• Cameron to face hacking probe against him
  Prime Minister David Cameron is likely to face hacking probe. Reports are rife that the P.M may be called before the public inquiry regarding the matter of the World phone-hacking scandal. He will be asked to answer questions about his linkups with Rupert Murdoch and his media group.
  
  The Times reported also stated that the inquiry may also call Mr. Murdoch to put forward his answers. Downing Street claimed that the P.M Mr. Cameron is willing to appear before the public enquiry if he is being called. The P.M spokesperson said that – the P.M’s office has not received any request to appear before the enquiry and even if they are going to receive it then the Prime Minister will definitely attend it.
  
  The relationship of Mr. Cameron's with Mr. Murdoch and his newspaper group was under scrutiny following Murdoch newspapers move of shifting their support from Labour to the Conservative Party during the last general election.
  
  As per the, The Times report Mr. Cameron may be asked to elaborate about his controversial decision in which he decided to hire the former NoW editor Andy Coulson as his media chief. He was warned not to take such step as news about his links in the hacking allegation was on the rounds.
  
  Mr Coulson later resigned in January last year following the reopening of the case by the police. Mr. Coulson was soon arrested but later released on bail.

$300m stake in Twitter bought by Saudi prince


• Saudi prince and billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal who is an investor in world's top companies, also bought a $300 million stake in the fast-growing microblogging site Twitter. By this move the Prince has gained another foothold in the media industry of the world.

  Alwaleed is a nephew of the Saudi king and he has a personal net whose worth was estimated by Forbes magazine in March this year and is just some points below $20 billion. Not only this Alwaleed also owns a 7 per cent stake in News Corp and he further plans to start a cable news channel in his homeland.

  The stake in the Twitter was bought jointly by Alwaleed and his Kingdom . He also owns a Co investment firm and that the stake was bought after months of negotiations with the sites company. Following the stake buying the shares in the Prince Kingdom jumped to 5.7 percent in stock and trade market in Saudi Arabia.

Microsoft goes a sort of social type


• The renowned tech company Microsoft has also brought itself in the scene of social media and all this was done in a low key affair. Microsoft also owns a small stake in the Facebook.

  the site that has been introduced is made just for students who wants to share interesting discoveries over the internet and the site looks like a composition of both Facebook and Google +.

  Though only certain universities have access to this site, the site is a blend of functions like web browsing, search functions and networking and it also includes an interesting feature named "video party".

Hotline launched by the US for detained immigrants


• In order to help the detained immigrants a telephone hotline was launched by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement department. This hotline will allow the detained immigrants detained in their country to help them know their rights and to allow them to report cases if they are being treated unfair by other peoples.

  The phone number can be used by detained immigrants. The move was launched as the US officials feels that the immigrants they may be US citizens or they may be victims of crime.

  To ensure that such people who are in custody are properly notified about their rights. The US department guarantees that the phone line is made available 24 hours a day and will be having many interpreters in several languages so as to employee effective communication between the immigrants and the concerned authorities.

US blames Pak for NATO air strike being carried by them


• As another blow to the already weakened relationship between the US and the Pakistan was announced when the US blamed the Pakistani officials for the NATO strike carried out by them. Be it the aggressive approach towards Pakistan or their tactical need in Afghanistan, all the hopes were laid down to rest when the Pentagon said that the respect all rules engagement and international law of conflict hinting to the NATO strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

  Further the Washington even named the incident an act of war. An official said that-“the Pakistani soil misbehaved that led the NATO to strike back. And such response is continued then they will again shot back.

  Pentagon spokesman captain John Kirby further said that they have delivered the report regarding the same to Pakistan’s general Kayani in Islamabad by a US officer in charge. The officer is going to explain every detail of the findings to the general.

Hearing for the suspected WikiLeaks leaker concludes


• The hearing for the WikiLeaks leaker was concluded in a US court. The leaker was a US Army intelligence analyst. He was accused of leaking secret classified files to the WikiLeaks website which gave enemies complete access to government secrets. However the defence lawyer of the accused said that his client has done no crime.

  The lawyers from both the sides made several arguments at the hearing in order to decide whether Bradley Manning who is a Private First Class person should be court-martialed for the charges held against at him. The charges include aiding the enemy and wrongfully causing intelligence reports to be published on the Internet that caused furore and a mess for the government.

  The prosecution held 22 criminal charges against the accused further saying that the massive release of documents by the accused had caused harm to national security.

International Current Affairs 2011

50bps cut on reserve ratio by china


• China’s bank –People’s Bank of China (PBOC) decreased the reserve ratio for banks by 50bps. This move was taken to support China’s economy as economical growths are getting down in other parts of the world.

  Before the announcements on the cuts were made reserve ratio was recorded 21.5%. This is the first such blow on the major monetary loosening by the PBOC since Dec 2008. Not only this the PBOC had earlier raised the RRR 6 times this year and even raised lending limits more than 5 times since the year 2010.The last RRR increase was recorded on June 20th this year.

Unemployment rate drops to 8.6% leading the U.S economy to add 120,000 new jobs


• In the U.S the unemployment rate dropped to 8.6% which lead to the addition of 120000 new jobs all over the country. This percentage was the lowest to be recorded in the last two years as announced by the Department of Labor.

  In October this year the rate was 9%. As the U.S employers added 120000 new jobs this proved to be a significant improvement by the gain of 80000 jobs as compared to last month record.

  Although this is still not a good news because if compared with the past 3 months the economy has added only an average of 114000 net jobs every month which is hardly enough to go by the population growth.

  At present America still have 14 million jobless people, the economy needs to bulk up the job addition by 250,000jobs a month to bring down the unemployment rate substantially.

Ex-Taliban to attend Afghan talks despite US disapproval


• Ex-members of Taliban are going to attend the Bonn conference to be held in Germany for the topic about the future of Afghanistan after the year 2014.

  The Afghan governments list of invitation to the meeting is being viewed as a crucial step to hammer out the country’s future but regarding the invitation to the former members of Taliban the U.S officials have backed out of the meeting.

  The organizations former ambassador to Pakistan Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef along with other members of the delegation has already reached France to discuss in advance about the agenda of the meeting.

  Regarding the meeting the US ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said that there is no place for the involvement of former Taliban members to attend the meeting in order to decide the future of the troubled country.

