* The Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Act, 2008 providing sweeping changes in the criminal justice delivery system and giving protection to rape victims, came into effect from 31.12.2009.

* The Supreme Court on 5th January 2010 held that the RTI cannot be used by a litigant to question the basis or correctness of a judicial order.

* Krushna Patil of Pune, conquered "Vinson Masif" - the highest mountain in Antarctica.

* Amitabh Bachhan expressed his willingness to be the brand ambassador of Gujarat for promoting tourism.

* PM Manmohan Singh said that Indians living abroad (NRIs) would be able to vote in the next General Elections.

* Two ballistic flight tests of "Astra" - Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile BVRAAM - were successfully carried out from the Integrated Test Range at Balasore, Odisha.

* The Delhi High Court has held that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a "public authority" for the purpose of RTI and it is bound to provide information about the declaration of asset details by Supreme Court Judges.

* 154th Birth day of Nyayapati Subba Rao Pantulu celebrated on 14th January.

* Lee Myung Bak, President of Republic of Korea participates as the Chief Guest of the Republic Day Parade 2010.

* The Union Government lifted the more than two month old ban on pre-paid Mobile phone services in J & K with a number of conditions on the operators for customer verification.

* RAPS 6 - the sixth reactor at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, Rawatbhatta became criticial.

* President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil honours the Padma Vibhushan Awardees.

* India and Nepal signed MOUs for Road Construction, Development of Science and learning centres, Electrification of villages and investment in the Stock Market etc.,

* The Election Commission of India celebrated 60 years of its constitution on 25th January 2010 as the "Diamond Jubilee" Anniversary. Smt.Pratibha Patil President, released a commemorative stamp and a book titled "Loka Sabha" Election 2009 - Reinforcing Indian Democracy.

* The dream project of former President A P J Abdul Kalam - Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas came to reality with a plan outlay of Rs.248 Crore. It is a Public Private partnership project. The project had been implemented on the pilot basis from 2004-2005 for a period of three years in seven clusters, one each in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.

* The Department of Posts will spend over Rs.100 Crore to modernize and upgrade 727 offices under its 4th phase of "Project Arrow". In its earlier phases, so far 1000 post offices have been upgraded with 152 crores.

* The Centre has approved Rs.9000 crore for four lane of Jammu Srinagar National Highway to ease the traffic movement.

* North India's first private sector Greenfield international airport to come up near Ludhiana in Punjab, over 3000 acres . This "Aerotropolis" is proposed to be on the lines of similar facilities in Singapore and Frankfurt.

* The Malaysia based Scomi Group, in collaboration with Larsen & Toubro in November 2008 won an order from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority to build and commission a 19.2 Kms monorail system in the city which connects South Mumbai to the eastern suburbs. (Jacob Circle to Chembur via Wadala).

* Atlanta based company headed by an Indian American, launched a series of legally valid custom made postage stamps. The first of these 44 stamps featured Sri Krishna, Shiva Parvathi, Lakshmi, Lord Venkateshwara, Murugan, Vinayaka and Sai Baba, thus the Hindu Gods making their way into US mail system.

* The Tamilnadu Government on January 11, 2010 enacted a law to bring in a uniform system of school education in the State. The law brings private schools under the ambit of penalties if they contravened rules and regulations under the Act.

* Mamata Bannerjee, the Minister of Railways, has launched the first ever mobile ticketing van "Mushkil Aasan" for issuing reserved and unreserved train tickets in the capital, New Delhi on 12th January 2010.

* Justice V.S.Sirpurkar, Supreme Court Judge, appointed to head a three member committee to investigate the grounds of impeachment of Karnataka Chief Justice P.D.Dinakaran.

* On 22nd January 2010, the Tamilnadu Government celebrated the "World Classical Tamil Conference" at Coimbatore. The Celebrations were headed by the Tamilnadu CM M.Karunanidhi presided over by Malaysian PM Mohammad Najib Tun Abdul Razak. Malaysia was the first to host World Tamil Conference in 1966.

* Mysore born V.K.Murthy has become the first cinematographer to be chosen for the Dada Saheb Phalke Award.

* The "internet" which revolutionized the communication system between people, has been nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

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* National Intelligence Grid is proposed to be set up fully functional by May 2011, where each individual data ranging from land records, phone records, Gun records, Driving license, Property Records and Income Tax records would be available in real time.

* Supreme Court Judge Justice B.N. Sri Krishna will head the Five Member Committee to hold wide ranging consultations with all parties and groups on the Telengana issue.

* On February 5, 2010, Uttarakhand government, became the first state to ban the Bt Brinjal.

* Japan and Gujarat Government signed a MoU to upgrade the Alang shipyard to international standards complying IMO stipulations.

* The Tamilnadu Government created three awards - 1. Bharati for Poetry, 2. M.S.Subbulakshmi for Music and 3. Bala Saraswathi for Dance in February 2010, for nationally renowned artistes.

* The Union Government has changed the name of the hitherto Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) to Genetic Engineering Assessment Committee.

* On February 1, 2010, A.R. Rahman the music maestro from Tamilnadu, became the first Indian to win the individual Grammy Award for best film song and best sound track for the film " Slum Dog Millionaire".

* From February 2010, the RBI has disallowed short term foreign currency borrowings by non banking finance companies and housing finance companies.

