Daily GK Updates

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CURRENT AFFAIRS ON MONTH OF AUGUST 2014

Daily GK Updates: 31 Aug- 1st Sept 2014

1. PM proposes online Japanese language courses in India

i. India needs to learn from Japan in order to modernise its primary education system, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi said during a visit to the Taimei elementary school on Monday morning.

ii. Also, India needed to learn “moral education” and “discipline” from the Japanese system of

education, especially the methods used towards these ends.

iii. Calling on teachers here to come to India and teach Japanese, Mr. Modi said there was a dire

shortage of Japanese language teachers in India.

iv. Already, the Prime Minister pointed out, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools

had started teaching Japanese in India.

2. SBI, Japan Bank partner for export credit of $152 mn

i. State Bank of India (SBI) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) today signed a

dual-currency loan agreement to set up an export credit line.

ii. “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),” SBI official said.

iii. This credit line will be utilised by Meja Urja Nigam Pvt Ltd (MUNPL) to finance the

procurement of steam turbine generator equipment from Japanese company Toshiba Corporation and

its subsidiary in India Toshiba JSW Turbines & Generator Ltd to construct a supercritical pressure

coal-fired power plant (660MWx2 units) in Meja, Uttar Pradesh.

iv. MUNPL is a joint venture equally invested by NTPC Ltd and UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam

Ltd, SBI said in a statement.

v. Hiroshi Watanabe, Governor of JBIC, and Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman of SBI, signed the

loan agreement in Tokyo, Japan.

3. Asia's first Ballistic Research Centre to open in Gujarat

i. India will have Asia's first Ballistic Research Centre which will help it in achieving self-reliance in

testing of armored vehicles.

ii. The research centre will soon be functioning at Gujarat Forensic Science University, GFSU, in

Gandhinagar. This was disclosed by GFSU's Director General J M Vyas.

iii. Till now, the armored vehicles from India are sent to countries like the UK, USA and France for

testing.

iv. 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.

4. Former CJI P Sathasivam to be the next Kerala Governor

i. Former Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam is all set to become the Governor of Kerala after

former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit vacated the post earlier this week.

ii. Justice Sathasivam served as the CJI from 2007-14.

iii. Dikshit was the seventh UPA-appointed governor to quit after the change of power at Centre.

5. Reliance Group, Nippon Life launch India funds for Japan investors

i. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought greater investments from Japan, financial sector giant

Nippon Life today said it will partner Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group for a proposed Reliance

Bank and launched two India-focussed funds for Japanese investors.

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ii. The two funds will direct investments by Japanese retail investors into Indian equity and bond

markets. This was stated by Nippon and Reliance Life in a joint statement.

iii. The announcements coincided with Mr Modi's first official visit to Japan as Prime Minister,

during which he invited Japanese investments into India and said that businessmen from the two

countries can give a direction to world economy.

6. 'Blue Economy' workshop on sustainable growth begins in Bangladesh

i. A two-day international seminar on 'Blue Economy' begins in Dhaka today to discuss better ways

to explore the resources of the Bay of Bengal.

ii. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the workshop at a city hotel.

iii. Representatives from 20 countries including Myanmar, Srilanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia

and Japan besides experts on marine resources are expected to participate and share experiences.

iv. The aim is to establish links with countries and organisations working in ocean research and

resources to ensure the protection and sustainable utilization of the resources of the Bay of Bengal.

7. Bapu, the artist, filmmaker, humourist passes away

i. The 80-year-old Sattiraju Lakshminarayana, popularly known as Bapu, passed away in Chennai,

the city that was home for him and his long-time friend Mullapudi Venkata Ramana, for over half a

century.

ii. The duo made some of the memorable works in Telugu literary world and film industry. He

directed films such as Mutyala Muggu, Pelli Pustakam and Sampoorna Ramayanam. Ramana passed

away three years ago, leaving his friend for 50 years alone. A loss Babu could not cope well. People

close to him said half of him was gone with Ramana.

iii. Bapu directed mythological and social genre movies in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi, with his friend

Ramana taking care of the writing part. Known for depth and detail, his scripts reflected male

chauvinism and untold sufferings of women.

