National Current Affairs 2011 Part-1

Current Affairs[December 2011]

Anna to fast from December 27 as Lokpal bill cleared without CBI.

• In a move to stop Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption finally the Union Cabinet cleared the Lokpal bill but without CBI. However the support by the cross party for the legislation was seen with doubt as the Cabinet vetoed the autonomy suggestion to the CBI.

A senior minister said that-“the CBI will look into only those cases that are going to be referred by the anti graft body”. Further the government officials said that the Cabinet cannot agree to the suggestion of the division of the prosecuting and the investigating sections of the CBI.

Shanti Bhushan, a prominent team member of Anna Hazare’s team said that- “ The Lokpal bill without CBI is not of any use and does not have any meaning”. He further said that if CBI is still under the control of the government it will still shield the corrupted government officials”.

Kiran Bedi also raised her voice stating that is such a bill is made then it’s better that it is not passed or else it will destroy even the remaining CBI power.

Following the reports Anna Hazare has said that he will go on for the 3 day fast in Mumbai from December 27 onwards.

Pro-TN activists delyed Guruvayur Express for the Mullaperiyar protest

• Regarding the Mullaperiyar issue the activists from the Manitha Urimai Paathukappu Maiyam which is a human rights protection centre tried to obstruct and even delayed the Guruvayur Express that was passing through Trichy at 1.20pm. The protest was made against the double dealings of the parties like Congress, BJP and the CPM. Also the protesters also demanded the arrest of Kerela Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as they consider that he violated the SC’S verdict for the issue.

The activists staged a rail roko by plastering the walls around Tiruchirappalli Junction. However the police didn’t provided any sort of permission to allow any such agitation. It was only after some time that the authorities came to know that they were misled by fake notice.

The activists consist mostly of lawyers and in order to show the support for the protest over the dam the Trading Malayali community shut downed their shutters. But to prevent things from getting worse the protesters were not allowed inside the railway premises and 8 of the protesters were arrested and later released at 5 pm by the police.

New Year Eve shadowed by the Terror alert

• While people were busy celebrating and welcoming the New Year but the Delhi Police remained on its toes to guard the city following the terror alert that were made for the arrest of some terrorists and Pakistani spies. The alert was also made by the Intelligence service and asked the police department to remain cautious.

the Delhi Police said that more focus would be given on the security of the five star hotels in the Delhi area that hold major New Year party for people thus seeing major rush of party goers. Apart from the hotel security the police said that they will do thorough checking of people New Year eve barricades were placed at prominent places to check the movement of suspicious peoples.

After the CNG price, petrol prices to rise up. 

• The sole supplier of gas in the National Capital Region, the Indraprastha Gas Lrd(IGL), rose the prices of the automotive fuel by Rs 1.75 per kg. This step was made to pass on the status of the rupee’s fall against the dollars. Also this step was made to as the production from the Relience Industries Ltd’s dropped in the Andhra coast.

This rise in the price of the CNG (Compressed natural gas) is 5th revision for the Delhi and its NCR region. Other states of country like that of Mumbai that also have CNG services are also going to be affected due to the depreciation of the rupee’s against dollar.

Following the CNG price hike it is said that the petrol’s price are also going to shoot up by Rs 1 per litre.

Man held with arms and live cartridges in DTC bus. 

• Just before the New Year’s Eve, a man was held for carrying a major consignment of arms and ammunitions in DTC bus near Subhash Nagar Metro Station. The arms and the ammunitions were placed in a gunny bag to prevent any sort of suspicion by the locals travelling in the bus. Upon checking by the police the man named Ravinder was arrested. The police recovered 18 pistols and live cartridges from the gunny bag.

The police official said that that had received a tip off regarding the consignment. A team was formed under the supersvision of ACP of Tilak Nagar, and they stopped the bus and checked the suspicious man that was carrying the gunny bag. Upon recovering live cartridges and arms the man was immediately arrested. A case has been registered under the Arms Act.

The police said that they stopped the bus around 10.45am and they surrounded the bus and closed all the entry and exit gates of the bus. The accused who was sitting at the back seat with his gunny bag lloked suspicious and he was thoroughly checked. The arms and the cartridges were covered by vegetables and once they were removed the team and the passengers were shocked to see the ammunitions that were more than dozens in numbers.

Campaign against Hooch menace by Mamata

• The Chief Minister of Bengal Mamata Banerjee led a campaign in Kolkata to create mass awareness for the Hooch menace that reports the illegally distilled liquor possession and selling of the liquor. The campaign was held to bring light on the scene of illegal selling of distilled liquor that caused death of 172 people. All the victims consumed spurious liquor in South 24-Parganas.

The campaigned carried massive placards that read “Say no to poison liquor”. Some placards also had slogans and one liners as “Allow us to live a healthy life”, “Life is precious”. The campaign included- Human Rights activists, students and politicians that marched from College Square to Esplanade. Apart from the chief minister, some of her ministerial colleagues like Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee and Firhad Hakim also took part in the campaign against the Hooch incident.

Addressing the masses, the chief minister said that she will continue her campaign against illicit liquor that will be followed by raids and arrests of culprits until she is successful to curb the menace. By this campaign she is going to generate social awareness against drinking of illicit poison liquor.

The Election Commission will keep tab on social media content and the expenses

• The Election Commission of India has said that it will keep a watch on all the ongoing malicious poll content and expenditure on that are done and incurred Facebook following complaints from Punjab province that the political leaders from various parties are their election mission by making use of the many social networking sites.

The Chief of the election commissioner SY Quraishi told a news paper that-”he and his team members have no problems with social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook as long as the content posted on these site is neither malicious nor violates any code of conduct in any way.” He further said that if the political leaders are asking for votes online and wants to reach the young generation for votes then he does not have any problem with it as the sites are just forms of another media. He said that all we are concerned about are the expenses that will be involved while monitoring candidates who use social networking sites and other forms of media. Though there is no policy for monitoring this so far but the commission will find out a remedy to solve the problem.

Court tells the social websites to take off offensive content.

• Just as the controversy created by IT minister Kapil Sibal for urging social networking websites to censor or remove off the offensive content from their pages in another fresh move a trial court has directed several social websites that includes Facebook, Google, Orkut and Youtube, to censor contents like “anti-religious contents” or “anti-social content ” that promotes hatred or communal disharmony in the society.

The trail courts administrative civil judge Mukesh Kumar has clearly directed all the social networking sites to remove all the objectionable content that is present in the form of photos or videos or text which can posses power to hurt religious sentiments. The order came after a civil suit was filed by Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi who even submitted some printouts showing malicious contents as a proof.

Current Affairs[November 2011]

Parliament adjourned yet again

• After few minutes proceeding, the opposition and some other parties began their protest against the FDI in retail and firmly demanded that the center takes backs its decision. This chaos and shouting of slogans against the government continued for the next 7 days of the winter session of parliament.

Apart from demanding rolling back of FDI’s decision other concerns were also being taken into account like demand for separate state of Telangana etc.

Partis like shiv sena and CPI-M stormed a lot leading the speaker Meera Kumar to adjourn the house session. Similar kinds of scenes were seen in Rajya Sabha with the only difference that the protest began much earlier even before the chairman came.

All the protesting parties have said that they are protesting against the FDI decision because this will affect the livelihood of the common man which includes farmers and traders.

Kingfisher experiences a tumultuous week

• The Kingfisher airlines experienced major lows which started on Monday. News are rife that Kingfisher’s flight will continue to be cancelled till Dec 15. This is being done as the airline is experiencing major financial problems.

Following the next day it was reported that the loss had doubled and reached to Rs 469 crore. Following the news of loss the chairman of the airlines Vijay Mallya began his work to control damage. He held up a press conference in Mumbai and reassured its investor about the proper functioning of the airlines as soon as possible.

Further Mallya said that following the crunch this was not possible to allow flights and that he wasn’t looking for any sort of bailout from the government side and that he has cancelled only those flights that were making losses.

CBI collects samples for Bhanwari Devi case

• The CBI has started collecting samples in the Bhanwari devi case who went missing on September 1. The CBI suspects that Bhanwari devi had been killed in a limekiln and that they are collecting samples from the factory. The CBI has also recovered the vehical that was used in the crime and has been sent for scientific examination.

One of the officials said that they have collected samples from the limekiln s around Jodhpur as they suspect that they might contain biological samples of the deceased.

From the seized jeep the crime branch has collected hair strands, a jewelery item that belongs to bhanwari devi, pair of shoes and small and torn pieces of clothes. The crime branch during its investigation has also recorded statement of workers at the limekiln.

As part of the forensic process the crime branch has also began to collect biological samples of the victims family.

Anna and team ready for another face-off with the government

• Anna and his team are getting ready to face off the government another time following the conflicts regarding the draft report of the parliaments standing committee on the issue of Lokpal Bill. The conflicts aroused after the draft proposed by the standing committee does not included some key points that Anna and his team had demanded earlier.

Anna in an interview to the media personnel said that the government has once again betrayed the common man and he will again fast for a day long on Dec 11 against the government’s proposed bill and if demands are not met then this fast can continue . Team Anna slammed the report as inadequate and just a joke as the report excluded the lower bureaucracy and citizens’ from the charter.

India to host new world Buddhist body

• In a bid to provide a platform to the Buddhist communities all over he world the first Global Buddhist Congregation has decided to set up a Buddhist world body in India. This was another creater of row between India and Chinese ties.The decision to make an organization will help to serve as a single and common platform for Buddhists all over the world was the main highlight of the meeting. And this decision was made after 4 day meeting of heads and Buddhists federation and sanghas as well as institutions from 46 countries.

