Current Affairs

India Current Affairs March, 2011 : Short Points

11 got death penalty, 20 life term for Godhra carnage. India, ASEAN set $70 bn trade target. Banking Laws Amendment Bill got cabinet nod. Lanco acquired Aussie coal mines, Griffin, for $760 million. India agreed to finance Ethiopian sugar sector revamp. Interceptor missile test fired successfully. Monaco became the first public sector firm to Introduce ESOPs. SC approved single MBBS entrance test across nation. India, Brazil inked air services agreement. Star Indian Post office announced launch of online portal a-post office. Essar, Inked $750m agreement to revive Zimbabwe Iran & Steel C0. N-capable missiles Dhanush and Prithvi-II successfully tested. India, Bangladesh decided to hold Wagah-style retreat at border. Foundation for Judicial Academy laid in Jodhpur. Prez Patiy cancelled appointment of PJ Thomas as CVC. Union cabinet approved GST Bill. Indias tallest (80 feet) statue of Lord Buddha unveiled in Sarnath. Government approved 9.5% interest on PF deposits. India abstained from UNSC vote on Libya no fly zone. Bollywood actor Navin Nischol passed away. Security forces seized armed from Maoist hide out in Midnapur. Saina Nehwal won Swiss Open Singles final tennis trophy. Delhi Anti-sealing Bill passed In Rajya Sabha. SBI announced new code of conduct. Shimla declared environmentally sustainable city. Orissa (the alteration of named Bill and Constitution (113th) Amendment Bill passed in Rajya Martha. Lok Sabha passed the Coinage Amendments Bill. Cash-strapped Air India got a breather. Navy nabbed 16 pirates off Lakshadweep. India invited to make huge investments in Africa. India breaks into the top 10 nations in Scientific Research Output. Gujarat banned the sale distribution and reprinting of Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and his struggle with India. Results of Census 2011 released: Puts Indias population at 1.21 billion.

India Current Affairs January, 2011 : Descriptive Points

Noted Hindi writer Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari has been chosen for the prestigious Vyas Samman for his collection of poems Phir Bhi Kuch Rah Jayega. The Award is instituted by K. K. Birla Foundation. The Government of India has proposed to nominate the name of Assams river island Majuli for inclusion in the cultural landscape category of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage list. A Tamil Brahmi script on a pot rim reading a mana meaning a Jaina has been found at Pattanam in Earnakulam district Kerala establishing that Jainism was prevalent on the West Coast at least from second century CE (Common Era). Kiradech Aphibarnrat pipped Mohammad Siddikur Rahman to bag SAIL open title on March 25, 2011 in New Delhi. A. S. Suresh Krishna of Andhra Pradesh defeated Ashutosh Singh of Delhi to take the title in National Jute Board-National grass-court Tennis tournament on March 5, 2011 in Kolkata while in womens section Kyra Shroff beat Aishwazya Agrawal to take the crown. India on March 6, 2011 fired an interceptor missile which intercepted an incoming enemy ballistic missile at an attitude of 16 km and pulverized it in a direct kill. While the hostile missile was launched at the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Orissa, the Interceptor blasted off from Wheeler Island off the Orissa Coast. North Zone beat West Zone to clinch Deodhar Trophy of Cricket on March 9, 2011 in Jaipur by five wickets. Shahina K. K. the Thiruvananthapuram correspondent of Open magazine has been chosen for the Chameli Devi Jain Award 2010 for being outstanding woman media person. India will test-fire the submarine launched version of of BrahMos Underwater test-firing the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile by year end as on March 12, 2011. Underwater weapondelivery countries defence strength. The Human Resource Development Ministry has appointed Mahashweta Devi as National Research Professor for a second term of five years from February 2011. She has been appointed to this post in recognition of her contribution as a writer and a social activist. V. Kalidas-The Hindus consultant has been honoured with the Hall of Fame Award for 2011 for his contribution to the media industry. He was honoured by Punjab Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan in Chandigarh on March 17, 2011. Indias exports breached the $ 200 billion mark in the first 11 months of the 2010-11. Exports jumped by 49.8% year-on-year during February to $ 23.6 billion taking the April-January 201011 figure to $ 208.2 billion-an increase of 31.4% over the year-ago period and past the yearly target of $ 200 billion. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was honoured with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and lndusirys top honour. The Decade of Global Achievement Honour for her accomplishments in Hindi cinema on March 25, 2011 in Mumbai. According to the 2010 tiger census whose results were declared on March 28, 2011 there are approximately 1,706 of the big cats in the country which includes about 70 in the marches of the Sundarbans. The Central Government on March 24, 2011 constituted the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) under the chairmanship of former justice B. N. Krishna to rewrite and harmonize financial sector legislations, rules and regulations so that the requirements of the countrys fast growing financial sector may be fulfilled.

