1. The expert group on strategies for low carbon growth submitted its report on 9 May 2011.

The expert
group was headed by Kirit Parikh. The expert group was set up in the aftermath of the December 2009
Copenhagen Summit with the objective of suggesting a low carbon growth strategy including sector-
specific initiatives. The report by the expert group suggested a possibility of a higher range of emission
intensity reduction up to 35% by 2020 over 2005 level.
2. On 3 May 2011, the Department of the Environment and Forests of India declared of setting up a National
Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Authority (NEAMA) as a part of efforts to bring in
institutional reforms and improve environmental governance. As a professional, science-based and
autonomous entity tasked with environmental appraisals and monitoring of compliance, NEAMA is
planned to mark a major improvement over the prevailing system of the institutional reforms and
environmental governance.
3. The amount of compensation being paid to the victims of the use of the pesticide Endosulfan was increased
from 300 rupees to 2000 rupees per month in Kerala by the state government in the third week of April
2011. In 2010, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) proposed a nationwide ban on endosulfan.
4. 113 MW Andhra Lake Wind Power Project is posing threat to the region of Western Ghats in Maharashtra.
The project is promoted by Indo-German enterprise Enercon India and it is located at a distance of 3.5 km
from the Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary. Because of the project, illegal tree cutting is being done,
posing a danger to the wildlife in the region. Western Ghat Expert Ecology Panel (WGEEP) decided to
visit the site of the project to give its opinion on it. The project covers an area of 194.66 hectares of reserve
forest land.
5. The Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change on 22 February 2011 approved 46000 crore rupees
National Mission for Green India. The Green India mission is aimed at increasing forest cover in the
country by five million hectares by 2020. The mission is also aimed at improving the livelihood of three
million forest dependant households and increase carbon sequestration of 50-60 million tonnes by 2020.
The mission is to be implemented by the Union Environment ministry of India under the National Action
Plan on Climate Change announced in 2009.
6. Mustelus manglorensis, a new gummy shark species, was discovered from a depth of 500 metres off
the Mangalore coast in December 2010. 84 species of fishes were found in the Indian waters including 15
shark varieties like Baloon, Cat, Lantern and Gulpers. Researchers have also confirmed the presence of 10
species of eels belonging to Conger, Cusk and Snipe families from the study region. The presence of a
shark species new to science and 84 other deep-sea dwellers new to the Indian waters were brought out by a
stock assessment of deep sea fishes of the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone and the central Indian Ocean.
7. Cancun is a coastal city in Mexico's state, Quintana Roo, on the Yucatan Peninsula.
8. India is a signatory to the Ramsor Convention for the conservation of wetlands.Wetland is an area of land
whose soil is wet with moisture. Wetlands include both natural wetlands like rivers, lakes, coral reefs and
man-made wetlands like farm ponds, canals and irrigated agricultural lands. Wetlands are considered the
most biologically diverse ecosystems which are host to several animal and plant lives. The Ramsar
Convention is an international treaty on conservation of wetlands. Ramsar convention was adopted at
Ramsar on 2nd February, 1971 and it came into force in December, 1975. Ramsar is a town in Iran.
9. Union Environment and Forests minister Jairam Ramesh released a report by the name Climate Change
and India: A 4x4 Assessment A sectoral and regional analysis for 2030son 16 November 2010. The report
assesses the impact of climate change in 2030s on four key sectors of the Indian economy, namely
Agriculture, Water, Natural Ecosystems & Biodiversity and Health in four climate sensitive regions of
India, namely the Himalayan region, the Western Ghats, the Coastal Area and the North-East Region. The
Report was prepared by the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA). 
10. International Museum Day (IMD) was observed on 18 May 2011. The theme for International Museum
Day 2011 was Museum and Memory. Museums preserve memories and have in their collections numerous
objects that are fundamental to the memory of the communities of the current times. These objects are the
expression of natural and cultural heritage.
11. A committee headed by former vice-chancellor of Rewa University Prof A D N Vajpai submitted its
report on the sex-for-marks scandal in Jabalpur’s NSCB Medical College to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan on 15 May 2011. The Madhya Pradesh government has accepted all recommendations made by a
committee.
12. India ratified in the second week of May 2011, the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organised Crime and its three protocols and the United Nations Convention against Corruption. The
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime is the main international instrument in
the fight against transnational organised crime. It recognises the need to foster and enhance close
international cooperation in order to tackle those problems. The convention is further supplemented by
three Protocols, which target specific areas and manifestations of organized crime namely Protocols to
combat (1) trafficking in persons (2) migrant smuggling and (3) illicit trafficking in firearms.
13. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation's top honour for
exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights on 11 May 2011. Assange, an Australian former computer
hacker who is fighting extradition from Britain to Sweden over alleged sex crimes, was praised and
rewarded with the Sydney Peace Prize's Gold Medal. Assange was arrested in London at Sweden's request
in December 2010 and is currently on bail pending his challenge in July 2011 to a British judge's decision
to extradite him over allegations of sexual assault.
14. Fifty-nine year-old Aasha Jee on 8 May became the first Kashmiri Pandit woman to win a panchayat poll in
a predominantly Muslim village in Kashmir’s Kunzer block after her victory by 11. Aasha got 53 votes
compared to 42 for her only rival Sarwa Begum in the panch elections of Wusan village.
15. South Pacific island nation Samoa, currently positioned to the east of the International Date Line on 9
May 2011 decided to forego a day (28 December 2011) and shift to the time zone on its west. to
facilitate trade with Australia and New Zealand. The decision was taken to facilitate to facilitate trade with
Australia and New Zealand.
16. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was on 9 May 2011 was chosen for the prestigious Jawaharlal
Nehru Award for International Understanding for 2009 for her enormous efforts toward sustainable and
equitable development. The External Affairs Ministry release revealed that that the jury chaired by Vice-
President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, has decided to confer the award for 2009 on Dr. Merkel.
17. Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh declared on 8 May 2011 that the Union government
had approved two more tiger reserves in Karnataka. Following the government’s approval, B.R. Hills in
Chamarajanagar district and Kudremukh in Chikmagalur district became the 40th and 41st tiger
reserves in the country.
18. Portugal reached a deal with the European Union and the IMF on 3 May 2011 on a €78-billion 3-year
bailout. Portugal’s Prime Minister Jose Socrates announced the deal is worth 78 billion euros. Portugal
became the third euro zone member to strike such deal after Greece and Ireland and secure an international
rescue package.
19. First Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable Disease Control was
organised in Moscow by World Health Organisation on 28 and 29 April 2011. At the conference
mental disorders was included in the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) list at India’s insistence. India
achieved a major success on the global platform by pushing for inclusion of mental health in the list of non-
communicable diseases. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad led the Indian
delegation to Moscow.
20. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in May 2011 decided to accept the broad framework of regulations
recommended by the Malegam Committee report on micro finance institutions (MFIs). The
recommendation will be accepted with relaxation in some of the stringent proposals of the panel.
21. Vanuatu, a small island nation in the South Pacific is set to become the 154th member of the World
Trade Organisation
22. Russia and Algeria are the two main trade economies outside the WTO.
23. Director K. Balachander was declared the winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2010 by the
Information and Broadcasting Ministry on 29 April 2011.
24. SAGA-220 Supercomputer is fully designed and built by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre using
commercially available hardware, open source software components and in house developments. – India’s
fastest supercomputer
25. National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) on 26 April 2011 announced the
appointment of Rajendra S. Pawar as the new chairman of its Executive Council for the year 2011-2012.
Rajendra Pawar is the Chairman and co-founder of NIIT Technologies. NASSCOM also appointed
 Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tata Consultancy Services, N. Chandrasekaran as the
Vice-Chairman for the year 2011-12.
26. Former British boxing legend, Sir Henry Cooper has died aged 76 on 1 May 2011. He was one of the
sport's biggest personalities and was a cult figure both in and out of the ring.
27. The government of Syria passed a draft law on 19 April 2011 to lift 48 years of emergency rule in the
country.  However, the protests of the people against the government continued even after the
announcement. The Syrian President Ahmad al-Bashar recently had announced the removal of emergency
rule. The emergency rule in Syria is since 1963.   
28. Jennifer Egan's novel A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction on 18 April 2011.
29. The Supreme Court of India, on 11 April 2011, refused Odisha Government's plea to stay Polavaram Dam
construction by Andhra Pradesh.  It also appointed former Central Water Commission (CWC) member
M Gopalakrishnan to inspect the project along with CWC and submit separate reports to
30. The two day 9th SAARC Conference in Police Matters was inaugurated on 5 April 2011 at the Hotel Taj
Samudra in Colombo by Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
31. According to NASA sceintists, in the first week of May 2011, a giant asteroid named YU55 is heading
close to the earth. If it hits the earth, it would have an impact equivalent to 65000 atom bombs. It will pass
by a distance of just 201000 miles. It is the largest object ever to come so close to the Earth.
32. DTAA – Columbia, Switzerland,
33. India and Uzbekistan signed an action plan on tourism cooperation in New Delhi on 16 May 2011 in the
presence of the First Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Rustom Azimov and Union Tourism Minister
Subodh Kant Sahai. 
