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National

After Anna Hazare now it’s Baba Ramdev to fast
• After Anna Hazare, now it’s Baba Ramdev to follow up his footstep and to fast on Saturday, 08th may 2011 against the black money hoarding and corruption. More than 10 million people including civil rights activists are supposed to join baba in his fight against corruption. Baba Ramdev has decided to hunger strike demanding the government of India to take stern actions against black money hoarded abroad and to curb corruption. In his fasting decision, even Anna Hazare (who even fasted before for the Lokpal bill promotion) has extended his support for Baba Ramdev.
• Many government officials have tried negotiating with Baba Ramdev against his decision to fast. But it said that only next level talks with the government supreme can reach up to any conclusion. Ministers like A.K Antony, Pranab Mukharjee have met with P.M Monmohan Singh along with congress head Sonia Gandhi to discuss the matter. It’s still a big question for the government about how they will be stopping Baba Ramdev from fasting unlike their stint with Anna Hazare who fasted for the same issue.
Tanzania and India signed an agreement for double taxation avoidance.
• The Indian government signed on the double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with the United Republic of Tanzania. This agreement is meant for the prevention of fiscal evasion related to taxes on income to be payed. The agreement was signed on May 27th 2011 at Dar –es-Salaam. Shri K V Bhagirath, High Commissioner of India and Mr Pereira Ame Silima, Deputy Finance Minister of the Republic of Tanzania both are going to sign on the DTAA agreement on behalf of their respective countries.
• The DTAA states that all the business profits will be taxable in the state if the activities constitutes for a permanent establishment in the respective state. This agreement will in providing stability of taxes between India and Tanzania. And this will help in increment of mutual economic cooperation between the two countries.
History made- Mamata Banerjee sworn in as west Bengals 1st women C.M
• Mamata Banerjee on Friday was sworn in as the 1st women Chief Minister of West Bengal. She was made head by the joint alliance of Trinamool and Congress party. Mamata Banerjee took the oath in Bengali, which was administered by Governor Mr M K Narayanan in Raj Bhavan. The council under Mamata Banerjee’s ministry consist of 43 members out of which 36 are from Trinamool congress while the rest are from Congress party. The list of members includes Amit Mitra, Manish Gupta, Abdul Karim Chowdhury, Partha Chatterjee, Upen Biswas, Subrata Mukherjee, Sabitri Mitra, Sandhan Pandey, Noore Alam Chowdhary, Bratya Basu and Madan Mitra.
India and US to discuss Homeland security
• India and US will resume their homeland security talks on may 8th 2011. The delegation from the Indian side will be headed by Union home Minister P. Chidambaram and that from the US will be headed by the Secretary of Homeland Security Department, Ms Janet Napolitano. The main topic on interest that will be discussed comprise of coastal security, curbing illegal financing, counter terrorism, mutual investigation that includes Mumbai terror attacks etc.

Sports News

Master blaster the leading cricketer of Widens 2010
• The master blaster became the 7th recipient of the Wisden award joining the league of other recipient like Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Jacques Kallis, and Andrew W Flintoff etc. Wisden regarded as the Bible of cricket named India’s Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar as its seventh recipient. Sachin if the 2nd Indian cricketer after Virender Sehwag who’s also among the wisden awardees’ league. In February itself sachin became the 1st world cricketer to score a double 100 in one dayers and before this he became the 1st cricketer to score 50 test tons.
• The 148th wisden edition was launched on Wednesday and this is the 1st time that master blaster has won this award since it began in the year 2004. Also sachin was even positioned at number 4 rank in the Wisden’s 2009 Test XI.
Annu Singh the Indian shooter to book berth for London’s Olympic
• Annu Raj Singh became the 5th Indian shooter to book her berth for the London’s Olympic to be held next year. She qualified for the Olympic seat after winning a silver medal at the ongoing ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning for the 10m Air Pistol. Singh who never won the world cup earlier qualified for the finals with a maximum of 389 points win. After this Singh is ranked at number 33 in the world. She is the next Indian to join the league for the Olympics after shooters Gagan Narang, Hari Om Singh, Sanjeev Rajput and Ronjan Sodhi.
• Her win was tied up with gold medallist Olena Kostevych of Ukraine.
Mary Kom strikes gold in Asian Cup
• India’s five time world champion M C Mary Kom won 1st gold medal of the year by winning in the Asian Cup Women’s Boxing tournament in Haikou, china.
• She won the medal for the 48Kg category. Kom became the winner after defeating Asian champion Kim Myong Sim of North Korea. The winning strike was lead by 4-3points in the finals. This was her 1st tournament since her bronze medal win at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games after which she made a place for herself in the weight division category after beating Kate Appari of Philippines.
• Though her North Korean counterpart was a stiff challenge for her but it was her skill and the agility of the champion that she made her way through the finals and won the gold.
• On the other hand another Indian in the line Pavitra (57kg) faced defeat in the finals against Tossamalee Thonalan of Thailand. She lost to her counterpart by 6-11 points.