The Government recently in March 2011 approved 14 proposals of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) including that of Mauritius based Ghir Investments totalling Rs. 1,289.85 crone.

Asias largest solar park launched in Gujarat.

Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, launched the construction of Gujarat Solar Park in Patan district on December 28, 2010. This is the first solar power park in Asia with a 500-MW generation capacity at a single location. The park, being developed by the sectoral nodal agency Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd (GPCL), is spread over 2,089 hectares of mostly wasteland in the vicinity of the Rann of Kutch, in Patan district, the ancient state capital now bordering Pakistan.

Major Projects in India

Bhakra Nangal Project is a joint project of Haryana, Punjab, H.P. and Rajasthan. It is across river Sutlej. Damodar Vally Project is a multipurpose project of West Bengal and Jharkhand Kosi Project is a multipurpose project in Bihar, which serves Bihar and Nepal Tungabhadra project is a joint project of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Koyna hydel power project is in Maharashtra Kundah Project is in Tamil Nadu and has a capacity of 535 MW Narora Atomic Project is located in Uttar Pradesh Singurauli Super power Project is located in Uttar Pradesh The Tehri Dam Project is constructed in Uttranchal Pradesh The Periyar Project is constructed in Kerala Hirakud Project is located in Orissa The Nagarjun Sagar Project is located in Andhra Pradesh

AWARDS
Ashok Chakra (Indias Highest Peacetime Gallantry Awards): Major Laishram jyotin singh (posthumously) of the Medical Corps for saving 10 of his colleagues in Kabul during an attack by terrorist in February 2011 Kirti chakra (Indias second Highest peacetime Gallantry Awards): The five Recipients are Major Rahul Gurung, Captain Deepak Sharma (posthumously), Lt. Vikas Sharma Lt, VA Deshmukh and Naik Rajinder Singh. Shaurya Chakra (Indias Third Highest Peacetime Gallantry Award): The 21 armed forces personal awarded are: Col. Neeraj Sood, Havildar Dayal singh, Lance Naik A.K Sharma, Sepoy S.K singh, Sepoy Sangat Singh (all five posthumously), Major Sanjeev Haryal Major Rakesh Rawat, Major Manish Baral, Captain Mahendra Pratap singh, Lt, Vikram Bahadur singh, Naik vijay Pal, Lance Naik Mohammad Shaffi, Lance Naik Praveen Thakur, Naik KS Kharwung, Sepoy Channalli Basavaraj, Sepoy Ravinder singh, Sepoy Vijay singh Bohara, Rifleman Udhay Singh, Riflemen milap Singh, Paratrooper Kapil Dev and Flight Lt, Manish Arora. Padma Vibhushan (Indias Second Highest Civilian Award): The 13 receipients are kapil Vatsyayan (for arts), Homi Vyarawalla (for Photo), A Nageshwara Rao Kapila Vatsyayna (for Cinema), L.C. Jain (posthumously), Parasaran Kesava Iyengar, Akhlaq-ur-Rehman Kidwai, Vijay Kelkar and Montek Singh Ahluwalia (all four for public affairs), Palle Rama Rao (for Science and Engineering), Azim Premji (for Business), Brajesh Mishra (for Civil Services) Prof. (Dr) Ottaplakkal Neelankandan Velu Kurup and Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra (both for Literature and Education) Padma Bhushan (Indias Third Highest Civilian Awards): Among the 31 awardees are Khayyam, Shashi kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, SP Balasubrahmanyam, Shobhana Ranade, Rajeshree Birla, Chanda Kochhar, Shyam saran, Sankha Ghose and K.Raghavan Thirumulpad, keki Byramjee Grant and Dashrath Patel (all three posthumously) Padma Shri (Indias Fourth Highest Civilian Award): Among 84 awardees are Urvashi Butalia,Irrfan Khan, Kajol Indira Hinduja, Shaji n Karun, Usha Uthup, Tabassum H. Khan (alias Tabu), Sivapatham Vittal, Gagan Narang, Mk Saroja, Jayaram Subhramaniam, Prof. Ea Siddiq VVS Laxman, Krishna Poona, Harbhajan Singh Mamang Dal, Gulshan Nanada and Prof. Upendra Baxi Some others awards: The gallantry awards also include135 sena Medals, 5 Bar to Sena Medals, 755 Police Medals. CRPF received the highest number of medals recipients 123-among police forces.