The meeting highlighted the point that they need to develop a common platform that will help the Buddhist community to raise their voice untidily and to united response from all of the Buddhist tradition.

Kanimozhi leaves jail and welcomed by people at home

• There were slogans of welcome as soon as she arrived at her house.

A lot people had gathered to welcome her so much so that every one wanted to escort her to her house on 6th floor and they all went into the lift along with the lady which lead to overloading of the lift so that some MP’s had to come out in order to allow the lift to move.

Dressed in a pink salwar-kameez kanimozhi spent her first night at her house after spending days in the tihar jail. She was arrested by the CBI on May 20th after her involvement in the telecom scam.

She even filed many bail petitions earlier but all in vain and finally she was granted bail from the jail. Though she returned to her house but her real homecoming is waiting in her hometown Chennai where her politician father M. Karunanidhi is waiting for the returned of her beloved daughter.

M.K Stalin says that he’s being framed into a false case

• Stating that a false case has been made against him, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and M. Karunanidhi’s son MK Stalin stated that he will abide by the law and since he’s innocent he will get justice and will face the interrogation and the false case registered against him boldly.

The Tamil Nadu State Police has already registered a case against Stalin. The case also includes five other peoples that includes Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi in case of forcing a businessman to sell his property to them.

Talking to the media people Stalin said that the case had been filed by his arch rivals Tamil Nadu Chief Minster J. Jayalalitha in order to divert attention from the disproportionate asset cases that are filed in Bangalore.

In his statement to the reporters Stalin said that this was an attempt to malign his image and to divert the attention from the Bangalore cases against Jayalalitha. They were unable to stop the investigation against themselves so they have filed a false case against me”.

He further said that -”This is just a stupid attempt to divert the attention from the Bangalore cases. False cases have been framed against me and my son and all this I had expected this much earlier but it has come so late so I m not bothered by these things at all. My faith lies in justices being served to me.

Current Affairs [October 2011]

Doordarshan senior correspondent honoured

• Emani Krishna Rao, Doordarshan Kendra Hyderabad Senior news correspondent honoured by the coveted “Japan prize 2011” at the Tokyo city . The senior news correspondent Mr Rao won the prize in the proposal category and for the entry regarding the right to education and environment protection. Further he won 3000$ as a citation amount and an offer to make a programme on the theme proposed by Mr. Rao. This is the 6th major international ward for Mr. Krishna Rao, who had earlier won prestigious awards like DD national awards four times.

Violent attack on lawyer Prashant bhushan

• Senior lawyer and prominent team member of Anna Hazare was attacked and beaten up by three youths. He was attacked while he was working in his Supreme Court chamber. After the attack he said that the attack on him was carried out by right wing outfit of Sri Ram Sene. Following the attacks the police nabbed one of the attackers. As said by the reports three youths stormed into his chambers and one of them identified as Inder Verma attacked him. After hearing the screams the attackers were overpowered by other lawyers and other in the room. Upon questioning it was found that attacks on him were made following his recent comments on Kashmir. Verma was arrested by the police and the other two accused Vishnu Gupta and Tejender Pal are absconding. A visibly shaken bhushan said that the attackers were from the right wing outfit led by Sri Ram Sene. And that he has loged a complaint against him and the attackers.

A new doomsday on the calendar

• Another radio preacher has predicted that the world’s doomsday is on May 21. And then he said that he stands by his earlier prediction that the Judgement day is on Oct 21. Initially he predicted that there will be hourly earthquakes and that the God’s judgement on the month of May will continue by torments for those who will survive the God’s wrath. He used codes extract from the Holy book Bible and set the world’s end day. When nothing happened on May 21 the preacher on his blog said that on May 21 , instead of ending the earth , god just shook us with fear that more dangerous is about to come. And that god will no longer continue to save souls on earth.

Malayalam Novelist George Varghese Kakkanadan passed away in Kollam

• Famous Malayalam novelist George Varghese Kakkanadan passed away in Kollam. He was one the pioneers of modern Malayalam literature who breathed his last on 19 October. He wrote a number of famous short stories and modernised the Malayalam novel. He was born on April 23, 1935 at Thiruvalla and started his career as a school teacher and later resigned to join the Indian Railways. Kakkanadan was rebel, whose rebellious personality reflected in most of his works. Every part of his writing depicted his rebellious nature against the social codes etc.

Current Affairs [September 2011]

Justice Corner between India and UK

• The Union Minister of Law & Justice of India, Shri Salman Khurshid, and the Minister of Law & Justice of United Kingdom along with Mr. Kenneth Harry Clarke, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice for the United Kingdom arranged a convention in late September for the advanced reinforcing of the cordial relationships among the two nations concerning the field of law. The Minister from the United Kingdom was joined by some of the Federal Level Delgates, which included:
1. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Khurshid, Mr. Suma Chakrabarty;
2. Member of the Special Advisory Panel to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Ms. Kathryn Laing;
3. The President of the Law Society of England and Wales, Mr. John Wooton;
4. The next delegate was the QC of the UK Bar Counci, Mr. Khawar Qureshi;
5. Finally, it was UK High Commissioner to India, Mr. Richard Stagg.

The Indian Contingency that was headed by Mr. Salman Khurshid included:

6. The Secretary of the Legislative Department, Shri D.R. Meena;
7. Plus, Secretary of Justice, Shri V.K.Bhasin;

The meeting also featured Mrs. Neela Gangadharan along with the Chairman of Bar Council of India and Shri Ashok Parija was also in attendance at the meeting between the two nations. Previously, the Honorable Law Minister of India, Shri Salman Khurshid and his British counterpart Mr. Kenneth Harry Clarke inducted a colloquium on ‘UK-India Co-operation on Emerging Legal Sector Issues’.

Sikkim rattled by Earthquake; INR 1000 cr. for relief

• Dr. Manmohan Singh paid a visit to Gangtok that was rattled by an Earthquake. He made an airborne study of the areas that were hugely affected by the quake all through the state. The Prime Minister surveyed all the affected areas, such as Mangan, Chungthang, Lachen and Lachung and also visited to see the casualties in a Govt. Hospital of the capital. He was explained about the loss of human life as well as property. Plus, the relief and rehabilitation attempts were studied at a meeting that saw the Governor Mr. B.P Singh, Chief Minister Mr. Chamling and other top ministers. Dr. Manmohan Singh later expressed his grief and said that he was extremely distraught at the terrible loss of lives, the injuries and the broad harm that was resulted by these tremors. He further stated that a central team of experts will turn up in Gangtok in seven days’ time to identify suitable designs for damaged residents meant to be rebuilt. He also stated that all these constructions will be backed wholly by the Central government and from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (this lone relief fund is estimated to be worth INR 1000 cr.).

Sonia Gandhi receives Telangana Report

• Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Union Health Minsiter recently met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and is believed to have presented details on his discussions with party lawmakers from Andhra Pradesh on the Telangana subject, in the midst of rising difficulty for an “early resolution” on the statehood demand. Ghulam Nabi Azad who is also the general secretary, responsible of party affairs in the state, is supposed to have explained Sonia Gandhi regarding the situation in Telangana area at the back of the two week long strike in support of the making of a different state in the meeting. Sonia Gandhi and Azad have met for the first time on the Telangana subject since the former returned from the United States. Azad, who had intermingled with party officials, MPs, MLAs and MLCs from each of the three regions of the state on the controversial statehood demand, had said he would present the details soon. Azad was asked by Sonia Gandhi back in July to hold discussions with leaders from Telangana, Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra areas on the subject and draw out their demands. Azad has been getting entrustments of ministers, MPs and MLAs from each of the three regions since then and completed the process.

Malik talks about military re-kindling on Aflaz Guru

• Chairman of the freedom-supportive Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Muhammad Yasin Malik, cautioned against another protracted period of agitation in the valley if local sensitivities are ignored if Afzal Guru, the mastermind behind the Parliament Attacks of 2001 is hanged. Addressing a media conference in the valley, Yasin Malik stated that the people of Kashmir have knowingly and cooperatively adopted more non-violent measures then they were earlier. There has been a cooperative change from violence to non-violence. ‘I request each and every political shade of India not to compel Kashmiris into a new protracted period of agitation by hanging Afzal Guru. This is not needed unless you need a change back from non-violence to violence in Kashmir,’ he presaged. He advises to learn from what happened in the past. ‘When Maqbool Bhat was sentenced, every home in Kashmir has Maqbool Bhat born. Don’t overlook this past veracity,’ the chairman added. Yasin Malik also declared a series of protests for Afzal Guru’s forgiveness and also in opposition to the ‘hypocrisy’ of the conventional political parties on the decree. A large number of Malik’s supporters were taken into detention by police who interfered to bring back order in the area.

CBI gives P. Chidambaram a clean chit

• In late September, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has given the Home Minister, P. Chidambaram a clean chit. The CBI robustly advocated P. Chidambaram in the legal proceedings of the Supreme Court, asserting he could not be blamed of not taking any actions to avert the 2G spectrum distribution scam or revoke licenses when he was leading the charge of the Finance Ministry. Revoking of licenses, being a chief policy decision, could have been done only by the government and not by a single person, Mr. Chidambaram in this case. Mr. Venugopal alleged that former Telecom Minister A. Raja jumped the gun and issued Letters of Intent to telecom companies on January 10, 2008. P. Chidambaram, the then Finance Minister would have not been able to revoke the licenses all by himself since the matter happens to be a key policy subject of the Union Government. “It is not a simple matter to come to a decision when proceedings were a part of it as well as a result of cancellation and you cannot put together criminality against the then Finance Minister,” Venugopal added.

