Current Affairs 2014 at a glance ❖ Narendra Damodardas Modi was sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India on May 26, 2014. The swearing in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended by the heads/ representatives of eight SAARC nations. Along with Modi 44 Ministers also took oath. ❖ The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became the first party in 30 years to win a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha. In the 16th Lok Sabha elections it won 282 seats. Indian National Congress won 44 seats. ❖ Anandiben Patel became the first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat in May 2014. Sikkim Democratic Front leader Pawan Chamling was sworn in as the CM of Sikkim for a record fifth consecutive term. Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik was sworn in as the CM of Odisha for the fourth consecutive term. Congress leader Nabam Tuki became the CM of Arunachal Pradesh for the second consecutive time. ❖ Jitan Ram Manjhi succeeded Nitish Kumar as the new CM of Bihar. TR Zeliang succeeded Neiphiu Rio as the CM of Nagaland. ❖ 13 - year-old Malavath Purna became the youngest female climber to scale the Mount Everest on May 25, 2014. ❖ Dalia Grybauskaite was re-elected as the President of Lithuania in May 2014. She is the first female President of Lithuania. ❖ Salvador Sanchez Ceren took office as the President of El Salvador on June 1, 2014. Luis Guillermo Solis became the President of Costa Rica on May 8, 2014. Juan Carlos Varela assumed office as the President of Panama on July 1, 2014. ❖ Peter Mutharika assumed office as the President of Malawi on May 31, 2014. ❖ Major General Kristin Lund of Norway is the first-ever woman to
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Current Affairs 2014 at a glance
❖ Narendra Damodardas Modi was sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India on May 26, 2014.The swearing in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended by the heads/ representatives of eight SAARC nations. Along with Modi 44 Ministers also took oath.
❖ The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became the first party in 30 years to win a majority on itsown in the Lok Sabha. In the 16th Lok Sabha elections it won 282 seats. Indian National Congress won 44 seats.
❖ Anandiben Patel became the first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat in May 2014. Sikkim Democratic Front leader Pawan Chamling was sworn in as the CM of Sikkim for a record fifth consecutive term. Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik was sworn in as the CM of Odisha for the fourth consecutive term. Congress leader Nabam Tuki became the CM of Arunachal Pradesh for the second consecutive time.
❖ Jitan Ram Manjhi succeeded Nitish Kumar as the new CM of Bihar. TR Zeliang succeeded Neiphiu Rio as the CM of Nagaland.
❖ 13 - year-old Malavath Purna became the youngest female climber to scale the Mount Everest on May 25, 2014.
❖ Dalia Grybauskaite was re-elected as the President of Lithuania in May 2014. She is the first female President of Lithuania.
❖ Salvador Sanchez Ceren took office as the President of El Salvador on June 1, 2014. Luis Guillermo Solis became the President of Costa Rica on May 8, 2014. Juan Carlos Varela assumed office as the President of Panama on July 1, 2014.
❖ Peter Mutharika assumed office as the President of Malawi on May 31, 2014.
❖ Major General Kristin Lund of Norway is the first-ever woman to serve as the head of a UN peacekeeping operation.
❖ Nripendra Mishra was appointed as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is the former Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
❖ Former United States Secretary of the State Hillary Rodham Clinton launched her book 'Hard Choices'.
❖ 'RuPay', India's own card payment network, was launched by the President Pranab Mukherjee. It was developed by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). The RuPay card is accepted at all ATMs.
❖ Justice B. S. Chauhan was appointed the Chairman of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
❖ Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) has been included in the second schedule to the RBI Act, 1934.Now BMB becomes eligible for loans from RBI on bank rate.
❖ RBI made it mandatory for banks to install talking ATMs with Braille keypads from July 2014onwards. It is for the benefit of persons with disabilities.
❖ P.J. Nayak Committee appointed by the RBI recommended the reduction of government stake in public sector banks to less than 50 percent.
❖ Japan won the Thomas Cup men's badminton title for the first time. Japan defeated Malaysia in the final in New Delhi in May 2014. China won the Uber Cup women's badminton title for the13th time by defeating Japan in the final in New Delhi. India won a bronze medal for the first time in Uber Cup.
❖ Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the Indian Premier League- 7 title by defeating Kings XI Punjab at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on June 1, 2014. It is KKR's second IPL trophy.