8. A Nageswara Rao became first Indian actor to be honoured by US post sevice

i. Indian Telugu Actor, Akkineni Nageswara Rao became the first Indian actor to be honoured with a

postage stamp by the US Post Service (USPS). It was announced by the Akkineni Foundation of

America (AFA) on 30 August 2014.

ii. The stamp will be issued on the birth anniversary of Nageshwara Rao that is on 20 September

2014 in Dallas Texas. The AFA is planning to release the stamp in India on 17 December 2014 at the

first International Akkineni Awards Ceremony being planned at ANR College, Andhra Pradesh.

9. Revived Nalanda University started its first session on 1 September 2014

i. The revived Nalanda University on 1 September 2014 started its first session with 15 students in its

makeshift campus at the Buddhist pilgrim town of Rajgir, about 100 km from Patna.

ii. The University started its first session 2014-15 with the classes for the School of Ecology and

Environmental Studies and the School of Historical Studies. At present, the University has 10

faculty members. The University started its first session after completing the three-day orientation

programme for students.

iii. The formal inauguration of the University work will commence in mid-September, while the

fully-residential university will be completed by 2020. Then it will have seven schools for post-

graduate and doctoral students and will offer courses in science, philosophy and spirituality and

social sciences.

iv. In the process of enrolling, the University received applications from the US, Russia, England,

Spain, Germany, Japan, Myanmar, Austria and Sri Lanka, among others, as also from West Asian

and Southeast Asian countries.

Note: Nalanda University Vice-Chancellor - Gopa Sabharwal

Chairman of the Governing Body of the university - Economist Amartya Sen

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10. Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland set world record in womens hammer throw

i. Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland on 31 August 2014 set world record in the womens hammer throw at

the Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) Berlin Athletics meet at Berlin's Olympic stadium in

Germany.

ii. With a throw of 79.58 meters she improved the world record by 16 centimetres.

iii. She broke the three year old world record of 79.42 meters set by Betty Heidler of Germany in

May 2011 in Halle, Germany.

11. Jaipur Pink Panthers won the inaugural title of Pro Kabaddi League

i. Jaipur Pink Panther (JPP) owned by Abhisek Bachchan on 31 August 2014 won the inaugural title

of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League. To win its first title of the tournament, Jaipur Pink Panther

defeated U Mumba 35-24 at the NSCI Stadium in Mumbai.

ii. U Mumba that emerged as the runner up of the tournament is owned by Unilazer Sports.

12. Zimbabwe beat Australia for first time in 31 years

i. In Cricket, hosts Zimbabwe defeated Australia by 3 wickets in the fourth match of the tri-nation

series, also featuring South Africa. This is was Zimbabwe's first victory over Australia in 31 years.

ii. Opting to bat first at the Harare Sports Club, Australia posted 209 for 9 in the stipulated 50 overs.

Skipper Michael Clarke top scored with an unbeaten 68.

iii. In reply, Zimbabwe overhauled the target with 2 overs to spare, courtesy captain Elton

Chigumbura's battling 52 not out. He was adjudged man of the match.

1. National Sports Day was celebrated on the 29 August

i. National Sports Day was celebrated on the 29 August throughout the country.

ii. National Sports Day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of hockey player Dhyan Chand.

This day is celebrated by organizing friendly matches between different Indian hockey teams at the

Dhyan Chand National stadium in New Delhi.

iii. The National Stadium was constructed in the respect and honor of Dhyan Chand.

Major Dhyan Chand – The Hockey Wizard Major Dhyan Chand was India’s greatest hockey player. He has scored over 1000 goals between

1926 and 1948. He helped India win 3 Olympic Gold medals including the first in 1928 (Amsterdum

Olympic games) and then in 1932 ( Los Angeles Olympic games) and 1936 (Berlin Olympic games).

2. Sivaramakrishnan Committee submitted report to Union Home Ministry on AP Capital

i. Sivaramakrishnan committee constituted by the Union Government to suggest the place to build

the capital city of Andhra Pradesh submitted its report to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New

Delhi.

ii. The committee gave options about the capital and positive and negative points of the places. But

the committee did not Zero in on any particular place for the capital. It only mentioned the

availability of lands and other factors.

iii. Interestingly, the committee objected Vijayawada to be the capital, in the context of the AP

government transferring certain departments to Vijayawada, declaring it as the future capital.

