Breaking Knowledge: Current affairs February 2011

1. Who appointed as PM’s Advisor on skill development ?

- S Ramadorai, former chief of IT giant firm TCS, has been appointed as an Advisor to Prime Minister on Skill Development

2. Who has been elected as President of Karnataka State Cricket Association(KSCA)?
- Anil Kumble

3. who won Australian Open woman’s Single 2011 ?

- Kim Clijsters won her second straight Grand Slam title and the fourth of her career, struggling early before beating Li Na 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Australian Open final. The result ended the outstanding run of Li, who became the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam singles final.

4. who won Australian Open mens Single 2011 ?

-Novak Djokovic claimed his second title at the Australian Open in dominating style on when he hammered Andy Murray 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.

5. 72-year-old woman who’s on a mission to eradicate illiteracy ?
-Paravati Mohanty

6. Who has been appointed as the new PM of Jordan?
- Marouf Bakhit King Abdullah has dismissed his cabinet and appointed a new Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit. Read more

7. which south Korean steel company gets approval in Orissa ?
- POSCO

The south Korean firm Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) got the conditional clearence from the Environmental Ministry to start $12 billion steel mill project in Orissa. It is considered as the single biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) in India.

8. which department has been given the responsibility to deliver UID cards in india ?
- Department of Posts

More than 1 billion Indians will get their unique identification numbers from the ubiquitous post office. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), responsible for creating and distributing first of its kind unique identification numbers to Indian residents, signed an agreement with department of posts to this effect on 4 February.

9. Who has elected as new President for Myanmar ?

-General Thein Sein

Thein Sein, a military general-turned-civilian leader, was on 4 February elected Myanmar’s first President under its 2008 Constitution, which came into force earlier this week. His election was officially portrayed as a key step along the final lap of the military government’s roadmap towards democracy.

10. Who is elected as the new PM of Nepal ?

- Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), Jhalanath Khanal become the 34th Prime Minister. read more

11. Eighth Aero India International Seminar was held in ?
- Bangalore

The eighth Aero India 2011 – International Seminar conducted was held at National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) Convention Centre here from February 7 to 9, as a prelude to the ‘Aero India 2011 Exposition’.
The seminar, organized by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in association with the Aeronautical Society of India

12. Where was held 17th Commonwealth Law Conference ?
- Hyderabad

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, inaugurated the 17th Commonwealth Law Conference at Hyderabad on 5 February.

The theme of this conference “Emerging Economies – Rule of Law: Challenges and Opportunities” is specially relevant today when a new global architecture is taking place and there is restlessness in the air in many developing countries. The ability of emerging economies to be a partner in shaping the new international order in the 21st century will be determined to a large extent by the choices they make with respect to their systems of governance as well as the legal and institutional structures they devise for enforcing the rule of law.

13. Recently govt. decided to Ban on use of plastics for packaging of which products ?

- The Environment Ministry issued a notification banning the use of plastics for packaging gutka and other tobacco products. Read more

14. Former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka who passes away on 9th February 2011 ?
- M.P. Prakash

M.P. Prakash (71), former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, passed away in a private hospital here on 9 February 2011.
He was battling cancer for over a year.

A respected political leader who was part of the Janata Parivar since its formation in 1977, Mr. Prakash crossed over to the Congress in April 2008 after falling out with the Janata Dal (Secular) leadership over the transfer of power to the BJP at the end of the first 20-month term of the coalition government.
He served as Deputy Chief Minister in the first coalition government in the State headed by N. Dharam Singh between August 2005 and January 2006.

15. The fourteenth National Conference on e-Governance was held at ?
- Aurangabad
The fourteenth National Conference on e-Governance is to begin on February 10th at Aurangabad. Governor of Maharahstra Shri K. Sankaranarayanan, has inaugurating the two-day annual event.

16. The Regional Aviation Security Conference was held at ?
- India is set to host the Regional Aviation Security Conference at New Delhi from 14-18 February, 2011 under the aegis of International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO) to review the compliance of Security Declaration made in 37th Assembly of ICAO and also to have the risk overview of the recent developments in aviation security. The Conference is being organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India.

17. When will be started Health insurance policy portability ?
- 1st July 2011

In a big relief to dissatisfied health insurance policy holders, sectoral regulator IRDA has allowed them portability — shifting policies from one insurer to another on same terms – from 1st July.The portability facility will allow policy holders to switch over to another insurance company with the same conditions.
The new facility will also help those policy holders who stick to one insurer throughout life for fear of losing the cover for Pre Existing Diseases (PED).

