General Knowledge - Current Affairs- AllGk

• The leader of South Africa’s African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, has been officially elected on 6 May 2009 the country’s president by members of parliament. The ANC won the general election in South Africa. Jacob Zuma was fired as vice-president after being implicated in a graft scandal. The charges were dropped just before last month’s election – amid evidence of government meddling in pursuing the case. In February 2006, the controversial polygamist was acquitted of rape in a separate case, though he was widely criticised for his comments about sex and HIV/Aids.
• A group of Nepalese political parties has agreed to form a “national government” a day after Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned on 5 May 2009. After a meeting in Kathmandu, members of the Communist UML party agreed to head the government. Mr Dahal, best known as Prachanda, resigned after the president opposed his decision to sack the army chief. The Maoists boycotted the all-party meeting.
• Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was convicted of spying and sentenced to 8 years in prison on April 18,2009. 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen was arrested in January 2009 and initially accused of working without press credentials. A freelance journalist Roxana Saberi was reporting for National Public Radio and other media. She had been living in Iran for six years.
• Jatiya Party leader and former President Gen H M Ershad was cleared of 1982 ‘powergrab’ charges on March 30,2009. He was sued for usurping state power, suspension of the constitution and declaration of martial law in Bangladesh on Mar 24, 1982. Inu, now an MP as part of the same AL-led electoral alliance as Ershad’s Jatiya Party, sued the former general for his takeover of state power. The CID final report was submitted to a Dhaka Metropolitan magistrate’s court on Jan 30. Inu was asked to appear in the court to respond to the police report but did not. The court accepted the report and cleared Ershad. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• Supreme National Security Council Secretary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr Saeed Jalili, visited India on 28th March 2009. This visit was in keeping with the tradition of high level exchanges between the two countries. The two sides conducted a strategic review of India Iran relations and prospects for their further expansion. Their wide ranging discussions also covered regional and international issues including terrorism, the situation in Afghanistan and energy security.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• The name of the sleek aircraft inducted by the IAF for flying VVIPs is Rajdoot. It was rolled out from the tarmac of the Palam airport on April 1,2009. The aircraft with the first citizen of the country onboard took its maiden flight to Assam without a glitch and the exclusive passengers enjoyed its style and comfort.
• Former Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra was appointed chairman of the advisory board of Price Waterhouse India on April 22,2009. Price Waterhouse India (PW) recently set up an advisory board, which was expected to help the audit company reflect on the voice of external stakeholders in its strategic decision making.
• Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India V K Shunglu and former Chief Election Commissioner BB Tandon are other eminent members, who were inducted to the board.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• Indian-American Sonal Shah was appointed head of the new Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the Obama administration. Sonal Shah, a India Abroad Person of the Year in 2003 and co-founder of India Corps was a member of the Obama transition project’s advisory board and co-chairperson of a transition group that made recommendations about technology and innovation, including innovation and civil society.
• Advocate Anjali Waghmare was removed on grounds of professional misconduct as Mohammad Ajmal Kasab’s lawyer. Allegedly she had first accepted brief of a witness in this case before deciding to defend Kasab. She was earlier on March 30,2009 appointed by the court to represent Kasab, the long surviving terrorist captured by police for the attacks that took place on November 26, 2008.
• Fiji’s President Ratu Josefa Iloilo abolished the constitution, assumed all governing power and revoked all judicial appointments on April 10,2009 following the country’s second-highest court ruled that armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s government that took power after a 2006 coup was illegal. Fiji’s military commander and Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama relinquished the prime minister’s post but later he was sworn in again as Fiji’s Prime Minister as the head of the interim government.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• A sedition case was registered against MDMK general secretary V. Gopalsamy known as Vaiko by the Chennai City police on April 9,2009. He warned in a speech that India would not remain one country if the war against the LTTE in Sri Lanka was not stopped.
• The case was registered under 13 (1) b of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2004 (advocating, abetting, advising or inciting the commission of any unlawful activity) and also under Section 124 -A and Section 505 (1) (b) of the Indian Penal Code. Section 124-A relates to sedition (attempting to bring into hatred or contempt or exciting or attempting to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India).
• Former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori was convicted of human rights crimes and sentenced to 25 years in prison on April 7,2009. A three-judge panel convicted him of ordering a military death squad to carry out two massacres that killed 25 people during his 1990-2000 rule, when he was battling communist guerrillas. Later, he appealed to Peru’s Supreme Court to overturn his 25-year prison sentence. A corruption scandal involving his spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, sank his government in 2000. Fujimori fled to exile in Japan. He was later arrested in Chile and extradited to Peru, where he often snoozed through testimony and took off his socks. First time a democratically elected Latin American president has been found guilty in his own country of such offenses. Other Latin American rulers faced trials over human rights crimes before Fujimori were military dictators or prosecuted outside their home countries. Alberto Fujimori was 45th President of Peru and he was in office from July 28, 1990 to November 22, 2000.
