CURRENT AFFAIRS JAN 30TH TO FEB 5TH, 2012

International Affairs

• The fifth edition of the World Future Energy Summit was held in Abu Dhabi, capital of UAE from 16 to 19 January 2012. The theme of this year’s World Future Energy Summit was - Sustainable Energy for All. The summit discussed the need to exploit the alternative sources like solar, wind, tidal energy etc. Iran on 3 February 2012 successfully launched an observation satellite called Navid into orbit above Earth. It will be placed into an orbit at an altitude between 250 and 370 kilometres. The weight of the satellite is 50-kilogram and it is meant to stay in orbit for 18 months. 
• India will provide a grant of $1.5 million to the University of Chicago to establish a Vivekananda Chair for Indian studies, as part of the initiatives to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the 19th century luminary, Swami Vivekananda. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in this regard between Dean of University of Chicago (UOC) Martha Roth and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Culture Sanjiv Mittal, in the presence of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The grant is meant to honour Swami Vivekananda's life and legacy and facilitate exchange of research scholars from/to India.

National affairs

• The Union Government of India on 1 February 2012 gave its approval for setting up a National Council for Senior Citizens. It will be headed by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. The Council will comprise of 20 members including the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment along with the oldest members from both the Houses of Parliament and distinguished personalities from different fields. It will advice the Central and State Governments on issues related to welfare of senior citizens. The Council will suggest special policies and programmes for the physical and financial security of the senior citizens in the country. 
• As per the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin, December 2011 it is revealed that, Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has dropped further by 3 points from 50 to 47 infants deaths per 1000 live births during 2010. The IMR for rural areas has dropped by 4 points from 55 to 51 infant deaths per 1000 live births while the Urban rate now stands at 31 from the previous 34/1000. State of Goa still has the lowest IMR of 10 infant deaths followed by Kerala with 13 infant deaths per 1000 live births. Bihar, Chandigarh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Meghalaya still have IMRs more than the national average of 47.

Economic affairs

• The Supreme Court observed that the allocation of 2G spectrum under former telecom minister A. Raja was wholly arbitrary and contrary to public interest apart from being violative of the doctrine of equality favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer. The Supreme Court cancelled all the 122 2G licenses. According to the verdict, telecom regulator TRAI is to make fresh recommendations on the grant of licenses. 
• The Union government on 31 January 2012 revised the economic growth rate for 2010-2011 financial year to 8.4 percent in comparison to the previous estimate of 8.5 percent.The Indian economy, Asia’s third-largest slowed in recent quarters due to the impact of the global slowdown, high inflation and high interest rates.

Bilateral Relations

• India, Japan and China entered into a pact to share data to achieve the most efficient use of Naval Forces present in the Indian Ocean Region. The initiative is known as the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE). The initiative began functioning from 1 January 2012. China, India, and Japan also agreed to carry out more effective coordination by establishing a convoy coordination working group as part of the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction Mechanism. 
• Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago Kamla Persad Bissessar visited India from 5 January 2012 to 14 January 2012. India and Trinidad & Tobago on 6 January 2012 signed five agreements during her visit. The agreements are as following: 1)Memorandum of Understanding between India and Trinidad & Tobago on co-operation in the field of traditional Systems medicine.2)Air Services agreement between India and Trinidad & Tobago.3)Technical Cooperation Agreement (In the field of Education) between India and Trinidad & Tobago.4)Programme of Cultural Exchanges between India and Trinidad & Tobago for the years 2012-14.5)Memorandum of Understanding between Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences( CCRAS) Department of Ayush, Ministry of Health& Family Welfare, the government of India and the University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago. 
• India's National Thermal Power Corporation(NTPC), on 29 January 2012 signed an agreement with Bangladesh Power Development Board(BPDP) for setting up a joint venture 1320 MW thermal power plant. The joint venture coal-based power plant will be set up at Rampal in Khulna Division of Bangladesh. The project is the first joint venture power plant in Bangladesh.

Scince and technology

• Astronomers found the fourth habitable planet outside our solar system called GJ667C. The planet is 22 light years from Earth. The newly found planet is rocky in nature. It orbits its star every 28.15 days.

Awards

• Indian Union Minister for Labour and Employment Mallikarjun Kharge was presented with Pride of India award by the Indian-American community in Washington on 1 February 2012. He was honoured with the award for his over four decades of public service.The award was presented jointly by the Indian American Friendship Council (IAFC) and India Association of North Texas (IANT). 
• Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan received a Green Globe for Outstanding Efforts by a Celebrity Award for his efforts toward a greener future at the fourth edition of the Panasonic Green Globe Foundation Awards on 2 february 2012. He received the award from Hollywood actor and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger.During his visit Schwarzenegger also attended the day-long Delhi Sustainable Development Summit presided over by the Indian Prime Minister. 
• Veteran environmental filmmaker Mike Pandey was honoured with the prestigious V. Shantaram Life Time Achievement Award at the Mumbai International Film Festival 2012 on 3 February 2012. He received the award for his documentaries on wildlife conservation and environment. 
• Shri Khamliana from Mizoram and Md. Abdul Bari from Odisha have been jointly selected for theNational Communal Harmony Award 2011 . The Jury headed by the Vice President Shri Hamid Ansari made the selection. National Communal Harmony Awards were instituted in 1996 by the National Foundation for Communal Harmony, an autonomous organization set up bt the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs. The Award in the individual category carries a citation and a cash award of Rupees two lakhs.

Sports

• In the 100th edition of The Australian Open (2012), Serbia’s Novak Djokovic won the title by defeating Rafel Nadal of Spain in the mens singles while Victoria Azarenka of Belarus won the women’s singles by defeating Maria Sharapova of Russia. In the men’s doubles Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek won the title by defeating Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. In the women’s doubles Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva, both from Russia defeated Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, to win the title. The mixed event was won by Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecau. 
• A. Amalraj won the national title by defeating A Sharath Kamal in the final of the 73rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships in Lucknow on 29 January 2012. Amalraj also won the double’s title with Sanil Shetty, by defeating Harmit Desai and Devesh Karia. In the women’s category Poulami Ghatak won the title by defeating K Shamini. 
• Pendyala Harikrishna of India won the prestigious TATAsteel international chess title which was held in Netherlands. 
• Pankaj Adwani won the Nationsl Billiards Chess championship by defeating the Balachandra Bhaskar in the finals which was held in Pune. 
• Sourabh Varma defeated B Sai Praneeth in the final to clinch the Senior National Badminton Championship title in Bangalore.. The ninth seeded PV Sindhu defeated second seed Neha Pandit in the women's singles final to lift the title. In the mixed doubles category, top seeds Arun Vishnu and Balan Aparna, In the Mens doubles Kona Tarun and Arun Vishnu in the women's doubles, second seeds Pradnya Gadre and Prajakta Sawant won the titles.