1. Govt. launch Jan Dhan scheme to promote financial inclusion: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’ to help the poor open bank accounts. The slogan for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan mission is “Mera Khata – Bhagya Vidhaata”.
BENEFITS :
i. Every individual who opens a bank account will become eligible to receive an accident insurance cover of up-to Rs. 1 Lakh.
ii. HDFC Ergo General Insurance will provide the accident cover under the scheme. iii. An additional Rs. 30,000 life insurance cover will be provided for those opening bank accounts before January 26, 2015.
iv. LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) will provide the life insurance cover of Rs 30,000 under the scheme
v. Rs 5,000 overdraft facility for Aadhar-linked accounts, Ru Pay Debit Card with and minimum monthly remuneration of Rs 5,000 to business correspondents who will provide the last link between the account holders and the bank.
2. Arvind Mayaram Committee Report – Govt. accepted the report of a committee on rationalising definitions of FDI and FII.
Note: i. Foreign investment of 10 per cent or more in a listed company will now be treated as foreign direct investment (FDI)
ii. If the stake is not raised to 10 per cent or above, then the investment can be treated as portfolio investment.
iii. Any investment by way of equity shares, compulsorily convertible preference shares/debentures less than 10 per cent should treated as Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI). FPI combines two categories of foreign investors, FII and Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI).
3. Food inflation remains flat at 9.4 % in August.
4. Public Sector Banks require 26–37 billion US dollars to meet Basel-III norms: Moody
Note: In the report it revealed that 11 Indian public sector banks (PSBs) need to raise 26 to 37 billion US dollar in external capital in the financial year 2015 in order to meet the Basel-III capital adequacy norms by financial year 2019.
5. Banks Need $200 bn to Meet Basel III Norms: Fitch: The Indian banking sector will need about $200 billion additional capital over next five years in order to meet Basel III capital adequacy norms
6. Qatar-based Doha Bank will acquire the Indian operations of the HSBC Bank Oman.
Note: Late last year Doha Bank had secured licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to commence banking operations in India and has been permitted to open a branch in Mumbai to provide full—scale banking services.
7. State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and Federal Bank Limited launched a savings account for minors above 10 years of age.
Note: SBI had launched new accounts Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan for kids.
ii. ICICI Bank has launched Smart Stars account and Federal Bank Limited has Young Champ Account for minors.
8. ICICI Bank offers Card less Cash Withdrawal at ATMs. Now, withdraw without a debit card at an ICICI Bank ATM, as the bank facilitates cardless cash withdrawal service with the help of a mobile number.
9. SBI signed 500 million dollar Line of Credit with Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank).
10. SBI, celebrated 150 years of its operations in Sri Lanka on 13/Sept/2014.
11. State Bank of India (SBI) tie-up with MasterCard launched its first multi-currency international debit card to allow consumers to use a single card to pay in multiple currencies. At present, the card can be issued at an annual fee of Rs. 100 without any interchange fee to customers.
12. IndusInd Bank launched a new customer service called Video Branch to enable customers to do a video conference with the bank staff at convenience.
13. Axis Bank which is India’s third largest private bank has been featured in Forbes Asia’s FAB 50 list of 2014. This is the fourth time that Axis Bank has been featured and is amongst the only two banks in this renowned list.
Note: i. The FAB 50 comprises of the best of Asia-Pacific’s biggest publicly traded companies, chosen from a pool of 1,300 companies in the region that have at least USD 3 billion in market cap or annual revenue.
ii. In January this year, Axis Bank became India’s first private sector bank to open a branch in China
14. Dairy products major Mother Dairy and the State Bank of India announced the launch of the ‘SmartChange Card’ for Mother Dairy booths in the National Capital Region.
15. Indian economy to grow at 5.5 percent in current fiscal, estimates ESCAP
16. Moody’s Analytics released a report titled India outlook: Prospects Brighten
Note:. i. In the report, it stated that India’s growth prospects brightened with growth rate expected to accelerate to 5.2 % in 2014 and 6.5 % by end of 2015.
ii. The above forecast came following the GDP growth touching a level of 5.7 percent in April-June 2014 quarter.
17. Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) retains interest rate on provident fund at 8.75 percent for the current fiscal.
18. Government notified minimum monthly pension of 1,000 rupees and a higher wage upper limit improvement to15,000 from 6,500 rupees for social security schemes run by retirement fund manager Employees Provident Fund Organisation.
19. Govt. to implement GST (Goods & Services Tax) new indirect tax regime from 1st April 2016.
20. WPI-based Inflation declined to 5-year low of 3.74 percent in August
21. IndiGo has signed a $2.6 billion deal with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) for the lender to finance more than 30 new aircraft
22. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided $63.3-million loan for improving urban services and strengthening municipal and project management capacity in North Karnataka towns.
23. Supreme Court quashed allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks which were allotted to various companies since 1993 and in which it was claimed that around Rs 2 lakh crores were invested.
Note: A bench, headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha, saved only four blocks–one belonging to NTPC and SAIL each and two
allocated to Ultra Mega Power Projects–from being cancelled.
24. Union Heavy Industry Ministry proposed to shut down six sick Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSEs).
i. The sick CPSEs include HMT Watches, HMT Barings, HMT Chinar Watch, Hindustan Photo Films, Hindustan Cables and Tungbhadra Steel.
ii. Besides, the Ministry also proposed to revive 5 CPSEs. These CPSEs include HMT Machine Tools, Heavy Engineering Corporation, NEPA, Nagaland Paper & Pulp Co; and Triveni Structurals.
25. India to contribute USD 12 million to UN to tackle Ebola
26. India’s export growth slips to 2.35 % at 26.95 billion dollars in Aug.
27. Bangladesh to join BRICS Bank: Bangladesh has decided to join the newly formed BRICS Bank, an initiative of the world’s five emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
28. Import duty of sugar hiked from 15 to 25 per cent
29. ICICI Bank offers EMI on debit cards: ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private sector bank, has launched EMI (equated monthly installments) facility on debit cards to enable its customers to convert their high value transactions into easy installments.
Note: ICICI bank is the first in the country to introduce this facility,
30. Inflation at 5-month low of 5.19 per cent in July.
31. According to a UN report Indian economy expected to grow by 5.5% in current fiscal.
32. The Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI has imposed a penalty of 13 crore rupees on Reliance Industries Limited for alleged irregularities in issuance of warrants by the company to its promoters.
33. India Ratings & Research revised its FY15 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 5.7 per cent from its April 2014 forecast of 5.6 per cent.
34. World Bank to give $153 mn loan for Odisha project: India has inked a loan agreement with World Bank for assistance of $153 million (about Rs 920 crore) for the Odisha Disaster Recovery Project.
35. Exim Bank has extended USD 46 million line of credit to Mauritius for financing goods and defence related vehicles purchases.
36. World Bank has signed an agreement with the government to provide a loan assistance of USD 1,006.20 million for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan III, which is the largest ongoing “Education for All” programme in the world.
37. FICCI and IDBI signed an MoU for easy access to organised finance facility at competitive interest rates for micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME).
38. India became third-largest economy in 2011 from 10th in 2005: World Bank.
39. World Bank will provide $500 million loan for water supply and sanitation projects in the rural areas of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
40. World Bank will provide 50 million dollar assistance to Afghanistan to support the government’s efforts to improve access to credit for micro, small and medium enterprises.
IMPORTANT COMMITTEES IN NEWS:
1. K.V. Kamath panel: to examine the financial architecture for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.
2. Gopalakrishna Committee: on Capacity Building in Banks and non-Banks
3. G N Bajpai Committee: to review the investment guidelines for national pension system (NPS) schemes in private sector.
4. Scientist Raghunath Anant Mashelkar panel: to recommend best technologies for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Swachh Bharat” national sanitation campaign.
Note: The terms of reference include achieving Prime Minister Modi’s “Swachh Bharat” goals by 2019,
5. T S R Subramanian Committee: to review five key green laws concerning protection and conservation of environment, forest, wildlife, water and air among others.
6. H R Khan Committee: to examine the un-claimed amount in PPF, Post Office and Savings Schemes.
7. H Devaraj Committee: reported that most of the deemed universities are not fit for being a university.
8. Sivaramakrishnan Committee: to suggest the place to build the capital city of Andhra Pradesh
9. Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan to head the Expenditure Management Commission. The purpose of setting up the commission is to cut-off the spending and review government expenditure to get maximum output.
10. Justice CS Dharmadhikari Committee: recommended complete ban on dance bars in hotels and restaurants .
11. R. Ramanujam Committee – to review, identify and recommend amendment in obsolete laws to further smoothen and simplify the governance.
12. R.K. Singh Committee: to review parliament security
13. Hari Gautam Committee: to review present status of University Grant Commission
14. G. Padmanabhan Committee: implementation of Bharat Bill Payment System (BPPS)
15. Nachiket Mor committee: for small and payments bank
16. Nachiket Mor Committee: to permits NBFCs to work as Business Correspondents of banks.
17. Deepak Mohanty Committee: on Data and Information Management in the Reserve Bank of India
18. PJ Nayak: to review Governance of Boards of Banks in India.
19. M P Bezbaruah: to suggest suitable remedial measures to address concerns regarding security of people from North East.
20. B. Sambamurthy: panel favours single mobile banking app on all SIMs. Panel recommended that customers should not be required to visit the bank branch for mobile number registration.
21. Urjit Patel Committee – to examine the current monetary policy framework
22. Mukul Mudgal member panel to probe IPL spot-fixing
23. Nachiket Mor – committee on comprehensive financial services for small businesses and low-income households.
24. Bimal Jalan panel : to scrutinize applications for new bank licenses.
25. Parthasarathi Shome. – for Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC)
26. Arvind Mayaram Panel: report on the alleged irregularities at the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL)
27. Arvind Mayaram Committee –for giving clear definitions to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII)
PM NARENDRA MODI VISIT US
IMPORTANT POINTS:
PM announces Life Time visas for Indian People of Indian Origin (PIOs), Visa on Arrival for US visitors In his speech addressing Indian-Americans at Madison Square Garden in New York, PM Modi announced lifetime visas for PIOs (Persons of Indian origin).
PIO card holders staying for a long term will not have to report at the local police station
Note: i. Currently PIO cards, given to those who themselves, their parents or grandparents or their spouse, were one-time Indian citizens, allow for visa-free travel to and from India. However, a PIO card is only valid for 15 years. ii. Also, if one’s stay in India is going to exceed 180 days on any single visit, one needs to register within 30 days of the expiry of 180 days with the concerned Foreigners Regional Registration Officer/Foreigners Registration Officer or local police authorities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to visit India with a trade mission. Chris Christie, a popular Republican politician and a 2016 presidential election aspirant.
In his address to the 69th UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) Prime Minister Modi called for celebration of International Yoga Day on 21 June every year.
US to help in developing “smart cities” – Allahabad (UP), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Vishakhapatnam (Andhra P.)
India and the US have agreed to cooperate on future explorations of Mars planet.
NASA & ISRO signed deal to conduct joint NASA – ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission.
India to participate in the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project, a global consortium institutions from the US, Candara, Japan, India and China. It will be among world’s largest optical-infrared telescopes.
Visa-on-arrival to US nationals in 2015.
US-India Business Council members to invest over $41 billion in India over three years.
IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT EBOLA OUTBREAK:
Four West African countries Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Guinea are struggling with the worst Ebola outbreak in history
First Outbreak – In 1976 the Ebola virus (EBOV) was first identified near the Ebola river, in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Young scientist in Belgium, Peter Piot was part of a team that discovered the Ebola virus in 1976. He took his first trip to Africa to investigate this mysterious disease. In the Democratic Republic of Congo
Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.
The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
Vaccine – ZMapp, being developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc., is an experimental treatment, for use with individuals infected with Ebola virus.
World Bank approves $105 million grant for Ebola-hit countries of West Africa (Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea).
Note: Liberia, the country with the highest number of Ebola infections, will receive 52 million dollars, with Sierra Leone getting 28 million dollars and Guinea 25 million dollars.
India to contribute USD 12 million to UN to tackle Ebola.
India to contribute USD 10 million to UN Secretary General’s Fund for Ebola. Additional USD 2 million for purchase of protective gear to tackle Ebola
IMPORTANT NEWS (INDIA & WORLD):
1. World Investment Report 2014- India slips to 4th place in UNCTAD’s FDI destination ranking.
Note: China has retained its top position as the world’s most attractive investment destination followed by the US and Indonesia at second and third place, according to the UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2014.
2. Google closed the social networking site Orkut permanently on 30 September 2014. Orkut started in 2004 was named after its creator, Orkut Buyukkokten, a Google employee.
3. Afghanistan signed Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the US with an aim to allow some US troops to remain in the country till 2015.
4. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos visited India. Amazon said it will invest USD 2 billion (over Rs 12,000 crore) in India to expand business, a day after its largest Indian rival Flipkart announced USD 1 billion in funding
5. Microsoft is the first foreign company to enter China after the govt lifted a 14-year ban: US technology giant Microsoft launched its Xbox One game console in China, the first foreign company to enter the potentially massive market after the government lifted a 14-year ban. 6. Union Government declared 25 September as Antyodya Diwas. Antyodya diwas was observed to mark the 98th birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay.
7. China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba gets approval to set up private bank in China
8. The Indian economy will grow at a rate of 5.6 per cent in 2014 according to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
9. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s initial public offering (IPO) now ranks as the world’s biggest in history at $25 billion, after the e-commerce giant and some of its shareholders sold additional shares. Jack Ma is the founder of Alibaba Note: The IPO surpassed the previous global record set by Agricultural Bank of China Ltd in 2010 when the bank raised $22.1 billion.