• According to Sri Lankan Defence Ministry, the head of the intelligence wing of the LTTE, Pottu Amman took overall command of the outfit due to fast deteriorating mental health condition of Velupillai Prabakaran. Pottu Amman has not battlefield experience, so he appointed Velawan, the last of LTTE’s battle-hardened cadre, as the LTTE’s new military chief.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• According to the overall ranking, compiled by the Wall Street Journal, Mobile phone maker Motorola’s India-born chief Sanjay Jha became America’s top paid CEO. Citigroup’s Vikram Pandit tops the league among bailed out bank. Another Indian on the list is PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi at the 36th slot with a pay package of 13.98 million dollar. Jha is the only CEO to get a compensation package exceeding 100 million dollar, with Occidental’s Ray Irani at a distant second with 49.9 million dollar. Irani is followed by Walt Disney’s Robert Iger third rank.
• Advocate S G Abbas Kazmi was appointed by court as the lawyer of Mohammed Amir Ajmal Qasab, the lone surviving gunman in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. He replaced Anjali Waghmare, who was removed by court. Another lawyer to defend Qasab is KP Pawar, who was appointed with Anjali Waghmare. The 54-year-old S G Abbas Kazmi had defended 25 to 30 accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case and 3 accused in the Gulshan Kumar murder case who were ultimately acquitted by the court. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• A native of Tamil Nadu and 1973 batch IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath took over as the third election commissioner following the elevation of Navin B. Chawla as Chief Election Commissioner on April 21,2009. V S Sampath was Union Power Secretary prior to his elevation as the election commissioner in the Election Commission of India. Navin B. Chawla succeeded N Gopalaswami as the new Chief Election Commissioner of India.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen selected as the new NATO Secretary-General on April 4. Later on he resigned as Denmark’s prime minister on April 5,2009. NATO leaders agreed unanimously to appoint him as the next head of the 28-member alliance after US President Barack Obama convinced Turkey to drop its objections in NATO summit held at Strasbourg and Kehl. Rasmussen will succeed Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of the Netherlands, who steps down at the end of July 2009.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• Shikha Sharma was appointed Managing Director and Chief Exicutive Officer of Axis Bank on April 20,2009. She was working as chief of the ICICI group’s life insurance business.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• An Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1969 batch Nirupam Sen was appointed Special Senior Advisor to the President Miguel D Escoto Brockmann of the 192-member UN General Assembly on world financial and economic crisis. After retirement as Indian Ambassador to UN on March 31,2009 Nirupam Sen had been made India’s high commissioner to Sri Lanka.
• Virginia’s secretary of technology Aneesh Chopra was appointed as the Chief Technology Officer in Obama Administration. He included in a three-man team formed by U.S. President Barack Obama to help break Washington’s ‘bad habits’ of wasteful spending and move recession-hit America from recovery to prosperity.
• She was appointed country head and group general manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) India on April 15. Famous woman banker Naina Lal Kidwai had been with HSBC as CEO and deputy CEO for the last five years. Padma Shri awardee Naina Lal Kidwai is the first Indian woman to graduate from the Harvard Business School. She was listed the World’s Top 50 Corporate Women from 2000 to 2003 by Fortune magazine.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• Indian American star of Mira Nair’s ‘The Namesake’, Kal Penn joined the White House staff as an associate director in the Office of Public Liaison. Born to Indian immigrant parents from Gujarat, the 31-year-old actor Kalpen Suresh Modi had a recurring role on Fox’s popular TV show ‘House’ will play a new role connect Obama with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, as well as arts groups.
