Breaking Knowledge: International Current Affairs 2011 Part-2

CURRENT AFFAIRS 2011 WORLD

Aug 2011
•Nepal Prime Minister Khanal inducted new ministers in his cabinet.
•US President Obama signed debt deal into law.
•Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak went on trial in Cairo.
•Former Japan International defender Naoki Matsuda died.
•NASA launched Jupiter probe ‘Juno’.
•Yingluck Shinawatra sworn as first female Thai Prime Minister.
•US lost AAA credit rating for the first time since 1941.
•Nepal banned smoking in public places.
•Lobsang Sangay sworn in as new PM of Tibetan government in exile.
•22 killed as Syria launched new raids.
•China began sea trial of first aircraft carrier.
•China decided to reduce speed of bullet trains.
•China put into orbit Pakistan’s first communications satellite.
•Nepal Prime Minister resigned under pressure.
•Nepal President Yadav set August 21 as deadline for consensus on PM.
•High level Chinese delegation arrived in Nepal.
•Yemen President Saleh vowed to return home from South Arabia.
•68 killed in Iraq blast.
•World leaders called on Syrian President Assad to step down.
•53 killed in Pakistan Blast.
•Egypt Israel ties plunged to a new low.
•Brazil won FIFA U-20 World Cup.
•Rebels captured Tripoli heralding end of Gaddafi rule.
•Libyan rebels seized Gaddafi’s compound Tripoli.
•Russian cargo spacecraft for ISS crashed into earth.
•NATO joined search for fallen Libyan leader Gaddafi.
•Japanese Premier Naoto Kan resigned.
•Singapore voted for new President.
•Baburam Bhattarai elected Nepal’s 35th PM.
•Tony Tan elected Singapore President.
•Lady Gaga bagged 1st 2011 MTV Video Music Awards honour for ‘Born This Way’.
•China has approved plans to setup first Tibetian bank.
•Dilshan has been named as Sri Lanka’s captain for upcoming Australian series.
•Sudan has launched its new currency.
•Austrian climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner becomes the first woman to conquer 14. 8000 metre summit (K2) without artificial oxygen.
•Tim Cook has been named as CEO of Apple post Steve Jobs resignation.
•Anna University recently signed pact with university of Sydney.
•Hitachi and Mitsubishi two industries of Japan are set to merge.
•NASA found the first evidence of flowing water recently on Mars planet.
•Jenson Button won the Hungarian Grand Prix 2011.
•England won the 2000th Test cricket held at Lords Cricket Ground.
Sept2011

Tony Tan became Singapore’s new President.
• Turkey expelled Israeli ambassador.
• Germany became the first team to qualify for the 2012 European Championship finals.
• Typhoon Talas killed 20 in Japan.
• Former Egyptian President Mubarak’s trial resumed.
• Russia launched the first ‘technical’ gas into undersea pipeline to Germany.
• Yahoo Inc. fired CEO Carol Bartz.
• French designer John Galliano fined after found guilty of anti-Semitic act.
• North Korea celebrated its 63rd anniversary.
• South Korea won the women’s Asian Champions Trophy Hockey tournament.
• IMF recognised TNC as Libyan government.
• Egyptian top Gen Tantawi failed to testify in ousted President Mubarak’s trial.
• Samantha Stosur won the women’s final of US Open Tennis.
• Angola’s Leila Lopes crowned Miss Universe 2011.
• Novak Djokovic won the men’s final in US Open Tennis.
• Nasa Unveiled design for giant rocket called Space Launch System.
• 24 Hours siege in Kabul diplomatic enclave ended.
• US declared Indian Mujahideen a terror entity.
• Thorning-Schmidt elected Denmark Premier.
• India recognises new Libyan regime.
• 4645 Taiwanese children set mass violin playing Record.
• 63rd premtime Emmy Award presented in Los Angeles.
• Former Afghan President Rabbani killed in suicide bomb attack.
• At UN, Obama opposes Palestinian statehood.
• Australia announced that it will ease visa rules for students.
• Yemen’s president Salah returned to Sanna, called for truce.
• Palestine Staked state claim at UN.
• NTC forces attacked Gaddaff home turf.
• NASA’s dead satellite crashed over Pacific.
• China installs gold vending machine as demand soars.
• First ever strategic and Economic Dialogue between Indian and China held at Beijing.
• 16 dead as Typhone Nesat smashed into the Philippines.
• US confront Pak with evidence of ISI’s Terror Links.
•Last all-male polled in Saudi Arabia; China launch Space Lab Module.
•India, 25 other nations opposed EU plan on emission trading.