British PM weighs in on euro-zone changes


• German drive for swift change for the European Union's treaty. This treaty is a sign of the difficulty that the leaders will face while transforming Europe to save the euro. In the meeting both the countries France and Germany are going to decide to reach to a solution of reaching a consensus that states that all euro zone economies are required to be bounded more closely if they want the euro to survive as a single currency. This means that changing the European treaty to give Brussels powers in order to punish spendthrift euro states.

International Current Affairs 2011

Unemployement rates down in U.S


• New employees added by the U.S were less than what was expected but the latest data on job employement showed that unemployement rates in the U.S went down which gave U.S President Barack Obama a new boost to fight against un-employement. In Octobar itself payrolls for non-farm organisations were up by 8000, making a jump on the payrolls amount in September.Analysts have said that though the employement rate will evolve rapidly, but the pace at which the growth will depend is still slow to keep pace with the country’s population.

Libyan dictator Gaddafi captured and killed


• Libyan rebels captured toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi in his home town Sirte after taking control over his home town and consequently killed him in bid to take revenge for all the haunting massacre he performed. Though the initial reports claimed that Col Gaddafi was wounded when he was caught but later reports confirmed that he was killed by bullet shots forged into his head. A video showed that Gaddafi before being killed was severely wounded, beaten and mocked by the rebels and that after he died his body was taken on for display to the nearby locals. Even his son Mo’tassim were killed in crossfire when he was trying to escape and that the bodies of both Col Gaddafi and Mo’tassim were buried on an unknown desert location in order to prevent their graves from converting into a shrine by any remaining follower of the dictator. After the news of Gaddafi’s assassination broke out wild celebrations were performed in the city that is being secured by the NTC forces.

Industrial growth improving


• The industrial production of India expanded but less than what was expected in the August month giving more evidences of Asia’s third largest economy’s industrial development slowdown.Industry expert say that the reason for slowdown is the soaring interest rates and high inflation ratio in the country.The growth lagged by 4.1 percent as compare to the growth in the August month but there was only slight improvement in the growth that was calculated in the month of July.

Delivery of arms to Taiwan by U.S moving at snail’s pace


• Reports say that the transfer of U.S arms to Taiwan is moving at a very slow pace in contrary to what was expected. The chief for the U.S –China ties that slowdown is affecting several major weapons system transfer.The 2011 annual report showed that only 4 out of 60 Hawk helicopters for e.g. were placed in mid October even though the U.S administration informed the makers of the planned sale meant for Taiwan.The lag between the transfer of important and sophisticated weapons to Taiwan may lead to rise of question about the lack of urgency either on the U.S side or Taiwan’s side or for both.

Punjab militancy being revived by ISI


• As suggested by the U.S reports , the Inter- Services Intelligence of Pakistan is continuing its activities to create instability in India. ISI is a spy agency which has close links with the Islamic terrorist organisation, is now focusing on Khalistani extremist groups to train them and to send them to create terrorism in the Punjab province. In the month of October the terrorist group Lashkar- e – Taiba which is being backed by the ISI agency joined hands with the Khalistani extremist groups Babbar Khalsa to make terror strikes in the Indian state Punjab and in its capital city New Delhi. Their previous attempt of attack was foiled by the security personnel when they caught a huge cache of explosive from a car in Ambala city.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke up in a news conference


• Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai spoke during a news conference in Kabul about the so called reality check imposed on him as said by U.S secretary of state Hillary Clinton during her visit to Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that as said he will be cooperating with neighbouring country Pakistan on both the topics related to war and economic development. He further said that he considers its neighbouring country Pakistan as his twin brother and that he will be by Pakistan’s side whenever the former needs any sort of assistance.

7.2 Richter scale earthquake hits Turkey


• An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale hit Turkey killing a number of people on 23 October. As per the reports approximately 93 people died in the Van province and around 45 died in the Erics district. As the rescue operation is going on it is said that the death toll will rise a more bodies will be evacuated from the debris. The earthquake depth was 20 kilometres with its epicentre 16 kilometre away from the Van city’s north east region. Not only this after the massive earthquake the eastern part of Turkey was struck by a series of powerful jolts with their centre in the north of Van that made things more worse than ever. After 7.2 , the Turkish region experienced two more jolts measured 6 and 5.6 on the Richter scale. Scientists say that turkey is prone to earthquakes as it lies in the major geological fault lines.

Vietnam and Indian signed a total of 6 agreements


• Vietnam and India have signed a total of six agreements that included joint oil exploration in South China Sea. The agreement was signed during the Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang’s visit to India. The agreement included the following things: Friendship pact Oil exploration in South China Sea The Extradition Treaty between the two countries Cooperation in sports and tourism Not only this both the countries also signed a Security Dialogue between their home ministries. And both the countries have decided to increase their trade target by 8 million dollars by the year 2015. The present trade target is around 2.8 million U.S dollars. And both the countries discussed the situation regarding the Oil exploration on the South China Sea.

International Current Affairs 2011

Zardari nods to cooperate with China


• Pakistan will cooperate with China to overcome terrorism and secessionism, cited Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani President. Zardari repeated Pakistan’s pledge to get rid of extremism and he promised China of his nation’s full cooperation in overcoming terrorism and secessionism, reported Associated Press of Pakistan. The Pakistani president landed in China in late August to be present at the first China-Eurasia Expo to be hosted by Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, in the first week of September. He alleged Pakistan denounces terrorism in all its types and appearances and will not relax on any attempt to get rid of it. Zardari also talked about his daughters were on board with him on the trip, which is a testimony of the relationships between the two nations existing since generations. He further talked about the upcoming trip of Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to China later on this week to be present at the International Political Conference and assumed it demonstrates Pakistan and China were making efforts to fortify relations and ultimately deep-rooting their international polity.

United States downgraded to AA+


• The United States parted company with its respected AAA credit rating for the first time in seven decades after being downgraded by Standard & Poor's. The country's credit rating was cut to AA+ following S&P alleged the conciliation made by Congress and President Obama in early August to slash expenditure and enhance the liability upper limit "doesn’t meet the level, in our view, would be essential to even out the government's standard-term debt dynamics." The agency was frank in its evaluation. Its statement read: "We downgraded the 70-year long AAA rating of the United States since we think that the protracted storm over increasing the constitutional liability upper limit and the associated monetary policy debate point out that additional upcoming development surrounding the increase in public expenditure, particularly on privileges, or coming to an agreement on generating income is less probable than we formerly understood and will stay put to a arguable and intermittent procedure," the ratings firm believed.

