Showing posts with label December. Show all posts
Showing posts with label December. Show all posts

December 2011

Sanu On Wednesday, January 04, 2012



International News

    $300m stake in Twitter bought by Saudi prince
  • Saudi prince and billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal who is an investor in world's top companies, also bought a $300 million stake in the fast-growing microblogging site Twitter. By this move the Prince has gained another foothold in the media industry of the world.
    Alwaleed is a nephew of the Saudi king and he has a personal net whose worth was estimated by Forbes magazine in March this year and is just some points below $20 billion. Not only this Alwaleed also owns a 7 per cent stake in News Corp and he further plans to start a cable news channel in his homeland.
    The stake in the Twitter was bought jointly by Alwaleed and his Kingdom . He also owns a Co investment firm and that the stake was bought after months of negotiations with the sites company. Following the stake buying the shares in the Prince Kingdom jumped to 5.7 percent in stock and trade market in Saudi Arabia.
    Microsoft goes a sort of social type
  • The renowned tech company Microsoft has also brought itself in the scene of social media and all this was done in a low key affair. Microsoft also owns a small stake in the Facebook.
    the site that has been introduced is made just for students who wants to share interesting discoveries over the internet and the site looks like a composition of both Facebook and Google +.
    Though only certain universities have access to this site, the site is a blend of functions like web browsing, search functions and networking and it also includes an interesting feature named "video party".
    Hotline launched by the US for detained immigrants
  • In order to help the detained immigrants a telephone hotline was launched by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement department. This hotline will allow the detained immigrants detained in their country to help them know their rights and to allow them to report cases if they are being treated unfair by other peoples.
    The phone number can be used by detained immigrants. The move was launched as the US officials feels that the immigrants they may be US citizens or they may be victims of crime.
    To ensure that such people who are in custody are properly notified about their rights. The US department guarantees that the phone line is made available 24 hours a day and will be having many interpreters in several languages so as to employee effective communication between the immigrants and the concerned authorities.
    US blames Pak for NATO air strike being carried by them
  • As another blow to the already weakened relationship between the US and the Pakistan was announced when the US blamed the Pakistani officials for the NATO strike carried out by them. Be it the aggressive approach towards Pakistan or their tactical need in Afghanistan, all the hopes were laid down to rest when the Pentagon said that the respect all rules engagement and international law of conflict hinting to the NATO strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
    Further the Washington even named the incident an act of war. An official said that-“the Pakistani soil misbehaved that led the NATO to strike back. And such response is continued then they will again shot back.
    Pentagon spokesman captain John Kirby further said that they have delivered the report regarding the same to Pakistan’s general Kayani in Islamabad by a US officer in charge. The officer is going to explain every detail of the findings to the general.
    Hearing for the suspected WikiLeaks leaker concludes
  • The hearing for the WikiLeaks leaker was concluded in a US court. The leaker was a US Army intelligence analyst. He was accused of leaking secret classified files to the WikiLeaks website which gave enemies complete access to government secrets. However the defence lawyer of the accused said that his client has done no crime.
    The lawyers from both the sides made several arguments at the hearing in order to decide whether Bradley Manning who is a Private First Class person should be court-martialed for the charges held against at him. The charges include aiding the enemy and wrongfully causing intelligence reports to be published on the Internet that caused furore and a mess for the government.
    The prosecution held 22 criminal charges against the accused further saying that the massive release of documents by the accused had caused harm to national security.