Current Affairs [August 2011]

Anna Hazare Arrested Congress messed it up

• The storm about the arrest of Anna Hazare and his team (virtually the whole nation) has just put Congress in a bit of mess then even they would have imagined at first. Anna and his followers not just maintained that their outlooks be taken on in the panel when drafting the Lokpal Bill, but exacted that only and only their version of the Bill be agreed too and, as a matter of fact, discussed in Parliament by the government. Interestingly, government cannot agree to these kinds of dictates from anybody in a parliamentary democratic system. Rather than letting off such a great deal of steam on their appeals that the government forwards their edition of the Bill in Parliament, Team Anna can simply have got any one of the 545 members of the Lok Sabha to bring in the asked for Jan Lokpal Bill. Definitely, the extremely disconcerted Opposition political parties can leap forward even at this time and forward the Team Anna edition of the Bill in the house.

Anna leaves hospital and heads to village

• Social activist Anna Hazare head to his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra subsequent to his release from Medanta Medicity Hospital in Gurgaon after development in his state, a supporter alleged. Hazare was taken to the Hospital in uptown Gurgaon Sunday after he finished his 288-hour fast embarked upon since August 16. “He will go to Pune and will consequently head to his village”, revealed a member of the TEAM ANNA. Hazare was released Wednesday once his fundamental factors were seen to be steady. As per Yatin Mehta, a part of the doctor’s team observing Anna at the hospital, the revolutionary was in ‘excellent state’ and ‘healthy’. Previously in the day, Anna had consumed soft solid foodstuffs such as rice, dal and idli. ‘Following the success of his 12-day fast, Hazare’s physical condition exhibited lot of development. His blood pressure is 141/90, which is standard,’ Mehta understood.

Sheila Dikshit defers CAG report discussion

• Sheila Dikshit, Delhi Chief Minister on Tuesday alleged that the government cannot remark on the CAG details pending parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) presents its proposals. On the succeeding day of the assembly’s yearly monsoon session, which observed tumult by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs over the CAG and V.K. Shunglu Committee details on the CWG, the CM stated: ‘I have told about it on numerous occasions that we cannot talk about the CAG report as it is in possession of the PAC, which is a legitimate fraction of parliament. We are subjected to get going against anybody when the PAC directs so.’ Initiating a mocking assault on the BJP, Dikshit further said that the chief opposition party in the parliament has been fooling people by initiating a scuttlebutt as it is in front of a lot of annoyance because of repeated routs in the last three assembly and two Lok Sabha elections in the capital

Rajya Sabha suspended over Gujarat Lokayukta row

• The Rajya Sabha was suspended for a short time Tuesday subsequent to raucous scenes over Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley posing the subject of selection of Lokayukta in Gujarat by the governor ‘with no meeting with the state government’. Quickly subsequent to Jaitley lifted the subject; Chairman Hamid Ansari took attention to meetings and regulations of the house on discussing subjects about people running in high offices. Jaitley said that there were examples when even reminder to Governor had been conferred in Parliament. BJP members stood up from their chairs to back Jaitley, which translated to raucous scenes during the sessions due to which the house was suspended for ten minutes.

Cities to continue living with menacing security arrangements

• Security in Indian cities is miserable. And the expectations are worse than thought as the condition will simply get worse in time coming up. This threatening note of concern was clouted here today by Mr. G. K. Pillai, ex-Union Home Secretary, at the FICCI convention on S&T for Homeland Security-2011: ‘Safe and Secure City’. Mr. Pillai alleged that with the nation going through a high growth rate of 8 per cent, hopes of the citizens are increasing and loads of them are swarming into cities, raising the already augmenting crime rate due to the lack of work prospects. In the capital, for example, 82 per cent of crime is committed by first timers, that also by adolescents between the age of 16 and 26 years old. Novel kinds of criminal actions are growing for example cyber crimes, hacking, burglaries, snatchings, while rape, murder and car thefts are the ones most in trend. Mr. Pillai warned against radicalization of adolescence as this would develop them into anti-social activists and destroy their lives. He cautioned against ghettoisation of cities as well that originates of the practice of not giving homes on lease to someone of a certain community/religion/caste by some other community/religion/caste community.

Current Affairs [July 2011]

Introduction of LokPal bill in Lok Sabha

• The much awaited Lok Pal bill will be introduced in Lok Sabha. The green signal was given by the government to Speaker Meira Kumar to allow the two day period needed to present the bill.The Minister of State Personnel Mr. V Narayaswamy gave the notice to Meira Kumar regarding the matter of Lok Pal bill. Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal said that all the parties were in favour of introducing the bill at the earliest. The copies of the bill have been distributed to all the parties. The bill has been finalised by the government after a number of meetings during the last month.
• The government has kept out Prime Minister and other higher judiciary from the ambit of the bill. This decision has been strongly opposed by the all the activists of the bill. The BJP has demanded that the bill should include the Prime Minister into the bill. Regarding the matter the government has said that the prime minister will be questioned if necessary but only when he has stopped working and this can be done only in a limited amount of time i.e. 7yrs at most. Anna Hazare has again threatened to go on hunger strike again if the government does not introduced a lok pal bill that handles every aspect of corruption and if the government fails to do so then he will go on strike on Aug 16.

NDA blamed for Kalmadi’s appointment

• The government has blamed NDA for the appointment of Kalmadi as the main organizer of the CWG 2010event. Sports minister Mr Ajay Maken said in the lok sabha that the NDA government begun the process in 2003, that led to the appointment of Suresh Kalmadi as the chairman of the CWG committee. The statement has been made taking in view the leaked report which balmed the Prime minister’s office for overlooking the objections made against kalmadi’s appointment. Suresh Kalmadi is in jail now facing charges of corruption on large scale against him.

17 people die as lightning strikes parts of Orissa

• Around 17 people have died during the lighting in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. The people who died included 6 women. The lighting struck parts of Orissa with the coastal region accounting around 4 casualties. Most of the deaths occurred on Monday Aug 2, and other deaths were reported from places like Angul, Balasore,Deogarh, Sundergarh etc.
• The state government has announced a compensation of Rs50,000 each from the Chief minister’s relief fund. The money will be given to the family of those people who died because of lighting strike.

Congress flayed by BJP over Gurgaon Land deal

• The BJP asked the government about its action reaction the gurgaon land deal. The BJP asked whether the government will take it’s stand in the similar way like that of the Bhatta-Parsaul in the Uttar Pradesh. BJP leader Arun Jaitley said that the government unlawfully took the land from the poor farmers, due to which farmers are now suffering. The collective loand of the farmers was taken unlawfully and then it was given to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable trust , quoted Arun Jaitely.
• The Punjab and Haryana High court scolded the government for flouting the rules of land acquisition. The Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust was set up by Sonia Gandhi in 2002 in order to address the concerns that Rajiv Gandhi had in his heart. Jaitely refrained from disclosing the names of the people involved in the scam. He said that he will not take any names, but the government should only answer and tell the names of all those people who benefitted from the deal. Meanwhile Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has been continuously holding meetings against illegal land acquisition, he even flagged some rallies against the same matter. Regarding the matter the Congress has said that now the matter rests between the Haryana government and the High Court.

Famous artist M.F Hussain passes away

• India’s famous artist M.F.Hussain passed away in London on July 03. M.F. Hussain took Indian art to the global stage but not without controversies. The eccentric painter who lived barefoot died at the Brompton and Harfield NHS foundation in London after months of prolonged illness. Born in Maharashtra Hussain began his career as a painter by painting film posters. He was popularly known as Picasso of India and was once a member of Rajya Sabha. He has been awarded the nation’s 2nd highest Padma Vibhushan.
• The Picasso of India courted controversy after he showed hindu deities in nude in his paintings, and from then he was being considered as an anti-Hindu. After getting death threats in India he imposed exile on himself from the year 2006. Later in the year 2010 he accepted the citizenship of Qatar that was offered to him. The painter courted another biggest controversy by portraying “mother India” as a naked woman. His paintings have often courted controversies and wrath of people as his work often depicted gods and goddesses in nude form. He was a great fan of Madhuri Dixit such that he made a film with her called Gaja Gamini.

Current Affairs [June 2011]

MPLAD Guidelines Changed; Easy to Implement

• The Central Government, after a decade, is escalating the yearly distribution of MPLAD finances as of Rs.2 crore to Rs.5 crore for each MP. Dr. M.S.Gill, the Minister of Statistics & Programme Implementation is confident that the advantages of the plan must get to to the people at the very basic level and the plan must as well throw in towards promoting public honor and accord. So as to guarantee that the MPLAD finances can be used up sensibly, quickly, successfully and productively all through the nation, the guidelines are currently expanding their scope, being made precise and simple and effortlessly implementable. To offer MPs a more extensive range of projects that cover MPLAD finance, the silos of entitled things within the system are being distended.
• The Government has lately permitted expenditure of MPLAD finance in supporting physically challenged people and it has received large admiration. The Government following comprehensive talk and meeting, has determined to make huge changes in the entire system of MPLAD.

ECI witnesses the launch of IIDEM.

• The ECI (Election Commission of India) commenced the IIDEM (India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management) – a higher center of learning, study, guidance and addition so as to involve people in democratic practice and election organization. The primary time of this leading institute was inaugurated together at the Commission location by Dr. S. Y. Quraishi, Chief Election Commissioner of India in New Delhi and Mr. Ken Nyaundi, Election Commissioner from Kenya.
• Two more Election Commissioners Shri H. S. Brahma and Shri V.S. Sampath, were in attendance too. Higher Officials of the Commission and officials from South Africa and Commonwealth Secretariat were present the gathering. The initial course of IIDEM will be starter later on in July for the Electoral Commission of Kenya. IIDEM has four sections. These four parts are: Voter Education and Civic Participation, Research, Innovation and Documentation, Training and Capacity, and International Projects and Technical Collaboration Development. The Institute will be a countrywide and global center for exchange of nice followings in organizing of election.