10. The British aid worker, David Haines was in news as he was beheaded by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants.
11. Bamiyan has been selected to be the SAARC cultural capital for a year beginning April 2015. Dhaka will be the SAARC cultural capital in 2016-17. The year 2016-17 will also be declared the SAARC Year of Cultural Heritage.
12. World population will reach 11 billion by 2100 and it was highly unlikely that global population will stabilize by the end of 2100 according to UN report.
13. KPMG-FICCI study has ranked India among top three medical tourism destinations in Asia. The other two countries within Asia that receive maximum medical tourists are Thailand and Singapore.
14. According to UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Antonio Guterres) : number of people seeking refugee status in developed nations has gone up by 24 percent in the first half of 2014.
15. ONGC to contribute Rs. 20.75 cr for the beautification and cleanliness of the Taj Mahal.
Note: ONGC has launched a ‘Swachchha Smarak, Swachchha Bharat’ campaign to clean up memorials and heritage places.
16. Auto Portal Cardekho acquired Gaadi.com for 11 million US dollar
17. Volcano Mount Ontake in Japan erupted killing more than 30 people and injuring as many people.
18. Sri Lanka won the backing of 22 nations in its battle against the UN’s war crimes probe into the country’s human rights record during its brutal civil war.
19. Forbes India released The 100 Richest Indian List 2014: According to the Forbes India List, the Top 10 Richest people of India:1. Mukesh Ambani; 2. Dilip Shanghvi; 3. Azim Premji; 4. Pallonji Mistry; 5. Lakshmi Mittal; 6. Hinduja brothers;
7. Shiv Nadar; 8. Godrej family; 9. Kumar Birla; 10. Sunil Mittal Note: Mukesh Ambani topped the list for the eighth consecutive year with a net worth of 23.6 billion US dollars.
20. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair named “gay icons” in recognition of his work for gay rights.
21. Emami biotech acquired Vanaspati brand Rasoi. The deal is estimated to be worth around 20 crore rupees. This is Emami’s second acquisition in three months and with this deal Emami makes entry into vanaspati segment.
22. US to pay 500 million US dollar in compensation to Native American Navajo tribe ending decades-old disputes over use of their land,
Note: i. In return, the tribe will not claim lawsuits over US management of Navajo resources and funds.
ii. The sum is the largest ever paid by the United States to a single tribe, according to The Washington Post.
iii. The Navajo reservation, straddling the western states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, is the largest in the United States, covering around 70,000 square miles (181,299 square kilometers).
iv. The Navajos are the largest indigenous tribe in the United States with more than 300,000 members.
23. Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells Amul brand of milk products ranked 15th among the top dairy organisations in the world in the International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN) – a global dairy knowledge organisation.
Note: India is the largest producer of milk in the world
24. Adani Mining took a step closer to the development of Australian $2.2 billion ($1.94 billion) coal mining project in Australia after the federal government approved construction of a rail haulage line.
25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be conferred with honorary doctorate degree by the Dr Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy of the university.
26. Search giant Google launched a new social campaign in association with Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar’s initiative “MARD”, to increase internet literacy among women in the country.
27. NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft enters Mars orbit to study how the Red Planet’s climate changed over time from warm and wet to cold and dry.
28. Achin and Sarthak Narula Brothers won 7 crore rupees in Season 8 of Kaun Banega Crorepati
Note: The tagline for the season 8 of the show is Yahan Sirf Paise Nahi, Dil Bhi Jeete Jate Hain.
29. Keeping a tradition alive, President Xi Jinping meets family of Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis
Note: i. Dr. Kotnis went to China in 1937 as part of an Indian medical mission after China was invaded by Japan. He served on the battlefield and saved lives of many Chinese soldiers. After working for four years in China, he fell ill and died at a young age of 32.
30. India and China agreed to establish a Joint Working Group to promote facilitation in the film sector.
31. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), along with Ten Sports channel, will invest over $100 million ( Rs 600 crore) in the Indian sporting related entertainment market, according to sources.
32. Coca-Cola India has launched its zero sugar soft drink — Coca-Cola Zero — in line with its strategy to make India its fifth largest market by 2020.
33. Urban Development Ministry and the Bill & Milinda Gates Foundation have agreed on a partnership to promote user friendly toilets to ensure universal sanitation in the country
34. Scotland has rejected independence and decided to stay with United Kingdom. In a referendum that threatened to break up 307 years union between them, 55 percent Scottish people polled NO vote and 45 percent yes vote to a simple , Should Scotland be an independent country?
35. World’s first water-based nuclear battery developed in Missouri
Note: The battery uses a radioactive isotope called strontium-90 that boosts electro-chemical energy in a water-based solution.
ii. Betavoltaics, a battery technology that generates power from radiation, has been studied as an energy source since the 1950s
36. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp acquired healthcare IT services provider TriZetto Corp for 2.7 billion US dollars. The acquisition is aimed at boosting the healthcare business of Cognizant.
37. Microsoft Corp acquired the Swedish video game company Mojang for 2.5 billion US dollars.
38. The government launched an electronic toll collection (ETC) programme in the country under the brand name “FASTag”.
Note: i. According to the Ministry of Road and Highways, ETC (an electronic toll collection) entails payment of highway tolls electronically without needing to halt the vehicle at the toll plazas.
ii. The ministry has roped in ICICI bank and Axis bank for providing central clearing house (CCH) services and to distribute RFID (radio-frequency identification) based “FASTag” through their franchises at points of sales near the toll plazas.
39. Massachusetts Institute of Technology has emerged as the leading varsity in the world
40. Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the construction of the 1.4 billion dollar Colombo Port City in Sri Lanka
41. Doordarshan celebrates 55 years of existence: Doordarshan made a modest beginning in India on 15th September 1959, when the first experimental centre at Delhi with a small transmitter was inaugurated by the then President Rajendra Prasad.
42. India may become fifth largest exporter by 2030: HSBC report
Note: The report says, UAE is likely to remain top export destination for India till 2030, and China is forecast to emerge as the second largest export market, displacing the US by 2030.
43. The World Health Organisation (WHO) honoured Bangladesh and Timor-Leste with South East Asia Regional Award for Excellence in Public Health.
Note: Saima Hossain of Bangladesh conferred the Award in advancing the cause of Autism in South East Asia and worldwide.
ii. The National Malaria Control Programme of Timor-Leste was conferred the Award in the region category for its aggressive anti-malaria effort which has drastically reduced malaria cases in Timor-Leste.
44. Supreme Court ruled 3 percent quota for disabled persons in all government jobs
45. The CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) headed by Prime Minister, approved the sale of shares in Coal India, ONGC and NHPC to garner a combined Rs 43,000 crore.
46. The Asian Development Bank has agreed to give $150-million loan to the Government of India to help build transmission lines for renewable energy in Rajasthan.
47. The European Union imposed new economic sanctions on Russia over Ukraine. The restrictions include financing for some Russian state-owned companies and asset freezes on leading Russian politicians.
48. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged 50 million US dollars to support emergency efforts to contain West Africa’s Ebola epidemic.
49. International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Interpol (International Police agency) have increased their collaboration to combat match-fixing and illegal betting.
50. The emergency management services provider GVK EMRI has signed a memorandum of understanding with National Trauma Research Institute, Australia to improve emergency trauma care services in the country.
51. Tata Nano to be revamped and launched as a ‘Smart City Car’ next year.
52. Israel announced to take over West Bank land. The area will be named as Gevaot. The land portion is located south of Bethlehem. The seizure of the land is said to be the largest seizure by Israel in last 30 years.
53. A study by KPMG-FICCI says India ranks among the top three medical tourism destinations in Asia.
54. Congress members to head 5 Parliamentary Standing Committees
55. M. Veerappa Moily, Shashi Tharoor and P. Bhattacharya will now head the important committees on Finance, External Affairs and Home respectively.
56. United Bank of India declared Kingfisher Airlines and its owner Vijay Mallya as willful defaulter
Note: Wilful Default: A wilful default occurs when either a borrower has not repaid when he can do so, or when sanctioned funds have been used for other purposes or when the borrower disposes off the assets assured for availing of the loan without the bank’s knowledge.
Note: According to the guidelines of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), once a wilful defaulter notice is issued, the borrower has 15 days to defend himself in front of the bank.
ii. The wilful defaulter tag gives surety that the borrower and any firm on the board of which he is a director will not get a loan from any financial institution in future.
57. Asia’s first Ballistic Research Centre to open in Gujarat: India will have Asia’s first Ballistic Research Centre which will help it in achieving self-reliance in testing of armored vehicles.
Note: Till now, the armored vehicles from India are sent to countries like the UK, USA and France for testing. Ballistic Research Centre will conduct tests for armored vehicles of the Indian Army and also provide services to private players who supply vehicles to the VIPs.
58. Reliance Group, Nippon Life launch India funds for Japan investors: Japan, financial sector giant Nippon Life said it will partner Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group for a proposed Reliance Bank and launched two India-focussed funds for Japanese investors.
59. Real estate major DLF directed by the Supreme Court to deposit Rs 630 crore fine slapped on it by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for allegedly resorting to unfair business practices.
60. The year 2014 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Family Farming.
61. 2015-16 to be observed as Water Conservation Year.
62. Textiles Ministry, Flipkart join hands for handloom weavers an initiative to boost the handloom sector, empower the weavers and uplift manufacturing in the country.
63. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the Ranchi-Dharamjaygarh-Sipat 765kv inter-regional power transmission line in Jharkhand. Note: This line is the first inter-regional link between eastern region and western region.
64. Afghanistan celebrated its 95th Independence Day on 19 August 2014.
65. 20th edition of annual Delhi Book Fair begins in New Delhi. Theme of the nine- day event is ‘Literature in Cinema’.
66. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Bharti Foundation announce to spend 200 crore rupees for Clean India Campaign.
67. HDFC Bank accorded most valued brand: HDFC Bank with a brand value of $ 9.4bn is India’s most valuable brand according to the first edition of the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands ranking.
Note: Airtel occupy 2nd post. SBI at number 3rd and ICICI at number 4th position.
68. According to Global Peace Index, 2014 Bhutan, Nepal two most peaceful countries in South Asian region.
Note: i. Bhutan stands at 16th position and Nepal at 76th position.
ii. Bangladesh is ahead of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan in terms of ‘state of peace’.
iii. While Bangladesh occupied 98th position, India was rated at 143, Pakistan 154, and Afghanistan at 161.
iv. Iceland, Denmark and Austria were ranked first, second and third respectively.
69. TATA-SIA Airlines brand name to be called Vistara: Tata-Singapore Airlines (SIA) named its upcoming joint venture airline as Vistara and will start its operation from October 2014.
70. India ranked 5th amongst top 10 wind power producers: Report.
Note: China was the leading wind power producer by adding 16,100 MW capacity in 2013, followed by USA, Germany and Spain,” Renewables 2014 Global Status Report said.
71. Union Cabinet approved the Juvenile Justice Bill, 2014 to amend the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000
Note: Age of a Juvenile in the JJ Bill, 2014: The bill will treat minors above the age of 16 as adults, who are accused of
heinous crimes like rape and murder. The JJ Act, 2000 treats any person below the age of 18 as juvenile.
Note: The Provision for Children in conflict zones and Corporal punishment in the JJ Bill, 2014: The Bill proposes up to seven year rigorous imprisonment, 5 lakh rupees fine or both for militant groups who recruit child soldiers or use children for any purpose.
Note: If the Bill is passed in Parliament, India will join 40 other countries where corporal punishment is a penal offence.
72. Doordarshan signs pact with German channel: In an effort to distribute its content to international markets, DD India has signed an agreement with German public service broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW). This agreement will help India’s public broadcaster get a global footprint with its programmes becoming part of the Free-to-Air basic pack on a DTH platform.
73. As per the provisional results of the Sixth Economic Census released by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on July 30 – Manipur at 83.29 per cent tops the list of percentage of growth in employment followed by Assam, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
74. Flipkart announced it has raised $1 billion (Rs 6,000 crore), the largest ever fund-raising by an Indian internet company.
75. Amitabh Bachchan named as Maharashtra’s horticulture ambassador
76. A recent study report prepared by Assocham’s Economic Research Bureau has showed that Gujarat topped in new investments attracted by the power sector during the period 2004-05 and 2012-13.
Three states have recorded highest growth rate in terms of per capita income during 2004-13 are: Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana
77. Footwear maker Woodland has tied up with UNICEF to promote a water, sanitation and hygiene campaign (WASH) in Assam.
78. Tata Consultancy Services has become the first Indian company with a market capitalisation of Rs 5 lakh crore.
79. Former President of the United States of America Bill Clinton visited Jabrouli village, near Lucknow, on an awareness mission on diarrhoea.
80. India has the third-highest number of people living with HIV in the world with 2.1 million Indians accounting for about four out of 10 people infected with the deadly virus in the Asia—Pacific region, according to a UN report.
The first—ever UNAIDS ‘Gap Report’ said after sub—Saharan Africa, the region with the largest number of people living with HIV is Asia and the Pacific.
81. India has emerged as the world’s largest consumer of antibiotics followed by China and the US, according to a new study which quantifies the growing alarm surrounding antibiotic-resistance.
82. In terms of GDP, India’s economy is 10th biggest: World Bank – After growing at an average annual rate of just over 6 per cent from 1980 to 2010, India’s economy is now the 10th biggest in the world in terms of gross domestic product, according to the World Bank.
IMPORTANT NEWS – STATES
1. Bihar is the fastest growing State while Tamil Nadu is the worst performer, the latest data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has revealed.