National

    Anna to fast from December 27 as Lokpal bill cleared without CBI.
  • In a move to stop Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption finally the Union Cabinet cleared the Lokpal bill but without CBI. However the support by the cross party for the legislation was seen with doubt as the Cabinet vetoed the autonomy suggestion to the CBI.
    A senior minister said that-“the CBI will look into only those cases that are going to be referred by the anti graft body”. Further the government officials said that the Cabinet cannot agree to the suggestion of the division of the prosecuting and the investigating sections of the CBI.
    Shanti Bhushan, a prominent team member of Anna Hazare’s team said that- “ The Lokpal bill without CBI is not of any use and does not have any meaning”. He further said that if CBI is still under the control of the government it will still shield the corrupted government officials”.
    Kiran Bedi also raised her voice stating that is such a bill is made then it’s better that it is not passed or else it will destroy even the remaining CBI power.
    Following the reports Anna Hazare has said that he will go on for the 3 day fast in Mumbai from December 27 onwards.
    Pro-TN activists delyed Guruvayur Express for the Mullaperiyar protest
  • Regarding the Mullaperiyar issue the activists from the Manitha Urimai Paathukappu Maiyam which is a human rights protection centre tried to obstruct and even delayed the Guruvayur Express that was passing through Trichy at 1.20pm. The protest was made against the double dealings of the parties like Congress, BJP and the CPM. Also the protesters also demanded the arrest of Kerela Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as they consider that he violated the SC’S verdict for the issue.
    The activists staged a rail roko by plastering the walls around Tiruchirappalli Junction. However the police didn’t provided any sort of permission to allow any such agitation. It was only after some time that the authorities came to know that they were misled by fake notice.
    The activists consist mostly of lawyers and in order to show the support for the protest over the dam the Trading Malayali community shut downed their shutters. But to prevent things from getting worse the protesters were not allowed inside the railway premises and 8 of the protesters were arrested and later released at 5 pm by the police.
    New Year Eve shadowed by the Terror alert
  • While people were busy celebrating and welcoming the New Year but the Delhi Police remained on its toes to guard the city following the terror alert that were made for the arrest of some terrorists and Pakistani spies. The alert was also made by the Intelligence service and asked the police department to remain cautious.
    the Delhi Police said that more focus would be given on the security of the five star hotels in the Delhi area that hold major New Year party for people thus seeing major rush of party goers. Apart from the hotel security the police said that they will do thorough checking of people New Year eve barricades were placed at prominent places to check the movement of suspicious peoples.
    After the CNG price, petrol prices to rise up. 
  • The sole supplier of gas in the National Capital Region, the Indraprastha Gas Lrd(IGL), rose the prices of the automotive fuel by Rs 1.75 per kg. This step was made to pass on the status of the rupee’s fall against the dollars. Also this step was made to as the production from the Relience Industries Ltd’s dropped in the Andhra coast.
    This rise in the price of the CNG (Compressed natural gas) is 5th revision for the Delhi and its NCR region. Other states of country like that of Mumbai that also have CNG services are also going to be affected due to the depreciation of the rupee’s against dollar.
    Following the CNG price hike it is said that the petrol’s price are also going to shoot up by Rs 1 per litre.
    Man held with arms and live cartridges in DTC bus. 
  • Just before the New Year’s Eve, a man was held for carrying a major consignment of arms and ammunitions in DTC bus near Subhash Nagar Metro Station. The arms and the ammunitions were placed in a gunny bag to prevent any sort of suspicion by the locals travelling in the bus. Upon checking by the police the man named Ravinder was arrested. The police recovered 18 pistols and live cartridges from the gunny bag.
    The police official said that that had received a tip off regarding the consignment. A team was formed under the supersvision of ACP of Tilak Nagar, and they stopped the bus and checked the suspicious man that was carrying the gunny bag. Upon recovering live cartridges and arms the man was immediately arrested. A case has been registered under the Arms Act.
    The police said that they stopped the bus around 10.45am and they surrounded the bus and closed all the entry and exit gates of the bus. The accused who was sitting at the back seat with his gunny bag lloked suspicious and he was thoroughly checked. The arms and the cartridges were covered by vegetables and once they were removed the team and the passengers were shocked to see the ammunitions that were more than dozens in numbers.
    Campaign against Hooch menace by Mamata
  • The Chief Minister of Bengal Mamata Banerjee led a campaign in Kolkata to create mass awareness for the Hooch menace that reports the illegally distilled liquor possession and selling of the liquor. The campaign was held to bring light on the scene of illegal selling of distilled liquor that caused death of 172 people. All the victims consumed spurious liquor in South 24-Parganas.
    The campaigned carried massive placards that read "Say no to poison liquor". Some placards also had slogans and one liners as "Allow us to live a healthy life", “Life is precious”. The campaign included- Human Rights activists, students and politicians that marched from College Square to Esplanade. Apart from the chief minister, some of her ministerial colleagues like Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee and Firhad Hakim also took part in the campaign against the Hooch incident.
    Addressing the masses, the chief minister said that she will continue her campaign against illicit liquor that will be followed by raids and arrests of culprits until she is successful to curb the menace. By this campaign she is going to generate social awareness against drinking of illicit poison liquor.
    The Election Commission will keep tab on social media content and the expenses
  • The Election Commission of India has said that it will keep a watch on all the ongoing malicious poll content and expenditure on that are done and incurred Facebook following complaints from Punjab province that the political leaders from various parties are their election mission by making use of the many social networking sites.
    The Chief of the election commissioner SY Quraishi told a news paper that-"he and his team members have no problems with social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook as long as the content posted on these site is neither malicious nor violates any code of conduct in any way.” He further said that if the political leaders are asking for votes online and wants to reach the young generation for votes then he does not have any problem with it as the sites are just forms of another media. He said that all we are concerned about are the expenses that will be involved while monitoring candidates who use social networking sites and other forms of media. Though there is no policy for monitoring this so far but the commission will find out a remedy to solve the problem.
    Court tells the social websites to take off offensive content.
  • Just as the controversy created by IT minister Kapil Sibal for urging social networking websites to censor or remove off the offensive content from their pages in another fresh move a trial court has directed several social websites that includes Facebook, Google, Orkut and Youtube, to censor contents like "anti-religious contents" or "anti-social content " that promotes hatred or communal disharmony in the society.
    The trail courts administrative civil judge Mukesh Kumar has clearly directed all the social networking sites to remove all the objectionable content that is present in the form of photos or videos or text which can posses power to hurt religious sentiments. The order came after a civil suit was filed by Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi who even submitted some printouts showing malicious contents as a proof.

