Japan - Land of the Rising Sun

Naoto Kan – new PM Kuril Islands – source of dispute with Russia Was world’s second and Asia’s largest economy but well

ahead of China in per capita income Oldest still ruling Royal House in the world Monarch sits on Chrysanthemum Throne No standing army No manufacture, supply or storing of nuclear weapons Okinawa issue with USA [China overtakes Japan as second largest economy]

China - 3rd Largest by Area

Hu Jintao – President; Wen Jiabao – PM Is building GWADAR port in Pakistan, also Karakoram Highway

to Pakistan – Port in Sri Lanka World’s largest FOREX reserves – more than $1 trillion Built THREE GORGES DAM on Yangtze River, world’s largest

hydro-electric dam Built world’s highest railway – linking Lhasa in Tibet with

Golmund; nicknamed Qing-1 Manufacturing hub of world Third largest economy – [China now second largest] Claims Arunachal, disputes Sikkim Economy capitalist, polity communist Promoting civilian nuclear deal with Pakistan Google exits China over censorship China views Kashmir as disputed territory

Thailand

King Bhumibol Adulyadej completes 60 years in power, world’s longest reigning monarch

Thaksin Shinawatra deposed as PM in a military coup Abhisit Vejjajiva new PM Bangkok – capital, Baht – currency Never colonised Red Shirts protest Hindu heritage of Thailand

Myanmar - Stratocracy

General Than Shwe – Leader No.1, visited India in 2006 Aung San Suu Kyi – pro-democracy leader under house

arrest since 1990 Capital moved from Yangon to Pyinmana (aka Naypyidaw) 32.7% BPL population Ruled by army since 1948 Secret nuclear programme? Previously famous as Rice Bowl of the East

Sri Lanka / Bhutan Mahinda Rajapakse – Prez Peace talks between SL

government and the LTTE were brokered by NORWAY

Bhutan – world’s first no-smoking country

King Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is the Chief of State since December 2006

First democratic elections held in Bhutan in March 2008 Prime Minister Jigme Thinley of Bhutan since April 2008 LTTE defeated by Lankan Army Sanath Fonseka in limelight Port build with assistance of China Bhutan is semi-independent country Special links with India of Bhutan

Pakistan - First Islamic Republic

Asif Ali Zardari – Prez; Yusuf Raza Gilani – PM Balochistan leader, Akbar Khan Bugti, killed by Pak military Benazir assassinated Pakistan, India fighting proxy war in Afghanistan Proposed Iran gas pipeline to India via Pakistan NWFP – stronghold of al-Qaeda & Taliban Sri Lankan cricket team attacked Epicenter of terrorism Unprecedented floods Low intensity conflict with India Theocratic state Army calls the shots

Afghanistan

Hamid Karzai – Prez elect NATO forces battling resurgent Taliban in the south Taliban headed by Mullah Omar Durand Line – boundary line with Pak is source of dispute Afg-Pak focus for USA Afghanistan Taliban vs Pak Taliban USA fighting a losing battle? India helping in building infrastructure Vast mineral resources in Afghanistan – Pentagon study

Iran

Mahmoud Ahmedinejad – Prez Ayotallah Khameini – Spiritual Head Secret nuclear weapons programme? World’s 2nd largest gas producer & 4th largest oil exporter Has developed missiles like HOOT, a torpedo; Shahab,

Fajr, and Shaegah series Confrontation with west over nuclear power programme Islamic Revolution – 1979 Denial of Holocaust Parsis migrated from Iran

Iraq - Mesopotamia

Jalal Talabani – Prez; Nuri al-Maliki – PM Saddam gets death penalty for Dujail Massacre (1982) Abu Ayyub al-Masri, al-Qaeda chief in Iraq, successor to

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Moqtada al-Sadr – head of Mahdi Army, Shiite militia group USA to withdraw from Iraq The Suni-Shia divide Iran – Iraq war Iraq is Arab, Iran is not

Israel - World’s first Jewish State

Tel Aviv – capital; Knesset – parliament Benjamin Netanyahu – PM Mossad – secret service Owns Barak missile system, supplied to India Is building a Barrier Wall to separate it from Palestinian

areas Tripartite talks in USA Blockade of Gaza strip to punish Hamas Major defence supplier to India Expertise in agriculture ex. drip irrigation Jewish island in sea of Arab Countries

Lebanon Jordan Nicknamed Switzerland of

the Middle East Michel Suleiman – Prez;

Saad Hariri – PM Beirut – Capital;

Nicknamed Paris of the Middle East

Was a French Colony Base for Hezbollah Multi-religious country –

Muslim / Christian Arab but westernised

Hashemite Kingdom King Abdullah II – HoS Lost West Bank to Israel in

1967 War Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,

slain al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, belonged to Jordan

