Brain Tree: 1st March To 31st March - 2011

2/26/2012
BRAIN TREE
CURRENT AFFAIRS & GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
1st March to 31st March - 2011

1. The Election Commission has announced the schedule for Elections in Assam,
West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry. The Elections will be held from April 4th to May 10th.
2. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader turned 80. After ascending to power
in 1985, Mr. Gorbachev launched Pro-democratic Perestroika reforms. These foreign policy initiatives earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
3. The Parliamentary Committee on Transport Tourism and Culture has favoured
Death Penalty for Hijackers. It has called for an amendment to the 1982 AntiHijacking Act to include capital punishment.
4. Nobel Laureate Dr. Mohammad Yunus has been removed as the Managing
Director of Grameen Bank on the grounds that he has passed the retirement age. Dr. Yunus is considered as pioneer of micro credit and won the Nobel Peace prize in 2006.
5. The Supreme Court has quashed the appointment of Shri P.J.Thomas as the
Central Vigilance Commissioner. His appointment was challenged by the NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation on many grounds including the fact that Mr. Thomas was an accused in the Palmolein Import case.
6. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao unveiled a draft of Chinas next five year plan.
The Plan focuses on tackling rising inflation and expanding social services.
7. A National Sports Development Bill has been proposed.
Highlights of the Development Bill. i) ii) iii) iv)

v)
Proposed
National
Sports
Imbibes the philosophy of Olympism. Aims to bring in more accountability and transparency in functioning of national sports bodies. Adopts basic universal principles of good governance proposed by the International Olympic Committee. Seeks to set up a National Sports Development Council headed by an eminent athlete. Includes the core principles of fair and transparent elections and strictly enforce the age limit and tenure for office-bearers of National Sports Federations (NSF).
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vi)
Proposes retirement age at 70 years for office-bearers of NSFs. Fixes the term of the President to a maximum of 12 years or three terms. Forbids a Union Sports Minister from contesting the election to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or a federation until the expiry of 5 years after demitting his office. Includes athletes in decision making and ensures 25 per cent of the membership and voting rights for them. Proposes to appoint a retired HC Judge to the post of Sports Ombudsman to deal with grievances and disputes relating to sports organizations. Prescribes Rules for the prevention of sexual harassment, age fraud and anti-doping.
vii)
viii) ix)
x)
8. The first reactor of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (Tamilnadu) is
expected to be commissioned in April.

9. A D.R.D.O made interceptor missile has been test fired successfully. This
demonstrates the countrys capability to neutralize adversarial satellites in space. DRDO has conducted six missions so far and five have been successful.
10. The Supreme Court has held that Parliament has powers to enact legislation
with respect to extra territorial aspects in the interests of the well being or security of inhabitants of India, but it did not have powers to legislate for any territory other than the territory of India.
11. Orissa has banned the Bartan System under which upper caste families
extract work from barbers and washermen during important family occasions in return for only 15 kg of paddy for the whole year.
12. Health Care in India faces two conflicting challenges. On one hand, the urban
rich with an easy access to medical treatment receive inappropriate antibiotic therapy, on the other, the rural poor find it difficult to obtain such medication. Indiscriminate prescriptions of newer antibiotic medication risks development of microbial resistance. The Way Forward:

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Develop Strict Practice Guidelines Regulate the sale of antibiotics and continuous microbial surveillance Raising awareness regarding antibiotic resistance using the mass media which will monitor hospital acquired infectors
13. The 83rd Annual Oscar Awards ceremony was held the Kings Speech and
Formation and functioning of hospital Infection control communities
Inception shared the top spot in the winners list, while the Social Network managed to occupy the second spot.
Kings Speech Colin Firth Tom Hiooper David Seidler
Best Picture Best Actor Best Director Best Original Screenplay
14. Retired Senior Civil Servants have filed a petition in the Supreme Court
praying for an urgent need to depoliticize management of transfers, postings inquires promotions etc., relating to civil servants. Though the Union Government has set up 50 Commissions and Committees to study and make recommendations on administrative reforms there has been no concrete action so far.
15. Pune based firm Action Bio-tech has introduced a new complete genome
test. This test would give people their full genetic picture including life style, diseases such as diabetes cardio vascular conditions which they are vulnerable to.
16. Judicial activism is on the fore front again. The history of Judicial Review can
be traced back to 1607, when Edward Coke a courageous English Judge ignored the threat of being charged with treason to tell King James I that it was outside the Kings power to adjudicate upon a dispute. Since then the principle that law is higher than the Kings and Prime Ministers has become a touch stone of civilized nations

