FOR RAS PRE EXAM 2012

Events; Appointments; Etc.: March 2012

APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc. Vladimir Putin: He has been elected as the President of Russia. Joachim Gauck: He has been elected as the President of Germany, marking the first time a candidate from former communist east will be the head of State. Mukul Roy: He has been appointed as the Union Minister of Railways. Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh: He has been appointed as the next Chief of Indian Army. He will take over on May 31, 2012. Parkash Singh Badal: He has been re-elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab. Manohar Parrikar: He has been elected as the Chief Minister of Goa. Vijay Bahuguna: He has been elected as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. Okram Ibobi Singh: He has been re-elected as the Chief Minister of Manipur. Akhilesh Yadav: He has been elected as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He is the youngest ever Chief Minister of the State. Nancy Powell: She has been appointed as the Ambassador of USA to India. RESIGNED Dinesh Trivedi: Union Railways Minister. DISTINGUISHED VISITORS Hu Jintao: President of China. Dilma Rouseff: President of Brazil. Dmitry Medvedev: President of Russia. Jacob Zuma: President of South Africa. DIED Joy Mukherjee: Hindi film actor. He was 73. Among his hit films were: “Humsaya”, “Shagird”, “Love in Tokyo”, and “Ek Musafi, Ek Hasina”. Ravi: Noted music director. He was 86. Untrained in classical music, he borrowed liberally from north Indian folk music forms. With few instruments he could belt out mellifluous hits such as: “Aye meri zohara jabeen” (Waqt), “Baar Baar Dekho” (China Town) and “Chaudvin kaa chand ho” (Chaudvin kaa chand). EVENTS March 2—Iran votes to elect a new Parliament 3—Around 81 per cent voters exercise their franchise in the Goa Assembly polls, beating all previous records. 4—China announces hike in its defence budget by 11.2c per cent to whopping $106.4 billion, pushing its military spending for the first time to the triple digit. 22—India votes in favour of a US-initiated resolution  at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, urging Sri Lanka to ‘credibly investigate’ allegations of rights violations during the prolonged conflict against Tamil Tigers, a move which could have a bearing on relations between the two South Asian nations. 22—Soldiers seize power in West African State of Mali, in protest the government’s failure to quell a nomad-led rebellion in the north. MILESTONES James Cameron: Director of “Titanic” and “Avatar”, he has completed the world’s first solo dive to the deepest-known point of earth, reaching the bottom of the Pacific Ocean’s Marina Trench, south-west of Guam, in a specially designed submarine named “Challenger Deep”. He reached a depth of 10,898 metres beneath the Ocean’s surface. His first words on reaching the bottom, following a descent that took two hours and 36 minutes, were: “All systems OK”. Rochelle Maria Rao: A TV anchor from Chennai, she has been crowned Pantaloons-Femina Miss India International, 2012. Vanya Mishra, a 19-year-old from Chandigarh has been crowned Miss India World.  Prachi Mishra, , 24-year-old investment adviser from Allahabad, has been crowned Miss India Earth.