Oct2011

•Denmark became first country in world to impose Fat Tax on foods such as butter and oil.
•Afghan rocked at first musicial festival in 3 decades.
•Three immune pioneers shared Medicine Nobel.
•Three shared physics Nobel for Universe insights.
•US President Obama unveiled Jobs plan; Israeli got Chemistry Nobel for Crystals.
•Steve Jobs, 56, iconic cofounder of Apple, passed away; Swedish poet won Nobel for Literature.
•1 Arab, 2 Liberian women shared peace Nobel.
•111 person including 13 ethnic Indians charged in the biggest credit card scam in US History.
•NATO pounded strategic city of Sirte, Libya as assault nears end.
•2 of US won Economics Nobel in Microeconomics.
•Egypt Dy PM quit over Coptic killings.
•Myanmar began releasing 6,300 convicts in its latest liberalizing move.
•Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar married Jetsun Pema.
•Italian Pm Silvio Berlusconi won a crucial confidence vote in Parliament.
•Demonstrators of 951 cities in 82 countries across the world rallied to accuse bankers and politicians of wrecking economics.
•Pope Benedict declare a “year of faith”, starting on October 11, 2012.
•Jordan’s king name Intl court of Justice Judge Awn Khasawneh as PM.
•The Buddh International Circuit was today unveiled amid much fanfare ahead of the widely-anticipated inaugural Indian Grand Prix and was described as “one of the best in the world” by the country’s first F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan.
•Israel traded 1927 prisoners for one soldier in Hamas captivity.
•A first group of 200 French soldiers was due to leave Afghanistan on Wednesday as part of an early troop withdrawal announced in July by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
•Julian Balnes won Man Booker for “The sense of the ending”.
•Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered in his capture near his hometown of Sirte today, a senior NTC military official told Reuters. National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked
•Revolution killed Muammar Gaddafi, dictator of Libya for 42 years.
•Muammar Gaddafi was fatally wounded by a bullet in his intestines following his capture, according to a doctor who examined his body, amid conflicting accounts of how the fugitive former Libyan leader met his end.
•Pak won two-year non-permanent seat in UN Security Council.
•US authorities have approved the transfer of 435 Indian students of the Tri-Valley University to other institutions, indicating some progress in addressing the plight of nearly 1,800 Indian students affected by its closure.
•Inert German satellite Rosat hit to the ground.
•The Pakistani Taliban have threatened to attack installations of Shell Pakistan and the state-run Pakistan State Oil if the two firms do not pay a total of Rs 400 million within 20 days as extortion money, a media report said today.
•Tunisia voted in first Free Polls; Libya declared itself Liberated.
•As many as 1,000 people were feared killed on Sunday when a powerful earthquake hit southeast Turkey, destroying dozens of buildings and trapping some victims alive under rubble.
•US pulled out envoy from Syria.
•UK House rejected referendum on EU membership.
•US industrialist of Indian origin, Rajat Gupta arrested in Insider Trading Scam.
•IBM named Virginia Rometty the first female CEO in the company’s 100-years history.
•Britain rewrites rules for Royal line of Succession.
•Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet indefinitely and locked out workers.

