama is appointed as next Prime Minister of Japan. He is nicknamed 'the alien'. For the first time
since last 54 years, LDP(Liberal democratic party) ousted from forming Govt in Japan. Hatoyama
belongs to Democratic Party.
USA Commission on nternational Religious Freedom placed ndia on its 'watch list' for 2009 because it
found the ndian govt had failed to take effective measures to ensure the rights of religious minorities.
The summit of Dushanbe Four was held in 2009. t includes Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan and
Afghanistan. The official objective to the summit was to discuss supply of electricity from Tajikistan to
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Nepal Vice President Parmananda Jha who took oath in Hindi last year, has been asked by the Nepal
Supreme Court to retake the oath in Nepali language or resign from the post.
Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth after it failed to meet a deadline to make progress towards
establishing democracy. ndia's Reena Kaushal Dharamshaktu will be part of an eight member team
that will ski to the South Pole to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Commonwealth. The expedition is
headed by Felicity Aston and to be flagged off in Nov 2009.
China intrudes Ladakh region on 31 July 2009.
Sri Lanka expels James Elder, Communication chief with UNCEF(United Nations Children's Fund).
Farah Pandith an ndian American, has been sworn in as the first US Special Representative to muslim
communities in USA.
As per report of UN World Food Programme (WFP), the number of hungry people will pass one billion
this year for the first time. n the Food Security Risk ndex 2009, ndia ranked at 25th place. The US is
least at risk followed by France, Canada. The index rank the nations on the basis of risk of food
shortage faced by the countries.
Communal violence erupted in China's North West Xinjiang province capital ' Urumgi' in July 09.
START ( Strategic arms reduction treaty) between USA & Russia started on 31 July 1991 came to end
on 5 Dec 2009. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) met at Yekaterinburg on June 2009. The
SCO comprises of Russia, China, Kazakhtan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgzstan. ndia, Pakistan,
Mongolia and ran have observer status. Afghanistan's president attended the summit as a special
guest. Sri Lanka had been granted the status of dialogue partner. Google was shut down in China.
The first ever summit of BRC countries was held at Yekaterinburg in Russia in June 09. BRC
countries include Brazil, Russia, ndia and China.
ndia signed a $ 400 million agreement with Ukraine to upgrade its fleet of transport aircraft AN-32
aimed at extending its life and improving avionics.
Tipaimukh dam project issue between ndia and Bangladesh.
ntergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Network (TAR) entered into force on June 11, 2009
after China ratified the treaty. The other parties to the agreement are Combodia, ndia, Mongolia,
Korea, Russia, Tajikistan and Thailand.
Abu Dhabi, capital of UAE was elected as headquarter of the nternational Renewal Energy Agency
(RENA), a grouping of 129 countries. Mini Pravasi ndian Day was held at Hague (Netherland) in Sep
2009.
France President has recently remarked that ' the burqa is a sign of female subservience'.
Lord Swaraj Paul became the first ndia born Briton to be appointed a Privy Councillor in Britain.
Milan has been named as the world's top fashion city. Mumbai is placed at 16th place and Delhi at 17th
place.
Japan's finance minister Shoichi Nakagawa resigned after he was accused to attending the G 7 summit
in Rome in drinking condition.
China became world's largest green house gas emitter in 2007. USA at 2nd position. Russia at 3rd
position. ndia at 4th position with one tone of Carbon Dioxide per person per year emission.
Nuclear armed submarines from Britain and France collided in the Atlantic Ocean.
USA govt approved $ 787 billion economic stimulus package initiated by Barack Obama.
Venezuala'a President Hugo Chavez won a referendum vote that lets him stay in power as long as he
keeps winning elections.
From 1 April 2009 NATO membership was enlarged to 28 with the entrance of Albania and Croatia.
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) also called the North Atlantic Alliance is a military alliance
established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. 16th SAARC Summit was held
in Maldives in 2009.
EUMA ( End User Monitoring Agreement)- ndia has signed EUMA with USA which allows US
inspectors to verify the end use of US sourced high technology equipment to dual use. EUMA is
designed to facilitate high end dual use technology transfer to ndia.
World's first commercial passenger flight powered by natural Gas operated between London and Qatar
in Oct 09. Shell company developed and produced the 50-50 blend of synthetic Gas to Liquid (GTL)
kerosene and conventional oil based kerosene fuel. Qatar will become the world's leading producer of
GTL kerosene by 2012.
Turkey and Armenia signed a landmark accord to restore ties and open their shared border after a
century of hostility stemming from World War .
'Operation Rah E Nijat or Path to Salvation'- t is the name of operation conducted by Pakistan army
against strongholds of Tehreek-e- Taliban (also called Pakistan Taliban) soldiers.
USA has declared national emergency in view of increasing number of death due to Swine flu.
Bangladesh decided to advance its time an hour to GMT + 7. Every 15 degree means an hour. France
have 12 time zones, Russia have 11 times zones, USA has nine time zones. ndia has one time zone
based on its 82*30' East near Allahabad.
ndia and Canada signed a civil nuclear cooperation deal . Canada became the 8th country with which
ndia has reached a civil nuclear agreement.
Commonwealth has admitted Rwanda, central African country, as its 54th member.
Nepal cabinet meet at Kala Patthar, situated at 17,192 ft above sea level in Nov 09 and the base camp
of Mount Everest. t adopted Mt Everest declaration which allow setting up of Gauri Shankar
Conservation Area near Mt Everest.
COP15, the official term for the Copenhagen meeting, the 15th conference of parties to negotiate a
new global climate treaty to replace or extend the 1997 Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012 in Dec 2009.
Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark.
ndia and Russia sign civil nuclear agreement in Dec 2009.
NationaI Affairs 2009
Union govt cleared a constitutional amendment to increase the reservation for woman in Panchayat to
50 % from present 33 %. The Panchayati Raj Ministry amend Art 243 D of the Constitution of ndia
accordingly. The proposed amendment will increase reservations for woman to 50 % in Zila Parishads,
Panchayat Samitis and Gram Panchayats at District, Block and Village level respectively. ndia has
about 28.18 lakh elected representatives in panchayats. Four states- Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal
Pradesh & Madhya Pradesh already have 50 % reservation for woman in Panchayat. Kerala also
announced 50 % reservation for woman in Panchayat. Bihar was the first state to give 50 %
reservations to woman in Panchayat in 2005.
Govt clear setting up of National Mission Against Corruption Authority (NMAC). The aim of the authority
will be to ensure better coordination among the CB and State/UT anti corruption vigilance bureaus.
Govt has declared 272 districts out of 616 districts as drought stricken in 2009 due to rainfall shortage.
Draft of National Food Security Act to be presented in parliament in winter session (Jan 2010). As per
the proposed Act, every family living below the poverty line in rural and urban areas will be entitled for
25 Kg of rice or wheat per month at Rs. 3 per Kg.
Govt plans to built 321 feet Shivaji statue in Mumbai. t is 16 feet taller that New York's Statue of Liberty
and on completion, it became the tallest statue in the world.
Jaswant Singh book' Jinnah-ndia partition ndependence was banned in Gujarat state. The ban
however ,was lifted after the High court judgment. The book is a biography of Jinnah. Jaswant Singh
also earlier write ' A Call to Honour'.
State Assembly Election was held in Oct 2009 in three states namely Haryana (seats -90), Maharashtra
(seats -288) and Arunachal Pradesh (seats -60).
Govt has decided that NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) will now provide
employment for 200 days instead of 100 days. Parliament adopted the Constitution 109th amendment
Bill 09 providing reservation of seats for SC & ST in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies of the
states for another 10 years.
Namibia president Hifikepunye Pohambe visit ndia in Sep 209.
Russia provides nuclear submarine' Nerpa' to ndia in 2009. t is Akula-2 submarine series.
Women's will be exempted from paying any fees for UPSC/SSC etc examination.
SAF university to be set up in Delhi. t will be started from 2010-11 academic session. ndia bear 79 %
of its expenditure.
n the seven natural Wonders list, ndia's only entry is that of Sunderban. t is a joint entry from ndia
and Bangladesh.
Vision-2015 For Consumer Satisfaction and Beyond The paper is published by Oil & Petroleum
ministry in which it is proposed to provide CNG in 200 cities by 2015.
