Current Affairs [January 2010]

• Gilgit Baltistan region elected its first Chief Minister Mehdi Shah on the basis of Gilgit Baltistan Empowerment & Self Governance Order 2009. The new appointed CM declare the Gilgit Baltistan region as 5th province of Pakistan. The Indian Govt has, however, of the view that the region was part of J & K, and thus objected to the remarks of CM.
• Venezuela devalued it currency 'Bolivar'.
• A massive earthquake strike Haiti, the Carribbean nation. Capital of Haiti is Port-au-Prince.
• Mahinda Rajapaksa won a second term as Sri Lanka's President. He belongs to Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visit India in Jan 2010. She belongs to Awami League Party. The two countries signed five agreements – on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, on transfer of sentenced persons and on combating international terrorism, organized crime & illicit drug trafficking besides MOU on cooperation in the power sector and on cultural exchanges. India give Bangladesh a $ 1 billion line of credit, the biggest it has given to any country so far.
• South Korea President Lee Myung Bak visit India in Jan 2010. The two countries decided to double the bilateral trade to $ 30 billion by 2014. Four facts were signed between two countries – cooperation in peaceful use of outer space, IT, science & technology for the year 2010-12 and transfer of sentenced persons. South Korean President was also the chief guest at 2010 Republic Day Parade.
• Gujarat Local Authorities Law (amendment) Bill 2009- The Bill makes it the duty of a qualified voter to vote during elections to local bodies. Voting is compulsory, but the Bill allows voters to cast their vote in favour of none of the candidates. Election officers will declare those who fail to vote defaulter, and serve them a notice.
• India and China has decided to start joint military exercise from 2011.
• Najib Razak, Malaysia Prime Minister visit India in Jan 2010.
• Govt launched Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Key highlights of the mission are :
• To create an enabling policy framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW of solar power by 2020.
• To create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability for indigenous production and market leadership.
• To promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000 MW by 2017 and 2000 MW by 2022.
• To achieve 15 million sq. meters solar thermal collector area by 2017 and 20 million by 2022.
• To deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.
• New Governors appointed : a) M K Narayanan – West Bengal, b)Shivraj Patil – Punjab, c) Mohsina Kidwai – Jharkhand, d) Shekhar Dutt – Chhattisgarh, e) E S L Narasimhan – Andhra Pradesh.
• Govt plans to create a National Gas Highway Development Authority. The present Gas Pipeline Density in India is 3.29 Km per 1000 Sq.Km.
• Govt plans to set up a National Green Tribunal to control Carbon Emissions and pollution. It will be responsible for implementing the low carbon roadmap to be set forth in the 12th Five Year Plan.
• U-19 World Cup 2010 held in New Zealand from 15 – 30 Jan 2010. Javagal Srinath from India appointed as one of the match referee for the tournament.
• Australia won the U-19 World Cup for the third time defeating Pakistan. India is placed at 6th rank. Australia won the cup for the third time.
• Rafael Nadal won the Capitala World Tennis Championsip, held at Abu Dhabi defeating Robin Soderling.
• Magnus Carlsen becomes the youngest World No.1 chess player at the age of 19 years breaking the Garry Kasparov's record when he became the world's top ranked chess player at the age of 22 years in 1985. Magnus Carlsen is the 5th player after Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov and V.Anand (India) to cross the 2800 ELO rating. In the Jan 2010 FIDE ranking, Carlsen stood at 1st place, Topalov at 2nd place and V Anand at 3rd place.
• Marin Cilic defeated Staniglas Wawrinka to won Men's singles title of Aircel Chennai Open.
• Pakistan's cricketer Shahid Afridi was banned for two T20 internationals after he was found guilty of ball tempering in a ODI against Australia.
• Corus Chess Grandmaster Tournament won by Magnus Carlsen. V.Anand of India ranked at 4th place. Hopman Cup 2010- Spain defeated Great Britain.
• Australian Open 2010 : Women's Single- Serena William defeated Justin Henin. It is Serena's 5th Australian Open title. It is also Serena's 12th Grand Slam title equaling the record of Billie Jean King.
• Men's Single- Roger Federer(Swiss) defeated Andy Murray(Britain). It is Federer's 4th Australian Open title. It is Federer's 16th Grand Slam title.
• Men's Double- Mike Bryan & Bob Bryan defeated Daniel Nestor & Nenad Zimonjic.
• Women's Double – Serena Williams & Venus Williams defeated Cara Black & L Huber.
• Mixed Double – Laender Paes (India) & Cara Black (Zimbabwe) defeated Ekterina Makasova & Jaroslav Levinsky. It is Paes's 11th Grand Slam title.
• 97th Indian Science Congress held at Tiruvananthapuram in Jan 2010. The theme of this year congress was ' Science & Technology of 21st Century- National Perspective'.
• The longest annular solar eclipse on the third millennium occur on 15 Jan 2010. The next annular solar eclipse will be visible in year 3043. Annular eclipse is occurred when the sun is visible like a ring of fire, with the moon darkening its centre. The last annular solar eclipse visible from India was occurred in 1976. In July 2010 also, a total solar eclipse will be occurred.
• There are three strains of wild Polio virus namely P1, P2 & P3. Type 2 wild Polio virus (P2) was eliminated from the world in 1999.
• First public hearing on the introduction of Bt Brinjal (First Genetically Modified Food Crop in India) was held in Kolkatta. Seven such public hearing are being organized by Centre for Environment Education, for opinion of public in respect of introduction of Bt Brinjal. 2nd hearing was held at Hyderabad.
• 50th anniversary of creation of LASER is being celebrated in 2010. Theodore Maiman constructed the first LASER in May 1960. LASER stands for Light Amplification for Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Charles H Townes was father of MASER.
• Billy Arjan Singh, wildlife conservationist and Padma Shri awardee died.
• P D Dinakaran, Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court faces impeachement motion. The process was initiated in the Parliament. He is the first High Court Chief Justice against whom impeachment motion have been initiated. Justice V Ramaswami is the only judge to have faced impeachment proceedings in parliament.
• Justice V S Sirpurkar appointed to head a three member panel to look into allegation of land grab and misconduct against Chief Justice P D Dinakaran in the wake of impeachment motion initiated against him in Parliament.
• Fahmida Mirza is the first woman Speaker of Pakistan National Assembly.
• Ricky Ponting, Australian cricket team captain, has been named as ESPN Cricinfo Player of the Decade for 2000.
• Jyoti Basu, former West Bengal Chief Minister, died.
• Mrinal Pande, appointed as Chairman, Prasar Bharti Board.
• Lee Myung Bak, South Korea President was the Chief Guest at 2010 Republic Day Parade.
• Shiv Shankar Menon is appointed as National Security Advisor.
• Vikram Srivastava appointed as Director General of CRPF(Central Reserve Police Force).
• Ranjit Kumar Bhatia appointed as Director General of ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police).
• 'All that you can't leave behind' written by Soumya Bhattacharya.
• 'We Must Have No Price' written by Arun Sourie.
• 'Train to India- Memories of another Bengal' written by Maloy kumar Dhar.
• 'Not by Reason alone : The Politics of Change' written by N K Singh.
• 'Five Point Someone' written by Chetan Bhagat.
• 'Nehru : The invention of India' written by Shashi Tharoor.
• 'The Museum of Innocence' written by Orhan Panuk.
• 'Thoughts on Linguistic States' written by B R Ambedkar.