Note: i. Bihar’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) grew 10.73 per cent during 2012-13. The second-best performing State is Madhya Pradesh, which grew at 9.89 per cent. Delhi is third with a growth rate of 9.33 per cent.
ii. All major industrial States lag behind Bihar. Growing at 7.96 per cent, Gujarat is ranked sixth and Maharashtra ninth with 6.18 per cent.
2. Rajasthan becomes first state to start olive refinery. the refinery will be set up with a cost of Rs. 3.75 crore in Lunkaransar area in the district of Bikaner. The olive oil produced in the refinery will be marked under the brand name of ‘Raj Olive Oil’
3. Delhi Metro has been ranked second among 18 international Metro systems in terms of overall customer satisfaction in an online customer survey.
Note: London DLR, Delhi Metro and Bangkok respectively were the best three performers in the Net Promoters Score (NPS) category.
4. India’s first Skill development centre has come up in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The centre has been set up under the Livelihood Skill Project.
5. Chhattisgarh will set up a ‘Marine Fossil Park’ in Koriya district where fossils of Permian geological period were found. The marine fossils of sea shells were discovered on rocks on the bank of Hasdeo river near Manendragarh in Koriya district a couple of years back.
6. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated India Food Park in Tumkur in Karnataka.
Note: i. The food park is an initiative of Future Group chief Kishore Biyani.
ii. Moreover, Food Processing Ministry will approve 17 such food parks across the country over the next few months
7. Himachal Pradesh government introduced Cage Culture Technique for fish farming in water bodies created by the Himachal Pradesh Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project.
8. Tamil Nadu government announced Price Stabilization fund for green tea leaf with a corpus of 12 crore rupees
9. Andhra Pradesh Govt. signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with Google India for Digital AP project. Google India will work with the AP government to get women and small and medium businesses online and help them gain from the internet economy.
10. The Bombay High Court directed the Union Government to strictly implement the ban on manufacture of national flags made from plastic
11. Alliance Air, the wholly owned subsidiary of Air India, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the North East Council for flight operations in the North East.
12. Punjab, tops in CPSE investments: Punjab, Maharashtra, Bihar and Odisha are the only four states amid top 20 major states in India that have seen a surge in employment generated by the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) while rest of the states have recorded a fall ranging between 3-22 per cent
Note: Gujarat has rank 12th recorded a decline of over 14 per cent in employment generated by the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) between 2008-09 and 2012-13
13. The Uttar Pradesh government decided to open Nirbhaya Centers in all districts of the state. These Nirbhaya Centers will provide prompt help to the victims of crime against women and also facilitate lodging of FIRs.
14. MP to host Global Investors Summit at Indore to attract foreign investment 15. Goa became a permanent venue for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
16. DMRC observed World Green Building Week from 22 September 2014 to 27 September 2014. The Delhi Metro has decided to design all its phase-III stations as green buildings.
17. Delhi Police to launch its first e-police station to deal with vehicle thefts
18. West Bengal cabinet cleared farmer-friendly project Sech-Bandhu Prakalpa to boost irrigation
19. Bihar government recognised transgender as third gender
20. Uttarakhand Government declared 9 September as Himalaya Diwas
21. PM announces J&K floods ‘National Disaster’, declares additional aid of Rs 1,000 crore
22. 6th Economic Census Report: Arunachal Pradesh has the highest proportion of hired workers among all Arunachal Pradesh
23. Union Cabinet approved Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region. The proposal entails an estimated cost of over Rs 5,336 crore.
24. Andhra gets new capital, to be located in Vijayawada region.
Note: Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated to create a new state of Telangana earlier this year in June. Hyderabad will serve as the shared capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for another 10 years until 2024. After that, Hyderabad will belong to the new state of Telangana.
25. About newly formed Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states – Chief Minister and his party –
Andhra Pradesh – C. Chandrababu Naidu Telugu Desham Party (TDP)
Telengana – K. Chandrshekhar rao Telangana Rastra Samiti
Governor – ESL Narsinhman(Same for both)
Secretariat – Hyderabad(Same for both)
Capital – Greater Hyderabad(Same for both)
POPULATION
Andhra Pradesh – 5 cr Telengana – 3.5 cr
AREA
Andhra Pradesh 1.6 lakh sq km ,Telengana 1.14 lakh sq km,
26. The country’s first First kisan mandi outside is to set up at Alipur in north Delhi.
Note: This first such mandi, termed a ‘kisan mandi’, is being set up by the Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC), a body under the Union ministry of agriculture.
27. Karnataka became first state in India to launch Health Adalat.
Note: It was launched to address health issues at the grassroots level and ensure that all health facilities extended by the government reached all sections of society.
28. Ancient Nalanda University, was formally inaugurated in its modern ‘avatar’ by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Rajgir.
Note: Nalanda University Vice-Chancellor – Gopa Sabharwal Chairman of the Governing Body of the university – Economist Amartya Sen
iii. Centre allocates over Rs. 2700 cr for Nalanda University
29. First private wildlife corridor to come up in Madhya Pradesh: With an aim to develop country’s first private wildlife corridor between Kanha and Pench Tiger Reserve, telecom major Vodafone and Grow-Trees.com will plant 3,00,000 saplings under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.
NEW APPOINTMENT IN INDIA
1. Syed Muazzem Ali new Bangladesh Envoy to India. He replace Tariq A. Karim
2. Rajiv – appointed acting Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). He replace Pradeep Kumar
3. Hemant Contractor – New Chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory Fund and Development Authority (PFRDA).
4. O. Panneerselvam: new chief minister of Tamil Nadu. He replace J. Jayalalithaa
Note: He is 28th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
5. Justice HL Dattu: new Chief Justice of India. He replace CJI RM Lodha
6. Le Yucheng appointed China’s New Ambassador to India. He replace replaced Wei Wei
7. P Sathasivam appointed new Governor of Kerala. He replace Sheila Dikshit
8. Lalitha Kumaramangalam appointed new chief of the National Commission for Women (NCW). She replaces Mamta Sharma.
9. K.K. Paul, Governor of Meghalya take additional charge of Manipur, Mizoram
10. Narendra Ambwani elected as Chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
11. BJP veteran L.K. Advani appointed as the chairman of the prestigious Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha.
12. Shah Rukh Khan appointed Ambassador of Interpol’s initiative ‘Turn Back Crime’ campaign, aimed at promoting greater awareness on how to prevent crime.
13. Adil Zainulbhai appointed as the Chairman of Quality Council of India (QCI).
14. Amit Mathew elected as chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulations
15. Suresh Prabhu appointed as PM Narendra Modi’s Sherpa for the Group of 20 annual Summit 2014.
Note: The G-20 annual summit will be held in Brisbane from 15 November to 16 November 2014.
ii. Suresh Prabhu will attend the G20 Sherpa’s meeting that is going to be held in Canberra, Australia from 30 September to 1 October 2014.
iii. Sherpa is a senior official responsible for preparing the agenda for leaders to consider during the summit.
16. India TV chairman and editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma appointed as the president of News Broadcasting Association
17. Former Union Home Secretary GK Pillai appointed Vice Chairman of Tata Steel
18. Hardeep Singh Puri appointed as Secretary General of Independent Commission on Multilateralism (ICM)
19. RN Ravi appointed as new chief of Joint Intelligence Committee.
Note: Intelligence Committee is a body tasked to assess intelligence gathered by various intelligence agencies including IB and RAW.
20. Chandrakala Padia appointed as first women chairperson of Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS).
21. C.S.Verma elected as First President of Indian Steel Association.
NEW GOVERNORS APPOINTED
1. Kalyan Singh – new Governor of Rajasthan
2. Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala – new Governor of Karnataka
3. Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao – new Governor of Maharashtra
4. Mridula Sinha – new Governor of Goa
5. Ram Naik: new Governor of Uttar Pradesh. He replaces B.L. Joshi
6. Balramji Dass Tandon: new Governor of Chhattisgarh.
7. Keshari Nath Tripathi: new Governor of West Bengal.
8. Om Prakash Kohli: new Governor of Gujarat.
9. Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya: new Governor of Nagaland.
10. Kaptan Singh Solanki: new Governor Haryana. He replaces Jagannath Pahadia
22. T M Bhasin: New Chairman of Indian Banks Association. He replaces KR Kamath.
23. K V Thomas: new Chairman of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.
24. Ravi Shastri appointed as the Director of Indian Cricket Team
25. Rajni Razdan takes over as new UPSC chief. She replaced Prof. D P Agrawal
26. Adille Sumariwala Chef-de-Mission for Asian Games 27. K.V. Chowdary appointed as new Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). He succeed R K Tewari
28. S. S. Mundra: New RBI deputy Governor. He replaces KC Chakrabarty
29. Arvind Gupta appointed Deputy National Security Advisor
30. Aditya Vardhan Agarwal, new Vice-President of Indian Chamber of Commerce
31. Lt Gen Philip Campose takes over as Army Vice Chief
32. Justice Dr. Chellur sworn in as Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court
33. Former India cricket captain Kapil Dev will head the Arjuna Awards selection committee for choosing this year’s outstanding sportspersons of the country
34. Former Hockey Captain Ajitpal Singh to head Dronacharya Award Selection Committee
35. Ravi Shankar joined infrastructure finance company IDFC as the head of Bharat Banking.
Note: IDFC, which recently bagged a commercial banking licence, plans to start bank operations by October next year.
36. Sania Mirza: Brand Ambassador of Telangana
37. IFS officer Sanjeev Kumar Singla appointed as Private Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Note: Prime Minister has 2 private secretaries one should be from IAS and one from IFS.
38. Shankar Aggarwal: new Urban Development Secretary
39. Y Sudharshan Rao appointed as Chairman of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)
40. Satish Upadhyay : takes charge as Delhi BJP chief
41. Shaktikanta Das: appointed as New Revenue Secretary. He replace Rajiv Takru.
42. Rajeev Topno: appointed as Private Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi
43. Vishal Sikka: appointed New CEO of Infosys.
44. B Ashok: appointed New IOC Chairman. He replaces R S Butola.
45. A.K. Dubey: appointed as Chairman of Coal India Limited
46. Sirikonda Madhusudhana : First speaker of Telangana Legislative Assembly.
47. S L Bhojegowda: elected Vice-Chairman of Bar Council of India.
48. Narendra Damodardass Modi sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of the country.
THE LIST OF CABINET MINISTERS INCLUDES:
49. Rajnath Singh: Home Minster
50. Sushma Swaraj: External Affairs & Overseas Indian Affairs
52. M. Venkaiah Naidu: Urban Development Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation & Parliamentary Affairs
53. Nitin Jairam Gadkari: Road Transport and Highways Shipping + Rural Development, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Sanitation
Note: Nitin Jairam Gadkari given additional charge of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Sanitation as Gopinath Munde died in Road accident.
54. D.V. Sadananda Gowda: Railways
55. Uma Bharati: Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
56. Dr. Najma A. Heptulla: Minority Affairs
57. Ramvilas Paswan: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
58. Kalraj Mishra: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
59. Maneka Gandhi: Women and Child Development
60. Ananthkumar: Chemicals and Fertilizers
61. Ravi Shankar Prasad: Communications and Information Technology & Law and Justice
62. Ashok Gajapathi Raju: Civil Aviation
63. Anant Geete: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
65. Narendra Singh Tomar: Mines & Steel Labour and Employment
66. Jual Oram: Tribal Affairs
67. Radha Mohan Singh: Agriculture
68. Thaawar Chand Gehlot: Social Justice and Empowerment
69. Smriti Zubin Irani: Human Resource Development
70. Dr. Harsh Vardhan: Health and Family Welfare
71. Sumitra Mahajan: new Lok Sabha Speaker
72. Chandrababu Naidu sworn-in as First Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
73. K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) was sworn in as its first Chief Minister of Telangana
74. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been appointed on the Board of Governors of Philippines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).
75. Mallikarjun Kharge elected leader of Congress in Lok Sabha.
76. Nripendra Mishra appointed Principal Secretary to PM
77. Mukul Rohatgi appointed 14th New Attorney-General of India. He replace G.E. Vahanvati 78. Ajit Kumar Doval appointed as new National Security Advisor
79. Rajiv Mathur takes over as New CIC (Chief Information Commissioner). He succeeds Sushma Singh,
80. Anandiben Patel: new CM of Gujarat
81. Naveen Patnaik sworn in as Odisha chief minister
82. Pawan Chamling sworn as Sikkim CM for record 5th time
83. Jitan Ram Manjhi: new Bihar CM
84. T R Zeliang appointed new CM of Nagaland. He succeed Neiphiu Rio
85. Nabam Tuki sworn-in as CM of Arunachal Pradesh for second term.
86. R.M.Lodha: New Chief Justice of India. He is the 41st Chief Justice of India. He succeeds Justice P. Sathasivam.
87. Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag: appointed new Army Chief. He succeed Gen Bikram Singh
NEW APPOINTMENT IN WORLD
1. John Key re-elected as the Prime Minister of New Zealand for a third term
2. Ashraf Ghani sworn in as Afghanistan President. He replaced Hamid Karzai
3. Voreqe Bainimarama new Prime Minister of Fiji
4. Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar appointed Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief
5. Leonardo DiCaprio appointed as UN Messenger of Peace
6. Kaushik Basu: International Economic Association appointed as President-Elect
Note: Amartya Sen became the first Indian to join IEA.