Mongolia president Tsakhiagiin Elbagdorj visited ndia in Sep 2009. ndia and Mongolia signed a Civil
Nuclear pact. ndia already has civil nuclear agreement with USA, Russia, Kazakhstan and France.
ndian National Congress party will completes 125 years on Dec 2009. Congress was formed on Dec
1885.
ndia's first non-stop super fast passenger train 'Duronto Train' inaugurated from Sealdah station to
Delhi. Total of 14 such trains will be launched this year.
Yashpal Committee was set up to give recommendation on Higher education sector.
Under Kisan Abhiman Scheme. Kerala Govt has granted Rs 300 per month as pension to farmers
above 60 years of age.
Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank appointed as fifth Chief Minister of Uttrakhand.
Railway ministry has appointed Amit Mitra to prepare Vision -2020 document for the railways.
B Sudershan Reddy appointed as chairman of panel to look into the impeachment proceeding against
Justice Soumitra Sen. ndia is funding Palaly project in Sri Lanka.
Areva, French Company and Nuclear power corporation of ndia Ltd sign an agreement to set up two
1650 MW nuclear plants in Maharastra state. Govt launched 'Rajiv Awas Yojna' under which govt plans
to formulate for slum dwellers and the urban poor in an effort to promote a slum free ndia in next five
years.
Ramalingam Chandrashekeram appointed as head of parliamentary special committee that look into
the matter of granting citizenship and other facilities for Sri Lankans in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu.
ndian Railway proposed a South Asian Regional Train service linking Dhaka, New Delhi and Lahore.
Justice Liberhan Commission which probed the sequence of events that led to the Babri Masjid
demolition in Ayodhya on Dec 1992, submitted its report. t has 399 sittings and 48 extensions.
Govt increases minimum support price (MSP) for sugarcane to Rs. 107.76 for 2009-10. The MSP for
the paddy crop for current year is Rs.950. Rajasthan will host the World Tiger Summit in Ranthambore
in 2010.
Appointment of new Governors D N Dwivedi ( Gujarat), Margarat Alwa (Uttarakhand), Jagannath
Pahadia (Haryana). Tata's first Nano car was given to Ashok Vichare of Mumbai.
Dilip Donde will try to circumnavigate the world solo ( on his own) in boat 'Mhadei' under Project Sagar
Parikrama from 19 Aug 2009. Rajasthan became the first state in the country to sign a tripartite
agreement with Central Govt promising accountability and adequate utilization of funds in the two tiger
reserve of Sariska at Alwar and Ranthambore at Sawai Madho pur in Rajasthan.
Jawahar lal Nehru Urban renewal mission (JNNURM) a centrally govt funded urban renewal mission is
implemented in 63 cities out of a total of 5161 cities, towns and urban agglomerations in ndia.
Right to Education Bill passed by the Parliament. Parliament made the right to education a fundamental
right through the 93rd Constitution amendment. The bill earmarks 25 % seats to weaker sections in
schools, seeks to do away with the practice of schools taking capitation fees before admission,
subjecting the child or parents to a screening procedure and giving powers to child rights panels to look
into grievances of parents against schools.
Govt approved renaming of state of Orissa as 'Odisha' and the Oriya language as 'Odia'.
Assembly election was held in Jharkhand which is under President Rule since Jan 2009 in Dec 09.
Total number of seats are 81.
RC ( Russia, ndia & China). t is a group of three nations. Second meeting of RC is held at Bangalore
in Oct 09.
President Pratibha Patil visit Britain in Oct 09 to invite Queen Elizabeth to inaugurate 2010
Commonwealth Games to be held next year. This is the first state visit by an ndian President to Britain
after S Radakrishnan and R Venkataraman in 1963 & 1990 respectively.
Separation plan ndia has notified its separation plan to nternational Atomic Energy Ageny. ndia will
place 14 reactors under SSA ( ndia Specific Safeguards Agreement) of the nternational nuclear
watchdog by 2014. Under the plan, ndia has decided to permanently shut down the CRUS research
reactor located inside BARC, countries strategic laboratory in 2010.
Govt has announced five new sites for setting up of light water reactors. The plants will come up at
Jaitapur (Maharastra), Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu), Haripur (West Bengal), Chhayamithi Virdi (Gujarat)
and Kovvada (Andhra Pradesh).
ndian President Pratibha Patil visits Cyprus (Capital- Nicosia) in Nov 2009.
Govt started 'Operation Green Hunt' to tackle the Maoists in five ndian states.
Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangehuck visit ndia on a 5 day visit in Dec 09. He is the 5th
king of Bhutan.
NATGRD- National ntelligence Grid to be established by May 2011. The grid will provide real time
access into 21 categories of databases such as credit card transaction, driving license, telephone,
internet, passport, PAN details, bank A/c details etc.
mpeachement motion has been initiated against Justice P D Dinakaran in the parliament on charges of
amassing disproportionate assets and land grab.
Sports Affairs 2009
Shooting champion of ndia, Samresh Jung is known as 'Gold finger'.
Heinrich Haussler won Tour de France 2009 tournament.
Ranji Trophy celebrated Platinum Jubilee after completing 75 years in 2009. Ranji trophy will also be
started in reland.
38th Ranji Trophy was won by Mumbai defeating UP in Jan 2009.
Pullela Gopichand (Badminton champion) is the only person to have been awarded with Arjuna award,
Dronacharya award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Binish K Shahji of ndia won silver medal in World School Athletics in Estonia held in June 2009.
WimbIedon 2009
O Men's Single Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick. Federer break the record of Pete
Sampras record of 14 grand slams.
O Women's Single Serena William defeated Venus William. She claimed third Wimbledon title.
O Women's doubles Serena and Venus William defeated Rennae Stubbs and Samantha Stosur.
O Mixed Doubles- Mark Knowles and Anna Lena Groenefeld defeated Laender Paes(ndia) and
Cara Black.
O Men's Doubles- Danial Nestor & Nened Jimonjic defeated Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan.
French Open 2009
O Men's single Roger Federer defeated Robin Soderling.
O Men's double Laender Paes and Lukas Dlouhy defeated Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman.
O Women's single Svetlana Kuzenletsova defeated Dinara Safina.
AustraIian Open 2009
O Mixed Double - Mahesh Bhupati and Sania Mirza defeated Nathalic Dechy and Andy Ram. Sania
Mirza became the first ndian women to won a Grand slam title.
O Men's singles- Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer. He became the first Spaniard to won the
title.
O Women's singles- Serena William defeated Dinara Safina.
O ndia's Yuki Bhambri won Junior Australian Open Single title 2009 defeating A F Georgoudes.
US Open 2009
O Women's singles Kim Clijsters(Belgium) defeated Caroline Wozniacki.
O Men's singles- Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro defeated Roger Federer.
O Men's Doubles- Laender Paes (ndia) and Lukas Dlouhy defeated Mahesh Bhupathi & Mark
Knowles. This is Paes 10th Grand Slam title.
O Women's Doubles Venus Williams & Serena Williams defeated Cara Black & Ticzel Huber.
O Mixed double Carly Gullickson and Travis Parrott defeated Cara Black & Laender Paes(ndia).
Science & TechnoIogy Affairs 2009
2009 is celebrated as nternational Year of Astronomy. 2009 is also celebrated as 400th anniversary of
the first recorded astronomical observations with the telescope used by the talian physicist. 2009 is
also celebrated as : Natural Fibre Year by UN, nternational Gurilla Year by conservationists &
environmentalists, nternational Year of Reconciliation.
Longest total solar eclipse of 21st century occurred on 22nd July 2009. t lasted 6 min 44 sec at
Taregana in Bihar.
GM( Genetically Modified) crops are those in which the genetic material(DNA) is altered so that there is
some perceived advantage either to the producer or consumer. Bt Cotton (Bacillius Thuringeinsis) is
only commercially approved biotech crop in ndia. Govt plans to introduce GM foods particularly
Tomatoes, Brinjals and Cauliflower to held meet food production target in three years time. Till date,
ndia has only allowed the use of GM Cotton, a non food crop. ndia is world's second largest cotton
producer. ndia's own Bt cotton variety : Bikaner Narma. Deep Space Network Facility is located at
Byalalu, Karnataka.
Chandrayan a lander rover mission of SRO is scheduled to be launched in 2012. SRO plans to hoist
a capsule with two ndians on board to the Moon by 2015. Subsquently, an ndian will be launched to
set foot on the Moon in 2020.
'Aditya' satellite will be sent by ndia to carry out studies on the Sun in 2012. SOHO stands for Solar
and Heliospheric Observatory. Probe Plus of NASA to study Sun System will be launched in 2018.
ndia's first nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine'Arihant' was launced on 26 July 2009. t will be
commissioned by 2011. t was built with the help of Russian consultants. With the launch, ndia join
elite club of five nations USA, Russia, China, Britain and France having nuclear powered submarine
capability.
