Sanu On Tuesday, January 11, 2011

International Current Affairs 2010

  • Sri Lanka abandons Tamil version of its national anthem
    The Sri lankan government has decided to scrap the tamil version of the national anthem in its official and state functions. This move may possibly further alienate the tamil minorities in the country. A directive to use only the Sinhalese version as been sent by the ministry as president Rajapakse pointed out that no country uses two versions of the anthem.
  • China reveals world’s fastest train
    China unveiled its new high speed train CRH380 that can clock a maximum speed of 486.1 kmph. It is said to be much faster than even the bullet trains of Japan. At a cruising speed of 380 this is certainly a major accomplishment. China on its part has gone ahead and is now working on a model that is expected to clock 600kmph.
  • Mark Zuckerberg, Times Person Of The Year
    Times magazine has named Mark Zuckerberg as the person of the year . Mr Zuckerberg is the founder of thesmash hit social networking site Facebook and is also the world youngest billionaire currently. Although, Julian Assange the editor in chief of wikileaks was the pick of the time readers, but Zuckerberg won because of the scope and reach his website and how it has touched and remodeled our thoughts on social networking bringing the world that much more closer. Facebook has reached 500 million users this year all around the globe and the numbers are still counting.

National Current Affairs 2010

  • CBI seeking closure in Arushi Talwar case.
    CBI has sought closure after being unable to comprehensively solve the Arushi Talwar murder case which has hogged the limelight for over two years now. The report claims that they have hit a road block and lack of evidence as main reasons for not being able to solve the case. However the report as named the victims father Dr Rajesh Talwar as a possible suspect.
  • Chandra Babu Naidu ends fast
    Telugu Desam Party president finally ended his hunger strike of eight days on the insistence of visiting leaders like Thambi Durai, Arunkumar, Amba Durai, Maitreya, Prakash Karat, Bardan, Om Prakash Choutala, Sharad Yadav and Ajit Singh. Mr Naidu undertook the fast citing that the Andhra Govt should revise its compensation package for the rain hit farmers of the state. The visiting leaders promised Mr Naidu that they would bring the issue to the notice of the Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh by taking an all party delegation to New Delhi.
  • Congress blames Sanjay Gandhi for the emergency excesses
    The congress party which is celebrating its 125th birthday this month has accused Sanjay Gandhi for many of the excesses committed during the emergency of 1975-77. Sanjay Gandhi received notoriety for many ruthless measures like slum clearance and mass sterilization programs. The congress has always had to walk a tight rope when it comes to defending Indira Gandhis decision to enforce emergency which led to one of the most turbulent times in Indian history since independence.
  • Citibank employee Shivraj Puri accused of fraud surrenders
    Citibank employee Shivraj Puri who is said to be involved in a massive fraud, finally surrendered to the police after almost 48 hrs since the incident came to light. Mr Puri who works as a relationship manager has been accused of siphoning of money to the tune of 400 crores from atleast 20 clients to other fictitious accounts.
  • Opposition unrelenting on its demand in JPC probe
    The opposition has been steadfast in its demand for the JPC with regard to the 2G scam. The PM Dr Manmohan Singh had earlier offered to appear himself before the PAC headed by BJP stalwart Mr. Murali Manohar Joshi. The opposition still feels the JPC would be the best option that would help to bring this case to its logical conclusion.
  • Human rights activist Dr Binayak Sen convicted, gets life term
    The session’s court of Raipur has convicted Dr Binayak Sen and three others on grounds of sedition and conspiracy thereby sentencing them for life due to their links with the Maoists. Dr Sen has been held guilty under Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2005, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, of being a conduit between Naxals and of meeting Narayan Sanyal in jail. The trio has also been convicted under provisions of section 124 IPC (sedition) and 120 B IPC (conspiracy). Dr Sen is a pediatrician and alumni of Christian medical college. The 58 year old doctor has provided over 28 years of selfless service to the poorer sections of Chattisgarh.
  • Prices of onions hit through the roof
    The prices of onions have undergone a steep rise with a kg costing close to Rs 80 in the national capital and its surrounding areas. Other parts of India too have started feeling the pressure and the prices are continuously shooting up. The Government on it part has suspended the export of onions until January in an attempt to bring down the prices. According to traders, they are attributing the supply crunch due to torrential downpours in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Southern states which has lead to a poor yield.
  • Indias GSLV vehicle fails during launch.
    ISRO suffered a serious setback when its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) failed on its course, forcing the team at SriHarikota to abort the mission and self destruct the launch vehicle. The vehicles on board computer lost control of the actuation system raising serious questions about ISROS other ambitious projects that includes a mission to the moon. The GSAT-5P satellite which the launch vehicle was supposed to send into orbit was one of the heaviest and cost ISRO 125 crores. Had it been successful, the satellite would have served the needs of the telecommunication sector and the weather department. It would have eventually replaced the INSAT-2E satellite that was sent up in 1999.
  • India and China set $100bn trade target by 2015
    India and China have agreed upon a new $100billion trade target by 2015 which is more than the $6 billion agreed upon in 2010.With the arrival of Chinese PM Wen Jiabao accompanied by 400 Chinese business leaders in India, the two countries signed around 50 deals in power,steel ,wind energy , food and marine products and telecommunications worth $16 billion. This overtakes the $10bn of agreements signed between Indian and American businesspeople during the recent visit of US President Barack Obama.

