CURRENT AFFAIRS DIGEST I (JANUARY TO MARCH 2012) 2012)

www.leadthecompetition.in Anniversaries, Days etc

The year 2012 has been declared by the Health Ministry of Government of India as the year of Intensification of Routine Immunisation

Awards
The scientist from Vietnam who was awarded the Kalinga Chair Award at the 99th Indian Science Congress Trinh Xuan Thuan The Tibetan leader who has been presented with Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and Reconciliation by the Gandhi Development Trust Dalai Lama The playback singer and classical vocalist who was chosen for the first Harivarasanam award of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the statutory body that manages major temples in south Kerala, including the famed Sabarimala hill temple KJ Yesudas The Army officer who was awarded Ashoka Chakra on 26 Jan 2012 Lt. Navdeep Singh The joint winners of National Communal Harmony Award 2011 in the individual category Shri Khamliana (Mizoram) and Shri Md. Abdul Bari (Odisha) The Sri Lankan author who has been awarded the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2012 for his book Chinaman Shehan Karunatilaka The noted Indian economist who has been presented the National Medals of Arts and Humanities award by the US President Barack Obama Amartya Sen The winner of 44 Jnanpith Award, who died on 13 February 2012 Dr. Akhlaq Mohammed Khan 'Shahryar' The veteran music director who has been bestowed the Lata Mangeshkar Award by the Madhya Pradesh government Rajesh Roshan The Bio-chemist who has been awarded the G.D. Birla Award for scientific research for 2011 by the KK Birla foundation Prof Tapas Kumar Kundu The Bollywood actor who has been chosen to receive Green Globe award for outstanding efforts in fighting climate changes by a celebrity Abhishek Bachchan The Tibetan leader who has been chosen for the 2012 Templeton Prize by the US-based Templeton Foundation Dalai Lama (original name Tenzin Gyatso)

The veteran actor who has been selected for the J C Daniel Award, Kerala Government's highest film honour instituted in memory of the director of first Malayalam movie Vigathakumaran (the actor passed away on Mar 24, a day after the nomination) Jose Prakash The Tehelka mediaperson who has been chosen for Chameli Devi Jain Award 2012 Tusha Mittal The Carnatic musician who has been chosen for Kerala Government' Swathi Puraskaram for 2012 M. Balamuralikrishna The former Chairman of Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation, who has been chosen for this year's V Gangadharan Memorial Trust award Verghese Kurien The Indian NGO which has been chosen for America's first Innovation Award for the Empowerment of Women and Girls, for training and organizing wastepickers and eliminating child labour from recycling Chintan (Founder Bharati Chaturvedi)

Cars
Pixel, a new model of car has been unveiled at the 11th Auto Expo in New Delhi by Tata Motors The venue of 11th Auto Expo being held from 05 Jan to 11 Jan 2012 Pragati Maidan, New Delhi The first car of Bajaj Auto, India's leading two-wheeler manufacturer is named RE 60

Defence
The joint exercise conducted by the Armies of India and Indonesia at the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS), Vairengte in Mizoram during February 2012 was named Exercise Garuda Shakti The joint military exercise of Indian and US armies held in the first week of March 2011 in Mahajan field firing ranges in Rajasthan was code-named Yudh Abhyas The biennial congregation of naval forces of 13 countries in Indian Ocean near Andaman and Nicobar islands conducted in February 2012 is named Milan

Economy
The sector in which the Government has notified 100 percent FDI Single Brand Retail The category of foreign investors who have been allowed to invest directly in India Equity market by government Qualified Foreign Investor India's per capita income as per the latest quick estimates released by the Central Statistical Organisation is Rs. 53,331/-

As per the Planning Commission, the percentage of population which was below poverty line in 2009-10 (The poor being defined as ones who spend less than Rs. 28 per day in urban area and less than Rs. 22.50 in rural areas) 29.8%

Fairs, Festivals, Exhibitions etc.

