Weekly Current Affairs (4 Febth to 10th Feb, 2013)

NATIONAL 1. India and Gibraltar have inked a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) that among other things calls for transparent sharing of information. This is the 13th TIEA being signed by India. Countries with whom India has signed TIEA pact are Bahamas, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Isle of Man, Cayman Islands, Jersey, Macau, Liberia, Argentina, Guernsey, Bahrain and Monaco. What is TIEA? It is a pact which allows the signatories to share tax related information based on international standard of transparency and exchange of information. Union Cabinet approved amendments to Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 The Union Cabinet has approved the proposals submitted by the Department of Personnel & Training for moving official amendments to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was referred to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha for examination and report. President of India Pranab Mukherjee Gave Assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee agreed to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 for sharpening the laws against sexual assault. The President mandated harsher punishment such as death penalty for the offenders in such cases where the victim either dies or lands into the vegetative state. The amended law would come into force almost immediately. Panel to Examine issues of Certification under Cinematograph Act 1952 Constituted The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on 4 February 2013 constituted a panel for examining the issues of certification under Cinematographer Act 1952. Shri Mukul Mudgal, the retired Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court was appointed the Chairman of the Panel Members of the Panel constituted to examine issues in Cinematographer Act 1952 by I&B Ministry includes: Mukul Mudgal is appointed as the chairperson of the panel. He is the retired chief justice of high court of Punjab and Haryana Lalit Bhasin, at present is the Chairperson of FCAT Sharmila Tagore, she was the former Chairperson of CBFC Janab Javed Akhtar, renowned music composer, writer and lyricist Leela Samson, she is the Chairperson of CBFC L Suresh, he is the Secretary of South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce and former President of Film Federation of India Rameeza Hakim, is the Advocate in Supreme Court of India Raghvendra Singh, he is the Joint Secretary (Films) and I&B-Member and Convenor

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INTERNATIONAL 1. Ahmadinejad is the first Iranian President to visit Egypt since 1979 Islamic Revolution Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran on 5 February 2013 became the first Iranian leader to visit Egypt after Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution. He flew into the Egyptian capital city Cairo for attending the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that started on 6 Feb 2013. Ahmadinejads visit to Egypt was scheduled to improve the ties between the two countries.

Weekly Current Affairs (4 Febth to 10th Feb, 2013)

2. Mo Yan and Jackie Chan Selected As Members of Chinese Parliament

Mo Yan, the winner of Nobel Prize for literature, 2012 and Jackie Chan, the movie star were given a political role in China by being selected as members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, one of the houses of Chinese parliament. Mo Yan and Jackie Chan were among 2237 people selected by China's new leaders led by Xi Jinping as the members of CPPCC National Committee. Out of 2237 people, 399 are women. Xi Jinping is the new general secretary of the Communist Party. He will become the President of China after two Houses of Parliament have meeting in March 2013. ECONOMY 1. Economic Growth of India Estimated to Fall To 5 Percent in 2012-2013 FY According to the government data revealed by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on 7 February 2013, the economic growth of India is estimated to fall to 5 percent in 2012-2013 financial year, which is a lowest figure in 10 years. A fall in the economic growth is because of the poor performance of the services, agriculture and manufacturing sectors. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) in its advance forecast of the national income chopped off the gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate to 5 percent for financial year which will end on 31 March 2013. This is much less than the GDP of 6.2 percent in 2011-2012 financial year. This is said to be the worst performance of economy of India since 2002-2003 when the economic growth was 4 percent. PERSONS 1. Obama honors Indian American Scientist Indian American scientist Rangaswamy Srinivasan has been honored with the prestigious 2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation by U.S. President Barack Obama. Rohinton Nariman submits resignation from Solicitor General of India The Solicitor General of India, senior advocate Rohinton F Nariman has resigned from the post amid speculation that the decision came over his differences with the Law ministry. Nariman has not stated any reason for quitting his post. The Solicitor General of India is the second senior most law officer of the country.

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AWARDS 1. Nayudamma award to VC of BHU Distinguished scientist and vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Lalji Singh, has been selected for the prestigious Dr Y Nayudamma memorial award for the year 2012. Why this award? The award is being given to him in recognition to his extraordinary contribution to life sciences and in honor of his untiring efforts for establishing DNA fingerprinting as a tool for both fundamental research and crime detection. He is also being rewarded for trying to unravel the puzzle of human evolution, in relation to the genetically diverse population especially the Andaman-Nicobar tribes. About Nayudamma Memorial Award: This award was established in 1986 in memory of distinguished chemical scientist and internationally renowned leather technologist Yelavarthy Nayudamma, and is conferred annually on persons who have made important contributions to the development of science and technology in the country.

Weekly Current Affairs (4 Febth to 10th Feb, 2013)

2. National award to Vizag for NREGS implementation Visakhapatanam (popularly known as Vizag) district of Andhra Pradesh was given a national award for successfully implementing the Mahatma Gandhi NREGS and thereby improving social equality.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1. Scientists create first digital atlas of brain Scientists at Berkeley Lab have created the worlds first genome-wide digital atlas of gene enhancers in the brain, the switches that tell genes when and where they need to be switched on or off. This atlas completely documents the cerebrum, the region of the brain that is vital for cognition, motor functions and emotion identifies and locates thousands of gene-regulating elements which are the underlying causes of neurological disorders. What are Gene Enhancers? Gene Enhancers are short pieces of DNA in the human genome. They are not actual genes, so they do not give rise to proteins. They are switches that tell the actual genes when to become switch on and produce a protein. Each cell type in our body has different sets of these enhancers switched on or off, and collectively they help to organize the activities of our 20,000 genes in each single cell.

SPORTS 1. South Africa tops ICC Rankings for Test Cricket South Africa was declared as the world number one team in the ICC Test Cricket Rankings. It is followed by England, Australia, Pakistan and India. India was at 5th spot. South African batsman Hashim Amla has emerged as the best batsman in the category and with this he became the first batsman to hold the number one position in both Test and One-day format of the game since 2007, before this Ricky Pointing was the cricketer to achieve this feat. In the bowling rankings, Dale Steyn, the South African bowler held the top spot followed by his teammate, Vernan Philander. Pragyan Ojha is the only one from Indian side to figure in the top ten bowlers in the test rankings. Sachin Tendulkar equaled Sunil Gavaskars record of 81 Centuries in First Class Cricket Sachin Tendulkar on 8 February 2013 equaled the record of Sunil Gavaskar of 81 first class hundreds in first class cricket at Mumbai. He managed to equal Gavaskars record after scoring an unbeaten 140 runs in Irani Trophy against Rest of India in the first innings of the tournament of Mumbai team. Michael Clarke bags his 4th Allan Border Medal Australian Cricket Teams skipper Michael Clarke has won his fourth Allan Border Medal. Previously, he won the medal in 2005, 2009 and 2012 medals. With this Clarke equalized Ricky Pointing who had also achieved this feat in past.

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