RECENT CURRENT AFFAIRS BITS

RECENT CURRENT AFFAIRS BITS

• The former guerrilla became the first President of El Salvador - Salvador Sanchez Ceren

• Telangana on 2 June 2014 became 29th State of India, while Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana will remain joint-capital of - Andhra Pradesh for next 10 years

• Solar powered plane took off from Payerne airfield in Switzerland to complete its inaugural flight - Solar Impulse-2

• To enhance operational co-operation and validate capabilities, the Indian and French Air Force started bilateral exercise - Garuda V at Jodhpur Airbase

• IAF mountaineering expedition team explored an unclimbed peak of Arunachal Pradesh at a height 5887 meters - Mt Gorichen

• Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas sworn-in to the Palestinian National Unity Government led by - Prime Minister Rami Hamadallah

• Government of Uttar Pradesh has ordered establishment of women helpline in 75 districts that will be monitored and maintained by - the SSP and SP

• Central Aquaculture Pathology Laboratory of RGCA became India’s first aquaculture pathology laboratory to be accredited by - NABL

• South Africa appointed Hashim Amla as test cricket captain as successor of - Graeme Smith who retired in March 2014

• To honour parents throughout the world for selfless commitment to children, Global Day of Parents was observed on - 1 June

• Amid an East-West showdown over Ukraine, the US President Barack Obama announced an US Security plan of 1 billion US dollar for - Eastern Europe

• TERI Environmental Survey 2014 claimed for maximum urban population climate has - worsened

• West Bengal and Maharashtra governments signed a MoU on victim of trafficking under which - they will identify and repatriate victims of trafficking

• IICA & Grant Thornton India LLP signed a MoU to develop capacity of Indian companies to implement - the CSR Rules laid in Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013

• Kamal Nath was today sworn-in as the Pro-tem Speaker of the newly constituted Lok Sabha by -President Pranab Mukherjee

• President Obama appointed an Indian-American as the member of the US Holocaust Memorial Council on 3 June 2014 - Shefali Duggal

• World Environment Day observed across the world on 5 June 2014 with theme - small islands and climate change and slogan raise your voice not the sea level

• Pakistan has increased its defence budget by 11 percent for fiscal year 2014-15 - that starts on 1 July 2014

• Assam Agricultural University and ICAR signed a MoU to open 638th Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in - Baksa district of Assam

• India elected to the Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of the- Intangible Cultural Heritage for the next four years

• Gadkari has been given additional charge of the Ministries of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation that was held by - Gopinath Munde

• The last Navajo code (those were used during World War II and remain unbreakable till the end of the war) talkers died in New Mexico - Chester Nez

• Ban imposed on export of drugs produced in Ranbaxy’s Toansa plant was lifted by the - European health regulator

• Softbank Corp unveiled world’s first humanoid robot named Peeper that can - communicate and read human emotions

• Vice Admiral Anil Chopra took charge of the Western Naval Command (WNC) as - Commander-in-Chief

• Kedarnath Singh, a noted Hindi poet has been chosen for the - Jnanpith award for 2013

• Railways has increased the passenger fare and freight charges by - 14.2 percent in all classes and 6.5 percent respectively

• West Bengal government bifurcated Jalpaiguri district to create - Alipurduar district, the 20th district of the state

• Canada’s Quebec became first province of the country to adopt legislation - Right-to-Die

• Music Group of Jaipur will perform during the XX Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland from 23 July to 3 August 2014 - Kawa

• To highlight health and economic impacts of tobacco consumption the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare released a video entitled - The Price We Pay

• Madhya Pradesh Government appointed Madhuri Dixit as the brand ambassador of maternal and child health campaign - Mamta Abhiyan

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi released commemorative postage stamps on the - 2014 FIFA World Cup that is being played in Brazil

• Narmada Control Authority (NCA) gave its approval to Gujarat government to raise the height of Sardar Sarovar Dam on - Narmada River in Kevadia to 138.68 meters

• India became a member of select group of 17 countries who are permanent signatories of -Washington Accord

• Indian scientist has been elected as member of UN’s body focused on oceans and law of the sea by securing support of all 111 members - Rasik Ravindra

• BHEL commissioned 68 MW Unit in Himachal Pradesh at - the Rampur Hydro Electric Project

• Maharashtra Assembly approved the Bill to amend the - Dance Bar Prohibition Act prohibiting dance bars across the state

• State Cabinet of Maharashtra approved the long pending proposal of bifurcation of Thane district to carve out - Palghar as 36th district of the state

