FOR RAS PRE EXAM 2012

Events; Appointments; Etc.: December 2011

APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc.

Kim Jong-un: He has been selected to head the ruling coterie of North Korea following the death of his father Kim Jong-il.
Nancy Powell: She has been appointed as the US Ambassador to India.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS

Yoshihiko Noda: Prime Minister of Japan.
Badr Bin Saud Bin Harib: Minister of Defence Affairs of Oman.
Stephen Smith: Defence Minister of Australia.

DIED

Kim Jong-il: Head of government of North Korea.
Vaclav Havel: A dissident playwright who was jailed by Communists and then went on to lead the bloodless “Velvet Revolution” and become Czech President. He was 75.
Mario Miranda: Renowned cartoonist, immortalised by his depiction of Goan life and his humorous takes on the world around him. He was 85.
Dev Anand: Leading actor and director of Indian film industry. He was 88.
Satyadev Dubey: Noted theatre personality and playwright. He was 75.

EVENTS

DECEMBER
4—The ruling Labour party of Australia approves plan to lift decade-old ban to export uranium to India.
5—The Union government agrees to put on hold its decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-product retail trade, following protests by opposition parties.
9—More than 89 people are killed in a hospital blaze in Kolkata.
18—The last US soldiers roll-out of Iraq, across the border to neighbouring Kuwait. The exit marks the end of a bitterly divisive war that ravaged for nearly nine years and left Iraq shattered. The mission cost nearly 4,500 American soldiers and more than 1,00,000 Iraqi lives.
24—The Election Commission announces the schedule for the Assembly polls in five States—Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarkhand, Manipur and Goa.
27—Lok Sabha passes historic Lokpal Bill by voice vote.
30—Cyclone ‘Thane’ batters Tamil Nadu coast. More than 33 people are killed

MILESTONES

Jyoti Amge: She has been declared as the world’s shortest living woman by the Guinness World Records. This Nagpur woman stands just 62.8 cm tall.
Siddhartha Mukherjee: The Indian origin American physician who had won the Pulitzer prize for general notification, has added another literary accolade by winning the Guardian First Book Award for his “biography” of cancer, “The Emperor of All Maladies”.