International Current Affairs-February,2010

• Alberto Giacometti sculptor’s bronze sculpture has been sold for record 65million pounds at an auction in London.
• Rio Ferdinand has been appointed as England captain after Fabio Capello sacked John Terry of the role following allegations over his private life.
• Former foreign secretary Shyam Saran announced his decision to quit as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special envoy on climate change on 19-02-2010.
• Lybia country has recently stopped issuing visas to citizens of 25 European nations.
• Rashad Hussain is appointed as the special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference by US President Obama.
• Mohamed Shahrul Ikran Yaakob was elected chairman of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
• Afghanistan and Ireland countries have qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 Cricket which is to be held in West Indies this year.
• Bangladesh’s Zia International Airport is to be renamed after 13th century Sufi saint after deleting the name of former president Ziaur Rahman. The name is Hazarat Shah Jalal of that Sufi Saint.
• Amy Williams won the first British female Winter Olympic gold in 30 years with victory in women’s skeleton.
• Palakkad district in Kerala is all set to be declared the first fully electrified district in India.
• Hashim Amla (South Africa) won the Player of the series award in the recently concluded 2 test series between India and South Africa.
• Roman Polanski won Silver Bear for best director for the film ‘Ghost Writer’ at 60th Berlin film festival.
• Thirty-two elderly people died in a country in South America because of a heat wave that has pushed temperatures to unseasonably high levels. Brazil is that country.
• Twenty jawans were killed and several others injured when Maoists attacked a security camp in West Bengal on 15-02-2010. Silda in Paschim Medinipur district is that camp located.
• A series of avalanches that struck (on February 8, 2010) a mountain pass in a country in South-Central Asia killing at least 167 people. Afghanistan is that country.
• Ibrahim Jassam of the Iraqi freelance photographer who worked for Reuters has been released by the US military after 17 months in detention in Iraq.
• China country declared a new food-safety campaign on 10-02-2010 after contaminated milk products from an earlier scandal showed up repackaged in several places around the country, exposing weaknesses in the country’s promise to stop such problems from happening again.
• Honda Motor Co car company has decided to recall 437,763 vehicles globally over a problem with the driver’s airbag inflator.
• Rohan Bopanna and Aisam Qureshi pairs clinched their first ATP World Tour doubles Tennis title after a hard-fought 2-6, 6-3, 10-5 victory over Karol Beck and Harold Levy in the final of $4,42,500 South African Open in Johannesburg.
• Viktor Yanukovych was sworn in as Ukraine’s new President.
• Former dictator of Uruguay Juan Maria Bordaberry was sentenced to 30 years in prison for violating the constitution when he led a 1973 coup that began 12 years of dictatorship in Uruguay.
• Somalia’s sports minister Saleban Olad Roble has died in hospital in Saudi Arabia weeks after he was critically wounded in a suicide bombing at a medical graduation ceremony in Mogadishu.
• According to a recent Commonwealth report, presidential polls in an Asian country did not ‘fully meet’ key benchmarks for democratic elections. Sri Lanka is that country.
• Venus Williams won the WTA Dubai Tennis title defeating Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 6-3 7-5 in the final.
• Maria Sharapova won the Morgan Keegan Tennis Championships in Memphis beating Sharapova former Memphis champion Sofia Arvidsson 6-2, 6-1 in final.
• Iran country has recently announced a permanent suspension of Google’s e-mail service claiming that it will be replaced by a new national service.
• Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) won the man of the match award in the 20-20 Cricket match between New Zealand and Bangladesh held on 3rd February 2010 at Hamilton.
• The book written by Taslima Nasrin “No Country for Women” is a compilation of power-packed articles on feminism and suppression of women across the world.
• Laura Chinchilla is elected as Costa Rica’s first female president
• Alviro Peterson became the third South African batsman to score a century in tests cricket on debut.
• A massive earthquake has hit a country in South America on February 27, 2010 killing more than 700 people while leaving untold numbers missing and 2 million displaced, wounded or otherwise affected. Chile is that country.
• E.T. Lukose has taken over as Director-General of Income Tax (Investigation), Kochi (Kerala).
• Aafia Siddiqui of the Pakistani neuroscientist trained at an elite American university has been found guilty of two charges of attempted murder after she tried to kill US agents in Afghanistan in 2008.
• Romania country has agreed to accept ground-based interceptors from the United States as part of its missile defense system in Eastern Europe.
• France country has refused to grant citizenship to a man who forced his wife to wear the full Islamic veil or niqab.
• Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri is currently a member of Arts and Humanities Committee of US government appointed by President Barack Obama.
• In a country in East Asia., a nine-year-old school girl gave birth by Caesarean section to a healthy baby boy. China is that country.
• Pakistan country defeated India to win hockey gold medal in the South Asian Games.
• Leaders of 32 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean, meeting in Mexico, decided to exclude two countries from membership of a new organization for countries on the American continents. United States of America (U.S.A) and Canada of those countries.
• Alviro Petersen becomes the 3rd South African after Andrew Hudson and Jacques Rudoph to score a century on Test debut.
• Taylor Swift has become youngest ever celebrity to win Grammy awards.
• Iran country announced on February 9,2010 that it had started enriching uranium to the level of less than 20 percent to meet the country’s fuel requirements for the reactor producing medical radioisotopes, after the potential suppliers failed to provide the fuel under a UN deals.
• Sthanunathan Sundareshan is appointed as the Secretary of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
• Israel country recently admitted that white phosphorous was used in attacks on Gaza.
• Justice Kurian Joseph is the new Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh.
• Andhra Pradesh High Court recently struck down a state law providing 4% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions and jobs to 15 groups belonging to the Muslim community.
• Iran country celebrated 31st anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution on February 11.
• Pakistan country’s Supreme Court disallowed kite flying during the occasion of the spring festival of Basant.
• The Hyderabad Cricket Association has decided not to allow spectators inside the Rajiv International Cricket Stadium due to the ongoing protests over Telangana issue for the final of a domestic first-class cricket competition between South Zone and West Zone. The Duleep Trophy is that tournament.
• Sharad Chandra Sinha is appointed as the second chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), succeeding R V Raju who retired on January 31.
• Australia country recently tightened its immigration rules to favour higher-skilled workers over “hairdressers” and “cooks”, a revision that will lead to the rejection of an estimated 20,000 migration applications from foreign students, including Indians.
• In a major terror strike after the November 26, 2008 carnage in Mumbai, nine persons including four foreigners, all women, were killed and over 40 injured in a bomb blast near the Osho Ashram in a city of Maharashtra on 13-02-2010. Pune is that city.
• An American Christian activist, who entered North Korea illegally on Christmas day to draw attention to human rights abuses in the country, has been released by Korean government after showing “sincere repentance” for the transgression. Robert Park of that missionary.
• Iran country cut ties with the British Museum on Sunday in protest at repeated delays in the loan to Tehran of an ancient Persian treasure, the Cyrus Cylinder.
• The government of Kerala recently decided to constitute a Pay Commission to recommend revision of scales for government employees and teachers in the state. The pay commission is headed by Justice Rajendra Babu.