• Malayalam writer C Radhakrishnan selected for the prestigious Moortidevi Award for 2013 for his novel - Theekkadal Katanhu Thirumadhuram

• Narendra Modi dedicated India’s largest warship - INS Vikramaditya to the nation

• UK-based business association honoured Lord Swraj Paul with - Lifetime Achievement Award

• World Blood Donor Day was observed across the world on 14 June 2014 with a theme - Safe blood for saving mothers

• Independent High Level Committee headed by KK Mehrotra was constituted by Government to inquire into gas leakage incident in - Bhilai Steel Plant of Chhattisgarh

• UNESCO inscribed Rani-ki-Vav stepwell of Gujarat into - World Heritage list

• To draw attention to the plight of refugees and renew commitment to solve refugee problems, the world on 20 June 2014 observed - World Refugee Day

• N Srinivasan for the 14th Consecutive year has been appointed as the chief of the - Tamil Nadu Cricket Association

• Government has decided to provide interest-free loan of 4400 crore rupees to - cash-starved sugar mills

• Project Mausam: Maritime Routes and Cultural Landscapes presented by Secretary of Culture, Ravindra Singh at - 38th session of World Heritage Committee

• India’s national air carrier, Air India has joined the global airlines group - Star Alliance

• Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express derailed at - Golden Ganj station near Chhapra in Bihar

• World Vitiligo Day was observed across the world on - 25 June

• Global giant HSBC on 24 June 2014 sold its Swiss private banking assets worth 12.5 billion dollars to - Liechtenstein’s LGT Bank

• RBI has permitted the NBFCs to act as BCs of banks with an aim of - spreading financial inclusion

• To thank the seafarers for their contribution to the economy and civil society of the world, International Seafarer's day was observed on - 25 June

• Chief Minister of Gujarat Anandiben Patel announced 33 percent reservation for women in the - police force in the state

• Union Cabinet has approved an in principle MoU between India and China to set up - industrial parks in the country

• Maharashtra government has approved 16% & 5% reservation in government jobs & educational institutions for - Maratha community and Muslims, respectively

• Union Ministry of External Affairs has declared 24 June as the - Passport Seva Divas

• The in-exile-President of BCCI, N Srinivasan has been appointed as - the first Chairperson of ICC

• Olympic Association announced the dates of 35th National Games and will be held from - 31 January to 14 February 2015 in Kerala

• Union Government gave a deadline of three months to States to implement - the National Food Security Act

• Scientists have claimed, 3500 million years ago, glaciers were present on- Martian crater gale

• High-level forum, Acting on the Call: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths was held in - Washington on 25 June 2014

• Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath began at - Puri of Odisha

• ISRO has launched PSLV C23 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and it carried - five satellites from four nations

• Saina Nehwal won 750000 US dollar Australian Open Super Series at Sydney by defeating - Carolina Marin of Spain

• Indian cueist, Pankaj Advani won his maiden IBSF 6-Red World snooker title at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt by defeating - Kacper Flilpiak of Poland

• SC appointed 3rd arbitrator to resolve dispute of Centre and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on KG basin - Hudson McHugh

• SC re-constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to monitor the probe into the black money case under the chairmanship of - retired judge MB Shah.

• NBA banned Los Angeles Clippers owner for life and fined him 2.5 million dollars over an alleged racist remark in the stand - Donald Sterling

• 3400 India-made Electronic Voting Machines purchased for use in Presidential Election of a country which is scheduled in November 2014 - Government of Namibia

• US Senate confirmed the name of an Indian-American for Federal Judge in Illinois - Manish Shah

• Granary with walls of mud-bricks discovered by archaeologists during excavation at - Rakhigarhi village a Harappan civilisation site, in Haryana

• South African city agreed to allow construction of a place of worship in form of a full-fledged Gurudwara - Johannesburg

• Tunisian lawmakers adopted a sweeping new electoral law that paves the way for general elections later this year requiring party lists for legislative elections to be - half women and half men

• SIT formed in Assam to investigate and look into the conspiracy and mastermind behind the killings of civilians in - Kokrajhar and Baksa districts

• The Obama administration gave approval for the Syrian opposition to open a - formal diplomatic mission in the US

• Former British No 1 tennis player died of liver cancer at the age of 30 - Elena Baltacha

• SC upheld the constitutional validity of the Right to Education Act and said that the Act will not apply to - unaided minority institutions