Sports Current Affairs 2010

  • Saina Nehwal wins Honk Kong Open Super Series.
    Indias star sportswoman Saina Nehwal rallied around from a one game deficit to win 15-21, 21-16, 21-17 over Wang Shixian of China. Saina finished of her year on a wonderful note and has an unmatched record compared to any Indian player with regard to winning the super series title.
  • Sachin Tendulkar scores fifty centuries in test cricket
    Sachin Tendulkar scored his fiftieth test century in the second innings of the first test against South Africa at the Centurion. The master blaster scored his century in196 balls with 12 fours and one six. Even thought India lost the first test Sachin’s century helped about bringing some respectability to the proceedings. Incidentally he has also been named the ICC player of the year.
  • Indian cricket teams wins its second test at Durban.
    The Indian team had a poor game at the centurion where they were bundled out by an innings and twenty five runs by their South African counterparts. The second test they came back with a much more inspired performance with both bat and bowl leading to their first ever win in Durban which had always troubled them in the past. India had scored 205 and 228 in their two innings while the South Africans could score only 131 and 215 respectively.The star of the match was V.VS Laxman whose 96 helped India seal victory.

Persons in News December 2010

  • Congress Veteran Karunakaran passes away
    Veteran congress leader Karunakaran finally breathed his last after a prolonged bout of illness. He was 92 and is survived by his daughter Padmaja Venugopal and son K Muraleedharan. He was a four time CM of Kerala and is affectionately called ‘Leader’ by his admirers. He was known to be a master tactician and often played the role of troubleshooter for his party.
  • Premji Donates 8,846 crores to improve education in India
    Aziz Premji . Chairman of WIPRO will transfer 213 million equity shares valued at 8846 crores to an irrevocable trust for charity. This will add a lot of muscle to the Aziz Premji Foundation which was set up few years back in its quest to improve the standard of education. The foundation will focus on providing quality education in rural India and the the government has also pitched in to open the Aziz Premji foundation where higher education will be provided.


2010 December Current Affairs Part -I




·        The government approved additional capital infusion of Rs 6,000 crore in 10 public sector banks with an objective to raise its holding to a minimum 58 per cent in all state-run banks.  The government has already announced infusion of Rs 15,000 crore in the Budget to ensure that capital adequacy ratio of all the public sector banks increase to 7 per cent.
·        The World Bank has approved a USD 45 million technical assistance loan for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to help improve its operational efficiency.
·        Lt Gen A S Lamba, a senior Artillery officer, will take over as new Army Vice Chief. Lamba, replacing Lt Gen P C Bharadwaj who retired from service on November 30.
·        B Saroja Devi has been chosen for the prestigious N T Rama Rao National Film Award for 2009. Noted director K Raghavendra Rao has been chosen for the B N Reddy National Film Award while media baron and film producer Ch Ramoji Rao has been chosen for the Nagireddy- Chakrapani National Award instituted by the Andhra Pradesh.
·        India to provide Rs 7.83 cr in assistance to Nepal. India has stepped up efforts to boost health and educational infrastructure in Nepal, which is still reeling under the impact of the decade-long Maoists insurgency that ended in 2006, with an assistance of Rs 7.83 crore.
·        Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) was conferred with Mini Ratna status.
·        World number three Novak Djokovic and the unheralded Viktor Troicki swept Serbia to an historic first Davis Cup title overturning an overnight deficit to beat nine-time winners France 3-2.
·        Ace Indian marksman Gagan Narang ended the year 2010 as the number one Asian shooter, according to the latest rankings issued by Asian Shooting Confederation.
·        India and the Arab Nations will soon become major trading partners, exhibiting significant improvement in two-way trade and is expected to reach $120 billion by 2010–11 and $240 billion by 2014," industry body CII today said in its report.
·        India ranks fourth in Asia and tenth in the world in plant diversity.
·        Saina Nehwal wins Hong Kong Super Series by defeating Shixian Wang of China to clinch her third Super Series title of the year(2010) at the Hong Kong Open.


