Current affairs DECEMBER 2010

GK UPDATE DECEMBER 2010

NATIONAL
 Government fixes tenure of Foreign Secretary to two years.
 Nicolas Sarkozy, French President visits India, 4 to 7 December 2010, signs nuclear power agreement.
 Wen Jiabao, Premier of China, visits India, 15 – 17 Dec. 2010, signs 48 trade deals for $ 16 billion.
 Dimitry Medvedev – Russian President visits India 24th December, Signs 30 agreements.
 Vig Eye – Web portal started by Central Vigilance Commission where anybody can upload corruption related videos or pictures.
 Election Commission recognizes only six national parties – Congress, BJP, CPI, CPI(M), BSP and NCP.
 4th Indo US Health Care Summit held at Jaipur.
 Justice Shivraj V. Patil Panel appointed for probing 2G scam.
 Hot Line between China and India becomes operational.
 New Delhi completes its 100 years of foundation (planned by Edwin Lutyens).
 Gujarat and IIM Ahmedabad enter their Golden Jubilee Year.
 Pilgrimage to Katas Raj, Lord Shiva Temple in Pakistan cancelled due to security concerns.
 Krishna River Water Dispute Tribunal headed by Justice Brijesh Kumar releases its report. Awards 1001 TMC to Andhra Pradesh, 911 TMC to Karnataka and 666 TMC to Maharashtra. (TMC = Thousand Million Cubic Feet of Water)
 Krishna River rises from Mahablasewer in Maharashtra, passes through Karnataka, ends in Bay of Bengal through Andhra Pradesh.
 India Ranks 9th in corruption amongst 86 countries as per survey done by Transparency International.
 Justice BN Srikrishna report dealing with Telangana issue released.
 New RTI rules restricts application length to 250 words and only one subject.
 Government introduces the protection of Women Against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill 2010 in Lok Sabha. It provides for fine of Rs. 50,000 on employer for not conducting an internal enquiry.
 Jairam Ramesh, Minister for Environment and Forest represents India at Cancun meet on Climate at Mexico.
 Manipur tops in percentage of HIV infected people as per National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) followed by Andhra and Mizorum.
 India’s first Seaplane – Aircraft capable of takeoff from and landing on water, launched by Pawan Hans Corporation.
 Five digit train numbers introduced by Indian Railways.
 Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro donates Rs. 8,846 crore for educating the rural poor.
 Bihar becomes first state to scrap MLA Local Area Development Fund.
 Chattisgarh introduces Family Planning Incentives, Gold Card for 1 child family, Silver Card for 2 child family.
 Ministry of Environment and Forest introduces City Sanitation Plan (CSP) for all states for cleanings of rivers.
 First meeting of Financial Stability and Development Council held under chairmanship of Finance Minister.
 Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVA) facility granted to four more countries – Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Philippines (30 days visa).
 Madhya Pradesh starts its first open jail in Hoshangabad.
INTERNATIONAL
 Sri Lanka withdraws Tamil version of their National Anthem.
 XIth India – EU Summit held at Brussels, Belgium.
 XIth Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) summit held at Istanbul, Turkey.
 G-20 Summit in 2011 will be held in Cannes, France
 India and Mongolia conduct joint Military exercises in Belgaum in Karnataka.
 The 16th Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concludes at Cancun, Mexico.
 Pakistan test fires successfully its Medium Range Ballastic Missile – Hatf V (Gauri) – range 1300 kms.
 Russia launches rocket carrying three Glonass Navigational Satellites.
 Dragon Capsule – 1st private enterprise’s reusable spacecraft of world launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.
 2011 declared year of chemistry by UNO.
 International Widow’s Day - 23rd June, declared by UN.
ECONOMIC SCENARIO
 HUF not allowed holding PPF account beyond 15 years.
 BSE launches Shariah Index for trading of Shariah compliant stocks.
 Crude oil transactions from Iran taken out from ACU mechanism.
 Government targets $ 1 trillion (Rs. 45 lac crore) investment in infrastructure during 12th FYP.
 IOC declared Top Fortune India 500 company followed by Reliance Industries and SBI.
 Sahara India purchases Hotel Grosvenor House in London for Rs. 3260 crores.
 Fulfilment of KYC norms made compulsory for all mutual fund applications.
 Public equity issues mopped Rs. 69,192 crores in 2010 against target of 40,000 crore.
 Paras Pharma bought over by Reckit Benekiser for about Rs. 3200 crore.
 India continues to be the largest recipient of remittances in world in 2010 - $ 55 billion.
 India signs $10 billion TAPI Gas Pipe Line Agreement with Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan for supply of natural gas; project also nicknamed as New Silk Route.
 India tops Forbes list of best countries for new job in 2011 – with 42% net hiring outlook.
 India’s tele density reaches 60.99 by Sept. 2010 with 72.33 crore phone connections.