Ally of USA Monarchy

Syria Turkey Bashar al-Assad – Prez Accused of interference

in Lebanon & Iraq Indicted by UN in killing

of former Lebanese PM, Rafiq Hariri

Part of new “Axis of Evil”

Baath socialism Secular but authoritarian Ban on full veils

Recep T Erdogan – PM Nicknamed Sickman of

Europe Controversy over Armenian

Genocide Occupies part of Cyprus Kemal Ataturk made Turkey a

fiercely secular country Sought membership of EU Strained relationship with Israel Bridge between Asia and

Europe India’s Khilafat Movement –

link to Turkey

Sudan - Largest African Nation

Prez Omar al-Bashir Darfur Genocide – 4 lakh dead over 4 years Janjaweed, Govt-backed Arab Muslim militia against

non-Arab Muslims Civil war in the south between Arab Muslims & Christians

– Africa’s oldest still running civil war Warrant against President by International Criminal Court

South Africa - Rainbow Nation

Jacob Zuma new President Second largest HIV infected population after India Desmond Tutu, recipient of Gandhi Peace Prize (’06) Launched centenary of Gandhiji’s launching of Satyagraha

Movement in that country 3 capitals – Pretoria (administrative), Bloemfontein (judicial),

and Cape Town (legislative) Name of Pretoria changed to Tshwane South Africa is venue for World Cup Soccer 2010 Successful conduct of FIFA 2010 Africa’s largest economy Home to Apartheid movement

Africa in a nutshell

African Union – HQ at Addis Ababa, 53 members Uganda – Prez is Yoweri Museveni, accused of genocide

against Acholi Tribe Operation Atlanta anti-piracy operation off the coast of

Somalia 15th NAM summit in Egypt in July 2009 Libya Muammar Gaddafi’s marathon speech in UNO in

September 2009 Constitutional reforms in Kenya Poverty in sub-Sahara Africa Tribal and religious conflicts Poor governance a problem

Brazil - 5th largest country by area

Luiz Inacio LULA da Silva is Brazil prez again Largest ETHANOL producer Member of BRIC & IBSA Brasilia – Capital (named after a wood type) Rio Di Janeiro to host 2016 Olympics Lula da Silva in focus Home to massive Amazon Forest belt South America’s largest Catholic Country

South America in a nutshell

Venezuela reelected Hugo Chavez as prez Eva Morales is elected Bolivia prez Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) – Marxist militant group

in Peru Peru’s prez is Alan Garcia Sebastian Pinera is president of Chile Alberto Fujimori, former President of Peru, sentenced to jail

term on charges of corruption Leftist Presidents / PMs in South America Spanish / Portuguese colonisation Home to ancient civilisations

USA - 300 million pop

Democrats win control of H of R & Senate Barack Obama first Afro-American to be President Robert Gates is new defence secretary Hillary Clinton new Secretary of State Largest exporter & importer – overall; biggest seller of military

equipment Ben Bernanke – new Federal Reserve chief Refuses to sign Kyoto Protocol & shuns International Criminal

Court Sarbanes-Oxley Act – for corporate governance Fence built on USA border with Mexico to curb illegal

immigration & drugs trade Anti-outsourcing stand of USA USA and China are G-2 Ground Zero Mosque issue Landmark civil nuclear deal and civil nuclear liability bill – USA,

India link 2008 global financial crisis roots in USA

Central America in a nutshell

Panama agrees to a new wider Panama Canal Felipe Calderon is prez of Mexico Daniel Ortega, former Marxist leader, prez of Nicaragua Cuban prez Fidel Castro handed over power to Raul Castro

(his brother) Sugar Bowl of the World Illegal immigration to USA Mexico emerging economy

Europe in a nutshell

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, is ranked World’s Most Powerful Woman by Forbes

Hungary PM Viktor Orban Romania & Bulgaria join EU (EU membership - 27) Silvio Berlusconi is the PM of Italy Italy hosted G-8 summit in July 09 NATO’s 60 years observed Schengen Visa – EU Constitution Financial crisis – PIGS Germany largest economy in Europe European Union – backgrounder

World Trade Organisation Successor to the GATT Established on January 1, 1995 WTO HQ – Geneva, Switzerland DG – Pascal Lamy (France) WTO has 153 members Vietnam is 150th member Russia is yet to become a member of WTO

