Study material for Bank PO Exams : Test Series 33

Free from Bird Flu: India became free from bird flu, H5N1. The government made a declaration to this effect on 4 January 2012. The states were advised to have strict surveillance, especially in the vulnerable areas bordering the infected countries and in areas visited by migratory birds.

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NCTC: The Cabinet Committee on Security on 12 January 2012 approved the setting up of a National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) to counter terrorism effectively. The NCTC was proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It will be a single window organization that will gather and disseminate intelligence to central and state security organizations.

National Volleyball: Kerala men defeated Uttarakhand 25-22, 25-22, 25-13 to win the National title for the fourth time, in the 60th senior National volleyball championship, at the Balbir Juneja Indoor Stadium, Raipur on 11 January 2012. Kerala had last won its men's title by beating Tamil Nadu in 2001 in Raipur. It repeated the feat a decade later after 72-minute final.

FIFA Award: Argentina’s Lionel Messi was awarded the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or on 9 january 2012 in Zurich. He won the award for the third consecutive year for the world's outstanding footballer. Messi who plays for club Barcelona won 47.88 per cent votes and finished ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (21.6)%) and Xavi (9.23%).
Messi becomes only the second player, after current UEFA president Michel Platini, to win the award for three consecutive years. He joined Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten as the only men to have won the prize thrice.

Chennai Open: Canadian Milos Raonic won the ATP Chennai Open by defeating world number nine Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 7-6 7-6 in the final on 8 January 2012. Milos Raonic was named the best newcomer in 2011 after he rose from 156 to 31 in the rankings.

Pravasi Bhartiya Divas: The 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) was held on 7-9 January, 2012 at Birla Auditorium, Jaipur. The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissessar was the Chief Guest of the event.

Nicaragua President: Daniel Ortega was on 10 January 2012 inaugurated as Nicaraguan president for a second consecutive term. The leftist politician was re-elected with almost 63% of the vote in November 2011.

MoU with ASEAN: India signed MoU with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) at Manado, Indonesia on 12 January 2012, the MoU has been signed between India and ASEAN on strengthening tourism cooperation.

‎15th World Sanskrit Conference: Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and International Asociation of Sanskrit Studies jointly organised the 15th World Sanskrit conference from 5 to 10 January 2012 at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.

Traders Freed: Twelve of the 22 Indian diamond traders, detained in China for nearly 2 years on charges of smuggling, reached India on 5 January 2012 after they were let off following deportation orders by a Chinese court.