International Current Affairs 2011

Death toll rises in Syria

War will continue even if NATO stops bombings-Gaddafi

Hina Rabbani khar appointed as Pak’s new Foreign Minister

George Best’s ex wife blames phone hacking scandal for his death

China to launch safety campaign after the severe train crash

Pravakar Sahoo – China leave India trailing

Trades between India and Canada to reach $15 Billion:

Healthy Rankings for India on Global Stage:

Current Affairs [May 2011]

Most wanted deadly terrorist Osama Bin Laden Dead


• The most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden was finally gunned down by the US troops in alliance with CIA agents. The deadly terrorist was killed in a house in Abbottabad, Pakistan. This city of Pakistan houses at least 5, 00,000 people that includes a Pakistani military base and a military academy. After Osama refused to surrender he was shot dead by the US military troops. News of his death spread like wild fire and the Americans relieved to joy.
• In the light of this news a Pakistani parliamentary training centre was attacked by two suicide bombers which killed 80 people and wounded more than 120 people. All this attack was announced as retaliation for the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
• Following the attacks the Taliban took the responsibility and even condemned the Pakistani government from failing to stop the US military raid.

IMF head arrested for sexual assault:


• IMF (International Monetary Fund) head Dominique Strauss Kahn was arrested for sexually assaulting a maid at a Manhattan Hotel. Dominique who’s also a political figure in France was taken into custody at Kennedy International Airport. His arrest aroused a mixed sense of disbelief, anger and embarrassment among the masses in France. Dominique had a well formed reputation among the political Supremes.
• Dominique was even considered as the next best candidate for presidential seat after the Nicolas Sarkozy. Following his arrest Strauss has resigned as the Managing Director of IMF. On may 19th Strauss was indicted with multiple charges like attempted to rape, sexual abuse amongst others.

Floods leads to massive Evacuations Along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers :


• Heavy rains have caused severe flooding in the regions of Ohio valleys and Mississippi. All the regions like Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri and Arkansas are flooded heavily and have been evacuated leaving people to leave their home and move towards higher planes for shelter. The engineers and disaster control management team have been working on how to lower the river level in order to stop further destruction. As per the sources the flooding water in the river of Mississippi is flowing at a massive speed nearly 17 million gallons a second. And the river level has risen above the danger level that is to 56.3 feet which is 13 feet above the danger level. Flood control department is deciding to open the portion Morganaza Spillway but it has its own danger effect that is it will flood the other areas’.

French nationals to sue sarkozy over crimes in Libya:


• Two French lawyers have said that they are planning to sue French President Nicolas Sarkozy against the Humanity crimes over the military campaign in Libya that was led by NATO. Jacques Verges and Roland Dumas two of the French lawyers have decided to represent the families of the victims during the military campaign. It was said that the military campaign that was initiated as a means to protect the civilians was in fact responsible for their killings. The two lawyers said the military campaign as an inhuman assault against the common man and a sovereign country, and that they have decided to defend the victims of the military campaign.
• It was said that the two lawyers have decided to defend the victims of the NATO bombings because they themselves saw the aftermath consequences of the bombings when they visited Libya.
• Though the western government has denied any civilian casualties caused during the NATO bombings, Verges and Dumas have said that they had seen several such casualties at various such hospitals and there are almost 20,000 such victims.

Pakistan gets Chinese aid against the US raids.


• After the killing of the deadly terrorist Osama Bin Laden, US have accused Pakistan Government for harbouring the deadly terrorist for many years. Now by doubling its military attacks on Pakistan the US wants to enter into the sphere that’s influenced by the Chinese Government. But in retaliation to the Obama Administration the Chinese government has again lend a helping hand towards Pakistan by providing air arsenal and even warned the US government that any sort of attack on Pakistan would considered as an inhuman and unfriendly attack on the Chinese government too.
• The Chinese government has clearly said that any attack on Pakistan will be considered as an attack against China which will not be tolerated. This is the 1st such blunt ultimatum for the US government after the Soviet warning during the crisis in Berlin in the year 1958-1961. This indicates the danger of war between the two countries Pakistan and the US.
• China’s support has been a critically important for the Pakistani government and this relation is not seen as good for the US and the Indian government as it has been said that: “If the US and the Indian government continues to put pressure on the Pakistani government, then Pakistan officials can say that we are not alone our friend China is Behind us. We have a super power nation as our friend”.

Death toll rising at fast pace and the massive unrest continues to grow


• The Syrian protests have entered their tenth week and thousands of protestors came to the streets all over the country after the Friday prayers. In order to keep police and the security forces at bay the protest this time were held during the nights over the weekends. As per the reports at least two people were killed during the army operation in Rastan away from the city of Homs. Even many activists called the day for massive demonstration against the brutal torture and killing of a 13year old boy named as Hamza-al-Khatib.
• As per the reports from the local media 32 soldiers and some police personnel were also injured during the clashes and 3 police men lost their life. Also a policeman’s son was among the ones who were killed during the clashes between the protestors and the forces.
• As the reports around 143 soldiers, police men and security forces have lost their lives from the day the unrest began in the country and more than 1000 people have been killed during the clashes and almost 10,000 arrested.
• In the midst of the clashes the Interior Minister Ibrahim al Shaar has announced that he is going to listen to the complaints of the civilians in person.

Fear grows as EU suspends all aid to Syria


• Almost 100 of people are about to lose their jobs as the EU has decided to cut down on all major aids to the Syrian government. Tishreen newspaper was quoted as saying that though the Syrian government will be affected by the aid cancellation but the common man will suffer the most as they will be on the verge to lose their jobs. It is said that in order to loosen up the stability of the Syrian government the stopping of aid is one such step by the European government.
• Meanwhile the G-8 has announced support of around 40bn for the Arab countries. This support is meant in order to help the Arab countries to move towards a better Democratic government policy. Half of the sum from the 40bn support will be spent for the Tunisian and the Egyptian government reform.
• Russian premier Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying that the Russian government is not going to back EU states and the US at the security council meet.