International - Who’s Who

Ban Ki-moon (S.Korea’s foreign minister) succeeds Kofi

Annan (Ghana) as new Secretary General of the UN

Margaret Chan (China) is new DG of WHO

Barack Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

Science fiction writer Arthur Clarke passes away

Deep Joshi wins Magsaysay Award

Indra Nooyi – PepsiCo CEO, also ranked world’s most

powerful business woman

Shashi Tharoor – former UN Under Secretary General for

Communications & Public Information and now a former

Union Minister of State for External Affairs

International - Who’s Who

Tharoor – author of The Great Indian Novel, Riot – A

Novel, India: From Midnight to the Millennium, Bookless in

Baghdad, & Show Business

Vandana Shiva – Sydney Peace Prize

World Bank – HO at Washington, Prez - Robert Zoellick (US)

IMF – HO at Washington, MD – Dominique Strauss Kahn (Germany)

ADB – HO at Manila, Prez – Haruhiko Kuroda (Japan) European Commission – HO at Brussels WEF – Founder Chairman Klaus Schwabb (Germany) OECD – Hqrs Paris ASEAN – Hqrs Bangkok SAARC – Secretariat Kathmandu Organisation of Islamic Conference based in Riyadh OPEC – Vienna

International Institutions / Groupings

Business - Facts & Figures

IOC – India’s largest company by revenue Toyota – largest auto company Intel – largest chip-maker Diageo – largest spirits company (owns Smirnoff, JW) McDonald’s – largest fast food chain Vodafone – largest mobile company by revenue in world Bharti Airtel – crosses 11 crore subscribers in India Tata No.1 by market capitalisation in India Vedanta Resources in News Wal-Mart – largest retailer in world BP – credibility crisis Nokia largest hand-set maker

Economy / Business Vedanta to acquire Cairn 1.6 million employed in IT in India (2007) Mobile number portability to be introduced Provident fund companies can invest 15% of their corpus in

shares New Pension Scheme (NPS) launched in April 2009 Natco and Strides Arcolab are permitted to manufacture

generic version of Tamiflu Roche holds patent on Tamiflu G-20 accounts for 90% of global output NCDEX largest agricultural commodity exchange by volume International Finance Reporting Standards to be

implemented by companies by April 2011

Economy / Business Successful IPO of SKS microfinance Discussion paper on new banks by RBI New BPL norms of Tendulkar Commission Cloud computing Direct Taxcode BP Oil spill Base rate mechanism Financial inclusion

Agriculture India second largest producer of pepper No.1 in milk production Among the world top producer of Tea Largest coconut producer in world is India Second largest producer of fish Green Revolution a success in rice and wheat India lags behind in production of pulses, oil seeds 11th plan aims at 4% GDP growth rate in agriculture Agriculture sector neglected in economic reforms GM crops in focus NFSM Organic Farming Unsustainable agriculture sector Percentage of people in agricultural sector Farmers suicides Is shift of population the answer?

Personalities Nandan Nilekani Chairman of Unique Identification

Authority (UIA) C. Rangarajan Chairman of Prime Ministers Economic

Advisory Council Angela Markel re-elected Chancellor of Germany Mohan Bhagwat new chief of RSS Iran’s President Md. Ahmedinejad denies truth of Holocaust President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela wins referendum Ramesh Pokhariyal new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand R. K. Pachauri head of TERI and IGPCC Christian Wulff new President Germany Centenary of Mother Teresa Julian Assange

Awards Nobel Prize – Chemistry for Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

(Indian American) Nobel Literature – Herta Muller (Romania) Deep Joshi – Magsaysay Award, 2009 2009 Man Booker Prize – Hilary Mantel, (UK) 2009 Man Booker International Prize – Alice Munro

(Canada) 2009 Indira Gandhi Prize – Sheikh Hasina 2006 Jnanpith Award – Satyavrat Shastry - Sanskirt,

Ravindra Kelekar - Konkani 2010 Sydney Peace Prize – Vandana Shiva

Sports Castrol 2009 Cricket of Year – Gautam Gambhir 2016 Olympics – Rio De Janiero 2010 FIFA World Cup – South Africa 2014 FIFA World Cup – Brazil 2012 Olympics – London 2011 World Cup Cricket – India / Sri Lanka / Bangladesh 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi World Cup Hockey Arjun Atwal – Golf - Prestigious Golf Trophy Vishwanathan Anand - World Chess Championship -

Sophia

Important Government Programmes

National Highway Development Programme (NHDP), largest Highway Development Programme ever in India

National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) target group the rural poor

Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) proposed by former President Abdul Kalam

Swarna Jayanti Gramin Swarojgar Yojana (SJSY) replaces Integrated Rural Development Programme

Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) 1985 covers Diphteria, Pertusis, Tetanus, Polio, & Tuberculosis

Integrated Child Development Programme (ICDP) Bharat Nirman – Rural infrastructure

Important Government Programmes

Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) – Urban infrastructure

Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP) big boost to power production

AIDP RTE RTI SABLA