Reliance getting into the Scam Trend: 

• The investigated reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India that tacks the involvement among Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Government agencies heading towards enormous losses to the Government exchequer is however a new instance of the influence of corporate over the UPA Government to undermine official procedures that suit them in all possible ways.
• The body has realized that the earlier DGH (Director-General of Hydrocarbons) allowed Reliance to pump up its expansion overheads on the gas mining in the D6 block of KG basin to a massive 8.84 billion dollars from 2.47 billion dollars. This money in use by RIL influenced the proceeds of the Government. Government is supposed to act against the previous DGH with immediate effect.

2G scams unfold; Dayanidhi Maran steps down

• Dayanidhi Maran has resigened all thanks to the extensive probing by the CBI and the Government can now pat their backs. The investigation pointed to his part in compelling C Sivasankaran to sell his share in a leading Telecom company, Aircel by denying to award any fresh licenses on condition that Sivasankaran was the principal stake holder—it should have been a lot more than a twist of fate that a group firm of the new holder endowed in Maran’s brother’s enterprise hardly any months following it received licenses from Maran.
• As Maran resigned the day following the CBI achievement, the government cannot be blamed of favoring him similar to that of the main villain, A Raja. Dayanidhi Maran’s was a varied term, the understandable low downs being the Aircel incident, in the offing with a fresh policy that permitted conceding of fresh licenses 4 years ago at prices of 10 years back (Maran was the real mastermind, Raja just built-up on what he established) and bullying the Tatas in their business in the telecom industry following a TataSky row with his brother’s Sun TV (Maran’s ministry collapsed as TDSAT thickened the plot). The merrier times counted for increasing FDI limits to 74% accordingly of which Vodafone emerged into the scene, and actually opening up the sector that involved huge distance by shelling out soaring fees.

Current Affairs [May 2011]

After Anna Hazare now it’s Baba Ramdev to fast

• After Anna Hazare, now it’s Baba Ramdev to follow up his footstep and to fast on Saturday, 08th may 2011 against the black money hoarding and corruption. More than 10 million people including civil rights activists are supposed to join baba in his fight against corruption. Baba Ramdev has decided to hunger strike demanding the government of India to take stern actions against black money hoarded abroad and to curb corruption. In his fasting decision, even Anna Hazare (who even fasted before for the Lokpal bill promotion) has extended his support for Baba Ramdev.
• Many government officials have tried negotiating with Baba Ramdev against his decision to fast. But it said that only next level talks with the government supreme can reach up to any conclusion. Ministers like A.K Antony, Pranab Mukharjee have met with P.M Monmohan Singh along with congress head Sonia Gandhi to discuss the matter. It’s still a big question for the government about how they will be stopping Baba Ramdev from fasting unlike their stint with Anna Hazare who fasted for the same issue.

Tanzania and India signed an agreement for double taxation avoidance.

• The Indian government signed on the double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with the United Republic of Tanzania. This agreement is meant for the prevention of fiscal evasion related to taxes on income to be payed. The agreement was signed on May 27th 2011 at Dar –es-Salaam. Shri K V Bhagirath, High Commissioner of India and Mr Pereira Ame Silima, Deputy Finance Minister of the Republic of Tanzania both are going to sign on the DTAA agreement on behalf of their respective countries.
• The DTAA states that all the business profits will be taxable in the state if the activities constitutes for a permanent establishment in the respective state. This agreement will in providing stability of taxes between India and Tanzania. And this will help in increment of mutual economic cooperation between the two countries.

History made- Mamata Banerjee sworn in as west Bengals 1st women C.M

• Mamata Banerjee on Friday was sworn in as the 1st women Chief Minister of West Bengal. She was made head by the joint alliance of Trinamool and Congress party. Mamata Banerjee took the oath in Bengali, which was administered by Governor Mr M K Narayanan in Raj Bhavan. The council under Mamata Banerjee’s ministry consist of 43 members out of which 36 are from Trinamool congress while the rest are from Congress party. The list of members includes Amit Mitra, Manish Gupta, Abdul Karim Chowdhury, Partha Chatterjee, Upen Biswas, Subrata Mukherjee, Sabitri Mitra, Sandhan Pandey, Noore Alam Chowdhary, Bratya Basu and Madan Mitra.

India and US to discuss Homeland security

• India and US will resume their homeland security talks on may 8th 2011. The delegation from the Indian side will be headed by Union home Minister P. Chidambaram and that from the US will be headed by the Secretary of Homeland Security Department, Ms Janet Napolitano. The main topic on interest that will be discussed comprise of coastal security, curbing illegal financing, counter terrorism, mutual investigation that includes Mumbai terror attacks etc.

Current Affairs [April 2011]

Anna Hazares fast against corruption

• Social Activist Anna Hazare started a fast unto death on 5/4/2011 demanding enactment of a comprehensive law like the Jan Lokpal Bill to tackle corruption. Just a couple of days since the nation was recovering from the euphoria of winning the world cup the 72 year old Anna Hazare began his fast at Jantar Mantar after taking out a march from Rajghat where he paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. Other eminent activists like Swami Agnivesh, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Sandeep Pandey were also present to lend support. The fast soon gathered a lot of momentum through continuous coverage and brought the government under a lot of pressure. The movement soon spread to all parts of India where hundreds and thousands of students, housewives, working executives and senior citizens joined the campaign to make the government to enact the important new law to fight corruption. Facing intense pressure, the Government, finally agreed to forming a joint committee to draft a stronger Lokpal Bill. The panel will have five members and five representatives of the civil society. It includes Anna Hazare himself, but not as a chairman, lawyers Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan, anti-corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal and former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde. While Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be the Chairman of the committee that will also include Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid as members.

Gopal Das returns from Pak after 27 yrs

• Indian National Gopal Das set foot on Indian soil on 7/4/2011 after spending 27 years in a Pakistan prison when he was convicted for charges of espionage. The 52 year old Das was set free from Lahore Jail after Pakistani President remitted his sentence following an appeal by the Supreme Court on humanitarian grounds. As soon as he set foot in India an emotional Das bowed down and kissed the soil. He was greeted by his family members including his brother Anand Vir, two sisters and niece Navjot besides, a dozen people from Bhaini Mian Khan village of Gurdaspur district of Punjab were there to receive him. When speaking to the media Das lamented that the golden period of his youth were spent behind bars in Pakistan. He said “I have a grudge against the Indian leadership who has never bothered about Indian prisoners rotting in prisons in Pakistan for so many years. Thirty-two Indian nationals, who have completed their jail term, are still languishing due to lack of initiative on the part of the Indian government,”

Good voter turnout in Assembly Elections For Assam, TN, Kerala and Puducherry

• The Election Commission had announced the election dates for four states on 1/2/2011 – Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry. The assembly elections so far have witnessed a good voter turn out in 2011. Assam witnessed a good voter turn out in both phases which were held on the 4th and 11th of April 2011 respectively. In the first phase the state witnessed a 73.03 per cent voter turnout and in the second phase the turnout was 70.35 per cent. An average of nearly 78 per cent voters exercised their franchise to elect new assemblies in the key southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the Union territory of Puducherry on 13/4/2011. While Tamil Nadu and Kerala registered a turnout of 75.21 per cent and 74.4 per cent respectively, in Puducherry it was the highest at 85.21 per cent, Deputy Election Commissioner J. P. Prakash told reporters in Delhi. Meanwhile the election process is currently underway in West Bengal where it is being held in 6 phases, the last date being May 10th. Counting will be on 13/5/2011 for all states.

Supreme Court grants bail to Dr Binayak Sen

• The Supreme Court on 15/4/2011 granted bail to Dr Binayak Sen who was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and having links with the Maoists by the Chhattisgarh sessions court on 24/12/2011. A bench comprising Justices HS Bedi and CK Prasad passed the order after Dr Sen filed a petition challenging the Chhattisgarh court order. The Apex court had declared that the evidence on record proved no sedition charge against Sen and at worst termed him a Naxal sympathizer. The court further observed that mere possession of Naxal Literature doe not make the person a Naxalite or guilty of sedition. Dr Sen was arrested in May 2007 when the government charged him with aiding the insurgents by passing notes between Piyush Guha, a businessman and jailed Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal. Dr Sen has maintained his innocence and denies any wrong doing rather said that he was being victimized for his criticism of Salwa Judum which was a group started by the state government to counter Maoist insurgents. He was released on bail in May 2009. Later a trial court convicted him of sedition and sentenced him to life imprisonment in 24/12/2010. Following that the High Court in Chhattisgarh rejected Dr. Sen’s bail application in 10/2/ 2011 which he appealed against and was finally granted bail by the Supreme Court.

Rajdhani Express catches fire, passengers safe

• A fire broke out in the pantry car of the Mumbai – Delhi Rajdhani express on 18/4/2011 at early morning 2:20 AM. The fire spread to the near by coaches B5, B6 and B7 but an alert pantry staff ensured all the passengers were woken up on time and made to evacuate the train ensuring none of them were killed or injured in the process. They also delinked the affected coaches from the rest of the train thereby averting a major disaster. Railways gave Rs 10.6 lakh to 212 passengers (Rs 5,000 per passenger) as ex-gratia for the inconvenience and loss of baggage due to the fire in the 12951 Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani. The railways has rewarded the nine staffers of the IRCTC with Rs 3,000 as a “token gesture”, Sanjay Jain, Group General Manager of IRCTC said. There were a total of 30 pantry staffers in the train at that time.

