Current Affairs- December 2012
Current Affairs December 2012 -Second Week
Pandit
Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitar Maestro Passed away
Legendary sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar, who
spearheaded the worldwide spread of Indian music and had a major influence on
Western musicians like The Beatles, passed away in San Diego city of
California on 11 December 2012 at the age of 92. Pandit Ravi Shankar is
survived by his wife Sukanya and musician daughters, sitar player Anoushka
Shankar, singer Norah Jones, 3 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.
Pandit Ravi Shankar was the sitar exemplar and
was also called India`s musical ambassador who was responsible for making
Indian classical music popular in the West. He had collaborated with several
international artists including George Harrison of The Beatles which had earned
him fame and adoration all over the world. A Magsaysay award winner, Shankar
was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1986.
In his 60 years as a musician Pandit Ravi
Shankar had won numerous national and international awards.
• He received the Padma Bhushan in 1967, Padma
Vibhushan in 1981 and Bharat Ratna in 1999.
• He is also a three-time Grammy winner.
• He is a honourary member of the American
Academy of Arts and Letters and is a member of the United Nations International
Rostrum of composers.
• He is winner of Magsaysay award in year 1992.
•He received the music award of the UNESCO
International Music Council in 1975.
Lional
Messi breaks Gerd Muller's record for most goals in a calendar year
Lionel Messi, the renowned soccer player on 9
December 2012 set the record for most goals in a calendar year by scoring his
86th goal of 2012. He set the record while scoring the winning goal against
Real Betis. Messi's record included 12 for Argentina and 74 goals for Barcelona
in 66 games. The earlier record was made
by Gerd Mueller who had scored 85 goals in 1972 which included 72 goals for his
club Bayern Munich and 13 for his country West Germany. The record breaking
performance has made Messi favourite to claim his fourth FIFA World Player of
the Year award.
India
Successfully test fired Agni I Ballistic Missile
India on 12 December 2012 successfully
test-fired it’s indigenously developed nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile
with a strike range of 700 km from a test range off Odisha coast. The missile
was test-fired under a practice trial by the Strategic Force Command of the
Indian Army from a mobile launcher at about 8.30 am on 12 December 2012 from
launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island, about 100 km
from Balasore, defence .
Facts about Agni I Ballistic Missile
• Agni- I is a single-stage missile which is
powered by solid propellants and has a specialised navigation system which
ensures that it reaches the target with a high degree of accuracy and
precision.
• It Weighs around 12 tonnes and is
15-metre-long which is capable of carrying payloads up to 1000 kg.
• Agni-I has been developed by advanced systems
laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of the Defence Research
and Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with Defence Research
Development Laboratory and Research Centre Imarat and integrated by Bharat
Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.
Bar
code inventor Norman Woodland died at 91
Norman Woodland, the inventor of bar code, which
revolutionised product labelling, died at 91 on 8 December 2012 at New Jersey.
He died because of complications resulting due to Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived
by his wife (61), two daughters, one brother and granddaughters.
Woodland was the co-inventor of bar code; the
zebra pattern which stores information about the products. He as well as his partner Bernard Silver (who
died in 1963) patented this idea of bar code back in 1952 and also sold that to
Philco, the electronics company for 15000 US dollar.
The code is today known as Universal Product
Code (UPC). First bar code scan occurred on 26 June 1974 in Troy, Ohio. Today,
there are 5 billion products which are scanned optically with the help of bar
code or UPC. The laser scanner which is handheld is today used in industrial,
transportation as well as shipping industries across the world. Today, the bar
code saves countless hours of shoppers in the supermarkets
Vinod
Rai re-elected as UN auditors panel head
Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod
Rai has been re-elected as Chairman of United Nations Panel of External
Auditors for 2013. The Panel of External Auditors plays an important role in
promoting accountability and strengthening governance mechanisms in the UN
organisations. Panel of the United Nations is the deciding body of the course
as well as subject of audit of the different UN organisations which also
include International Atomic Energy Agency. CAG of the UK, Amyas Morse was
re-elected as the vice-chairman.
European
Union receives 2012 Nobel Peace Prize
The European Union, received 2012Nobel Peace
Prize for turning Europe "from a continent of war to a continent of
peace" in the wake of two world wars. The award was conferred by Norwegian
Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland to EU President Herman Van Rompuy,
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament
President Martin Schulz in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.