* Under the Chairmanship of Dr.Mahesh Rangarajan, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, constituted a task force to bring about a more effective conservation and management of wild as well as captive elephants in India, effective from February 12, 2010.

* The Union Environment Ministry on February 9, 2010 announced its decision to impose a moratorium on the release of the transgenic Brinjal hybrid developed by Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd (Mahyco) a subsidiary of global seed giant Monsanto.

* In order to ensure the proper implementation of the August 2009 The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, the Union Government has finalized the sharing of funds in the ratio of 65:35 between the Centre and the States and 90:10 between the North Eastern States.

* India has completed the propulsion system design of its new cruise missile "Nirbhay" with a strike range of 800 Kms.

* The Union Government is considering on appointing educated SC/ST community persons as "Lok Karmi" in each Panchayat to help villagers tide over the problem of illiteracy.

* Palakkad in Kerala became the country's "first fully electrified district" on February 12, 2010.

* The Gujarat Government has planned an elaborate "Swarnim Gujarat Sankalp Rath Yatra (Golden Gujarat Resolve Rath Yatra) to cover all the 19,165 villages in the State in a bid to involve the rural masses in celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the existence of the State. Gujarat was created from May 1, 1960 from Bombay State.

* The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by PM Manmohan Singh doubled the authority of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to consider foreign inventment approvals involving equity inflows to Rs.1200 Crores from 600 Crores.

* On February 19, 2010, Jairam Ramesh, the Environment and Forests Minister inaugurated the country's 38th Tiger Reserve at Parambikulam spread across Palakkad and Trichur District of Kerala. It is the second Tiger Reserve of Kerala after Periyar in Idukki Dt.,

* The Council of Boards of School Education (COBSE) has taken a unanimous decision to adopt a core curriculum for Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics at the Senior Secondary level from 2011-12 academic year.

* The Cabinet Committee on Security, on February 17, 2010 approved the opening of a second Officers Training Academy (OTA) at Gaya in Bihar in addition to Chennai.

* Chief Justice of India K.G.Balakrishnan declared Moonnilavu Panchayat in Kottayam District as the first litigation controlled tribal panchayat in the country.

* The Union Cabinet on 25.2.2010 approved the Women's Reservation Bill 2008 that seeks to reserve 33 percent seats for Women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The Parliamentary Standing Committee has approved the 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill in its original form with minor changes.

* The Government of India has set up a High Level National Transport Development Policy Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr.Rakesh Mohan a renowned Economist, to create a policy environment that encourages competitive pricing and coordination between alternative modes of transport in order to provide an integrated and sustainable transport system.

* BSNL has commercially launched India's first mobile broadband fourth generation internet access network - Mobile WiMAX in Kerala - making it the first state in Urban India to have the facility, on 27.2.2010.

* India's first International Tourism Police Station was inaugurated at Mattancherry in Kochi Dt., Kerala on 28.2.2010. Wearing a Blue colored uniform, the personnel would assist the tourists in all issues.

* The Union Cabinet approved the scheme for creation of a National Population Register (NPR) involving creation of digital database having identity details of all individuals along with their photographs and finger biometrics.

* The Commonwealth Science and Technology Academy for Research (C-STAR) was inaugurated by former President APJ Abdul Kalam at Anna University, Chennai on 5th March 2010.

* On 4th March 2010, The Union Cabinet approved the establishment of a separate Central Council for Research in "Siddha" by bifurcating the existing Central Council of Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS)

* The National Maritime Day was celebrated on 5.4.2010 with the theme - "Seafaring - A career Opportunities " which complements International Maritime Organization's theme for the year 2010 - Year of the Seafarer.

* India became the first country to have a supersonic cruise missile when it successfully test fired the vertical launch version of 290 Km range BrahMos from Naval ship INS Ranvir in the Bay of Bengal off Odisha Coast. It is a Indo Russia Joint venture.

* To combat terrorism in India, the Union Government has approved establishing the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a federal agency. The agency will be empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states. The creation of this agency became necessary after the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

* On 11th March 2010, the National Archives of India celebrated its 110th Foundation Day as a repository of non-current records of the Government of India. It was on this day in 1891, the Imperial Record Office was opened in Calcutta with G W Forrest as the first Officer Incharge of the Department.

* "Golden Chariot" the first South Indian Luxury train, by Karntaka Tourism Department was inaugurated on 16th March 2010.

* India's first open jail for women was opened at the Yerawada prison in Pune on 14th March 2010 by Maharashtra Home Minister R.R.Patil.

* The Union Cabinet cleared the "Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill 2010" that makes capitation fee a cotgnizable offence. The bill further recommends a maximum of three years imprisonment and a fine of Rs.50 Lakh for charging capitation and for also putting out misleading advertisements or willfully giving wrong information in the prospectus.

* The Union Cabinet has amended Sections 3 and 4 of the Anti Hijacking Act of 1982 to include death penalty. Earlier these laws provided for the maximum punishment of life imprisonment and a fine.

* The Supreme Court on 25th March 2010 permitted the Andhra Pradesh to provide 4% reservation in jobs and education for backward members of the Muslim community.

* Dr. Murali Manohar Joshi was appointed as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.

* The Cabinet Committee on infrastructure approves the establishment of National Knowledge Network which seeks to interconnect all the knowledge institutions in the country through high speed data communication network at an outlaly of Rs.5990 Crores to be implemented over a period of ten years.

* Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora inaugurated the "Rajiv Gandhi Grameen LPG Vitaak Yojana" as a national scheme providing liquefied petroleum gas to rural house holds at Lachmangarh in Sikar District of Rajasthan.

* Union Government has approved a proposal of the labour ministry to amend the Employee's State Insurance Act, 1948 to provide medical facilities to unorganized sector workers in ESIC hospital and recognized private hospitals under the " Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana" a cashless health insurance scheme.

* On 16th March 2010, the Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of campuses of foreign education providers in India.

* Rajasthan has been selected as the best tourism related stated and has been honoured by the Vice President Hamid Ansari with National Tourism Award.

* The Environment Ministry on 4th March 2010 set up a 14 member expert panel headed by eminent scientist Dr. Madhav Gadgil to recommend steps to preserve and rejuvenate the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats and prevent unregulated development in the area.

* North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute for Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) at Shillong was inaugurated on 4th March 2010 which is planned on the lines of AIIMS, New Delhi and PGIMER, Chandigarh. It is the first such institution in the North Eastern Region.

* Based on the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations to the Central Government Employees, the gratuity for private sector employees has also been raised from 3.5 lakhs to 10 lakhs, with the concession of Income Tax relaxation for this amount.

* The famous Presidency College of Kolkatta has been accorded University status by the West Bengal State Assembly, which was founded as Hindu college in 1817 and renamed as Presidency College in 1855.

* The Union Government on 19th March 2010 approved the revised cost estimates for setting up of six new All India Institutte of Medical Sciences like institutions and upgrade 13 government medical college institutions under the "Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana" at an outlay of Rs.9307.62 Cr.

* Captain Saudamini Deshmukh became the first Indian woman captain to command a Boeing 737. She was also the first to command the Airbus 320 in 1994.

* Bihar became the first state in the country to pass a bill for regulating coaching institutes to ensure that such centres have the required infrastructure.

* The Union Government has inked a Rs.11600 Cr. Agreement that will pave the way for formal induction of the BrahMos missile into the Indian Air Force besides giving two more regiments of the supersonic land attack system to the Army.

* Mission Clean Ganga which aims to clean up the national river by 2020 has received a 1 Billion Dollar commitment from the World Bank. The project is initiated under the National Ganga River Basin Authority.

* Assam became the first state in the country to enact a legislation declaring right to health as an inclusive right of every citizen of the state. The Assam Public Health Bill 2010 which was passed on March 31, 2010 also makes it mandatory for all government hospitals as well as private health establishments to extend free services for 24 hours to a patient seeking emergency treatment.

* The country's third indigenous naval destroyer INS Chennai built at the Mazagaon Docks was launched in the presence of Defence Minister A.K.Antony on 1.4.2010.

* The country's first standard gauge rail network - the Inderlok- Mundka metro corridor was inaugurated by Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy and Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit in New Delhi on 2.4.2010. This net work is known as Green Line connecting Inderlok on Red Line and Mundka on the Blue Line which are in broad gauge.

* Small Investors, Contractors, NRIs, non-banking finance companies (NBFC) and Chit Funds and other entities will have to pay 20% tax if they fail to provide their PAN for tax purposes from 1.4.2010.

* The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has been mandated to monitor the implementation of the Right of Children to free and compulsory education act of 2009.

* The Government banned the FDI in manufacturing of cigarettes effectively stubbing out the future investment plans of foreign tobacco player that have been eyeing the market.

* The Temple City of Tirupathi in Andhra Pradesh was identified as the most favourable location to be developed as the low carbon foot print city by European Aid and Development which work under European Commission.

* The Union Government decided to declare the world's largest river island of Majuli (on Brahmaputra) as an eco-sensitive zone in Assam. The Bombay Natural History Society has been requested to take comprehensive study to suggest the ways of protecting the bodies.

* The Union Government has deferred the introduction of the contentious nuclear liability bill in the Lok Sabha. The Civil Liability for nuclear damage bill 2010 seeked to cap the cumulative liabilities in the event of an atomic accident at 468 million dollars.

* The Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi Commission for centre-state relations has completed its task and is set to submit its report to Union Home Minister. The recommendations were in the area of internal security, article 355 and 356 and financial relationship.

* With an aim to ensure the money for welfare schemes in the country, reach the intended beneficiaries , the Government on April 20, 2010 pressed 223 National Level Monitors.

* The Union has launched "M Stripes" system, a software to make tiger monitoring more accurate to enhance the transparency of forest surveillance.

* India has commissioned its most advanced stealth frigate, the indigenously designed and built INS Shivalik, in Mumbai recently. INS Shivalik will be the first of the three ship Project 17 being executed by Mazagon Docks Ltd., to boost the Navy's surface combatant fleet.

* The first Anti Submarine Warfare Corvette (ASWC) INS Kamorta built at the Garden Reach Ship builders and Engineeres Ltd., Kolkattas was launched for the Indian Navy on 19.1.2010. It is named after an island in the Andaman Sea. It is designed as a frontline warship with anti-submarine warfare capabilities and a very low signature of radiated underwater hoise. It will be docked with the Eastern Command.

* The Apollo Hospitals group launched Cell and Molecular Biology Research Centre (CMBRC) for stem cell research in Hyderabad on 17th April 2010. The group has entered into an agreement with the US based StemCyte for the use of the umbilical cord blood cells from an Ahmedabad Centre.