18. which mobile company has maximum active customers ?

-Bharti Airtel

The Trai report said Bharti Airtel had about 92% active customers, while Idea Cellular had a little over 90% followed by Vodafone Essar at 76%, compared to 47-50 % for Tata (GSM and CDMA) and 66-68 % for Reliance Communications .

19. Who inaugurates World Philatelic Exhibition ‘INDIPEX 2011′ ?
- President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on 12-02-2011 inaugurated the World Philatelic Exhibition ‘INDIPEX 2011′ in the national capital.

20. 53rd annual Grammy Awards was held at ?
- The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

List of 53rd annual Grammy Awards

Album of the Year
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Record of the Year
Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
Best New Artist
Esperanza Spalding
Song of the Year
Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
Train – “Hey, Soul Sister (Live)
Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck and Oumou Sangare – “Imagine”
Best Dance Recording
Rihanna – “Only Girl (In the World)”
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
The Black Keys – “Tighten Up”
Best Hard Rock Performance
Them Crooked Vultures – “New Fang”
Best Rock Song
Neil Young – “Angry World”
Best Alternative Music Album
The Black Keys – Brothers
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
Sade – “Soldier of Love”
Best Contemporary R&B Album
Usher – Raymond v. Raymond
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Best Rap Song
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys – “Empire State of Mind”
Best Rap Album
Eminem – Recovery
Best Country Collaboration With Vocals
Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson – “As She’s Walking Away”
Best Country Song
Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
Best Country Album
Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
Best Americana Album
Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
Best Traditional Blues Album
Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith – Joined at the Hip

21. Who launches ‘CARINGS’ & what is it?

-Mrs. Krishna Tirath

Minister of State for Women and Child Development Mrs. Krishna Tirath, launched a Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System CARINGS in New Delhi February 14. It is a web based management information system that offers a child centric approach for the child, parents and agencies.

22. winners’ list for 2011 BAFTA Awards.

- BAFTA Awards 2011

Best Film: The King’s Speech
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network
Best Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Outstanding British Film: The King’s Speech
Best Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
Best Original Screenplay: The King’s Speech
Outstanding British Contribution: The Harry Potter franchise
Best Original Music: Alexandre Desplat, The King’s Speech
Best Short Film: Until The River Runs Red, Paul Wright, Paul Kondeatis
Best Short Animation: The Eagleman Stag, Michael Please
Best Sound: Inception, Lee Smith
Best Editing: The Social Network, Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
Best Make-up and Hair: Alice In Wonderland, Vali O’Reilly, Paul Gooch
Best Film Not In The English Language: Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Best Costume Design: Alice In Wonderland, Coleen Attwood
Best Production Design: Inception, Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
Best Special Visual Effects: Inception, Chris Courbold, Paul Franklin
Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3
Orange Wednesday’s Rising Star: Tom Hardy
Best Screenplay: The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin
Best Cinematography: True Grit

23. Who inaugurate International Conference on Community Mental Health?
- The Hon’ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad will inaugurate international conference cum workshop on Asia Pacific Community Mental Health on 17 February, 2011

24. which country has joined BRIC ?
- South Africa

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on 19 February welcomed South Africa in the BRIC forum of fastest growing economies Brazil,Russia, India and China.
“South Africa has joined this meeting. We welcome South Africa. Now BRIC is no longer BRIC but it is BRICS. One ‘S’ has been added to it,”

25. The National Conference on Storage of Food Grains was held on ?
- February19, 2011 in New Delhi. Read more

26. who is the man of the match in world cup 2011 opening match held at Mirpur ?
- Virender Sehwag unleashed a stunning display of strokeplay to smash a blistering 175 as India launched their cricket World Cup campaign with an emphatic 87-runs victory over Bangladesh in their opening World Cup group-B match at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium in Mirpur on 19 February.

27. The next BRICS summit is scheduled to be held in ?
- China in April.

28. Overseas Employers Conference was held in which city?
- Hyderabad

A two-day “Overseas Employers’ Conference” were held at Hyderabad February 21, to understand the concerns of the Foreign Employers in the Middle East and South-East Asia employing Indian workers. The conference was provide a forum for the overseas employers to interact with the Government of India and the State Government representatives and put forward their point of view and raise issues related to recruitment of Indian workers for overseas employment.