Bihar
received the Silver Icon Web Ratna Award 2012
Bihar's public grievance redressal website
received the Silver Icon Web Ratna Award 2012 on 10 December 2012. The public
grievance redressal website -- http://bpgrs.in has been developed by the state
government as an e-governance initiative and has various features for quick and
transparent disposal of complaints. The complainant is also intimated on
his/her e-mail about the action taken.
Australia
Won the Hockey Champions Trophy for Fifth Consecutive Year, India Lost Bronze
to Pakistan
Australia won Champions Trophy 2012 for the
fifth consecutive year by defeating the Netherlands in the finals held in
Melbourne, Australia. The bronze was claimed by Pakistan after they beat India
3-2 on a match on 9 December 2012. India missed the chance to win bronze, which
would have been its second Champions trophy medal as well as the first since
1982.
Final Result:
1. Australia: Champions
2. The Netherlands: Silver
3. Pakistan: Bronze
Australia has won Champions trophy for a maximum
13 times.
Life
of Pi was given two National Tourism Awards by the Ministry of Tourism
Life of Pi was given two National Tourism Awards
by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India on 8 December 2012 recognizing
the impact it has had in promoting India as a tourism destination, especially
Puducherry and Munnar (Kerala). These Awards will be given to Ang Lee, Director
of the film ‘Life of Pi’ and Yann
Martel, writer of the book of the same name.
Apple
Launched i pad mini and fourth-generation iPad in India
On 7 December 2012, Apple launched iPad mini and
fourth-generation iPad in India. This comes less than a week after the company
rolled out iTunes Store in the country.
The i Pad mini with its 7.9-inch touchscreen,
display, FaceTime HD, and iSight cameras came to India at starting price of
21900 rupees for the 16GB Wi-Fi-only version. The 32 and 64GB Wi-Fi-only
versions of the device cost 27900 and 33900 rupees respectively in Indian
market. The fourth-generation i pad is Compatible with 4G networks and have
9.7-inch touchscreen with Retina display technology and runs on A6X dual-core
processor. The 16, 32 and 64GB Wi-Fi-only variants of the latest iPad are
priced at 31900, 37900 and 43900rupees respectively. Apple declared that the
new iPad mini is 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than the third
generation iPad.
Web
Ratna Gold Award for Kerala CM Website
The Kerala Chief Minister’s website,
keralacm.gov.in, has won the Web Ratna Gold Medal Award instituted by Central
Government to promote innovative e-Governance initiatives. This website was
launched on July 01, 2011. CM’s Press Secretary P T Chacko received the award
from Union Minister for Communication & IT, Kapil Sibal at a function held
at New Delhi. The award aims to honour initiatives taken by the Chief Minister
who have leveraged upon the use of ICT to solicit active participation of
public in the process of governance. The award secretariat consisting of three
tier screening committee observed that the Kerala Chief Minister’s website has
succeeded in bringing better public participation in governance. ‘The New York
Times’ had applauded the live streaming of Chief Minister’s office as part of
Oommen Chandy’s earnest efforts to bring transparency in governance by
incorporating technological innovations.
“Change of Guard” Ceremony at Rashtrapati
Bhavan now open to public every Saturday
It would now be possible for common man to visit
President’s House Rashtrapati Bhavan to witness ceremonial ‘Change of Guard’
conducted in precision by smartly dressed army men and caparisoned horses. As
per the new changes which have been introduced after President Pranab
Mukherjee’s instructions to open the house for common man, 200 public visitors
will now be allowed every Saturday at its forecourt for witnessing the
ceremony.
BB
Nimbalkar, India’s Highest Scorer in First class cricket Passed away
Bhausaheb Babasaheb Nimbalkar, a giant of Indian
domestic cricket who came close to breaking Sir Don Bradman's first-class score
in the Ranji Trophy, passed away due to age related ailments in his residence
in Kolhapur on 11 December 2012.The right-handed batsman holds the record of
scoring the highest individual first-class score by an Indian - 443 not out for
Maharashtra against Kathiawar at Poona Club in December 1948. With an aggregate
of 3,687 runs at a healthy average of 56.72 with 11 centuries he is counted
among the outstanding batsmen in the Ranji Trophy.
Yeddyurappa
formally launches Karnataka Janata Party
Opening a new chapter in Karnataka politics,
former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa formally launched Karnataka Janata Party
(KJP) on 09 December 2012 and took over as its president at a massive rally
here in North Karnataka.
Prepared by: currentaffairs4examz.blogspot.com
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