* The National Green Tribunal Bill, which provides for setting up a special court for speedy disposal of environmental cases, was passed by the Lok Sabha on 30th April 2010. The Tribunal will be located in Bhopal and will have atleast ten judicial members.

* The Kaziranga National Park, famous for one horned rhino, has the highest density of tigers in the world. This was reported in the report titled "Monitoring of Tigers and Prey Animals of Kaziranga National Park" released by the Assam Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul Hussain on 29th April 2010.

* The Central Government has constituted the Yamuna River Development Authority under the Chairmanship of Lt.Gov. of Delhi.

* The Supreme Court, not only upheld the constitutional validity of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) but also stated that the state government has the competence to include offences relating to "insurgency" under the ambit of the Act.

* The Union Cabinet on May 4, 2010 cleared the proposal of the Tamilnadu Government to revive the State Legislative Council. The state had a bicameral legislature since 1937 and was abolished in 1986. (After the change of government this proposal has been shelved in 2011 along with the change of State Secretariate from the new complex to its old complex the Fort St. George).

* The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure approved a project to promote use of renewable energy in the Ladakh region at a total cost of Rs.473 Crore, known as "Ladakh Renewable Energy Initiative".

* Sangeet, Sahitya and Lalit Kala Akademi and the Ministry of Culture launched the National Celebrations of the 150th year of Rabindranath Tagore with a 3 day event called "Rabindra Pranati" on May 7th to 9th.

* On May 3, 2010, the Special Sessions Court of Mumbai pronounced Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab (terrorist involved in the November 26,2008 attacks) guilty of waging war against India.

* A five judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on 6th May 2010 unanimously upheld the constitutional validity of the MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme, stating that Parliament had the power to disburse funds under it.

* On 5th May 2010, the Supreme Court held unconstitutional and violation of the ' right to privacy' the use of Narco analysis, brain mapping and polygraph tests on accused, suspects and witnesses without their consent.

* The Supreme Court on 7th May 2010 held that a Governor cannot be removed on the ground that he/she is out of sync with the policies and ideologies of the Union Government or the party in power at the Centre. Nor can he/she be removed on the ground that the Union Government has lost confidence on him or her.

* On May 3, 2010, the Union Government, Maharashtra and Gujarat have signed a Tripartite MoU to prepare a detailed project report on linking of rivers.

* The Union Government has passed unanimously the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2010 to strengthen and improve the management and administration of the Waqfs in India.

* • The Indian Council for Cultural Relations is coordinating the Festival of India in China as well as in France calling it "Namaste France" in 2010-2011.

* The National Science and Engineering Research Board will start functioning from May 2010 in New Delhi. It was created by an Act of Parliament in 2008 and was modeled after the National Science Foundation.

* The Union Government on 13th May 2010, approved an ordinance empowering the government to take over the management of the Medical Council of India. The decision was taken on the backdrop of the arrest of the President of MCI Ketan Desai by the CBI on corruption charges.

* The Union Government on 13th May 2010 accorded "in principle" approval for setting up of Indian National Defence University (INDU) as a fully autonomous institution to be constituted under an Act of Parliament at an estimated cost of Rs.295 Crores at current price level. It also accorded approval for the acquisition of 200 acre of land at Binola in Gurgaon, Haryana at an estimated cost of Rs.100 crore at current rates.

* On 12th May 2010, the Bihar Government has signed a MoUwith Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for accelerating the state wide improvements in maternal, new born and child health.

* India's exports in the financial year 2009-2010 were 176574 million USD as against 185295 million USD in 2008-2009 registering a negative growth of 4.7 per cent in Dollar terms.

* The SBI has won the prestigious Asian Banker Achievement Award for being the strongest bank in Asia Pacific region, instituted by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority and the Asian Banker magazine on 10th May 2010.

* The Ganges River Dolphin an increasingly endangered inhabitant of the Ganges-Brahmaputra- Meghna-Karnapuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India and Bangladesh was formally notified as the "National Aquatic Animal" by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on 18th May 2010.

* The Union Environment Ministry on 19th May 2010, referred 17 mining and infrastructure projects falling in areas adjoining tiger reserves, to a newly constituted committee to study their impact on tiger conservation efforts. The four member committee headed by retired IFS officer P.K.Sen has been mandated to examine the proposals of mining, infrastructure development and industries vis a vis their impact on tiger conservation.

* Agni II surface to surface ballistic was successfully flight tested from the Wheeler Island Off the Odisha coast on 17th May 2010. The missile was test fired for the third time in last one year by the Strategic Forces Command. During the previous missions, the missile failed to meet the mission objectives. The Agni II launch was preceded by successful test firing of Agni III (3500 KM range) in February and Agni I (700 KM) in March this year.

* Stell Authority of India (SAIL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) - have been conferred with the coveted "Maharatna" status on 21st May 2010. This allows these PSUs a higher level of financial and managerial autonomy.

* Arjun Vajpai - a 16 year old boy from Delhi, became the youngest Indian to successfully climb the world's highest peak - 8848 mtr - Mount Everest - on 22nd May 2010.

* The Dalai Lama on 27th May 2010 inaugurated the Buddha Smriti Park in Patna to commemorate the 2550th year of Lord Buddha's "Mahaparinirvana". The stupa in the park is named as the "Pataliputra Karuna Stupa".

* The high powered committee for building the first indigenous civilian aircraft in India has decided to configure a 90 seater civilian aircraft and is expected to give its report next year. The committee is chaired by former ISRO chairman G.Madhavan Nair.

