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International Current Affairs 2011

• Salman Taseer Killed in Islamabad
  Punjab Governor Salman Tasser was shot dead by one of his own body guards at the Khosar market in Islamabad. Taseer was a member of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party(PPP) and was vocal on a various issues including Pakistans Blasphemy Law. The assassin was Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, a member of Punjab Elite Force who shot the Governor with his weapon and surrendered to the security forces moments after shooting the governor dead. Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters that the killer admitted to killing the Governor over his statement when he called the Blasphemy Law as a “black law”.
• Iranian plane crash kills 77
  The IranAir Boeing 727 was flying from Tehran with 106 passengers when it came down and crashed near the city of Orumiyeh. With 77 casualties at least 35 people have said to have been injured. According to official reports plane had taken off an hour later than scheduled, and came down because of bad weather conditions. This is the second major crash since 2009 when a plane caught fire mid are resulting 168 deaths. The country has been under international sanctions for years, preventing it from buying new aircrafts or spare parts from the West. Hence as a result the countries civil fleet of aircrafts are in poor condition due to their old age and lack of maintenance.
• 35 dead at Moscow Airport Blast.
  A suicide bomber carrying a suitcase walked into Moscow’s busy Domodedovo airport and set off a huge explosion Monday, killing at least 35 people and wounding 180. The air was engulfed in a cloud of smoke with body parts and shrapnel strewn all over the place. Hundreds of people were in the loosely guarded area at the time. The blast was the worst terrorist attack since two female suicide bombers from the troubled Dagestan region blew themselves up on Moscow’s subway last March, killing 40 people.
• Whistleblower Elmer hands over bank data to Wikileaks
  Swiss whistle-blower and former banker Rudolf Elmer has given WikiLeaks information about bank accounts of more than 2,000 prominent individuals who have parked money offshore. Rudolf Elmer once worked in the office of Julius Baer in the Cayman Islands until he was fired by the bank in 2002. The Swiss whistleblower Rudolf Elmer handed over two CDs containing the data to the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, in London on 16/1/2011. However Julian Assange has said the information was unlikely to be published soon and may take a few weeks to process and confirm them.
• Brisbane Faces Worst Flood Since 1893
  Brisbane faces its worst floods since 1893 as overflowing rivers have begun to engulf the city. Overnight, emergency workers went from door to door in Brisbane helping residents flee to higher ground, with hundreds relocating to evacuation centres. About 2500 businesses are said to be fully affected and another 2500 partially affected. Close to 3000 people are in evacuation centres across the state and 60 schools and almost 90 kindergartens and childcare centres have been severely damaged or are inaccessible. The death toll from the floods disaster has risen to 15 and the many parts of the city have been affected by massive power cuts.
• Massive Protests Rock Egypt 
  Egypt has been rocked by violent protests by demonstrators who have been demanding the ouster of the country's longtime autocratic president, Hosni Mubarak. Tens and thousandths of people have taken out to streets raising slogans with protests turning violent in many parts of the country. The tension increased today when Mohammed ElBaradei, a former top official at the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency and a high-profile Mubarak opponent was placed under house arrest when he returned to Cairo in his bid to provide a leader for the mass movement.