3. Manipur Governor Vinod Kumar Duggal resigned

i. Vinod Kumar Duggal resigned as Manipur Governor. He was appointed as governor of Manipur

by President Pranab Mukherjee on 23 December 2013.

ii. Thus, Vinod Kumar Duggal became the ninth governor to resign since the NDA Government

came to power in May 2014. Eight other governors -- M.K. Narayanan (West Bengal), Ashwani

Kumar (Nagaland), B.L. Joshi (UP), B.V. Wanchoo (Goa) Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), Sheila

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Dikshit (Kerala), V Purushothaman (Mizoram), K. Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra) had resigned

before.

4. God of Antarctica written by Yashwardhan Shukla

i. Delhi-based 13 year old school boy Yashwardhan Shukla authored a novel, Gods of Antarctica.

The book is fictional tale of gods and monsters. It was put into print by the Readers Paradise

publishers.

ii. The boy said Amish Tripathi’s ‘Shiva’s Trilogy’ and J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series has

inspired him in writing. He also said Rick Riordan remains his favourite author.

5. Australian PM Tony Abbott to visit India next week

i. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is all set to make his first official visit to India next week

to further strengthen the strategic partnership and promote trade and investment between the two

sides.

ii. “I will travel to India and Malaysia from September 4 to 6. On my first visit to India as Prime

Minister, I will visit New Delhi and India’s financial capital, Mumbai, to strengthen the strategic

partnership between our two countries,” he said.

iii. Noting that the two nations have strong and growing economic and trade ties, he said India is

Australia’s fifth largest export market with total exports of $11.4 billion.

6. Child marriage on rise in Kerala: UNICEF

i. Notwithstanding a better gender balance in the southern part of the country, child marriage has

been found to be on the rise in Kerala in recent years, according to UNICEF.

ii. “In the southern part of India we have a relatively better gender balance which explains lower

rates of child marriage. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown a rising rate in Kerala,” UNICEF’s

Child Protection Specialist in India Dora Giusti said.

iii. “Child marriage is more common among certain groups and among disadvantaged communities.

In Kerala it was not the case even a few years back, but of late there has been a rise in it due to

migration from the northern part of India,” Ms. Giusti explained.

iv. According to a UNICEF report, in India there were more child marriages in rural areas than

urban. While 52.5 per cent of currently married women in age group 20-24 years in rural areas and

28.2 per cent in urban areas got married before they were 18 years.

v. Although the gap between urban and rural areas has almost halved from 30.2 per cent in 1992-

1993 to 18.6 per cent in 2007-2008, currently married women in rural areas were twice more likely

to be child brides than their urban counterparts, the report said.

vi. Bihar has the highest incidence of child marriage at 68 per cent while Himachal Pradesh with

around nine per cent has the lowest incidence, it stated.

vii. Six states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal —

have the highest incidence of child marriage ranging from 51.9 per cent to 68.2 per cent, the report

revealed.

7. Cristiano Ronaldo crowned UEFA Best Player in Europe

i. Cristiano Ronaldo was on Thursday named the UEFA Best Player in Europe, defeating Bayern

Munich duo Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben for the prestigious award.

ii. Ronaldo earned 24 votes from a panel of European football journalists to claim the title in Monte

Carlo just after the draw was made for the Champions League group stage.

iii. Neuer was second on 19 votes, ahead of his Bayern teammate Robben who took nine.

iv. It is the second time Ronaldo has picked up the award having also won in 2008 when playing for

Manchester United in the Premier League. He is also currently the reigning FIFA World Player of

the Year.

Daily GK Updates: 30th August 2014

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1. India, Japan sign MoU to develop Varanasi into ‘smart city’

i. Varanasi, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents in the Lok Sabha, will be developed

into a ‘smart city’ by using the experience of Kyoto, the ’smart city’ of Japan, under a pact signed

b/w India & Japan.

ii. A Partner City MoU was signed by Indian Ambassador Deepa Wadhwa and Kyoto Mayor

Daisaka Kadokawa at a ceremony witnessed by Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.

iii. The MoU, which was signed soon after Modi’s arrival here on a five-day visit, provides for

cooperation in heritage conservation, city modernisation and cooperation in the fields of art, culture

and academics, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told reporters. This will serve

as framework for Smart heritage city programme between the two countries, he added.