• According to recently released International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2009 by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido), the share of developing countries in the world’s manufacturing value-added output has almost doubled in the last 18 years due to the shift of production units and outsourcing of services from developed nations. Developing countries produced almost 30% of world manufacturing value added (MVA) at the end of 2008 as compared to 16% in 1990. The per capita MVA doubled as early as 2006, while the industrialised world achieved merely 30% increase. Among industrialised countries, Japan accounts for most MVA per capita, followed by Switzerland, Singapore, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, USA, Germany and Austria. Luxemburg, Republic of Korea, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Belgium, United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands, Italy and France come lower down the list. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• For India, the growth rate of MVA output rose from 6.9% in 2000-2005 to 12.3% in 2005-2007. The MVA per capita grew 10.6 % in 2005-2007 compared to 5.2% in 2000-2005. The share of MVA in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 14.8% in 2006 compared to 13.8% in 2001. Manufacturing still contributes around 15% of GDP in India. International Yearbook 2009 ranks India among the world’s leading 12 producers of textiles (ranked 4th after China, the U.S. and Italy); electrical machinery and apparatus (5th); basic metals (6th); chemicals and chemical products (7th); leather, leather products and footwear (10th); coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel (10th); machinery and equipment (12th); and motor vehicles (12th), based on 2007 figures. Among the leading developing countries, India figures among the top five.
• Mughal Trust was set up on April 6,2009 to find and then help the families of the Mughal lines of descent. The Trust is brainchild of businessman Mohd Shahid Khan. The trust will also create pressure on the government to bring back the remains of Bahadur Shah Zafar from Myanmar.
• India successfully test-fired an improved version of nuclear-capable ‘Prithvi-II’ ballistic missile from a Tatra transporter erector launcher from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, about 15 km from Balasore, off the Orissa coast on April 15,2009. The indigenously developed surface-to-surface ‘Prithvi-II’ missile’s range is 350 km. The 8.56 meter-long and one meter wide twin engine missile features to deceive any anti ballistic missile and is equipped with “added inertial navigation” system. The missile is designed to operate with both liquid as well as solid fuel. It can carry conventional or nuclear pay loads of 500 kg.
• N. Gopalaswami retired from the post of Chief Election Commissioner of India on March 20,2009. A 1966 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, N. Gopalaswami was appointed as Election Commissioner in January 2004. Later on June 30 2006, he succeeded B. B. Tandon as Chief Election Commissioner of India.
• Home minister of Canada’s British Columbia province, John van Dongen resigned on April 27,2009 after he was caught and fined for over-speeding. He was also fined 368 US dollar for his offence.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• Leading film producer and director Shakti Samant passed away on April 9,2009 in Santacruz. He was 83. Shakti Samant launched the career of Sharmila Tagore with film, ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ and directed films like Kashmir Ki Kali, Aradhana, An Evening in Paris, Amanush, Amar Prem, Anurodh,Anuraag, Ajnabee and Kati Patang. He directed Rajesh Khanna in films like Aradhana, Kati Patang, Amar Prem and Anuraag. Shakti Samant started his career with the cinema from the black and white era with Howrah Bridge.
• Noted Hindi writer and Gandhian Vishnu Prabhakar died on April 11,2009 in New Delhi. He was 97. He wrote in almost all forms of prose-story, novels, plays, biography etc. Born on January 29, 1912, in the Mirapur village of Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, Dr Prabhakar was best known for his engaging biography of Bengali litterateur Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, ‘Awara Maseeha’. His first play was ‘Hatya ke Baad’. His body of works included ‘Dhalti Raat’ and ‘Swapnamayi’ (novel), ‘Navprabhat’ an ‘Doctor” (drama), ‘Sangharsh ke Baad’ (short stories), ‘Prakash Aur Parchhaiyan’, ‘Barah Ekanki’ and ‘Ashok’ (plays) and ‘Awara Maseeha’ (biography). He had over 50 published works to his credit.
• He was awarded Padma Bhushan and the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Ardhanarishvara (The Androgynous God or Shiva). Dr Prabhakar had decided to donate his body organs in his will so his body was donated to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
• Bollywood actor-producer-director famous as style icon Feroz Khan passed away on April 27,2009 at his farmhouse in Bangalore after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 69. Famous for his blockbusters like ‘Qurbani’ and ‘Dharmatma’, Feroz Khan appeared in more than 50 films. He made his Bollywood debut as the co-star in the movie Didi in 1960 and went on to star in a number of films in the 1970s and 1980s. The last film he acted in was Welcome in 2007. He won a Filmfare award for best supporting role in ‘Aadmi Aur Insaan’ in 1970 and was honoured with the lifetime achievement award in 2000. He was elder brother of actor-producer-director Sanjay Khan and father of Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan.
• Veteran economist Raja Jesudoss Chelliah died in Chennai on April 7,2009. He was 86. He was chairman of the Tax Reforms Committee and worked as Fiscal Adviser in the Union Finance Ministry. Padma Vibhushan awardee, founding Chairman of the Madras School of Economics, Raja J Chelliah wrote nearly 15 books and various research papers.Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Govind Singh Gurjar passed away in New Delhi on 6th April,2009. He was born in 1932 in Balakanangal village of Rajasthan. He was appointed to the post of Lt. Governor in March 2008 during the tenure of former Chief Minister N. Rangasamy.
