The southern region of Sudan recently voted overwhelmingly for

Secession

Full preliminary results from a number of the South Sudan's 10 states showed landslides secession as high as 99% from mainland Sudan. The week-long referendum was conducted in January 2011 to determine whether the impoverished war-ravaged region (South Sudan) is to be recognised as World's newest state in July 2011. $ 156 billion

IndiGo and Airbus recently signed largest aircraft deal worth

In the single largest aircraft deal in the global aviation history, no-frill carrier IndiGo will acquire 180 A-32 aircraft worth an estimated $ 156 billion from the European manufacturer Airbus. Stealth Jet Fighter the Chengdu J-20

China recently conducted first successful test-flight of its

China on January 11, 2011 conducted its first test-flight of a stealth fighter jet the Chengdu J-20 which could rival the US F-22 Raptor-one of the world's most technically advanced warplane and thus narrowed China's military gap with United States. Tunisia

Zine El Abidine was recently ousted from his position as the President of

The 23 year old dictatorship of the former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali collapsed on January 14, 2011 after Parliament of Tunisia was dissolved and the government was dismissed. The President Zine El Abidine was removed from his position. Mr. Ben Ali has been in power for 23 years. The Social Network

The movie which swept Golden Globe Awards 2011 is

The Social Network which is a film about Harvard-graduate Mark Zuckerberg's ultra popular Facebook website, swept up four awards at the Golden Globe Awards 2011 including awards for Best Motion Picture, Drama, Best Director (Motion Picture), Best Screenplay (Motion Picture) and Best original score (Motion Picture) in January 2011.

News Date: 07-02-2011

Last Updated 2/11/2011 1:29:33 PM newsdetail.aspx?NID=668

INTERNATIONAL
Russian Parliament recently approved New START The RussianAmerican New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) won preliminary approval of the Russian Parliament by a 350-56 majority in the first of three votes on December 24, 2010 in the State Duma Lower House of Parliament, though the Parliament postponed its final approval till next year. Pakistan recently test-fired Hatf V (Ghauri) Pakistan on December 21, 2010, successfully test-fired Hatf V (Ghauri)a Medium Range Ballistic Missilecapable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads over 1,300 km.

The man who has been declared African Player of the Year is Samuel Eto Cameroon's Samuel Eto of Inter Milan was named African Player of the year for a record fourth time on December 20, 2010. He also won this honour in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The Time Magazine Person of the Year 2010 is Mark Zuckerberg Mark Zuckerberg founder and Chief executive of the Facebooksocial networking site that has more than half billion users has been named Time Magazines 2010 Person of the Year in December 2010. The K.C. Kulish International Award for Excellence in Print Media Journalism for 2009 has been conferred on Ghana Newspaper the New Crusading Guide The New Crusading Guide-a daily newspaper from Ghana in West Africa has been named the winner of Rajasthan Patrika Group's K.C. Kulish International Award for Excellence in Print Media Journalism 2009 for its series of reports on Ghana's Madhouse and Chinese sex mafia.

News Date: 07-01-2011

Last Updated 1/10/2011 1:09:48 PM newsdetail.aspx?NID=637

National
The Committee of Secretaries has recommended FDI in multi-brand retail upto the level of 51 per cent

The Committee of Secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary A.K. Seth has recommended that 51 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) be allowed in the multi-brand retail sector provided the investment is not less than $ 100 million.

The four eminent personalities who have been bestowed the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi fellowships are Girija Devi, N. Ramakrishna, R.F. Dagar and T. K. Murthy

The highest honour of Sangeet Natak Akademi-Akademi Ratna Sadasyata (Akademi fellowship) was conferred on distinguished vocalist Girija Devi, renowned dance guru Nataraja Ramkrishna, Dhrupad maestro Rahim Fahim Dagar and Mridangam exponent T. K. Murthy. BP-RIL Deal

Recently Cabinet cleared

The Union government on July 22, 2011 cleared UKs major company BP Plcs proposal to acquire 30% stake in Reliance Industries Ltd. (RILs) gas and oil blocks for $ 72 billion. Sheila Dixit

The first Mercy Ravi Award for Women of Substance has been conferred on

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit received the first Mercy Ravi Award for Women of Substance from Defence Minister A. K. Antony in July 2011. V. S. Hegde

The new Chief of Antrix Corporation Limited is

V. S. Hegde has been made the Chief of Antrix Corporation Limited which is the commercial wing of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

News Date: 08-08-2011

Last Updated 8/11/2011 4:31:39 PM newsdetail.aspx?NID=839

NATIONAL
The first Indian to win PGA tour title of golf is Arjun Atwal Arjun Atwal became the first Indian to win a PGA Tour title after he clinched the Wyndham Championship golf tournament in Greensboro North Carolina on August 22, 2010. Russia recently handed over to India Akula (Nerpa) Nuclear Submarine Russia has recently handed over to India the Nerpa (Akula class) nuclear submarine on a ten year lease to the Indian Navy. The submarine is armed with torpadoes and cruise missiles. The Cabinet recently approved the nutritional scheme for girls SABLA The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on August 16, 2010 gave nod for the implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent GirlsSABLAin select 200 districts of the country with the aim of empowering the girls in age group of 11 to 18 years. The Wealthiest business group of India is Tata Group Ratan Tatas Tata Group has become Indias wealthiest business house with a market value of Rs. 3,71,000 crore followed by Mukesh Ambanis Reliance Industries (RIL) group which has emerged as the second most valued firm with an amount of Rs. 3,21,750 crore.