Shiney Ahuja appeals against rape sentence 

• Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja who was earlier sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his maid has appealed to the Bombay High Court against his sentence on 19/4/2011. Earlier a fast track court on 30/3/2011 had convicted the actor even as the victim had turned hostile during the trial. The court had considered circumstantial evidence which includes – a DNA report which tested positive, torn hymen, blood marks on victim’s clothes, semen found on quilt and curtains and Shiney’s hand which bore scratch marks of the victim. Shiney on his part has stated in his appeal that he had been falsely implicated and that the lower court has erred in law while convicting him.

Kidnapped Mumbai boy Karnit Shah returns home

• Five year old Karnit Shah who was kidnapped from outside his home in suburban Kandivali, Mumbai was rescued by the Police from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh on 20/4/2011. Karnit had gone missing since 6/4/2011 when he was last seen playing at the premises of his building Pranik Gardens. Karnit’s family pulled out all stops to trace their little boy. His father Anand a stock broker and his mother Alpa turned to facebook and uploaded photos of their son along with mobile numbers hoping people may be able to help by offering some sort of information about their missing son. Various online communities sprang up as the appeal went viral. Thousands of people forwarded the boy’s photos while the Shah’s on their behalf also offered Rs Two lakh in compensation for any information that would assist in tracing their son. The incident became a nation wide flutter after it generated considerable press coverage as well. The police have arrested the main accused of the case, Sohan Singh, along with his alleged associates Sameer Khan, Sandeep Warige and Shankar Salve, where Singh ran a confectionery shop in Kandivali which is close to Karnit’s residence. The police said children in the neighbourhood had spoken of a “Sunny Uncle”, possibly in his 20s, who was spotted lately offering sweets to the children and his disappearance too had coincided with that of Karnit. After two weeks of relentless chase, the Mumbai police with the help of UP Special Task Force traced the boy to a hut in Handia, UP from where he was rescued.

Kalmadi arrested in CWG scam

• Congress MP Suresh Kalamadi was arrested on 25/4/2011 by the Central Buearau of Investigation (CBI) for irregularities in the CW games. The former Chairman of the CWG was arrested under the charges for 120 B and 420 (criminal conspiracy and cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. The CBI has charged him with criminal conspiracy to buy timing, scoring and result (TSR) system from a Swiss company at an inflated cost of Rs 141 crore which the agency has alleged had cost the government Rs 95 Crore extra. Two other senior officials of the Organizing Committee – Surjeet Lal and ASV Prasad – have also been arrested in the Time Scoring scam. The 66 year old Kalmadi a Lok Sabha MP for the Congress from Pune has been facing a lot of flak even before the start of the games for construction delays and gross misuse of funds. Some of Kalmadi’s aides already arrested include Sanjay Mohindroo, M Jayachandran, TS Darbai, Kalmadi’s personal assistant Shekhar Deorukhkar, Verma and Lalit Bhanot. Following his arrest he was suspended from the Congress party and soon enough it also brought a halt to his 15 year old reign as President of the Indian Olympic Committee (IOC). Veteran Sports Administrator VK Malhotra was unanimously named the acting President in his absence.

CBI names Kanimozhi coconspirator in 2G scam 

• The CBI on 25/4/2011 has filed a second charge sheet in the 2G spectrum case naming Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK Chief M Karunanidhi’s daughter M Kanimozhi as a co conspirator. She has been charged with section 7 and 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The sections deal with acceptance of alleged gratification. The four other who have been charge sheeted with her include Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa’s cousin Asif Balwa, Rajeev Agarwal — Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd and Karim Murani of Cineyug Films. However Dayalu Ammal wife of the Dr Karunanidhi has not been named in the chargesheet. Kanimozhi, Dayalu Ammal and Sharad Kumar of Kalaignar TV, have 20, 60 and 20% shares in the channel respectively. The CBI had already told the court earlier that Rs 200 Crores connected with the spectrum case allegedly was routed from Balwa’s Swan telecom to Kalaignar TV. Kanimozhi has been named co conspirator in the scam along with former telecom minister A. Raja who was arrested in February and still remains in prison. She has been asked to appear at a court in Delhi on 6/5/2011, which is dealing with the scam.

Dada Saheb Phalke award for K. Balachander 

• K. Balachander, one of India’s most acclaimed and influential filmmakers will receive the Daba Saheb Phalke award for 2010 in an announcement by the Information & Broadcasting ministry on 29/4/2011. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl, given for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. The prolific director who worked as a government servant in his early days was drawn to theatre where he began to write plays. Following this success a career in films soon beckoned him where he has made many classics that are well received and appreciated to this day. He was a bold director who always tried to explore new themes and many of his movies had strong female characters. Some of the director’s famous works in Tamil include Apoorva Raganagal, Thaneer Thanerr, Varumayin Niram Sigappu, Server Sundaram, Sinthu Bairavi etc while the hindi film Ek Duuje Ke Liye won him applause in the northern parts of the country as well. K. Balachander has spotted and groomed several artists in the industry the likes of which include Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan.

Spiritual Leader Sathya Sai Baba passes away

• Spiritual leader Sathya Baba passed away on 24/4/2011 at the Sathya Sai Hospital in Puttapathi, Andhra Pradesh due to cardio-respiratory failure. The 84 year old Godman was admitted in hospital for the past one month after complaining of breathing and heart problems. The doctors had described his condition as ‘very critical’ over the last three to four days when most of his major organs stopped responding to treatment. Upon hearing his death a pale of gloom had descended Puttaparthi and thousands of his followers could be seen mourning his demise. Spiritual guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba was buried on 27/4/2011 as hundreds of thousands of devotees flocked to pay their last respects at his temple in Puttaparthi. Queues stretched for kilometres through the town, which has shuttered its shops and businesses since last three days. He was buried with full state honours in the Sai Kulwanth hall from where he used to address all his devotees over the years. Sai Baba was born as Sathyanarayana Raju in a humble backward caste family on November 23, 1926. He emerged as one of the most popular godmen in India in modern times leaving behind an empire estimated from a conservative figure of Rs. 40,000 crore to a staggering Rs. 1.5 lakh crores raising questions over who will manage the Trust.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu dies in chopper crash 

• Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu was found dead in the remote and inaccessible Luguthang village, about 30 km from Tawang on 4/5/2011. The CM had gone missing on 30/4/2011 when on a flight from Tawang was found dead along with four others after their helicopter crashed in bad weather in the mountains regions. The helicopter’s wreckage was found at Lobotang which is situated near Jang water falls in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. The rescue operations were hampered due to bad weather. The other four members, who accompanied Khandu in the chopper, were – crew members Captain JS Babbar and Captain KS Malick, Khandu’s security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang legislator Tsewang Dhondup. This is the second death of a chief minister in two years after CM of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was killed in a helicopter crash in the Nallamalla ranges in the state in September 2009.

Air India pilots call off 10-day-long strike

• Air India pilots called off their 10-day-long strike and returned to work on 5/5/2011 night after the government agreed to reinstate the sacked and suspended pilots and look into their demands within a time-frame. The ten day strike has resulted in an estimated loss of over 150 crores inconveniencing thousands of passengers across the country. Civil Aviation ministry officials, the association president Captain A S Bhinder along with ICPA general secretary Rishabh Kapur said that the government has agreed to look into all the alleged irregularities. Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi the 3 member committee would give its report in the next few months. The strike by over 800 pilots on 27/4/2011 owing allegiance to the ICPA had resulted in the grounding of up to 90 per cent of the airline operations. The Delhi High Court had also slapped contempt notices on nine office bearers of the de-recognized ICPA for disobeying its order to call off the strike.

Arunima Sinha story, whose telling the truth ?

• National-level volleyball player Arunima Sinha alias Sonu, who lost her leg after being pushed out of a moving train on 11/4/2011 when she tried to fight an alleged robbery attempt. She lost her left leg after being pushed out of the Padmavat Express when three robbers tried to snatch her gold chain. Following her fall, one of Sinha’s legs had to be amputated below the knee. The other leg suffered multiple fractures as she was hit by a train passing on the adjacent track. She was later admitted in AIIMS when her leg developed an infection. Since then the 23 year old sportswoman has been out of danger and recuperating well. She was offered a paltry compensation of Rs 25,000 which she snubbed following which the railways offered a job to Arunima. The incident generated lot of press interest and many people including cricketers Yuvraj Harbhajan came forward with monetary help for the athlete. However over the Government Railway Police (GRP) probe the officials have found many loopholes in Sonu’s story. Some of which they allege that it might have been a suicide attempt and the passengers of train do not corroborate with her story. They also allege that location where Arunima was found does not corroborate with her version of the events. The sportswoman on her part has accused the officials of mentally harassing her and has refuted their charges.

Current Affairs [March 2011]

Godhra verdict: 11 get death, 20 get life term

• A Sessions Court in Ahmedabad awarded death sentence to 11 people and life term to twenty others on 1/3/2011. The sentence was pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge PR Patel who had earlier convicted them of criminal conspiracy in the Sabarmati Express train burning case on Feb 22nd.

The court had accepted the prosecution’s contention that there was a conspiracy behind the incident and convicted 31 under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) like 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B(criminal conspiracy).

They were convicted under IPC section 147, 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 323, 324,325,326 (causing hurt), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds), various sections of the Indian Railways Act, Prevention of Damages to Public Property Act and Bombay Police Act.