7. Subhash Chandra Garg appointed as Executive Director (ED) in World Bank.
8. Sergio Marchionne new Ferrari chairman. He replace Luca Cordero di Montezemolo
9. TCS re-appoints N Chandrasekaran as CEO
10. Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Turkey’s new president
11. Haider al-Abadi : New Iraqi Prime Minister
12. Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha elected new PM of Thailand
13. Joko Widodo: new Indonesia President
14. (CAG) Comptroller & Auditor General of India, Shashi Kant Sharma took charge as member of UN Board Of Auditors
15. Emma Watson, the British Actress appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women.
16. Michelle Howard became the first female four-star admiral in US Navy. She is the first women admiral in 236 year old HISTORY OF US NAVY.
17. Jean-Claude Juncker: named as next European Commission president
18. Chung Hung Won retained as Prime Minister of South Korea.
19. Mustafa Kamal: appointed New President of International Cricket Council (ICC).
Note: Mustafa Kamal has become the first from Bangladesh to be president of International Cricket Council (ICC).
20. N Srinivasan: appointed first chairman of International Cricket Council (ICC).
21. Juan Manuel Santos re-elected Colombia president.
22. Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kahamba Kutesa elected President for the 69th Session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). He replaced John William Ashe.
Note: United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) comprises 193 member nations.
23. Reuven Ruby Rivlin elected as 10th president of Israel. He succeed Shimon Peres.
24. Prince Zeid al Hussein (Jordan’s ambassador) nominated as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
25. Bashar al-Assad: elected Syria President for third time
26. Dalia Grybauskaite: new President of Lithuania
27. Peter Mutharika is new Malawi president
28. Abdel Fattah Al Sissi – new President of Egypt
29. Jacob Zuma sworn in as South Africa’s President for second term 30. Petro Poroshenko: New President of Ukraine
SUMMIT
1. NATO Summit 2014- Wales (Britain)
Note: This is the first NATO summit since Chicago in 2012,
ii. Britain last hosted the summit in 1990, when Margret Thatcher was Prime Minister
About NATO – (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) – NATO’s essential purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.
Chief – Jens Stoltenberg Members – 28 countries members. Headquarter – Brussels, Belgium
2.Nuclear security summit
i. 3rd Summit 2014 : Hague, Netherland
ii. 4th Summit 2016: United States
3.G 20 Summit:
• G-20 meeting (2014) of Finance ministers and central bank governors held in Cairns (Australia).
• G-20 Labour and Employment Ministerial meet held in Melbourne (Australia)
• G20 Leaders Summit (2014) will be held in Brisbane, Queensland (Australia, in November 2014.
• 15th G-20 Summit 2015 – Turkey
About G-20-
i. The G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation and decision-making, with members from 19 countries plus the European Union.
iii. G20 members account for 85 percent of the world economy, 80 percent of global trade and two-thirds of the world’s population.
iv. The G20 represents all geographic regions of the world, but remains small enough to be an effective decision-making body.
v. The members are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.
Note: Ufa is the capital city of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, and the industrial, economic, scientific and cultural centre of the republic.
The New Development Bank (NDB), is operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as an alternative to the existing World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The New Development Bank headquarter will be in Shanghai, China.
The Bank will have a rotating chair and its first President will come from India for the first six years.
The first chair of the Board of Governors shall be from Russia.
The first chair of the Board of Directors shall be from Brazil.
The Bank will also have a regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa.
PARTICIPANT LEADERS OF THE FIVE NATIONS ARE
• Brazil – Dilma Rousseff
• Russian – Vladimir Putin
• Indian – Narendra Modi
• China – Xi Jinping
• South Africa – Jacob Zuma
Development Capital: The member countries will also set up a $100 billion currency reserves pool to help countries forestall short-term liquidity pressures.
Note: The bank will begin with a subscribed capital of $50 billion divided equally between its five founders. 5. IBSA Summit: India will host the next summit of IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) in New Delhi in 2015.
6.G 8 Summit:
• G-8 Countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Britain and the US
• 40th G-7 summit 2014 held at Brussels.
Note: It was the first time that the EU hosted a G7 summit. The summit is jointly represented by the European
Council President Herman van Rompuy and the European Commission President.
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
Headquarter – Kathmandu (Nepal)
Members – 8 – India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka (MBA IN BSP)
8. BIMSTEC Summit
• 3rd BIMSTEC summit 2014: Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar)
• 4th BIMSTEC summit will be held in Nepal.
Note: BIMSTEC (Bay of Bangal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation)
BIMSTEC includes 7 countries: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal and aims to create cooperation in multiple sectors including trade, investment and energy.
OTHERS SUMMIT
1. G-4 foreign minister meeting held in New York to discuss Security Council reform
Note: G -4 countries include- India, Brazil, Germany and Japan
2. UN Climate Change Summit 2014 held in New York
3. 13th edition of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) will be held for the first time in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
4. World Economic Forum held in – Tianji (China)
5. Kerala to host Global Agro meet and an exhibition on hi-tech agriculture and food processing at Kochi
6. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj inaugurated the first ever India Investment meet in Bahrain capital Manama
7. 18th BASIC Ministerial Meeting held in New Delhi. BASIC – (Brazil, South Africa, India and China)
Note: 17th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in Hanzghou, China
8. ASEAN foreign-minister-meeting held in Myanmar
9. Fifth Indo-US Strategic Dialogue held in New Delhi during which the two sides discussed “transformative initiatives” in key areas of security and energy.
10. 3rd India-Africa Summit be held in New Delhi
11. 6th International Nuclear Energy Forum ATOMEXPO-2014 held in Moscow
IMPORTANT ORGANISATION
1. United Nation (UN) – is an intergovernmental organization established on 24 October 1945 to promote international co-operation.
Headquarter – New York , Head – Ban ki-moon Member – South Sudan new member country . Total– 193 members
2. WTO (World Trade Org.) –Yemen new member country. Total – 160 members.
Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland, Head – Roberto Azevêdo
3. World Bank – The World Bank is a United Nations international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs.
Headquarter – Washington D.C. (United States) President – Jim Yong Kim
Member – South Sudan new member country. Total– 188 members
4. IMF – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that was initiated in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference and formally created in 1945 by 29 member countries.
Headquarter – Washington DC . (United States) President – Christine Lagarde
Member – South Sudan new member country. Total– 188 members
5. European Union – Croatia new member country. Total– 28 member countries.
Headquarter – Brussels, Belgium
6. Eurozone – The growth of the eurozone is an ongoing process within the European Union (EU). All Member states of the European Union, except for Denmark and the United Kingdom are obliged to adopt the euro as their sole currency once they meet the criteria.
Member – The eurozone currently comprise 18 EU states.
Note: Latvia becomes the 18th Member State to adopt the euro on 1 January 2014.
ii. Lithuania has been approved for euro adoption on 1 January 2015.
7. ASEAN – Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a political and economic organisation of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967.
Headquarter – Jakarta, Indonesia Member – 10 member countries (India is not the member of ASEAN)
8. APEC – Asia – Pacific Economic Cooperation –is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region. It was established in 1989
Headquarter – Singapore Member – 21
9. OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is an international organization and economic cartel whose mission is to coordinate the policies of the oil-producing countries
Headquarter – Vienna, Austria , Member – 12 member countries
Points To Remember:
INDIA DEAL WITH AUSTRALIA
1. India signs civil nuclear agreement with Australia
Note: Australia will provide supply of uranium, production of radio isotopes, nuclear safety and other areas of cooperation to India.
Apart from the civil nuclear deal signed between India and Australia, the two countries also inked three more pacts. Other three pacts were
i. MOU on cooperation in Sport
ii. Renewal of MOU on cooperation in the field of Water Resources Management
iii. MoU on Cooperation in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
Note: Australia as a nation has about a third of the world’s recoverable uranium resources and it exports nearly seven thousand tonnes of uranium in a year. This was Australia’s first nuclear deal with a Non-Nuclear, Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) signatory country.
ii. Earlier such deal was banned because India is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, NPT New Colombo Plan: Australian PM Tony Abbott PM launched the ‘New Colombo Plan’ at the Mumbai University.
Note: i. The New Colombo Plan is a concept of collective inter-governmental efforts to strengthen the economic and social development of member countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
ii. Canberra’s New Colombo Plan aims at lifting knowledge of the Indo-Pacific in Australia by supporting Australian undergraduates to study in India.
PLAN INVOLVES
• Scholarship programme for study up to one year
• Internships or mentorships
• A flexible mobility grants programme for short- and long-term study
The plan will be implemented from the next academic year. India deal with China
XI Jinping’s India visit – Chinese president XI Jinping’s paid a three day visit to India was accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan. It was third visit by any Chinese president to India. President Hu Jinato visited India in 20016 and Jiang Zemin in 1996.
India signs pact with China to better trade ties of $20bn: India signed a 5-year trade and economic cooperation agreement with China with a view to improve the trade balance.
Note: i. The ‘Five year Trade and Economic Development Plan’ was signed by Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharama and her Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng
IMPORTANT POINTS –
1. India, China sign 3 MoUs including setting up Industrial Park in Gujarat The agreements include
i. Sister city pact between Guangzhou in China and Ahmedabad
ii. Setting up of an industrial park in Vadodara district (Gujarat)
iii. The third is between the governments of Gujarat and a Chinese province.
2. New road to Kailash Mansarovar via Nathu La
3. Mumbai and Shanghai will be twin cities.
4. China will set up two industrial parks in India, one each in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
PM Modi Japan Visit – This was PM first visit to any country outside South Asia after becoming the Prime Minister of India. His earlier visits were to Bhutan & Nepal.
Important Points –
1. Japan promise to give USD 35 to India thorugh public & private funding over the next five years for developmental projects, including building of smart cities and next generation infrastructure as also cleaning of the Ganges.
Note: The USD 35 billion funding, at an average of USD 7 billion per year, would be the highest from any country.
2. Both sides signed 5 pacts covering – defence exchanges, cooperation in clean energy, roads & hishways, healthcare and women.
3. India, Japan sign MoU to develop Varanasi into ‘smart city’: by using the experience of Kyoto, the ’smart city’ of Japan, under a pact signed b/w India & Japan.
Note: Kyoto, which is a heritage city with Buddhist culture, provides special symbolism to the visit as the Prime Minister has the vision of “rejuvenating” Indian cities.
4. Japan lifted the ban on six Indian entities including Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which was imposed in the aftermath of 1998 nuclear tests.
5. Japan offered to provide financial, technical and operational support to India for introduction of bullet trains.
The two Prime Ministers look forward to the completion of the Joint Feasibility Study on High Speed Railway system on Ahmedabad–Mumbai route.
6. Japan to work with India in finding sickle cell anemia remedy. Modi met Shinya Yamanaka, Japan’s stem cell pioneer and 2012 Nobel Prize winner for medicine, at Kyoto University and discussed treatment of the disease.
6. SBI, Japan Bank partner for export credit of $152 mn: The loan is co-financed with the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd (BTMU) amounting to 13.5 billion Japanese Yen ($135 million) and $21 million approximately. The total co-financing amount came to $152 million (about Rs. 927 crore),”
Note: This credit line will be utilised by Meja Urja Nigam Pvt Ltd (MUNPL) to finance the procurement of steam turbine generator equipment to construct a supercritical pressure coal-fired power plant (660MWx2 units) in Meja, Uttar Pradesh.
ii. MUNPL is a joint venture equally invested by NTPC Ltd and UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd, India deal with Nepal Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit Nepal. This was PM second visit after becoming Prime Minister of India. His first visit to Bhutan.
Note: i. Narendra Modi is the second PM of India who visited Nepal in 17 years.
ii. The first Indian prime minister who visited Nepal was by I.K. Gujral in June 1997.
IMPORTANT POINTS:
1. India and Nepal have agreed to build a pipeline for supply of petroleum products to the Himalayan nation.
Note: The project for construction of the pipeline will start from Raxual in Bihar to Amlekhganj in Nepal in the first phase and extend it to Kathmandu in the next phase.
2. India and Nepal ink 3 pacts including one on the 5,600 MW Pancheshwar dam on the Mahakali river.
Note: The project falls under the integrated treaty on Mahakali River, bordering both Nepal and India, which was signed in 1996.
3. India & Nepal to boost cooperation in defence, security, trade & investment
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced $1 billion line of credit to Nepal and proposed a “HIT” (H: Highways,I:I-ways and T: Transways) formula for the development of the land-locked country.
5. India has provided Rs 69 million to procure and distribute Iodised salt in the rural areas of Nepal.
MOUs-Deal between India & Other Countries
1. ONGC Videsh Ltd, signed an agreement with Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) for cooperation in the Latin American nation.
Note: Mexico is the largest crude oil producing country in Latin America
2. Nepal seeks technical cooperation from India for extending Provident Fund (PF)
3. India and Vietnam inked seven pacts, including one to enhance cooperation in the strategic oil sector, as they called for “freedom of navigation” in the South China Sea,
4. Hero MotoCorp Limited has entered into an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh Government for setting up a Greenfield two-wheeler manufacturing plant in Chittoor district
5. Latin American nation Peru has plans to sign a free trade agreement with India.
Note: Peru is the sixth largest gold producer, mining 5 million ounces every year. Peru is also the second largest producer of silver and the third biggest producer of copper, tin, zinc and lead.
6. Bangladesh and India have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for enhanced cooperation in the fields of traditional medicine like Ayurveda and Unani,
7. United Arab Emirates has signed three agreements with the United Nations World Food Program, WFP, offering 31 million US dollars worth of humanitarian aid for the Syrian refugees.
8. Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) signed MoU to setup India’s first Coral Garden in Gujarat.
This Coral Garden will be set up at Mithapur coastal region of Devbhoomi-Swarka district of Gujarat.
9. India and Germany agreed to prepare a roadmap for cooperation in skill development, solid waste management and cleaning of rivers.