 Maharashtra tops in attracting maximum FDI in April- Sept. 2010 - $ 2.67 billion.
 R.Com to get $ 1.93 billion loan from China Development Bank.
 Huawei Telecommunications of China to invest over Rs. 9000 crore in India.
 Hero Handa ends its 26 years old tie up with Honda.
 India and China agree to permit each other’s banks in their country.
 Indo China bilateral trade target set at $ 100 billion by 2015.
 Karnataka tops in states in attracting domestic investment – ASSOCHAM Survey (UP – 2nd, Jharkhand – 3rd).
 Tata Chemicals to foray into selling of pulses - Moong, Chana, Toor and Urd.
 India’s largest solar power plant of five MW established at Sivaganga, Tamilnadu.
 Govt. approves Adhaar Number as complete and valid proof for KYC.
 Tamilnadu achieves highest Credit Deposit (CD) ratio of 108.75%.
 Dollar 1.5 billion World Bank loan sanctioned for 24,000 km of Rural Roads under Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
BANKING
 HDFC starts Braille enabled ATMs.
 SMS UNHAPPY – complaint redressal mechanism of SBI.
 SMS – SOLVE - complaint redressal mechanism of SBI Life.
 RBI asks banks to cap cash deposit charges to a maximum of Rs. 5.
 PNB acquires Dana Bank of Kazakhstan.
 Axis Bank appoints Idea Cellular as its Business Correspondent.
 RBI lowers SLR from 25% to 24% to ease liquidity position of banks.
 Central Bank of India enters its Centenary year; Rs. 5 stamps issued on the occasion.
DEFENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
 USA removes trade restriction from DRDO and ISRO for technology export
 HYLAS – Highly Adaptable Satellite, launched successfully by ISRO through European Arian - 5 SLV for advanced communications.
 Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) – A new test for deducting TB in 100 minutes has been approved by WHO.
 Mountain version of supersonic cruise missile – BrahMos Tested successfully. Ranged 300 kilometers.
 India receives first lot of C-130J Hercules fighter Aircraft from USA.
 Government cleared Project 15-B for construction of four Guided Missile Stealth destroys.
 Prithvi – II : Nuclear capable surface to surface Ballastic Missile test fire successfully, range 350 km.
 India Russia signs world biggest defence deal for $ 30 billion for manufacturing Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA).
 GSLV – F-506 explodes in mid air.
 Army Grants permanent commission to Women Officers after Court directions.
 Indian Coast Guard introduces Vijit – its new Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV).
 Artificial Kidney developed by research team lead by Subho Roy at University of California (USA).
PERSONS IN NEWS
 Sushma Verma – 10 years old girl from Lucknow admitted to BSc course of Lucknow University.
 Justice V. Balakrishana Eradi – Ex-president of National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and Head of Panel for Ravi and Beas Water Tribunal for 24 years passes away.
 Bobby Jindal – Voted most popular governor of USA (Louisana).
 Arundhati Rai and Sayed Ali Shah Geelani – Famous writer and Hurriat leader respectively, booked for sedition charges for their utterances on Kashmir issue.
 Neera Yadav – Ex-Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh was awarded 4 years imprisonment in Noida Land Allotment Scam.
 Julian Assange – Founder of Wikileaks, was in news due to his arrest in London.
 Kamla Harris – First lady of Indian origin appointed as Attorney General of California (USA).
 Samuel T Kohen – Father of Neutron Bomb passes away.
 Richard Hallbrook – Senior US Diplomat dealing with Pakistan and Afghanistan, passes away.
 Arpita Singh – Indian Painter got highest ever price for a painting by a lady – ‘The Wish Dream’ – Rs. 9.6 crore.
 Surinder Mohan – Veteran Socialist leader passes away.
 Mark Zuckerberg – Founder of Face Book declared Person of the Year 2010 by Times Magazine.
 B.S. Lally – CEO of Prasar Bharti suspended by President for alleged financial irregularities.
 K. Karuna Karan – Veteran Congress Leader from Kerala passes away.
 Dr. Binayak Sen – Philanthropist and Doctor sentenced to life term by Raipur Courts in Chattisgarh for his alleged support to Naxalites.
 V.R. Mehta – President of Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samittee – promoter of Jaipur Foot honored by Philippines Parliament.
PLACES IN NEWS
 Cancun – In Mexico, venue of UNFCCC – UN Framework Convention on Climatic Change.
 Varanasi – Site of a Terror Bomb Blast Indian Muzahideen.
 Oslo, Norway - site of Nobel Prize delivery ceremony.
 Chennai - Venue of 98th Indian Science Congress.
BOOKS AND AUTHOR
 The Emperor of all Maladies – Biography of Cancer - by Siddharth Mukherjee.
 Last Salute to President Bush- by Muntazer al-Zaidi (journalist who hurled shoe at Bush).
 India China Boundary Problem (1846-1946) – History and Diplomacy - by A.G. Noorani.