The court had acquitted 63 others out the total 94 for lack of evidence including the alleged mastermind Maulavi Hussain Umarji. Fifty nine Kar Sevaks traveling in the S6 coach of Sabarmati Express were burnt alive near the Godhra railway station on February 2002. This incident caused wide spread communal riots in the State of Gujarat that resulted in the deaths of over 100 people, most of them Muslims. Justice Patel termed the case as “rarest of rare” and the court has given the accused 90 days to appeal in the High court.

SC strikes down CVC PJ Thomas’ appointment

• The Supreme Court on 3/3/2011 struck down on the appointment of Chief Vigilance Commisioner PJ Thomas after a three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia delivered its verdict on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought his removal. The apex court has observed Thomas is a person who is tainted as he was an accused in the palmoline export scam. CVC PJ Thomas soon thereafter submitted his resignation. This has come about as big blow to the UPA government which is already facing several allegations of corruption. Furthermore Thomas is the country’s 14th CVC and was selected by a three member panel that included the PM and the Home Minister. The opposition BJP had been highly critical all along and following his resignation demanded even the PM to step down. The PM took responsibility for the incident and cited the reason as error in judgement. An IAS officer of 1973 batch of Kerala cadre, PJ Thomas is the eighth accused in the palmolien case. He served as food secretary in Kerala in the early 90’s during which time he had aggressively campaigned for the import of 1500 tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia. Reports later emerged that price paid for the oil- palmolein was unjustifiable high. He has since been fighting allegations of corruption, while the case is still pending in court.

Delhi court accepts CBI’s closure report against Quattrocchi

• A Delhi court on 4/3/2011 accepted CBI’s closure report seeking to drop all charges against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the two decade old Bofors case. The CBI was looking at closing all criminal cases against Italian businessman Quattrocchi, who is allegedly one of the recipients of kickbacks in the controversial Bofors gun deal of 1986 which ended up resulting in the fall of the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1989. Many influential figures were accused of receiving payoffs in the deal which involved the purchase of Bofors guns for the Indian army. The agency has been seeking withdrawal of the case against him as he has never appeared before any Indian court to face trial due to lack of evidence, even though a tax tribunal had ruled in Dec 2010 that illegal commissions were indeed paid in the deal. The agency had said that its plea to withdraw the case has been filed with bonafide intention as it has spent a huge amount of money on the investigation but has not been able to arrest the Italian businessman. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav observed: “At this moment we have to end the case therefore I allow the CBI plea to close the case. I think the CBI has moved this application to close this case after applying their minds, therefore there is no need of wasting public money in continuing the investigation.” Advocate Ajay Aggarwal, who objected to CBI’s application in the court, said he would challenge the order in the Delhi High Court.

Delhi University student Radhika Tanwar shot outside college

• Radhika Tanwar (21) a student of Ram Lal Anand College (Delhi University) was shot dead by an unidentified man on the Dhaula Kuan foot-over bridge near South Campus at around 10.30 AM on 8/3/2011. Radhika a second year BA student who lives with her family in Naraina locality of West Delhi was shot point blank by the assailant who fled the scene after shooting her in the stomach. Passersby took the girl in an autorickshaw to Safdurjung Hospital where she was declared brought dead. The incident has caused outrage in the Capital which has been witnessing increasing episodes of crimes against women, while the world was celebrating International Womens Day. The assailant has been identified as 25 yr old Ram Singh alias Vijay who hails from Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. He was caught a few days later and Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta said “Vijay suffers from psychopathic obsession. He used to follow women. He followed Radhika regularly. The immediate trigger was the snubbing of Radhika when he tried to speak to her”. The police also went on to add Vijay “nurtured deep grudge” against the victim after he got beaten up for harassing her and often told his friends that he would avenge the humiliation whenever he got the opportunity. On 11/3/2011 another student Monica Kirnapure was stabbed by four people in Nagpur while she was on her way to class from her hostel. The twenty two year old girl lay in her pool of blood for ten minutes, a knife sticking out of her back, asking for water. No help came about from the bystanders until Sumedh Wanjaari hired a rickshaw to take her to the hospital where she died en route.

SC dismisses Aruna Shanbaug’s euthanasia plea

• Aruna Shanbaug a former nurse at Mumbai’s KEM hospital has been in a vegetative state for the last 38 years after she was assaulted by a ward boy. A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra rejected on 7/3/2011 the euthanasia plea filed by Aruna’s friend Pinky Virani declaring ‘the petition stands cancelled’. They also added Pinky was not allowed to appeal for the mercy killing of Aruna as she was not the staff of KEM hospital. The bench in its 110-page judgement saw the nursing staff of KEM hospital who have been looking after Aruna for the past 38 years as the real next friend of Aruna and declared the patient didn’t have a single bed sore during the period. The apex court however allows passive euthanasia in appropriate cases which have been permitted by the concerned high courts. They also added there is no law in the country presently in the country on euthanasia and clarified unless the Parliament drafts a law, its stand on active and passive euthanasia will stay enforced. Aruna Shanabug was sexually assaulted on November 27 1973 by Sohanlal Walmiki who used a dog chain to subdue her which ended up cutting the oxygen supply to her brain damaging vital functions like sight, memory and normal movement.

Congress, DMK seat-sharing deadlock ends

• After lot of political drama the DMK and the Congress have come to a mutual seat sharing agreement ahead of the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections. The DMK party announced on 8/3/20011 that it will contest for 121 seats while the Congress will contest for 63 under the seat sharing deal for the April 13 Assembly polls. The Congress demand of 63 seats marks an increase of 15 seats in allocation of what they got during the 2006 Assembly elections. DMK chief Karunanidhi was initially ready to give 60 seats to the Congress but the Congress unrelenting demand on having 63 made him unhappy and he threatened to pull out his ministers from the government. The Congress refused to blink this time and after quite a few rounds of discussions the DMK finally relented to the Congress demands. The DMK has agreed to allocate 61 seats, up 1 seat from what they previously agreed and another two seats would be allocated to the Congress from the other allied parties of the DMK. Under the seat sharing formula, DMK will contest 121 seats, Congress 63, PMK 30, VCK 10, KMK 7, IUML 2 and MMK 1 for the 234-member assembly.

A.Raja’s close aide Sadiq Batcha found dead

• Sadiq Batcha, a close aide of former telecom minister A.Raja committed suicide and was found hanging at his residence in Chennai on 16/3/2011. Sadiq Batcha (37) who is the Managing Director of Greenhouse Promoters has been under the CBI scanner for his suspected involvement in the 2G spectrum case and was questioned by the agency on February 22nd. Green House Promoters, initially a nondescript company with an equity base of Rs.100,000 in 2004, is said to have grown to over Rs.600 crore revenue company within a very short time frame. Raja’s wife Parameshwari is said to have served as a director in the firm but quit during 2008. Batcha hails from Raja’s constituency Perambalur in Tamil Nadu and initially worked as a sari seller until his friendship with the former telecom minister happened in the early 1990’s.According to the post mortem reports the cause of death has been ascertained as asphyxia while the forensic reports are still awaited. This may come as blow to the CBI in their investigations into the 2G scam.

TN Polls: Parties promise freebies to woo voters

• Ahead of upcoming assembly polls, the political parties of Tamil Nadu have promised a host of freebies to woo the voting public. Top warring parties DMK and ADMK have taken the war of freebies to a new high. While DMK in their manifesto have announced 35 kg of free rice every month for below-poverty line families, AIADMK has promised 20 kg of free rice for all ration-card holders. The ruling DMK party has promised laptops to students in their first year of college while Jayalalitha’s ADMK party promises them one as early as eleventh standard. While the DMK plans to give women free mixes, grinders its rivals have promised additional fans along with mixies and grinders. Furthermore Jayalalitha in her bid to woo female voters has promised 4gms of gold for ‘Thali’ (mangalsutra) free of cost to poor, besides offering cable TV connections at subsidised rates. Some of the other freebies include four sets of uniform and footwear for students, a hike in scholarship upto Rs 5000 from class 10 onwards, women self help groups get Rs10Lakh with 25 % waiver, 20 litres of mineral water a day to Below Poverty Line families, six months’ maternity leave for women and Rs 12,000 as pregnancy allowance and a host of other promises were made. This does came as surprise since Jayalalitha was a staunch critic of populist measures when the DMK party which came in power in 2006, promised to offer free colour TV’s to the public and also kept up on its electoral promise. The partie’s efforts in trying to gain an upper hand over each other by making such steep electoral promises does raise a lot of concerns. It does make one wonder if the State Treasury would be left with any money if such populist measures are left unchecked.

WB polls: Cong, TMC reach seat-sharing deal

• The Congress and the Trinamool Congress reached a seat sharing agreement ahead of the West Bengal Assembly Polls. Mamta Banerjee of Trinamool has agreed to offer 65 seats after her rounds of discussion with the Congress party. She had earlier agreed to give 64 seats against Congress demand of 98. The alliance will fight against CPM led Left Front which has been in power for almost 35 years now.Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said “In West Bengal, Congress will contest 65 seats and TMC will contest 229. We will work in close cooperation to win the election to defeat the Left from the state.”West Bengal will be voting in 6 phases. The first phase voting is on April 18, second phase on April 23, third phase on April 27, fourth phase on May 3, fifth phase on May 7 and sixth phase is on May 10th.