❖ Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K. Chandrasekar Rao was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of Telangana, the 29th State of India, on June 2, 2014. Telugu Desham Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu took over as the first Chief Minister of bifurcated Andhra Pradesh on June 8, 2014.
❖ The Supreme Court appointed Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee to probe the 2013 IPL spot fixing allegations.
❖ Manuel Santos won the Presidential elections of Colombia for the second time in June 2014.
❖ Reuven Rivlin succeeded Shimon Peres as the new President of Israel in June 2014.
❖ Former army chief Abdel Fattah el Sisi was sworn in as the President of Egypt in June 2014.
❖ Mukul Rohatgi was appointed the Attorney General of India in June 2014. Ranjit Kumar is the new Solicitor General.
❖ N. Srinivasan is the first Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
❖ Petro Poroshenko was sworn in as the President of Ukraine.
❖ Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a third term in office in June 2014.
❖ Sumitra Mahajan became the Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha in June 2014. She represents Indore Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh.
❖ Former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval was appointed the National Security Adviser (NSA). He is the first police officer to be decorated with Kirti Chakra, a gallantry award given during peacetime.
❖ Kedarnath Singh was chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for 2013. He is the 10th Hindi writer to receive the honor and is the 49th recipient of Jnanpith award.
❖ The 2013 Moortidevi award was given to Malayalam writer C. Radhakrishnan. He is a scientistturned writer.
❖ France announced to honor Shah Rukh Khan with Officer of the Legion of Honour for his contribution to cinema.
❖ Former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland is the first recipient of the Tang Prizefor sustainable development. She is the former Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO).
❖ India-born plant scientist Sanjay Rajaram was chosen for the World Food Prize for 2014. He is a renowned wheat scientist.
❖ Irish author Eimear McBride won the 2014 Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction for her debutnovel 'A Girl is a Half-formed Thing'. This prize was earlier known as Orange Prize.
❖ The autobiography of Hindi actor Dilip Kumar 'The Substance and The Shadow' was launched.
❖ The supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was test-fired. It is an Indo-Russian missile with a range of 290 km.
❖ Okavango Delta in Botswana became the 1000th site to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site List.
❖ Rani-ki-Vav, an 11th century stepwell in the Patan area of Gujarat and the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Himachal Pradesh were accorded the UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
❖ The government has accepted the report of Arvind Mayaram Committee on rationalizing definitions of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).
❖ Salman Rushdie, the India born UK author was named the winner of 2014 Pen Pinter Prize.
❖ Saina Nehwal won the Australian Open Super Series badminton title defeating Spain's Carolina Marin.
❖ Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the World Rapid Chess Championship and also the World BlitzChess Championship, both in Dubai in June 2014.
❖ Australia retained the men's Hockey World Cup title by outplaying Netherlands in the final inThe Hague, Netherlands in June 2014. Netherlands defeated Australia to win the women's title.
❖ Rafael Nadal of Spain clinched the 2014 French Open tennis men's singles title beating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final. It is Nadal's 9th French open title. Maria Sharapova of Russia wonher second French Open women's singles title by defeating Simona Halep of Romania.
❖ Two Indian Americans Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe became the co-champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest held in USA.
TOP 100 CURRENT AFFAIRS OF 2014
NationalGoods and Services Tax Bill, 2014 introduced in Lok Sabha
It is also called Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill
It seeks to introduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime
Inserts article Articles 246A, 269A and 279A in the Constitution
Provides for Union Finance Minister headed GST Council
Sets in a uniform and integrated indirect tax regime in India
14th Finance Commission submitted its report to President
It covers the period between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2020
The Commission headed by former RBI Governor Y V Reddy
Provides for devolution of tax receipts from the Centre to the States
Article 280 of Constitution provides for appointment of Finance Commission
First and 13th Finance Commission was headed by K C Neogy & Dr Vijay Kelkar resp.