The 7th State Level Philatelic exhibition of Delhi Circle being held from 22 Jan to 24 Jan 2012 at Delhi is named Dharohar-2012 The venue of India Aviation-2012, the 3rd edition of the premier international exhibition and conference on civil aviation being held from 14 March 2012 Hyderabad

Films
The film, directed by Zoya Akhtar, which has bagged the Best Film award at the 57th Filmfare Awards function on 29 Jan 2012 Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara The first Indo-Italian co-production film based on a short story by well-known writer Mahasweta Devi which has bagged the NETPAC Jury award at the 10th Third Eye Asian Film Festival 2011 at Mumbai.(the film is directed by Italo Spinelli) Gangor The film which has been awarded 5 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Score, and Best Costume Design at the Academy Awards 2012 The Artist The iconic Bengali actor who has been chosen for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2011 Soumitra Chatterjee The venue of eighth National Film Festival organised by Kerala State Chalchitra Academy in March 2012 Ernakulam

Miscellaneous
The music director who has composed the signature tune of the Indian Customs Department, launched on the occasion of golden jubilee of Indian Customs Act, 1962. (The tune is named Pragati ki Dhadkan.) Aadesh Srivastava The theme of India Post Calendar 2012 is India's Sculptural Heritage The pilot project launched by the Union Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region to promote adventure activities is named Youth to the Edge With the removal of India from the WHO list of polio-endemic countries, the number of countries in the list has been reduced to Three (Pakistan, Nigeria, Afghanistan) RBI has decided to issue new Rs. 5 coins top commemorate freedom fighter and martyr Bhagat Singh

Bhavnath Temple at which a stampede killed several people on Shivratri day is located in Junagadh, Gujarat The public sector insurance company which is celebrating its platinum jubilee year of its formation in 2012 United India Insurance The state Assembly which has been selected for the national award for e-governance instituted by the Union Government's Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances for 2011-12 in recognition of its unique online answering information system Rajasthan Assembly The sub-glacial lake in Antarctica reaching whose surface has been confirmed by Russian scientists recently Lake Vostok The shawl unique to Gujarat, which was granted the Geographical Indicator tag in March 2012 Kutchi Shawl Aahar, the high shelf life dal and roti pack to cater to the needs of the Aam Aadmi, during long journeys, nutritional feeding, catering programmes and other similar civilian applications has been developed by DRDO in collaboration with BASIX and FICCI (the product was launched by Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Dy Chairperson, Planning Commission in February 2012) With effect from 10 March 2012, the advance reservation period for booking railway tickets has been extended from 90 days to 120 days The sanctuary in Karnataka which has been notified as India's first vulture sanctuary Ramadevarabetta Vulture Sanctuary

Oceans, Ships etc

The Italian cruise ship that ran aground off the island of Giglio in the Mediterranean Sea on January 14 killing at least 5 people Costa Concordia On Feb 15, guards from merchant vessel Enrica Lexie shot and killed Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast. The ship Enrica Lexie belongs to Italy

Persons
Homai Vyarawala who passed away on 15 Jan 2011 was a well known Photographer The Indian Nobel laureate on whose works Raja Ram Mohan Roy Foundation has compiled a webbibliography, which was launched by Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee in Jan 2012 Rabindranath Tagore Ms. Kamla Prasad Bissesar, the chief guest at the 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas being held in Jaipur with the theme Global Indian-Inclusive Growth is the President of Trinidad and Tobago

KJ Sarasa, the first woman nattuvanar, the guru of Ms Jayalalitha, who died on 02 Jan 2012 was associated with Bharat Natyam The Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation fondly known as Metroman who relinquished office on 31 Dec 2011 E. Sreedharan The renowned photographer who was awarded Padma Shri this year has subsequently been awarded Padma Bhushan (as the same Padma Award cannot be awarded twice to the same person) Sunil Janah Ustad Shamim Ahmed Khan who died on 14 February 2012 was an exponent of Sitar The Maldivian President who announced his resignation in February 2012 following weeks of public protests over his controversial order to arrest a senior judge Mohamed Nasheed The Chandigarh girl who has been crowned Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2012at a function in Mumbai in March 2012 Vanya Mishra The new Union Minister for Railways, who hitherto held the charge of Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy

Places
Mana airport which has been renamed as Swami Vivekananda Airport is located in Raipur, Chhattisgarh The village in Assam which in January 2012 became first village in the country to have full insurance coverage Rangati Misamara The venue of India International Coffee Festival 2012 held from January 18 New Delhi The venue of 17th National Youth Festival - 2012, (a festival organised to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda since 1995) Mangalore The place in Gujarat where new National Law University was inaugurated by Vice-President Hamid Ansari Gandhinagar The venue of 99th Indian Science Congress held from 02 Jan to 07 Jan 2012 KIIT University, Bhubaneswar The European country which approved a ban on face-covering clothing, such as a burqa, a niqab etc. in January 2012 The Netherlands The state which added nine new districts on 01 Jan 2012 thus increasing the total number of districts from 18 to 27 Chhattisgarh

The place at which a nearly 400-year-old temple, which was standing tilted for more than 100 years after it was damaged in an earthquake, was rebuilt by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Kangra, Himachal Pradesh The tribal efforts to conserve biodiversity and develop climate resilient farm practices of this place in Odisha have been recognised by UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) Koraput The state which has been awarded the National Tourism Best State Award 2011 for developing tourism related infrastructure Madhya Pradesh The place in Kerala where setting up of Rail Coach Manufacturing unit has been approved by Union cabinet Palakkad The state which has become the first in the country to issue e-stamp papers of all denominations by bringing non-judicial stamp papers of Rs 500 and below under the ambit of e-stamp process in February 2012 New Delhi The country with a per capita GDP of 88,000 dollars, which has been ranked the world's richest country by Forbes magazine Qatar The country which has severed all ties with the United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2012, following the councils decision to launch a fact-finding mission into the countrys settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Israel The country which has won the Asia Cup Cricket trophy by defeating Bangladesh in the finals in Bangladesh Pakistan The African nation which has witnessed a military coup in March 2012 overthrowing the government led by President Amadou Toumani Toure Mali The district in Bihar, which has surpassed the Chinese record of wet paddy production of 19 tonnes per hectare, by producing 22.4 tonnes of wet paddy per hectare Nalanda (The feat has been achieved at Darbespura panchayat in Katri Sarai block) The state which has become the ninth in the country to introduce e-stamping of paying non-judicial stamp duty to the government Uttarakhand

Republic Day Parade 2012

The best marching contingent among the three services at the Republic Day parade 2012 Indian Air Force

The best marching contingent among para-military forces and other auxillary marching contingents at the Republic Day parade 2012 Border Security Force The IAF Officer who for the first time in Indian history has led the IAF contingent at the Republic Day parade on 26 Jan 2012 Flt. Lt. Sneha Shekhawat The Chief Guest at the 63rd Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, Mrs Yingluck Shinawatra is the Prime Minister of Thailand The name of the train which has been chosen as the theme of the Railway Tableau at the Republic Day parade 2012, for being the first train to achieve distinction of entering its 100th year on Indian Railways broad gauge network Punjab Mail

Space
The Russian space craft which failed on its mission to Phobos, (a moon of Mars) and crashed into the Pacific Ocean two months after its launch in November 2011 Phobos Grunt The 50-kilogram micro satellite launched by Iran in February 2012 to collect data useful for weather forecasting and natural disaster management is named Navid The NASA spacecraft to Mercury which has discovered ice inside the shadowed craters of Mercury Messenger

Sports
The Indian tennis player who became the first Indian to win a career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open men's doubles title with Czech player Radek Stepanek in January 2012 (a career Grand Slam means winning all the four major tournaments during a career) Leander Paes The Belarusian player who won the Australian Open Women's title defeating Russia's Maria Sharapova in the final Victoria Azarenka The billiards player who retained the National Billiards Championship crown at the 79th Senior National Billiards and Snooker Championship being held at Pune Pankaj Advani The Serbian tennis player who won the Australian Open Men's title defeating Rafael Nadal in the longest Australian Open Finals lasting 5 hours 53 minutes Novak Djokovic The badminton player who won the women's title at the 76th Senior National Badminton Championship held in Bangalore from 17 to 25 Jan 2012 defeating Neha Pandit in the finals P.V. Sindhu The badminton player who won the men's title at the 76th Senior National Badminton Championship in Bangalore defeating Sai Praneeth in the finals Saurabh Verma The golfer who has won the All India Amateur golf title defeating Gagan Verma at the final in Chandigarh on 23 Jan 2012 Angad Cheema