Blue Brain project in Switzerland is under progress under which scientist attempt to 'Reverse engineer'
the mammalian brain. Novo-G, world's fastest and most powerful supercomputer became operational.
Novo-G got the first part of its name from the Latin term to 'make anew, change, alter' and the second
word G from 'Genesis'.
World Forestry Day celebrated on 21 March. Theme for 2009 was 'Sustainable Forest Management'.
ndia currently has 23.39 % of forest area against 33 % required. ndia presently has 37 Tiger reserves,
99 national parks and 515 wildlife sanctuaries.
Earth Hour 2009 is a global event every year which will see landmarks around the world to go dark for
an hour. Earth Day celebrated on 22 April.
Eight Millenium Development Goals (MDG) were set in Millenium Summit 2000. t has a deadline of
2015. Kerala has already achieve the targets in 2008.
ndia launched a srael developed spy satellite 'RSAT 2' providing all weather 24 hour surveillance.
Also launched experimental communication micro satellite' ANUSAT' built by Chennai based Anna
University.
nternational Space Development Conference was held at Orlando in May 2009.
Scientist have discovered 47 million year old primate fossil named 'da' (Scientific name-Darwinius
masillae) which forms a crucial missing link between our evolutionary branch of life and rest of animal
kingdom.
Per capita consumption of electricity is 630 Units in ndia in 2009.
NDR Karnal cloned world's 2nd cloned buffalo 'Garima'. t also produced world's 1st cloned buffalo calf
in Feb 2009 but it could not survive. El Nino- is a shift in ocean temperatures and atmospheric
conditions in the tropical pacific. t is a periodic warming of the Pacific oceans that leads to extremes of
weather.
La Nino- t follows an El Nino. t is also called the Little Girl. t is anti El-Nino or simply a cold event. t is
the cooling of water in the Pacific Ocean.
SO ( Southern Oscillation ndex) is a major indicator of El Nino, measures the pressure difference
between the Pacific islands of Tahiti and Darwin in Australia. A consistently negative SO indicates to a
developing El Nino. An El Nino is formally declared when above normal temp -0-5 degree celcius or
higher are recorded over eastern Pacific surface for three straight months.
Definition of poverty as per Planning Commission- Average per capita spending below Rs. 356 per
month in rural areas and Rs. 539 per month in urban areas.
38th World Environment Day was celebrated on 5th June 2009. Theme for 2009 chosen by UNDP is
'Your Planet Needs You'. World Environment Day was established by UN General Assembly in 1972 to
mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the human environment. 0.8 degree celcius rise in
average temperature around the world since 1880. ndia is the 5th largest emitter of Greenhouse
Gases. 2 of the 12 biodiversity hotspots of the world are in ndia i.e. Northeastern region and Western
Ghats.
US Space Agency's Themis Mission to study the colourful display of high latitude skies.
Phoenix Mars Lander found Perchlorate substance on Mars surface.
Carbon Credits : t provide a way to reduce green house emissions on industrial scale by capping total
annual emissions and allowing the market to assign a monetary value to any shortfall through trading.
ndia has earned 4,64,45,282 carbon credits, second only to China in the world. Per capita carbon
dioxide emission for ndia is 1.02 metric tones, while USA stood at first place with 20.01 metric tones.
Super Earth : t is a large extrasolar terrestrial planet, which is atleast twice the mass of earth but less
than ten earth masses. European researcher found three super earths recently.
Asia's first and world's second DNA bank is opened in Lucknow.
Pluto, the 9th planet of solar system, was demoted from planet status in 2006 is now called' Plutoids'.
Jason-2, a French- USA satellite was launched in 2009. t will monitor rising sea levels and current
movement. 'Gegeneiphis Seshachari' first viviparous ( those that do not lay eggs) was discovered in
western Ghat. t is the first viviparous creature to be found in Asia.
nternational Lunar Network, is a initiative that provide new insights into the Moon's surface and its
interior composition- critical inputs for the future colonialist. ndia has signed for the mission to put
together a network of robotic science stations on the Moon. Canada, France, Germany, taly, Japan,
Korea, UK, USA and ndia have joined hands for six to eight stations of the Lunar Network. USA places
first two Lunar Network Landers on the lunar surface in 2013-14. ndia has also scheduled to launched
Chardrayaan- in collaboration with Russia in 2012-13.
LHC Project : Large Hadron Collidor Project is operated by European Organisation for Nuclear
Research (CERN) at Geneva on 10 Sep, 2008, at Franco- Swiss border. n actual CERN stand for
Conseil European pour la Recharche Nucleaire, in French language. CERN was founded in 1954.
Under this experiment, scientist recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang to understand the
creation and workings of the Universe. t is the most expansive scientific experiment to date, it cost $
3.8 billion or Rs.16,340 crore. . CERN has 20 nations as member. ndia, Japan, Russia and US are the
observer countries.
Hadron : A particle with mass made up of smaller units called quarks that are bound together. Protons
and Electrons are types of hadron. Higgs Boson : A theoretical particle which is thought to give matter
its mass, known as the 'God Particle'. First proposed by Peter Higgs in 1964. The particle was named
after an ndian physicists S.N.Bose. The LHC experiment should confirm whether it exists or not.
Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) operates the 17 reactors in six states, to produce 4120 MW of
electricity.
Brain Fingerprinting : t is an electronic test of a specific kind of brain wave that can identify
incriminating information despite an individual's attempt to conceal the knowledge. t is a type of signal
in the brain kwown as P300 wave, so called because it is an involuntary response to a recognized
object or piece of information that happens within 300 milliseconds.
Carbon Footprint : t is a measure of the impact human activites have on the environment in terms of
the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of Carbon Dioxide.
Global Positioning System Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) : t is a satellite based process
developed jointly by the SRO and the Airport Authority of ndia. Govt recently approved the system that
will help airlines to choose the best and most fuel saving routes. GAGAN would be in place by 2011
and make flying much safer.
Govt set a ten year deadline for the blending of petrol and diesel with 20 % bio-fuel. Govt approved the
implementation of National Biofuel Policy that has set an indicative target of blending 20 % ethanol in
petrol and non-edible oil from plants like Jatropha in diesel by 2017. At present, 5% ethanol blending in
petrol is mandatory across the country except J&K, NE states. ndia is the world's second largest
producer of sugar after Brazil. Ethanol is produced from molasses, a sugar by product.
10th planet discovered called 'Xena' or 2003 UB 313.
A new ozone hole discovered over Tibet.
Anoushah Ansari is the first woman space tourist in the world.
Namira Salim, first Pakistani women astronaut, sent in space by NASA in 2008.
Agni 5 missile is in design stage. t has a maximum range of 5000 Km as an CBM ( nter Continental
Ballistic Missile). Range of Agni -700 Km, Agni-- 2500 Km, Agni-- 3500Km
Virgin Mothership 'Eve' is designed to reach an altitude of 50000 feet and release space Ship Two,
which will transport passengers to space.
S-500 Russia is developing a fifth generation surface to air rocket which is cabable of engaging
ballistic hypersonic targets flying at a speed of 5 Km per second.
SRO unveil 'Bhuvan', its version of Google Earth. t is a 3 D mapping tool.
Google unveiled a new version of its search engine called ' Caffeine'.
'Weblog' first coined by Jorn Barger in 1997. The contracted name 'blog' was coined in 1999 by Peter
Merholz.
TER launched campaign 'Lighting a Billion Lives' which is based on the use of solar laterns specially
designed and manufactured on a decentralized basis.
Govt approved National Solar Mission which aimed at Solar generation target of 20,000 MW by 2020.
At present solar generation capacity of ndia is 500 MW. National Solar Mission envisages an
investment of Rs.91,684 crore over the next 30 years. t proposes to add 20,000MW of power by 2020
and 1,00,000 MW by 2030. t aims to achieve parity with coal based thermal power generation by 2030.
According to latest findings, Malaria was first transmitted to humans by Chimpanzees.
H1N1 a new influenza virus caused Swine flu. t is a genetic code consists of 8 segments. The virus
gets its name from a combination of two proteins hemagglutinin and neuraminidase. Swine flu was
first detected in 1987. Just like humans, pigs get flu too, hence the name Swine flu. A disease that
spreads throughout the world is called Pandemic. Swine flu is termed as pandemic disease.
