CURRENT AFFAIRS 2013
1.Oscars Awards-2013
85th Oscar awards presentation ceremony held in Los Angels on 25
February 2013.In this ceremoney Life of Pi cinema got a 4 Oscar
awards.
Best Picture: Argo
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Best Supporting Actress:Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)
Best Directing: Ang Lee(Life of Pi)
Best Adapted Screenplay:Chris Terrio( Argo)
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
Best Documentary Feature: Searching for Sugar Man
Best Original Song:Skyfall” from Skyfall, music and lyrics by Adele
Adkins and Paul Epworth
Best Original Score: Life of Pi
Best Animated Feature: Brave
Best Cinematography:Life of PiBest Costume Design: Anna Karenina
Best Documentary Short Subject:Inocente
Best Film Editing:Argo
Best Foreign Language Film:Amour (Austria)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Les Misérables
Best Production Design:Lincoln
Best Short Film (Animated): Paperman
Best Short Film (Live Action): Curfew
Best Sound Editing: Skyfall (TIE), Zero Dark Thirty (TIE),
Best Sound Mixing: Les Misérables
Best Visual Effects: Life of Pi
2.The Chief Justice who was sworn-in as the new Prime Minister of
Nepal by taking over the office from Baburam Bhattarai- Khil Raj
Regmi
3.The new leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), who was
appointed as the President of China- Xi Jinping
4.The India Tourism Film, which claimed First Prize at 11th Golden
City Gate Awards- Find What You Seek
5.The Venezuelan President who died due to cancer on 5 March
2013 at Caracas-Hugo Chavez
6.Venezuelan Vice- President who was sworn in as Venezuela’s
acting president- Nicolas Maduro
7.The city which won the award for most liveable Indian city by IPSOS
Best City Survey and Awards 2013 event in New Delhi –Nagpur
8.The Person who was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya
for the second term by taking oath as 26th CM of the state-Mukul
Manda Sangma
9.The Person who conferred with the Liberation War Honour Award
by the President of Bangladesh, Zillur Rahman-Pranab Mukherjee
10.The Business tycoon who retained his title as the richest person of
India for the sixth consecutive year with the net worth of 21.5 billion
US Dollars-Mukesh Ambani
11.Famous Italian musician and composer who had written the
scores for about 300 films died at the age of 95- Armando Trovajoli
12.The book released by the Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari
which is written by K. Natwar Singh, the former Union Minister for
External Affairs-Walking with Lions: Tales from a Diplomatic Past
13.The new communication satellite launched by NASA on 31
January 2013 to stay in touch with its space station astronauts-
TDRS(Tracking and Data Relay Satellite)
14.President of Republic of Mauritius who visited India from 3 Jan
2013 to 10 Jan 2013 and was honoured with the Pravasi Bharatiya
Samman Award- Rajkeswur Purryag
15.The King of Bhutan who visited India from 23 to 30 January 2013
and was the Chief Guest for the Republic Day Celebration- Jigme
Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
16.US Marine General who took over the command of the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan- Joseph
Dunford
17.Code name given to secret plan for executing Jaish-e-Mohammad
terrorist Afzal Guru in Tihar Jail on 9 February 2013 -Operation Three
Star
18.The Person appointed as the chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi on 12
February 2013- Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty
19.Prime Minister of the Himalayan Kingdom Bhutan was on an
official visit to India from 7 Feb. to 9 Feb. 2013- Lyonchhen Jigmi Y.
Thinley
20.World Radio Day was observed on which day to raise awareness
about the importance of radio- 12 February 2013
21.The person who was appointed as the next Permanent
Representative of India to the United Nations on 13 February 2013-
Asoke Kumar Mukerji
22.The Country which banned the Japanese cartoon Doraemon in
the third week of February 2013 because of the fears of Hindi
invasion- Bangladesh
23.The Person who was conferred with Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace,
Disarmament and Development Award 2011 by the President of
India Pranab Mukherjee on 18 Feb 2013 -Ela Ramesh Bhatt
24.The Ecuador's President who was re-elected for a third term with
more than 50 percent of the vote- Rafael Correa
25.The former LIC chief who took over as the Chairman of the
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) on 21
February 2013- T. S. Vijayan
26.The Person who had sworn -in as the first woman President of
South Korea on 25 February 2013- Park Geun-hye
27.Pakistan Hands Over Strategic Gwadar Port To China
On 18 February Pakistan and China signed an agreement to hand
over control of the strategic Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea to a
Chinese company.Under the agreement for transfer of concession
rights, the deep sea port will remain the property of Pakistan while
the Chinese company will share profits from its operation. China
Overseas Port Holdings Limited will fully assume responsibility for
Gwadar port in Balochistan province.
