Current Awareness Service

1. ATUL VIDYALAYA Shaping The Future

2. N
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t Struggle will continue until
i corruption, black money are
o eliminated: Advani
a
n Black money, corruption and inflation were the mainstay of
a BJP leader L.K. Advani's speech on the Ramlila Maidan here,
where he announced on Sunday the culmination of his Jan
l Chetna Yatra and the beginning of a struggle against these
social ills.
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Mr. Advani asked why the UPA government failed to come out
e with the names of those who had accounts in foreign banks and
w stashed away illegal wealth. “We have demanded a White
s Paper on black money; we want to know who the three MPs
are whose names are in the list that France has provided. I
regret that despite repeated questioning there has been no
proper answer.”
Announcing that his struggle against corruption and black
money would continue until the BJP was satisfied that it had
weeded out the evils, Mr. Advani compared the existing
political situation in the country to “fog” which, he said,
would not go away on its own but needed to be cleared away.

3. N
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n Kolkata: Anna Hazare's demand for right to recall elected
a representatives and reject candidates is not feasible in a
huge country like India, Union finance minister Pranab
l Mukherjee on Sunday said and claimed that the provision,
if implemented, would only create political instability.
N
Without taking Hazare's name, Mukherjee said, "India is
e the largest functional democracy in the world with over
w 122 crore population and each Lok Sabha MP has an
s average electorate of 15 lakh. Under such circumstances, I
do not know if such a demand is feasible.“
Shakeel Ahmed, AICC general secretary in-charge of West
Bengal, alleged in his speech that Anna Hazare and Baba
Ramdev were trying to divide the country.
"In 1977, the same had been tried by making false
allegations against Indira Gandhi and then again in 1989,
the BJP had tried to divide the country over the Ram
Janmabhumi Babri Masjid issue," he claimed.

4. N
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n New Delhi: At least fourteen persons died and 40
a others suffered injuries when a major fire engulfed a
l congregation of eunuchs at a community centre in an
east Delhi locality tonight, police said.
N
e The incident took place at around 7 PM this evening
w at the community hall in Nand Nagri area where a
s three-day congregation of eunuchs was taking place,
they said. Police said the fire first began in the
kitchen of the community centre and thereafter
spread to other parts of the hall. Government
officials and hospital authorities put the toll at 14.
The injured have been admitted to various hospitals.
The congregation has been going for the past three
days and today was the final day. The casualities
could go up, police said.

5. N
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n India is “worried” over the fast changing situation in
a Pakistan in the wake of what has been termed the
‘Mansoor Ijaz Memogate scandal,' in which a Pakistani-
l American businessman claims to have secretly conveyed to
the U.S. the Asif Ali Zardari government's appeal seeking
N help to forestall a possible military coup. However, in
e India's assessment, at the moment a military takeover to
w prevent the country slipping into turmoil is highly unlikely.
s Asked about the impact of the political situation in
Pakistan on India, the officials said India had weathered
much tougher situations and there was no reason for
concern. “The ISI has thrown every thing possible at us
from 1989 to 1999 beginning with Kashmir to Kargil. We
need to worry only if it gets worse than what we have
experienced during the period.”

6. w
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N Yet to emerge from spiralling sexual harassment
e accusations, Republican White House hopeful Herman Cain
continued on a stumbling Presidential campaign by making
w a new gaffe saying the Taliban was part of the new
s government in Libya.
Looking to explain his goof-up on Libya earlier this week,
Cain made a new slip-up yesterday while addressing a
campaign news conference in Florida.
"Do I agree with siding with the opposition? Do I agree with
saying that Gaddafi should go? Do I agree that they now
have a country where you've got Taliban and Al-Qaeda
that's going to be part of the government?" he said.
"Do I agree with not knowing the government – which part
was he asking me about? I was trying to get him to be
specific and he wouldn't be specific."
Cain made a slip-up on Libya earlier this week when he
struggled to answer a question whether he supported
President Barack Obama's foreign policy in Libya.

7. w
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N A 27-year-old "al-Qaeda sympathiser" who planned to carry
e out terror attacks in the US targetting police and military
personnel returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan has
w been arrested, US officials said.
s
Jose Pimentel of Washington Heights in Manhattan faces
terrorism related charges, including conspiring to build a
bomb for terrorist purposes and possessing a bomb.
Pimentel, arrested by New York City police officers on
Saturday from an apartment, is an "Al-Qaeda sympathiser
who was plotting to bomb police patrol cars and also
postal facilities, as well as target members of our Armed
Forces returning from abroad" using pipe bombs, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference.
"The suspect was a so-called lone wolf, motivated by his
own resentment of the presence of American troops in Iraq
and Afghanistan, as well as inspired by al-Qaeda
propaganda. He was not part of a larger conspiracy
emanating from abroad," Bloomberg said.

