Current Affairs

November 2011

Obama bumped Chinese President Hu Jintao from the No. 1 spot on the magazine’s annual rankings to the third place with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin taking the second position. — Nov 03, Hindustan Times

Pakistan on Friday said it is not taking any “U-turn” on normalising trade relations with India and granting the MFN status is a part of that process. — Nov 04, Hindustan Times

An asteroid larger than an aircraft carrier will dart between the Earth and Moon on Tuesday. It will be the closest encounter by such a huge space rock in 35 years. — Nov 06, Hindustan Times

Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf has said that the country’s nuclear weapons are very hard targets and can never be attacked by the United States. — Nov 07, Hindustan Times

Former Libyan dictator Col Muammar Gaddafi scavenged for food and fled from one abandoned house to another during his desperate final days in his hometown of Sirte, one of his top security officials has revealed. — Nov 08, Hindustan Times

The head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday that Europe’s debt crisis risked plunging the global economy into a “lost decade” and said it was up to rich nations to shoulder the burden of restoring growth and confidence. — Nov 09, Hindustan Times

Ahead of the two important summits in the Asia Pacific region in the next 10 days, the White House made it intentions clear that US will continue to be a strong power in the region and work with key regional partners in this regard. Manmohan, Obama to meet in Bali — Nov 10, Hindustan Times

China’s campaign to stifle dissenters such as artist Ai Weiwei through secret detentions could come cloaked in a thicker veneer of legality if proposed crime law changes go through, a prominent rights advocacy group said on Thursday. — Nov 11, Hindustan Times

Two Russians and an American on Monday blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS) on a Russian rocket from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, an AFP correspondent said. — Nov 14, Hindustan Times

British Prime Minister David Cameron has reportedly impersonated the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard during his annual foreign policy speech in London. — Nov 15, Hindustan Times

A salvo of missiles fired by US drones destroyed a Pakistani Taliban base today, killing up to 18 militants in Pakistan’s tribal badlands on the Afghan border, officials said. — Nov 16, Hindustan Times

Julian Assange’s mother has joined protesters in Australia’s capital demanding the government oppose a possible U.S. extradition of her son in a WikiLeaks investigation. — Nov 17, Hindustan Times

US President Barack Obama said today there were “flickers of progress” towards democratic reform in Myanmar and opened the door to a new US relationship with the long-isolated country. — Nov 18, Hindustan Times

The Inter-Services Intelligence agency “conclusively authenticated” the delivery of a secret memorandum purportedly sent by Pakistan’s civilian leadership to the former US military chief before army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani raised the matter with President Asif Ali Zardari. — Nov 19, Hindustan Times

If Pakistan’s telecom regulator has its way, millions of mobile phone users may be unable to send text messages with “offensive” and “obscene” words like crap, damn, hobo, flatulence, gay, lesbian and slime from Monday. — Nov 20, Hindustan Times

Officials say satellite surveillance has shown a recent increase in activity at an Iranian site suspected of secret work on nuclear weapons. — Nov 21, Hindustan Times

The Indian rupee depreciated by 35 paise to a lifetime low of Rs 52.50 per US dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange on Tuesday on sustained demand for the American currency from banks and importers. Dollar gains against other currencies overseas also put pressure on the
Indian rupee. — Nov 22, Hindustan Times

Authorities say a small plane has crashed in eastern Indonesia, killing the Spanish pilot and leaving his co-pilot in critical condition. — Nov 23, Hindustan Times

Arguing that the UN Security Council is no longer reflective of contemporary reality, India has said this poses the “most important challenge” to global peace and security as well as conflict prevention. — Nov 24, Hindustan Times