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.

2. President confers National Sports Awards to eminent sportspersons

i. President Pranab Mukherjee presented the National Sports Awards to eminent sportspersons on the

occasion of National Sports Day at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday. Boxer Jai Bhagwan, shuttler V.

Diju and shooter Heena Sidhu are among 14 sports persons who received the Arjuna Award - 2014

for their outstanding performance in the field of sports.

The awardees: 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).

Dhyan Chand award: Gurmail Singh (hockey), K.P. Thakkar (swimming-diving), Zeeshan Ali

(tennis).

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 (employment of sports

persons and sports welfare measures); Jindal Steel Works (community sports–identification and

nurturing of budding/young talent); Guru Hanuman akhara (establishment and management of sports

academies of excellence); Child Link Foundation of India–Magic Bus (other forms of sports

activities not covered in the categories mentioned in the schemes).

Note: i. Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees receive statuettes, citations and cash prize

of 5 lakh rupees each, whereas recipients of Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar were given Trophies.

ii. No sportsperson was selected for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award this year.

3. Indian Bank to revise FCNR (B) term deposits

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i. Public sector Indian Bank will revise the interest rate on foreign currency non-resident (banking)

term deposits from tomorrow.

ii. “For FCNR (B) deposits, in USD, the revised interest rate has been revised to 2.34 per cent (from

2.36 per cent) for deposits of one year and above but less than two years,” the Chennai-based bank

said in a statement.

iii. For deposits of two years and above but less than three years, it has been revised to 2.71 per cent

from the existing 2.76 per cent.

iv. Interest rates have been revised to 3.64 per cent for deposits of three years and above but less than

four years from the existing 3.71 per cent, it said.

4. Malaysia, India to review economic cooperation pact

i. Malaysia and India will soon review their economic cooperation pact, signed in 2011, to chart out

ways to enhance and diversify trade further, the Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia, T S

Tirumurti, has said.

ii. “The two sides are expected to review the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement

(CECA) either in December or February next year,” he said.

iii. He said, although, the agreement had helped in a big way and the bilateral trade now stood at

$13.38 billion in 2013, as per Malaysian statistics, the trade balance was in Malaysia’s favour.

iv. Malaysia exported goods worth $9.95 billion to India, while it imported $4.44 billion from India

last year.

v. The CECA, which came into force on July 1, 2011, is a free trade agreement, which covers trade

in goods and services and investment, as well as, economic cooperation.

5. Noted historian Bipin Chandra passes away

i. Noted historian Bipin Chandra died today at his residence after prolonged illness. He was 86.

"He had not been keeping well since last few months.

ii. A Padma Bhushan awardee, Chandra had donned multiple roles including that of chairperson of

the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Member of the University Grants

Commission (UGC) and the Chairman of the National Book Trust (NBT).

iii. Considered to be a specialist in economic and political history of India, Chandra had authored

several books including 'The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism', 'In the Name of

Democracy: The JP Movement and the Emergency', 'Nationalism and Colonialism in Modern India'

and 'The Making of Modern India: From Marx to Gandhi', among others.

iv. The left leaning author had founded the journal 'Enquiry' and was a member of its editorial board

for a long time.

v. Born in 1928 in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, Chandra studied at the Forman Christian

College, Lahore, Stanford University, US and the University of Delhi.

vi. He worked as the Reader at Hindu College of Delhi University and then became the professor of

History at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

6. US actor Harry Belafonte to receive Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar Award

i. US actor and singer Harry Belafonte was named for honorary Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar

Award on 29 August 2014. Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar Award is one of the three Governor's

Award given by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for lifetime achievement.

ii. The academy noted his films such as Carmen Jones, Odds Against Tomorrow and The World, the

Flesh and the Devil strived to bring attention to the injustices of racism and inequality. He will

recieve the award in November 2014.

