Current Affairs - July 2010

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

Current Affairs - June 2010

 Julia Gillard become Australia’s first women Prime Minister replacing Kevin Rudd
following a sudden revolt against him.
 No more time for sorrow’ written by Robert Beeman. The author predict that terrorist
will set off an atom bomb in the USA by 2013.
 Tuvalu become 187th member of IMF (International Monetary Fund). The island is
located in the Pacific Ocean.
 Kyrgyzstan voted for a new constitution in a referendum. It is Central Asia’s first
parliament democracy.
 G-20 summit held at Toronto, Canada.

Current Affairs - May 2010

 G-15 summit was held at Tehran on 16-17 May.

  Bangladesh handed over Ranjan Daimary of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland
to India. The group was responsible for serial bombing in Assam in 2008.
 National League for Democracy (NLD) party of Myannmar’s democracy leader Aung
San Sui Kyi was abolished after deadline to re-register as a political party was over.
 EU-IMF provide a $ 1 trillion rescue package to the Greece to resolve its debt crises.
 Pakistan successfully test fired two short range ballistic missiles, Shaheen I( range 650
Km) and Ghazani (range 290 Km) capable of carrying nuclear war heads and striking
Indian cities.

Current Affairs - April 2010

 Belgium became the Europe’s first country to ban burqa.

 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.
 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.
 Emergency was imposed in Thailand.
 Nuclear Security Summit held at Washington.It 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.
 PM visit USA & Brazil, a two nation tour. He attended Nuclear Security Summit in USA
& India- Brazil-S.Africa(IBSA) and Brazil-Russia-India-China(BRIC) summit in Brasilia
(Brazil).
 16th SAARC Summit held in Bhutan in 28-29 April. The summit was held in Bhutan for
the first time. It 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 Intra-regional Connectivity in SAARC”. The 17th SAARC
summit will be held in Maldives in 2011.

Current Affairs - March 2010

 China will launch in 2011 unmammed space mode ‘ Tiangong I’ for its future space
laboratory.
 US internet giant Google close its business in China.
 India’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-India
operations include Sri Lanka & Bangladesh.
 Russia abolished two of its eleven time Zones.

Current Affairs - February 2010

  NATO forces carried out Marjah operation (dubbed Moshtarak) against Taliban forces in
Afghanistan.
 European Union summit was held in Brussels. EU & IMF decided to giving support to
Greece in its struggle to bring its ballooning budget deficit under control. EU President is
Herman Van Rompuy.
 Iran’s President Mahmood Ahmedinejad declared that Iran had produced first batch of 20
% enriched uranium and now Iran became a nuclear state.
 Iran launched ‘Kavoshger -3 rocket’ capable of carrying a satellite. It carried a mouse,
worms & two turtles.

Current Affairs - January 2010

 Gilgit Baltistan region elected its first Chief Minister Mehdi Shah on the basis of Gilgit
Baltistan Empowerment & Self Governance Order 2009. The new appointed CM declare
the Gilgit Baltistan region as 5th province of Pakistan. The Indian Govt has, however, of
the view that the region was part of J & K, and thus objected to the remarks of CM.
 Venezuela devalued it currency ‘Bolivar’.
 A massive earthquake strike Haiti, the Carribbean nation. Capital of Haiti is Port-au-
Prince.
 Mahinda Rajapaksa won a second term as Sri Lanka’s President. He belongs to Sri Lanka
Freedom Party.

Current Affairs - July 2010

 Noose tightening for Politicos in Sohrab case

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

Current Affairs – June 2010

 In the Global Peace Index 2010, India ranked at 128.