• Constitution Bench of Supreme Court of India on 6 May 2014 upheld the Constitutional validity of the Right to Education (RTE) Act provided in – Articles 15(5) and 21-A in the Constitution of India

• Kuwait has renewed two crude oil supply contracts with India’s - BPCL and BORL

• Constitutional Court of Thailand ruled that the Prime Minister must step down over abuse of her power - Yingluck Shinawartra

• A book entitled A Stamp is Born was released by Vice President of India, M Hamid Ansari is authored by - C. R. Pakrashi

• Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court quashed law is Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006 and said - water level of the dam can be raised to 142 feet

• SC banned use of bulls for Jallikattu events or bullock-cart races across the country terming that - rights guaranteed to the bulls under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act 1960 could not be taken away

• Scientists claimed that increased level of CO2 emissions will affect the nutrient content in some of the world’s staple food items like - Wheat and Rice

• WHO claimed that quality of air in most cities worldwide that monitor outdoor (ambient) air pollution failed to meet - WHO guidelines for safe levels

• Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed the former fast bowler of Pakistan as the national coach of the national team of Pakistan - Waqar Younis

• India has been honoured with New Frontiers Award at the Arabian travel mart in Dubai for its outstanding contribution to - tourism development in the face of overwhelming adversity in Uttarakhand

• Rat-hole mining and transportation of coal was banned following the ex-parte interim order of NGT in – Meghalaya

• Coal pit collapsed after an explosion on 14 May 2014 in which about 274 miners were killed - at Soma of Western Turkey

• Technopark Technology Business Incubator (T-TBI) on 14 May 2014 was chosen for the Special Commendation at the - Golden Peacock National Training Awards 2014

• Qatar announced that sponsorship system for foreign workers will be replaced by - new system of employment contracts, as part of a package of labour reforms

• Justice BS Chauhan appointed as the Chairman of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal as a successor of - Justice NP Singh

• Sistema Shyam Teleservices launched a messaging app for low-end CDMA devices called - mBuddy

• Ashwin B. Pandya on 15 May 2014 was appointed as the Chairman of the - Central Water Commission

• BJP emerged as the winner in the 16th Lok Sabha election by securing -282 seats of 543

• Chief Minister of Bihar who tendered his resignation to the Governor taking responsibility of debacle of the party in 16th Lok Sabha election - Nitish Kumar

• Padma Bhusan awardee and management guru who headed Tata Steel died in South Kolkata - Russi Mody

• Bhasha Shahid Diwas or Language Martyrs Day was observed in Barak Valley of Assam on 19 May in remembrance of - martyrs of language of the state

• Three-time F1 world champion the only driver, who won a title by a car bearing his name died - Sir Jack Brabham at the age of 88

• Google has launched a service for Europeans in which they can request it to remove links related to them, the service is named - Right to be forgotten

• Brazil released two postage stamps to pay tribute to the 100 years of Indian cinema designed by Indian graphic designer – Satya Raj

• Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat) upheld a penalty of 630 crore rupees imposed on real estate firm - DLF slapped by CCI

• Martial law has been imposed in Thailand by its Army to - restore law and order in the country

• Governor DY Patil administered his oath of the office and secrecy to the new Chief Minister of Bihar - Jitan Ram Manjhi

• Government of India has extended the ban imposed on LTTE for five years under the provisions of the - Unlawful Activities (Prevention Act 1967)

• Sundaram BNP Paribas Fund Services for maintaining high quality operating model and having effective control systems received - ISAE Type II certification

• AIBA Executive Committee approved Boxing India as a provisional new - AIBA member to represent India

• SC constituted a new bench to hear the case of the Sahara Chief in chit fund scam after Justice Khehar requested the CJI to - recuse him from the case

• Former Zimbabwe batsman named as the batting coach of Pakistan cricket team for two years - Grant Flower

• A 13-years and 11-month old girl of Andhra Pradesh on 25 May 2014 became the youngest woman to climb the highest peak of the world, Mount Everest - Malavath Poorna

• TR Zeliang appointed as the new Chief Minister of Nagaland as the successor of - Neiphiu Rio

• ONGC has started drilling its first-ever well in - Palar basin at Chinnapuliyur village near Chennai

• Book entitled Anticipating India - The best of national interest was released on 24 May 2014 is authored by - Shekhar Gupta

• To carry rodents to ISS, NASA has developed high-tech cages that will help them to study long-term effect of - microgravity on mammalian physiology