Cash for votes scam creates uproar in Parliament

• With the revelations by Wikileaks about the Congress buying MPs to win the vote-of-confidence over the crucial Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008 came back to haunt party when a united opposition created an uproar in Parliament. On 17/3/2011 they were demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in view of the fresh charges that bribe was paid during the trust vote. The government on its part was dismissive questioning the credibility of the leaks. Also FM Pranab Mukherjee said “Each Lok Sabha is sovereign in its time. What happened in the 14th Lok Sabha cannot be decided in the 15th Lok Sabha…Government of the day is accountable to the 15th Lok Sabha and not to the 14th Lok Sabha. Whatever happened in the 14th Lok Sabha has come to an end with the end of the tenure”. On 23/3/2011 Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj made a stinging attack on the Prime Minister and said “It is the habit of the Prime Minister to blame others. If it is price rise then (Agriculture Minister) Sharad Pawar is responsible, if it is 2G then (former Telecom Minister) A Raja is responsible and if it is Commonwealth Games then Suresh Kalmadi is to blame.” The Wikileaks cable suggests that the Congress bought the support of MPs during a vote of confidence during the controversial nuclear deal in 2008. Three BJP MP’s walked into the Lok Sabha with Rs 3 crores in cash and claimed that they had been offered that money to vote for the nuclear deal and that they had planned a sting operation to prove it. Following that a Lok Sabha committee, headed by Congress MP KCS Deo, was set up to examine their allegations in which was found there was no evidence of the allegations made by the BJP MP’s.

Aarushi murder case: Talwars surrender passports

• Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, parents of murdered teen Aarushi Talwar have surrendered their passports to a local court following a direction by the Supreme Court which also stayed their trial in the Noida double murder case. On 19/3/2011 the SC had stayed the CBI court order summoning the Talwars to appear before it on 22/3/2011. The Allahabad High Court on 18/3/2011 dismissed the couples plea seeking quashing of criminal proceedings initiated by the lower court which not only refused the closure report filed by the CBI but also summoned the couple as accused in the case. The HC declared that it could not prohibit the magistrate from taking cognizance of a case if prima facie it appears that there is sufficient evidence against a person. Earlier the CBI had file a closure report pleading closure citing lack of incriminating evidence, however the CBI has pointed a needle of suspicion to the parents and as a result left the option of proceeding against the Talwars with the Trial Court. The couple had challenged the order of the Allahabad High Court which the Supreme Court stayed on 19/3/2011 but asked the Talwars to surrender their passports. Satish Tamta, the counsel for Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, submitted the passports in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate Puspendra Kumar Singh. Fourteen-year-old Aarushi was found murdered at her home in Noida on May 16, 2008. A day after, Hemraj’s body was found in the same building.

India revokes licenses of 14 ‘fake pilots’

• Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 23/3/2011 revoked a total of 14 commercial pilot licenses (CPL) which means it brings an end to the flying careers of the those accused of having submitted fake training records from Rajasthan State Flying School to procure their licenses. The discovery of frauds in the issuing of licenses is a worrying development to the safety of air travel for the passengers and the industry. The fake pilot scam began unraveling when female Captain Parminder Gulati landed her airliner on the nose instead of the rear wheels which set the alarms ringing across many quarters. DGCA, the airline regulator stepped in and discovered she had submitted forged mark sheets to procure her license. Since then more pilots have been caught guilty of the same crime. The DGCA admits there was a lapse, and now says as much as 4000 pilot licences are now under fresh scrutiny. On 26/3/2011 a DGCA official Pradeep Kumar(48), pilot Pradeep Tyagi(35) and two of his touts Lalit Jain (34) and Pankaj Jain (23) were arrested by the Delhi Police. Tyagi along with his touts used to forge mark sheets for the fake pilots for huge a fee and also bribed Pradeep Kumar of the DGCA for expediting those files. A person is eligible to fly a commercial aircraft only when he or she secures a CPL, which is given out after a person completes 200 hours of flying during the training.

Hasan Ali Remanded In Judicial Custody

• Hasan Ali is a Pune bases stud farm owner who has been accused of allegedly stashing away 8 billion dollars in Swiss banks. It is speculated that the major portion of the money in offshore accounts belong to some politicians and industrialists and that Ali acts as a conduit for them and allegedly facilitates transfer of black money from India on a commission basis. He has been under the radar of the Income Tax (IT) department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for a few years now while his premises were raided in 2007. According to Hasan Ali’s statements he is scrap dealer with an annual income of Rs 30 Lakh which does not tally with kind of lifestyle Ali is known for. He is known to throw lavish parties, has a penchant for race horses and own quite a few of them and also own an expensive fleet of cars. A little ironic for a man with humble beginnings, whose father worked as an excise officer. Hassan Ali has been declared the highest tax defaulter in the country with dues allegedly over Rs 70,000 crores. Ali was arrested by the ED on 7/3/2011 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. But a Mumbai Court on 11/3/2011 rejected ED’s plea for custodial interrogation of Hasan Ali on the grounds that the agency had not gathered sufficient evidence and Ali was released on bail. The Supreme Court on 17/3/2011 stayed the trial courts order, directed custodial interrogation of Hasan Ali to ED and was also critical of Mumbai Court Judge M L Tahaliyani’s order of granting bail to Ali, saying it was “deeply disturbed” as to the manner in which the trial court judge rejected the ED’s contention and had given a lengthy order for it. On 21/3/2011 the apex court extended his custody with the ED for an additional three days and when that duration came to a close a session’s court remanded Hasan Ali in judicial custody till April 8, 2011.

Wikileaks: ‘Hindutva an opportunistic issue for BJP’

• After the Congress it was the BJP’s turn to be hit by the Wikileaks phenomenon when a US diplomat reported in the cable that senior leader of BJP declared to him that Hindu Nationalism was an ‘opportunistic issue’ for the party. “Pressed on the question of Hindutva, Jaitley argued that Hindu nationalism ‘will always be a talking point’ for the BJP. However, he characterized this as an opportunistic issue,” a cable by Robert Blake, the Charge at the US Embassy, to his government, had said after a meeting with Jaitley on May 6, 2005. “Pressed on the question of Hindutva, Jaitley argued that Hindu nationalism ‘will always be a talking point’ for the BJP. However, he characterized this as an opportunistic issue,” a cable by Robert Blake, the Charge at the US Embassy, to his government, had said after a meeting with Jaitley on May 6, 2005. Jaitley a senior leader of the BJP and also leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha , whom the cable described as “one of several aspirants to direct the next generation of BJP leadership”, said in a statement that the word opportunistic in reference to Hindutva could be the “diplomat’s own usage”. He said the cable by the diplomat in 2005 makes a reference to his conversation with him. “The cable reflects my views on cross-border terrorism, illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and the unfair denial of US Visa to the Gujarat Chief Minister (Narendra Modi). “However, the use of the word “opportunistic” in reference to nationalism or Hindu nationalism is neither my view nor my language. It could be the diplomat’s own usage,” he said. Congress on its part was quick to give it back to the BJP. “Chickens are coming to roost, what goes out wrongly hits back like a boomerang. People living in glass houses are taught in this manner that they were to throw stones at others,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.

PM Manmohan Singh and PM Gilani of Pakistan engage in cricket diplomacy

• The relations between India and Pakistan had soured post Mumbai 26/11 blasts. With the ongoing world cup when India defeated Australia in the quarters it became apparent that it was to face off against Pakistan in the semifinal. The clash between the two countries generated tremendous hype in the media of both countries. The match even took on political turns when PM Manmohan Singh invited his counterpart Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari to the cricket match. The invite was accepted by the PM of Pakistan who then along with Dr Manmohan Singh reached the cricket venue on 30/3/2011 where they shook hands with players and also engaged in diplomatic talks which has now leased a fresh breath of air to the relations between the two countries. As per the joint statement released in the capital on 29/3/2011 the Pakistani delegation updated India on the ongoing trial and investigation and agreed to allow an Indian Commission to come to Pakistan to investigate 26/11 attacks. The Pak delegation assured that India’s National Investigative Agency (NIA) and Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) will cooperate in the 26/11 investigation. India on its part provided Pakistan information with regards to the Samjauta blast case and agreed that they would update them once the charge sheet was filed. According to the joint statement released in New Delhi on Tuesday, the Pakistani delegation updated India on the ongoing trial and investigation and agrees in principle to allow an Indian commission to investigate 26/11 attacks in Pakistan. The two countries have also agreed to hold home secretary-level talks bi-annually.

Census 2011: Indian population increased by 181 million

• India’s population has risen to 1.21 billion in the last ten years, which is an increase of 181 million according to the new census released on 31/3/2011. India’s population is now bigger than population of USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan and Bangladesh, says the Census report. On the positive side the overall population growth rate is 17.6 in 2011, significantly lower than 2001 when it was 21.15 per cent. Coming to the sex ration India has 623.7 million males and 586.5 million women. A matter of concern is that child sex ratio has slipped to its lowest since India’s independence. For every 1000 male infants, there are 914 girls. The most populous state of Indian continues to be Uttar Pradesh with 16.49 per cent share in the total population, followed by Maharashtra with 9.29 per cent, while, the least populous state is Sikkim with 0.05 per cent share in the total population. This is the 15th Census conducted since 1872. It was carried out in two phases, covering 640 districts and 5924 sub-districts.

Current Affairs [February 2011]

2G scam: Former Telecom Minister A.Raja sent to Tihar Jail

• Former Telecom Minister A Raja was sent to Tihar Jail in Jail in Delhi on Feb 17th in relation to the 2G scam. He will be in judicial custody for fourteen days until March 3rd. He was also earlier arrested by the CBI on 2nd Feb and was held in their custody in view of the evidence they had collected against him regarding his involvement in the 2G scam. A. Raja has been accused of issuing 2G licenses at throw away prices creating massive losses for the exchequer. According to the national auditor CAG, the 2G spectrum phone licenses were sold in 2008 for a fraction of their value and this has resulted in a notional loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crores. The 2 G scam has created major uproar in Parliament and has sent shock waves across the country.