 2010 Failed State Index- Somalia top the list followed by Zimbabwe, Sudan & Chad.
India is ranked at 87 place out of 177 countries. Norway in ranked at the bottom of the
list.
 President Rule imposed in Jharkhand.
 Amar Singh launches a new party ‘Akhil Bhartiya Lok Manch’.
 South African president Jacob Zuma visited India.
 Turkmenistan President Gurbaguly Bardimuhamedov visited India.
 Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited India. India signed 7 pacts with Sri
Lanka. India will assist in building 50000 houses in the northen & eastern provinces of
Sri Lanka.
 Bangladesh Govt has requested to rename the train linking West Bengal to Tripura via
Banglades as ‘ Sonar Tori’. Earlier the name of the train as envisaged in the Railway
Budget 2010 is ‘Epar Bangla Opar Bangla’. Sonar Tori is a collection of poems written
by Rabindranath Tagore, whose 150th birth anniversary is being celebrated in 2010.
 Maharastra will become first state in the country to have a real estate regulatory
authority.
 BWA- Broadband Wireless Access. The BWA spectrum was auctioned by the Govt.
BWA Spectrum is essential for rolling out WiMAX services enabling hand held devices
and laptops to access Intranet. It will allow firms to offer high speed Net, Web telephony
& TV Services. The govt fixed Rs.1750 crore as base rate for BWA license. The auction
was held for 117 rounds and in 16 days. Rs.12848 crore was the pan India BWA license
price which was won by Infotel Broadband services ( in all 22 circles). The Govt
auctioned the BWA license for a total of Rs.38,543 crore. Mumbai had the highest bid of
Rs.2293 crore followed by Delhi with Rs.2241 crore respectively.
 India signed Civil Nuclear agreement with Canada. The agreement was signed by
Manmohan Singh and Canada’s PM Stephen Harper. Canada is the 8th nation to enter
into such an agreement with India. Canada served nuclear ties with India in 1974 when
 India conducted its first nuclear test at Pokhran in 1974. India’s nuclear power
programme is based on the CANDU ( Canada Deuterium Uranium) reactor.
 India become a full fledged member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a 34
member inter governmental body that devises policies at both national & international
levels to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. FATF membership will enable
Indian authorities to access information on suspect accounts in nations such as
Switzerland & UK. India become its 34th member.

Current Affairs – May 2010

 Naxalites killed 47 people in a landmine blast between Dantewada and Sukma in

Chattisgarh.
 Test fire of nuclear capable Agni-II missile was successfully carried out from Wheeler
Island off the coast of Orissa on 17th May. Agni II has a range of 2000Km. It is 20m long
two stage solid propelled ballistic missile. It was developed by Advanced System
Laboratories alongwith DRDO & Bharat Dynamics Ltd.
 Supreme Court in a recent judgement upheld a rule that allows the adjustment of reserved
category candidate SC/ST/OBC against their quota seats even if they manage to qualify
an examination for govt services on merit.
 National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is the monitoring
authority for the Right to Education Act which became effective from April 1, 2010.

Current Affairs – April 2010

 Naxals killed about 75 CRPF personal at Chintalnar-Tarmetla village in Dantewada

distt ,Chhattisgarh. Government appoint E.N. Rammohan, to probe the incident.
 Uninque Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) now known as Aadhaar. It’s
Chairman is Nandan Nilekani. It will assign 16 digit identification number to all residents
in India.
 NTRO- National Technical Research Organisation. The organization came to limelight
after allegation of phone tapping of politicians.
 Indian navy commissioned India’s first indigenously built stealth warship ‘ INS
Shivalik’. The other stealth warship to be built are named as ‘INS Sahyadri’ and INS
Satpura’.
 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 VIII; 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.
 Govt start Census 2011. It is the 15th Census. It 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 India is C Chandramouli.

Current Affairs – March 2010

  Govt launched National Mission for Empowerment of Women aimed at inter-sectoral
convergence of all pro- women programmes.
 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. It was first introduced in 1996. Sharad
Joshi, an independent MP is the only MP which cast vote against the bill. In the present
Lok Sabha, there are 59 women MPs out of 543 MPs. Total MLAs in 29 state assemblies
in India are 4093.
 Yamunanagar (Haryana) and Vishakhapatnam (AP) are choosen for a pilot project on
saving household energy by replacing incandescent lamps with CFLs (Compact
Fluorescent Lamps).
 Earth Hour 2010 has been celebrated on 27 March organized by World Wide Fund for
Nature, India. Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are official Earth Hour Cities among 15
Indian cities.
 Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia visit India in March 2010.
 Supreme Court allowed religion based 4 % reservations in Govt jobs & educational
institutes in Andhra Pradesh. It extended the benefit to 14 OBC in muslims in the state.
The matter is further referred to Constitutional bench of Supreme Court.
 ’Bold Kurushetra’ a joint armour exercise between India and Singapore was held at
Jhansi(UP).
 Prohibition of unfair practices in technical, medical educational institutions &
universities Bill is passed by Govt. It provided for 3 year imprisonment and a fine of upto
Rs 50 lakh for higher education providers guilty of misleading students.
 Govt approved Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry & Operation) Bill
2010. It provides foreign universities to set up campuses in India.
 Govt amends Anti Hijacking Act 1982. It now provides for death sentence to the
hijackers.
 Govt starts the scheme for creation of the National Population Register (NPR) of Indian
residents. The project will cover an estimated 1.2 billion people and total cost of the
project will be Rs. 3539.24 crore.
 India became 1st country in the world to have a ‘manoeuvrable’ supersonic cruise
missile, when it successfully test fired 290 km range Brahmos missile.
 Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu visit India in March 2010.