• Former President of Argentina Raul Alfonsin, who guided Argentina’s return to democracy in the 1980s after seven years of brutal military rule, passed away on March 31,2009. He was 82. He was president from 1983 to 1989 and won international admiration for putting on trial and jailing the former military leaders.
• Former heavyweight champion Greg Page passed away on April 27,2009 at his Louisville home at the age of 50. He lifted the WBA belt in 1984 during the post-Ali, pre-Tyson era.
• Stunt master in Tamil cinema industry Rajkumar died at the age of 53. He is remembered as the fight master whose action choreography was strikingly similar to Sylvester Stallone in Rambo. Rambo Rajkumar has worked for over 450 films in five languages, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
• Rugby legend of Ireland Karl Mullen, who captained the 1948 Grand Slam winning team passed away at the age of 82. He won 25 international caps for Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s, playing at hooker. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• Emergency was lifted on April 24 in Thailand. Earlier Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in the capital, Bangkok, and five provinces on April 12,2009 and Police and military units were deployed to enforce the decree. Summit between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was postponed. India’s Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and other leaders were safely evacuated from the venue at the resort town of Pattaya on April 11,2009.
• More than 200 died in a quake in in L’Aquila of central Italy. A strong tremor shook on April 6,2009 damaged buildings and some of the 17000 left homeless.
• The four-day Naval Commanders’ Conference was held at the Eastern Naval Command headquarters, in Visakhapatnam, from April 13 to 15,2009. The conference focused on macro level issues pertaining to military strategy, operational logistics and matters impacting the welfare and enhancement of satisfaction level amongst all ranks and ‘Coastal Security’. The Naval Commanders’ Conference is the highest decision making body of the navy. It meets annually to deliberate upon major operational issues that have a bearing on the nation’s maritime interests, coastal and offshore security, naval strategy, and operational and acquisition plans. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• The 5th Summit the Americas was held at Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago from April 17-19,2009. The theme was ‘Securing Our Citizens’ Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability.’ The Summit of the Americas is the name for a continuing series of summits bringing together the leaders of North America, Central America and South America. First summit was held at Miami in the United States.
• NATO summit of heads of state and heads of government held in Strasbourg, France, and in Kehl and Baden-Baden, Germany, on 3-4 April 2009. The summit marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). To symbolize an evolving vision of European cooperation, for the first time a NATO summit was jointly hosted by two member nations France and Germany. The summit reaffirmed the values, objectives and obligations of the Washington Treaty which unite Europe with the United States and Canada.
• The Leaders of the Group of Twenty, met in London on 2 April 2009. They decided to treble resources available to the IMF to 750 billion dollar, to support a new SDR allocation of 250 billion dollar, to support at least 100 billion dollar of additional lending by the MDBs, to ensure 250 billion dollar of support for trade finance, and to use the additional resources from agreed IMF gold sales for concessional finance for the poorest countries, constitute an additional 1.1 trillion dollar programme of support to restore credit, growth and jobs in the world economy. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM
• They also pledged to do whatever is necessary to restore confidence, growth, and jobs, repair the financial system to restore lending, strengthen financial regulation to rebuild trust, fund and reform our international financial institutions to overcome this crisis and prevent future ones, promote global trade and investment and reject protectionism, to underpin prosperity and build an inclusive, green, and sustainable recovery.
• International Labour Organisation (ILO) released ‘Global Employment Trends for Women’. The report suggests that there is a gender aspect too to its impact on jobs. Stating that the emerging trends are extremely worrying for both men and women, the report explained the time has come for a coordinated effort internationally to stop the slowdown. At the global level, the share of the vulnerable employed among all women employed is as high as 52.7 per cent compared with 49.1 per cent for men. Copyright © 2009 WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM

“Recently many cases of Swine Influenza Virus were found in number of Asian and Latin American countries. 103 people have died of swine flu and about 1600 people have been infected with the virus in Mexico. The US has confirmed 20 cases. Mexico is recognised as the source of the virus.
Many countries have issued a negative travel advice for Mexico, and China has ordered a ban on the import of pork from Mexico and a number of Latin American countries, after Russia took a similar measure earlier. Swine influenza is known to be caused by influenza a subtypes H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2 and H2N3
SIV refers to influenza cases that are caused by Orthomyxoviruses endemic to pig populations. “

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