ULFA, government begin Assam peace talks

• Leaders of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) met Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Feb 10 to signify the start of the much long-awaited peace talks aimed at ending 30 long years of insurgency in Assam. History was created when the eight member ULFA team headed by Arabinda Rajkhowa met Chidambaram at his North Block office for a first round of peace talks. This is a highly significant development considering ULFA has been trying since 1979 to carve out an independent homeland of Assam. While ULFA has not put up any demands or finalised any agenda for talks, the beginning of talks itself is being seen as a very positive step to restoring peace in the state.

PM announces JPC on 2G spectrum scam

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that his government would set up the Joint Pariamentry Committee (JPC) to investigate the 2G spectrum scam. The government finally agreeing to introduce the JPC does not come about as unexpected. With the opposition being absolutely unrelenting in their demands for the introduction of the probe, the Congress had to finally give in. The previous years winter session in parliament ended with only ten working hours on record. In order to ensure that the budget session does not get similarly affected, several meetings with the different political parties were set up and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tried to bring about a compromise, which in the end proved to be futile. In the Lok Sabha, on the first day of the budget session the PM said “On account of the controversy relating to allocation of 2G spectrum, the winter session of Parliament was lost. Our country can ill-afford this…in paralyzing Parliament, we all do disservice to those who have elected us.” Later on he also announced the introduction of the probe when he went on to add “It is in these special circumstances that our government agrees to a JPC…we are a functioning democracy and must try to resolve our difference is the spirit of collaboration not competition.”

Govt to release Rs. 150 coin soon

• With the Income Tax Department celebrating 150 years of taxation in the country the government will issue coins of Rs. 150 in denomination. The special coins which also includes Rs 5 denomination would be released by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee ahead of his budget speech. The Rs 150 coin is prepared from an alloy of copper, nickel, silver and zinc. ‘Sathyameva Jayathe’ and ‘India’ would be engraved on the front side of the coin while the back side will feature a portrait of portrait of ‘Chanakya and lotus with honeybee’. The Rs 5 coins will also be minted in a similar fashion. This is a special occasion with the IT department having completed 150 years of taxation from 1860 to 2010.

HC upholds Death Penalty for Kasab

• The Bombay High Court on Feb 21 confirmed the death penalty to 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab and termed the case being the rarest of rare and held that there was “no scope of reform” of the convict. This comes nine months after the lone 26/11 terrorist who was captured alive was ordered to be sent to the gallows by the trial court on May 6, 2010. Kasab, an LeT operative was captured alive at Girgaum Chowpatty in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 while none other operatives who has come with him were gunned down by the security forces at the terror sites. Justice Ranjana Desai told Kasab through video conferencing “Aapko saza-e-maut yeh adalat barkarar karti hai. Aap Supreme Court mein appeal zari kar sakte hain (Your death sentence is upheld. You can appeal before the Supreme Court,”

Godhra verdict: Ahmedabad court convicts 31, acquits 63

• A special court in Ahmedabad on February 22nd convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 including main accused Maulvi Umarji, in the 2002 Godhra train burning incident that left 59 people dead mostly Kar Sevaks who were returning from Ayodhya on the Sabarmati Express. This triggered the 2002 Gujarat communal riots which left over 1200 people dead mostly Muslims. The court was the first one to pronounce a judgment, among the nine trying the 2002 Gujarat riots cases. The court accepted the prosecution’s contention that there was a conspiracy behind the incident. Apart from the charges of murder, attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy, the accused were convicted under IPC sections 147, 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 323, 324, 325, 326 (causing hurt), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on religious grounds), various sections of the Indian Railways Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and Bombay Police Act.

Kidnapped Malkangiri Collector, junior engineer released

• Malkangiri District Collector RV Krishna and Junior Engineer Pabitra Majhi were finally released by the Maoists after being kept for a week in captivity. The two were abducted by the Maoists on Feb 16th and the Maoists in a letter to the government, listed 14 demands for the safe release of the two hostages. These included halting anti-Maoist operations by security forces, release of all political prisoners, scrapping of accords with MNCs for land transfer and projects, and compensation for the families of Maoist sympathizers killed in police custody. Dandapani Mohanty and academicians G. Haragopal and R. Someswar Rao were chosen as mediators and had discussions with the Maoists. The negotiators had made the government agree to 14 key demands including the release of Ganti Prsadam, Padma (wife of top Maoist Ram Krishna), and Sriramulu Srinivas, another top Maoist. After intense round of negotiations the government finally relented and made arrangements to secure bails for the jailed Maoists. A further twist in the tale occurred when the Maoists released only Majhi and held back the Collector making a fresh list of demands. However after another round of discussion, common sense prevailed and the Maoists released the collector a day later.

Current Affairs [January 2011]

• Karnataka Governor sanctions prosecution of CM YeddyurappaKarnataka Governor HR Bharadwaj on 21/1/2011 sanctioned the prosecution of Chief Minister Yeddyurappa on charges of corruption. This is for the first time in Karnataka’s political history that a governor has permitted the prosecution of a chief minister. The Governor gave sanction for prosecution of the Chief Minister who is said to be involved in alleged land scams on a petition made by two lawyers. With this sanction, the lawyers will now approach a local court and will seek a court directive to the police for registering an FIR against the Chief Minister Yeddyurappa and the State Home Minister R Ashoka.
• Officer burnt alive by Oil MafiaYashwant Sonawane, Additional District Collector of Malegaon (Maharashtra) was tragically burnt alive by oil mafia at Manmad near Nashik on 25 January 2011. Mr. Sonawane was returning from Chandrar village after reviewing the situation in the wake of a demonstration by onion farmers, when he found some people adulterating kerosene in a tanker parked behind Sagar Dhaba at Panewadi near Manmad. The area has a notorious reputation for smuggling and adulteration of oil. Sonawane stopped and questioned them and also shot a video of them pilfering the kerosene on his mobile phone. The main accused Popat Shinde and three others allegedly poured kerosene on the official, and set him afire. Mr. Sonawane died on the spot. The horrifying incident has caused a lot of shock and anger all across India.
• Gujarat attracts Rs 20.83 lakh Crore investment in 2 daysLeading industrialists of India have flocked to Gujrat to sign MOU’s during the two-day long Vibrant Gujarat Summit that began on 1/12/2011. Chief Minister announced that the state has been able to attract investments to the tune of Rs 20.83 lakh crores during the two-day long Summit. As many as 7,936 MOUs were signed by the state government with several industrial houses to invest in the state. It is rare for 60 of India’s top Industrialists representing companies that command the bulk of market capitalization, to share the dais at a single event and it is even rarer to make investments to the tune of thousands of crores for a single state and that too over just two days. The major investments include Anil Ambani group, Adani Group, Essar Group, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra and many others.
• Australian firm set to sue Delhi CWG over non payment of dues. In yet another case of embarrassment for India an Australian firm is set to sue the CWG organizers regarding non payment of bills. It is reported that the firm had played a very key and major role in the opening and closing ceremonies of the million dollar sporting event. Sydney Olympics maestro Ric Birch, who was creative director for the Delhi ceremonies, is likely to launch a multi-million dollar class action against Commonwealth Games organizers for substantial unpaid bills. The Australian government has already raised the issue with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna who has promised to look into the matter.
• 102 lives lost in Sabarimala StampedeAround 102 pilgrims were killed and another 100 injured in a stampede about 40-45 km from the Sabarimala Shrine. The stampede was triggered when a jeep and an auto rickshaw rammed into a crowd of devotees in a narrow forest path at Pulimedu in Idukki district of Kerala on 14/1/2011. Most of the victims are from the Southern state of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The pilgrims were returning after seeking the blessings at the Sabarimala temple on the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti. The temple attracts millions of worshippers and an estimated 150,000 devotees were thought to have taken the narrow path out of the densely forested hills where the stampede took place. CM V.S Achuthanandan has launched a judicial probe into the matter.
• Suresh Kalmadi sacked as Chairman of Commonwealth Games Organizing CommitteeSuresh Kalmadi and his deputy Lalit Bhanot were sacked as Chairman and Secretary General of the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee respectively after three months since the end of the international event. The decision to remove the two top officials was taken by the new Sports Minister Ajay Maken after taking the legal opinion of the Attorney General. The organizing committee has faced several allegations of massive corruption and ineptitude in the months leading up to the games.
• Aarushi Talwar’s father attacked outside courtDr. Rajesh Talwar father of murdered teenager Aarushi Talwar was attacked by a man outside the Ghaziabad court on 25/1/2011. He received sharp blows from a meat cleaver used by the assailant and the bleeding doctor was immediately rushed to a Hospital. Rajesh Talwar had gone to the court to file a petition demanding a fresh probe by the CBI in the Aarushi- Hemaraj murder case. The attacker has been identified as Utsav Sharma who was earlier also involved in an incident where he attacked SPS Rathore, the retired police officer who was convicted in the Ruchita Girhotra suicide case.
• Republic Day celebrations peaceful in KashmirIndia’s Republic Day celebrations in Kashmir passed of peacefully even as BJP activist’s attempts to hoist the flag at Lal Chowk were foiled. Six activists were taken into custody immediately after they came out of a hotel near Lal Chowk and began walking towards the city centre. Another activist was arrested in Residency Road area adjacent to Lal Chowk when he appeared with a national flag and the BJP flag. The days leading to the Republic Day were fraught with tension as BJP’s proposed ‘EktaYatra’ was seen as a move that could possibly reignite tensions in the valley.

Related Current Affairs:

People in News-2011
Sports Current Affairs-2011
Current Affairs India-2011 Part-2
Current Affairs International-2011 Part-1
Current Affairs International-2011 Part-2