29. Highlights of Economy Survey 2010-11.
-

30. Highlights & Summary of Union Budget 2011-12.
-

31. Who is the first woman officer to get gallantry award in Army ?

- Major Mitali Madhumita

32. Highlights of Railway Budget 2011-12.
-

33. List of 34th National Games Top Medal Winner.
-

34. List of 83 OSCAR AWARD WINNERS
-

35. Recently, Nishant which is India’s indigenous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) completed the series of confirmatory trials carried out by the army at the Chandan ranges. In which state are located the Chandan Ranges ?
- Rajasthan

36. Which is the founding member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was not a member of its predecessor Shanghai-5?
- Uzbekistan

37. Where is located the National Biodiversity Authority ?
- Chennai

38. Who is the new governor (Indian Origin) of South Carolina ?
-Nikki Randhawa Halley

39. Hollywood actress and former sex symbol who dies at age 89 of respiratory failure in Santa Maria, California ?

- Jane Russell

40. Which three Pakistani cricketer has banned for 5 year by ICC for Match-fixing ?

- Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir

41. Which country has opened World’s first nuclear bank ?
- Russia

42. Which animal has been declared as National Heritage Animal by GOI ?
- Elephant.

43. who won Australian Open mixed doubles title ?

-Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Daniel Nestor of Canada won the mixed doubles championship at the Australian Open, beating Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan and Paul Hanley of Australia 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 in final.

44. Who wrote the book “India – Pakistan: Coming To Terms”?
- Ashutosh Misra

45. Which state government has renamed the Brookside Bungalow to Rabindranath Art Gallery?
- Meghalaya

46. What is the present FDI limit in Telecom sector?
- 74%

47. Which of the following nation is the recent one to join Non Aligned Movement(NAM)?
- Fiji

48. DIPP is the nodal agency in the field of foreign investments? what is the full form of DIPP
- Department Of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

49. Who wrote the book ‘ Inside Wikileaks’ which talks about Julian Assange’s hobbies and other unrevealed facts in building and developing Wikileaks?

- Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Julian Asaange’s old collegue)

50. Who is the new nuclear department head of Iran?
- Nuclear scientist Fereedoon Abbazi Davani

51. What is the name of the German minister in power who has been accused of copying a thesis in order to achieve his doctorate?

- Carl Theodore Gutenberg

52. Who appointed as the next chairman of Indian Oil Corporation?
- R. S. Butola

53. who takes charge as the new chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)?

- U. K. Sinha
Upendra Kumar Sinha took charge as the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s Chairman from the outgoing chief, C. B. Bhave.

54. Who has been elected National chairman of Young Indians (Yi) for 2011-12 ?
- Shankar Vanavarayar

55. Who has been named as the best CFO in the financial sector for 2010 by ICAI?
- V.S.Rangan

56. Who has been appointed as acting Chairman of ONGC and S.V.Narasimhan as interim head of IOC?
- A.K.Hazarika

57. Who becomes the 1st female CEO of a Formula One Team Sauber ?
- Monisha Kaltenborn

58. Which bank has decided to open subsidiary for financial services, to enter into investment banking, wealth and asset management?
- IOB – Indian Overseas Bank

59. Which Kochi-based company signed a deal with Los Angeles Potmax LLC to facilitate joint production and marketing activities?
- Vines Visual and Media Pvt. Ltd.

60. Who has been appointed as CFO for Infrastructure finance firm IDFC ?
- Sunil Kakar

61. Who has been appointed as CFO of Mahindra Satyam ?
- Vasant Krishnan

62. Who has been appointed as Head Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, a subsidiary of Bank of America ?
- Michael Benz

63. Who has been appointed as the Commander in Chief of the Delhi-based tri-services Strategic Forces Command (SFC), which is responsible for the nuclear arsenal of India?
Air Marshal KJ Mathews.

SFC, an agency tasked with the use of the nuclear weapons, was set up in 2003 along with an eight-point nuclear doctrine committed not to first strike first or use nukes against the non-nuclear nations. Headed by Prime Minister, the SFC was formed during the National Democratic alliance regime. Nuclear weapons can be activated only on specific orders of the PM and no other authority.

64. Who became the first Muslim to play for the Australian national cricket team?

Usman Khawaja.
Khawaja became the first Muslim and first Pakistani-born player to play test cricket for Australia, and only the seventh foreign-born cricketer to do so in the last 80 years. He was selected in the Australian cricket team to play England in the fifth Test against England in Sydney on 3 January 2011.

65. India’s first homegrown supersonic fighter jet, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) which was handed over to the Indian Air Force on January 10, 2011 by Defence minister, A K Antony after the Initial Operational Clearance?

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.