10. India signed loan agreement with World Bank for Mizoram State Roads Project (MSRP II). As per the agreement, soft loan window of World Bank, International Development Agency (IDA) will provide assistance of 107 million US dollars for the Project.
11. India and Czech Republic signed MoU on technical cooperation in Railway.
12. India to give grant of $1 million for construction of cricket stadium in Afghanistan. The stadium is set to come up in Aino Mina, a northern suburb of Kandahar city on land donated to the Afghanistan Cricket Board in 2012.
13. India and Brazil signed three agreements to strengthen the bilateral relation The three agreements signed between the two countries are:
(i) MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Environment
(ii) Agreement on Space
(iii) MoU on Cooperation in the Establishment of a consultation mechanism on mobility and consular issues.
14. India signed a MOUs with Sri Lanka for setting up of a Faculty of Agriculture and a Faculty of Engineering for the University of Jaffna at Kilinochchi.
SCHEME & PLAN LAUNCHED BY UNION & STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Swachh Bharat Mission (Ek Kadam Swachhata Ki Aur) launched on Oct 2: The concept of Swachh Bharat is to pave access for every person to sanitation facilities including toilets, solid and liquid waste disposal systems, village cleanliness and safe and adequate drinking water supply.
IMPORTANT POINTS:
1. The Mission aims at fulfilling the dream of clean India of Mahatma Gandhi by his 150th birth anniversary in 2019.
2. Logo – created by Shri Anant Khasbardar of Kolhapur, Maharashtra has won the Logo design contest
3. The Tagline “Ek Kadam Swachhata Ki Aur” was given by Ms.Bhagyasri Sheth of Rajkot, Gujarat emerged successful in the contest for Tagline for the Logo.
4. PM Narendra Modi appointed bollywood actor Aamri Khan as the Brand Ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Mission
5. Prime Minister roped 9 celebrities including cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, industrialist Anil Ambani, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Kamal Haasan, Goa governor Mridula Sinha, yoga guru Ramdev and the team of TV serial “Tarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma”.
2. Prime Minister launches ‘Make in India’ global initiative with an aim to boost India`s manufacturing sector.
3. Union Government launched Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana for urban and rural poor
Note: i. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana has two components one for urban India and other for rural India.
ii. The Urban component will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation iii. Rural component named as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
Main Highlights of the Urban Scheme
i. Imparting skills with an expenditure of 15000 rupees to 18000 rupees on each urban poor
ii. Enabling urban poor form Self-Help Groups for meeting financial and social needs with a support of 10000 rupees per each group who would in turn would be helped with bank linkages.
MAIN POINS OF THE RURAL SCHEME
i. The Yojana aims at training 10 lakh (1 million) rural youths for jobs in three years, that is, by 2017.
ii. The minimum age for entry under the Yojana is 15 years compared to 18 years under the Aajeevika Skills Programme.
iii. The skills imparted under the Yojana will now be benchmarked against international standards and will complement the Prime Minister’s Make In India campaign.
4. Union Ministry of Science & Technology announces “KIRAN”( Knowledge, Involvement, Research, Advancement through Nurturing) scheme for Women Scientists
Objectives:-
i. To increase the number of women researchers in India.
ii. Provide Research grants particularly to those female researchers and technologists who had to take a break in career owing to household reasons.
iii. Bring about, as far as achievable, gender parity in the field of science and technology.
5. Government will soon launch Universal Health Assurance Mission to provide affordable health services to people.
Under the mission about 50 essential drugs with a diagnostic package and 30 AYUSH drugs will be made available to all citizens at government hospitals and health centers across the country.
6. Bhamashah Financial Empowerment Scheme – Government of Rajasthan
The Government of Rajasthan has embarked upon Bhamashah Financial Empowerment Scheme, (BFES) whereby the Government will deposit Rs.1500/- into the savings accounts of 50 lakh rural families belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL)
7. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana: RSBY started rolling from 1st April 2008.
Note: i. RSBY has been launched by Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India to provide health insurance coverage for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
ii. The objective of RSBY is to provide protection to BPL households from financial liabilities arising out of health shocks that involve hospitalization.
iii. Beneficiaries under RSBY are entitled to hospitalization coverage up to Rs. 30,000/- for most of the diseases that require hospitalization.
8. National Pension System -: Government of India established Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)- External website that opens in a new window on 10th October, 2003 to develop and regulate pension sector in the country.
The National Pension System (NPS) was launched on 1st January, 2004 with the objective of providing retirement income to all the citizens.
Note: i. Under Swavalamban Scheme- External website that opens in a new window, the government will contribute a sum of Rs.1,000 to each eligible NPS subscriber who contributes a minimum of Rs.1,000 and maximum Rs.12,000 per annum. This scheme is presently applicable upto F.Y.2016-17.
ii. The subscriber will be allotted a unique Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN). This unique account number will remain the same for the rest of subscriber’s life. This unique PRAN can be used from any location in India.
9. Aajeevika – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India in June 2011. The basic idea behind this programme is to organize the poor into SHG (Self Help Groups) groups and make them capable for self-employment.
10. Indira Awas Yojan: It is one of the major flagship programs of the Rural Development Ministry to construct houses for BPL population in the villages
Note: i. The financial assistance provided for new construction in the form of full grant is Rs.70,000/- per unit for plain areas & Rs.75,000/- for hilly/difficult areas.
ii. Further, an IAY beneficiary can avail top-up loan upto Rs 20,000/- under the Differential Rate of Interest (DRI Scheme) from any Nationalized Bank at an interest rate of 4% per annum.
11. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Seenchayi Yojana: Pradhan Mantri Krishi Seenchayi Yojana was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi . The Yojna has been announced to meet the irrigation needs of all farmers across the country. Sum of 1000 crore rupees has been allocated for implementation of the scheme.
12. Karnataka, Kerala sign MoU for rural livelihood mission: As per the MoU, Kerala Governement’s Kudumbashree and Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Mission are to help train and hand-hold rural Self Help Groups (SHGs) in Karnataka.
13. Govt re-launches Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana: The government has re-launched the Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana, for the benefit of citizens aged 60 years and above.
Note: It will provide monthly pension ranging from 500 to 5,000 rupees per month to senior citizens of the country.
ii. The Scheme will be administrated by the Life Insurance Corporation, LIC.
14. National rural scheme on PPP model launched: Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari launched the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee National Rural Mission on PPP model with an allocation of 100 crore rupees.
Note: The scheme will be initially available in three districts of the country on pilot basis. The districts are Warangal in Andhra Pradesh and two districts in Maharashtra.
ii. The scheme is intended to stop migration from rural areas to cities. The government wants to create infrastructure in villages so that people can get employment there and do not migrate to cities.
15. Padho Pardesh scheme for minority community: Government has launched a scheme titled, Padho Pardesh, for providing interest subsidy on educational loans for overseas studies for students belonging to the notified minority communities like Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis Note: The objective of the scheme is to award interest subsidy to meritorious students belonging to economically weaker sections of the notified minority communities so as to provide opportunities for higher education abroad and enhance their employability.
16. Government has launched the Rashtriya Gokul Mission to promote conservation and development of indigenous breeds in a focused and scientific manner.
The mission aims at enhancing milk production, upgrading non-descript cattle using elite indigenous breeds and distribute disease free high genetic bulls.
AWARDS & HONOURS
SHANTI SWARUP BHATNAGAR PRIZE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (SSB) is a science award in India given 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.
1. 10 SCIENTISTS GET SHANTI SWARUP BHATNAGAR PRIZE :The selected awardees in different fields are Biological Sciences: Dr. Roop Mallik of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai Chemical Sciences: Dr. Kavirayani Ramakrishna Prasad of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and Dr. Souvik Maiti of Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), New Delhi Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences: Dr. Sachchida Nand Tripathi of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
ENGINEERING SCIENCES: Dr. S Venkata Mohan of Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabad and Dr. Soumen Chakrabarti of Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai Mathematical Sciences: Dr. Kaushal Kumar Verma of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
MEDICAL SCIENCES: Dr. Anurag Agrawal of Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), New Delhi Physical Sciences: Dr. Pratap Raychaudhuri, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research of Mumbai and Dr. Sadiqali Abbas Rangwala of Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru
2. Hindi film ‘Liar’s Dice has been selected as India’s official entry to the best foreign film category at the Oscar 2015 awards. Note: Director – Geethu Mohandas
3. Noted writer and filmmaker MT Vasudevan Nair was selected for the JC Daniel Award for lifetime achievement for the year 2013. Note: The award given by the Kerala govt. recognizes the overall contribution of Nair to the Malayalam film industry.
4. Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden and Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian on won Right Livelihood Award.
Note: The Right Livelihood Award is also known as Alternative Nobel prize of Sweden.
5. Leading NRI businessmen G P Hinduja and S P Hinduja have been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Business at a ceremony in the House of Lords.
6. Kolkata-born British author Neel Mukherjee’s latest novel The Lives of Others has been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize 2014.
7. Indian scientist Kamal Bawa has won the 2014 Midori Prize in Biodiversity for his research, including in climate change in the Himalayas.
Note: Kamal Bawa, is the founder president of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in Bangalore.
ii. The Midori Prize is regarded a major element “at the service of the objectives of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020”.
8. Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna to receive Davis Cup Commitment Award
9. Indira Gandhi Rajbhasa award: Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) CMD Madhusudan honoured with the prestigious Indira Gandhi Rajbhasha Shield for the Best Hindi Implementation in the organisation.
10. Indian movie Court won best debut award at Venice Film Festival
Note: Court, an Indian movie written and directed by Indian writer Chaitanya Tamhane, won the Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis award for a Debut Feature at the 71st Venice Film Festival
Note: Court was also was awarded with the Orizzonti award for best film.
11. China awarded China Book Award to JNU professor Priyadarsi Mukherji
Note: Priyadarsi Mukherji was honoured in recognition of his long-term contribution to the translation and publication of Chinese works.
12. Oxford Award: Dr Mrunalinidevi Puar, Chancellor of Maharaja Sayajirao University at Vadodara, has been conferred with the “Best Manager” award by the Oxford Summit of Leaders (Science and Education) in UK, Note: Dr Mrunalinidevi Puar is known for her research in availability of zinc in Indian food and was also awarded PhD by a Hyderabad based university,
13. Vinod Mehta eminent journalist and Editorial Chairman of Outlook group, was selected for G K Reddy Memorial Award 2014.
14. Indian Telugu Actor, Akkineni Nageswara Rao became the first Indian actor to be honoured with a postage stamp by the US Post Service
15. US actor Harry Belafonte to receive Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar Award
16. Maryam Mirzakhani: Iran’s first woman to win prestigious math prize known as the Field Medal, the International Congress of Mathematicians. Maryam Mirzakhani, a Harvard educated mathematician and professor at Stanford University in California
17. Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has bestowed the ICSI Life Time Achievement Award 2013 for Excellence in Corporate Governance to HCL Founder and Chairman Shiv Nadar.
18. Guru Hanuman Akhara, a Delhi-based wrestling academy was chosen for the 2014 Rashtritya Khel Protsahan Puraskar (RKPP) .
Note: The Akhara was chosen in the category of establishment and management of sports academies of excellence.
19. Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award: Muzaffar Ali, a noted filmmaker of India was selected for Rajiv Gandhi
National Sadbhavana Award. His name was selected for his outstanding contribution towards the promotion of Communal harmony, peace and goodwill.
Note: i. This will be the 22nd edition of the Sadbhawna award. Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was recipient of the 21st Rajiv Gandhi National Sadhbhavna Award.
20. Ramon Magsaysay Award 2014
The list of awardees included six winners among five individuals and one organization from Pakistan.
i. Hu Shuli: She is a Chinese investigative journalist.
ii. Saur Marlina Manurung: She is being recognized for her ennobling passion to protect and improve the lives of Indonesia’s forest people, and her energizing leadership of volunteers in SOKOLA’s customized education program.
iii. Omara Khan Masoudi from Afghanistan: He is being recognized for his courage, labor, and leadership in protecting Afghan cultural heritage.
21. Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman mountaineer to scale Mount Everest was conferred with Bharat Gaurav, the highest honour of merit of East Bengal Club.
22. Environmentalist and social activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt has been awarded the prestigious Gandhi Peace prize for 2013.
23. AIMA ( All India Management Association) Awards: Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, CMD of Bandhan won ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award
M G George Muthoot, Chairman, Muthoot Group (Emerging Business Leader of the Year), N Chandrasekaren, CEO & Managing Director, TCS (Indian MNC of the Year), Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Film Producer, Director of Bhaag, Milkha Bhaag (Director of the Year) and S. S. Badrinath, Founder and Chairman, Emeritus of Sankara Nethralaya (Outstanding Institution Builder).
24. Jnanpith Award 2013: Noted Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh has been chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for 2013. He will be the recipient of the 49th Jnanpith award.
25. Pen Pinter prize 2014: Salman Rushdie wins Pen Pinter prize for his outstanding literary output and support for freedom of expression.
26. World Food Prize 2014: India-born plant scientist Sanjaya Rajaram has been named the winner of the World Food Prize for his breakthrough achievement in increasing global wheat production by more than 200 million tonnes following the Green Revolution.
27. Moortidevi Award 2013: C Radhakrishnan selected for Moortidevi Award 2013. He has been selected for his novel Theekkadal Katanhu Thirumadhuram.
Note: i. Radhakrishnan is the second Malayalam writer to be awarded with the Moortidevi award. The first Malayalam author to win the award was Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri in 2009 for his selected poems.
ii. Haraprasad Das was conferred the Moortidevi Award for 2012 for ‘Vamsha, a poetic recreation of the Mahabharata 28. Sudarsan Pattnaik won prize at World Cup of Sand Sculpting-2014. He won prize for his work Save Tree, Save the Future.