Govt formulate a technology mission War for Water ( Winning, Augmentation and Renovation for
Water). t solve problem of water scarcity. CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) is a global
mechanism where green projects can be registered to earn carbon credits for trading in the
international market. ndia has maximum number of CDM projects in the world followed by China. One
Carbon Credit is equal to a tone of carbon saved from emission.
UN Convention on Climate Change, the global body for certifying clean projects was held at Bonn, in
Aug 2009.
UMPP (Ultra Mega Power Projects) are large sized coal based power projects having a capacity of
4000 MW involving an estimated investment of about $ 4 billion. Four UMPP has been awarded so far
in ndia. These are Mundra UMPP, Gujarat, Sasan UMPP, Madhya Pradesh, Krishnapatnam UMPP,
Andhra Pradesh and Tilaiya UMPP at Jharkhand.
Antares DLR-H2 motor glider is the first manned aircraft to be powered exclusively with a hydrogen fuel
system.
MD (ndian Meteorological Deparment) official definition of a drought year is when more than 20 % of
the country faces a deficit of atleast 25 % of normal rainfall.
Wind power generation in ndia as on March 2009 is 10243 MW.
SPASER- t is the world's smallest laser which amplifies surface plasmons- tiny oscillations in the
density of free electrons on the surface of metals which in turn produce light waves. LASER amplifies
light using a mirrored cavity to intensify it.
ST- ndian nstitute of Space Science & Technology set up at Valiamala, Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala is
the only space university in the world offering courses at the undergruate, graduate, doctoral and post
doctoral level in space technology.
The Amino acid 'Glycine' a fundamental building block of proteins has been found for the first time in a
comet Wild 2 by the NASA spacecraft 'Stardust' sent in 2004. Comet Wild 2 was named after
astronomer Paul Wild.
SRO (ndian Space Research Organisation) launched first Swiss satellite built by students of Ecole
Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne to study the upper atmosphere.
'Tobacco Atlas' published by American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation, ranks ndia at
No.3 in the top 20 female smoking population across the globe. First and second place is held by USA
and China.
Former DRDO (Defence Research & Development Organisation) scientist K Santhanam claimed that
1998 Hydrogen bomb test at Pokhran (Rajasthan) has failed to deliver the desired result.
SRO looses contact with Chandrayan on 29 Aug 2009. t was launched on 22 Oct 2008 and was
designed for a two year mission in space. ndia has terminated the 400 crore moon mission
Chandrayan on 30 Aug 2009. NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper placed abroad Chandrayan
recorded presence of water molecules on Moon.
ndia's first national medical research park is being set up in the Sricity SEZ on the Tamil Nadu-AP
border.
World's first cloned wolf named 'Snuwolf' died in South Korea.
Ridge A in the Antarctic plateau is the world's coldest, driest and calmest place discovered so far.
China proposed base in Antarctica is known as 'Kunlun' located at Dome A.
A new technique called array Comparative Genomic Hybridization(CGH) makes it possible to ensure
eggs have a normal number of chromosomes boosting the likelihood of a successful pregnancy. Baby
Oliver became the first baby in the world using this egg screening technique in London.
China overtake USA in the internet user population. nternet users in 2009 : China - 298 million, USA
227 million, Japan 94 million ,ndia -81 million.
nternational Ozone Day is celebrated on 16 September every year. Theme of 2009 is 'Universal
Participation-Ozone protection unifies the world'. Ozone layer is a deep layer in the stratosphere ,
encircling the earth that has large amounts of ozone in it. The ozone layer protects all life on land on
the surface of the ocean. Ozone molecules absorb the harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun. This
protects us from radiation that can cause skin cancer and other severe skin disorders.
Scientist discovered first rocky extrasolar planet named 'Corot-7b'.
SRO launch Oceansat-2 satellite on 23 September 2009, which would help identify fishing zones and
help in coastal studies. The 970 Kg spacecraft is launched by C 14 PSLV from Sriharikota. Six other
nano satellites from European countries were also launched alongwith it.
'Copernicium' is included in the Periodic table as a new chemical element in July 09. t's name was
done after the famous astronomer Nicolus Copernicus.
Google is testing a new service ' Fast Flip' that allows users to view news articles from dozens of major
publishers and flip through them as quickly as they would the pages of a magazine.
Planet Saturn's 61st satellite discovered.
Scientist confirmed for the first time that Australia was once home to a dinosaur, after discovery of
'Australovenator Wintonensis alias Banjo'.
A new class of black hole was discovered by astronomers in 2009. A black hole is a ramnant of the
collapsed star with such a powerful gravitational field that it absorbs all the light that passes near it and
reflects nothing.
Mocrobiologists in Maharastra's Lonar lake found magnetic bacteria therein formed due to meteorite
impact.
Present day Carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere have touched the highest mark in the past 2.1 million
years.
World's first zero waste city is under construction in Abu Dhabi called Masdar City. t is to be completed
by 2016 and will be world's first carbon neutral, zero waste city completely powered by renewable
energy.
CMER has developed a solar electric rickshaw called ' Soleckshaw' which is pollution free.
Gyroscopes are used to maintain orientation and provide stability in boats, aircrafts and space crafts.
Tsunami is a Japanese word meaning harbour wave. A massive tsunami was unleased by a
earthquake in the pacific islands of Samoa on 30 Sep,2009. The capital of Samoa is Apia.
Light combat aircraft 'Tejas' successfully completes its 1000th flight in Jan 09.
ndigenously built 'Astra' air to air missile was successfully tested at Chandipur Range, Orissa in May
09.
China's Chang'e-1 mission successfully landed on Moon surface in March 09. t is China's first moon
probe.
'Princess Elizabeth' is the name of research station established by Belgium in Antartica in Feb 09. t is
the first research station which does not emit any pollutant i.e. it is pollution free station.
China successfully conducted Artificial Snowfall.
LCROSS Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite. NASA's LCROSS crashed two spacecrafts
into a lunar crater on 9 Oct 2009, hoping to splash ice and find out possibility of water on Moon.
OTWS (ndian Ocean Tsunami Warning & Mitigation System)- t was tested in 18 ndian ocean nations
on 14 Oct 2009.
'2 Pallas'is the name of one of the largest asteroid in the solar system.
James Dyson has developed a 'Dyson Air Multiple Fan', a desktop cooling device with no blades.
Scientists have identified a gene 'TMPRSS6' which is responsible for causing anaemia.
Neutrinos are elementary particles key to understanding how the universe evolved. Govt proposed to
set up Rs.900 crore Neutrino observatory at Mudumalai Tiger Reserve at Masinagudi in Tamil Nadu.
Epi -genome are the pattern of chemical switches in 200 types of human cell. A team led by Joseph
Ecker produce the first complete map of the human epi- genome.
NASA launched Ares 1-X rocket. t is first flight test of NASA's next generation space craft and launch
vehicle system which will replace shuttle system.
There are 61 greenhouse gases that are together called Carbon Dioxide equivalent.
CAR scientist discovered a new sub species of the 'mite' variety of insect and named it 'Mangalaus'.
nternational Antartic Treaty Expedition 2009 was made from 15 to 30 Nov 2009. t started from
Ushuaia. The expedition was run by Robert Swan Obe ( only man to travel to both North & South
Poles). Drake passage is a thin body of water that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
ndian scientist at nstitute for Genomics & ntegrative Biology sequenced the entire genome of human.
The human genome contains 3.1 billions base pairs. ndia is the 8th country in the world to sequence
the human genome.
Astronomers discovered a planet GJ 1214 b in the constellation called ' Ophiuehus'. The planet is
almost entirely made of water. 'Ardi' which roamed African forests 4.4 million years ago, has been
named as the 'Scientific breakthrough of 2009'.


















Jan 2010
InternationaI Current Affairs [January 2010]
O Gilgit Baltistan region elected its first Chief Minister Mehdi Shah on the basis of Gilgit Baltistan
Empowerment & Self Governance Order 2009. The new appointed CM declare the Gilgit
Baltistan region as 5th province of Pakistan. The ndian Govt has, however, of the view that the
region was part of J & K, and thus objected to the remarks of CM.
O Venezuela devalued it currency 'Bolivar'.
O A massive earthquake strike Haiti, the Carribbean nation. Capital of Haiti is Port-au-Prince.
O Mahinda Rajapaksa won a second term as Sri Lanka's President. He belongs to Sri Lanka
Freedom Party.