* A district court in Bhopal on 31st May 2010, convicted all the seven accused including the former chairman of Union Carbide, Keshub Mahindra, in the Bhopal gas tragedy case and awarded them a maximum of two years imprisonment.

* An IAF contigent participating in the Indo French air combat exercise codenamed "Garuda" was flagged off from Bareilly on 31st May 2010. The team including Su-30MKI fighters, IL 78 mid-air flight refuellers, IL 76 heavy lift aircraft, would take part in the exercise from 14th to 25th June at Isteres air base in France. The first time the two air forces would be joined by the Singaporean Air Force.

* On June 1, 2010 Jharkhand came under President's rule after both BJP and Congress failed to form an alternative government, following the resignation of CM and JMM President Shibu Soren.

* The Union Government declared the port of Port Blair as a "major port" from 1.6.2010, thus making the number of major ports to 13 in our country.

* The PM has nominated following new members to the National Advisory Council on 1.6.2010. They are: 1. M.S.Swaminathan, Agricultural Scientist, 2.Narendra Jadhav, Economist, 3. Mirai Chatterjee from NGO- SEWA., 4. Farah Naqvi, Muslim Civil Rights Activist., 5. Harsh Mander former IAS Officer and Social Activist. Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze, N C Saxena and A K Shiv Kumar, from the earlier panel are retained.

* The Government is considering the possibility of having differential time zones in the country as an energy saving measure. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency, on the directions of Department of Economic Affairs, has deputed Bengaluru based National Institute of Advanced Studies to look at the possibilities. The options under consideration: 1. distinct summer and winter timings as a daylight saving measure 2. moving the existing IST ahead by half an hour.

* Himachal Pradesh has rolled out "Himachal Hat" - its first public private partnership tourism project on June 1, 2010. The state government has also introduced "Har Gaon Ki Kahani (every village has a story), another innovative scheme, to bring diversification in the tourism sector and link it with the culture of the state.

* On 2nd June 2010, the RBI has set up a committee headed by former SEBI chairman M.Damodaran, to look into interest rates and bank fees and charges and various services offered by banks to retail and small borrowers, pensioners and suggest mechanism to expedite redressal of grievances.

* India and Pakistan have resolved their differences over three projects that were pending resolution for two years, but differences over the 45 MW Nimoo Bazgo project and Kishanganga project could not be resolved, in the meeting held between these two countries by Permanent Indus Water Commission which concluded on 2nd June 2010.

* The Planning Commission has set up a committee to work out a methodology for identifying the urban poo

* On 3rd July 2010, PM Manmohan Singh inaugurated Indira Gandhi International Airport's swanky Terminal 3 - the new terminal - the 6th largest in the world.

* Kadapa District of Andhra Pradesh has been renamed as YSR District from 8th July to commemorate the birth anniversary of the former CM.

* On 12th July the ISRO launched the PSLV C-15 carrying five satellites, including remote sensing Cartosat 2B and Studsat, built by engineering students of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, from Sriharikota.

* On 15th July 2010, the Union Cabinet approved the new Indian Rupee symbol a mix of the Devanagri "Ra" and Roman "R" to become the fifth currency in the world to have a distinct identity. It was designed by IIT post-graduate D.Uday Kumar, who is now a professor in the Bombay IIT.

* N.Ram, Editor in Chief of The Hindu and Group Publications, has been selected for the 2009 Mohammed Abdul Rahman Sahib Award for the Best Media Personality, instituted by the Qatar based Thrissur Jilla Souhrida Vedi.

* The Rajasthan Government announced a complete ban on the use of plastic carry bags all over the State from August 1, 2010.

* S.Y.Quraishi was appointed as the Chief Election Commissioner to be in office till June 10, 2012.

* Akanksha Sarda from Mumbai became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad held in Croatia.

* Sahara India has retained the sponsorship rights of the Indian Cricket Team for a whopping Rs.30.34 million per match (ODI and T20) for the next three years till 2013.

* Chicago based Global Food Banking Network which provides food to the poor people in 30 countries, planned to open food banks in India. Sam Pitroda is one of the member of GFN Board.

* Patna born child prodigy Dr. Tathagat Tulsi has joined as the Professor of Indian Institute of Technology at the age of 22.

* The Cabinet has cleared a bill that raised the retirement age of High Court Judges to 65 from the present 62. (It was raised from 60 to 62 in 1963).

* The Unique Identification Authority of India and Oil Ministry have decided to cooperate in issuing Unique ID "Aadhar" numbers to citizens and help oil companies in checking pilferage of subsidized cooking fuel.

* India successfully test fired its indigenously developed interceptor missile, capable of destroying any in-coming hostile ballistic missile, from the Wheeler Island Test Range.

* Goa to get a paperless district court and an international arbitration centre, to make it the foremost destination of arbitration cases in India.

* The Union Cabinet cleared the Nalanda University Bill thus paving the way for the establishment of the University at an estimated cost of Rs.1005 Crore. The Nalanda mentor group is headed by Prof. Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate.

* The World Bank has sanctioned 43 million USD to finance the Mumbai Urban Transport Project to improve the suburban railway system in Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

* On August 1, 2010 India's Sudarshan Pattnaik won the first prize at the recent 8th International Sand Sculpture Championship in Berlin for his sculpture showcasing the effects of global warming.

