Current Affairs [March 2010] for IAS Pre 2010

International Current Affairs [March 2010]

• China will launch in 2011 unmammed space mode ' Tiangong I' for its future space laboratory.
• US internet giant Google close its business in China.
• India's largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel buy Zain's Africa operations for an enterprise value of $ 10.7 billion (Rs 49000 crore). Currently Bharti's non-India operations include Sri Lanka & Bangladesh.
• Russia abolished two of its eleven time Zones.

National Current Affairs [March 2010]

• Govt launched National Mission for Empowerment of Women aimed at inter-sectoral convergence of all pro- women programmes.
• Constitution 108th Amendment Bill 2008 commonly known as women's reservation bill was passed by Rajya Sabha by 186 in favour 1 against 39 abstained (Current strength of Rajya Sabha is 233). The bill seeks to reserve a third of the seats on the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for 15 years on a rotational basis. It was first introduced in 1996. Sharad Joshi, an independent MP is the only MP which cast vote against the bill. In the present Lok Sabha, there are 59 women MPs out of 543 MPs. Total MLAs in 29 state assemblies in India are 4093.
• Yamunanagar (Haryana) and Vishakhapatnam (AP) are choosen for a pilot project on saving household energy by replacing incandescent lamps with CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps).
• Earth Hour 2010 has been celebrated on 27 March organized by World Wide Fund for Nature, India. Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are official Earth Hour Cities among 15 Indian cities.
• Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia visit India in March 2010.
• Supreme Court allowed religion based 4 % reservations in Govt jobs & educational institutes in Andhra Pradesh. It extended the benefit to 14 OBC in muslims in the state. The matter is further referred to Constitutional bench of Supreme Court.
• 'Bold Kurushetra' a joint armour exercise between India and Singapore was held at Jhansi(UP).
• Prohibition of unfair practices in technical, medical educational institutions & universities Bill is passed by Govt. It provided for 3 year imprisonment and a fine of upto Rs 50 lakh for higher education providers guilty of misleading students.
• Govt approved Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry & Operation) Bill 2010. It provides foreign universities to set up campuses in India.
• Govt amends Anti Hijacking Act 1982. It now provides for death sentence to the hijackers.
• Govt starts the scheme for creation of the National Population Register (NPR) of Indian residents. The project will cover an estimated 1.2 billion people and total cost of the project will be Rs. 3539.24 crore.
• India became 1st country in the world to have a 'manoeuvrable' supersonic cruise missile, when it successfully test fired 290 km range Brahmos missile.
• Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu visit India in March 2010.

Sports Current Affairs [March 2010]

• Tamil Nadu defeated West Bengal to won Vijay Harare Cricket Trophy.
• Australia won World Hockey Cup 2010 defeating Germany. India ranked at 8th place.
• India won six gold medal in the Commonwealth Boxing Championship held at Delhi.
• Two new IPL teams, Kochi was auctioned for Rs 1533 crore and Pune was auctioned for Rs 1702 crore. Kochi was auctioned to Rendezvous Adventure Sports Ltd. Pune was auctioned to Sahara Adventure Sports Ltd.

Persons in News [March 2010]

• Rajan Bharti Mittal appointed President FICCI.
• Major Dimple Singla became first women army officer in the country who has been sentenced to imprisonment for corruption.
• Bhubneshwar Kalita has been choosen as the Chef de Mission of the Indian contingent at Commonwealth Games 2010.
• Cricketer Kapil Dev has been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.
• Former Supreme Court judge P V Reddy appointed as Chairman, Law Commission of India.
• Lt Gen V K Singh appointed as new Army Chief.
• Sonia Gandhi appointed head of National Advisory Council. NAC advice the govt on policy matters, monitor flagship programmes and prepare the ground for other pro-poor legislatures.
• Lyricist Javed Akhtar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Dr Ram Dayal Munda, Dr Balchandra Mungekar and Kannada Actress B Jayashree are among other persons nominated to Rajya Sabha.
• Austrian base jumper Felix Baumgartnar will became the first person to leaps from the edge of space at a height of 37 km above earth's surface. He become the first man to break the speed of sound hitting a top speed of about 11000km/hr. He will jump on 11 April 2010.
• Katie Spotz became the youngest person to complete a solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean.
• Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepal Ex Prime Minister died. He was 5th time Nepal PM.

Awards Current Affairs 2010 [March 2010]

• Oscar Awards 2010
  • Best Director- Kathryn Bigelow for The Heart Locker. She became first women to win the Oscar for best director.
  • Best Film- The Heart Locker.
  • Best Actor- Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart.
  • Best Actress- Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side.
  • Best Supporting Actor –Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Basterds.
  • Best Supporting Actress –Mo'Nique for Precious.
  • Best foreign language film- The Secret in their Eyes, from Argentina.
• Amitabh Bachchhan honoured with lifetime achievement award at 34th Hong Kong International Film Festival.
• Surjit Pater has been awarded with 19th Saraswati Samman 2009 for 'Lafzan Di Dargah'.
• Moortidevi Award was given to the Law Minister M Veerappa Moily for his work Shri Ramayan Mahanveshanam.
• Vyas Samman 2009 was awarded to Amar Kant for his work 'Inhin Hathiyaron Se'.

Misc Issues [March 2010]

• Brahan Natyanjali 2010 festival was organized to celebrate 1000 years of Tanjavur temple in Tamil Nadu which was built by Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola in 1010 AD.
• 192 year old Presidency College of Kolkatta (India's oldest college) converted into Presidency University. It became 18th state university in West Bengal.
• Railways started 'Maharajas Express' from Kolkatta to Delhi. It is a tourist train having stoppage at Gaya, Varanasi, Bandhavgarh, Gwalior, Khajuraho and Agra.
• The book 'Way to go' written by Upamanyu Chatterjee.
• The book 'Wide Angle' written by cricketer Anil Kumble.
• The book 'El Sari Rojo' written by Javier Moro, is on the life of Sonia Gandhi.
• World TB Day celebrated on 24 March.
• Constitution 112th Amendment Bill 2009 seeks to amend following clauses of Article 243T of the Constitution that provides for reservation of seats for SC & ST and also for women in Urban Local bodies : a) In clause (2) for the word 'one third', the word 'one half' shall be substituted, b) In clause (3) the word 'one third' , the word 'one half shall be substituted.