About Harry Belafonte Belafonte, also known as the King of Calypso, who has spent much of his life campaigning for

various causes including Aids awareness, famine relief, education and civil rights. He was a

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supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. He was also

named as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1987.

7. India Signed agreement with World Bank for MSRPII project

i. India on 29 August 2014 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.

ii. The agreement was signed by Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary (MI), Department of Economic

Affairs and Onno Ruhl, Country Director, World Bank, India.

iii. The objective of the project is to enhance transport connectivity along regional trade corridors in

Mizoram.The project will focus on improvement of priority cross-border roads connecting Myanmar

and Bangladesh , as also on trade related infrastructure.

iv. Thus, the MSRPII will be an important milestone in enhancing the connectivity for the state of

Mizoram and the rest of North-East India with Myanmar and Bangladesh.

v. The project is the first project facilitating regional connectivity in transport sector undertaken in

India with Bank support.


1. National Sports Day was celebrated on the 29 August

i. National Sports Day was celebrated on the 29 August throughout the country.

ii. National Sports Day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of hockey player Dhyan Chand.

This day is celebrated by organizing friendly matches between different Indian hockey teams at the

Dhyan Chand National stadium in New Delhi.

iii. The National Stadium was constructed in the respect and honor of Dhyan Chand.

Major Dhyan Chand – The Hockey Wizard Major Dhyan Chand was India’s greatest hockey player. He has scored over 1000 goals between

1926 and 1948. He helped India win 3 Olympic Gold medals including the first in 1928 (Amsterdum

Olympic games) and then in 1932 ( Los Angeles Olympic games) and 1936 (Berlin Olympic games).

2. Sivaramakrishnan Committee submitted report to Union Home Ministry on AP Capital

i. Sivaramakrishnan committee constituted by the Union Government to suggest the place to build

the capital city of Andhra Pradesh submitted its report to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New

Delhi.

ii. The committee gave options about the capital and positive and negative points of the places. But

the committee did not Zero in on any particular place for the capital. It only mentioned the

availability of lands and other factors.

iii. Interestingly, the committee objected Vijayawada to be the capital, in the context of the AP

government transferring certain departments to Vijayawada, declaring it as the future capital.

3. Manipur Governor Vinod Kumar Duggal resigned

i. Vinod Kumar Duggal resigned as Manipur Governor. He was appointed as governor of Manipur

by President Pranab Mukherjee on 23 December 2013.

ii. Thus, Vinod Kumar Duggal became the ninth governor to resign since the NDA Government

came to power in May 2014. Eight other governors -- M.K. Narayanan (West Bengal), Ashwani

Kumar (Nagaland), B.L. Joshi (UP), B.V. Wanchoo (Goa) Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh), Sheila

Dikshit (Kerala), V Purushothaman (Mizoram), K. Sankaranarayanan (Maharashtra) had resigned

before.

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4. God of Antarctica written by Yashwardhan Shukla

i. Delhi-based 13 year old school boy Yashwardhan Shukla authored a novel, Gods of Antarctica.

The book is fictional tale of gods and monsters. It was put into print by the Readers Paradise

publishers.

ii. The boy said Amish Tripathi’s ‘Shiva’s Trilogy’ and J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series has

inspired him in writing. He also said Rick Riordan remains his favourite author.

5. Australian PM Tony Abbott to visit India next week

i. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is all set to make his first official visit to India next week

to further strengthen the strategic partnership and promote trade and investment between the two

sides.

ii. “I will travel to India and Malaysia from September 4 to 6. On my first visit to India as Prime

Minister, I will visit New Delhi and India’s financial capital, Mumbai, to strengthen the strategic

partnership between our two countries,” he said.

iii. Noting that the two nations have strong and growing economic and trade ties, he said India is

Australia’s fifth largest export market with total exports of $11.4 billion.

6. Child marriage on rise in Kerala: UNICEF

i. Notwithstanding a better gender balance in the southern part of the country, child marriage has

been found to be on the rise in Kerala in recent years, according to UNICEF.

ii. “In the southern part of India we have a relatively better gender balance which explains lower

rates of child marriage. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown a rising rate in Kerala,” UNICEF’s

Child Protection Specialist in India Dora Giusti said.

iii. “Child marriage is more common among certain groups and among disadvantaged communities.