34. India and Australia moved closer to finalise FTA (Free Trade Agreement) between them when the
Trade minister of Australia Mr. Simon Crean visited India from 2nd May to 8 may 2010. Mr. Simon Crean
attended the 12th meeting of the India-Australia Joint Ministerial Commission along with his Indian
counterpart R.S. Sharma.
35. Pakistan on 31May 2010 at the Indus Water Commissioner- level meeting in New Delhi withdrew its
objection to two Indian hydel power projects Uri-II and Chutak being constructed in Jammu and Kashmir
36. Pakistan on 01 June 2010 during the meeting of Indus Water Commission agreed not to object to
Baglihar dam constructed by India on river Chenab
37. On 02 June2010 India and Seychelles signed a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement
(BIPA) during the 3-day visit of Seychelles President James Alix Michel to India. Alix Michel sought
better air links with India for the improvement of economic ties and for promoting tourism
38. India and Japan on 18 July2010 launched a five year project to develop a Network for Natural Disaster
Mitigation and Recovery or DISANET at Hyderabad. The objective of the DISANET is to monitor
natural disasters and to evolve an emergency communication system with the help from Information
technology tools. The cost of DISANET project is Rs.20 Crore.
39. On 06 July2010 India and Japan held bilateral dialogue in New Delhi which is named as 2+2 dialogue.
This was the first 2+2 dialogue between India and Japan. Under this dialogue India and Japan discussed the
need of greater cooperation while combating major problems like sea piracy and terrorism. India and Japan
also discussed the possibility of bilateral civil nuclear pact between them. India and Japan also held foreign
office consultations on this date.
40. Five Caspian states namely Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijanparticipated in the fourth
Caspian summit which took place in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan on 18- 20 November 2010. Baku summit
was called to discuss Caspian Sea’s legal status and to discuss the territorial division of the Caspian Sea
and the establishment of the Caspian Economic Cooperation Organisation
41. India and Bangladesh on 10 January 2011, agreed to sign the 15 year interim accord on sharing the waters
of common rivers Teesta and Feni between the two countries during the secretary level meeting of the
Indo-Bangladesh Joint River Commission in Dhaka. The agreement is to be signed during Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Bangladesh in 2011. India and Bangladesh also discussed to formulate
a working plan on the water sharing of the five other common rivers namely Dudhkumar, Manu, Dharala ,
Khowai ,Gumti and Muhuri.
42. Rebel forces attacked the Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo’s residence in Abidijan on 1 April
2011. Despite losing an election held in November 2010, Laurent Gbagbo refused to resign from his post.
Alassane Ouattara was recognised by the United Nations as the winner of the election. Ivory Coast is a
country located in West Africa.
43. India, on 11 April 2011, offered expertise and latest technology in sugar industry to Ethiopia
44. The deemed export scheme available to suppliers of products to specified projects is under review by the
government in the backdrop of the commerce ministry setting up a committee. The committee headed by
 Director General for Foreign Trade Anup K Pujari set up on 2 May 2011 will review the very existence
of the deemed export scheme whose scope has considerably widened over the years. The committee also
includes representatives from the finance ministry, Reserve Bank of India, Planning Commission and the
revenue department.
45. Committee on Zonal Cultural Centres headed by Mani Shankar Aiyar presented its Report to the
Union Culture Minister Kumari Selja on 11 April 2011. The recommendations will be processed by
Ministry of Culture and appropriate steps will be taken to revamp the functioning of the ZCCs to further
enhance their outreach.
46. The Union Sports Ministry on 6 April 2011 formed a committee, headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal,
retired Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana to fine-tune the draft National Sports
Development Bill.
47. The Union cabinet secretariat on 8 February 2011 set up a high powered committee headed by former
finance secretary Ashok Chawla to suggest a roadmap for efficient and transparent distribution of
scarce natural resources such as telecom spectrum
48. Capt. P.V.K. Mohan Committee, constituted by the Shipping Ministry in December 2010 submitted its
report in January 2011. The committee in the report recommended banning the entry of over 25-year-old
ships in Indian ports. The report included 18 suggestions relevant for all major ports including Mumbai
and Jawaharlal Nehru ports and the balance policy initiatives to be taken by the ministry
49. With an objective to promote creation of infrastructure for sustaining the growth momentum, the Indian
Government on 18 November 2010 decided to form a High Level Committee on Financing of
Infrastructure under the chairmanship of Rakesh Mohan, former Deputy Governor of the Reserve
Bank and former Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs. The Committee whose tenure is 18 months
will be serviced by the Planning Commission and the Infrastructure Development Finance Company
(IDFC). During the 11th Five Year Plan, the investment target is Rs. 2050000 crore. The government set up
the high-level panel to evolve an enabling policy frame work for $1 trillion investment in infrastructure
during the 12th five year plan that will begin in April 2012.For the 12th Plan, the likely investment target
will be Rs. 4100000 crore (at constant  2006-07 prices), of which investment, about one half is expected
from the private sector and a significant proportion of the balance half will be funded by public sector
undertakings through market borrowings. It would be necessary to evolve policy responses to enable the
flow of large capital resources of this order into infrastructure projects. The committee will thus strive for
the following-

•    Assess the investment required to be made by the Central and State Government, Public   Sector
Undertakings (PSUs) and the private sector in the ten major physical infrastructure sectors.