International News

Most wanted deadly terrorist Osama Bin Laden Dead
• The most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden was finally gunned down by the US troops in alliance with CIA agents. The deadly terrorist was killed in a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This city of Pakistan houses at least 5, 00,000 people that includes a Pakistani military base and a military academy. After Osama refused to surrender he was shot dead by the US military troops. News of his death spread like wild fire and the Americans relieved to joy.
• In the light of this news a Pakistani parliamentary training centre was attacked by two suicide bombers which killed 80 people and wounded more than 120 people. All this attack was announced as retaliation for the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
• Following the attacks the Taliban took the responsibility and even condemned the Pakistani government from failing to stop the US military raid.
IMF head arrested for sexual assault:
• IMF (International Monetary Fund) head Dominique Strauss Kahn was arrested for sexually assaulting a maid at a Manhattan Hotel. Dominique who’s also a political figure in France was taken into custody at Kennedy International Airport. His arrest aroused a mixed sense of disbelief, anger and embarrassment among the masses in France. Dominique had a well formed reputation among the political Supremes.
• Dominique was even considered as the next best candidate for presidential seat after the Nicolas Sarkozy. Following his arrest Strauss has resigned as the Managing Director of IMF. On may 19th Strauss was indicted with multiple charges like attempted to rape, sexual abuse amongst others.
Floods leads to massive Evacuations Along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers : 
• Heavy rains have caused severe flooding in the regions of Ohio valleys and Mississippi. All the regions like Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri and Arkansas are flooded heavily and have been evacuated leaving people to leave their home and move towards higher planes for shelter. The engineers and disaster control management team have been working on how to lower the river level in order to stop further destruction. As per the sources the flooding water in the river of Mississippi is flowing at a massive speed nearly 17 million gallons a second. And the river level has risen above the danger level that is to 56.3 feet which is 13 feet above the danger level. Flood control department is deciding to open the portion Morganaza Spillway but it has its own danger effect that is it will flood the other areas’.
French nationals to sue sarkozy over crimes in Libya:
• Two French lawyers have said that they are planning to sue French President Nicolas Sarkozy against the Humanity crimes over the military campaign in Libya that was led by NATO. Jacques Verges and Roland Dumas two of the French lawyers have decided to represent the families of the victims during the military campaign. It was said that the military campaign that was initiated as a means to protect the civilians was in fact responsible for their killings. The two lawyers said the military campaign as an inhuman assault against the common man and a sovereign country, and that they have decided to defend the victims of the military campaign.
• It was said that the two lawyers have decided to defend the victims of the NATO bombings because they themselves saw the aftermath consequences of the bombings when they visited Libya.
• Though the western government has denied any civilian casualties caused during the NATO bombings, Verges and Dumas have said that they had seen several such casualties at various such hospitals and there are almost 20,000 such victims.
Pakistan gets Chinese aid against the US raids.
• After the killing of the deadly terrorist Osama Bin Laden, US have accused Pakistan Government for harbouring the deadly terrorist for many years. Now by doubling its military attacks on Pakistan the US wants to enter into the sphere that’s influenced by the Chinese Government. But in retaliation to the Obama Administration the Chinese government has again lend a helping hand towards Pakistan by providing air arsenal and even warned the US government that any sort of attack on Pakistan would considered as an inhuman and unfriendly attack on the Chinese government too.
• The Chinese government has clearly said that any attack on Pakistan will be considered as an attack against China which will not be tolerated. This is the 1st such blunt ultimatum for the US government after the Soviet warning during the crisis in Berlin in the year 1958-1961. This indicates the danger of war between the two countries Pakistan and the US.
• China’s support has been a critically important for the Pakistani government and this relation is not seen as good for the US and the Indian government as it has been said that: “If the US and the Indian government continues to put pressure on the Pakistani government, then Pakistan officials can say that we are not alone our friend China is Behind us. We have a super power nation as our friend”.
Death toll rising at fast pace and the massive unrest continues to grow
• The Syrian protests have entered their tenth week and thousands of protestors came to the streets all over the country after the Friday prayers. In order to keep police and the security forces at bay the protest this time were held during the nights over the weekends. As per the reports at least two people were killed during the army operation in Rastan away from the city of Homs. Even many activists called the day for massive demonstration against the brutal torture and killing of a 13year old boy named as Hamza-al-Khatib.
• As per the reports from the local media 32 soldiers and some police personnel were also injured during the clashes and 3 police men lost their life. Also a policeman’s son was among the ones who were killed during the clashes between the protestors and the forces.
• As the reports around 143 soldiers, police men and security forces have lost their lives from the day the unrest began in the country and more than 1000 people have been killed during the clashes and almost 10,000 arrested.
• In the midst of the clashes the Interior Minister Ibrahim al Shaar has announced that he is going to listen to the complaints of the civilians in person.
Fear grows as EU suspends all aid to Syria
• Almost 100 of people are about to lose their jobs as the EU has decided to cut down on all major aids to the Syrian government. Tishreen newspaper was quoted as saying that though the Syrian government will be affected by the aid cancellation but the common man will suffer the most as they will be on the verge to lose their jobs. It is said that in order to loosen up the stability of the Syrian government the stopping of aid is one such step by the European government.
• Meanwhile the G-8 has announced support of around 40bn for the Arab countries. This support is meant in order to help the Arab countries to move towards a better Democratic government policy. Half of the sum from the 40bn support will be spent for the Tunisian and the Egyptian government reform.
• Russian premier Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying that the Russian government is not going to back EU states and the US at the security council meet.

Science and Technology

Our Milky Way in Midst of life crisis
• Planetary scientist say that our Milky way is in its mid life crisis as a result of which it will slow down its process of production of stars in the next billion years. As per the aeronautics the galaxies are classified under two categories namely- energetic blue galaxies and the lethargic red galaxies. The blue galaxies produce stars at a massive rate while the other one are slowly dying. But a team of scientist from the Swinburne University of Technology says that our Milky Way falls into neither of the two categories. It is in fact a green valley galaxy that lays half way between the blue galaxy and the red galaxy.
• This is the first time ever that scientists have compared both the galaxies with our Milky Way as the Astrophysical Journal reported. Though we are in our own galaxy and to determine its state was a tough job to accomplish was reported by the Astrophysical Journal.
Indian communication satellite GSAT-8 successfully launched
• India’s communication satellite GSAT-8 was launched successfully. The satellite was launched by Arianespace from Kourou in French Guiana. The satellite was launched to enable powerful services direct to our home. The satellite weighs 3100kg and is one the heaviest and high powered satellite developed by the Indian Scientist at the Bangalore- headquarters ISRO. The ISRO team that launched the satellite showed extreme pleasure at the successful launch of the satellite.
• “I am extremely delighted and happy to announce that ISRO successfully launched the satellite and we are happy to confirm that we have taken the charge of the satellite immediately after its injection into the orbit” ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said..

