Current Affairs June 2010

APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc.

Naoto Kan: He has been elected as the Prime Minister of Japan. He has become the fifth Prime Minister of Japan in three years, taking the helm as the country struggles to rein in a huge public debt, engineer growth in an aging society, and manage ties with security ally USA and a rising China.
Julia Gillard: She scripted history when she was elected as the first woman Prime Minister of Australia. She succeeded Kevin Rudd, who stepped down following revolt against him within the Labour party. The rebellion had been spearheaded by Ms Gillard, opposing his policies on health, education and climate change.
Roza Otunbayeva: She has been elected as the first woman President of Kyrgystan. She claimed victory in a referendum in Kyrgyzstan, making her the interim President till 2011, a vote held to decide the legitimacy of her rule after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev regime was ousted in April 2010.
Benigno Aquino: He has been elected as the President of Philippines.
Justice (Retd) K.G. Balakrishnan: Former Chief Justice of India, he has been appointed as Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission.
Sharad Pawar: He has taken over as the President of International Cricket Council (ICC).

RESIGNED

Madhav Kumar Nepal: Prime Minister of Nepal.
Shibu Soren: Chief Minister of Jharkhand.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS

Mahinda Rajapaksa: President of Sri Lanka.
Jacob Zuma: President of South Africa.

MILESTONES

Nitin Noharia: An Indian-American he has taken over as the Dean of Harvard Business School. He is the first person of Indian origin to occupy the prestigious and high profile post.

EVENTS

JUNE
11—The first World Cup football tournament in Africa kicks-off with a feast of song and dance in Johannesburg, South Africa.
14—The 64-day-old blockade of the two crucial highways leading to Manipur is suspended by the Naga Student Federation following talks with the Union government. The organisation had launched the blockade protesting elections to Autonomous District Councils in Manipur hills and Manipur government’s decision to ban entry of NSCN leader T. Muivah to the State.
26—The Union government finally lifts government control and allows oil companies to fix prices of petrol on the basis of market forces.
29—Masoists kill 26 CRPF personnel in a remote area of Chattisgarh’s Narayanpur district.

SPORTS

BADMINTON
Yonex-Sunrise India Open Grand Prix
Saina Nehwal of India beat Malaysia’s Mew Choo Wong to win the title. This was her second international title win at home. She had won the Lucknow Grand Prix in 2009.

Indonesia Open
Saina Nehwal notched up an incredible hat-trick of titles by successfully defending her Indonesian Open Super Series title with s hard-fought win over Japan’s Sayaka Sato. She had earlier won the Indian Open Grand Prix and the Singapore Open Super Series.

Singapore Open
Indian ace Saina Nehwal clinched the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over Chinese Taipie’s Tzu Ying Tai.

CRICKET
Asia Cup
India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs to win the Asia Cup. India had set the Lankans a stiff target of 299 runs. Dinesh Karthik was declared man of the match.

West Indies-South Africa One Day Series
South Africa completed a 5-0 white-wash of the series with a thrilling one wicket win in the final match. Earlier, the South Africans had also won the Twenty20 two-match series.

England-Australia One Day series
England won the five-match series 3-0. This followed 2009’s Ashes triumph and 2010’s Twenty20 World Cup final win over their oldest rivals.

SHOOTING
ISSF Shotgun World Cup
Double-trap marksman Ronjan Sodhi clinched the gold in the tournament held at Lonato, Italy.

TENNIS
French Open, 2010
Men’s Singles title: Rafael Nadal won the title by defeating Robin Soderling. This was his fifth French Open win.

Women’s Singles title: Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title when she defeated Australian Samantha Stosur to win the women’s singles title.

Men’s Doubles title: Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic won by beating defending champions Leander Paes of India and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic.

Women’s Doubles title: Serena and Venus Williams of USA. Serena Williams won her second French Open Women's Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the women's doubles in the Slams. Venus Williams won her second French Open Women's Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the women's doubles in the Slams.

Mixed Doubles: Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonji? were the winners. Srebotnik won her third French Open Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth Slam title in that discipline. Zimonji? won his second French Open Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth Slam title in that discipline.