12 new taluks will be formed in Kerala.

Finance Minister K.M. Mani has announced that 12 new taluks will be formed in Kerala.

The new taluks are,

 Manjeswaran,

Vellarikundu,

Thamarassery,

Iritty,

 Kondotty,

Pattambi,

Konni,

Kattakada,

Varkala,

Chalakudy,

 Idukki,

 Pathanapuram.

Now the number of taluks have been raised from sixty five to seventy five.

CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 2013

Ø  The foundation for amity and national solidarity got the National communal harmony award 2012. The foundation for amity and national solidarity(FANS) formed in 1984 in New Delhi and works for spreading amity and communal harmony.

Ø  India hosts the ICC Women’s world cup 2013, Australia won the cup by beating West Indies in the final. India finished in 7^th place. India hosted total three times for  ICC Women’s world cup including 1978 and 1997.

Ø  State Bank of India (SBI) has launched State Bank MobiCash Easy, a mobile wallet which offers facilities such as fund transfer, bill payment, balance inquiry, mini statement, mobile top-ups and DTH recharge etc SBI. The service, initially launched in Mumbai and Delhi, is available over Wallet Application and plain text SMS. SBI has tied up with a private service provider Oxigen for round-the-clock money transfer and other services

Ø  100^th Indian Science Congress was  held in Kolkata January 3-7. Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India, started in the year 1914 in Kolkata, with Headquarters at Kolkata.It meets annually in the first week of January every year.

Ø  Swami Vivekananda was an Indian Hindu monk. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world. The 150th birthday of Swami Vivekananda (12 January 2013) was celebrated all over India .

Ø  The maha kumbhamela held in Allahabad (Prayag) from January 27 to march 10.

Ø  India tested new submarine launched ballistic missile K-15 in Vishakapattanam.

Ø  SBI (The State Bank of India) announces to open their second branch in china China with a capital of USD 50 million, is set to open at the port city of Tianjin.SBI opened its first branch in Shanghai in 2006, and has a representative office in Tianjin, a well developed port city located about 140 km from Beijing, from where the bulk of trade from China to the rest of the world is handled. 

Events in kerala 2013

Ø  Nikhil Kumar, become  the 20th Governor of Kerala. Chief Justice of Kerala High Court Justice Manjula Chelloor administered the oath of the office and secrecy at Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram to him. He was former Nagaland Governor.

Ø  In 2013 the 67th Santosh Trophy tournament was held in kerala.Services won the soccer contest by defeating Kerala 4-3 on penalties at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi. Santosh Trophy is the yearly Indian football tournament that is played among states and government institutions. This tournament was initiated in 1941.  

Ø  The State Government of Kerala on 20 February 2013 approved Kerala Abkari Act Amendment Ordinance 2013 that raises age limit for buying or selling liquor from 18 years to 21 years.

Ø  The three-day 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) held in Kochi on 7 January 2013.

Ø  In 2013- Sugathakumari  got  Saraswati Samman for the collection of her poems, titled 'Manalezhuthu.The Saraswati Samman is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literary works in any Indian language listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India. The Saraswati Samman was instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation.

The other Malayalam poets who got Saraswati Samman are

1995 - Balamani Amma for poetry collection Nivedyam

2005 - K. Ayyappa Panicker for his collection of poems Ayyappa Panikarude Kritikal

Jnanpith Award in malayalam

The name of the award is taken from Sanskrit words jnāna and pīṭha (knowledge-seat). It carries a cheque for 7 lakh, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Saraswati. it is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country. The award was instituted in 1961. Any Indian citizen who writes in any of the official languages of India is eligible for the honour. It is presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers of the The Times of India newspaper.

Year	Name	Work
1965	G. Sankara Kurup	Odakkuzhal (Flute)
1980	S. K. Pottekkatt	Oru Desathinte Katha (Story of a land)
1984	Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai	Kayar {Coir}
1995	M. T. Vasudevan Nair	For his contributions to Malayalam literature
2007	O. N. V. Kurup	For his contributions to Malayalam literature

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology 2012

The award is named after the founder Director of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research .It is the highest award for science in India.The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology is awarded annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, chemistry, environmental science, engineering, mathematics, medicine and Physics. , Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar.t was first awarded in 1958. The purpose of the prize is to recognize outstanding Indian work (according to the view of CSIR awarding committee) in science and technology.

In 2012 11 scientists awarded Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology  they are

Physical Sciences

Arindam Ghosh
IISc, Bangalore
Krishnendu Sengupta
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

Chemical Sciences

Govindsamy Mugesh
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc)

Gangadhar J Sanjayan
CSIR National Chemical Laboratory, Pune.