Oscar Nominated Director killed in Libya


• Two veteran journalists including Oscar nominated Director Tim Hetherington were killed in the town of Mistrata on 13/4/2011 while covering the battles between the rebels and the Libyan government forces. Tim (40) was nominated this year for codirecting the Afghanistan war story Restrepo in Best Documentary category. Chris Hondros, a New York-based photographer for Getty Images, was also killed. His work has appeared in many famous magazines and newspapers all around the World and has been awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal, which is one of the most prestigious awards for War Photography. Two other journalists Guy Martin and Michael Christopher Brown, who were freelancing for several large publications were also wounded.

Japan Atomic Crisis Reaches Chernobyl Level as Radiation Climbs


• Japan's nuclear safety agency has raised the severity level of the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant from level 5 to level 7 which ranks it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. It doesn't mean it's as bad as Chernobyl but it's still a negative development nonetheless. There have been only two level-seven incidents in nuclear history: the Chernobyl catastrophe 25 years ago in the Ukraine and now Fukushima, on the east coast of Japan. The disaster in Ukraine spewed debris as high as 9 kilometers into the air and released radiation 200 times the volume of the combined bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, according to a 2006 report commissioned by Europe’s Green Party. The March 11 earthquake, the nation’s strongest on record, and tsunami left about 27,500 dead or missing, according to Japan’s National Police Agency. Japan was struck by two earthquakes stronger than magnitude 6 again on April that hindered recovering efforts as workers were temporarily evacuated.

Kate marries Prince William


• Prince William second in line to the throne married his long time girlfriend Kate Middleton at a service in London’s West Minister Abbey on 29/4/2011. The pair exchanged in the presence of close to two thousand guests while the rest of the World watched it live on television. It was the most eagerly awaited and anticipated wedding since the Charles and Diana wedding. Middleton looked beautiful in her ivory and white satin dress with lace sleeves and shoulders, designed by Sarah Burton of the Alexander McQueen fashion house. The crowds cheered when the newly weds travelled in an open carriage on their way back to the Buckingham Palace from the abbey. Hundreds of thousands of people appeared in front of the palace to witness the kiss between the newly weds from the balcony while street parties where held across the United Kingdom to cheer the royal couple. The wedding was watched by close to two billion people across the globe. The couple will be known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge following their marriage.

Osama Bin Laden killed in Pakistan


• The worlds most dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden has been shot dead by American Navy Seals on 2/5/2011 after he was found to be staying in relative luxury in a house just few hundred meters away from a Pakistani military academy in Abbotabad. Bin Laden was shot in the face and chest when the American forces sprung a surprise attack and the whole mission was performed without the consent or the knowledge of Pakistan. Obama, in his address to the nation shortly before midnight, thanked the Americans who have toiled in pursuit of bin Laden and applauded those who carried out the successful mission in Pakistan. “For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al Qaeda’s leader and symbol,” Obama said. “The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda.” This comes as a real embarrassment to the Pakistani government which has been maintaining for many years now that Osama was not there in Pakistan. And to find him holed up in a facility just yards away from a prestigious military academy which is also just a couple of hours away from Islamabad poses many tough questions regarding Pakistani’s commitment to fighting terror. The US government had further declared that they would carry out such operations again in the future if the need arises. The US is already mulling over whether they should sanction further aid to Pakistan unless they come up with satisfactory answers regarding how Osama was found where he was. This is a serious intelligence lapse and does not auger well for the country that is already reeling under various problems that threaten the very fabric of the nation. It remains to be seen how the nation will cope with the allegations.

Syria lifts emergency rule


• Syria's government approved lifting the country's nearly 50-year-old state of emergency on 19/4/2011 in an effort to satisfy the one of the key demands of the anti government protestors. But the government also issued a stern warning to call of the protests against President Bashar Assad’s hard line rule. Assad the previous week had told his cabinet to remove the state of emergency – in place since his Baath Party took power in March 1963 – but added that such a move would give protesters no more reason to take to the streets. This could give Assad further pretext to move against any further marches or rallies. The Syrian population how ever shows no signs of letting down after being inspired by the successful revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt. Most of Syria’s 23 million people were born or grew up under the strict control of the state of emergency. Assad hard line rule means strict control over the media, allowing eavesdropping on telecommunications and permitting arrests without warrants from judicial authorities.

Earthquake and Tsunami strike Japan


• A powerful earthquake of 8.9 magnitude struck Japan on its north eastern coast on 11/3/2011. The earthquake resulted in a massive tsunami that caused wide scale destruction and loss of thousands of lives. Cars, ships and buildings were all swept away by the rampaging waters of the Tsunami which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo. The port city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture was one of the worst affected. Ten metre waves struck the city deluging everything that was part of it-farmlands, cars, buildings, houses etc. Fires broke out in the city following the deluge. A cluster of two to three hundred bodies were found in one part of this city alone. This is the most powerful natural disaster to have struck Japan in its recorded history and is considered 8000 times more powerful than what struck Christchurch in New Zealand earlier this year.
  As of March 30th 2011 according to official estimates the death toll now stands at 11,257 while another 16,344 people are still missing. Many of the survivors who have been displaced have lost all their property to the Tsunami. More than 173,200 people are living in the 2000 evacuation centres in the 17 prefectures mostly in the northern side of the country. Among the worst affected prefectures which are Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate 146,628 displaced people have been housed in close to 1,245 evacuation centres.