Current Affairs For April 2011

National

Anna Hazares fast against corruption
• Social Activist Anna Hazare started a fast unto death on 5/4/2011 demanding enactment of a comprehensive law like the Jan Lokpal Bill to tackle corruption. Just a couple of days since the nation was recovering from the euphoria of winning the world cup the 72 year old Anna Hazare began his fast at Jantar Mantar after taking out a march from Rajghat where he paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. Other eminent activists like Swami Agnivesh, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Sandeep Pandey were also present to lend support. The fast soon gathered a lot of momentum through continuous coverage and brought the government under a lot of pressure. The movement soon spread to all parts of India where hundreds and thousands of students, housewives, working executives and senior citizens joined the campaign to make the government to enact the important new law to fight corruption. Facing intense pressure, the Government, finally agreed to forming a joint committee to draft a stronger Lokpal Bill. The panel will have five members and five representatives of the civil society. It includes Anna Hazare himself, but not as a chairman, lawyers Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan, anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde. While Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be the Chairman of the committee that will also include Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid as members.
Gopal Das returns from Pak after 27 yrs
• Indian National Gopal Das set foot on Indian soil on 7/4/2011 after spending 27 years in a Pakistan prison when he was convicted for charges of espionage. The 52 year old Das was set free from Lahore Jail after Pakistani President remitted his sentence following an appeal by the Supreme Court on humanitarian grounds. As soon as he set foot in India an emotional Das bowed down and kissed the soil. He was greeted by his family members including his brother Anand Vir, two sisters and niece Navjot besides, a dozen people from Bhaini Mian Khan village of Gurdaspur district of Punjab were there to receive him. When speaking to the media Das lamented that the golden period of his youth were spent behind bars in Pakistan. He said “I have a grudge against the Indian leadership who has never bothered about Indian prisoners rotting in prisons in Pakistan for so many years. Thirty-two Indian nationals, who have completed their jail term, are still languishing due to lack of initiative on the part of the Indian government,”
Good voter turnout in Assembly Elections For Assam, TN, Kerala and Puducherry
• The Election Commission had announced the election dates for four states on 1/2/2011 - Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry. The assembly elections so far have witnessed a good voter turn out in 2011. Assam witnessed a good voter turn out in both phases which were held on the 4th and 11th of April 2011 respectively. In the first phase the state witnessed a 73.03 per cent voter turnout and in the second phase the turnout was 70.35 per cent. An average of nearly 78 per cent voters exercised their franchise to elect new assemblies in the key southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the Union territory of Puducherry on 13/4/2011. While Tamil Nadu and Kerala registered a turnout of 75.21 per cent and 74.4 per cent respectively, in Puducherry it was the highest at 85.21 per cent, Deputy Election Commissioner J. P. Prakash told reporters in Delhi. Meanwhile the election process is currently underway in West Bengal where it is being held in 6 phases, the last date being May 10th. Counting will be on 13/5/2011 for all states.
Supreme Court grants bail to Dr Binayak Sen
• The Supreme Court on 15/4/2011 granted bail to Dr Binayak Sen who was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and having links with the Maoists by the Chhattisgarh sessions court on 24/12/2011. A bench comprising Justices HS Bedi and CK Prasad passed the order after Dr Sen filed a petition challenging the Chhattisgarh court order. The Apex court had declared that the evidence on record proved no sedition charge against Sen and at worst termed him a Naxal sympathizer. The court further observed that mere possession of Naxal Literature doe not make the person a Naxalite or guilty of sedition. Dr Sen was arrested in May 2007 when the government charged him with aiding the insurgents by passing notes between Piyush Guha, a businessman and jailed Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal. Dr Sen has maintained his innocence and denies any wrong doing rather said that he was being victimized for his criticism of Salwa Judum which was a group started by the state government to counter Maoist insurgents. He was released on bail in May 2009. Later a trial court convicted him of sedition and sentenced him to life imprisonment in 24/12/2010. Following that the High Court in Chhattisgarh rejected Dr. Sen’s bail application in 10/2/ 2011 which he appealed against and was finally granted bail by the Supreme Court.
Rajdhani Express catches fire, passengers safe
• A fire broke out in the pantry car of the Mumbai – Delhi Rajdhani express on 18/4/2011 at early morning 2:20 AM. The fire spread to the near by coaches B5, B6 and B7 but an alert pantry staff ensured all the passengers were woken up on time and made to evacuate the train ensuring none of them were killed or injured in the process. They also delinked the affected coaches from the rest of the train thereby averting a major disaster. Railways gave Rs 10.6 lakh to 212 passengers (Rs 5,000 per passenger) as ex-gratia for the inconvenience and loss of baggage due to the fire in the 12951 Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani. The railways has rewarded the nine staffers of the IRCTC with Rs 3,000 as a "token gesture", Sanjay Jain, Group General Manager of IRCTC said. There were a total of 30 pantry staffers in the train at that time.
Shiney Ahuja appeals against rape sentence 
• Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja who was earlier sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his maid has appealed to the Bombay High Court against his sentence on 19/4/2011. Earlier a fast track court on 30/3/2011 had convicted the actor even as the victim had turned hostile during the trial. The court had considered circumstantial evidence which includes – a DNA report which tested positive, torn hymen, blood marks on victim's clothes, semen found on quilt and curtains and Shiney’s hand which bore scratch marks of the victim. Shiney on his part has stated in his appeal that he had been falsely implicated and that the lower court has erred in law while convicting him.
Kidnapped Mumbai boy Karnit Shah returns home
• Five year old Karnit Shah who was kidnapped from outside his home in suburban Kandivali, Mumbai was rescued by the Police from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh on 20/4/2011. Karnit had gone missing since 6/4/2011 when he was last seen playing at the premises of his building Pranik Gardens. Karnit's family pulled out all stops to trace their little boy. His father Anand a stock broker and his mother Alpa turned to facebook and uploaded photos of their son along with mobile numbers hoping people may be able to help by offering some sort of information about their missing son. Various online communities sprang up as the appeal went viral. Thousands of people forwarded the boy’s photos while the Shah’s on their behalf also offered Rs Two lakh in compensation for any information that would assist in tracing their son. The incident became a nation wide flutter after it generated considerable press coverage as well. The police have arrested the main accused of the case, Sohan Singh, along with his alleged associates Sameer Khan, Sandeep Warige and Shankar Salve, where Singh ran a confectionery shop in Kandivali which is close to Karnit’s residence. The police said children in the neighbourhood had spoken of a “Sunny Uncle”, possibly in his 20s, who was spotted lately offering sweets to the children and his disappearance too had coincided with that of Karnit. After two weeks of relentless chase, the Mumbai police with the help of UP Special Task Force traced the boy to a hut in Handia, UP from where he was rescued.
Kalmadi arrested in CWG scam
• Congress MP Suresh Kalamadi was arrested on 25/4/2011 by the Central Buearau of Investigation (CBI) for irregularities in the CW games. The former Chairman of the CWG was arrested under the charges for 120 B and 420 (criminal conspiracy and cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. The CBI has charged him with criminal conspiracy to buy timing, scoring and result (TSR) system from a Swiss company at an inflated cost of Rs 141 crore which the agency has alleged had cost the government Rs 95 Crore extra. Two other senior officials of the Organizing Committee - Surjeet Lal and ASV Prasad - have also been arrested in the Time Scoring scam. The 66 year old Kalmadi a Lok Sabha MP for the Congress from Pune has been facing a lot of flak even before the start of the games for construction delays and gross misuse of funds. Some of Kalmadi’s aides already arrested include Sanjay Mohindroo, M Jayachandran, TS Darbai, Kalmadi's personal assistant Shekhar Deorukhkar, Verma and Lalit Bhanot. Following his arrest he was suspended from the Congress party and soon enough it also brought a halt to his 15 year old reign as President of the Indian Olympic Committee (IOC). Veteran Sports Administrator VK Malhotra was unanimously named the acting President in his absence.
CBI names Kanimozhi coconspirator in 2G scam 
• The CBI on 25/4/2011 has filed a second charge sheet in the 2G spectrum case naming Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK Chief M Karunanidhi’s daughter M Kanimozhi as a co conspirator. She has been charged with section 7 and 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The sections deal with acceptance of alleged gratification. The four other who have been charge sheeted with her include Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa's cousin Asif Balwa, Rajeev Agarwal -- Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd and Karim Murani of Cineyug Films. However Dayalu Ammal wife of the Dr Karunanidhi has not been named in the chargesheet. Kanimozhi, Dayalu Ammal and Sharad Kumar of Kalaignar TV, have 20, 60 and 20% shares in the channel respectively. The CBI had already told the court earlier that Rs 200 Crores connected with the spectrum case allegedly was routed from Balwa’s Swan telecom to Kalaignar TV. Kanimozhi has been named co conspirator in the scam along with former telecom minister A. Raja who was arrested in February and still remains in prison. She has been asked to appear at a court in Delhi on 6/5/2011, which is dealing with the scam.
Dada Saheb Phalke award for K. Balachander 
• K. Balachander, one of India’s most acclaimed and influential filmmakers will receive the Daba Saheb Phalke award for 2010 in an announcement by the Information & Broadcasting ministry on 29/4/2011. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl, given for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. The prolific director who worked as a government servant in his early days was drawn to theatre where he began to write plays. Following this success a career in films soon beckoned him where he has made many classics that are well received and appreciated to this day. He was a bold director who always tried to explore new themes and many of his movies had strong female characters. Some of the director’s famous works in Tamil include Apoorva Raganagal, Thaneer Thanerr, Varumayin Niram Sigappu, Server Sundaram, Sinthu Bairavi etc while the hindi film Ek Duuje Ke Liye won him applause in the northern parts of the country as well. K. Balachander has spotted and groomed several artists in the industry the likes of which include Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan.
Spiritual Leader Sathya Sai Baba passes away
• Spiritual leader Sathya Baba passed away on 24/4/2011 at the Sathya Sai Hospital in Puttapathi, Andhra Pradesh due to cardio-respiratory failure. The 84 year old Godman was admitted in hospital for the past one month after complaining of breathing and heart problems. The doctors had described his condition as ‘very critical’ over the last three to four days when most of his major organs stopped responding to treatment. Upon hearing his death a pale of gloom had descended Puttaparthi and thousands of his followers could be seen mourning his demise. Spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba was buried on 27/4/2011 as hundreds of thousands of devotees flocked to pay their last respects at his temple in Puttaparthi. Queues stretched for kilometres through the town, which has shuttered its shops and businesses since last three days. He was buried with full state honours in the Sai Kulwanth hall from where he used to address all his devotees over the years. Sai Baba was born as Sathyanarayana Raju in a humble backward caste family on November 23, 1926. He emerged as one of the most popular godmen in India in modern times leaving behind an empire estimated from a conservative figure of Rs. 40,000 crore to a staggering Rs. 1.5 lakh crores raising questions over who will manage the Trust.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu dies in chopper crash 
• Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu was found dead in the remote and inaccessible Luguthang village, about 30 km from Tawang on 4/5/2011. The CM had gone missing on 30/4/2011 when on a flight from Tawang was found dead along with four others after their helicopter crashed in bad weather in the mountains regions. The helicopter's wreckage was found at Lobotang which is situated near Jang water falls in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. The rescue operations were hampered due to bad weather. The other four members, who accompanied Khandu in the chopper, were - crew members Captain JS Babbar and Captain KS Malick, Khandu's security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang legislator Tsewang Dhondup. This is the second death of a chief minister in two years after CM of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was killed in a helicopter crash in the Nallamalla ranges in the state in September 2009.
Air India pilots call off 10-day-long strike
• Air India pilots called off their 10-day-long strike and returned to work on 5/5/2011 night after the government agreed to reinstate the sacked and suspended pilots and look into their demands within a time-frame. The ten day strike has resulted in an estimated loss of over 150 crores inconveniencing thousands of passengers across the country. Civil Aviation ministry officials, the association president Captain A S Bhinder along with ICPA general secretary Rishabh Kapur said that the government has agreed to look into all the alleged irregularities. Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi the 3 member committee would give its report in the next few months. The strike by over 800 pilots on 27/4/2011 owing allegiance to the ICPA had resulted in the grounding of up to 90 per cent of the airline operations. The Delhi High Court had also slapped contempt notices on nine office bearers of the de-recognized ICPA for disobeying its order to call off the strike.
Arunima Sinha story, whose telling the truth ?
• National-level volleyball player Arunima Sinha alias Sonu, who lost her leg after being pushed out of a moving train on 11/4/2011 when she tried to fight an alleged robbery attempt. She lost her left leg after being pushed out of the Padmavat Express when three robbers tried to snatch her gold chain. Following her fall, one of Sinha's legs had to be amputated below the knee. The other leg suffered multiple fractures as she was hit by a train passing on the adjacent track. She was later admitted in AIIMS when her leg developed an infection. Since then the 23 year old sportswoman has been out of danger and recuperating well. She was offered a paltry compensation of Rs 25,000 which she snubbed following which the railways offered a job to Arunima. The incident generated lot of press interest and many people including cricketers Yuvraj Harbhajan came forward with monetary help for the athlete. However over the Government Railway Police (GRP) probe the officials have found many loopholes in Sonu’s story. Some of which they allege that it might have been a suicide attempt and the passengers of train do not corroborate with her story. They also allege that location where Arunima was found does not corroborate with her version of the events. The sportswoman on her part has accused the officials of mentally harassing her and has refuted their charges.