2010 December Current Affairs Part -II


·        India signed an agreement to import natural gas from Turkmenistan through an ADB-funded $7.6-billion gas pipeline passing through Pakistan and Afghanistan. Oil Minister Murli Deora signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) and the Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline.
·        Sri Lanka has scrapped the Tamil version of its national anthem at official and state functions, a move likely to further alienate the ethnic Tamils in the country. Now the national anthem can only be rendered in the majority Sinhala language at official functions.
·        Kaziranga in Assam has highest tiger density in the world.
·        Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's record-breaking ODI double century has found a place in the Time magazine's top 10 sports moments of the year.
·        In order to prove its commitment to expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age, US will host UNESCO's 'World Press Freedom Day' event in May 2011. UNESCO is the only UN agency with the mandate to promote freedom of expression and its corollary, freedom of the press. The theme for next year's commemoration will be "21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers”.
·        Former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar will be conferred with the prestigious Homi Bhabha Lifetime Achievement Award at the 21st Annual Conference of the Indian Nuclear Society.
·        The Philippines has become the call centre capital of the world, overtaking India as the number one player in the global business outsourcing market, according to industry data and the government.
·        China which spent about 580. 21 billion yuan (USD 87.25 billion) in 2009 for research and development is ranked fourth in the world after the U.S, Japan and Germany.
·        Automaker Tata Motors Limited, Lucknow unit, has bagged the Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award for 2009 in the "Best of All" category. The award is instituted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
·        Despite the country's robust economic growth, the number of people living in slums is likely to cross 93 million by 2011, marking an increase of around 23 per cent since 2001. A committee set up by Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has projected this figure.
·        Russia has successfully completed the creation of the world's first international nuclear fuel bank under an agreement with the IAEA.
·        A leading NRI entrepreneur, John Athwal  has been chosen for the Asian of the Year 2010 Award for his outstanding success in making a Christmas decorations business into a multi-million pounds industry.
·        India and Taiwan are expected to double bilateral trade to USD 10 billion by 2015 through food processing, information and communication technology and electrical engineering tie-ups.

Sanu On

1.      Who is the present Telecom Minister?
a)Manmohan Singh    b)A Raja     c)Kapil Sibal     d)Sachin Pilot   e)none
2.      Which organization has launched ‘Awaaz Do’ with the support of GOI?
a)UNESCO    b)UNICEF   c)UN   d)WHO    e)none
3.      Which Country will build country’s first industrial solar power station near Black sea?
a)Russia    b)China    c)India    d)Japan   e)none
4.      Which country has supplied F-16 combat jets to Pakistan?
a)China    b)Russia    c)US    d)France    e)Britain
5.      Which of the following countries has test fired intercontinental ballistic missile ‘Bulava’?
a)Russia    b)China    c)North Korea    d)Iran    e)none
6.      Which country has approved world’s biggest Solar Power Project?
a)US   b)India    c)Britain    d)China    e)Russia
7.      India has lifted ban on emigration clearance for employment on which of the following country?
a)Pakistan    b)Australia    c)Libya    d)Nepal    e)China
8.      ‘World Food Day’ is observed on which of the following days?
a)July 16    b)September 16     c)June 16    d)October 16    e)none
9.      In the recent past the name ‘Julian Assange’ has came in most of the news channels and news papers. He belongs to which of the following?
a)Facebook     b)Wikipidea     c)Google    d)Wikileaks    e)none
10. Which of the following is not a direct tax?
a)Income tax    b)Wealth tax    c)Corporate tax    d)a,b & c    e)Sales tax

Sanu On


 A little boy went to a telephone booth which was at the cash counter
of a  store and dialed a number.
The store-owner observed and listened to the  conversation:

Boy                : "Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?
Woman         : (at the other end of the phone line) "I  already have
someone to cut my lawn."
Boy                : "Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price
thanthe person who cuts your lawn now."
Woman         : I'm very satisfied with the person who is  presently
cutting my lawn.
Boy                : (with more perseverance) "Lady, I'll even sweep
the floor  and the stairs of your house for free.
Woman         : No, thank you.

With a smile on his face, the little  boy replaced the receiver. The
store-owner, who was listening to all this,  walked over to the boy.

Store Owner       : "Son... I like  your attitude; I like that
positive spirit and would like to offer you a  job."
Boy                      : "No thanks,
Store Owner       :  But you were really pleading for one.
Boy                      : No Sir, I was just  checking my performance
at the job I already have. I am the one who is  working for that lady
I was talking to!"

         This is called

        "Self  Appraisal"