Nov2011

“Obama bumped Chinese President Hu Jintao from the No. 1 spot on the magazine’s annual rankings to the third place with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin taking the second position.” — Nov 03, Hindustan Times

“Pakistan on Friday said it is not taking any “U-turn” on normalising trade relations with India and granting the MFN status is a part of that process.” — Nov 04, Hindustan Times

“An asteroid larger than an aircraft carrier will dart between the Earth and Moon on Tuesday. It will be the closest encounter by such a huge space rock in 35 years.” — Nov 06, Hindustan Times

“Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has said that the country’s nuclear weapons are very hard targets and can never be attacked by the United States.” — Nov 07, Hindustan Times

“Former Libyan dictator Col Muammar Gaddafi scavenged for food and fled from one abandoned house to another during his desperate final days in his hometown of Sirte, one of his top security officials has revealed.” — Nov 08, Hindustan Times

“The head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday that Europe’s debt crisis risked plunging the global economy into a “lost decade” and said it was up to rich nations to shoulder the burden of restoring growth and confidence.” — Nov 09, Hindustan Times

“Ahead of the two important summits in the Asia Pacific region in the next 10 days, the White House made it intentions clear that US will continue to be a strong power in the region and work with key regional partners in this regard. Manmohan, Obama to meet in Bali” — Nov 10, Hindustan Times

“China’s campaign to stifle dissenters such as artist Ai Weiwei through secret detentions could come cloaked in a thicker veneer of legality if proposed crime law changes go through, a prominent rights advocacy group said on Thursday.” — Nov 11, Hindustan Times

“Two Russians and an American on Monday blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS) on a Russian rocket from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, an AFP correspondent said.” — Nov 14, Hindustan Times

“British Prime Minister David Cameron has reportedly impersonated the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard during his annual foreign policy speech in London.” — Nov 15, Hindustan Times

“A salvo of missiles fired by US drones destroyed a Pakistani Taliban base today, killing up to 18 militants in Pakistan’s tribal badlands on the Afghan border, officials said.” — Nov 16, Hindustan Times

“Julian Assange’s mother has joined protesters in Australia’s capital demanding the government oppose a possible U.S. extradition of her son in a WikiLeaks investigation.” — Nov 17, Hindustan Times

“US President Barack Obama said today there were “flickers of progress” towards democratic reform in Myanmar and opened the door to a new US relationship with the long-isolated country.” — Nov 18, Hindustan Times

“The Inter-Services Intelligence agency “conclusively authenticated” the delivery of a secret memorandum purportedly sent by Pakistan’s civilian leadership to the former US military chief before army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani raised the matter with President Asif Ali Zardari.” — Nov 19, Hindustan Times

“If Pakistan’s telecom regulator has its way, millions of mobile phone users may be unable to send text messages with “offensive” and “obscene” words like crap, damn, hobo, flatulence, gay, lesbian and slime from Monday.” — Nov 20, Hindustan Times

“Officials say satellite surveillance has shown a recent increase in activity at an Iranian site suspected of secret work on nuclear weapons.” — Nov 21, Hindustan Times

“The Indian rupee depreciated by 35 paise to a lifetime low of Rs 52.50 per US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange on Tuesday on sustained demand for the American currency from banks and importers. Dollar gains against other currencies overseas also put pressure on the
Indian rupee.” — Nov 22, Hindustan Times

“Authorities say a small plane has crashed in eastern Indonesia, killing the Spanish pilot and leaving his co-pilot in critical condition.” — Nov 23, Hindustan Times

“Arguing that the UN Security Council is no longer reflective of contemporary reality, India has said this poses the “most important challenge” to global peace and security as well as conflict prevention.” — Nov 24, Hindustan Times

“No scaling down of military operations against Taliban, says US” — Nov 29, Times of India

“A German federal court was to rule today whether a Muslim pupil has the right to pray according to Islamic rites in school, capping a more than two-year legal battle” — Nov 30, Hindustan Times