Following are names of all awardees for Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan Padma Shri Award 2011: Name of Padma Vibhushan Awardees 2011
Name Dr. (Smt.) Kapila Vatsyayan Mrs. Homai Vyarawalla Shri A Nageshwara Rao Shri Parasaran Kesava Iyengar Dr. Akhlaq-ur-Rehman Kidwai Shri Vijay Kelkar Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia Shri Palle Rama Rao Shri Azim Premji Shri Brajesh Mishra Prof. (Dr.) Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup Dr. Sitakant Mahapatra Late Shri L. C. Jain Discipline Art Art Administration and Promotion. Art Photography Art- Cinema Public Affairs Public Affairs Public Affairs Public Affairs Science and Engineering Trade and Industry Civil Services Literature and Education Literature and Education Public Affairs State/ Domicile Delhi Gujarat Andhra Pradesh Delhi Delhi Delhi Delhi Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Kerala Orissa Delhi *

Name of Padma Bhushan Awardees 2011

Shri Satyadev Dubey Art - Theatre Shri Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi alias Art Cinema - Music Khayyam Shri Shashi Kapoor Art Cinema Shri Krishen Khanna Art Painting Shri Madavur VasudevanNair Art Dance - Kathakali Ms. Waheeda Rehman Art Cinema Shri Rudrapatna Krishna Shastry Srikantan Art Music-Vocal Ms. Arpita Singh Art Painting Dr. Sripathi Panditharadhyula Art Playback Singing, Music Balasubrahmanyam Direction & acting Art Classical DanceShri C.V. Chandrasekhar Bharatanatyam Shri Dwijen Mukherjee Art Smt. Rajashree Birla Social work Mrs. Shobhana Ranade Social work Dr. Suryanarayanan Ramachandran Science and Engineering Shri S.(Kris) Gopalakrishnan Trade and Industry Shri Yogesh Chander Deveshwar Trade and Industry Maharashtra Maharashtra Maharashtra Haryana Kerala Maharashtra Karnataka Delhi Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu West Bengal Maharashtra Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Karnataka West Bengal

Ms. Chanda Kochhar Dr. K. Anji Reddy Shri Analjit Singh Shri Rajendra Singh Pawar Dr. Gunapati Venkata Krishna Reddy Shri Ajai Chowdhary Shri Surendra Singh Shri M. N .Buch Shri Shyam Saran Shri Thayil Jacob Sony George Dr. Ramdas Madhava Pai Shri Sankha Ghosh Late Shri K. RaghavanThirumulpad Late Dr. Keki Byramjee Grant Late Shri Dashrath Patel

Trade and Industry Trade and Industry- Pharmacy Trade and Industry Trade and Industry Trade and Industry Trade and Industry Civil Services Civil Services Civil Services Literature and Education Literature and Education Literature and Education Medicine - Ayurveda. Medicine Cardiology Art

Maharashtra Andhra Pradesh Delhi Haryana Andhra Pradesh Delhi Delhi Madhya Pradesh Delhi Karnataka Karnataka West Bengal Kerala* Maharashtra * Gujarat *

Name of Padma Shri Awardees 2011

Ms. Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry Shri Makar DhwajaDarogha Shri Shaji Neelakantan Karun Shri Girish Kasaravalli Ms. Tabassum Hashmi Khan alias Tabu Shri Jivya Soma Mase Guru (Ms.) M.K. Saroja Shri Jayaram Subramaniam Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty Smt. Mahasundari Devi Shri Gajam Govardhana Ms. Sunayana Hazarilal Shri S.R. Janakiraman Shri Peruvanam KuttanMarar Smt. Kalamandalam Kshemavathy Pavithran Shri Dadi DorabPudumjee Shri Khangembam Mangi Singh Shri Prahlad Singh Tipaniya Smt. Usha Uthup Smt. Kajol Shri Irfan Khan Shri Mamraj Agrawal Shri Jockin Arputham Ms. Nomita Chandy Ms. Sheela Patel Art Theatre Art- Chhau Dance Art Film Direction Art Film making Art Cinema Art - Warli Painting Art Dance- Bharatnatyam Art Cinema Art Music-Indian Classical Vocal Art - Mithilia/ MadhubaniPainting. Art Handloom Weaving Art Dance - Kathak Art - Carnatic Vocal Music Art - Chenda Melam- Drum concert Art Dance - Mohiniattam Art Puppetry Art Traditional Music of Manipur (Pena) Art Folk Music Art Music. Art- Cinema Art- Cinema Social work Social work Social work Social work Chandigarh Jharkhand Kerala Karnataka Maharashtra Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu West Bengal Bihar Andhra Pradesh Maharashtra Tamil Nadu Kerala Kerala Delhi Manipur Madhya Pradesh West Bengal Maharashtra Maharashtra West Bengal Maharashtra Karnataka Maharashtra