Union government decriminalized Attempt to Suicide
For this purpose Section 309 of Indian Penal Code removed
20th Law Commission headed by Justice A P Shah recommended in its 210 Report
210th Report on Humanization and Decriminalization of Attempt to Suicide
France was the first country to decriminalize this offence
Lok Sabha passed the Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill, 2014
Introduced as a periodic measure for updating the list of laws in force
Seeks to repeal 90 laws and pass amendment to two laws
Proposes to amend the two laws to rectify typographical errors
The laws are Railways (Amendment) Act, 2008 and the Indian Maritime University Act, 2008
Karnataka Mobile One App launched for m-governance
Launched by President Pranab Mukherjee in Bengaluru
First such app in India to usher in an era of mobile governance
Developed under the ICARE program of Karnataka government
Expected to provide more than 4000 services to citizens
Social Justice Bench constituted on social issue
Constituted by Supreme Court on 3 December 2014
Started operation on 12 December 2014
The brainchild of Chief Justice of India H L Dattu
Two-judge bench to be headed by Justice Madan B Lokur
The other member is Justice U U Lalit
627 names of Indians holding black money abroad submitted to SC
Includes details of treaties India signed with France and other nations
Half of the 627 names are Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)
Most of them have accounts with HSBC Bank, Geneva
SIT headed by Justice M B Shah is probing black money case
Union government unveiled new counter-Naxal doctrine
Proposes four-pronged approach to deal with Naxals
These are Security, Development, Rights and Entitlement and Public Perception
Management
Focus on security interventions in worst LWE-affected areas
In moderately-affected areas, security and development initiatives will be focus
In less affected areas, development interventions will take precedence
Swachh Bharat Mission launched
Launched on occasion of 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
Aims at making India clean by 2019
The year 2019 will be 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
Nine people nominated to inspire people to join the Mission
SC quashed allocation of 214 coal blocks
Quashed by SC bench headed by Justice R M Lodha
Allocations were arbitrary and illegal
4 out of 218 coal blocks not cancelled
Includes one of NTPC and SAIL each and two of Sasan UMPP owned by Anil Ambani
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) launched
It was launched on 28 August 2014
Aims to open 15 crore bank accounts by 15 August 2015
It is a mega financial inclusion plan
Each person covered to be provided bank accounts and RuPay debit cards
Also provision for inbuilt insurance cover of 1 lakh rupees
India: first Country to Ratify the Marrakesh Treaty
India ratified the treaty on 30 June 2014
Will facilitate access to published works for blind and visually impaired persons
The treaty was signed in Marrakesh, Morocco on 28 June 2013
It has been signed by 64 countries
SC ruled Shariat Courts are illegal
No legal status has been granted to the Sharia Courts
Its fatwas/decrees are illegal if it violates fundamental rights
The decision was delivered by SC bench headed by Justice C K Prasad
The judgement given on a petition filed by Vishwa Lochan Madan in 2005
India became permanent signatory to Washington Accord
India signed the Accord on 13 June 2014
Joined a select group of 17 countries who joined the Accord
Global employment opportunities for India’s technical and engineering graduates to increase
Accord promotes mobility and quality assurance of engineers across international
boundaries
Sumitra Mahajan elected as Speaker of 16th Lok Sabha
She replaced Meira Kumar
Became the second women presiding officer of the Lok Sabha
She was elected to 9th Lok Sabha in 1989 for the first time
2014 elections was her eighth continuous term as Member of Parliament
Telangana became the 29th state of India
It achieved statehood on 2 June 2014
Ten districts of the then Andhra Pradesh became part of Telangana
Chandrasekhar Rao sworn-in as the first Chief Minister
ESL Narasimhan is the Governor of Telangana
Hyderabad is the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
Narendra Modi sworn-in as 15th Prime Minister of India
He was sworn-in on 26 May 2014
He took oath with 45 Council of Minister including 23 Cabinet Ministers
First Prime Minister of India born in independent India
For the first time 25% of the Cabinet post allocated to women
Swearing-in ceremony attended by heads of seven SAARC countries
16th Lok Sabha Elections 2014
The election results for 543 constituencies declared on 16 May 2014
Bharatiya Janata Party emerged victorious with 282 seats
Congress led incumbent government just secured 44 seats
BJP won the majority for the first time since independence
The elections were conducted in nine phases from 7 April – 12 May 2014
Karnataka: first state in India to launch Health Adalat
The Health Adalat was launched in Gulbarga, Karnataka.
Aims to ensure that all health facilities extended by the government reached all sections of
society.
During Health Adalat the department will interact with public representatives.