In Kerala it was not the case even a few years back, but of late there has been a rise in it due to

migration from the northern part of India,” Ms. Giusti explained.

iv. According to a UNICEF report, in India there were more child marriages in rural areas than

urban. While 52.5 per cent of currently married women in age group 20-24 years in rural areas and

28.2 per cent in urban areas got married before they were 18 years.

v. Although the gap between urban and rural areas has almost halved from 30.2 per cent in 1992-

1993 to 18.6 per cent in 2007-2008, currently married women in rural areas were twice more likely

to be child brides than their urban counterparts, the report said.

vi. Bihar has the highest incidence of child marriage at 68 per cent while Himachal Pradesh with

around nine per cent has the lowest incidence, it stated.

vii. Six states — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal —

have the highest incidence of child marriage ranging from 51.9 per cent to 68.2 per cent, the report

revealed.

7. Cristiano Ronaldo crowned UEFA Best Player in Europe

i. Cristiano Ronaldo was on Thursday named the UEFA Best Player in Europe, defeating Bayern

Munich duo Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben for the prestigious award.

ii. Ronaldo earned 24 votes from a panel of European football journalists to claim the title in Monte

Carlo just after the draw was made for the Champions League group stage.

iii. Neuer was second on 19 votes, ahead of his Bayern teammate Robben who took nine.

iv. It is the second time Ronaldo has picked up the award having also won in 2008 when playing for

Manchester United in the Premier League. He is also currently the reigning FIFA World Player of

the Year.

Daily GK Updates: 28 th August 2014

1. Prime Minister launches 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

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i. The 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana', an ambitious financial inclusion scheme under which the

government intends to provide every household with a bank account and insurance cover, was

launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

ii. The scheme, about which Modi made the announcement in his Independence Day speech, was

launched across the country simultaneously amid his emphasis that it lies at the core of "our

development philosophy of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas'".

iii. '1.5 crore bank accounts will be opened on first day of Jan Dhan Yojana'

iv. Jan Dhan Yojana, a dream project to open at least one bank account to every household.

v. Noting that 10 crore people do not have bank account, the Finance Minister aims to cover 7.5

crore people under Jan Dhan Yojana by January 25, 2015.

vi. As a first step, under the scheme, every account holder will get a 'RuPay' debit card with Rs

30,000 life insurance besides accidental insurance of up to Rs 1 lakh.

vii. The scheme will provide overdraft, debt card facility," she said. "Jan Dhan Yojana will provide

accidental insurance cover,".

2. Erdogan to be sworn in as Turkey's new president

i. Turkey's outgoing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to be sworn in as president on

Thursday to extend his more than decade-long domination of the country.

ii. Erdogan was due to take his oath of office at 1100 GMT (1630 IST) in Ankara and usher in a new

era for Turkey, where he is expected to push for a new constitution and seek to further transform the

country with development projects.

iii. Taking over Erdogan's post of prime minister is Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, a long

standing ally who is expected to do little to challenge the Turkish number one.

3. Iran's Mirzakhani first woman to win prestigious math prize

i. An Iranian-born mathematician has become the first woman to win a prestigious global prize

known as the Field Medal, the International Congress of Mathematicians has announced.

ii. Maryam Mirzakhani, a Harvard educated mathematician and professor at Stanford University in

California, was one of four winners announced at the group's conference in Seoul.

iii. An expert in the geometry of unusual forms, she has come up with novel ways to calculate the

volumes of oddly-shaped hyperbolic surfaces, which can be curved like a saddle or curly like a piece

of crochet.

iv. Mirzakhani was born in Tehran in 1977 and earned her PhD in 2004 from Harvard University.

v. She has previously won the 2009 Blumenthal Award for the Advancement of Research in Pure

Mathematics and the 2013 Satter Prize of the American Mathematical Society.

vi. The Fields Medal is given out every four years, to four separate winners.

vii. The other three winners this year were Artur Avila of France, Manjul Bhargava of Princeton

University in New Jersey, and Martin Hairer of the University of Warwick in Britain.