Sports News

India Wins World Cup 2011
• The Indian cricket team came up with an inspired performance against Sri Lanka in the final to lift the World Cup in Mumbai on 2/4/2011 bringing to an end the 28 year wait when Kapil’s Devils had last lifted the cup in 1983. The World Champions were ecstatic with their victory while batting icon Sachin Tendulkar and Coach Gary Kirsten were given a lap of honour by their team mates. Sri Lanka had won the toss and opted to bat first notching up a formidable 274 runs on board thanks to an impressive century by Mahela Jayawardhene. Indian run chase started on jittery note when both openers Sachin and Sehwag were back in pavilion with the score at 31 for 2. However Gambhir and Dhoni who promoted himself up the order came up with a crucial partnership that helped to take India home. Dhoni finished of the match with a huge six over long on bringing the stadium to its feet and joy across millions of homes in India.
McLaren's Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix
• Mclaren’s Lewis Hamitlon won the Chinese Grand Prix in thrilling fashon on 17/4/2011 by passing Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel for the lead with just five laps remaining. Sebastian Vettel who had earlier made a strong bid for three straight wins to the start of the Formula 1 season how ever could not hold off Hamilton who looked in sublime touch throughout the race. Red Bull’s Mark Webber came in third on drove beautifully to finish on the podium considering he started eighteenth on the grid. Hamilton on his part was close to being out of contention when he fuel leak was detected in his car. The Mclaren mechanics worked frantically to rectify it. McLaren's Jenson Button was fourth, ahead of Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who all led at various stages at Shanghai International Circuit. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was seventh, ahead of Mercedes' Michael Schumacher, and Renault's Vitaly Petrov, with Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi taking the final point in 10th place. With three races completed this season Vettel leads the drivers standing with 68 points followed by Hamilton at 47, Button on 38 and Webber on 37.
Duncan Fletcher has been appointed as coach of India 
• Duncan Fletcher on 27/4/2011 has been named coach of the Indian cricket team finally ending weeks of speculation as to who would take over the high profile job. Fletcher (62) a former Zimbabwean all-rounder came to prominence when he coached England and helped them regain the Ashes in 2005. Under his guidance England won its first series in West Indies in 36 years and the team rose to the third spot in the Test rankings during his tenure. He captained Zimbabwe in the 83 World cup and has played in just 6 ODI’s during his time when the country hadn’t yet achieved Test status. He may not be a part of the team for the West Indies tour, as he has some prior commitments, said BCCI secretary N Srinivasan. He also added that Eric Simmons who was the bowling coach during previous coach Gary Kirsten’s tenure is to continue his stint with the Indian team.
IPL Season 4 Starts
• Just days after the Indian team won the cricket world cup the IPL season has started in full swing. IPL 4 is now a ten team event with the two new teams being the Kochi Tuskers and the Pune Warriors. Many players have gone for record prices and it is expected that this years IPL will be a very hard fought contest between the teams with fluctuating fortunes after every match. Two teams that are being considered hot favourites are the Mumbai Indians and defending Champions Chennai Super Kings. This is the first IPL event that is happening in the absence of Lalith Modi who created a lot of controversy last year. Now with Indian team riding a good wave of form it is expected the people will tune into the matches in large numbers.