National Current Affairs 2011

• Karnataka Governor sanctions prosecution of CM Yeddyurappa
  Karnataka Governor HR Bharadwaj on 21/1/2011 sanctioned the prosecution of Chief Minister Yeddyurappa on charges of corruption. This is for the first time in Karnataka’s political history that a governor has permitted the prosecution of a chief minister. The Governor gave sanction for prosecution of the Chief Minister who is said to be involved in alleged land scams on a petition made by two lawyers. With this sanction, the lawyers will now approach a local court and will seek a court directive to the police for registering an FIR against the Chief Minister Yeddyurappa and the State Home Minister R Ashoka.
• Officer burnt alive by Oil Mafia
  Yashwant Sonawane, Additional District Collector of Malegaon (Maharashtra) was tragically burnt alive by oil mafia at Manmad near Nashik on 25 January 2011. Mr. Sonawane was returning from Chandrar village after reviewing the situation in the wake of a demonstration by onion farmers, when he found some people adulterating kerosene in a tanker parked behind Sagar Dhaba at Panewadi near Manmad. The area has a notorious reputation for smuggling and adulteration of oil. Sonawane stopped and questioned them and also shot a video of them pilfering the kerosene on his mobile phone. The main accused Popat Shinde and three others allegedly poured kerosene on the official, and set him afire. Mr. Sonawane died on the spot. The horrifying incident has caused a lot of shock and anger all across India.
• Gujarat attracts Rs 20.83 lakh Crore investment in 2 days
  Leading industrialists of India have flocked to Gujrat to sign MOU’s during the two-day long Vibrant Gujarat Summit that began on 1/12/2011. Chief Minister announced that the state has been able to attract investments to the tune of Rs 20.83 lakh crores during the two-day long Summit. As many as 7,936 MOUs were signed by the state government with several industrial houses to invest in the state. It is rare for 60 of India’s top Industrialists representing companies that command the bulk of market capitalization, to share the dais at a single event and it is even rarer to make investments to the tune of thousands of crores for a single state and that too over just two days. The major investments include Anil Ambani group, Adani Group, Essar Group, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra and many others.
• Australian firm set to sue Delhi CWG over non payment of dues. 
  In yet another case of embarrassment for India an Australian firm is set to sue the CWG organizers regarding non payment of bills. It is reported that the firm had played a very key and major role in the opening and closing ceremonies of the million dollar sporting event. Sydney Olympics maestro Ric Birch, who was creative director for the Delhi ceremonies, is likely to launch a multi-million dollar class action against Commonwealth Games organizers for substantial unpaid bills. The Australian government has already raised the issue with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna who has promised to look into the matter.
• 102 lives lost in Sabarimala Stampede
  Around 102 pilgrims were killed and another 100 injured in a stampede about 40-45 km from the Sabarimala Shrine. The stampede was triggered when a jeep and an auto rickshaw rammed into a crowd of devotees in a narrow forest path at Pulimedu in Idukki district of Kerala on 14/1/2011. Most of the victims are from the Southern state of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The pilgrims were returning after seeking the blessings at the Sabarimala temple on the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti. The temple attracts millions of worshippers and an estimated 150,000 devotees were thought to have taken the narrow path out of the densely forested hills where the stampede took place. CM V.S Achuthanandan has launched a judicial probe into the matter.
• Suresh Kalmadi sacked as Chairman of Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee
  Suresh Kalmadi and his deputy Lalit Bhanot were sacked as Chairman and Secretary General of the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee respectively after three months since the end of the international event. The decision to remove the two top officials was taken by the new Sports Minister Ajay Maken after taking the legal opinion of the Attorney General. The organizing committee has faced several allegations of massive corruption and ineptitude in the months leading up to the games.
• Aarushi Talwar's father attacked outside court
  Dr. Rajesh Talwar father of murdered teenager Aarushi Talwar was attacked by a man outside the Ghaziabad court on 25/1/2011. He received sharp blows from a meat cleaver used by the assailant and the bleeding doctor was immediately rushed to a Hospital. Rajesh Talwar had gone to the court to file a petition demanding a fresh probe by the CBI in the Aarushi- Hemaraj murder case. The attacker has been identified as Utsav Sharma who was earlier also involved in an incident where he attacked SPS Rathore, the retired police officer who was convicted in the Ruchita Girhotra suicide case.
• Republic Day celebrations peaceful in Kashmir
  India’s Republic Day celebrations in Kashmir passed of peacefully even as BJP activist’s attempts to hoist the flag at Lal Chowk were foiled. Six activists were taken into custody immediately after they came out of a hotel near Lal Chowk and began walking towards the city centre. Another activist was arrested in Residency Road area adjacent to Lal Chowk when he appeared with a national flag and the BJP flag. The days leading to the Republic Day were fraught with tension as BJP’s proposed ‘EktaYatra’ was seen as a move that could possibly reignite tensions in the valley.

Sports Current Affairs 2011

• India Vs England match to be shifted from Eden Gardens 
  The India - England World Cup group stage match on February 27, to be held at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata , has been shifted following delay in construction work at the venue. This comes as a major embarrassment for the cricketing body of Bengal (CAB) The ICC has asked the BCCI to find out an alternate venue for the match. The Eden Gardens was scheduled to host four matches - on February 27, March 15, March 18 and March 20. Now, it remains to be seen if the ground can be readied quickly and whether the ICC will allow the remaining matches at the venue to go ahead.
• India loses ODI series at South Africa
  The Indian cricket team lost its chance at creating history by not being able to win the five match ODI series tournament recently concluded at South Africa. The finals match was expected to be a cracker with both teams having registered a couple of wins each. How ever the rain affected target of 263 set by South Africa proved to be too daunting for the Indian team after losing wickets at regular intervals. However some late fireworks by Yusuf Pathan who scored 105 made it a keenly fought contest.
• Djokovic wins Aus Open title 
  Novak Djokovic of Serbia powered his way into winning the Australian Open 6- 4, 6-2, 6-3 over Andy Murray of Britain. It was a power packed power packed performance by the Serbian who played aggressive strokes throughout the match and always looked to be in control. Murray has now been runner-up in three Grand Slam finals extending Britain's near 75-year drought in men's singles Grand Slams

Persons in News December 2011

• AR Rahman nominated for two Oscars
  AR Rahman does it again. The Indian musical wizard has been nominated for two Oscars for his compositions in Danny Boyles movie ‘127 hours’. The film has earned wide scale appreciation in various festivals and was also recently nominated under different categories at the recently concluded Golden Globe awards. ‘If I rise’ sung by Rahman himself and English Pop star Dido has been nominated in the Best Song Category. He has also received a nomination for Best Original Score.
• Classical music legend Bhimsen Joshi passes away at the age of 88
  Legendary vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi passed away after a prolonged period of illness. He was put on life support for age related ailments and was admitted in one of the hospitals in Pune. A pale of gloom descended in the city with people queuing up at his residence in large numbers to pay their last respects. This Bharath Rathna awardee was one of India’s most influential and celebrated Hindustani classical singers. He was a member of the Khirana Gharana school of music who enthralled audiences with his mellifluous renditions of khayals, abhangs and bhajans. His Sant Vani recitals with a flair of marathi bhakthi sangeeth renditions have been hugely popular in both Karnataka and Maharashtra. Bhimsen Joshi was a prolific performer and has toured extensively both home and abroad giving many noteworthy performances.
• Jaganmohan Reddy names new party 'YSR Party'
  Former Congress MP from Kadapa, Jaganmohan Reddy submitted an application to the Election Commission to register his own new party called YSR party. It has been named after his father and former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS. Rajashekar Reddy who died in a helicopter crash on September 2 in 2009, while serving his second term in office. Jaganmohan had resigned from the party after the Congress expressed anger over the episodes telecast on Sakshi television channel owned by him, which criticized the party leadership.