Jan 2010 current affairs

IMPORTANT JANUARY 2010 CURRENT AFFAIRS: 

•     Mahinda Rajapaksa belongs to Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa contested the election in January 2010 for the second term two years ahead of the end of his first term in office. Sri Lankan Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake on 27 Jan 2010 declared Mahinda Rajapaksa had won the presidential election. Rajapaksa defeated the Opposition consensus candidate and former Army Chief, retired General Sarath Fonseka, by a huge margin of over 17 per cent.

•   New Governors was appointed for various states in India:

                        a) M K Narayanan – West Bengal
                        b) Shivraj Patil – Punjab
                        c) Mohsina Kidwai – Jharkhand
                        d) Shekhar Dutt – Chhattisgarh
                        e) E S L Narasimhan – Andhra Pradesh.

•  Govt launched Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Key highlight of the mission is to create a policy framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW of solar power by 2020.

•      The longest annular solar eclipse on the third millennium occurred on 15 Jan 2010. The next annular solar eclipse will be visible in year 3043. Annular eclipse is occurred when the sun is visible like a ring of fire, with the moon darkening its center. The last annular solar eclipse visible from India was occurred in 1976. In July 2010 also, a total solar eclipse will be occurred.

•      First public hearing on the introduction of Bt Brinjal (First Genetically Modified Food Crop in India) was held in Kolkatta. Seven such public hearing was organized by Centre for Environment Education, for opinion of public in respect of introduction of Bt Brinjal. 2nd hearing was held at Hyderabad.

•     Fahmida Mirza is the first woman Speaker of Pakistan National Assembly.

•    Jyoti Basu, former West Bengal Chief Minister, died.

•     Shiv Shankar Menon is appointed as National Security Advisor.

•     Lee Myung Bak, South Korea President was the Chief Guest at 2010 Republic Day Parade.

•      Ranjit Kumar Bhatia appointed as Director General of ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police).

•      Gujarat Local Authorities Law (amendment) Bill 2009- The Bill makes it the duty of a qualified voter to vote during elections to local bodies. Voting is compulsory, but the Bill allows voters to cast their vote in favour of none of the candidates. Election officers will declare those who fail to vote defaulter, and serve them a notice.

•      Nano, a small car manufactured by the Tata Group won the Car of the Year award in the AutoCar India 2010 held in Mumbai in Jan 2010. Other significant awards given were as follows:

Bike of the Year                     : Bajaj Pulsar 135 LS
Best Luxury Car                    : arNew Mercedes E-class
Luxury SUV of The Year       : Toyota Fortuner
Best Design & Styling           : Fiat Grande Punto
Best Value For Money Car   : Tata Indigo Manza
Manufacturer Of The Year   : Maruti Suzuki India

•      62 year old Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2009 on 12 January 2010 in New Delhi from the Indian President Pratibha Patil. She received the award for outstanding contribution to the promotion of democracy and pluralism.

•      Nimbus Communications Limited (Nimbus) in January 2010 secured TV rights up to March 2014 after issuing bank guarantees to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Mumbai.

•      A three-year deal was signed between Panasonic and The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on 16 Jan 2010. According to the deal Panasonic would sponsor the National senior football team.

•      Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry announced the winners of the 56th National Film Awards in different categories on 23 Jan 2010. The National Film Awards is the most prominent and India’s oldest film award. It was started in 1954 and the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals oversees it since 1973. Every year a national panel appointed by the government selects the winning entry. The award ceremony was held in New Delhi and the President of India gives away the awards. Best Male Playback Singer: Hariharan

     The scheme of National Awards to Children for bravery was started in the year 1957 and is conferred by The Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) with the objective of giving due recognition to the children who perform acts of bravery with a view to inspire other children to follow their example. Children between the age of 6 to 18 years is eligible for the award. There are 5 categories under this award namely- Bharat Award, Geeta Chopra Award, Sanjay Chopra Award, Bapu Gayadhani Awards and General Awards. The giving away of the Bharat Award started in 1987 for the most extraordinary act of bravery receives a Gold Medal, a Citation and a Cash Award.