The newly elected President of Hockey India is Vidya Stokes Vidya Stokes defeated former national hockey captain Pargat Singh to be elected President of Hockey India on August 5, 2010.

News Date: 11-09-2010

Last Updated 9/15/2010 5:53:52 PM newsdetail.aspx?NID=553

INTERNATIONAL
The man who won Dutch Grand Prix is Valentino Rossi Italian rider Valentino Rossi won the Dutch Grand Prix on June 27, 2009 in Assen (The Netherlands). The pop king who died due to cardiac arrest is Michael Jackson Michael Jacksonthe pop king of the world died due to cardiac arrest on June 26, 2009 in Los Angeles. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a historic bill for containing Green house gas emission The American Clean Energy and Security Act was recently passed by the House of Representatives which aims at reducing green house gas emission by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020 and 83% by 2050. The team which has won the 2009 Laureus Sports Team of the Year is Chinese Team Chinese Team got the 2009 Laureus Sports Team of the Year award on June 26, in Beijing 2009 for its remarkable performance in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. NASA successfully launched its lunar mission probes on June 18, 2009 NASA successfully blasted two probes into space on lunar exploration mission on June 18, 2009 to scout water and to search landing sites in anticipation of sending man back to the moon in 2020.

News Date: 07-08-2009

Last Updated 10/31/2009 6:18:39 PM newsdetail.aspx?NID=67

NATIONAL
The new Jharkhand Governor is Kateekal Sankarnarayanan Kateekal Sankarnarayanan was administered oath as the new governor of Jharkhand in Ranchi on July 26, 2009. Parliamentarians International Forum Award was recently given to K.V. Rajan Nepals President Ram Baran Yadav presented the Parliamentarians International Forum Award to K.V. Rajan (Executive Vice Chair UPF India) in Kathmandu recently. The new governor of Haryana is Jagannath Pahadia Jagannath Pahadiaformer Chief Minister of Rajasthanwas sworn in as the new governor of Haryana on July 27, 2009 in Chandigarh. Recently India and Afghanistan have decided to set up IndiaAfghanistan Partnership India and Afghanistan have decided to establish IndiaAfghanistan Partnership that will consist of seven groups. The council is in the form of a new dialogue architecture. By 2013, in terms of number of internet users worldwide India is expected to have Third largest online population The number of internet users worldwide is expected to touch 22 billion by 2013 and India, as per the report by Technology and Market Research Firm Forester, is projected to have the third largest online population by then.

News Date: 07-09-2009

Last Updated 10/31/2009 6:30:57 PM newsdetail.aspx?NID=73

INTERNATIONAL
The G-20 Summit was recently held in Pittsburgh The G-20 group which include among others India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Turkey, Germany and USA held its
summit in Pittsburgh in September 2009 where they designated the G-20 as the premier forum for future discussion of international economic issues.

Kerry-Lugar Bill is related to US aid to

Pakistan

 US Senate passed the Kerry-Lugar Bill on September 2005 aiming at trebling US aid to Pakistan from $ 50 million
to $ 15 billion per annum till 2014.

The winner of the Tour Championship (Golf) is Phil Mickelson won the Tour Championship in Atlanta in September 2009.

Phil Mickelson

Angela Merkel has been re-elected recently as Germanys Chancellor for the The Second Time Voters in Germany gave on September 27, 2009 Chancellor Angela Merkel a second four years term to govern the
country. Her right wing coalition Christian Democratic Alliance (CDU-CSU) alongwith Free Democrates got a comfortable majority to form the next government.

Iran recently tested long range missiles Shahab-3 and Sajjil Iran recently test-fired an improved version of Shahab-3 and two stage Sajjil Missiles powered by solid
fuel. Both are long range capable of carrying a payload of around 1,000 kg.

News Date: 07-10-2009

Last Updated 11/5/2009 3:16:32 PM newsdetail.aspx?NID=78

NATIONAL
The new NASSCOM Chief is Harsh Manglik Harsh Manglik has been appointed as the new Chief of IT industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) replacing Pramod Bhasin. He took over the charge for 2010-11 from April 20, 2010. The IPL-III best batsman award has been bagged by Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar was on April 24, 2010 named best batsman after he was adjudged as the tournaments most prolific batsman with 570 runs in his kitty from 14 matches with five half centuries. Dipika Pallikal recently won her Maiden WISPA title Dipika Pallikal defeated Emma Beddoes of England 31 in the womens final of the Indian Challenger (Squash Event) in Kolkata on April 17, 2010. Asian Development Bank has pegged Gross Domestic Product of India at 82 per cent in 2010 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on April 13, 2010 projected the Indian economy to grow by 82 per cent during 2010. The projection has been made in its flagship annual publication Asian Development Outlook 2010.

Indian scientists recently released Mycobacterium, tuberculosis genome mapping Indian scientists (by the governments Open Source Drug DiscoveryOSDD initiative) released the results of its Connect 2 Decode (C2D) project to reannotate the biological and genetic information relating to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) genome in a Conference in New Delhi on April 11, 2010. This is the first time that a comprehensive mapping of the mtb genome has been compiled verified and made publicly available.