January 2013 Current Affairs Study Material

INTERNATIONAL
Palestinian Authority to be Named State of Palestine
On 7 January Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has signed a decree c
hanging the name of the Palestinian Authority to the
State of Palestine, " according
to the organization s official news agency.
Pakistani Supreme Court Orders Arrest of Prime Minister
On 15 January 2013 Pakistan s Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the prime minist
er in connection with a corruption case linked to power projects. The Supreme Co
urt gave authorities 24 hours to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and 16
others.This is the first in the history of Pakistan to arrest a Prime Minister.
The orders of the Court came following the allegations in connection with a cor
ruption case linked to power projects, done during his office of the Water and P
ower Minister.
Obama Signed 23 Executive Orders on Gun Safety
On 16 January President Barack Obama announced 23 executive actions on gun contr
ol laws, making them stricter,which would come into effect immediately after his
signatures. One of these measures include requiring the target shooters to keep
their guns locked and also to ban military-style assault weapons, high capacity
magazine as well as to make the background check mandatory.Obama announced that
this was his attempt to keep children safe, keeping in view the massacre of New
town where 20 first grade children along with six adults were killed.
140 Nations Agreed On Global Mercury Limits
On 19 January , More than 140 nations have agreed on the first legally binding t
reaty to curb mercury pollution.Delegates at UN discussed in Geneva approved mea
sures to control the use of the highly toxic metal, which is widely used in chem
ical production and small-scale mining, in order to limit mercury emissions.The
governments agreed to ban the production, export and import of a range of produc
ts containing mercury by 2020.The treaty has been discussed for four years, but
it is only now that the negotiators agreed over the final version of the documen
t. The treaty, known as the Minamata Convention on Mercury, provides controls an
d reductions across a range of products and processes where mercury is used, rel
eased and emitted.
Milos Zeman Elected as Czech Republic new President
On 25 January A leftist candidate Milos Zeman won the Czech Republic s first presi
dential election decided by direct vote.Milos Zeman, a former prime minister and
head of the Citizens Rights Party, won with 54.8% of the vote.He defeated Karel
Schwarzenberg, an aristocratic foreign minister with the TOP09 party, who garner
ed 45.2%.Zeman replaces Vaclav Klaus, who must step down after serving the maxim
um of two terms.
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INDIA & WORLD
India
Pakistan Exchanged Nuclear Unit s Lists
On 1 January India and Pakistan exchanged their nuclear units lists , as it is cu
stomary since 20 years. The list which contains the names of nuclear units of tw
o countries, are exchanged between India and Pakistan as a custom and part of an
agreement which prevents them from aiming the nuclear installations of each oth
ers nations.
Thousands of illegal Indian Migrants in UK
According to a 2012 UK Home Office report, India has been named along with Pakis
tan, China, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Brazil and Iran
as the main sources of illegal immigration to Britain.What the report does not
mention is how many of the 863,000 illegal migrants that it says are living in t
he UK are students. This is a contentious area because critics of the coalition
government claim it is counting students among overall immigrants.
World Economic Forum s Global Risks Report
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) report , India ranks lowest among th
e world s major economies for its preparedness to tackle global environmental risk
s and second-lowest for economic risks.Switzerland is best placed among the worl
d s 10 major economies for adapting to or recovering from global economic and envi

ronmental risks.While India is ranked 9th in terms of its ability to tackle glob
al economic risks, it comes last at 10th position for environmental risks.Howev
er, India fared relatively better at 6th position in terms of the government s ris
k management effectiveness.The US and China were ranked fourth and fifth respect
ively.
Indians Top the List of Working in Dream Jobs
According to survey conducted by networking website LinkedIn,Indians have emerge
d at the top of the list of people working in their dream job.The dream job leag
ue table:1. India 44 percent 2. Indonesia
42 percent 3. United Arab Emirates 35.
7 percent 4. Germany 33 percent 5. Brazil
32 percent 6. Austria
31 percent 7. Sw
itzerland 30 percent 8. USA
29 percent 9. France, Canada, Sweden, South Africa 2
8 percent 13. Singapore, Hong Kong 27 percent 15. Australia
26 percent 16. New Z
ealand 25 percent 17. UK
21 percent