Current Affairs : August 10, 2011

P.C.Alexander passed away

• Padinjarethalakal Cherian Alexander, a former IAS officer
  
• Served in Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s staff
  
• P.C. Alexander was at different times Principal Secretary to two Prime Ministers- Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, Indian High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, Governor of Tamil Nadu and, Maharashtra, a United Nations civil servant and even a Rajya Sabha MP
  
• After her assassination in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded his mother kept him on in the same post
  
• He was helpful in getting Gandhi’s 260-odd letters to Herman Kallenbach
  

SAFF under 16 Football: Pak lift inaugural title; Beat India 2-1

• Pakistan lifted the inaugural title of the SAFF under 16 Football Championship
• In Kathmandu they beat India 2-1 in the final
• Nepal secured the third position after defeating Bangladesh 2-1

China’s first Aircraft Carrier

China launched its first aircraft carrier for a maiden run on 10 August 2011

• About 300 meters long
  
• It will be used for training and as a model for future carriers
  
• The launch of the aircraft carrier is considered a part of Chinese naval strategy for expanding eastwards for the next 30 years
  
• China bought its aircraft carrier from Russia
  
• The aircraft carrier was known as Varyag in Russia
  
• Picture: China’s first aircraft carrier at its shipyard at Dalian Port in northeast China’s Liaoning province. China launched the vessel, a refitted former Soviet craft, for a maiden run on August 10, 2011
  

   

SC maintains Death Sentence for Mohammad Arif

• Supreme Court maintained the death sentence for Mohammad Arif alias Ashfaq in connection with the 2000 Red Fort attack case
  
• A division bench comprising justice VS Sirpukar and justice TS Thakur dismissed Ashfaq’s appeal which had challenged the death penalty awarded to him for the attack carried out on Delhi’s historic 17th century Red Fort by the sessions court and upheld by the Delhi high court while six others sentenced for various jail terms had been acquitted
  

   

Food Ministry seeks inclusion of food wastage as school subject

• Food Ministry has written to the HRD Ministry and the State Education Ministers to include the “Food Wastage” as a subject at School level
• Objective: To create awareness amongst the youth. Inclusion of a chapter on this topic will be instrumental in making children conscious about the important issue from the very growing age
• Food and Consumer Affairs Minister, K V Thomas in his letter, has appealed for the subject to be included in the syllabus of secondary and higher secondary students
• Mr Thomas also requested the HRD Minister Kapil Sibal to ensure that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) makes appropriate revisions to the National Curriculum Framework to include food wastage as a subject
• At the State Level, similar action can be taken by the individual state boards on the issue
  

Annual Health Survey: Educated people go more for sex determination tests

• Annual Health Survey: More and more educated people in the cities across the country are opting for sex determination tests compared to people in villages
• Urban areas are recording a decline in female birth rate
• The survey found that sex ratio at birth, under 0-4 years and in all ages in rural areas is better than in urban areas

V V Giri Memorial Award-2010

• Union Minister of Labour & Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge conferred the V.V.Giri Memorial Award 2010 to Dr. Panchmal Dinanath Shenoy as recognition of outstanding contributions towards the understanding of the emerging labour issues
• The V.V. Giri Memorial Award was instituted in 2008 by V.V.Giri National Labour Institute, Ministry of Labour & Employment to commemorate the birth anniversary (10th August) of former President of India late Shri V.V.Giri for outstanding research contributions in the area of labour studies. The award carries an amount of Rs.1 lakh and a citation.

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Month: Current Affairs - August, 2011