Current Affairs – February 2010

 Kirit Parikh committee , set up to review petro pricing regime, submit its
recommendation. Its major recommendation are to deregulate the prices of petrol &
diesel as per market prices, reduce the subsidy on LPG.
 India 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.
 Govt set up a panel under the Chairmanship of former Justice B N Srikrishna which
would consider the demand for splitting Andhra Pradesh.
  India 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.
 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Saudi Arabia in Feb 2010. He was the first Indian
PM in 28 years to visit the gulf country. Saudi Arabia is India’s largest supplier of crude
oil ( 23 %) followed by Iran ( 17 %) and Nigeria ( 11 %). India 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.
 Constitution 111th Amendment – Proposes to incorporate a new Part ( Part IX 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
IV of the Constitution (Directive Principles of State Policy) for the States to promote
voluntary formation, autonomous functioning of cooperative societies.
 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. India has entered into civil
nuclear cooperation agreement with eight countries so far.

Current Affairs – January 2010

 Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visit India in Jan 2010. She belongs to Awami
League Party. The two countries signed five agreements – on mutual legal assistance in
criminal matters, on transfer of sentenced persons and on combating international
terrorism, organized crime & illicit drug trafficking besides MOU on cooperation in the
power sector and on cultural exchanges. India give Bangladesh a $ 1 billion line of credit,
the biggest it has given to any country so far.
 South Korea President Lee Myung Bak visit India in Jan 2010. The two countries decided
to double the bilateral trade to $ 30 billion by 2014. Four facts were signed between two
countries – cooperation in peaceful use of outer space, IT, science & technology for the
year 2010-12 and transfer of sentenced persons. South Korean President was also the
chief guest at 2010 Republic Day Parade.
 Gujarat Local Authorities Law (amendment) Bill 2009- The Bill makes it the duty of a
qualified voter to vote during elections to local bodies. Voting is compulsory, but the Bill
allows voters to cast their vote in favour of none of the candidates. Election officers will
declare those who fail to vote defaulter, and serve them a notice.
 India and China has decided to start joint military exercise from 2011.
 Najib Razak, Malaysia Prime Minister visit India in Jan 2010.
 Govt launched Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Key highlights of the mission
are :
o To create an enabling policy framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW of
solar power by 2020.
o To create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability for indigenous
production and market leadership.
 o To promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000 MW by 2017
and 2000 MW by 2022.
o To achieve 15 million sq. meters solar thermal collector area by 2017 and 20
million by 2022.
o To deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.
 New Governors appointed : a) M K Narayanan – West Bengal, b)Shivraj Patil – Punjab,
c) Mohsina Kidwai – Jharkhand, d) Shekhar Dutt – Chhattisgarh, e) E S L Narasimhan –
Andhra Pradesh.
 Govt plans to create a National Gas Highway Development Authority. The present Gas
Pipeline Density in India is 3.29 Km per 1000 Sq.Km.
 Govt plans to set up a National Green Tribunal to control Carbon Emissions and
pollution. It will be responsible for implementing the low carbon roadmap to be set forth
in the 12th Five Year Plan.
  97th Indian Science Congress held at Tiruvananthapuram in Jan 2010. The
theme of this year congress was ‘ Science & Technology of 21st Century-
National Perspective’.
  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 India was occurred in 1976. In
July 2010 also, a total solar eclipse will be occurred.
  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.
  First public hearing on the introduction of Bt Brinjal (First Genetically Modified
Food Crop in India) 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.
  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.