 CURRENT AFFAIRS

 Evan Williams, the co-founder and chief executive of Twitter, is stepping down to
lead product strategy at the company, Twitter. Dick Costolo, the chief operating
officer, will succeed Williams.
 New Central Vigilance Commissioner – P J Thomas
 New Chief Information Commissioner – A N Tiwari
 Nobel Prize 2010
 Nobel Prize 2010 for Medicine – Robert Edwards for IVF – In-vitro Fertilization
( test tube baby).
 Nobel Prize 2010 for Physics – Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov for “Ground
breaking experiments regarding the two dimensional material – Graphene).
 Nobel Prize 2010 for Chemistry - Richard Heck (American) and Japanese
researchers Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki won the 2010 Nobel Prize in chemistry
for developing a chemical method that has allowed scientists to test cancer drugs and
make thinner computer screens.
 Nobel Prize for Literature - Mario Vargas Llosa (Peruvian), has won the Nobel
Prize for literature in 2010.His works include The Time of the Hero, The Green
House, Conversation in the Cathedral, Captain Pantoja and the Special Service and
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter.
 Nobel Prize for Economics - The Nobel prize for economics was awarded to Peter A.
Diamond (U.S.) and Dale T. Mortensen (U.S.) and British-Cypriot citizen
Christopher A. Pissarides for their “analysis of markets with search frictions,” in
relation to the labour market. “Why are so many people unemployed at the same time
that there are a large number of job openings? How can economic policy affect
unemployment? This year’s Laureates have developed a theory which can be used to
answer these questions. This theory is also applicable to markets other than the labor
market.”
  Miss Universe 2010 – Jimena Navarrete (Miss Mexico).
 Miss World 2010 – Alexandra Mills (Miss United States).
 Newly appointed Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India –
Harishankar Brahma.
 Chairman of Central Depository Services Limited (CDSL) – N. Rangachary.
 Youth Olympics 2010 – Singapore.
 Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbavna Award – Maulana Wahiduddin Khan (for
promoting communal harmony, peace and goodwill).
 Chief Election Commissioner – S.Y.Qureshi.
 ICC Cricket Awards 2010
 Best ODI team of the year – Australia.
 Best Emerging Player award – Steven Finn.
 Best T20 Performance – Brendon McCullum.
 ICC Spirit of the Game award – New Zealand.
 ICC ODI Player of the year award – AB Devilliers.
 ICC Test Player of the year award – Virender Sehwag.
 ICC People’s Choice Award – Sachin Tendulkar.
 ICC Cricketer of the year Award – Sachin Tendulkar

 Discodermolide- a cancer-killing substance first found in marine sponges.

Books and Authors

 The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny – Kiran Desai

 The Grand Design – Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow
 Of Thee I Sing : A Letter to my Daughters
 A Strangeness is My Mind – Orhan Pamuk.
 My name is Red – Orhan Pamuk.
 Snow – Orhan Pamuk.
 Istanbul – Orhan Pamuk.
 The Museum of Innocence – Orhan Pamuk.
 My Country My Life – L.K.Advani
 Development as Freedom – Dr. Amartya Sen.
 In defence of Globalisation – Jagdish Bhagwati.
 A Better India: A Better World – N.R.Narayana Murthy.
 Nine Lives – William Darlymple.
 Last Man in the tower – Arvind Adiga (2011).
 India and Global Financial Crisis – Y.V.Reddy.
 The Caged Phoenix: Can India Fly? – Dipankar Gupta.
 The Clash of Civilizations – Samuel Huntington.
 To a Hunger-free World – M.S. Swaminathan.
 “Branding India – An Incredible Story” – Amitabh Kant.
 The Finkler Question – Howard Jacobson. ( his other works – Kalooki nights,Who’s
sorry now).
 The Long Song – Andrea Levy.
 In a Strange Room – Damon Galgut.
 After taste – Nandita Devidayal.


 Head of Advisory Committee on Bundelkhand – Montek Singh.

 Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2009 – Daggubati Ramanaidu (Telugu film
producer).He also holds the Guiness Record for making most number of films. This
award was first conferred in 1969 and the first awardee was Devika Rani.
 UK’s first Sikh and Asian Judge – Sir Mota Singh received the “Pride of India
Award” 2009 instituted by the Indian International Federation (IIF).
 World Statesman Award 2010 – Dr. Manmohan Singh.
 September 9 – 1st Himalayan Day was observed to arouse environmental awareness
among people about the necessity of preserving the ecology of the Himalayas.
 Janani Suraksha Yojana – the central government scheme to encourage women to
deliver babies in hospitals and clinics instead of at home.
 Tembhli – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Smt. Sonia
Gandhi jointly launched the ‘Aadhar’ from Tembhli village in Nandurbar district of
Maharashtra.
 Highest Suicide rate in India – Sikkim followed by Puducherry, Andaman and
Nicobar Islands and Kerala.
 Dicky Rutnagur – Lifetime achievement award. He is a veteran sports writer and
commentator. It was conferred to him by the Indian Journalist Association.
 MTA – Multirole Transport Aircraft ( Deal between India and Russia).
 Justice Nissar Ahmed Kakru – Chief Justice of J&K High court. (First time
appointing a chief justice to J&K who hails from the same state after a Supreme Court
judgement.)
 New CM of Jharkhand – Arjun Munda.
 Governor of Gujarat – Kamla Beniwal.
 Kuttanad – Only region in India which had cultivation of rice below the sea level
(second place in the world to follow such kind of a cultivation).
 Saudi Arabia – Leading Arms importer in the world followed by China. India ranks
4th.
 Barents Sea – Dispute area between Russia and Norway. Russia recently signed a
treaty with Norway – Treaty on Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the
Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean to solve this dispute.
 World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Rankings – Switzerland tops the
list followed by Sweden. India ranks 51st.
 India, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan signed the Gas Pipeline Framework
Agreement (GPFA) that will lead to the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement (GSPA).
 E-governance policy initiative of the year award 2010 – Rajasthan. It received this
award in recognition of its successful initiative for launching the pregnancy health
services management system by the Union Ministry of Information Technology.
 Best Feature film at the National Film Awards 2009 – Kutty Srank (Malayalam).
 Best Actor – Amitabh Bachchan for Paa.
 Women’s World Boxing Champion 2010 – M.C.Mary Kom.
 Winner of Singapore Grand Prix 2010 and Formula One Italian Grand Prix –
Fernando Alonso.
 Winner of Men’s Singles 2010 US Open – Rafael Nadal.
 Winner of Women’s Singles 2010 US Open – Kim Clijsters.
 The new Lok Sabha Secretary General – T.K.Vishwanathan.
 New Base Year for Wholesale Price Index – 2004-05. The basket of commodities
has been raised from 435 to “676” (primary articles - 102, fuel – 19 and
Manufactured products – 555).
 British writer and journalist Howard Jacobson’s novel The Finkler Question, a
semi-autobiographical comic take on Jewish identity, is the surprise winner of this year’s
Man Booker Prize.
 Agriculture Leadership Award 2010– Himachal Pradesh.

 India elected as Secretary of Interpole Wildlife Crime Group.

 Govt. has increased the portfolio investment limit of Foreign Institutional Investors
(FIIs) from $5 billion to $10 billon.
 Union Minister of Mines – Bijoy Krishna Handique.
 Head of WTO – Pascal Lamy.
 Number of member states in Commonwealth Nations - 54
 The software giant which had recently designed “Worldwide Telescope” – a computer
program, which enables you to study even the universe and zoom the outer space –
Microsoft.
 Nov.11 - National Education Day
 Nov.14 – Diabetes Day
 Nov. 25 – Int’l Day for elimination of violence against women.
 The volcano that recently erupted in Indonesia – Mt. Merapi.
 Brazil’s new and first woman President – Dilma Rouseff.