Engineering Sciences

Ravishankar Narayanan
IISc, Banglore

Y Shanthi Pavan
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Medical Science

Sandip Basu
Radiation Medicine Centre at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Biological Sciences

Shantanu Chowdhury
Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology

Suman Kumar Dhar of the
Special Centre for Molecular Medicine at the JNU

Mathematical Sciences

Siva Ramachandran Athreya and Debashish Goswami
Indian Statistical Institute

Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development 2013

The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development is the award accorded annually by India. The prize carries a cash award of 25 lakh Indian rupees and a citation. The panel constituted by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust consists of prominent national and international personalities including previous recipients. The recipients are chosen from a pool of national and international nominees.This

award was constituted in 1986.

In 2011 the 26^th Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development awarded to Ela Bhatt is the founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India (SEWA) for her lifetime achievements in empowering women through grassroots entrepreneurship. Ela Bhatt was also awarded the civilian honour of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1985, and the Padma Bhushan in 1986. She was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1977 and the Right Livelihood Award in 1984. She was one of the founders of Women's World Banking in 1979 with Esther Ocloo and Michaela Walsh, and served as its chair from 1980 to 1998.

In 2012the 27^th Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development awarded to Ellen Johnson the 24th and current President of Liberia. Sirleaf was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakel Karman of Yemen. The women were recognized "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.

Indian sports awards 2012

            

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award - 2012:

1.	Shri Vijay Kumar	Shooting
2.	Shri Yogeshwar Dutt	Wrestling

Arjuna Awards 2012:

Sl. No.	Name	Discipline
1.	Ms. Deepika Kumari	Archery
2.	Ms. Laishram Bombayla Devi	Archery
3.	Ms. Sudha Singh	Athletics
4	Ms. Kavita Ramdas Raut	Athletics
5	Ms. Ashwani Ponnappa	Badminton
6	Mr. Parupalli Kashyap	Badminton
7	Mr. Aditya S. Mehta	Billiards & Snooker
8	Mr. Vikas Krishan	Boxing
9	Mr. Yuvraj Singh	Cricket
10	Mr. Sardar Singh	Hockey
11	Mr. Yashpal Solanki	Judo
12	Mr. Anup Kumar	Kabaddi
13	Mr. Samir Suhag	Polo
14	Ms. Annu Raj Singh	Shooting
15	Mr. Omkar Singh	Shooting
16	Mr. Joydeep Karmakar	Shooting
17	Ms. Deepika Pallikal	Squash
18	Mr. Sandeep Sejwal	Swimming
19	Ms. Ng. Sonia Chanu	Weightlifting
20	Mr. Narsingh Yadav	Wrestling
21	Mr. Rajinder Kumar	Wrestling
22	Ms. Geeta Phogat	Wrestling
23	Mr. M. Bimoljit Singh	Wushu
24	Mrs. Deepa Malik	Athletics – Paralympics
25	Mr. Ramkaran Singh	Athletics – Paralympics

Normally  only one award of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna  is given every year to an individual sportsperson. However, the Scheme provides that this condition can be relaxed in exceptional circumstances viz., winning of an Olympic medal. Like wise for the Arjuna Awards, normally not more than 15 awards are to be given in any calendar year.  However, the Scheme of Arjuna Awards also provides that keeping in view the performance of Indian sportspersons in the Commonwealth, Asian Games and Olympic Games during a particular year, Arjuna Awards exceeding 15 in number may be allowed with proper justification and approval of the Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports.  The Selection Committee noted that 2012 is the Olympic year and India has won 6 medals in the London Olympics, which is country’s best performance in Olympic Games, and recommended that the condition of one award in case of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and 15 awards in case of Arjuna Awards may be relaxed and the number of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award may be increased from 1 (one) to 2 (two) and Arjun Awards may be increased from 15 (fifteen) to 25 (twenty five). 

National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.  Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for spectacular performance in the year under consideration; Arjuna Award is given for consistently outstanding performance for three consecutive years preceding the year of award.    

           

Apart from a medal and a citation, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardees will receive a cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh each and Arjuna Awardees will receive statuettes, citations and cash prize of Rs.5 lakh each. 

DRONACHARYA AWARD 2012

an award presented by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching.

Virendra  Poonia	Athletics
Sunil Dabas	Kabaddi(Women)
Yashvir Singh	Wrestling
Harendra Singh	Hockey
Satyapal Singh	Para Sports(Athletics)
J.S. Bhatia	Athletics
Bhavani Mukharjee	Table Tennis
B.I. Fernadez	Cuban Boxing Coach-Boxing (For life time achievement)

Dhyan Chand Award-2012

India's highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and games. The award is named after the legendary Indian hockey player Dhyan Chand.

	Jagraj Singh Mann		Athletics
	Gundeep Kumar		Hockey
	Vinod Kumar		Wrestling
	Sukhbir Singh Tokas		Para-Sports