Sports Current Affairs

    Clarke says that it is must for the Oz pacers to bounce India out from Sydney ground.
  • Australian cricket team captain Michael Clarke has asked the teams bowlers to bounce the Indian out from the second Test that will starts from Tuesday. The match is going to be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
    Clarke in an interview said that-"he loves’ the aggression of his teams fast bowlers. He said that he simply loved the way they his teams’ bowlers served it up to the Indian batsmen during the last match that led to their strong victory in Melbourne. Also if conditions remain in our favour then we will bounce the Indians again during the second Test that is to be held in Sydney.”
    Clarke said that he wants his bowlers to be as ruthless as possible. And they should continue with the same strength and aggression that they previously showed in during win by122-run.
    Indian stars bears the fire after MCG debacle
  • The Indian media lashed their anger out at the country's batting line-up for letting the team down in the opening Test that was held at against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
    The Indian team failed to cope with the Australia’s pace attack when they failed to chase a 292-run target. The Oz players attack was so strong that the Indian team could only manage to gain 169 runs despite having batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag who have major batting experience.
    Bhupathi and Bopanna team targets Olympic medal
  • The team of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati reunited after a long gap of 9 yrs and this was just an act of choice not a mere chance. The team now bids to target the Olympic medal at the 2012 London’s Olympic but they split up within months of their team formation.
    Now Mahesh Bhupathi will pair up with fresh player Rohan Bopanna . They will play together for the first time after the Davis Cup. After their team formation the duo toiled in the Bombay Gymkhana for about two-and-half hours to begin their journey to the 2012 Olympics. The London Olympics are just 216 days away to begin.

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December

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.

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