Debroy Panel on restructuring Railway Board
The Panel would submit its report till the end of 2015
The seven-member panel will be headed by economist Bibek Debroy
Mandated to estimate the financial needs of railways and ensure policies to raise resources
Restructuring of railway board announced in Union Budget 2014-15
Film Liar's Dice: India's official entry for Oscar Awards 2015
The movie has been directed by Geethu Mohandas
It is nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film category
12-member jury headed by eminent filmmaker T Hariharan nominated it
Leading casts are Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui
The 87th Oscar Awards will be held in the US on 22 February 2015
C Rangarajan Committee on Poverty
Total number of poor in India at 363 million or 29.6 percent of the population
The daily per capita expenditure pegged at 32 rupees for the rural poor
The daily per capita expenditure pegged at 47 rupees for the urban poor
Poverty line is pegged 972 rupees per month for rural India
Poverty line pegged at 1407 rupees per month for urban India
Largest Solar Power Plant of India launched
130-MW Welspun Solar Plant launched at Bhagwanpur in Neemuch, MP
It is also the Asia's Largest Solar Power Plant.
It was constructed at a cost of 1100 crore rupees.
The Project will raise Indian solar capacity by 7 percent.
InternationalUS President signed Ukraine Freedom Support Bill, 2014
The Act authorizes administration to impose sanctions on Russia
The sanctions to be imposed if needs arises
Sanctions were imposed on Russia over Ukraine crisis
Authorizes 350 million US dollars in lethal and non-lethal military aid Ukraine
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe re-elected
He was re-elected for another four year term
Japan's ruling coalition won a two thirds majority in the Snap elections
Elections were held for the Lower House of the National Diet.
The elections saw the voter turnout at 52.7 percent, the lowest since World War-II
FDI in rail infrastructure will be through automatic route
FDI will not be allowed in train operations and safety
Proposals involving FDI beyond 49 percent in sensitive areas to be placed before the
Cabinet Committee on Security
Definitions of infrastructure and common facilities have also been widened
Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2014-15
This was the first budget of newly appointed government led by Narendra Modi
It focussed on providing good infrastructure like public transport, solid waste disposal
Emphasized on skill development and entrepreneurship in the budget
Announced that the FDI cap in Defence sector would be raised to 49 percent
Heads of Important Offices (World) 2015-------------------------------------------------------● Ban Ki-moon : Secretary-General, United Nations Organisation.● Jan Eliasson : Deputy Secretary-General, UN.● Dr. Jim Yong Kim : President, World Bank.
● Christine Lagarde : Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF).● Ms. Irina Bokova : Director-General-UNESCO.● Dr. Margaret Chan : Director-General, WHO.● Jose Graziano da Silva : Director-General, Food and Agricultural Organisation.● Guy Ryder : Director-General, International Labour Organisation.● Anthony Lake : Executive Director, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).● Antonio Guterres : Head, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.● Ms. Helen Clark : Administrator, United Nations Development Programme.● Mr. Mukhisa Kituyi : Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).● Jose Angel Gurria : Secretary-General, Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).● Ronny Abraham : President, International Court of Justice.● Takehiko Nakao : President, Asian Development Bank.● Donald Kaberuka : President, African Development Bank.● Thomas Bach : President, International Olympic Committee.● Kamalesh Sharma : Secretary-General, Commonwealth.● Robert Mugabe : Chairman, African Union Assembly.● Ms. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma : Chairperson, African Union Commission.● Roberto Azevedo : Director-General, WTO.● Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein : High Commissioner, UN High Commission for Human Rights.● Donald Tusk : President, European Union● N. Srinivasan : Chairman, International Cricket Council.● Jean-Claude Juncker : President, European Commission.● Li Yong : Director-General, UNIDO.● Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani : Secretary-General, Gulf Co-operation Council.● Iyad bin Amin Madani : Secretary-General, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.● Abdallah el-Badri : Secretary-General, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).● Luis Almagro : Secretary-General, Organisation of American States.● Hifikepunye Pohamba : President, South-West African People's Organisation (SWAPO).● Mr. Yukiya Amano : Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).● Jens Stoltenberg : Secretary-General, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).● Sir Alan Haselhurst : Chairman, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.● Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin : Executive Director, UNFPA.● Le Luong Minh : Secretary-General, ASEAN.● Arjun Bahadur : Secretary-General, SAARC● Lamine Diack : President, International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF).● Dr. Ellen Stofan : Chief of NASA (USA).● Salil Shetty : Secretary-General, Amnesty International.● Lt.-Gen.Chikadibia Obiakor : Military Adviser to UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations.● Hassan Rouhani : Secretary-General, Non-Aligned Movement.● Asha Kanwar : President and CEO, Commonwealth of Learning.● Mireille Ballestrazzi : President, INTERPOL.
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