Ms. Anita Reddy Shri KanubhaiHasmukhbhai Tailor Shri Anant Darshan Shankar Prof. M. Annamalai

Social work Social work Public Affairs Science and Engineering Science and Engineering Dr. Mahesh Haribhai Mehta Agricultural Science Shri Coimbatore Narayana Rao Raghavendran Science and Engineering Dr. (Mrs.) Suman Sahai Science and Engineering Science and Engineering Prof.(Dr.) E.A. Siddiq Agricultural Science Science and Engineering Shri Gopalan Nair Shankar Architecture Shri Mecca RafeequeAhmed Trade and Industry Shri KailasamRaghavendra Rao Trade and Industry Shri Narayan Singh Bhati Civil Services Shri P K Sen Civil Services Sports Adventure Sports- Para Ms. Shital Mahajan Jumping Ms. Nameirakpam Kunjarani Devi Sports Weightlifting Shri Sushil Kumar Sports Wrestling Shri VangipurapuVenkata Sai Laxman Sports Cricket Shri Gagan Narang Sports Shooting Smt. Krishna Poonia Sports Discus Throw Shri Harbhajan Singh Sports Mountaineering Dr. Pukhraj Bafna Medicine - Padeatrics Prof. Mansoor Hasan Medicine- Cardiology Dr. Shyama Prasad Mandal Medicine - Orthopaedic Prof. (Dr.) Sivapatham Vittal Medicine Endocrinology Prof. (Dr.) Madanur Ahmed Ali Medicine Gastroenterology Medicine Obstetrics Dr. Indira Hinduja and Gynaecology. Medicine Cardio-Thoracic Dr. Jose Chacko Periappuram Surgery. Prof. (Dr.) A. Marthanda Pillai Medicine Neurosurgery Shri Mahim Bora Literature and Education Prof. (Dr.) Pullella Srirama Chandrudu Literature and Education- Sanskrit Dr. Pravin Darji Literature and Education Dr. Chandra Prakash Deval Literature and Education Shri Balraj Komal Literature and Education Mrs. Rajni Kumar Literature and Education Dr. Devanooru Mahadeva Literature and Education Shri Barun Mazumder Literature and Education Dr. Avvai Natarajan Literature and Education

Karnataka Gujarat Karnataka Karnataka Gujarat Tamil Nadu Delhi Andhra Pradesh Kerala Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu Andhra Pradesh Bihar Maharashtra Manipur Delhi Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Rajasthan Punjab Chhattisgarh Uttar Pradesh Delhi Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu Maharashtra Kerala Kerala Assam Andhra Pradesh Gujarat Rajasthan Delhi Delhi Karnataka West Bengal Tamil Nadu

Shri BhalchandraNemade Prof. Riyaz Punjabi Prof. Koneru Ramakrishna Rao Ms. Buangi Sailo Prof. Devi Dutt Sharma Shri Nilamber Dev Sharma Ms. Urvashi Butalia # Ms. Ritu Menon # Prof. Krishna Kumar Shri Deviprasad Dwivedi Ms. Mamang Dai Dr. Om Prakash Agrawal Prof. Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar Ms. Shanti Teresa Lakra Smt. Gulshan Nanda Dr. Azad Moopen Prof. Upendra Baxi Dr. Mani Lal Bhaumik Dr. Subra Suresh Prof. Karl Harrington Potter Prof. Martha Chen Shri Satpal Khattar Shri Granville Austin

Literature and Education Literature and Education Literature and Education Literature and Education Literature and Education Literature and Education Literature and Education Literature and Education Literature and Education Literature and Education Literature and Education Others Heritage Conservation Others Archeology Others-Nursing Others Handicrafts promotion Social work Public Affairs -Legal Affairs Science and Engineering Science and Engineering Literature and Education Social work Trade and Industry Literature and Education

Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Andhra Pradesh Mizoram Uttarakhand Jammu and Kashmir Delhi Delhi Delhi Uttar Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Uttar Pradesh Maharashtra Andaman & Nicobar Delhi UAE * United Kingdom * USA * USA * USA * USA * Singapore * USA *

Note: * indicates awardees in the category of Foreigners / NRIs/ PIOs/ Posthumous. And #
indicates duo case.