29. Malala Yousafzai wins Liberty Medal from the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia.
30. France honour Shahrukh Khan with Legion of Honour
Note: The award of Officier de la Legion d’Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour) is the highest honour among Civilians and Military bestowed by France on French citizen as well as foreigners.
31. Gro Harlem Brundtland awarded with the first Tang Prize in sustainable development.
32. Former TATA Group Chairman Ratan Tata received an honorary doctor of laws degree from York University in Toronto, Canada.
33. Indian origin physicist Tejinder Virdee was honoured knighthood Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II. He was awarded for his work on the Higgs Boson theory.
34. Lifetime Achievement Award’: Leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has been honoured with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by a UK-based business association for his outstanding contribution to the industry, education and philanthropy.
35. Goldman Prize for environmental activist Ramesh Agrawal. He received the prize for helping villagers fight coal mining in Chhattisgarh.
36. Caparo Group founded by leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has won the International Business of the Year award 2014
37. Golden Peacock Awards 2014: Technopark Technology Business Incubator (T-TBI) was chosen for the Special Commendation at the Golden Peacock National Training Awards 2014.
38. Pulitzer Prize 2014: India-born poet Vijay Seshadri has won the prestigious 2014 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for his work ‘3 Sections’.
39. Donna Tartt wins fiction Pulitzer Prize 2014 for novel ‘Goldfinch’
40. Gandhi Peace Prize for 2013: Eminent Gandhian and environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhat selected for the award.
Note: A pioneer of the Chipko Movement for which he was also awarded the Magsaysay Award in 1982, Mr. Bhatt was given the Padma Bhushan by UPA-I in 2005.
41. Saraswati Samman 2013: Govind Mishra selected for for his book Dhool Paudho Par.
42. Pritzker Prize 2014: Japanese architect Shigeru Ban won the Pritzker Architecture Prize 2014. He won the award for his creative and inexpensive designs for disaster relief shelters.
43. Abel Prize 2014: Russian mathematician Yakov Grigorevich Sinai won the award.
44. Laxmi, an acid attack victim gets International Women of Courage Award (US honour).
45. Vyas Samman 2013: Vishwanath Tripathi been selected for the prestigious Vyas Samman for the year 2013.
Note: Tripathi has been chosen for his memoir ‘Vyomkesh Darvesh’, a biolgraphy of noted Hindi scholar Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi. Padma Awards 2014:
Padma Vibhushan
1. Dr Raghunath A Mashelkar: Science and Engineering, Maharashtra
2. B K S Iyengar: Yoga, Maharashtra Padma Bhushan Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Art-Painting, Gujarat Begum Parveen Sultana, Art-Classical Singing, Maharashtra T.H. Vinayakram, Art-Ghatam Artist, Tamil Nadu Kamal Haasan, Art-Cinema, Tamil Nadu Justice Dalveer Bhandari, Public Affairs, Delhi Ruskin Bond, Literature and Education, Uttarakhand Pullela Gopichand, Sports-Badminton, Andhra Pradesh Leander Paes, Sports-Tennis, Maharashtra Prof Lloyd I Rudolph, Literature and Education, USA Padma Shri Mohammad Ali Baig, Art-Theatre, Andhra Pradesh Nayana Apte Joshi, Art, Maharashtra Vidya Balan, Art-Cinema, Maharashtra Anjum Chopra, Sports-Cricket, Delhi Sunil Dabas, Sports-Kabbadi, Haryana Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu, Sports-Mountaineering, Delhi Dipika Rebecca Pallikal, Sports-Squash, Tamil Nadu H Boniface Prabhu, Sports-Wheelchair Tennis, Karnataka Yuvraj Singh, Sports-Cricket, Haryana Mamta Sodha Sports-Mountaineering, Haryana
Oscar Award 2014:
Best Film – 12 Years a Slave – Directed by Steve McQueen
Best Actor – Matthew McConaughey for: Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress – Cate Blanchett for: Blue Jasmine
Best Director – Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity
Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Jared Leto for: Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave
Best Foreign Language Film – The Great Beauty (Italy)Note: “Gravity” pulled in 7 Oscars, including best director, at the 86th Academy Awards on March 2, 2014.
61st National Film Awards: Best Hindi Film – Jolly LLB
Best Feature Film: ‘Ship of Theseus’ – Director – Anand Gandhi
Best Actor: Rajkumar Rao for ‘Shahid’ and Suraj Venjaramudu and Venajaramoodu for Malayalam movie ‘Perariyathavar’
Best Actress: Geetanjali Thapa for Liars Dice
Best Director Award: Pranjal Dua for ‘Chidiya Ud’ (Hindi)
Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment: ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’
Best Supporting Actor: Saurabh Shukla, ‘Jolly LLB’
Director of Film ‘Shahid’ – Hansal Mehta
Director of Film ‘Jolly LLB’– Subhash Kapoor Director of Film Liars Dice – Geetu Mohandas
The IIFA 2014 Awards Winners’ List
Best Actor (Male): Farhan Akhtar for Bhaag Milka Bhaag
Best Actress (Female): Deepika Padukone for Chennai Express
Lifetime Achievement Award 2014: Shatrughan Sinha
Best Entertainer of the Year: Deepika Padukone
Best Film: Bhaag Milka Bhaag
Best Director: Rakeysh Om Mehra for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
Best Debutant Award map: Dhanush for Raanjhanaa
John Travolta honoured the Most Popular All Time
International Star in India at IIFA awards
59th Filmfare Awards 2014:
1. Best Actress: Deepika Padukone – Goliyon Ki Rasleela RamLeela
2. Best Actor: Farhan Akhtar – Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
3. Best Film : Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
4. Best Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra – Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
5. Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Nawazuddin Siddiqui – The Lunchbox
6. Best Actress in a Suporting Role: Supriya Pathak-Ram-leela
7. Lifetime Achievement Award: Tanuja
PERSON IN NEWS:
1. Ian Edmondson: A former news editor at Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct tabloid News of the World admitted to hacking phones of celebrities.
2. L Sarita Devi: Indian boxer L Sarita Devi refused to accept the bronze medal at Asian Games 2014.
Note: AIBA (All India Boxing Association)ban Sarita Devi and opened disciplinary case against her.
3. J Jayalalithaa: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister convicted under prevention of corruption act by a special court in Bangalore. She has been given a jail term of 4 years by the bangalore special court and slapped a fine of 100 crores
Note: i. Special Judge John Michael D’Cunha convicted AIADMK Chief in a case of owning assets to the tune Rs 66,65 crores disproportionate to her known sources of income during 1991-96 when she was chief minister for the first time.
ii. Jayalalithaa, 66, will now lose MLA’s post and disqualified from public office for next 6 years.
4. Alok Shetty: A 28-year-old Indian architect has been named “young leader of tomorrow” byTime magazine for his pioneering work in designing affordable flood-proof houses for slum dwellers.
5. Richard Rahul Verma: US President nominates as next US envoy to India
6. Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived Chennai to launch of Vikram-starrer “I”.
7. Akkineni Nageswara Rao – Legendary Telugu Actor Akkineni Nageshwar Rao became the first actor to be honored with a postage stamp by the US Service.
Resign/Retired
1. B Muthuraman, Vice-Chairman of Tata Steel retired from the Board of the company
2. Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has resigned
3. Pankaj Advani announced to retire from professional snooker
4. Li Na: 2-time Grand Slam winner China player Li Na retires from tour Note: she won the 2011 French Open, and Australian Open title
5. Vinod Kumar Duggal: Vinod Kumar Duggal resigned as
Manipur Governor
6. Sheila Dikshit: Kerala governor resigned
7. K Sankaranarayanan: Maharashtra governor resigned
8. Kamla Beniwal: Mizoram Governor removed
9. Dipa Karmakar became first Indian woman gymnast to win medal in Commonwealth Games
10. Nehchal Sandhu: Deputy National Security Adviser resigned 1. And Then One Day: Naseeruddin Shah’s autobiography 2. God of Antarctica written by Yashwardhan Shukla: Delhi-based 13 year old school boy Yashwardhan Shukla authored a novel, Gods of Antarctica. The book is fictional tale of gods and monsters.3. “One Life is Not Enough” : written by Kunwar Natwar Singh Note: The book is an autobiography of the former External Affairs Minister and senior Congress Party leader Natwar Singh. 4. A book entitled Munger through the Ages authored by late Devendra Prasad Yadav 5. The Lives of Others” a novel written by: Neel Mukherjee Note: Novel is short listed for the prestigious Man Booker Prize 2014. 6. The Substance and the Shadow: written by Uday Tara Nayar, a former journalist.
Note: The Substance and the Shadow, the biography of 91-year-old actor Dilip Kumar.
7. Warrior State written by T V Paul.8. Blood Feud written by Edward Klein 9. A Bad Character: authored by Deepti Kapoor. 10. The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous – Khuswant Singh 11. Train To Pakistan – Khuswant Singh.12. An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions – Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen.13. A Brush with Life- Satish Gujral.14. A Bend in the river- V.S. Naipaul.15. God of Small things- Arundhati Rai.16. Inheritance of Loss- Kiran Desai.17. Joseph Anton- Sulman Rushdie (Autobiography).18. “Khushwantnama-The Lessons of My Life “ –Khushwant singh.19. Lajja- Taslima Nasrim. 20. My Unforgettable Memories-Mamata Banerjee.21. My Years with Rajiv and Sonia written by R.D.Pradhan.22. ModiNomics: Inclusive Economics, Inclusive Governance: authored by Sameer Kochhar.
23. Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths authored by PC Parakh.24. The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh authored by Dr. Sanjaya Baru.
LEADER’S VISITED INDIA/WORLD
1. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos visited India.
2. Frank Walter: Foreign Minister of Germany visited India
3. Australian PM Tony Abbott to visited India
4. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited India
5. President of India Pranab Mukherjee visited Vietnam
6. Sushma Swaraj visited Bahrain
7. Sushma Swaraj visited Nepal
8. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi visited Nepal
9. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi made his first foreign tour to Bhutan
10. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi visited Japan
11. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi visited US
12. Chuck Hagel: US Defence Secretary visited India
13. Jim Yong Kim: World Bank President visited India.
14. Bill Clinton: Former US President visited in Lucknow
15. William Hague: UK Foreign Minister visited India
16. Laurent Fabius: French Foreign Minister to visited India.
17. G L Peiris: Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka visited India
18. Wang Yi: Chinese Foreign Minister visited India
Note: Srinivas (45), popularly known as ‘Mandolin Srinivas’, is a renowned mandolin player of South Indian Carnatic music.
2. Educationist Kireet Joshi died
3. Jitendra Chandra Paul: Freedom Fighter and Journalist died
4. Mohammad Ghouse: Former International cricket umpire died
5. Shankar Baruah : Ex-Assam DGP commit suicide
Note: His suicide came after CBI raided his residence during the course of investigation of multi-crore Saradha chit fund case. CBI raided his house on 28 August 2014.
6. Dr. Noel W. Hinners: Former NASA Scientist died
7. Joan Rivers: US comedian and TV host dies
8. Goolam E. Vahanvati: Former Attorney General of India died
9. Maya Rao: Renowned Kathak dancer died.
10. Bipin Chandra: Noted historian passes away
11. Norman Gordon: South African fast bowler oldest surviving Test cricketer at 103 years old, passed away 12. Sattiraju Lakshminarayana, , the artist, filmmaker, humourist popularly known as Bapu, passed away in Chennai,
13. Richard Attenborough: Gandhi’ filmmaker dies at 90
14. UR Anantha Murthy: Eminent Kannada writer passes away. Anantha Murthy, a writer and critic, was considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement in Kannada literature.
15. BKS Iyengar: World-renowned yoga guru and founder of the Iyengar School of Yoga BKS Iyengar passed away
16. Robin Williams: Oscar Winning Actor died
17. Lauren Bacall: Hollywood icon dead at 89
18. Hashim Khan: Squash Legend of Pakistan died
19. Cartoonist Pran Kumar Sharma, creator of iconic Chacha Chowdhury, dead
20. Robert Drew: Pioneer of Cinema documentarian dies at 90
21. Sundaram Sankaran: Veteran journalist died at 87
22. Sushilarani Patel, the renowned classical singer of India died
23. Madhukar Singh, an eminent Hindi litterateur died
24. J. Sasikumar: Malayalam filmmaker passes away.
25. Nadine Gordimer: South Africa’s Nobel-winning novelist dies
26. Zohra Sehgal: Veteran Bollywood actress Zohra Sehgal known for her jovial roles in films like Dil Se, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Veer-Zaara, Cheeni Kum and Saawariya passed away. She was 102.
27. Granville Austin, the eminent scholar of the Indian Constitution died in Washington DC.
SPORTS NEWS
ASIAN GAMES 2014 – Incheon (South Korea): The 2014 Asian Games, officially known as the XVII (17th edition) of Asiad Games.
Mascot of the Asian Games 2014 is the Harbour Seal Siblings – Barame, Chumuro and Vichuon means wind, dance and light in Korean language.
The theme of the 2014 Asian Games is Meet Asia’s Future.
Motto – Diversity Shines: Here.
Note: Sardar Singh, captain of the men’s hockey team is the Indian contingent’s flag bearer at 17th Asian Games Next Asian Games 2018 will be held in – Jakarta, Indonesia.
Note: Vietnam had originally been picked to host the 18th Games in 2019, but withdrew blaming fallout from an economic crisis. Indonesia immediately became favourites to host the 2018 Asian Games.