8. w
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N China's rural poverty falls but inequality rises, says white paper
e China has reduced the number of its rural poor by almost 70 million
people over the past decade, a new government white paper has
w claimed.
s
Saif Qadhafi's fate hangs in balance
Libya's Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib has pledged to conduct a fair
trial for Saif al-Islam al Qadhafi, captured on Saturday, switching on an
intense debate about the capacity of his country, which has multiple and
fractious centres of power, to deliver justice based on rule of law.
Assad assails Arab League decision
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The embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday vowed not to
“submit'' to outside pressure and described the Arab League's decision to o
suspend Syria as a “pretext'' for western intervention. He warned that r
any foreign military intervention would cause an “earthquake'' that would l
“shake'' the entire region d
Mood morose as Spain votes
Spain's nearly 36 million voters were in a morose mood as they went to N
the polls on Sunday resigned to the fact that the country has to adopt e
severe austerity measures if it is to keep its head above water
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t Ahmedabad: On Saturday, one Kunal Shah, a resident
of Vasant Society, Usmanpura, lodged an FIR with
N Naranpura police station claiming theft of jewellery.
e Shah, a jewellery shop owner, on the morning of
w November 19 had parked his bike near Soni complex
s outside his shop. He stated that while he was opening
the shop, some unidentified people stole jewellery
worth over Rs52,000 from his bike's storage.
The city crime branch officials on Sunday claimed to
have apprehended three men with over Rs12 lakh in
their possession. The trio is allegedly involved in as
many as five break-ins at jewellery shops in the city
within the last four months.
Police sources said that the trio would do a thorough
recce before striking. They would break into the
targeted shops late at night and make away
undetected.

10. G
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t Gandhinagar: Porbandar, the birthplace of
Mahatma Gandhi, is all set for the battle of fasts
N on Sunday. The coastal city will not only play
e host to chief minister Narendra Modi's
w Sadbhavana fast, but will also witness the
s parallel Satkarma fast of firebrand Congress MP
Vithal Radadiya.
"Tight security arrangements have been made in
Porbandar due to CM's visit. The district
administration and police are taking all
precautionary measures to avoid any law & order
problem," said Porbandar collector, Girish Shah.
Meanwhile, the state government claimed that
as many as 10,000 people from Kutch fasted
voluntarily with the CM in Bhachau on Saturday

11. S
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MUMBAI: In awe of Sachin Tendulkar, West Indies player Kirk
N Edwards on Sunday said at times he loses focus while fielding
when the iconic Indian batsman is at the crease.
e
w "Sometimes I find myself focussing on him so much I am not
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focussing on my fielding. I think it's the same thing for yourself
as it is for me. The guy is a legend, so we are all in awe of
him, to see him batting," added the batsman about Tendulkar
who is one short of completing an unprecedented century of
international tons.
"But some pitches we have in the Caribbean also spin a bit. But
up here, the surfaces are a lot more dry," he
commented. Edwards said the West Indian team is rebuilding
itself and makes mistakes from which it needs to learn. "We
tend to get along really well as a young team. I think the world
has seen that we in the rebuilding process. We make mistakes,
probably that you wouldn't make with experience but that's all
part of the process. We just have to learn from it and more
forward," he explained.

12. S
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N Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
e began their ATP World Tour Finals campaign
w
s with a defeat against Daniel Nestor and Max
Mirnyi, albeit after a good fight in a group ‘B'
match, here on Sunday.
The fifth-seeded Indo-Pak pair lost 6-7(2), 6-
4, 9-11 to the third-seeded Canadian-Belarus
combo in one hour and 41 minutes at the O2
Arena.
Bopanna and Qureshi will now have to win
the remaining two matches in their group to
be in contention for a spot in the semifinals.

13. S
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N Hong Kong: Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal moved
e into the second round of the Yonex Sunrise Hong
w Kong Open badminton tournament with a 21-4,
s
21-17 win over Tsz Ka Chan (Hong Kong) on
Wednesday.
Fourth-seeded Saina will next take on Jie Yao of
the Netherlands.
Jayaram, ranked 34th in the world, beat the
sixth seeded Japanese 14-21, 21-18, 21-14 in 49
minutes to set up a clash with Jie Yao of Holland
in the second round.
Arvind Bhat and Gurusai Dutt also advanced to
the second round of the men's singles event.

14. N
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n New Delhi: Sports Minister Ajay Maken might have called
a for a probe into the match-fixing claims made by Vinod
Kambli but a defiant BCCI today said it would not give any
l importance to the former cricketer's allegations.
N
Kambli has created quite a flutter by claiming that
something was "amiss" in India's loss in the 1996 World Cup
e semifinal against Sri Lanka and Maken said the claim
w should be investigated by the BCCI or else his Ministry
s might order a probe.
Kambli, who has often been embroiled in controversies
both on and off the field, yesterday raised suspicion on the
match. "I will never forget the 1996 match because my
career ended after this and I was dropped from the team. I
was stunned by India's decision to field," Kambli had said.
Reacting to Kambli's claims, Maken said if the allegations
were true, it would be extremely unfortunate for the game
of cricket.

15. Afridi stars in Pakistan's good win
Dashing all-rounder Shahid Afridi smashed a fighting half-
century to save Pakistan from total collapse against Sri
Lanka in the fourth One-Day International at the Sharjah
stadium here on Sunday.
Sushil Ghaley wins 50m rifle prone title at
the National shooting championships on the
fifth day.
Anand draws with Kramnik
World champion Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik
drew their fifth round match in the Tal memorial chess
tournament in Moscow on Sunday. Anand's unbroken sequence
of draws took his tally to 2.5 points.