NationaI Current Affairs [January 2010]
O Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visit ndia in Jan 2010. She belongs to Awami League
Party. The two countries signed five agreements on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters,
on transfer of sentenced persons and on combating international terrorism, organized crime &
illicit drug trafficking besides MOU on cooperation in the power sector and on cultural exchanges.
ndia give Bangladesh a $ 1 billion line of credit, the biggest it has given to any country so far.
O South Korea President Lee Myung Bak visit ndia in Jan 2010. The two countries decided to
double the bilateral trade to $ 30 billion by 2014. Four facts were signed between two countries
cooperation in peaceful use of outer space, T, science & technology for the year 2010-12 and
transfer of sentenced persons. South Korean President was also the chief guest at 2010 Republic
Day Parade.
O Gujarat Local Authorities Law (amendment) Bill 2009- The Bill makes it the duty of a qualified
voter to vote during elections to local bodies. Voting is compulsory, but the Bill allows voters to
cast their vote in favour of none of the candidates. Election officers will declare those who fail to
vote defaulter, and serve them a notice.
O ndia and China has decided to start joint military exercise from 2011.
O Najib Razak, Malaysia Prime Minister visit ndia in Jan 2010.
O Govt launched Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Key highlights of the mission are :
4 To create an enabling policy framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW of solar power
by 2020.
4 To create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability for indigenous
production and market leadership.
4 To promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000 MW by 2017 and 2000
MW by 2022.
4 To achieve 15 million sq. meters solar thermal collector area by 2017 and 20 million by
2022.
4 To deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.
O New Governors appointed : a) M K Narayanan West Bengal, b)Shivraj Patil Punjab, c)
Mohsina Kidwai Jharkhand, d) Shekhar Dutt Chhattisgarh, e) E S L Narasimhan Andhra
Pradesh.
O Govt plans to create a National Gas Highway Development Authority. The present Gas Pipeline
Density in ndia is 3.29 Km per 1000 Sq.Km.
O Govt plans to set up a National Green Tribunal to control Carbon Emissions and pollution. t will
be responsible for implementing the low carbon roadmap to be set forth in the 12th Five Year
Plan.
Sports Current Affairs [January 2010]
O U-19 World Cup 2010 held in New Zealand from 15 30 Jan 2010. Javagal Srinath from ndia
appointed as one of the match referee for the tournament.
O Australia won the U-19 World Cup for the third time defeating Pakistan. ndia is placed at 6th
rank. Australia won the cup for the third time.
O Rafael Nadal won the Capitala World Tennis Championsip, held at Abu Dhabi defeating Robin
Soderling.
O Magnus Carlsen becomes the youngest World No.1 chess player at the age of 19 years breaking
the Garry Kasparov's record when he became the world's top ranked chess player at the age of
22 years in 1985. Magnus Carlsen is the 5th player after Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov and
V.Anand (ndia) to cross the 2800 ELO rating. n the Jan 2010 FDE ranking, Carlsen stood at 1st
place, Topalov at 2nd place and V Anand at 3rd place.
O Marin Cilic defeated Staniglas Wawrinka to won Men's singles title of Aircel Chennai Open.
O Pakistan's cricketer Shahid Afridi was banned for two T20 internationals after he was found guilty
of ball tempering in a OD against Australia.
O Corus Chess Grandmaster Tournament won by Magnus Carlsen. V.Anand of ndia ranked at 4th
place. Hopman Cup 2010- Spain defeated Great Britain.
O AustraIian Open 2010 : Women's Single- Serena William defeated Justin Henin. t is Serena's
5th Australian Open title. t is also Serena's 12th Grand Slam title equaling the record of Billie
Jean King.
O Men's Single- Roger Federer(Swiss) defeated Andy Murray(Britain). t is Federer's 4th Australian
Open title. t is Federer's 16th Grand Slam title.
O Men's Double- Mike Bryan & Bob Bryan defeated Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic.
O Women's Double Serena Williams & Venus Williams defeated Cara Black & L Huber.
O Mixed Double Laender Paes (ndia) & Cara Black (Zimbabwe) defeated Ekterina Makasova &
Jaroslav Levinsky. t is Paes's 11th Grand Slam title.
Science and TechnoIogy Current Affairs [January 2010]
O 97th ndian Science Congress held at Tiruvananthapuram in Jan 2010. The theme of this year
congress was ' Science & Technology of 21st Century- National Perspective'.
O The longest annular solar eclipse on the third millennium occur on 15 Jan 2010. The next annular
solar eclipse will be visible in year 3043. Annular eclipse is occurred when the sun is visible like a
ring of fire, with the moon darkening its centre. The last annular solar eclipse visible from ndia
was occurred in 1976. n July 2010 also, a total solar eclipse will be occurred.
O There are three strains of wild Polio virus namely P1, P2 & P3. Type 2 wild Polio virus (P2) was
eliminated from the world in 1999.
O First public hearing on the introduction of Bt Brinjal (First Genetically Modified Food Crop in ndia)
was held in Kolkatta. Seven such public hearing are being organized by Centre for Environment
Education, for opinion of public in respect of introduction of Bt Brinjal. 2nd hearing was held at
Hyderabad.
O 50th anniversary of creation of LASER is being celebrated in 2010. Theodore Maiman
constructed the first LASER in May 1960. LASER stands for Light Amplification for Stimulated
Emission of Radiation. Charles H Townes was father of MASER.
Persons in News [January 2010]
O Billy Arjan Singh, wildlife conservationist and Padma Shri awardee died.
O P D Dinakaran, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court faces impeachement motion. The process
was initiated in the Parliament. He is the first High Court Chief Justice against whom
impeachment motion have been initiated. Justice V Ramaswami is the only judge to have faced
impeachment proceedings in parliament.
O Justice V S Sirpurkar appointed to head a three member panel to look into allegation of land grab
and misconduct against Chief Justice P D Dinakaran in the wake of impeachment motion initiated
against him in Parliament.
O Fahmida Mirza is the first woman Speaker of Pakistan National Assembly.
O Ricky Ponting, Australian cricket team captain, has been named as ESPN Cricinfo Player of the
Decade for 2000.
O Jyoti Basu, former West Bengal Chief Minister, died.
O Mrinal Pande, appointed as Chairman, Prasar Bharti Board.
O Lee Myung Bak, South Korea President was the Chief Guest at 2010 Republic Day Parade.
O Shiv Shankar Menon is appointed as National Security Advisor.
O Vikram Srivastava appointed as Director General of CRPF(Central Reserve Police Force).
O Ranjit Kumar Bhatia appointed as Director General of TBP (ndo Tibetan Border Police).
Books & their Authors [January 2010]
O 'All that you can't leave behind' written by Soumya Bhattacharya.
O 'We Must Have No Price' written by Arun Sourie.
O 'Train to ndia- Memories of another Bengal' written by Maloy kumar Dhar.
O 'Not by Reason alone : The Politics of Change' written by N K Singh.
O 'Five Point Someone' written by Chetan Bhagat.
O 'Nehru : The invention of ndia' written by Shashi Tharoor.
O 'The Museum of nnocence' written by Orhan Panuk.
O 'Thoughts on Linguistic States' written by B R Ambedkar.



Feb 2010
InternationaI Current Affairs [February 2010]
O NATO forces carried out Marjah operation (dubbed Moshtarak) against Taliban forces in
Afghanistan.
O European Union summit was held in Brussels. EU & MF decided to giving support to Greece in
its struggle to bring its ballooning budget deficit under control. EU President is Herman Van
Rompuy.
O ran's President Mahmood Ahmedinejad declared that ran had produced first batch of 20 %
enriched uranium and now ran became a nuclear state.
O ran launched 'Kavoshger -3 rocket' capable of carrying a satellite. t carried a mouse, worms &
two turtles.
NationaI Current Affairs [February 2010]
O Kirit Parikh committee , set up to review petro pricing regime, submit its recommendation. ts
major recommendation are to deregulate the prices of petrol & diesel as per market prices,
reduce the subsidy on LPG.
O ndia signed a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with the UK, which became the 8th country
to enter into such a pact, since the lifting of atomic trade embargo in 2008.
O Govt set up a panel under the Chairmanship of former Justice B N Srikrishna which would
consider the demand for splitting Andhra Pradesh.
O ndia and Denmark signed a social security pact which will relieve their workers from double
taxation and provide for cooperation in areas of labour market expansion and orderly migration.
O Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Saudi Arabia in Feb 2010. He was the first ndian PM in
28 years to visit the gulf country. Saudi Arabia is ndia's largest supplier of crude oil ( 23 %)
followed by ran ( 17 %) and Nigeria ( 11 %). ndia is offering upto 10 % equity to Saudi petroleum
firm Saudi Aramco in a refinery being built in Orissa. PM addressed the Shoura council of Saudi
Arabia.
O Constitution 111th Amendment Proposes to incorporate a new Part ( Part X B) in the
Constitution so as to provide for legal framework to regulate the functioning of cooperative
societies. A new Article ( Article 43 B) is also proposed to be inserted in Part V of the
Constitution (Directive Principles of State Policy) for the States to promote voluntary formation,
autonomous functioning of cooperative societies.
O Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2009 commonly known as Nuclear Liability Bill will be
introduced by Govt in Parliament in Winter session 2010. The draft bill aims at limiting the liability
of a nuclear plant operator to Rs. 300 crore in the eventuality of an accident. The bill provides for
the penalty to be paid by the operator and not the supplier companies which would mainly be
American in this case. ndia has entered into civil nuclear cooperation agreement with eight
countries so far.
Sports Current Affairs [February 2010]
O 11th South Asian Games 2010 : Held at Dhaka, Bangladesh from 29 Jan to 8 Feb. Originally
scheduled to take place in 2009, but due to general elections in Bangladesh, the games were
held in 2010. This was the third time that the Dhaka hosted the Games, thus becoming the first
city to hold the games three times. 8 countries participated in the games in 23 different sports,
including T20 cricket, which was introduced for the first time in SAG. The 8 countries included are
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, ndia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri Lanka. 1The logo of the
games was 'Kutumb', a flying doel , which is the national bird of Bangladesh. The mascot of the
games featured a magpie robin, which was holding the torch to begin the games. The final medal
tally include : ndia - 1st place with 90 G 55 S 29 B Total 174, Pakistan- 2nd place with 19 G 25 S
36 B Total 80, Bangladesh- 3rd place with 18 G 23 S 56 B Total 97.
O West Zone won Duleep Trophy ( 2009-10) defeating South Zone.
O ndia's Gaganjeet Bhullar won the Asian Tour nternational Trophy 2010. t is his 2nd consecutive
title.
O Euro 2012 to be co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine.
O 2010 Winter Olympic Games were held at Vancouver, Canada. Mascot of the game was MGA (a
sea bear), QUATCH( a sasquatch) and SUM (animal guardian spirit). The logo of the games
was lnaaq meaning Friend in nuktut. There were 86 events in 7 sports. The games were held
from 12 Feb to 28 Feb. Final medal tally. Canada- 14 G 7 S 5 B, Germany- 10 G 13 S 7 B, USA-
9 G 15 S 13 B.
O OC (nternational Olympic Committee ) has approved CC (nternational Cricket Council) bid to
join the Olympic games 2020. The first time cricket was included in the Olympic games was in
Paris Olympic 1900.
O 11th World Hockey Cup 2010- To be held in Delhi, ndia. This is 2nd WHC which ndia is hosting.
ndia also hosted the WHC in 1982 at Mumbai. 12 countries participated in the tournament. WHC
is held in the years between two summer Olympics. First WHC was held at Barcelona in 1971.
Pakistan has won the cup four times, Netherland three times, Germany two times, ndia &
Australia once each. ndia won the WHC in 1975.
O Sachin Tendulkar became first player in the world to score a double century in OD (One day
nternational). He scored 200 (Not out) against South Africa.
O Commonwealth Shooting Championship was held in New Delhi in Feb 2010. ndia stood at first
place with 35 Gold 25 Silver and 14 Bronze. England stood at 2nd place with 4 gold and Wales
stood at 3rd place.
Science and TechnoIogy Current Affairs [February 2010]
O USA Space agency NASA launched Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to discover the causes
of extreme solar activity such as sun spots and solar winds & flares.
O 'GANGES'- Global Advisory Network Group on environmental sciences. t was created by Govt
for environment research work.
O Agni- ballistic missile with a range of 3500 Km was successfully launched from Wheeler sland,
Orissa.
O Ht Cotton Herbicide Tolerant Cotton. The variety of Ht Cotton in MON 1445. The variety can
withstand herbicides (weed killers) for better productivity and is under trail.
O Cervical cancer is caused by HPV- Human Papilloma Virus.
O South Korea has world's highest average connection speed at 14.6 Mbpd in nternet links. Japan
has 2nd highest average speed.
O Scientist deciphered the genetic blueprint of South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Titu.
Persons in News [February 2010]
O Horst Kochler , Germany President visit ndia in Feb 2010.
O Abdullah Gul, Turkey President visit ndia in Feb 2010.
O Economist Kokkadan Nandanath Raj, who made a significant contribution in the preparation of
first Five Year Plan(1951-56) died.
O Sharad Chandra Sinha is appointed as Director General of National nvestigation Agency(NA).
O Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President visit ndia in Feb 2010.
O Muhammad Shahrul kram Yaakob of Malaysia appointed Chairman, nternational Atomic Energy
Agency.
O Govt appointed R S Pandey as its mediator for talk with NSCN(M) in Nagaland to carry forward
the peace process.
O Former Justice P V Reddy will be appointed as Chairman, Law Commission of ndia.
O Ram Baran Yadav, Nepal President visit ndia in Feb 2010. t was the first visit by Yadav to any
foreign country after taking over as Nepal's President. Yadav is the first President of Nepal since
monarchy ended in 2008. ndia extended $ 250 million soft line of credit to Nepal.
O Rajinder Singh became first non-white and also first Asian member of the right wing British
National Party, after it amended its constitution to allow black and Asian to be its member.
O Amitabh Bachan became the brand ambassador of Gujarat state.
O Amnesty nternational, the global human right organization has appointed Salid Shetty as its next
Secy General from June 2010. He will be the first ndian to head the organization.
O Shah Rukh Khan & Kajol become the first ndian bollywood actors to ring the opening bell of the
world's biggest stock exchange' NASDAQ'.
O Rajiv Satav appointed President, ndian Youth Congress.
O Katrina Kaif awarded with 2009 Excellence in Performing Arts Award established by
ASSOCHAM.
O M H Hussain, famous painter accepted citizenship of Qatar.
Economics [February 2010]
O Planning Commission grant special category status to the Bundelkhand region comprising 9 distt
of Uttar Pradesh and 15 distt of Madhya Pradesh for the irrigation projects. Under special
category status, state govt can seek 90 % grant assistance from the centre and 10 % as loan.
O Govt revises base year for the calculation of National ncome from 1999-2000 to 2004-2005. The
GDP for 2009-10 will be Rs. 55,74,449 crore and the fiscal deficit for the corresponding period will
be 6.4 %.
O Capital Control Foreign capital inflows in the form of loans and equity that are allowed in a
restricted form are said to be controlled. The capital inflows include foreign borrowings by ndian
corporate and businesses, NR deposits and portfolio flow from institutional investors into the
stock market. Loans to Govt and short term trade credit are also included. ndia had control on
both capital account transactions as well as on current account with the local currency fixed by
the Central Bank. n 1991, rupee was first made convertible on the current account. n 1994, Govt
allows foreign portfolio investments.
O Govt will replace Benchmark Prime Lending System (BPLR) with Base rate system from 1 April
2010 to make bank lending more transparent. t provided for minimum rate for all types of loans
for banks.
Misc Issues [February 2010]
O Milan 2010, a biennial meeting of navies of Asia Pacific countries held at Port Blair in Feb 2010.
12 countries of Asia Pacific Region participated in it. t is the 7th edition of Milan exercises. t is a
biennial exercise of Asia Pacific maritime navies, hosted by the ndian Navy. First Milan exercise
was held in 1995.
O 'Vayu-Shakti' name given to AF exercise conducted at Pokhran range in the Thar desert in Feb
2010. AF is the 4th largest air force in the world after USA, Russia and China.
O 'Bo' language of Andaman become extinct. ts last speaker died.
O As per ndian Meteorological deptt, 2009 was the warmest year since 1990. The annual mean
temperature for 2009 was 25.55 degree celcius for the country s as a whole.
O Uttarakhand became first state in the country to ban the cultivation of Bt Brinjal ( Country's first
Genetically Modified food crop). Bt Brijnal is a genetically modified crop which has a special
gene- Cry1AC, inserted to make it poisonous to pests. GM Crops resists pests and give better
yields as well as nutrition. Bt Brinjal is developed in ndia by Mahyco company. GM foods are
derived from organisms whose DNA has been modified through genetic engineering.