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CURRENT AFFAIRS & GENERAL KNOWLEDGE Judicial Activism and the Indian Supreme Court
The Indian Supreme Court is considered to be the most activist court in the World today. However there are significant areas where our Supreme Court differs from its counter parts in Canada, South Africa, the UK and the US. First the Indian Supreme Court rarely accepts that certain issues are not amenable to judicial decision making and are best left to politics to determine. Foreign courts tend to be more hesitant in dealing with complex cases involving multiple stake holders. Second, the Indian Supreme Court deals with a very large number of cases. In 2007, it decided 5,000 cases in regular hearings. Compare this with the United States Supreme Court which disposed 77 cases in 2009 and the United Kingdom Supreme Court which disposed 89 cases since its inception. The South African Court delivered 28 decisions in 2010. This staggering workload in decades that even in absolute terms its interference in administrative matters, is much higher than other Courts.
17. The Supreme Court has passed guidelines allowing Passive Euthanasia.
Passive Euthanasia involves withdrawal of life sustaining drugs or life support systems for patients who are brain dead or in a permanent vegetative state, and of whom doctors have lost hope of reviving even with the most advanced medical aid. Active euthanasia which involves injecting a lethal drug to induce a patients death remains illegal. The approval of the High Court is necessary for passive Euthanasia after consent from patients relatives coupled with a report of a court appointed expert panel composing a neurologist, a psychiatrist and physician.
18. The Annual status of Education Report 2010 has been released. This report is
considered to be one of most authoritative private surveys conducted for rural India. The survey findings are:

The percentage of girls in Government Schools is higher than boys in the age group 7 years to 14 years. The percentage of boys is higher in private schools. It appears that families prefer to send their daughters to government schools and sons to private schools, as there is a popular perception that private schools are better than government schools.

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While there is a gender divide in almost all the states it is negligible in Maharashtra and Bihar. Bihar has achieved remarkable progress and there is a high improvement in the enrolment of students in the last five years. More girls have also enrolled in schools. This is largely due to the targeted Government policies aimed at improving access to education as well reducing the gender divide. In Kerala, more girls are sent to private schools and more boys to Government Schools. The obvious conclusion is that women are more equal in Kerala. At the same time, it is to be noted that Kerala has a large number of Government aided private schools.
19. A Tsunami triggered by an earthquake struck the eastern coast of Japan.
Sendai the port city was the worst affected. The earthquake which had a magnitude of 8.9, is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan. It is the 5th largest in the world since 1900.
Largest Earthquakes by Magnitude: 9.2 9.0 8.8 Valdivia Alaska Sumatra Kamchatka Arica Cascadia Sendai Maule Esmeraldas Sumatra Chile May 22,1960 United States Indonesia Russia March 9.5 28,1964 9.1 4,1952
December 26,2004 November
Chile (then Peru) August 13, 1868 9.0 Canada / U S Japan Chile Ecuador Indonesia January 26, 1700 9.0 March 11, 2011 February 27, 8.9 2010
January 31, 1906 8.8 November 25, 1833 8.8

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20. The Government of India has proposed the name of Assams river island
Majuli for inclusion in the cultural landscape category of the UNESCO. This is considered to be, the largest fresh water River Island in the world. Majuli is located in the middle of the Bramhaputra.
21. Despite Indias dramatic modernization over the last decade, it remains
ground zero for some of the worlds most dreaded tropical diseases. A recent report revels that:
2,05,000 people in India die annually form malaria mainly in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. 50% of them are children. India and its South Asian neighbors account for 25% of the worlds intestinal worm infections such as hook work and round worm. More than of the cases of elephantiasis, leprosy and kalazar (visceral leishmaniasis) are reported from these countries. India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Srilanka are devastated by Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD).
22. Carlos Slim of Mexico has been declared as the richest person in the world
with $74 billion in assets by the US Magazine Forbes. According to the magazine the number of billionaires has increased from 49 to 55 in India. Lakshmi Mittal replaced Mukesh Ambani as the richest Indian.
23. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for introducing a Constitutional
Amendment Bill for GST in Parliament. A Constitutional Amendment is required to introduce a dual GST system in the Country. The proposed bill will empower Government to tax goods at the point of sale. Currently the centre can levy tax only at the manufacturing stage and not at the point of retail state. The bill will also empower states to levy tax on services.
24. A rescued whale shark was satellite tagged for the first time in India. Satellite
tagging is the latest development in the whale shark conservation project. The project focuses on photo identification, genetic analyses and visual tagging of Whale sharks in India. The tag would provide data relating to their movement in water temperature, diurnal and nocturnal activities as well as swimming patterns between different layers of water.
25. The Budget session of Parliament which ended on March 25 was the shortest
in the past two decades. 81% of the budgetary demands for grants were not

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discussed. Only 6% of the time in Rajya Sabha and 12% of the time in Lok Sabha was spent on legislation. DISCLAIMER The information presented above has been collected from a variety of sources. Brain Tree exercises due care and caution in collecting the data before publication. In spite of this, if any omission, inaccuracy or printing errors occur with regard to the data, Brain Tree will not be held responsible or liable.

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Brain Tree: 1st March To 31st March - 2011

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Brain Tree: 1st March To 31st March - 2011

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2/26/2012

1st March to 31st March - 2011

Highlights of the Development Bill. i) ii) iii) iv)

Training Tomorrows Administrators TODAY

8. The first reactor of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (Tamilnadu) is

expected to be commissioned in April.

Training Tomorrows Administrators TODAY

Formation and functioning of hospital Infection control communities

Kings Speech Colin Firth Tom Hiooper David Seidler

Best Picture Best Actor Best Director Best Original Screenplay

Training Tomorrows Administrators TODAY

Training Tomorrows Administrators TODAY

19. A Tsunami triggered by an earthquake struck the eastern coast of Japan.

December 26,2004 November

January 31, 1906 8.8 November 25, 1833 8.8

Training Tomorrows Administrators TODAY

Training Tomorrows Administrators TODAY

Training Tomorrows Administrators TODAY

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