28.India-Malaysia Double Taxation Agreement in Force
On 2 February India and Malaysia signed on double-taxation
avoidance agreement (DTAA). Dividends paid by Indian companies to
Malaysian investors or entities will attract a lower withholding tax of
5 percent against 10 per cent earlier. The new agreement has also, in
line with international practice, introduced a new article for taxing
capital gains from alienation of property.
29.India Failed To Curb Sexual Violence Against Women
According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) ‘ World Report 2013 ‘
India has been accused of failure to curb incidents of sexual violence
against women and for restrictions on right to free speech, India “has
a thriving civil society, free media, and an independent judiciary”, the
city-based rights group said in its assessment of rights abuses in
India.
30.India won Kishanganga Case Against Pakistan
On 18 February the Court of Arbitration at the Hague allowed India
to go ahead with the Construction of the Kishanganga hydroelectric
project in Gurez valley near Bandipura in North Kashmir, the court
rejected the plea of Pakistan that the construction was a violation of
1960 Indus Water Treaty.The Court of Arbitration, chaired by
Stephen M. Schwebel in its orders stated that India can move ahead
with the diversion of water plans of Kishanganga that is a tributary of
Jhelum, for generation of hydro-electric power. But it restrained
India from adoption of the drawdown technique of flushing for
clearing the sedimentation of the run-of-the river project that had
been designed and asked it to adopt a different technique for
generation of 330 MW power facilities
31.President Gave Assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment)
Ordinance, 2013
On 3 February President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the
Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 which provides for,
amongst other things, stricter punishment for crimes against women.
The Ordinance was to be largely based on the recommendations of
the Justice Verma Committee.However, the Ordinance will have to
be passed by Parliament within six months otherwise the same shall
lapse.
32.Wrestling Dropped From 2020 Olympic Games List
On 12 February the International Olympic Committee (IOC) leaders
dropped wrestling from the 2020 Olympic Games.Wrestling will be
included at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.The IOC board acted
after reviewing the 26 sports on the current Olympic program.
Eliminating one sport allows the IOC to add a new sport to the
program later this year.Wrestling will now join seven other sports in
applying for inclusion in 2020. The others are a combined bid from
baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing,
wakeboarding and wushu. They will be vying for a single opening in
2020.The last sports removed from the Olympics were baseball and
softball, voted out by the IOC in 2005 and off the program since the
2008 Beijing Games. Golf and Rugby will be joining the program at
the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
33.PSLV-C20 Successfully Launched ‘SARAL’ and 6 Other Satellites
On 25 February ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the
Satish Dawan Space centre at SPSR Nellore in Sriharikota , launched
the Indo-French satellite “SARAL” along with six commercial payloads
from Austria, Britain, Canada and Denmark into a 785-km polar
sunsynchronous orbit.It was the 23rd mission of PSLV, which has an
impeccable record of 21 consecutive successful flights.
About SARAL:- – The Saral mission results from the common interest
of both ISRO and CNES in studying the ocean from space. For
instance, it can provide information on seasonal forecasting, study
on animal migration, locating ‘buoys’ and fishing vessels, collecting
environmental data such as ocean temperature profiles and currents.
Besides Saral, the PSLV-C20 has put into orbit two micro-satellites
UniBRITE and BRITE (both from Austria), AAUSAT3 from Denmark
and STRaND from UK. It also carried one micro-satellite (NEOSSat)
and one mini-satellite (SAPPHIRE) from Canada.With a lift-off mass of
407 kg, Saral is the 56th satellite to be launched by PSLV.The six
commercial payloads from abroad together have a lift-off mass of
259.5 km.PSLV-C20 is the ninth PSLV in ‘core alone’ configuration
(without solid strap-on motors).
34.“Khushwantnama: The Lessons of My Life” Book Released
On 2 February 2013 The indomitable Khushwant Singh has released a
new book named “Khushwantnama: The Lessons of My Life” on his
98th birthday in which he writes about his life, lessons it has taught
him, politics, future of India and what religion means to him.The
book, published by Penguin Books India, is dedicated to Kaur who is a
close friend of the author.Khushwant Singh was a Member of
Parliament from 1980 to 1986. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan
in 1974 but returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the
storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by the Indian Army. In
2007, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan.
35.“Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Germany” Book Released
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose new book named ‘Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose and Germany’ released on 6 February.The First copy of
the book by Professor Anita B. Pfaff was given to the President of
India Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan at NewDelhi. The
book was brought out by the Federation of Indo-German Societies in
India.The book is a collection of the records shared by Professor
Anita Pfaff as well as other known biographers and writers.The book
portrayed some interesting facets of the life of Netaji and his
extraordinary contribution to India’s freedom struggle.