Nuclear Crisis


• The massive earthquake that struck the north east coast of Japan has resulted in a catastrophic situation at the Fukushima Nuclear power plant. When the earthquake struck they switched off the reactor and where about to use the onsite diesel back up power. The tsunami then struck and the back up power also failed. Hence after losing electric power, that system could not be used. Instead the operators are dumping seawater into the vessel and letting it cool the fuel by boiling. But as it boils, pressure rises too high to pump in more water, so they have to vent the vessel to the atmosphere, and feed in more water, a procedure known as "feed and bleed." Thousands of people residing in areas close to the plant were evacuated. Over the following days there have been many instance of radiation exposure traced in the vicinity. Radioactive water found in and outside reactor buildings is delaying work to restore cooling functions of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Libyan Uprising


• Having received inspiration from the revolutions of Egypt and Tunisia the next country to vehemently protest against government autocracy is the North African country of Libya. The public are fighting to bring down Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year rule and are demanding new leadership and democratic elections. What actually began as a series of peaceful demonstrations took ugly turns when Gaddafi’s army tried to crush protests by using force eventually turning into an all out civil war in the days to come. In a matter of days the uprising had spread to other parts of Libya and Gaddafi was having trouble retaining control over many parts of the country. Gaddafi a harder nut to crack than Mubarak has continued to be on the offensive and refuses to give up power in spite of all the diplomatic pressure, much to the chagrin of his own country men. On 19/3/2011 a multi-state coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which was taken in response to the uprising in Libya. The military operations began, with US and British forces firing over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles, the French Air Force and British Royal Air Force[ undertaking sorties across Libya and a naval blockade by the Royal Navy. Air strikes against Libyan Army tanks and vehicles by French jets have since been confirmed. The situation is far from peaceful and remains to be seen what would be the outcome of the situation in the days to come.

Elizabeth Taylor passes away


• One of Hollywood’s greatest icons Dame Elizabeth Taylor breathed her last on 23/3/2011 due to congestive heart failure. The 79 year old actress has been in the public eye for six decades having won three academy awards and has acted in over 50 films. The Cleopatra star's stunning looks, including her famed violet eyes, earned her fans around the globe and her stormy personal life that included eight marriages received as much press interest as some of her best works. She won two Oscars for her performances in “Butterfield 8”(1960) and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) and a third Oscar for her humanitarian work in 1993. The actress has also battled many health ailments undergoing as much as 20 surgeries during the course of her life. In her later years she was a spokeswoman for several causes, most notably AIDS research.

Mubarak resigns, Egypt celebrates


• The people of Egypt went wild with celebrations after President Hosni Mubarak resigned and handed power to the military on 11th February. For eighteen days thousands of people had taken to the streets all over Egypt demanding the ouster of their autocratic President who had been in power for the past thirty years. One of the key reasons for such public outrage has been widespread poverty, inflation and rampant corruption in the government for many years. Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the anti-government protests burst with joy when the announcement was made. This has been a hard fought struggle for the people of Egypt after many episodes of violence having been reported between the public and Mubaraks forces.

China overtakes Japan as world's second-biggest economy


• China has now overtaken Japan as the world's second-biggest economy. Japan's economy was worth $5.474 trillion (£3.414 trillion) at the end of 2010, figures from Tokyo have shown while that of China's economy is closer to $5.8 trillion for the same period. China has been enjoying a manufacturing boom for quite a few years now and it is expected that at its current rate of growth, analysts see China replacing the US as the world's top economy in about a decade. The US economy is currently almost three times the size of the Chinese economy in dollar terms.

New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 148 people


• A massive earthquake on 22nd Feb has caused massive destruction in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. The 6.3-magnitude earthquake was the second in five months for the city and the death toll continues to increase with the police having confirmed 148 deaths with 200 still missing. The damage caused has been said to be much worse than the 7.1-magnitude quake on 4 September, which left two people seriously injured but no fatalities. The city's historic cathedral was one of the many buildings that got significantly damaged, while cars lay in a mangled heap under a pile of rubble and roads cracked open with fissures as a result of the tremors. Dazed, bleeding residents could be seen wandering through streets strewn with debris and piles of concrete.

Libyan people take to the streets in their demand for freedom


• Inspired by the outcomes of Tunisia and Egypt over the past few weeks the people of Libya have also taken out to the streets in their cries for freedom against their autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi. Thousands of people have joined the struggle and there have been continuous reports of frequent clashes with the Muammars loyalists and the protesting public. Scores of people have been reported killed in continuing violence in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, amid escalating protests against Muammar Gaddafi's 40-year rule across the North African nation. With each passing day the leader seems to be losing support from people working in his own government and is also under increasing pressure from International powers to step down.

The Kings Speech Wins Best Picture at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards


• ‘The Kings Speech’ had a great outing at this years Oscars winning four awards. The film won in the best picture category and its director Tom Hooper received Best Director. Colin Firth received the award for best actor for his central role in Kings Speech while best female actor went to Natalie Portman for Black Swan. ‘The Best Supporting Actor’ and The Best Supporting Actress’ awards were bagged by Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for their performances in film, ‘The Fighter’. Indian musician AR Rahman missed out on his two nominations for his score in ‘127 hours.’

• Salman Taseer Killed in Islamabad
  Punjab Governor Salman Tasser was shot dead by one of his own body guards at the Khosar market in Islamabad. Taseer was a member of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party(PPP) and was vocal on a various issues including Pakistans Blasphemy Law. The assassin was Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, a member of Punjab Elite Force who shot the Governor with his weapon and surrendered to the security forces moments after shooting the governor dead. Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters that the killer admitted to killing the Governor over his statement when he called the Blasphemy Law as a “black law”.
• Iranian plane crash kills 77
  The IranAir Boeing 727 was flying from Tehran with 106 passengers when it came down and crashed near the city of Orumiyeh. With 77 casualties at least 35 people have said to have been injured. According to official reports plane had taken off an hour later than scheduled, and came down because of bad weather conditions. This is the second major crash since 2009 when a plane caught fire mid are resulting 168 deaths. The country has been under international sanctions for years, preventing it from buying new aircrafts or spare parts from the West. Hence as a result the countries civil fleet of aircrafts are in poor condition due to their old age and lack of maintenance.
• 35 dead at Moscow Airport Blast.
  A suicide bomber carrying a suitcase walked into Moscow’s busy Domodedovo airport and set off a huge explosion Monday, killing at least 35 people and wounding 180. The air was engulfed in a cloud of smoke with body parts and shrapnel strewn all over the place. Hundreds of people were in the loosely guarded area at the time. The blast was the worst terrorist attack since two female suicide bombers from the troubled Dagestan region blew themselves up on Moscow’s subway last March, killing 40 people.
• Whistleblower Elmer hands over bank data to Wikileaks
  Swiss whistle-blower and former banker Rudolf Elmer has given WikiLeaks information about bank accounts of more than 2,000 prominent individuals who have parked money offshore. Rudolf Elmer once worked in the office of Julius Baer in the Cayman Islands until he was fired by the bank in 2002. The Swiss whistleblower Rudolf Elmer handed over two CDs containing the data to the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, in London on 16/1/2011. However Julian Assange has said the information was unlikely to be published soon and may take a few weeks to process and confirm them.
• Brisbane Faces Worst Flood Since 1893
  Brisbane faces its worst floods since 1893 as overflowing rivers have begun to engulf the city. Overnight, emergency workers went from door to door in Brisbane helping residents flee to higher ground, with hundreds relocating to evacuation centres. About 2500 businesses are said to be fully affected and another 2500 partially affected. Close to 3000 people are in evacuation centres across the state and 60 schools and almost 90 kindergartens and childcare centres have been severely damaged or are inaccessible. The death toll from the floods disaster has risen to 15 and the many parts of the city have been affected by massive power cuts.
• Massive Protests Rock Egypt
  Egypt has been rocked by violent protests by demonstrators who have been demanding the ouster of the country's longtime autocratic president, Hosni Mubarak. Tens and thousandths of people have taken out to streets raising slogans with protests turning violent in many parts of the country. The tension increased today when Mohammed ElBaradei, a former top official at the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency and a high-profile Mubarak opponent was placed under house arrest when he returned to Cairo in his bid to provide a leader for the mass movement.