The team which has retained the Ranji Trophy after winning it for the first time in 2011. (The team defeated Tamilnadu on the basis of first innings lead.) Rajasthan The new Swedish coach appointed to train Indian tennis players, particularly juniors and sub-juniors Henrik Ekersund The Indian shooter who has won a gold medal in the Mens 10-metre Air Rifle event at the 12th Asian Shooting Championships in Doha in January 2012 Abhinav Bindra The Argentinean footballer who has been awarded the Ballon d'Or for the third consecutive year Lionel Messi The Serbian player with whom Leander Paes partnered to win the Chennai Open Tennis Doubles title Janko Tipsarevic The Canadian player who won the Chennai Open Tennis Tournament held in January 2012 Milos Raonic The Chess player from Andhra Pradesh who in January 2012 became the 26th Indian chess player to become a Grandmaster M. Lalith Babu Sailen Manna, who passed away on 27 Feb 2012, was a former Football player The Indian cricketer who was awarded the fifth ESPNcricinfo best batting performance award in Tests Sachin Tendulkar The former Australian first-class pacer who was appointed the Indian cricket team's bowling coach after Eric Simons' tenure comes to an end John Dawes The Indian badminton player who won the Swiss Open Grand Prix Trophy for the second time in a row Saina Nehwal The team India defeated to win the women's World Cup Kabaddi Championship held at Patliputra Sports Complex, Patna from 01 - 04 Mar 2012 Iran The Indian pair which won the ATP Dubai Open 2012 defeating Polish pair Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the finals Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna

Summits, Conferences etc.

The theme of 5th World Future Energy Summit held in Abu Dhabi in January 2012 Sustainable Energy for All The venue of the 5th World Future Energy Summit held in Jan 2012, India being represented by Union Minister for Renewable energy resources, Dr. Farooq Abdullah Abu Dhabi The venue of Fourth BRICS Summit held on 29 March 2012 New Delhi

The venue of 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, India being represented by Dr. Manmohan Singh Seoul, S. Korea

Survey, Reports
The rank of India in 2012 Environmental Performance Index released by Yale University of Davos 125 According to a report by Knight Frank & Citi Private Bank brought out in March 2012, the year by which India will become the world's largest economy 2050 As per a report released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in March 2012, India has become the world's largest arms importer during the period 2007-11. India's share of total global arms sales is 10% The rank of India as per a report released by Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international organisation, listing countries as per participation of women in politics 105th The city which is the least expensive in the world to live in, according to Worldwide Cost of Living Survey carried out by Economic Intelligence Unit of the Economist Karachi The city which is the most expensive in the world to live in, according to Worldwide Cost of Living Survey carried out by Economic Intelligence Unit of the Economist Zurich, Switzerland The state which has recorded the highest decline in the forest cover in two years as per the latest India State of Forest 2011 released by the Forest Survey of India Andhra Pradesh

Technology
China's first supercomputer built with "domestically-produced" microprocessors and capable of performing around one-thousand-trillion calculations per second which became officially operational in January 2012 is named Sunway Bluelight Open Government Platform, a software platform to provide enhanced public access to government data and documents, launched by Shri Kapil Sibal on 30 Mar 2012 has been jointly developed by India and United States

Universities, Institutions etc

The University in Uttar Pradesh which has been recognised as University with Potential for Excellence Banaras Hindu University The university which has been awarded the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy for best performance in sports for the year 2010-11, by the Government of India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Punjabi University The university whose scientists have successfully cloned world's first pashmina goat in March 2012 Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural and Technological Sciences