• Narendra Modi on 26 May 2014 was sworn-in as the - 15th Prime Minister of India

• SDMC signed a MoU with GeoSpatial Delhi to grant an Unique ID to properties in the civic body’s jurisdiction to easier the process of property tax collection named - Unique Property Identification Code (UPIC)

• General Prayuth Chan-ocha led Royal Thai Army conducted a coup and imposed a military rule in Thailand after imposition of - martial law in Thailand

• IAF MIG-21 crashed at Marhama Sangam in Bijbehara of Anantnag district in South Kashmir in which pilot squadron leader - Raghu Banshi died on board

• Prime Minister of Libiya, Ahmed Maitiq and his cabinet was sworn-in, which has been challenged by other politicians by terming it - non-legitimate

• Dalia Grybauskaite won election for second term as the - President of Lithuania

• Union Cabinet headed by PM Narendra Modi on 27 May 2014 constituted Special Investigating Team (SIT) on Black Money with - Justice (retd.) MB Shah to head it as its Chairman

• Sachin Tendulkar has been appointed as the goodwill ambassador of - 35th National Games, Kerala

• To investigate the poachers of Rhino and prosecute them, the Assam government will use – RhODIS, a DNA-based forensic tool Rhino Indexing System

• Maharashtra Government has included chapter on the name of master blaster Sachin in -Marathi and English subject syllabus of class IV.

• Football named as Brazuca to be used in FIFA World Cup Brazil will have six in-built HD cameras to capture - 360 degree view of the on-field action.

• Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi - Nripendra Misra

• 14th Attorney-General of India appointed to succeed Gulam Vahanvati is- Mukul Rohatgi

• American poet and author, Maya Angelou died in North Carolina is known for her first book - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

• CCI approved proposal of purchase of 50% stake of Tata Group firm, Trent Hypermarket by - British retail major, Tesco

• To boost food processing Chief Minister of Punjab gave in-principle approval to set-up a 150 crore rupees mega - Food Park at Ladowal in Ludhiana

• Union Government and the World Bank signed a loan agreement for World Bank (IDA) assistance of 1006.20 million US dollar for - Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan III

• Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed a treaty in Kazakh capital of Astana to form the - Eurasian Economic Union

• 4-hour long talk between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov failed to break the deadlock over – the Ukraine Crisis

• US Ambassador to India announced her resignation in the US Mission Town Hall – Nancy Powell

• The US and India has launched an Alliance initiative with an aim to improve the reading skills of millions of primary school-aged children in India – READ

• Latest report of UN panel has warned that the climate change has increased risk of armed conflict among – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.

• Union Sports Ministry on 1 April 2014 derecognised a sports body with an immediate effect after its refusal to comply with its directives – Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF)

• Tsunami warning was triggered on 1 March 2014 for the Latin America’s entire Pacific coastline after an earthquake of 8.2 magnitude struck off in – northern Chile’s mining area of Iquique

• Supreme Court said that trial against government officials in corruption cases cannot be ground to quash – the criminal proceedings

• World Bank would nearly double its lending capacity to boost support for middle countries like – India, Brazil, China, Mexico and Indonesia

• NATO foreign ministers have agreed to suspend all practical civilian and military co-operations with – Russia

• Reserve Bank granted approval to two firms to start new banks – IDFC Ltd and Bandhan Financial Services

• Karim Massimov was named as the new Prime Minister of – Kazakhstan

• NATO announced that it had suspended all practical cooperation with – Russia, civilian and military

• ISRO had launched India’s 2nd regional navigational satellite from Sriharikota Space Station – IRNSS 1B

• Name the report that claims that Indian companies play an increasingly important role in the British economy – India Tracker 2014

• MS Dhoni for outstanding achievement in Sports won – the United Kingdom’s 2014 Asian Award

• Sri Lanka defeated India in the final match to win the ICC Twenty World Cup 2014 at - Shere Bangla stadium of Mirpur, Dhaka

• 4th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2014 (Division A) was won by Punjab on 6 April 2014 won by defeating - Hockey Odisha 6-2 in the finals at Chennai, Tamil Nadu

• Iwao Hakamada, the Japanese boxer on 6 April 2014 was awarded with an honorary championship belt by – World Boxing Council (WBC)

• First Dada Saheb Phalke awardee for cinematograph died at his residence in Shankarapuram – V K Murthy died

• Jhumpa Lahiri has been shortlisted for the 2014 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction work entitled – Lowland