• Sri Lanka abandons Tamil version of its national album
  The Sri lankan government has decided to scrap the tamil version of the national anthem in its official and state functions. This move may possibly further alienate the tamil minorities in the country. A directive to use only the Sinhalese version as been sent by the ministry as president Rajapakse pointed out that no country uses two versions of the same language.
• China reveals world’s fastest train
  China unveiled its new high speed train CRH380 that can clock a maximum speed of 486.1 kmph. It is said to be much faster than even the bullet trains of Japan. At a cruising speed of 380 this is certainly a major accomplishment. China on its part has gone ahead and is now working on a model that is expected to clock 600kmph.
• Mark Zuckerberg, Times Person Of The Year
  Times magazine has named Mark Zuckerberg as the person of the year . Mr Zuckerberg is the founder of thesmash hit social networking site Facebook and is also the world youngest billionaire currently. Although, Julian Assange the editor in chief of wikileaks was the pick of the time readers, but Zuckerberg won because of the scope and reach his website and how it has touched and remodeled our thoughts on social networking bringing the world that much more closer. Facebook has reached 500 million users this year all around the globe and the numbers are still counting.

• Pakistan’s Initiative against Terrorism
  Pakistan has been the victim of international terrorism in the past few months. As a result of this, a top US official recently said that Islamabad should begin to crack down on terrorists and terrorist groups operational within the country immediately. Barrack Obama, President of the United States of America has also agreed to this statement and feels that Pakistan has been one of the major victims of international terrorism lately. President Obama also said that Pakistan needs to take strong and immediate steps against all terrorist groups operating on Pakistani soil. Furthermore, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said that a number of terrorist groups are operating in a syndicate and working together against American interests, not just in the US but in other nations such as Afghanistan and India as well. Mr. Blake also stated that the US has welcomed every step take by Pakistan so far and that it is in full support of Pakistan as always.
• UN’s terrorism sanctions list
  In a recent and sudden move, a US committee took down several names of al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists off its terrorism sanction lists. The committee said that the reason for such an action was that several of the names on the sanctions list were probably dead. The committee Chairman Thomas Mayr Harting said that following this step, the committee had started investigations into how many terrorists put on the list were actually dead. This committee was set up in 1999.
• New Government in Iraq
  Prolonged warring and quarrels between rival political factions in Iraq had caused over an eight month deadlock over the issue of forming the next government. Recently, the Iraqi Prime Minister appealed to these political factions to work together and unite following his acceptance of the President’s request to form the next government. Senior officials admitted that a Herculean task now lay before them, that of forming a government comprising of members of all possible political factions. The task has been made harder by the month long deadline to form the government which will preside over the country’s affair as US troops move out and power is handed back to the Iraqi people. The new government is expected to have members from all the political factions such as the Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis. Prime Minister Designate al-Maliki called upon al Iraqi citizens and politicians to help him in this difficult task.
• Friendly neighbor China
  Rising concerns over China’s assertive and aggressive attitude in the Asian continent has prompted China’s President Hu Jintao to assure all nations that China is committed to being a friendly and helpful neighbor. China has been in the news recently over its spats with neighboring nations over international borders and territories. The reason for this has been said to be China’s interests in a group of potentially resource rich islands in the Asian Pacific. Speaking to leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Japan, President Hu said that China was committed to the regional policy of building good neighborliness and friendship.
• Rolls Royce sued by Qantas
  Australian flight safety officials have recently warned that manufacturing defects have been found in the Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines. Officials further urged airlines using these engines to carry extensive checks before using them because defects present in them could lead to catastrophic failures. In the meanwhile, Qantas began court proceedings against Rolls Royce and was granted an injunction by the federal court of Australia which ensured that the airline could pursue legal action against the engine manufacturing giants.
• Myanmar polls called fake
  The first democratic polls in Myanmar after several years of military rule were held among complaints of threats, intimidation and accusations of the polls being a charade. In most constituencies, the poll was a competition between the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the National Unity Party (NUS). Several accusations were made by opposition parties against the USDP, claiming that they illegally collected advanced ballots. USA and UK officials also voiced their concerns about the transparency and fairness of these polls.
• China’s slowest growth
  China had its slowest rate of economic growth in a year during the September quarter. In addition to this, a World Bank report hinted at a further decrease in its economic growth. One of the reasons for this has been the long term inflation that China has faced for almost two years. China’s industrial growth has also fallen considerably in recent times. This slow growth in China’s economy has gotten many people to believe that India might be the next economic superpower to rise because of its high levels of industrial and economic growth in recent times. Though not immediately, but experts predicted India’s rate of growth to exceed that of China’s by a considerable margin in the next five years.