Dec2011
•A bomb exploded near the office of a regional government official in the often restive city of Peshawar early on Thursday, police officials said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. – Dec 01
•A ‘scientific’ report has alleged that relaxing the ban on women drivers would also see more Saudis – both men and women – turn to homosexuality and pornography. The report was delivered to all the 150 members of the country’s legislative body. – Dec 02
•Often accused of playing a negative role in Nepal, India seems interested in reshaping its ties with the Himalayan nation in a new way with stress on economic cooperation. – Dec 03
•Five militants and two members of an elite police force were killed in a clash in southern Kazakhstan, prosecutors said today, amid concerns about rising Islamist unrest in the Central Asian state. – Dec 04
•Pakistan will review all its agreements with the US and NATO in the aftermath of the November 26 airstrike that left two dozen Pakistan Army soldiers dead, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said. Pak troop deaths ‘regrettable’: Obama – Dec 05
•The deputy commander of the Pakistan Taliban, who have been waging a four-year war against the government in Islamabad, confirmed the two sides were in peace talks, a move that could further fray the US-Pakistan relationship. – Dec 10
•A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck early today near the South Sandwich Islands, a remote British territory near Antarctica and South America’s southern tip, the US Geological Survey said – Dec 12
•With the US troop withdrawal from Iraq in its final days, President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri-al Maliki will meet at the White House on Monday to discuss the next phase of the relationship between their countries. – Dec 13
•Nordine Amrani, the lone gunman who died after killing three people and injuring scores in an attack in a crowded Belgian square today, had a long criminal record but not for violent crime. – Dec 14
•The Indian rupee fell by 46 paise to a record low of Rs 54.17 per US dollar in early trade on Thursday, breaching the Rs 54 per dollar-mark for the first time in history on sustained foreign capital outflows and dollar gains against the euro and other rivals overseas. – Dec 15
•The death toll from tropical storm Washi surged to 180 today with nearly 400 people missing in flash floods that ravaged the southern Philippines. – Dec 17
•The external affairs ministry has said it has no records of any “purported” letter written in 1962 by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to his Israeli counterpart David Ben Gurion seeking help during the Sino-India war. – Dec 18
•The external affairs ministry has said it has no records of any “purported” letter written in 1962 by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to his Israeli counterpart David Ben Gurion seeking help during the Sino-India war. – Dec 18
•A Russian court today suspended its verdict till December 28 on the demand for banning Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, which a group linked to the Christian Orthodox Church has described as ‘extremist’. – Dec 19
•The death toll from a destructive storm that hit the southern Philippines has risen to 927, the head of the govt disaster monitoring council said late Monday. – Dec 20
•BEIJING: The proposed February launch of India’s Agni-V missile has ruffled feathers among Chinese policy makers with Communist Party organ, the People’s Daily, saying the move reflects India’s “intention of seeking regional balance of power”. – Dec 21
•Facebook Inc has agreed to make several changes to its services to improve transparency and better protect the personal data of its millions of users outside of the US, following an in-depth audit of its international headquarters that was released on Dec.22,2011. – Dec 22
•The earthquake-devastated New Zealand city of Christchurch was rocked by two powerful 5.8 magnitude tremors on Dec 23,2011 sending terrified residents onto the streets and forcing the airport to close. – Dec 23
•An Afghan official says 11 miners have died in an accident at a coal mine in central Afghanistan. – Dec 24
•A fake marriage gang, which involved five Pakistani men and several Slovak women, has been jailed for manipulating marriage system to flout UK immigration laws. – Dec 26
•A roadside bomb attack killed three NATO troops in eastern Afghanistan, one of the deadliest flashpoints in the 10-year war against Taliban insurgents, the military said on Dec 28,2011 . – Dec 28
•As the United States enters the crucial election year, president Barack Obama and his Democratic party has a clear edge over the opposition Republican party, a latest opinion poll has said. – Dec 30