* The Government on 4th of August 2010 approved the proposal for introduction of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) in place of Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination to come into effect from 2011. The objective is to enable screening of candidates having a right aptitude for civil services.

* Jantar Mantar of Jaipur has been included in the UNESCO's World Heritage Site list.

* Amanjot Singh and Sahil Wadhwa, students of Ryan International in New Delhi, on 6th August 2010, discovered the main belt asteroid named 2010 PO 24. This is the first time an asteroid has been spotted by any school in the country.

* The country will get four new Indian Instituttes of Mass communication from the next academic year in Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra and Mizoram.

* Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra was appointed as UNICEF National Ambassador for promoting child rights and adolescence from 10th August 2010

* Merger of Bank of Rajasthan and ICICI has received the RBI approval on 12th August 2010. From August 13th all the branches of Bank of Rajasthan will function as ICICI Bank.

* Wipro Infotech has been selected by the government to develop software for digitizing the crime and criminal tracking network system under the national e-governance system.

* Gujarat government has banned use of mobile phones in schools and colleges as it is considered that it affects the functioning of the institutions.

* A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee approved the enumeration of caste in Census 2011. This is the first time that caste is being included for enumeration in Independent India.

* Noted dancer Leela Samson was appointed as the Chairperson of the Sangeet Natak Akademi on August 11, 2010 for a five year term.

* A book titled " It's Common Vs Wealth" exposing the "myths and realities" of the Commonwealth Games was relased at Gandhi Peace Foundation in New Delhi on 6th August 2010. The book was penned by Kapil Mishra, an activist.

* Indian American Prof.Sudarshan of University of Texas has won the prestigious Dirac Medal for his contribution to Theoretical Physics. His discoveries include the V-A theory of weak interactions.

* The Union Government on August 15, 2010 accepted the rechristened scheme "SABLA" - Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment to provide nutritional diet and financial aid to empower girls of school going children between 11 to 18 in 200 districts and the Union Territories.

* The Lok Sabha on 26th August 2010, passed the controversial Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010, conceding a major point to the opposition for "supplier liability". The Bill also aims to facilitate global entry into the business of setting up nuclear power generation units in India.

* Music Composer A.R.Rahman renders the Commonwealth Games 2010 theme song "Jiyo Utho Badho Jeeto" during its release in Gurgaon, Haryana on 29th August 2010.

* Harishankar Brahma, retired IAS Officer, assumed charge as Election Commissioner on 25th August 2010.

* Swarna Subba Rao took over as the Surveyor General of India on 26th August 2010 of the 250 year old Survey of India organization.

* On 27th August 2010, the Lok Sabha passed the MPs Salaray and allowances Bill. The salary has been raised from 16 to 50 thousand, with other allowances being doubled.

* The Rajya Sabha on 25th August 2010 passed a Bill to include "Sowa Rigpa" within the ambit of the Indian medical system. It is practiced in places and countries like Tibet, Mongolia, Japan, Sub-Himalayan region etc., The Bill seeks to include registered practitioners of "Sowa Rigpa" in the Indian Medical Council.

* Reliance Industries Chairman & MD Mukesh Ambani has been elected as a Member of the Foundation Board of World Economic Forum, an independent international grouping of business leaders from across the world.

*India's decision to increase its flood relief assistance to Pakistan from 5 million USD to 25 million has put India among the top 10 countries/institutions which have contributed for the relief work in Islamabad.

* A commemorative Rs.5 stamp on former CM of Andhra Pradesh Y.S.Raja sekhara Reddy was released by AP Post Master General Sharada Sampath on 3rd September 2010. This is the first time in the country that a commemorative stamp has been released on the first death anniversary of a person.

* A proposal to create a merchant airport at Karaikal in Puducherry has been cleared by the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and the Puducherry administration.

* In a major boost to the energy security campaign, Australia's Oilex Ltd., on 8th September has claimed that it had made a huge natural gas discovery in the on shore Cambay basin near Khambat town in Gujarat that could possibly hold 1.5 million cubic feet (tcf) of reserves.

* An ordnance has been promulgated by the Governor of Tamil Nadu to give preference to persons who have studied in Tamil medium for jobs in the state. According to the Gazette, candidates who have studied in the Tamil medium have little change of getting employed in the Central, other state government and private sector.

* P.J.Thomas, former Telecom Secretary, has been sworn in as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) on 8th September 2010 by the President.

* On 9th September 2010, the Supreme Court cleared the Yamuna Expressway Project to link Greater Noida with Agra, there by upholding UP's decision to acquire required private lands.

* 14th September is observed as "Hindi Day", as, on this date in 1949, Hindi was Officially declared as the Official language.

* Chowmahalla Palace, the royal seat of the Asaf Jahi rulers, has bagged the coveted UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Merit Award for cultural heritage conservation for 2010, from about 43 countries' entries.

* Rajasthan's new Greenfield airport will be at Neemrana in Alwar District. It is located on the Delhi Jaipur stretch of NH 8.

* Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda heading a BJP led coalition government, won the trust vote in the Assembly on 15th September 2010, three days after he was sworn in.

* SAIL and RITES inked an agreement on 15th September 2010 to set up a railway wagon manufacturing unit at Kulti in West Bengal at a cost of 120 Cr.

* Switching over to a new series of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) with 2004-2005 as the base year, the government on 14th September 2010 revealed that inflation in August stood pegged at a seven month low of 8.51 per cent as against 9.97 percent in July under the old series.