• India gets UNSC non-permanent seat:
  The biggest news on the international front for India has been its inclusion into the UNSC as a non-permanent member after a gap of 19 years. Even as India’s acclamation for a non-permanent bench on the body that includes fifteen members in total was an inevitable cessation afterwards Kazakhstan back out of the chase for the Asian bench beforehand in early January. India got an unbelievable 187 of the 191 votes in the UN General Assembly ballot on October 14th 2010. India's previous spell in the Security Council was way back in 1992. Almost immediately afterwards India's appointment, Indian agent to the United Nations Hardeep Singh Puri put it straight that New Delhi would make use of this couple of year valid span to build assurance and accord a feeling of aplomb to the five non changing associates (famously known as the P-5) - the United States of America, Russia, Britain, France and China. Considering that Brazil, a running affiliate of the United Nation Security Council, and South Africa and Germany, which got appointed with India, on October 14th were as well in contention for a permanent membership, he stated: 'Of course everybody of us will attempt to bring into play the two years we need to render our allies a feeling of aplomb and formulate trust and faith so that they are at ease with our role playing in the United Nation Security Council on a continued period of time'.
• India and Mozambique sign 3 agreements:
  India and Mozambique came together and signed three agreements and a credit band of 500 million United States dollars has been advanced to that nation state for works regarding the infrastructure, agronomics and power during a convention that featured President of Mozambique Armando Guebuza and Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh. Guebuza and Singh, who captivated entrustment level converses, resolved to actualize an affiliation following the lines of superior political meeting, deepening of bread-and-butter collaboration, deepening of defense and aegis collaboration, distinctively to get hold of sea lanes in opposition to piracy and, cooperation in competence building and human resource (or workforce) development. “Both of us together accord to the aforementioned Indian Ocean association and we carve up familiar issues. It is in our alternate absorption to ensure the assurance and aegis of sea lanes of communication in the Indian Ocean,” Dr. Manmohan Singh said in a collective journalist statement. India will back the enactment in preparation and setting up organizations in Mozambique to back capacity building in the coal business and will as well back the ability formation for the defense and patrolling personnel of that nation state, the Prime Minister alleged. Conveying worry over the assurance and aegis of sea lanes in Indian Ocean, Guebuza promised India it will accommodate all practical aid to safeguard them.

• Indians freed from Malay traffickers:
  Not less than 24 Indian men who were discovered bound up in a residence in a Malaysian boondocks were successfully freed from the arrest and two Pakistani men supposedly engaged in a human trafficking guild were detained with immediate effect. "Inquiries into the matter exposed that those people, age-old amid 20 and 30, were from Uttar Pradesh. If the reports of the media are to be trusted, the victims landed on to the capital’s intl. airport four months back, afore getting picked by the accused people who were apparently looking for workers in an industrial unit in Johor," he said. He further stated that the two men promised the Indian workers appealing wages as the bait. It is once again proved that Malaysia is a magnet for wide spread drug peddling and human trafficking. Unemployed workforce looking out for jobs is brought for added transfers to other Southeast Asian countries and to Australia.
• Indian to lead FIDE:
  Indians have already proved their metal in various sports at the international level. Tennis, Cricket, Shooting, Boxing and also Chess. After Vishwanathan Anand, another lot of Indians are about to triumph on the World Chess Podium. D.V. Sundar has been elected has the President of the world body for the sport of chess, FIDE at Russia. Apart from that, the president for the Asian Continent was Mr. Dongre and Commonwealth Chess Federation President was revealed in the name of Mr. B.S. Chahuhan, a press statement by the All India Chess Federation revealed.
• Make way for the new breed:
  The new world power calendar for 2010 has once again predicted that New Delhi’s dominance in the world will see acceleration by 2025. Among the able coalition, the country has been placed at the fourth position afterwards the US, China and the European Union. ‘The Global Governance 2025’ was together brought out by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) of the US and the European Union’s Institutes for Security Studies (EUISS). In the current year, the US leads the lot of able countries/regions, cumulatively for about 22 percent of the worldwide supremacy. The US is chased by China at 12 percent, European Union at 16 percent and India at eight percent. India comes next to Japan, Russia and Brazil with beneath than 5 percent apiece. Following these global statistics, by 2025 the ability of the US, EU, Japan and Russia will cut down although that of China, India and Brazil will boost but this surge will see the positions unchanged. By 2025, the United States of America will continue to be the most dominating nation, but it will be possessing just a bit above 18 percent of the global authority. The US will be carefully trailed by China with 16 percent, European Union with 14 percent and India with 10 percent looking to overleap.

• Mission Accomplished
  The United States have finally started pulling its troops out of Iraq. President Barack Obama has confirmed that the US plans to withdraw significant number of combat troops from Iraq stating that the war was nearing an end. The remaining force of 50,000 soldiers will train Iraqi security forces and provide security for ongoing US Diplomatic efforts.
• Australia with a hung parliament
  Australians failed to elect a new government in the polls held in August and were left with a hung parliament. The non-result elections between Julia Gillard’s Labor and Abbott’s Liberal party led to the first hung parliament in Australia since World War II. Three key Independents are now in the process of deciding which party to support to form a government.
• Pakistani cricketers tainted
  The Game of cricket gets murkier with alleged match-fixer Mazhar Majeed’s claim of having rigged games played by Pakistan for three years. The British Police recovered cash from hotel rooms of Pakistani players involved in spot fixing. Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammed Asif were interviewed and their mobiles confiscated after Majeed’s confession. The Anti-Corruption Unit of the ICC will probe all 82 international matches played by Pakistan during this time. The news came as a bolt for the flood-stricken and violence-plagued country where cricket is the national sport.
• Pakistan Floods
  Annual monsoons rains have led to flooding in Pakistan leading to the death of 1500 people and rendering thousands homeless. In the worst flooding disaster in 80 years the floodwaters have affected about one-fifth of the country washing away millions of hectares of crops, submerging villages and destroying roads, bridges, schools, electricity and communication setting back the infrastructure by many years. Disease is fast spreading in these flood affected areas and there have been warnings that dams in the south may burst. It is estimated that the floods in Pakistan have displaced people thrice the number displaced during partition.
• Hike in Visa fee
  The Obama Regime has raised H-1B and L1 visa fees to protect its borders from illegal Mexican immigrants. This additional fee would be used to build operating bases and deploy unmanned aerial surveillance to beef up U.S.-Mexico border security. The impact of this hike will be substantial on Indian IT companies that account for approximately 50,000 H1 and L1 visas per year.
• Mosque near ground Zero
  A New York city panel has cleared the way for the construction of a mosque near ground zero that has been causing a political uproar over religious freedom. The proposed construction of the mosque near ground zero has sparked debate all around the country. President Barack Obama, however, supported the right of having a mosque by asserting that Muslims have the same right to freedom of religion as everyone else in America.
• China to launch space station
  Having finished the first module of a planned space station and testing its electronics and other systems China is all set to launch it into orbit next year. Changes were being made to the rocket that will carry the 8.5ton Tiangong 1 module into a set orbit. No finishing or manning dates have been given for the space station. The official Xinhua news agency said that The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft and Shenzhou 9 and 10 spacecraft would dock with it in the second half of 2011 and 2012 respectively.
• Online route
  Oxford English Dictionary that has been in print for over a century may never appear in print for the future generations. The word reference Bible is likely to loose its existence to its online version. With the digital books becoming popular, the format that the 3rd edition, currently being worked upon, will take is anybody’s guess.