International News

Oscar Nominated Director killed in Libya
• Two veteran journalists including Oscar nominated Director Tim Hetherington were killed in the town of Mistrata on 13/4/2011 while covering the battles between the rebels and the Libyan government forces. Tim (40) was nominated this year for codirecting the Afghanistan war story Restrepo in Best Documentary category. Chris Hondros, a New York-based photographer for Getty Images, was also killed. His work has appeared in many famous magazines and newspapers all around the World and has been awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal, which is one of the most prestigious awards for War Photography. Two other journalists Guy Martin and Michael Christopher Brown, who were freelancing for several large publications were also wounded.
Japan Atomic Crisis Reaches Chernobyl Level as Radiation Climbs
• Japan's nuclear safety agency has raised the severity level of the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant from level 5 to level 7 which ranks it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. It doesn't mean it's as bad as Chernobyl but it's still a negative development nonetheless. There have been only two level-seven incidents in nuclear history: the Chernobyl catastrophe 25 years ago in the Ukraine and now Fukushima, on the east coast of Japan. The disaster in Ukraine spewed debris as high as 9 kilometers into the air and released radiation 200 times the volume of the combined bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a 2006 report commissioned by Europe’s Green Party. The March 11 earthquake, the nation’s strongest on record, and tsunami left about 27,500 dead or missing, according to Japan’s National Police Agency. Japan was struck by two earthquakes stronger than magnitude 6 again on April that hindered recovering efforts as workers were temporarily evacuated.
Kate marries Prince William 
• Prince William second in line to the throne married his long time girlfriend Kate Middleton at a service in London’s West Minister Abbey on 29/4/2011. The pair exchanged in the presence of close to two thousand guests while the rest of the World watched it live on television. It was the most eagerly awaited and anticipated wedding since the Charles and Diana wedding. Middleton looked beautiful in her ivory and white satin dress with lace sleeves and shoulders, designed by Sarah Burton of the Alexander McQueen fashion house. The crowds cheered when the newly weds travelled in an open carriage on their way back to the Buckingham Palace from the abbey. Hundreds of thousands of people appeared in front of the palace to witness the kiss between the newly weds from the balcony while street parties where held across the United Kingdom to cheer the royal couple. The wedding was watched by close to two billion people across the globe. The couple will be known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge following their marriage.
Osama Bin Laden killed in Pakistan 
• The worlds most dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden has been shot dead by American Navy Seals on 2/5/2011 after he was found to be staying in relative luxury in a house just few hundred meters away from a Pakistani military academy in Abbotabad. Bin Laden was shot in the face and chest when the American forces sprung a surprise attack and the whole mission was performed without the consent or the knowledge of Pakistan. Obama, in his address to the nation shortly before midnight, thanked the Americans who have toiled in pursuit of bin Laden and applauded those who carried out the successful mission in Pakistan. “For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al Qaeda’s leader and symbol,” Obama said. “The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda.” This comes as a real embarrassment to the Pakistani government which has been maintaining for many years now that Osama was not there in Pakistan. And to find him holed up in a facility just yards away from a prestigious military academy which is also just a couple of hours away from Islamabad poses many tough questions regarding Pakistani’s commitment to fighting terror. The US government had further declared that they would carry out such operations again in the future if the need arises. The US is already mulling over whether they should sanction further aid to Pakistan unless they come up with satisfactory answers regarding how Osama was found where he was. This is a serious intelligence lapse and does not auger well for the country that is already reeling under various problems that threaten the very fabric of the nation. It remains to be seen how the nation will cope with the allegations.
Syria lifts emergency rule
• Syria's government approved lifting the country's nearly 50-year-old state of emergency on 19/4/2011 in an effort to satisfy the one of the key demands of the anti government protestors. But the government also issued a stern warning to call of the protests against President Bashar Assad’s hard line rule. Assad the previous week had told his cabinet to remove the state of emergency – in place since his Baath Party took power in March 1963 – but added that such a move would give protesters no more reason to take to the streets. This could give Assad further pretext to move against any further marches or rallies. The Syrian population how ever shows no signs of letting down after being inspired by the successful revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt. Most of Syria’s 23 million people were born or grew up under the strict control of the state of emergency. Assad hard line rule means strict control over the media, allowing eavesdropping on telecommunications and permitting arrests without warrants from judicial authorities.

