CURRENT AFFAIRS QUESTIONS

Chandigarh stood first for Nirmal Shahar Puraskar: Chandigarh City Stood first for Nirmal Shahar Purskar in the joint research done by A.C. Nilson Org Marg development and research services and Centre for Environmental Planning and Techology (CEPT). Mysore, Surath and New Delhi Municipal Corporations follows Chandigarh. Ministry Urban Development has decided to give “Nirmal Shahar Puraskar” Awards for the clean cities.

Viswanathan Anand successfully retained his crown : Indian chess champion Viswanathan Anand successfully defended his crown by defeating Bulgarian challenger Vesselin Topalov in the World Chess Championship 2010. This was the fourth time for Anand. Anand played with the black pieces and won in the 56th move, with an aggregate score of 6.5-5.5 points. The Indian won the first prize which earned him 1.2 million euro, whereas the Bulgarian will have to content himself with second place and consolation prize money amounting to 800 000 euro.The match took place in Sofia, Bulgaria from April 24 to May 13, 2010

Sydney Peace Prize for Vandana Shiva : Physicist and environmentalist Vandana Shiva has been awarded the prestigious Sydney Peace Prize for the year 2010 in recognition of her works in social justice. Ms. Shiva will give the City of Sydney Peace Prize lecture at the Sydney Opera House on November 3. She will be presented with the prize the next evening. She is one of the leaders at the International Forum on Globalisation and the Third World Network. She has earlier received the Global 500 Award of the United Nations Environment Programme and the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize.' She is the founder of Navdanya, an environmental NGO that promotes organic farming.

The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2010: Established in 1987, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize is organised and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation, an intergovernmental organisation working in the 53 countries of the Commonwealth of Nations & Macquarie Group Foundation. This is for the first time that the award ceremony is hosted by India. Winners: Best Book: Rana Dasgupta (India/UK) for his work “Solo”. Best First Book: Glenda Guest of Australia for “Siddon Rock”.

General Vijay Kumar Singh appointed as the New Chief of the Indian Army: On 31st March 2010, General Vijay Kumar Singh, PVSM (Param Visistha Seva Medal),AVSM (Ati Vishisht Seva Medal), YSM (Yudh Seva Medal), ADC (Aide-de-camp) with vast experience in counter insurgency operations, takes over as India’s 26th Chief of the Army.

The National Knowledge Commission headed by Syam Pitroda: The National Knowledge Commission is a high-level advisory body headed by Syam Pitroda to the Prime Minister of India, with the objective of transforming India into a knowledge society. The National Knowledge Commission has submitted around 300 recommendations on 27 focus areas during its three and a half year term.

32.7 % Indians poor according to Suresh Tendulkar committee method: The new method of estimating poverty put forward by the Tendulkar Committee and adopted by the Planning Commission, puts the number of poor in India at 32.7 percent of the population. This is compared with the 27.5 percent recorded in 2000. The earlier method of estimating poverty was based on whether one square meal a day with minimum nutritional needs could be afforded by families.