• Japan Elections
  Democratic Party of Japan suffered a heavy blow in the elections for the upper house of Japan’s Diet (parliament) when it won ten seats fewer than expected thus loosing its majority. DPJ will now have to look for new coalition partners to restore its majority in the upper house and enable it to easily pass laws through the Diet legislature. After breaking the 55 year period of dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party and naming Naoto Kan the new prime minister just a month back the results have baffled the DJP.
• July 15th Summit, Islamabad
  Failed talks between Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna and the Pakistani counterpart Mr. Shah Mehmood Qureshi's have once again proved that whenever efforts were initiated by India to improve the relations between the two countries. The Pak leaders and officials took deliberate steps to derail the process conveying a clear message to India that the talks can continue only on its terms.
• Gulf of Spill
  More than three months after the April 20 explosion aboard the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon oil platform, which killed 11 workers and sank the rig gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the most severe US environmental disaster ever is close to coming to an end. In an operation called “static kill” 2,300 barrels of mud was forced down into the well’s opening overnight pushing the crude back down to its source. A cap over the wellhead has shut in leaking oil since July 15 and the static kill — also known as bull heading — probably would not have worked without the cap in place.
• Genocide
  Omar-al-Bashir, President of Sudan has been charged with three counts of genocide over the Darfur Conflict, he was convicted by the International Criminal Court at The Hague. It is for the first time that a court has accused anyone of genocide.
• Jacob Lew the new Budget Director
  President Barack Obama has chosen Mr. Jacob Lew as his new budget director. This is Mr. Lews second stint with the federal budget.

• Julia Gillard become Australia’s first women Prime Minister replacing Kevin Rudd following a sudden revolt against him.
• No more time for sorrow’ written by Robert Beeman. The author predict that terrorist will set off an atom bomb in the USA by 2013.
• Tuvalu become 187th member of IMF (International Monetary Fund). The island is located in the Pacific Ocean.
• Kyrgyzstan voted for a new constitution in a referendum. It is Central Asia’s first parliament democracy.
• G-20 summit held at Toronto, Canada.

• G-15 summit was held at Tehran on 16-17 May.
• Bangladesh handed over Ranjan Daimary of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland to India. The group was responsible for serial bombing in Assam in 2008.
• National League for Democracy (NLD) party of Myannmar’s democracy leader Aung San Sui Kyi was abolished after deadline to re-register as a political party was over.
• EU-IMF provide a $ 1 trillion rescue package to the Greece to resolve its debt crises.
• Pakistan successfully test fired two short range ballistic missiles, Shaheen I( range 650 Km) and Ghazani (range 290 Km) capable of carrying nuclear war heads and striking Indian cities.

• Belgium became the Europe’s first country to ban burqa.
• Pakistan’s National assembly passed a bill that takes away the President’s power to dissolve parliament, dismiss a elected government and appoint the three services Chiefs. Pakistan’s parliament passes 18th amendment which was later signed by Presient cutting President’s powers.
• USA and Russia signed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty(START) that allowed a maximum of 1550 deployed overheads, about 30% lower than a limit set in 2002. The treaty was signed in the Progue Castle.
• Emergency was imposed in Thailand.
• Nuclear Security Summit held at Washington.It was a 47 nation summit wherein P.M. announced setting up of a global nuclear energy centre for conducting research & development of design systems that are secure, proliferation resistant & sustainable.
• PM visit USA & Brazil, a two nation tour. He attended Nuclear Security Summit in USA & India- Brazil-S.Africa(IBSA) and Brazil-Russia-India-China(BRIC) summit in Brasilia (Brazil).
• 16th SAARC Summit held in Bhutan in 28-29 April. The summit was held in Bhutan for the first time. It is the silver jubilee summit as SAARC has completed 25 years. The summit central theme was ‘Climate Change’. The summit recommended to declare 2010-2020 as the “Decade of Intra-regional Connectivity in SAARC”. The 17th SAARC summit will be held in Maldives in 2011.

• China will launch in 2011 unmammed space mode ‘ Tiangong I’ for its future space laboratory.
• US internet giant Google close its business in China.
• India’s largest telecom service provider Bharti Airtel buy Zain’s Africa operations for an enterprise value of $ 10.7 billion (Rs 49000 crore). Currently Bharti’s non-India operations include Sri Lanka & Bangladesh.
• Russia abolished two of its eleven time Zones.

• NATO forces carried out Marjah operation (dubbed Moshtarak) against Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
• European Union summit was held in Brussels. EU & IMF decided to giving support to Greece in its struggle to bring its ballooning budget deficit under control. EU President is Herman Van Rompuy.
• Iran’s President Mahmood Ahmedinejad declared that Iran had produced first batch of 20 % enriched uranium and now Iran became a nuclear state.
• Iran launched ‘Kavoshger -3 rocket’ capable of carrying a satellite. It carried a mouse, worms & two turtles.

• Gilgit Baltistan region elected its first Chief Minister Mehdi Shah on the basis of Gilgit Baltistan Empowerment & Self Governance Order 2009. The new appointed CM declare the Gilgit Baltistan region as 5th province of Pakistan. The Indian Govt has, however, of the view that the region was part of J & K, and thus objected to the remarks of CM.
• Venezuela devalued it currency ‘Bolivar’.
• A massive earthquake strike Haiti, the Carribbean nation. Capital of Haiti is Port-au-Prince.
• Mahinda Rajapaksa won a second term as Sri Lanka’s President. He belongs to Sri Lanka Freedom Party.