National

Godhra verdict: 11 get death, 20 get life term
• A Sessions Court in Ahmedabad awarded death sentence to 11 people and life term to twenty others on 1/3/2011. The sentence was pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge PR Patel who had earlier convicted them of criminal conspiracy in the Sabarmati Express train burning case on Feb 22nd.
  The court had accepted the prosecution's contention that there was a conspiracy behind the incident and convicted 31 under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) like 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B(criminal conspiracy).
  They were convicted under IPC section 147, 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 323, 324,325,326 (causing hurt), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds), various sections of the Indian Railways Act, Prevention of Damages to Public Property Act and Bombay Police Act.
  The court had acquitted 63 others out the total 94 for lack of evidence including the alleged mastermind Maulavi Hussain Umarji. Fifty nine Kar Sevaks traveling in the S6 coach of Sabarmati Express were burnt alive near the Godhra railway station on February 2002. This incident caused wide spread communal riots in the State of Gujarat that resulted in the deaths of over 100 people, most of them Muslims. Justice Patel termed the case as “rarest of rare” and the court has given the accused 90 days to appeal in the High court.
SC strikes down CVC PJ Thomas' appointment
• The Supreme Court on 3/3/2011 struck down on the appointment of Chief Vigilance Commisioner PJ Thomas after a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia delivered its verdict on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought his removal. The apex court has observed Thomas is a person who is tainted as he was an accused in the palmoline export scam. CVC PJ Thomas soon thereafter submitted his resignation. This has come about as big blow to the UPA government which is already facing several allegations of corruption. Furthermore Thomas is the country's 14th CVC and was selected by a three member panel that included the PM and the Home Minister. The opposition BJP had been highly critical all along and following his resignation demanded even the PM to step down. The PM took responsibility for the incident and cited the reason as error in judgement. An IAS officer of 1973 batch of Kerala cadre, PJ Thomas is the eighth accused in the palmolien case. He served as food secretary in Kerala in the early 90’s during which time he had aggressively campaigned for the import of 1500 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia. Reports later emerged that price paid for the oil- palmolein was unjustifiable high. He has since been fighting allegations of corruption, while the case is still pending in court.
Delhi court accepts CBI's closure report against Quattrocchi
• A Delhi court on 4/3/2011 accepted CBI’s closure report seeking to drop all charges against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the two decade old Bofors case. The CBI was looking at closing all criminal cases against Italian businessman Quattrocchi, who is allegedly one of the recipients of kickbacks in the controversial Bofors gun deal of 1986 which ended up resulting in the fall of the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1989. Many influential figures were accused of receiving payoffs in the deal which involved the purchase of Bofors guns for the Indian army. The agency has been seeking withdrawal of the case against him as he has never appeared before any Indian court to face trial due to lack of evidence, even though a tax tribunal had ruled in Dec 2010 that illegal commissions were indeed paid in the deal. The agency had said that its plea to withdraw the case has been filed with bonafide intention as it has spent a huge amount of money on the investigation but has not been able to arrest the Italian businessman. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav observed: "At this moment we have to end the case therefore I allow the CBI plea to close the case. I think the CBI has moved this application to close this case after applying their minds, therefore there is no need of wasting public money in continuing the investigation." Advocate Ajay Aggarwal, who objected to CBI’s application in the court, said he would challenge the order in the Delhi High Court.
Delhi University student Radhika Tanwar shot outside college
• Radhika Tanwar (21) a student of Ram Lal Anand College (Delhi University) was shot dead by an unidentified man on the Dhaula Kuan foot-over bridge near South Campus at around 10.30 AM on 8/3/2011. Radhika a second year BA student who lives with her family in Naraina locality of West Delhi was shot point blank by the assailant who fled the scene after shooting her in the stomach. Passersby took the girl in an autorickshaw to Safdurjung Hospital where she was declared brought dead. The incident has caused outrage in the Capital which has been witnessing increasing episodes of crimes against women, while the world was celebrating International Womens Day. The assailant has been identified as 25 yr old Ram Singh alias Vijay who hails from Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. He was caught a few days later and Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta said “Vijay suffers from psychopathic obsession. He used to follow women. He followed Radhika regularly. The immediate trigger was the snubbing of Radhika when he tried to speak to her”. The police also went on to add Vijay “nurtured deep grudge” against the victim after he got beaten up for harassing her and often told his friends that he would avenge the humiliation whenever he got the opportunity. On 11/3/2011 another student Monica Kirnapure was stabbed by four people in Nagpur while she was on her way to class from her hostel. The twenty two year old girl lay in her pool of blood for ten minutes, a knife sticking out of her back, asking for water. No help came about from the bystanders until Sumedh Wanjaari hired a rickshaw to take her to the hospital where she died en route.
SC dismisses Aruna Shanbaug's euthanasia plea
• Aruna Shanbaug a former nurse at Mumbai’s KEM hospital has been in a vegetative state for the last 38 years after she was assaulted by a ward boy. A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra rejected on 7/3/2011 the euthanasia plea filed by Aruna’s friend Pinky Virani declaring ‘the petition stands cancelled’. They also added Pinky was not allowed to appeal for the mercy killing of Aruna as she was not the staff of KEM hospital. The bench in its 110-page judgement saw the nursing staff of KEM hospital who have been looking after Aruna for the past 38 years as the real next friend of Aruna and declared the patient didn’t have a single bed sore during the period. The apex court however allows passive euthanasia in appropriate cases which have been permitted by the concerned high courts. They also added there is no law in the country presently in the country on euthanasia and clarified unless the Parliament drafts a law, its stand on active and passive euthanasia will stay enforced. Aruna Shanabug was sexually assaulted on November 27 1973 by Sohanlal Walmiki who used a dog chain to subdue her which ended up cutting the oxygen supply to her brain damaging vital functions like sight, memory and normal movement.
Congress, DMK seat-sharing deadlock ends
• After lot of political drama the DMK and the Congress have come to a mutual seat sharing agreement ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections. The DMK party announced on 8/3/20011 that it will contest for 121 seats while the Congress will contest for 63 under the seat sharing deal for the April 13 Assembly polls. The Congress demand of 63 seats marks an increase of 15 seats in allocation of what they got during the 2006 Assembly elections. DMK chief Karunanidhi was initially ready to give 60 seats to the Congress but the Congress unrelenting demand on having 63 made him unhappy and he threatened to pull out his ministers from the government. The Congress refused to blink this time and after quite a few rounds of discussions the DMK finally relented to the Congress demands. The DMK has agreed to allocate 61 seats, up 1 seat from what they previously agreed and another two seats would be allocated to the Congress from the other allied parties of the DMK. Under the seat sharing formula, DMK will contest 121 seats, Congress 63, PMK 30, VCK 10, KMK 7, IUML 2 and MMK 1 for the 234-member assembly.
A.Raja’s close aide Sadiq Batcha found dead
• Sadiq Batcha, a close aide of former telecom minister A.Raja committed suicide and was found hanging at his residence in Chennai on 16/3/2011. Sadiq Batcha (37) who is the Managing Director of Greenhouse Promoters has been under the CBI scanner for his suspected involvement in the 2G spectrum case and was questioned by the agency on February 22nd. Green House Promoters, initially a nondescript company with an equity base of Rs.100,000 in 2004, is said to have grown to over Rs.600 crore revenue company within a very short time frame. Raja’s wife Parameshwari is said to have served as a director in the firm but quit during 2008. Batcha hails from Raja’s constituency Perambalur in Tamil Nadu and initially worked as a sari seller until his friendship with the former telecom minister happened in the early 1990’s.According to the post mortem reports the cause of death has been ascertained as asphyxia while the forensic reports are still awaited. This may come as blow to the CBI in their investigations into the 2G scam.
TN Polls: Parties promise freebies to woo voters
• Ahead of upcoming assembly polls, the political parties of Tamil Nadu have promised a host of freebies to woo the voting public. Top warring parties DMK and ADMK have taken the war of freebies to a new high. While DMK in their manifesto have announced 35 kg of free rice every month for below-poverty line families, AIADMK has promised 20 kg of free rice for all ration-card holders. The ruling DMK party has promised laptops to students in their first year of college while Jayalalitha’s ADMK party promises them one as early as eleventh standard. While the DMK plans to give women free mixes, grinders its rivals have promised additional fans along with mixies and grinders. Furthermore Jayalalitha in her bid to woo female voters has promised 4gms of gold for 'Thali' (mangalsutra) free of cost to poor, besides offering cable TV connections at subsidised rates. Some of the other freebies include four sets of uniform and footwear for students, a hike in scholarship upto Rs 5000 from class 10 onwards, women self help groups get Rs10Lakh with 25 % waiver, 20 litres of mineral water a day to Below Poverty Line families, six months' maternity leave for women and Rs 12,000 as pregnancy allowance and a host of other promises were made. This does came as surprise since Jayalalitha was a staunch critic of populist measures when the DMK party which came in power in 2006, promised to offer free colour TV’s to the public and also kept up on its electoral promise. The partie’s efforts in trying to gain an upper hand over each other by making such steep electoral promises does raise a lot of concerns. It does make one wonder if the State Treasury would be left with any money if such populist measures are left unchecked.
WB polls: Cong, TMC reach seat-sharing deal