O China ranked 1st in the wind power capacity in the world. ndia is at 5th place with 10925 MW
capacity. The five top nations in the order of wind power capacity are China, US, Spain, Germany
& ndia.
O Eurozone is a economic and monetary union of 16 EU member states which have adopted the
euro currency as their sole legal tender. PGS countries include Portugal, taly, reland, Greece &
Spain.
O 17 army jawans killed in a avalanche at High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) at Khilanmarg,
J&K.
O West Bengal govt reserved 10 % of govt jobs in the state for poor muslims.
O China will celebrate 2010 as Year of Tiger.
O ndia has a road network of 33 lakh km and is second largest in the world. t included 200 km of
expressway, 70548 km of national highways, 131899 km of state highways, 467763 km of major
district roads and 26.5 lakh km of rural & other roads. The Golden Quadrilateral joining four metro
cities of Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkatta, has a length of 5846 km.
O Taj Mahotsav organized by UP govt in Feb 2010 with the theme 'Ek Utsav Prem Ka'.
O Vancouver city, Canada named as the World's most livable city as per survey conducted by
Economics ntelligence Unit. Delhi is ranked at 113th place and Mumbai at 117th place.
O 16th Conference of Parties (COP) will be held in Dec 2010 at Mexico. The 15th COP was held in
Copenhagen in Dec 2009.
O Hyderabad nternational Airport has been named amongst the world's five top airports. Other four
airports are Seol, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing.
O '1000 faces for 1000 tigers' campaign was launched in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The campaign
aims to help double the number of wild tigers in Malaysia by 2022.
O Sachin Tendulkar features in BMC's 'Save Water Campaign'.
O ndian Navy inducted Russian built MiG 29 K fighters planes.
O Basic Capabilities ndex 2009- ndia received 68 points. The index was published by Social
Watch's. The highest BC points was given to ran having 97 points and lowest points 44 was
given to Chad.
O K R Sridhar, an US based ndian scientist invented Bloom Box- which convert air and virtually any
other fuel source into clean electricity. The box uses solid oxide fuel cells and can generate 100
KW of power.
O Present life expectancy of life at birth in ndia is 63.4 yrs. The highest expectancy of life is in
Australia of 81.4 yrs, 81 yrs for France and 79.3 yrs for England.
O World Cancer Day 04 Feb
O nternational Condom Day 14 Feb

March 2010
InternationaI Current Affairs [March 2010]
O China will launch in 2011 unmammed space mode ' Tiangong ' for its future space laboratory.
O US internet giant Google close its business in China.
O ndia's largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel buy Zain's Africa operations for an enterprise
value of $ 10.7 billion (Rs 49000 crore). Currently Bharti's non-ndia operations include Sri Lanka
& Bangladesh.
O Russia abolished two of its eleven time Zones.
NationaI Current Affairs [March 2010]
O Govt launched National Mission for Empowerment of Women aimed at inter-sectoral
convergence of all pro- women programmes.
O Constitution 108th Amendment Bill 2008 commonly known as women's reservation bill was
passed by Rajya Sabha by 186 in favour 1 against 39 abstained (Current strength of Rajya
Sabha is 233). The bill seeks to reserve a third of the seats on the Lok Sabha and state
assemblies for 15 years on a rotational basis. t was first introduced in 1996. Sharad Joshi, an
independent MP is the only MP which cast vote against the bill. n the present Lok Sabha, there
are 59 women MPs out of 543 MPs. Total MLAs in 29 state assemblies in ndia are 4093.
O Yamunanagar (Haryana) and Vishakhapatnam (AP) are choosen for a pilot project on saving
household energy by replacing incandescent lamps with CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps).
O Earth Hour 2010 has been celebrated on 27 March organized by World Wide Fund for Nature,
ndia. Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are official Earth Hour Cities among 15 ndian cities.
O Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia visit ndia in March 2010.
O Supreme Court allowed religion based 4 % reservations in Govt jobs & educational institutes in
Andhra Pradesh. t extended the benefit to 14 OBC in muslims in the state. The matter is further
referred to Constitutional bench of Supreme Court.
O 'Bold Kurushetra' a joint armour exercise between ndia and Singapore was held at Jhansi(UP).
O Prohibition of unfair practices in technical, medical educational institutions & universities Bill is
passed by Govt. t provided for 3 year imprisonment and a fine of upto Rs 50 lakh for higher
education providers guilty of misleading students.
O Govt approved Foreign Educational nstitution (Regulation of Entry & Operation) Bill 2010. t
provides foreign universities to set up campuses in ndia.
O Govt amends Anti Hijacking Act 1982. t now provides for death sentence to the hijackers.
O Govt starts the scheme for creation of the National Population Register (NPR) of ndian residents.
The project will cover an estimated 1.2 billion people and total cost of the project will be Rs.
3539.24 crore.
O ndia became 1st country in the world to have a 'manoeuvrable' supersonic cruise missile, when it
successfully test fired 290 km range Brahmos missile.
O Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu visit ndia in March 2010.
Sports Current Affairs [March 2010]
O Tamil Nadu defeated West Bengal to won Vijay Harare Cricket Trophy.
O Australia won World Hockey Cup 2010 defeating Germany. ndia ranked at 8th place.
O ndia won six gold medal in the Commonwealth Boxing Championship held at Delhi.
O Two new PL teams, Kochi was auctioned for Rs 1533 crore and Pune was auctioned for Rs 1702
crore. Kochi was auctioned to Rendezvous Adventure Sports Ltd. Pune was auctioned to Sahara
Adventure Sports Ltd.
Persons in News [March 2010]
O Rajan Bharti Mittal appointed President FCC.
O Major Dimple Singla became first women army officer in the country who has been sentenced to
imprisonment for corruption.
O Bhubneshwar Kalita has been choosen as the Chef de Mission of the ndian contingent at
Commonwealth Games 2010.
O Cricketer Kapil Dev has been inducted into the CC Hall of Fame.
O Former Supreme Court judge P V Reddy appointed as Chairman, Law Commission of ndia.
O Lt Gen V K Singh appointed as new Army Chief.
O Sonia Gandhi appointed head of National Advisory Council. NAC advice the govt on policy
matters, monitor flagship programmes and prepare the ground for other pro-poor legislatures.
O Lyricist Javed Akhtar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Dr Ram Dayal Munda, Dr Balchandra Mungekar and
Kannada Actress B Jayashree are among other persons nominated to Rajya Sabha.
O Austrian base jumper Felix Baumgartnar will became the first person to leaps from the edge of
space at a height of 37 km above earth's surface. He become the first man to break the speed of
sound hitting a top speed of about 11000km/hr. He will jump on 11 April 2010.
O Katie Spotz became the youngest person to complete a solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean.
O Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepal Ex Prime Minister died. He was 5th time Nepal PM.
Awards Current Affairs 2010 [March 2010]
O Oscar Awards 2010
4 Best Director- Kathryn Bigelow for The Heart Locker. She became first women to win the
Oscar for best director.
4 Best Film- The Heart Locker.
4 Best Actor- Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart.
4 Best Actress- Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side.
4 Best Supporting Actor Christoph Waltz for nglorious Basterds.
4 Best Supporting Actress Mo'Nique for Precious.
4 Best foreign language film- The Secret in their Eyes, from Argentina.
O Amitabh Bachchhan honoured with lifetime achievement award at 34th Hong Kong nternational
Film Festival.
O Surjit Pater has been awarded with 19th Saraswati Samman 2009 for 'Lafzan Di Dargah'.
O Moortidevi Award was given to the Law Minister M Veerappa Moily for his work Shri Ramayan
Mahanveshanam.
O Vyas Samman 2009 was awarded to Amar Kant for his work 'nhin Hathiyaron Se'.
Misc Issues [March 2010]
O Brahan Natyanjali 2010 festival was organized to celebrate 1000 years of Tanjavur temple in
Tamil Nadu which was built by Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola in 1010 AD.
O 192 year old Presidency College of Kolkatta (ndia's oldest college) converted into Presidency
University. t became 18th state university in West Bengal.
O Railways started 'Maharajas Express' from Kolkatta to Delhi. t is a tourist train having stoppage
at Gaya, Varanasi, Bandhavgarh, Gwalior, Khajuraho and Agra.
O The book 'Way to go' written by Upamanyu Chatterjee.
O The book 'Wide Angle' written by cricketer Anil Kumble.
O The book 'El Sari Rojo' written by Javier Moro, is on the life of Sonia Gandhi.