* Indian Navy's Master Chief Petty Officer II Sanjeev Rajput has been conferred upon the "Services Best Sportsman" award for 2009-2010.

* Defence Minister A.K.Antony inaugurated a digital information grid - the AFNET (Air Force Network) of the IAF to boost its net-centric operations on 14th September 2010.

* The Supreme Court on September 13, 2010 issued a notice to Communications and IT Minister A.Raja in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.

* Over 4.4 Cr workers and employees of the public and private sectors in the country will receive an interest rate of 9.5 percent instead of 8.5 percent for 2010-2011 for their savings in the PF account.

* The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 16th September 2010 approved Rs.935 Cr for implementing E Courts project in the country.

* The first ever World Bamboo Day celebrated in Nagaland, India on 18th September 2010 to highlight the importance of bamboo, also known as the "green gold of forest" for its use in over 1500 applications.

* The Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee approved the new Mining Draft Bill, including the provision that mining companies share 26% of profits with local people affected by their projects.

* The next mini Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, a conclave of the Indian Diaspora will be held in the South African city of Durban from October 1, with the theme for the two day event - "India and Africa - Building Bridges".

* Three Indian Americans Farooq Kathwari, Amardeep Singh and Sunil Puri were appointed to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by Obama Administration.

* Indian gravitational astronomy research got a major boost on September 14, 2010 with the approval of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research to fund a Rs.2 Crore proposal for building a prototype gravitation wave detector.

* The Government on 2nd September 2010 decided to constitute a Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission with the mandate to develop, conserve and preserve places and locations associated with Mahatma Gandhi.

* The Government constituted the "National Council for Tribal Welfare" with PM Manmohan Singh as its Chairman, on 2nd September 2010.

* The Union Ministry for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises conferred "Miniratna" status on two CPUs - Bharat Pumps & Compressor Ltd., and Bridge & Roff Co.(I) Ltd., on 21st September 2010.

* Sir Mota Singh, UK's first Sikh and Asian Judge, knighted by Queen Elizabeth earlier this year, received the "Pride of India Award" 2009 instituted by the India International Foundation.

* The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and eight North Eastern States will be partners of the 9th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2011 with the theme "Engaging the Global Indian", to be held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi from 7th to 9th January 2011.

* The Union Government has approved the establishment of 4 food parks in the State of Karnataka at Bagalkot, Jewargi, Hirriyur and Malur during the 8th to 10th Plan periods at an approved grant of Rs.4 Cr each.

* Gautam Gambhir, the Indian Cricketer, on 23rd September 2010 received the "Managing India" award for the most promising Sportsman of the Year from the President of India.

* PM Manmohan Singh has been honoured with the 2010 World Statesman Award by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, an interfaith coalition which promotes mutual understanding, tolerance and peace.

* India on 23rd September announced that it had completely switched over to the cleaner Euro III and Euro IV petrol and diesel (ultra low sulphur and benzene fuel) well ahead of the October 1, 2010.

* On 13th September 2010, the Union government conveyed to the Supreme Court that a decision had been taken to constitute a tribunal to hear the water dispute between the States of Goa and Karnataka relating to the construction of the Kalasa Banduri project across Mandovi river.

* The Union government on 13th September 2010 approved the setting up of a naval ship-building yard at Chaliyam, near Kozhikode, Kerala.

* Mysore will be the first Indian city to have a World Bank funded "Intelligent Transport System) for public transport which allows commuters access to real time bus travan information and also facilitate effective monitoring of their movement.

* World Champion wrestler Sushil Kumar's coach Yashvir Singh has been chosen by the International Wrestling Federation as the "Coach of the Year" 2010.

* The Chennai Container Terminal Ltd., operated by DP World, Chennai, became the first e-terminal in the country.

* Delta India, which has set up the world's first "green factory" in Rudrapur, UP, with the help of renewable energy sources, is going to establish the export oriented Chennai unit with a work force of 4,000.

* Bhabha Atomic Research Centre is developing mutant varieties of wheat and getting ready for testing in the fields of Kenya in Africa, to check if these will be resistant to the virulent strain of wheat stem rust "Ug99".

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* Sixty years after the matter first went into litigation, a Special Full Bench of the High Court of Allahabad has ruled that the disputed land in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood for 500 years until it was demolished in 1992 shall be divided into three parts. A two thirds portion is to be shared by two Hindu Plaintiffs and one third will be given to the Sunni Muslim Waqf Board.

* President Pratibha Patil, on 2nd October 2010, presented the prestigious Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academia and Management to Aruna Roy, social and political activist.

* K.Vijaykumar, Director, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad has been appointed as the DG of CRPF.

* The headquarters of the Rs.1200 Cr. India based Neutrino Observatory project, coming up in the Western ghats, will be set up in Madurai. While the country's first ever underground neutrino observatory will be set up in Theni District (Bodi West Hills) Tamilnadu , it was decided to have the headquarters in Madurai to provide facilities for scientists, administrative operations and for residential quarters.

* Seeking feedback from the general public, probably for the first time in its history of formulating five year plans, the Planning Commission launched a website to get suggestions on the "Approach Paper" to the XII Plan (2012-2017) to make the final document more inclusive and effective.

* Department of Posts, released a set of four stamps on "Princely States of India" as a curtain raiser to INDIPEX 2011, the World Philatelic Exhibition to be held during February 2011 at New Delhi.