•    Identify areas and activities to be financed by the government, public sector undertakings and the
private sector respectively.
•    Make recommendations on the role that government could play in developing the capital markets.
•    Examine the role of international capital flows in infrastructure financing and development.
•    Identify any regulatory/ legal impediments constraining private investment in infrastructure and make
recommendations for their removal.
50. The Indian Government constituted a four-member committee to ascertain the status of
implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act,
2006 on 28 July 2010. The committee would also access and assertain other rehabilitation measures taken
before granting final approval for diversion of forest land for the establishment of the Integrated Steel Plant
and Captive Port by Posco-India at Jagatsinghpur district in Orissa. The committee would probe the
implementation of the rehabilitation package to the affected people and submit its report within a month of
its formation. The members of the committee include - Meena Gupta, former Environment Secretary;
Urmila Pingle, an expert on tribal issues; Devender Pandey, former Director of the Forest Survey of
India; and V. Suresh, advocate.
51. The Indian Cabinet approved of the K. Jayakumar Committee report on the ecological damage caused
by the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Company at Plachimada, Kerala on 30 June 2010. The 14
member committee was constituted under the chairmanship of K. Jayakumar to look into the ecological
damages caused by the Coca-Cola plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district of Kerala
52. The one-man committee comprising former chief of the Border Security Force, E.N. Rammohan,
constituted on 8 April 2010 submitted its report on 26 April 2010. The committee submitted report to
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the April 6 massacre of 76 security personnel by Maoists in
Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. The committee was constituted to establish the circumstances
 preceding and the sequence of events that led to the incident. Rammohan was also asked to report the actual
events that took place on 6 April 2010 from 0500 hours to 1200 hours till the first rescue party arrived.
53. In its second round of recommendations to the Indian government in March 2010 the B K Chaturvedi
committee, set up by the Prime Minister to resolve issues in the roads sector called for a bucket-based
approach to resolve disputes affecting the sector. The committee suggested three buckets for the size of
claims by way of which the cases can be taken up by the National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI). The three bucket sizes suggested are: disputes involving claims up to Rs 10 crore, between Rs 10-
100 crore and those above Rs 100 crore.
54. First Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable Disease Control was
organised in Moscow by World Health Organisation on 28 and 29 April 2011. At the conference
mental disorders was included in the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) list at India’s insistence. India
achieved a major success on the global platform by pushing for inclusion of mental health in the list of non-
communicable diseases. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad led the Indian
delegation to Moscow
55. Microfinance India 2010 summit was organised by ACCESS Development Services in Delhi on 15 and 16
November 2010
56. In the Arab League summit organized in Libya on 27 and 28 March 2010, Arab leaders called for a West
Asia free of nuclear weapons. Israel and Iran's nuclear programmes are viewed with growing alarm and this
repeatedly called for an agreement to ban nuclear weapons from the region. The participants called for a
review of the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to create a definitive plan for eliminating
nuclear weapons development.
57. Indian Navy, on 21 January 2011, inducted INS Deepak fleet tanker to support Indian warships in all
missions abroad and to form an important part of the western fleet as the main re-supply vessel for INS
Vikramaditya.
58. Two water jet-propelled fast attack craft, INS Cankarso and INS Kondul, were launched by Andhra
Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan at the naval jetty on 29 June 2010. The launch proved that India is
self-reliant and that its shipbuilding is at par with that of world’s best. INS Cankarso and INS Kondul, that
were named after two islands off Goa and in Nicobar, have a displacement of 325 tons each and reach a
speed of 35 knots.
59. The Indian Air Force (IAF) got a new airfield at Phalodi in Rajasthan with the base capable of taking all
types of operations. The airfield was inaugurated by Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik, on 6
April 2010.
60. Sri Lanka on 18 November 2010 opened Hambantota Port with the Chinese assistance. The first phase of
Hambantota port was constructed by the China Harbour Engineering Company with the cost of 360 million
dollars. Hambantota port provides for cargo handling, warehousing, advanced quality passenger terminal
and custom clearing facilities