O World TB Day celebrated on 24 March.
O Constitution 112th Amendment Bill 2009 seeks to amend following clauses of Article 243T of the
Constitution that provides for reservation of seats for SC & ST and also for women in Urban Local
bodies : a) n clause (2) for the word 'one third', the word 'one half' shall be substituted, b) n
clause (3) the word 'one third' , the word 'one half shall be substituted.
Current Affairs Quiz - new
For the very purpose of getting you ready for the challenge that is Current Affairs n ndia, we are
covering the 2010 current affairs including politics current affair, current affair news, science current
affairs, general knowledge current affair, current government affair and international current affairs.
Only studying ndia's current affairs or political current affairs is not sufficient as you have to cover
international events and current affairs along with the ndian current affairs, as well as those in the field
of science and sports.

ApriI 2010

InternationaI Current Affairs 2010

O Belgium became the Europe's first country to ban burqa.
O Pakistan's National assembly passed a bill that takes away the President's power to dissolve
parliament, dismiss a elected government and appoint the three services Chiefs. Pakistan's
parliament passes 18th amendment which was later signed by Presient cutting President's
powers.
O USA and Russia signed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty(START) that allowed a maximum of
1550 deployed overheads, about 30% lower than a limit set in 2002. The treaty was signed in the
Progue Castle.
O Emergency was imposed in Thailand.
O Nuclear Security Summit held at Washington.t was a 47 nation summit wherein P.M. announced
setting up of a global nuclear energy centre for conducting research & development of design
systems that are secure, proliferation resistant & sustainable.
O PM visit USA & Brazil, a two nation tour. He attended Nuclear Security Summit in USA & ndia-
Brazil-S.Africa(BSA) and Brazil-Russia-ndia-China(BRC) summit in Brasilia (Brazil).
O 16th SAARC Summit held in Bhutan in 28-29 April. The summit was held in Bhutan for the first
time. t is the silver jubilee summit as SAARC has completed 25 years. The summit central theme
was 'Climate Change'. The summit recommended to declare 2010-2020 as the "Decade of ntra-
regional Connectivity in SAARC. The 17th SAARC summit will be held in Maldives in 2011.

NationaI Current Affairs 2010

O Naxals killed about 75 CRPF personal at Chintalnar-Tarmetla village in Dantewada distt
,Chhattisgarh. Government appoint E.N. Rammohan, to probe the incident.
O Uninque dentification Authority of ndia (UDA) now known as Aadhaar. t's Chairman is Nandan
Nilekani. t will assign 16 digit identification number to all residents in ndia.
O NTRO- National Technical Research Organisation. The organization came to limelight after
allegation of phone tapping of politicians.
O ndian navy commissioned ndia's first indigenously built stealth warship ' NS Shivalik'. The other
stealth warship to be built are named as 'NS Sahyadri' and NS Satpura'.
O Right To Education Act is notified and will become a legally enforceable from 1 April 2010. Key
features of RTE Act are : All children in 6-14 age group must get free and compulsory eduction;
No child shall be held back,expelled or required to pass a board examination till Class V; There
must be 25 % reservation for poor children even in private & minority schools; There must be one
teacher for every 30 students; A child rights commission will look into violations of the RTE law.
O Govt start Census 2011. t is the 15th Census. t is in two phase. The first phase is called House
listing & Housing Census and the second phase is called decadal headcount which will be held in
Feb 2011. The Registrar General of ndia is C Chandramouli.

Sports Current Affairs 2010

O PL3 season won by Chennai Super Kings defeating Mumbai ndians.
O Youth Olympics Games 2010 to be held in Singapore in Aug 2010.
O World Youth Championship was held at Baku, Azerbaijan.
O Lawn tennis legend Martina Navratilova diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
O 'Jumbo' chosen as 2011 World Cricket Cup Mascot.
O World Kabbadi Cup 2010- ndia defeated Pakistan to won World Cup Kabbadi 2010 held at
Ludhiana.
O Pankaj Advani won the Asian Billiards Championship defeating Singapore's Peter Gilchrist for the
consecutive third time.
O Badminton Asia Championship, Delhi :
4 Men's singles Lin Dan defeated Wang Zhenguing
4 Women's singles-Li Xiurei defeated Liu Xin.
Awards Current Affairs 2010
O 19Th Bihari Puraskar 2009 has been awarded to Hemant Shesh for his collection of poetry
'Jagah Jaisi Jagah'.
O 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize for the best first Book was awarded to Glenda Guest for the
novel 'Siddon Rock'. Rana Dasgupta won Commonwealth Writers Prize for best Book 2010 for
book 'Solo'.
O Carl Zeiss wildlife conservation award was won by Joydip Kundu.
O Amitav Ghosh won the Dan David Prize alongwith Margaret Atwood for 'Rendition of the 2oth
century'.
Economics & Commerce
O ndia became the 7th largest shareholder in World Bank. ndia's voting rights has gone up to 2.91
%. The USA has highest voting rights of 15.85 % followed by Japan with 6.84 % and Germany
with 4 %.
O Govt proposed that concept of GGDP Green Gross Domestic Product to be introduced in the
country by 2015. n 2012 ndia will host the Rio+20 conference on biological diversity.
O Government approved disinvestment of 20% of share in SAL in this financial year.
O ndia's total external debt as on December 2009 is 251 billion.
O ndia's Gems & Jewellery export grow by 16% to $28.41 billion in 2009-2010.
O RB announced the credit policy. The CRR has been raised from 5.75 % to 6 %. The Repo rate
has been raised from 5 % to 5.25 %. The reverse repo rate has been raised from 3.5 % to 3.75
%.

Persons in News 2010

O Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra was sworn in as Judge of Supreme Court of ndia. She became the
4th women judge to be elevated to the Supreme Court of ndia.
O Justice S H Kapadia will be next Chief Justice of ndia.
O Mukul Sangma shown in as Meghalaya Chief Minister.
O Poland's President Lech Kaczynski died in a air crash at Moscow.
O Juan Antonia Samaranch, Former President of nternational Olympic Committee (OC) died.
Misc Issues
O 'Decision Points' memoir of former US President George W Bush.
O A variety of mango has been named after Sachin Tendulkar.
O Scientist create element 117 from calcium & Berkelium.
O nternational congress of Mathematicians will be hosted by ndia for the first time in August 2010
at Hyderabad. The congress has been held once every four years since 1897except the breaks
during two world wars.
O Government will opened four new campuses for the MC(ndian nstitute of Mass
Communication) at Nagpur, Kochi, Jammu and Aizawl.
O Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Derjeeling become first zoo in the country to install
infrared night vision cameras in the enclosures housing endangered snow leopard.
O 'Hindutva, Sex & Adventure' written by Mark Tully.
O Gorumara National Park, Jalpaigudi has been declared the best among the 235 national parks &
sanctuaries in the country by the MOEF.
O 'Gandhi-Naked Ambition' written by Jad Adams.
O ndia ranks 5th in the World's cybercrime ranking for 2009 after US, China, Brazil & Germany.
O ndia lauched GSLV from Sriharikota on 15 April 2010. However the launch was failed in the third
stage. The launch was important as GSLV-D3 was the third developmental mission of ndia's
GSLV during which SRO's indigenously developed cryogenic upper stage (CUS) was to be flight
tested. This is the 6th flight of GSLV, but the first one to test ndian made cryogenic upper stage.
GSLV-D3 was to launch the GSAT-4 satellite into an elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
The total flight of the vehicle was planned to be 1022 seconds.
O ndia likely to complete building its first strategic crude oil storage by Oct 2011. ndia is building
underground storage at Visakhapatnam in AP and Padur in Karnataka to store about 5.33 million
tones of crude oil which is enough to meet nation's oil requirement for 13-14 days. ndia will join
nations like the US, Japan & China that have strategic reserves.
PeopIe in the News
O Shashi Tharoor (born 9 March 1956) is a member of the ndian Parliament from the
Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala. A prolific author, columnist, journalist and human
rights advocate, he has previously served as the United Nations Under-Secretary General for
Communications and Public nformation and the ndian Minister of State for External Affairs.
O LaIit Modi (born 29 November, 1963 Delhi, ndia) is an ndian cricket administrator and
businessman. He is best known for his stint as the Chairman and Commissioner of the ndian
Premier League and the Chairman of the Champions League from 2008 to 2010. He is also the
Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in ndia (BCC) since 2005 and Vice President
of the Punjab Cricket Association.