 The Sun Set Club - by Khushwant Singh
 Convenient Action: Gujarat’s Response to Challenges of Climate Change - by Narender Modi.
 India for a Billion Reasons - by Amit Dasgupta
 My Life with the Taliban - by Abdul Salam Zaeef.
 Global Crisis Recession and Uneven Recovery - by Y.V. Reddy
 A Bibliography – An Inspirational Journey - by Rasika Chaube and Chhaya Mahajan (about Pratibha Patil)
 Jawahar Lal Nehru : Civilizing a Savage World - by Nayantara Sahgal
APPOINTMENTS / ELECTED
 R.K. Shetty – President of Indian Hockey Federation.
 Satyanand Mishra – New Chief Information Commissioner
 U.K. Sinha – New Chairman of SEBI.
 A.P. Singh - Director CBI.
 Nouri al-Maliki Prime Minister of Iraq.
 Preeti Zinta – Brand Ambassador of HP.
 Sanjeev Tripathi – Chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
AWARDS / HONOURS
 Golden Peacock – To film Moner Manush of Gautam Ghosh at 41st International Film Festival of India at Goa.
 Best Actor -- Guven Kirac, Turkey for The Crossing; Best Actress: Magdalena Boczarska, Poland for Little Rose.
 SASTRA Ramanujan Award – Professor Wei Zhang of Harvard University.
 Sahitya Academy Award 2010 – Udai Prakash for his long story “Mohan Dass”.
 International Design Award – Tata Nano, from Chicago Athenaeum.
 Miss Earth 2010 - Nicole Faria – of Bengaluru, crowned in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
 Order of British Empire – Highest Civilian Award of UK to Dr. Satyavrat Sharma of Hissar.
 Forbes (India) Person of the Year 2010 - Nitish Kumar – Chief Minister of Bihar.
 CNN – IBN Indian of the Year 2010 -- Nitish Kumar – Chief Minister of Bihar.
 Best RTI Journalist Award – Saikia Dutta of Outlook Magazine.
 Asian Television Best Current Affairs Presenter Award : Karan Thapar of IBN-CNN.
SPORTS
 IAAF declares World Athlete of the Year 2010. Men – David Rudisha, Kenya, 800 meters record holder; Women – Blank Vlasic, Croatia, high jump champion.
 England retains Ashes, Cricket by defeating Australia, for the first time in last 24 years in Australia.
 26th National Junior Athletics Championship held at Bangalore.
 S.P. Sethu Raman – 16 years old from Chennai becomes India’s youngest Grand Master, at Poland.
 Sachin becomes first cricketer in world to score 50 centuries in test matches (at Centurion, South Africa).
 Russia and Quatar – Awarded hosting of FIFA Football World Cup for 2018 and 2022 respectively.
 Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark declared World Champion by International Tennis Federation.
 Rafael Nadal, Spain declared World Champion by International Tennis Federation.
 Bangladesh to host 2012 Asia Cup Cricket.
 Lee Westwood becomes World No. 1 Golfer, replacing Tiger Woods.
 Vuvuzela – Ranked most popular world by Times Magazine ( a plastic horn that become popular in FIFA Football World Cup).
 Xavi – Spanish midfielder declared World Soccer Player by UK’s World Football Magazine.
 Olympic Gold Quest – Appex Support Group for Indian Athletes appoints as Deepika Padukon as its director.
 Parmarjan Negi becomes youngest National chess champion at 17.
 Magnus Carlsen of Norway, 19 years old becomes youngest number one in World Chess, replacing Vishwanathan Anand.
 Arman Jaffer - 13 years old Mumbai school boy sets record by scoring 498 runs.
EVENT VENUE WINNER LOSER
ATP Tennis World Tour Final London Roger Federer, Switzerland Rafael Nadal, Spain
Davis Cup 2010 (Tennis) Belgrade, Serbia Serbia France
Hong Kong Open Badminton Title Wanchal, Hong Kong Saina Nehwal Shixian Wang, China
National Volleyball Championship Chennai Men – Tamilnadu, Women – Railways Kerala, Kerala
National Basketball Championship New Delhi Railways, Men’s and Women’s Karnataka, Karnataka
World Tennis Championship Abu Dhabi (UAE) Rafael Nadal, Spain Roger Federer, Switzerland
ABBREVIATIONS
NAAT : Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (New TB Test approved by WHO)
GLONASS : Global Navigation Satellite System ICGS : Indian Coast Guard Ship
IMBL : International Maritime Boundary Line NELP : New Exploration Licensing Policy (For Oil and Gas Fields)
NKN : National Knowledge Network UDRS : Umpire Decision Referral System
IMPORTANT DAYS
 February 02 – World Wetlands Day
 February 13 – World Marriage Day (Second Sunday of February)
 February 21 – International Mother Language Day
 February 24 – Central Excise Day
 February 28 – National Science Day



Source: ctdi