Note: i. China topped in the medal tally in Asian Games.
ii. India finished at 8th position in the 2014 Asian Games with 57 medals tally comprising 11 gold, 10 silver and 36 bronze.
iii. Kosuke Hagino of Japan (Swimmer) is announced as the most valuable player.
iv. Hammer thrower Manju Bala’s medal was upgraded from bronze to silver after a Chinese competitor Zhang Wenxiu who finished ahead of her was caught for doping.
v. Zhang Wenxiu is the sixth athlete to be kicked out of the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea for doping and the second gold medal-winner after Malaysia’s wushu champion Tai Cheau Xuen..
Asain Games 2014 -Medal Tally – Country + Ranking Gold Silver Bronze Total
1. China 151 108 83 342
2. South Korea 79 71 84 234
3. Japan 47 76 77 200
4. Kazakahistan 28 23 33 84
8. India 11 10 36 57
Here’s the list of India’s medal winners:
1. ARCHERY (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze)
Gold: 1. Rajat Chauhan, Sandeep Kumar and Abhishek Verma in Compound Men’s Team
Silver: 1. Abhishek Verma in Compound Men’s Individual
Bronze: 1. Trisha Deb in Compound Women’s Individual
2. Purvasha Shende, Jyothi Vennam, Trisha Deb in Women’s Compound Team
2. ATHLETICS (2 Gold, 3 Silver, 8 Bronze)
Gold: 1. Priyanka Pawar, Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur and Poovamma Machettira in women’s 4x400m Relay.
2. Seema Punia in Women’s Discus Throw
Silver: 1. Khushbir Kaur in Women’s 20km Race Walk 2. Vikas Gowda in Men’s Discus Throw
3. Tintu Luka in Women’s 800m 4. Manju Bala in Women’s Hammer Throw
Bronze: 1. Rajiv Arokia in Men’s 400m 2. Poovamma Maachettira in Women’s 400m
3. Lalita Babar in Women’s 3000m Steeplechase 4. OP Jaisha in Women’s 1500m
5. Naveen Kumar in Men’s 3000m Steeplechase 6. Inderjeet Singh in Men’s Shot Put
7. Annu Rani in Women’s Javelin Throw3. BADMINTON (1 Bronze)
Bronze: 1. Ashwini Ponnappa, PC Thulasi, Tanvi Uday, Pradnya Gadre, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Sikki Reddy in
WOMEN’S TEAM
4. BOXING (1 Gold, 4 Bronze)
Gold: 1. MC Mary Kom in Women’s Fly (48-51kg)
Bronze: 1.Vikas Krishan in Men’s Middle (75kg) 2. Satish Kumar in Men’s Super Heavy (+91kg)
3. L Sarita Devi in Women’s Light (57-60kg)
4. Pooja Rani in Women’s Middle (69-75kg)
5. HOCKEY (1 Gold, 1 Bronze)
Gold: Men’s Team Bronze: Women’s Team
6. KABADDI (2 Gold)
Gold: Men’s Team, Women’s Team
7. ROWING (3 Bronze)
Bronze: 1. Swarn Singh in Men’s Single Sculls
2. Kapil Sharma, Ranjit Singh, Bajrang Lal Takhar, Robin Ulahannan, Sawan Kumar, Mohammad Azad, Maninder Singh,
Davinder Singh, Mohammed Ahmed in Men’s Eight
3. Dushyaht Dushiant in Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls
8. SAILING (1 Bronze)
Bronze: 1. Varsha Gautham and Aishwarya Nedunchezhiyan in 29er Women’s Two Person Dinghy
9. SHOOTING (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 7 Bronze)
Gold: Jitu Rai in Men’s 50m Pistol
Silver: 1. Pemba Tamang, Gurpreet Singh and Vijay Kumar in Men’s 25m Centre Fire Pistol Team
Bronze: 1. Shweta Chaudhry in Women’s 10m Air Pistol
2. Rahi Sarnobat, Anisa Sayyed and Heena Sidhu in Women’s 25m Pistol Team
3. Shagun Chowdhary, Shreyasi Singh and Vasha Varman in Women’s Double Trap Team
4. Abhinav Bindra in Men’s 10m Air Rifle
5. Chain Singh in Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions
6. Abhinav Bindra, Ravi Kumar and Sanjeev Rajput in Men’s 10m Air Rifle Team
7. Jitu Rai, Samaresh Jung and Prakash Nanjappa in Men’s 10m Air Pistol Team
2. Dipika Pallikal, Joshana Chinappa, Anaka Alankamony and Aparajitha Balamurukan in Women’s Team
BRONZE: Dipika Pallikal in Women’s Singles
11. SWIMMING (1 Bronze)
BRONZE: Sandeep Sejwal in Men’s 50m Breaststroke
12. TENNIS (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze)
Gold: Sania Mirza and Saketh Myneni in Mixed Doubles
Silver: Saketh Myneni and Sanam Singh in Men’s Doubles
Bronze: 1. Yuki Bhambri in Men’s Singles 2. Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan in Men’s Doubles
3. Sania Mirza and Prarthana Thombare in Women’s Doubles
13. WRESTLING (1 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze)
Gold: Yogeshwar Dutt in Men’s Freestyle 65kg
Silver: Bajrang in Men’s Freestyle 61kg
Bronze: 1. Vinesh in Women’s Freestyle 48kg 2. Geetika Jakhar in Women’s Freestyle 63kg
3. Narsingh Yadav in Men’s Freestyle 74kg
14. WUSHU (2 Bronze)
Bronze: 1. Narender Grewal in Men’s Sanda -60kg 2. Santhoi Devi in Women’s Sanda -52kgImportant Points:
1. Saurav Ghosal became the first Indian to enter the Asian Games final in Squash
2. Dipika Pallikal won bronze medal the first by an Indian woman squash player
3. Khushbir Kaur (21-year-old) became the first Indian woman to win a medal in race walking in the Asian Games
4. Indian boxer L Sarita Devi stunned officials and spectators by refusing to accept the bronze medal, match held b/w South Korea’s Jina Park
5. M C Mary Kom became the first Indian woman boxer to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Games
Pro Kabaddi League: The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is a professional kabaddi league in India, based on the format of the Indian Premier League. Owner – Mashal Sports Director – Charu Sharma No. of Teams – 8
IPTL – International Premiere Tennis League – is a tennis championship league that is set to launch in November 2014, and will be held across four cities: Manila, Dubai, Delhi and Singapore. The tournament was the idea of Mahesh Bhupathi and is styled on the Indian Premier League. Number of Teams: 4 team from 4 countries
Teams are – 1. Manila Mavericks 2. UAE Royals 3. Indian Aces 4. Singapore Slammers
Note: Rafael Nadal withdrew from the league due to health problems. He is replaced by Roger Federer in the Indian team
NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS:
Arjuna award: Abhishek Verma (archery), Tintu Luka (athletics), H.N. Girisha (para-athletics), V. Diju (badminton),Geethu Anna Jose (basketball), Jai Bhagwan (boxing), R. Ashwin (cricket), Anirban Lahiri (golf), Mamta Pujari (kabaddi), Saji Thomas (rowing), Heena Sidhu (shooting), Anaka Alankamony (squash), Tom Joseph (volleyball), Renubala Chanu (weightlifting), Sunil Kumar Rana (wrestling).
Dronacharya award: Mahabir Prasad (wrestling); Lifetime achievement: N. Lingappa (athletics), G. Manoharan (boxing), Gurcharan Singh Gogi (judo), Jose Jacob (rowing).
Tenzing Norgay Awards: Land adventure: Subedar Jagat Singh, Passang Tenzing Sherpa; Air adventure: MWO Surender Singh; Lifetime achievement: Wg. Cdr. (retd) Amit Chowdhury.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy: Punjabi University, Patiala.
Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Jindal Steel Works Guru Hanuman Akhara,
Note: i. No sportsperson was selected for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award this year. 2014 Commonwealth Games:
2014 Commonwealth Games: The 2014 Commonwealth Games (officially the XX Commonwealth Games) were held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August 2014. This is the 20th edition of the Commonwealth Games.
Mascot: Clyde, an anthropomorphic thistle named after the river which flows through the centre of Glasgow, was the official mascot of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
2018 Commonwealth Games: – will be held in Gold Coast (Australia).
Medal Tally:
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 England 58 59 57 174
2 Australia 49 42 46 137
3 Canada 32 16 34 82
4 Scotland 19 15 19 53
5 India 15 30 19 64
India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow, Scotland
India finished fifth in the 2014 Commonwealth Games with 64 medals tally comprising 15 gold, 30 silver and 19 bronze. India kept occupying fifth spot on the medals table.
On closing ceremony, the Indian contingent’s flag bearer was Seema Punia, who won Silver in women’s discus throw. While, the torch bearer in the opening ceremony was ace shooter Vijay Kumar, the 2012 London Olympics Silver medalist.
Here is the list medal winners
WEIGHTLIFTING
Gold Medalist Winners – Weightlifting
1. K Sanjita Chanu: 48 kg category
2. Sukhen Dey: 56 kg category
3. Satish Sivalingam: 77 kg category
Silver Medal Winners – Weightlifting
1. S Mirabai Chanu – 48 kg category
2. Santoshi Matsa – 53 kg category
3. Ravi Katulu – Men’s weightlifting, 77 kg
4. Vikas Thakur – Men’s weightlifting, 85 kg
5. Rajinder Rahelu – Men’s heavy powerlifting
Bronze Medal Winner- Weightlifting
1. Ganesh Mali – Men’s weightlifting 56 kg
2. Swati Singh – Women’s 53 kg category
3. Omkar Otari – Men’s 69 kg Weightlifting
4. Punam Yadav – Women’s weightlifting, 63 kg
5. Chandrakant Mali – Men’s weightlifting, 94 kg
6. Sakina Khatun – Women’s lightweight power lifting
WRESTLING
Gold Medal winner Wrestling
1. Sushil Kumar: In Men’s wrestling, 75kg freestyle
2. Yogeshwar Dutt: In Men’s wrestling, 65 kg freestyle
1. Vikas Gowda: After winning the gold medal In Men’s discus throw Vikas Gowda became the first Indian man to win a field event gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. Gowda threw the discus to 63.64m to clinch the gold medal
Note: Vikas Gowda became the first Indian man to win a field event gold medal at the Commonwealth Games
Silver Medal Winner in Athletics
1. Seema Punia – Women’s discus throw
Bronze Medal Winner in Athletics
1. Dipa Karmakar – Women’s artistic gymnastics
Squash
1. Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa: In Women’s doubles finals the pair of Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa defeated England’s Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro 11-6, 11-8 in straight sets.
Note: The pair gave India their first squash medal in the Commonwealth Games.
BADMINTON
Gold Medal in Badminton
1. Parupalli Kashyap: Parupalli Kashyap in Men’s Badminton final defeated Singapore’s Derek Wong
Note: Parupalli Kashyap became the first Indian man in 32 years to win badminton gold at the Games. Silver Medal in Badminton
1. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa – Women’s badminton doubles
Bronze Medal in Badminton
1. PV Sindhu – Women’s badminton
2. RMV Gurusaidutt – Men’s badminton
BOXING
Silver Medal in Boxing
1. Laishram Sarita Devi – Women’s boxing, 57-60 kg
3. Laishram Devendro Singh – Men’s boxing, 46-49 kg
3. Vijender Singh – Men’s boxing, 75 kg
4. Mandeep Jangra – Men’s boxing, 69 kg
Bronze Medal in Boxing
1. Pinki Jangra – Women’s boxing, 51 kg
TABLE TENNIS
Silver Medal in Table Tennis
1. Achanta Sharath Kamal and Antony Amalraj – Men’s Table Tennis
JUDO
Silver Medal in Judo
1. Navjot Chana – Men’s judo 60 kg (lost to Ashley McKenzie of England on penalty points (shido) in the final)
2. Shushila Likmabam – Women’s judo 48 kg (lost to Kimberly Renicks of Scotland in the final)
Bronze Medal in Judo
1. Kalpana Thoudam – Women’s judo 52 kg
2. Rajwinder Kaur – Women’s +78 kg judo
2014 FIFA World Cup:
Germany defeat Argentina by 1-0 to lift 2014 FIFA World Cup title.
1. Golden Ball Award: Lionel Messi was declared as the Player of the tournament and awarded Golden Ball.
2. Golden Boot Award: James Rodriguez of Colombia wins the Golden Boot award for finishing top scorer at the 2014
World Cup in Brazil. He scores 6 goals in the tournament.
3. Golden Glove Award: Manuel Neuer (Germany) wins Golden Glove at 2014 World Cup.
Hat-Rick Goal: Thomas Muller (Germany) score first hattrick and Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland) claim second hattrick of the tournament.
Note: i. Mario Götze kicks in second half of extra time to help Germany to win the final by 1-0 against Argentina.
ii. Germany won their fourth World Cup after a 24-year (1954, 1974 and 1990) wait.
iii. Netherland stood 3rd and Brazil stood 4th in the tournament.
iv. Brazuca is the name of the new ball unveiled in the 2014 FIFA World Cup
FIFA rankings:
1. Germany 2. Argentina 3. Netherland 4. Colombia 5. Belgium 6. Uruguay 7. Brazil 8. Spain
FIFA (Football) World Cup venue: – RQ
1. 2018 : Russia 2. 2024: QatarTennis:
US Open 2014:
1. Men’s Single – Croatia’s Marin Cilic defeated Kei Nishikori of Japan in straight sets to clinch the title
Note: World No.14 Cilic claimed his first Grand Slam title with the win in his first appearance in a Grand Slam final.
2.Women’s Single – Serena Williams defeated Caroline Wozniazki of Denmark to won 3rd consecutive US Open Title Note: With this win Williams joined the Tennis greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on 18 Grand Slam titles.