• The Congress and the Trinamool Congress reached a seat sharing agreement ahead of the West Bengal Assembly Polls. Mamta Banerjee of Trinamool has agreed to offer 65 seats after her rounds of discussion with the Congress party. She had earlier agreed to give 64 seats against Congress demand of 98. The alliance will fight against CPM led Left Front which has been in power for almost 35 years now.Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said “In West Bengal, Congress will contest 65 seats and TMC will contest 229. We will work in close cooperation to win the election to defeat the Left from the state.”West Bengal will be voting in 6 phases. The first phase voting is on April 18, second phase on April 23, third phase on April 27, fourth phase on May 3, fifth phase on May 7 and sixth phase is on May 10th.
Cash for votes scam creates uproar in Parliament 
• With the revelations by Wikileaks about the Congress buying MPs to win the vote-of-confidence over the crucial Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008 came back to haunt party when a united opposition created an uproar in Parliament. On 17/3/2011 they were demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in view of the fresh charges that bribe was paid during the trust vote. The government on its part was dismissive questioning the credibility of the leaks. Also FM Pranab Mukherjee said “Each Lok Sabha is sovereign in its time. What happened in the 14th Lok Sabha cannot be decided in the 15th Lok Sabha...Government of the day is accountable to the 15th Lok Sabha and not to the 14th Lok Sabha. Whatever happened in the 14th Lok Sabha has come to an end with the end of the tenure”. On 23/3/2011 Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj made a stinging attack on the Prime Minister and said “It is the habit of the Prime Minister to blame others. If it is price rise then (Agriculture Minister) Sharad Pawar is responsible, if it is 2G then (former Telecom Minister) A Raja is responsible and if it is Commonwealth Games then Suresh Kalmadi is to blame.” The Wikileaks cable suggests that the Congress bought the support of MPs during a vote of confidence during the controversial nuclear deal in 2008. Three BJP MP’s walked into the Lok Sabha with Rs 3 crores in cash and claimed that they had been offered that money to vote for the nuclear deal and that they had planned a sting operation to prove it. Following that a Lok Sabha committee, headed by Congress MP KCS Deo, was set up to examine their allegations in which was found there was no evidence of the allegations made by the BJP MP’s.
Aarushi murder case: Talwars surrender passports
• Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, parents of murdered teen Aarushi Talwar have surrendered their passports to a local court following a direction by the Supreme Court which also stayed their trial in the Noida double murder case. On 19/3/2011 the SC had stayed the CBI court order summoning the Talwars to appear before it on 22/3/2011. The Allahabad High Court on 18/3/2011 dismissed the couples plea seeking quashing of criminal proceedings initiated by the lower court which not only refused the closure report filed by the CBI but also summoned the couple as accused in the case. The HC declared that it could not prohibit the magistrate from taking cognizance of a case if prima facie it appears that there is sufficient evidence against a person. Earlier the CBI had file a closure report pleading closure citing lack of incriminating evidence, however the CBI has pointed a needle of suspicion to the parents and as a result left the option of proceeding against the Talwars with the Trial Court. The couple had challenged the order of the Allahabad High Court which the Supreme Court stayed on 19/3/2011 but asked the Talwars to surrender their passports. Satish Tamta, the counsel for Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, submitted the passports in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate Puspendra Kumar Singh. Fourteen-year-old Aarushi was found murdered at her home in Noida on May 16, 2008. A day after, Hemraj's body was found in the same building.
India revokes licenses of 14 'fake pilots'
• Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 23/3/2011 revoked a total of 14 commercial pilot licenses (CPL) which means it brings an end to the flying careers of the those accused of having submitted fake training records from Rajasthan State Flying School to procure their licenses. The discovery of frauds in the issuing of licenses is a worrying development to the safety of air travel for the passengers and the industry. The fake pilot scam began unraveling when female Captain Parminder Gulati landed her airliner on the nose instead of the rear wheels which set the alarms ringing across many quarters. DGCA, the airline regulator stepped in and discovered she had submitted forged mark sheets to procure her license. Since then more pilots have been caught guilty of the same crime. The DGCA admits there was a lapse, and now says as much as 4000 pilot licences are now under fresh scrutiny. On 26/3/2011 a DGCA official Pradeep Kumar(48), pilot Pradeep Tyagi(35) and two of his touts Lalit Jain (34) and Pankaj Jain (23) were arrested by the Delhi Police. Tyagi along with his touts used to forge mark sheets for the fake pilots for huge a fee and also bribed Pradeep Kumar of the DGCA for expediting those files. A person is eligible to fly a commercial aircraft only when he or she secures a CPL, which is given out after a person completes 200 hours of flying during the training.
Hasan Ali Remanded In Judicial Custody
• Hasan Ali is a Pune bases stud farm owner who has been accused of allegedly stashing away 8 billion dollars in Swiss banks. It is speculated that the major portion of the money in offshore accounts belong to some politicians and industrialists and that Ali acts as a conduit for them and allegedly facilitates transfer of black money from India on a commission basis. He has been under the radar of the Income Tax (IT) department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a few years now while his premises were raided in 2007. According to Hasan Ali’s statements he is scrap dealer with an annual income of Rs 30 Lakh which does not tally with kind of lifestyle Ali is known for. He is known to throw lavish parties, has a penchant for race horses and own quite a few of them and also own an expensive fleet of cars. A little ironic for a man with humble beginnings, whose father worked as an excise officer. Hassan Ali has been declared the highest tax defaulter in the country with dues allegedly over Rs 70,000 crores. Ali was arrested by the ED on 7/3/2011 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. But a Mumbai Court on 11/3/2011 rejected ED’s plea for custodial interrogation of Hasan Ali on the grounds that the agency had not gathered sufficient evidence and Ali was released on bail. The Supreme Court on 17/3/2011 stayed the trial courts order, directed custodial interrogation of Hasan Ali to ED and was also critical of Mumbai Court Judge M L Tahaliyani's order of granting bail to Ali, saying it was "deeply disturbed" as to the manner in which the trial court judge rejected the ED's contention and had given a lengthy order for it. On 21/3/2011 the apex court extended his custody with the ED for an additional three days and when that duration came to a close a session’s court remanded Hasan Ali in judicial custody till April 8, 2011.
Wikileaks: 'Hindutva an opportunistic issue for BJP'
• After the Congress it was the BJP’s turn to be hit by the Wikileaks phenomenon when a US diplomat reported in the cable that senior leader of BJP declared to him that Hindu Nationalism was an ‘opportunistic issue’ for the party. "Pressed on the question of Hindutva, Jaitley argued that Hindu nationalism 'will always be a talking point' for the BJP. However, he characterized this as an opportunistic issue," a cable by Robert Blake, the Charge at the US Embassy, to his government, had said after a meeting with Jaitley on May 6, 2005. "Pressed on the question of Hindutva, Jaitley argued that Hindu nationalism 'will always be a talking point' for the BJP. However, he characterized this as an opportunistic issue," a cable by Robert Blake, the Charge at the US Embassy, to his government, had said after a meeting with Jaitley on May 6, 2005. Jaitley a senior leader of the BJP and also leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha , whom the cable described as "one of several aspirants to direct the next generation of BJP leadership", said in a statement that the word opportunistic in reference to Hindutva could be the "diplomat's own usage". He said the cable by the diplomat in 2005 makes a reference to his conversation with him. "The cable reflects my views on cross-border terrorism, illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and the unfair denial of US Visa to the Gujarat Chief Minister (Narendra Modi). “However, the use of the word "opportunistic” in reference to nationalism or Hindu nationalism is neither my view nor my language. It could be the diplomat's own usage,” he said. Congress on its part was quick to give it back to the BJP. “Chickens are coming to roost, what goes out wrongly hits back like a boomerang. People living in glass houses are taught in this manner that they were to throw stones at others,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
PM Manmohan Singh and PM Gilani of Pakistan engage in cricket diplomacy
• The relations between India and Pakistan had soured post Mumbai 26/11 blasts. With the ongoing world cup when India defeated Australia in the quarters it became apparent that it was to face off against Pakistan in the semifinal. The clash between the two countries generated tremendous hype in the media of both countries. The match even took on political turns when PM Manmohan Singh invited his counterpart Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari to the cricket match. The invite was accepted by the PM of Pakistan who then along with Dr Manmohan Singh reached the cricket venue on 30/3/2011 where they shook hands with players and also engaged in diplomatic talks which has now leased a fresh breath of air to the relations between the two countries. As per the joint statement released in the capital on 29/3/2011 the Pakistani delegation updated India on the ongoing trial and investigation and agreed to allow an Indian Commission to come to Pakistan to investigate 26/11 attacks. The Pak delegation assured that India's National Investigative Agency (NIA) and Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will cooperate in the 26/11 investigation. India on its part provided Pakistan information with regards to the Samjauta blast case and agreed that they would update them once the charge sheet was filed. According to the joint statement released in New Delhi on Tuesday, the Pakistani delegation updated India on the ongoing trial and investigation and agrees in principle to allow an Indian commission to investigate 26/11 attacks in Pakistan. The two countries have also agreed to hold home secretary-level talks bi-annually.
Census 2011: Indian population increased by 181 million
• India’s population has risen to 1.21 billion in the last ten years, which is an increase of 181 million according to the new census released on 31/3/2011. India’s population is now bigger than population of USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan and Bangladesh, says the Census report. On the positive side the overall population growth rate is 17.6 in 2011, significantly lower than 2001 when it was 21.15 per cent. Coming to the sex ration India has 623.7 million males and 586.5 million women. A matter of concern is that child sex ratio has slipped to its lowest since India's independence. For every 1000 male infants, there are 914 girls. The most populous state of Indian continues to be Uttar Pradesh with 16.49 per cent share in the total population, followed by Maharashtra with 9.29 per cent, while, the least populous state is Sikkim with 0.05 per cent share in the total population. This is the 15th Census conducted since 1872. It was carried out in two phases, covering 640 districts and 5924 sub-districts.