* The music maestro A.R.Rahman and Ramakrishna Mission Ashram Narainpur have been awarded the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for their services in promoting and preserving national integration.

* Haryana will have Biotech Science Clusters at Faridabad at an estimated investment between 750 and 1000 Cr during the 11th and 12th Plan periods.

* India's own hospital accreditation programme - National Accreditation Board for Hospital, run and managed by the Quality Council of India is going global. The quality body will start offering its services in Philippines shortly, plans to venture into Bangladesh and Nepal within next three months and follow it up with a foray into Sri Lanka.

* IIT Madras alumnus, Subra Suresh, has been sworn in as the director of America's National Science Foundation, the top US Science body with a 7.4 billion dollars budget to support scientific institutions.

* Nineteen year old Ashish Kumar made history by winning the men's floor exercise gymnastics bronze medal in the commonwealth games. This is the first medal for Indian in Gymnastics in an international event.

* Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has won this year's "Finance Minister of the Year for Asia" award, based on nominations from public and private sector economists, analysts, bankers, investors and other experts.

* 8th October is observed as Air Force Day in our country, to commemorate the Act to establish the IAF came into effect in 1932. Accordingly, 78th anniversary was celebrated on 8th October 2010 with a ceremonial parade reviewed by Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall P.V. Naik, near Ghaziabad.

* Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram has launched a special scheme SABLA or the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Adolescent Girls as a pilot project in 200 most backward districts. The scheme would address the nutritional and special training aspects of girls between the age of 11 to 18 years.

* As per Pneumonia Report Card released by the International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC) on behalf of the Global coalition against Child Pneumonia, 370000 or nearly one quarter of deaths from Pneumonia occur in India alone.

* The UNESCO has recently inscribed three Indian performing art forms, the "Muchyettu" (a ritual theatre of Kerala) the Chau Dance (Easter India) and the Kalbelia (folk dance of Rajasthan) in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

* The Strategic Forces Command of the Army on November 25, 2010 tested the surface to surface missile from the Integrated Test Range on Wheeler Island Off Damra Village on the Odisha Coast.

* During the US President Obama's visit to India, signed deals worth 10 Billion USD (44000 Cr) whth an employment potential of 50000 in US.

* Manu Joseph has bagged the Hindu Best Fiction Award 2010 for his debut novel "Serious Men".

* AP Speaker Kiran Kumar Reddy was sworn in as the new CM on 25.11.10 upon K.Rosaiah resigning on health grounds.

* Smt.Indira Gandhi has been ranked by the Time Magazine as the 9th most powerful woman of the past century while another Indian woman Mother Teresa has been ranked 22nd of the past (20th) century.

* Additional Solicitor General and Delhi High Court Bar Association President Vinod Rai has been honoured with the "Sikh of the Year 2010" award for his outstanding achievement in the Legal field and working for the betterment of the society.

* India won 14 Golds, 17 Silver and 33 Bronze medals at the 16th Asiad held in Guangzhou, China in November 2010.

* Sanjeev Tripathi appointed as the Chief of RAW - India's external intelligence agency.

* Bihar CM Nithish Kumar has been chosen as the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year for changing the vocabulary of politics, putting development on centre stage and triggering hope amongst millions.

* Parimarjan Negi clinches the 48th National Premier Chess Championship on 22nd November 2010 in New Delhi.

* Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev had a very significant visit to Indian in December 2010 during which 30 agreements were signed between India and Russia.

* India and Mongolia held a joint military exercise with two week drill in counter insurgency ending in Belgaum on 19th December 2010. The exercise was codenamed "Nomadic Elephant".

* American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin - a premier medical association in America representing 60000 doctors is holding its 4th Indo-US Health Care Summit in January 2011.

* India signed Five Agreements with France in the nuclear field as announced on December 6, 2010 by External Affairs Ministry additionally two pacts on Nuclear Safety with the same were also signed on the same date.

* As per the latest data released by National Aids Control Organization, Manipur continues to top the list with an adult prevalence of 1.40% followed by AP - 0.90%., Mizoram 0.81% and Nagaland at 0.78%.

* As per the data released recently by the National Aids Control Organization, it is estimated that India had approximately 1.2 Lakh new HIV infections in 2009 as against 2.7 lakhs in 2000.

* India's supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was successfully flight tested in December 2010 at Integrated Test Centre, Chandipur, Odisha.

* Indian Army began its biggest operation of disposal of scrap - mortar bombs, projectiles, grenades, rockets etc., near Ludhiana. The operation was codenamed "Operation Saiyam" (Saiyam=tolerance) which aims at destroying scrap imported between 1999-2004.

* Saikat Datta of the "Outlook" has been given the Best RTI journalist award for using the RTI Act to expose Rs.2500 Cr scam in the export of rice.

* French President Sarkozy arrived on a 4 day visit to India.

* Government clears setting up of 20 new Indian Institute of Information Technology.

* PM Manmohan Singh undertakes 4 day tour of Germany and Belgium.

* Sowmyajit Ghosh became the first Indian to clinch a medal in the world junior Table Tennis Championships.

* Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao make a three day visit to India and signed six pacts.

* Sachin Tendulkar became the first to score 50 centuries in Test Cricket.

* Railways switched over to 5 digit train numbering system.

* Nation's first sea plane "Jalhans" made its debut trip to Andamans.