• A capital of North east state of India that received its first passenger train and became the second state capital after Guwahati to be put on the railway map of India is – Itanagar

• A report entitled Towards New Horizons-Arab Economic Transformation amid Political Transitions was released by - International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• A book entitled The Accidental Prime Minister: the making and unmaking of Manmohan Singh written by - Sanjaya Baru

• Mizoram government claimed that it’s impossible for them to repatriate all the - Bru refugees lodged in six Tripura relief camps within three months

• The First women Chief Justice of Delhi High Court appointed - Justice G Rohini

• India’s Dipika Pallikal in the title clash of the Women’s Champion Fiberlass Texas Open squash tournament at Houston, United States on 14 April 2014 was defeated by - Egyptian Nour El Sherbini (ranked 13th)

• National Syed Mustaq Ali Cricket T20 Trophy was won by Baroda after defeating - Uttar Pradesh in the final match

• Name the India born poet who on 14 April 2014 won the prestigious 2014 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for his collection of poems entitled 3 Sections - Vijay Seshadri

• Supreme Court has recognised transgender as the - third category of sex

• SIPRI has ranked India at which position in the report titled Trends in world military expenditure, 2013 – Ninth

• Book entitled, Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths is authored by - PC Parakh

• Ship of Theseus was selected as best feature film and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was named as the best popular film in the - National Film Awards

• Google to bring internet access to the remotest parts of the world bought- Titan Aerospace, a maker of high-altitude solar-powered drones

• PCIL and PGCB will conduct a joint feasibility study for exporting 100 MW power to Bangladesh from - gas-fired Palatana power plant in Tripura

• Supreme Court in its direction said that CAG is empowered to audit - the private telecom companies

• Admiral RK Dhowan took over as 22nd Chief of Indian Navy as the successor of - Admiral DK Joshi, who is the 1st Defence forces chief to resign in India

• Astronomers have discovered an Earth-sized planet in habitable zone - named Kepler-186f orbiting Kepler-186 system in the constellation Cygnus

• The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on 22 April 2014 launched the AIFF Academy Certification with an aim to set a standard of youth development in the country – through certification model

• International Mother Earth Day observed on 22 April 2014 with theme -Green Cities

• SC has ordered special audit of property of Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple under the supervision of – former CAG of India Vinod Rai

• India has launched a new academic programme in Pretoria to benefit unemployed South African youths from – internships in India

• SC had asked the Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee to further investigate - IPL 2013 spot fixing and betting scandal

• Asia-Pacific navies on 22 April 2014 signed Maritime Communication Agreement with an aim to - miscommunication between naval vessels does not develop into conflict in the Pacific Ocean

• Supreme Court of India on 25 April 2014 referred the matter of remission of the life imprisonment of seven convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case to – the Constitutional Bench

• Name the IPL Chairman and senior Congress leader from Odisha on 23 April 2014 took oath as Rajya Sabha member in New Delhi – Ranjib Biswal

• KCCI asked Idea Cellular to immediately withdraw its controversial advertisement on - Pashmina Shawls

• Life-sized Atlas Anthropomorphic rescue robot has been developed Boston Dynamics - to visit the places that are dangerous to humans

• Four-member committee constituted to frame guidelines to prevent misuse of public funds by government providing advertisements to get - a political mileage

• Gujarat High Court has restored the RBI’s power to decide the period after which a bad loan can be called – a Non-Performing Asset (NPA)

• Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha sworn-in as the - 41st Chief Justice of India

• Pope Francis on 27 April 2014 declared his two predecessors - John XXIII and John Paul II as saints in St Peter's Square in Vatican City.

• 2014 Canada India Foundation Chachalani Global Indian Award was given in Toronto, Canada to – NR Narayana Murthy, the founder and executive Chairman of Infosys

• President of India gave his approval for the dissolution of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and - a fresh proclamation of Central Rule in the state

• Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year 2014 - Luis Suarez

• An Indian environmental activist, Ramesh Agrawal won the prestigious - Goldman Environmental Prize that is commonly called as the Green Nobel.

• SC ordered that statement of rape victims should be directly recorded by a judicial magistrate within - 24 hours instead of police officials

• A petition was filed in a Court of Pakistan to reopen the case of Bhagat Singh in SSP John P Saunders murder case - to declare him innocent

• SC appointed Hudson McHugh as 3rd arbitrator to resolve dispute of - Centre and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on KG basin

• India has displaced Japan to become the world's third biggest economy in 2011 - in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)