66. Former IAS officer who resigned as a member of the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission for his alleged role in the Adarsh housing scam?
Subhash Lalla

67. In a recent online survey conducted by Klout using a complex algorithm formula, the teen sensation from Canada has become the world’s most influential person, beating a host of more obvious contenders with a perfect score of 100. Who is that Canadian pop sensation?

Justin Bieber

68. Who is appointed as the new chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)?
Sudhir Chandra.
Since 1 January 1964 the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has been charged with all matters relating to various direct taxes in India and it derives its authority from Central Board of Revenue Act 1963. The CBDT is a part of Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.

69. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has recently appointed a two-member committee to investigate the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam. The members of the committee are?
JC Patil (Retired Justice) and P Subramaniam (Retired Chief Secretary). The committee has been asked to submit its report within three months, after probing all aspects of the case.

70. The Supreme Court on January 13, 2011 proceeded with the contempt proceeding against an advocate for allegedly casting aspersions on Chief Justice S H Kapadia in an interview to “Tehelka magazine”. Name of that Advocate?

Prashant Bhushan.

Bhushan is facing contempt proceedings for his interview to Tehelka magazine in which he made the insinuations against Justice Kapadia in 2009 as well as some other judges .He had said Justice Kapadia, being a member of the Forest Bench along with then Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, should not have heard the matter relating to Vedanta Sterlite Group as he held shares of the company.

71. Who won the title of Miss America 2011?

Teresa Scanlan.
Scanlan, a 17-year-old from Nebraska became the youngest winner of the Miss America title in 90 years.

72. Man of the match winners of 5 One Day International Cricket Series between India and South Africa held in South Africa in January 2011.

First ODI played at Durban on January 12, 2011:
Player of the match: Lonwabo Tsotsobe (South Africa). He took 4 wickets for 31 runs.
Result: South Africa beat India by 135 runs.

Second ODI played at Johannesburg on January 15, 2011:
Player of the match: Munaf Patel (India). He took 4 wickets for 29 runs.
Result: India beat South Africa by 1 run.

Third ODI played at Cape Town on January 18, 2011:
Player of the match: Yusuf Pathan (India). He scored 59 runs and took 1 wicket.
Result: India beat South Africa by 2 wickets

Fourth ODI played at Port Elizabeth on January 21, 2011:
Player of the match: J.P.Duminy (South Africa). He scored unbeaten 71 runs.
Result: South Africa beat India by 48 runs (D/L method)

Fifth ODI played at Centurion on January 23, 2011:
Player of the match: Hashim Amla (South Africa). He scored 116 runs.
Result: South Africa beat India by 33 runs (D/L method).
Series Result: South Africa wins the 5 ODI series 3-2.

73. Co-Founder of Google who will be the new CEO of Google Inc. from April 4, 2011?

Larry Page.

The current CEO, Eric Schmidt will assume the role of ‘Executive Chairman’ to focus on deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership.

75. Indo-American who is appointed as Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR)?
Islam A. Siddiqui.

76. Indian-American who has been appointed by U.S.President Obama as member of the advisory group on Prevention, Health, Promotion and Integrative and Public Health?
Vivek Murthy.

He is the co-founder of the organisation known as Doctors for America that consists of over 15,000 doctors and medical students in 50 states and provides better healthcare for Americans.

77. Which state has been voted the top travel and tourism destination in India by a poll conducted by the Outlook Traveller magazine?
Kerala.
The award was decided by a survey conducted by noted global consumer-research company Nielsen, among the readers of the magazine, Outlook Traveller.

78. Who has been appointed Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus?
Mikhail Myasnikovich.

79. Indian-American and a former B-2 stealth bomber engineer, who was sentenced by a US court to 32 years in jail for selling American military secrets to China on?
Noshir Gowadia.

80. INTERPOL has recently issued arrest warrant for former Tunisian president and six of his family members following a request from the Tunisian government. Name of that former president of Tunisia?
Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali
The warrant accuses Ben Ali and his relatives of possessing expropriated property and transferring foreign currency abroad. Ben Ali has taken refuge in Saudi Arabia.

81. Name of the army doctor who was conferred the highest peacetime gallantry award -Ashok Chakra-posthumously for fighting militants barehanded during an attack on Indians in Kabul last year?
Major Laishram Jyotin Singh (Manipur).

He is the first officer from Army Medical Corps (AMC) to receive the award
The officer laid down his life while fighting terrorists during an attack on Indians in Kabul.

82. A New York court has recently summoned Urban Development Minister of India in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case in New Delhi. Name of that minister?
Kamal Nath.
The case against him was filed by an NGO, Sikhs for Justice, in April last year.