3. Mike and Bob Bryan won fifth U.S. Tennis Open men’s doubles title
4. Mixed Doubles – Sania Mirza – Bruno Soares win mixed doubles title by defeated American-Mexican team of Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez
Note: This was Sania’s first US Open and career’s third Mixed Doubles Grand Slam title.
Note: Kei Nishikori became the first man from Japan to reach the U.S. Open semifinals in 96 years, defeated Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.
Note: The last Japanese semifinalist at the U.S. Open was Ichiya Kumagae in 1918. No man from the country had made it to the final four at any major tournament since Jiri Satoh at Wimbledon in 1933.
Wimbledon 2014:
1. Men’s Title: Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer to win his second Men’s Wimbledon title and seventh career Grand Slam.
2. Women’s Title: Petro Kvitova defeated Eugenie Bouchard to win Wimbledon title
French Open 2014:
1. Men’s Title: Rafael Nadal clinches record ninth French Open title. He defeated Novak Djokovic in the final.
Note: Rafal Nadal now won 14 Grand Slam singles titles till now.
2. Women’s Title: Maria Sharapova defeat Simona Halep to win French Open Title second time.
Note: Maria Sharapova won 5th Grand Slam title.
Australian Open 2014:
1. Men’s Single: Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka claimed his first Grand Slam title by defeating Rafael Nadal
2. Women’s Single: Li Na (China) defeat Dominika Cibulkova. Li Na becomes first Chinese woman to clinch title.
3. Women’s Doubles: Errani and Roberta Vinci beat Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina
Hockey World Cup 2014:
1. Men’s Title: Australia defeated Netherland in the final. Note: Australia won the title for the second time,
2. Women’s Title: Netherland defeated Australia in the final. Note: Netherland won the title for the seventh time, Note: Indian men’s hockey team rank 9th in latest word hockey rankings.
Hockey World Cup 2018 Venue:
1. Men’s Hockey World Cup – India
2. Women’s Hockey World Cup – England
ICC WORLD CUP CRICKET VENUE:
ODI: (One day International): 1. Australia & New Zealand: 2015. 2. England – 2019 3. India – 2023
T20:
1. Bangladesh -2014. – Sri Lanka defeat India to win the maiden title.
2. India -2016. 3. Australia – 2020.
Test:
1. England– 2017 (for first time). 2. India – 2021. U-19 World Cup
1. UAE – 2014 – . South Africa defeated Pakistan to win the maiden title.
2. Bangladesh – 2016 3. New Zealand – 2018 4. South Africa – 2020
1. 2014 winter: Sochi (Russia) – Russia tops in the medal tally in 2014 winter Olympic games.
2. 2016 Summer: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) 3. 2018 winter: Pyeongchang (South Korea)
4. 2020 summer: Tokyo (Japan)
OTHERS SPORTS NEWS:
1. India slipped eights places to be ranked 158th in the latest FIFA rankings
2. Europe retains Golf’s Ryder Cup by defeating United States
3. Leander Paes along with his new partner Marcin Matkowski lifted the ATP Malaysian Open title
4. Union Ministry of Sports inaugurated National Academies for Athletics & Golf in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
5. BCCI extends tenure of Ravi Shastri as team India director till 2015 World Cup
6. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh of Australia selected as Bradman Honouree 2014
7. Marvan Atapattu’s is new Sri Lanka Coach.
8. Sania Mirza & Cara Black win doubles title at WTA Toray Pacific Open
9. ICC World Cricket League, WCL Division 3 will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia capital.
Note: The six teams competing in the event are Bermuda, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Uganda and the USA.
10. Boxer Manoj Kumar wins court battle against govt, to get Arjuna Award
11. Hockey India inducted -Hockey Village India as an academy member
12. AIBA Executive Committee Bureau formally recognised Boxing India as the provisional AIBA National Federation to represent the sport of boxing in India.
13. USA won FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 defeating Serbia
14. Chitresh Tatha is the youngest sailor at the Asian Games 2014
15. Sabine Lisicki won Hong Kong Open Title defeating Karolina Pliskova
16. H S Prannoy won Indonesian masters title (Badminton) defeated Indonesian Firman Abdul Kholik
17. Meghalaya’s Edward Mawthoh has bagged a bronze medal at the World Kickboxing Championships
18. ICC suspends Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal for illegal bowling action.
19. Lewis Hamilton showed won Italian Grand Prix.
20. Sudhakar Jayant wins gold at World Masters Weightlifting Championships21. Ritu Rani to lead Indian women’s hockey team at Asian Games
22. Cricket legend Kapil Dev has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award at a ceremony in the House of Lords in London.
23. BCCI signs five-year agreement with MRF Pace Foundation
Note: Glenn McGrath, director of the foundation and former Australian pace bowler, will train the players. McGrath who played for Australia for 14 years was himself trained in the foundation under Dennis Lillee in 1992.
24. India won the five matches ODI series 3-1 against England. The first match of the series was washed out due to rain without a ball being bowled. However, India won the second, third and fourth matches of the series but suffered a defeat by the hands of England in the fifth and the final match. Man-of-the-Series – Suresh Raina
25. Carolina Marin became the first Spaniard to win World Badminton Championship by defeating Li Na
26. India captain Mithali Raj remains Number One Batswoman in ICC Rankings
27. Cristiano Ronaldo named the UEFA Best Player in Europe
28. Zimbabwe beat Australia for first time in 31 years. captain Elton Chigumbura’s
29. 2nd Summer Youth Olympics Games held in Nanjing, China
30. Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul bagged India’s first medal of the second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.
31. Hockey India inducts Madhya Pradesh as new 23rd Associate Member.
Note: i. Prior to being the associate member of Hockey India, Hockey Madhya Pradesh was known as Madhya Pradesh
HOCKEY ASSOCIATION
ii. Hockey India currently has 25 permanent, 23 associate, 2 members through State Olympic Associations, 6 Academy members and 1 Hoc-Key Member.
iii. Nitin Dhimole is the President and Lok Bahadur is the General Secretary of the Hockey Madhya Pradesh.
32. Kush Kumar became first Indian player to reach semi final of World Junior Squash Championship.
33. Ravichandran Ashwin nominated for 2014 Arjuna Award
34. Roger Federer Wins Milestone 300th Masters Match: Roger Federer became the first man to win 300 matches at the ATP Masters 1000 level, beating Vasek Pospisil in Cincinnati.
35. Real Madrid won UEFA Football Super Cup in Cardiff
36. Paragliding World Cup Association selected Himachal Pradesh as a venue to host the 2015 para-gliding World Cup. Note: This will be the first para-gliding World Cup to be hosted in India. The tournament will be organised under the aegis of Para-gliding World Cup Association, France.
37. Jammu and Kashmir to host Football Federation Cup in August 2015
38. Dutch teenager Max Verstappen to become youngest Formula One driver
39. South African all-rounder cricketer Jacques Kallis, announced his retirement from all formats of international cricket.
40. German Sabine Lisicki created a record of fastest serve at 131 miles per in the women’s tennis.
41. Hero MotoCorp named title sponsor of ISL. Indian Super League — the first-of-its-kind franchise-based football league in the country.
42. Philipp Lahm, the captain of Germany’s football team announced his retirement from international game .
43. Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali wins 101st edition of Tour de France
44. English all-rounder Moeen Ali has been banned from wearing “Save Gaza” and “Free Palestine” wristbands till the remainder of the third Test match against India in Southampton
45. Irishman Rory McIlroy won the British Golf Open Championship 2014
46. Durand Cup football tournament 2014: The third oldest football tournament in the world, Durand Cup, will be held in Goa between October 28 and November 9 this year.
47. Nico Rosberg wins Austrian Grand Prix Title 2014.
48. 35th National Games to be held in Kerala next year.
Note: Sachin Tendulkar is the brand ambassador of 35th National Games.
49. China defeated Japan to won Uber Cup 2014 of badminton
50. Japan defeated Malaysia to lift maiden Thomas Cup Badminton trophy 2014.
51. Japan beat Australia in Women’s Asian Cup Football final.
52. Asia Cup Title 2014: Sri Lanka defeat Pakistan to win the title.
53. Ranji Trophy 2014. Karnataka beat Maharashtra to lift the title. Karnataka have won the trophy for seventh time.
54. Irani Trophy 2014: Karnataka won by defeating Rest of India.
55. India claim U-19 Asia Cup title by defeating Pakistan in final
56. Vijay Hazare Trophy 2014: Karnataka won the title by defeating Railways
57. Deodhar Trophy 2014: West Zone lifted the trophy after defeating North Zone in the final
58. 68th Santosh Trophy : Mizoram defeat Railways to win the title. News Related To Defence & Technology India’s Mars mission successful on 1st attempt: India’s first Mars orbiter successfully began a 400 million-km long journey to Mars, making it the first Asian country and the fourth in the world to undertake a mission to the red planet.
IMPORTANT POINTS.
India’s MOM is the cheapest inter-planetary mission, costing of Rs 450 Crore ($671 million) entered the Martian orbit on 24 September 2014.
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, is India’s first interplanetary mission to the planet Mars.
India becomes the first country in the world to insert a spacecraft into the Martian orbit in its very first attempt.
Mars Orbiter Spacecraft, India’s first interplanetary probe, was launched by PSLV-C25 on November 5, 2013 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) becomes the fourth space agency to reach Mars after Roscosmos (Russia), NASA (USA) and ESA (European).
The first Chinese mission to Mars, called Yinghuo-1, failed in 2011.
The project was approved by the government of India on 3 August 2012 and costs Rs. 450 crores.
MOM is the cheapest and lowest-cost inter-planetary mission ever to be undertaken in the world. It cost us all a mere Rs 4 per person
The mission successfully completed its 100 days in space on February 12, 2014.
The satellite has carried a compact science experiment instruments, totaling a mass of 15kg to study the Martian surface, atmosphere and mineralogy.
The Methane Sensor For Mars (MSM) – will confirm the presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Methane is considered a key chemical to determine life process.MSM is among the five solar-powered instruments aboard Mangalyaan that will gather information on how the Martian weather systems work.
According to NASA, Out of the 51 missions to the red planet by different countries, only 21 went successful till now.
MISSILES IN USE OF INDIAN ARMY:
Prithvi I – 150km – Surface to – Surface short range ballistic missile.
Prithvi II – 350km
Prithvi III – 350km – 600km
Agni I – 700km -1250km Surface to – Surface short range ballistic missile.
Agni II – 2000km -3500km
Agni III – 3500km -5000km
Agni IV – 3000km -4000km
Agni V – 5500km -5800km
Agni VI – 8000km -3500km
Akash- 30 km
1. NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited and Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited are set to enter into separate agreements with Andhra Pradesh for setting up of large solar power generation parks of about 1000 MW each.
2. NTPC enter into an agreement with the Andhra Pradesh State for its long pending 4000 MW thermal power project proposed at Pudimadaka, located close to Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh.
3. Rays Power Experts announced to set up 50 mw Solar Power Generation Park in Andhra Pradesh.
Note: Rays Power Experts is a third largest company in solar power executed in India.
4. India successfully test-fires nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-I missile. The ballistic missile has a striking range of 700 to 1250 km
5. Iran unveiled a new surface-to-air Talash-3 (Effort-3, in Persian) missile and two radar systems Arash-2 and Kayhan
6. Avia Indra-2014 exercie: Indo-Russia maiden aerial exercise held in Caspian Sea in Russia.
7. Indo-US joint military Yudh Abhyas exercise underway in Uttarakhand
8. Indo-Nepal joint military exercise Surya Kiran-VII concluded at Pithoragarh9. Pakistan test fired short range nuclear capable missile Hatf IX short range surface-to-surface missile. It is a nuclear capable
ballistic missile with a maximum range of 60 kilometer
10. IRNSS – 1C, the next satellite in India’s IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System) series, is set to be launched on October 9 by ISRO.
Note: IRNSS 1C will be launched on a PSLV C26 from Sriharikota. The satellite is similar to, and follows the IRNSS 1A and 1B which were launched in April 2013 and July 2014 respectively.
IRNSS is a navigation system that will cover India, and also extend 1,500 kms from its boundaries.
11. INS Kolkata : Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned INS Kolkata at the Naval base in Mumbai. INS Kolkata is biggest and most powerful guided missile-destroyer.
12. INS Kamorta: India’s first indigenously built Anti-submarine warship inducted into the Navy.
13. PM dedicates two hydro power projects in Leh and Kargil: (i) 44 MW Chutak hydro-electric project in Kargil district and (ii) 45 MW Nimoo Bazgo project in Leh district.
Note: i. The Chutak Hydroelectric Plant is a run-of-the-river power project on the Suru River
ii. The Nimoo Bazgo power station is located on river Indus.
14. China unveiled its next generation Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Dongfeng – 41 (DF-41).
Note: DF-41 with its long range has similar abilities to the US rocket Minuteman, which has a range of 13000 km or Russian RS-24M Yars.
15. The Indian Air Force received its sixth C-17 Globemaster heavy lift transport aircraft which also carried a World War II vintage ‘Harvard’ aircraft in its belly.
16. Indo-Russia pact planned to develop a sleeker and faster ‘mini’ version of BrahMos missile
17. Malabar Naval exercise 2014 held in the Pacific Ocean. The Exercise Malabar is a joint naval exercise first conducted as a bilateral one between the US and Indian navies in 1992. Japan participates in the Malabar exercises for the third time since it first participated in 2007.
18. Indo-Russian joint venture firm BrahMos Aerospace is developing a smaller version of the 290-km supersonic cruise missile for enabling its deployment on submarines and smaller fighter aircraft such as MiG 29
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