Sports News

ICC WC 2011 off to spectacular start 
• The ICC cricket world cup is on in full swing. The fourteen teams have all played their group stages and 8 teams qualified to the knockout stages. The teams that played in quarterfinals were West Indies, India, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Among these only four teams made it to the Semis where Pakistan and India played each other at Mohali and Srilanka and New Zealand played against each other in Colombo. The semi final match between India and Pakistan created unprecedented hype as the two teams have not faced off against each other since Mumbai 26/11 attacks. There was a never before seen rush to get the tickets for the match and people were selling their tickets in black market at astronomical amounts. India and Sri Lanka went on to win their semi finals respectively and face each other in the final on April 02 , 2011.
Levon Aronian wins Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Championship
• Levon Aronian has won the 20th and final edition of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Chess Championship held at Monaco. He had earlier also won in 2008 and 2009 respectively. The Armenian grandmaster tied his last round game against Sergey Karjakin and still maintained a one point lead over runner up Magnus Carlsen of Norway. Indian chess grandmaster and World Champion Vishwanath Anand came in at third position. With the 2011 edition the 20 year run of one the Worlds favourite chess events comes to an end and Aronian having won three of the last four editions does come across as a significant achievement.
Saina clinches Swiss Open Grand Prix
• India’s badminton ace Saina Nehwal won her first title of 2011 with a 21-13, 21-14 victory over South Korean Sung Ji Hyun in the Wilson Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton at Basil on 20/3/2011. It was her second win against the Korean in as many meetings whom she earlier defeated in the Indonesia Open Super Series as well. She reached the quarters of the All England Championship also held earlier this month where she lost to Eriko Hirose of Japan. Riding on her Swiss Open triumph Saina has regained her number three ranking with 69721.2637 points. At first place and second place are Shixian Wang (83506.4) and Yihan Wang (73988.9106) of China respectively.
Djokovic beats Nadal to win Indian Wells title
• Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to win the BNP Paribas Open title at Calirfonia on 20/3/2011. The Serbian remains undefeated this year whose victories include Australian and Dubai open, has struck a purple patch notching up an impressive 18-0 record in 2011. He now jumps to number two in the ATP rankings pushing Roger Federer to the third place while Rafael Nadal is still at number one with a 14-3 record. Djokovic said "It definitely says good things. I am playing with a lot of confidence. I'm feeling the ball well on the court. I'm very dedicated. I have a big will to win each match. I want to keep on going and keep on playing good tennis."
Sebastian Vettel wins Australian GP
• Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel drove a flawless race to win the season opening Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne on 27/3/2011. Starting from pole position Sebastian drove superbly to open more than a two second gap over runner up Lewis Hamilton of Mclaren following the first lap. At third place was Renaults Vitaly Petrov who made his first ever podium finish. Fernando Alonso came in fourth with Australian Mark Webber finishing fifth at the race. They used three stops strategies which was one more than the podium finishers. It was not a good start to the year for Mercedes with both their drivers Michael Shumacher and Nicco Roseberg being forced to retire.
India crowned World Champions 
• The Indian team defeated Sri Lanka win the final of the ICC World Cup becoming the first team to lift the cup after 28 years on April 02,2011. Srilanka won the toss and elected to bat and posted a daunting 274 on board following a superb century by Mahela Jayawardhene. The Indian team had begun their bowling on a bright note with ace spear head Zaheer Khan bowling a superb initial spell but the end power over proved to be a costly affair and helped the Lankans post a very challenging total. Indian batting started on patchy note when both the dangerous openers lost their wickets early to Lasith Malinga who came up with an inspired spell of fast bowling. The stadium had gone quiet but the Indian innings was resurrected when Virat Kholi and Gautam Gambhir formed a respectable partnership but the star of the innings was Indian Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He promoted himself up the order ahead of the inform Yuvraj Singh took India home with an unbeaten 91. The Captain criticized throughout the tournament for his lack of form stepped up at the most crucial moment with a crucial innings and hit the last ball straight down the ground for a huge six. The nation erupted with joy and there wild celebrations all over India. Sachin Tendulkar was given a lap of honour when his team mates took him on their shoulders and a happy Sachin could be seen waving at the crowds. This is the highest successful run chase made in a World cup final and what makes the victory sweeter is India is the first team to win a World Cup on home soil.

International News

Earthquake and Tsunami strike Japan 
• A powerful earthquake of 8.9 magnitude struck Japan on its north eastern coast on 11/3/2011. The earthquake resulted in a massive tsunami that caused wide scale destruction and loss of thousands of lives. Cars, ships and buildings were all swept away by the rampaging waters of the Tsunami which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. The port city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture was one of the worst affected. Ten metre waves struck the city deluging everything that was part of it-farmlands, cars, buildings, houses etc. Fires broke out in the city following the deluge. A cluster of two to three hundred bodies were found in one part of this city alone. This is the most powerful natural disaster to have struck Japan in its recorded history and is considered 8000 times more powerful than what struck Christchurch in New Zealand earlier this year.
  As of March 30th 2011 according to official estimates the death toll now stands at 11,257 while another 16,344 people are still missing. Many of the survivors who have been displaced have lost all their property to the Tsunami. More than 173,200 people are living in the 2000 evacuation centres in the 17 prefectures mostly in the northern side of the country. Among the worst affected prefectures which are Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate 146,628 displaced people have been housed in close to 1,245 evacuation centres.
Nuclear Crisis
• The massive earthquake that struck the north east coast of Japan has resulted in a catastrophic situation at the Fukushima Nuclear power plant. When the earthquake struck they switched off the reactor and where about to use the onsite diesel back up power. The tsunami then struck and the back up power also failed. Hence after losing electric power, that system could not be used. Instead the operators are dumping seawater into the vessel and letting it cool the fuel by boiling. But as it boils, pressure rises too high to pump in more water, so they have to vent the vessel to the atmosphere, and feed in more water, a procedure known as "feed and bleed." Thousands of people residing in areas close to the plant were evacuated. Over the following days there have been many instance of radiation exposure traced in the vicinity. Radioactive water found in and outside reactor buildings is delaying work to restore cooling functions of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Libyan Uprising
• Having received inspiration from the revolutions of Egypt and Tunisia the next country to vehemently protest against government autocracy is the North African country of Libya. The public are fighting to bring down Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year rule and are demanding new leadership and democratic elections. What actually began as a series of peaceful demonstrations took ugly turns when Gaddafi’s army tried to crush protests by using force eventually turning into an all out civil war in the days to come. In a matter of days the uprising had spread to other parts of Libya and Gaddafi was having trouble retaining control over many parts of the country. Gaddafi a harder nut to crack than Mubarak has continued to be on the offensive and refuses to give up power in spite of all the diplomatic pressure, much to the chagrin of his own country men. On 19/3/2011 a multi-state coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which was taken in response to the uprising in Libya. The military operations began, with US and British forces firing over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles, the French Air Force and British Royal Air Force[ undertaking sorties across Libya and a naval blockade by the Royal Navy. Air strikes against Libyan Army tanks and vehicles by French jets have since been confirmed. The situation is far from peaceful and remains to be seen what would be the outcome of the situation in the days to come.
Elizabeth Taylor passes away
• One of Hollywood’s greatest icons Dame Elizabeth Taylor breathed her last on 23/3/2011 due to congestive heart failure. The 79 year old actress has been in the public eye for six decades having won three academy awards and has acted in over 50 films. The Cleopatra star's stunning looks, including her famed violet eyes, earned her fans around the globe and her stormy personal life that included eight marriages received as much press interest as some of her best works. She won two Oscars for her performances in “Butterfield 8”(1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) and a third Oscar for her humanitarian work in 1993. The actress has also battled many health ailments undergoing as much as 20 surgeries during the course of her life. In her later years she was a spokeswoman for several causes, most notably AIDS research.