4. IOC removes four independent directors appointed by UPA

i. After Governors, the Narendra Modi government is removing independent directors appointed by

the previous UPA regime on PSU boards, beginning with sacking of four directors on the board of

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).

ii. IOC, the nation’s largest oil company, in a filing to the stock exchanges said, “K Jairaj, Nesar

Ahmad, Sunil Krishna and Sayan Chatterjee have ceased to be Independent Directors on the Board

of the company on August 27, 2014

iii. All the four directors were appointed to IOC board in March this year for a three-year term. Their

appointment was to be confirmed/ratified by the company shareholders but IOC did not move a

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resolution to this effect at its annual general meeting (AGM) in Mumbai yesterday, leading to their

cessation.

iv. The new government wants to change all previous UPA appointed directors but to start with it is

looking at appointments that need confirmation now, they said.

5. Centre notifies minimum monthly pension, wage ceiling enhancement

i. Government has notified minimum monthly pension of 1,000 rupees and a higher wage ceiling

enhancement to15,000 from 6,500 rupees for social security schemes run by retirement fund

manager Employees Provident Fund Organisation.

ii. Both schemes will be implemented from 1st September of the next month. According to EPFO

estimates, the raising of wage ceiling is expected to bring 50 lakh more workers under the ambit of

social security schemes run by it.

iii. The government decision to fix pension of 1,000 rupees will benefit 28 lakh people including 5

lakh widow pensioners, who get less than this amount at present.

iv. EPFO had recently retained rate of interest to 8.75 per cent on provident fund deposits for the

current fiscal year 2014-15.

6. SC directs DLF to pay Rs 630 cr fine imposed by CCI

i. Real estate major DLF was on Wednesday 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.

ii. The apex court said the total ammount will be deposited within three months with its Registry

pending the outcome of the appeal filed by DLF against May 19 order of Competition Appellate

Tribunal's upholding the penalty of Rs 630 crore imposed by the CCI.

iii. The bench said so far as the interest on the amount was concerned it has to be determined as per

the November 9, 2011 order of the CCI that was fixed at 9 per cent.

iv. It also directed DLF to file a fresh undertaking that in the event of dismissal of the appeal it will

pay such amount as directed by the court.

v. DLF pleaded that it should be granted at least six months time to deposit the amount.

7. SRK becomes Interpol’s Ambassador of ‘Turn Back Crime’ campaign

i. Modern-era ‘Don’ Shah Rukh Khan has become the first Indian actor to be roped in as

Ambassador of Interpol’s initiative ‘Turn Back Crime’ campaign, aimed at promoting greater

awareness on how to prevent crime.

ii. The actor who gave new twist to Amitabh Bachchan’s character ‘Don’ in the Farhan Akhtar’s

remake of the movie, tweeted late night yesterday, “Don on the right side of Interpol. How ironically

cool is that...ha ha.”

iii. “Honoured to be the Ambassador for Turn Back Crime, the Interpol initiative. Thanx Mr. Noble

for the opportunity,” the actor wrote on his social media page.

iv. The ‘Turn Back Crime’ campaign is aimed at raising public awareness that organised crime is

often involved in seemingly unrelated crimes.

8. India beat England by 133 runs in second ODI

i. India defeated England by 133 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method in the second One—day

International match in Cardiff on Wednesday.

ii. Invited to bat, India scored 304 for six and then bowled out the hosts for 161 in 38.1 overs at

Sophia Gardens.

iii. As per the revised target after the rain interruption, England needed 295 runs in 47 overs.

Brief Scores:

India: 304 for 6 in 50 overs (Suresh Raina 100, MS Dhoni 52; Chris Woakes 4/52)

England: 161 in 38.1 overs (Alex Hales 40; Ravindra Jadeja 4/28).

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1. Supreme court: People facing criminal, corruption charges shouldn't be made ministers

i. Sending a strong message that people against whom criminal and corruption charges have been

framed be not inducted as ministers, the Supreme Court today said Prime Minister and Chief

Ministers should desist from making such appointments and act in “national interest“.

ii. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice RM Lodha, however, stopped short of

prescribing disqualification for such people from becoming ministers, leaving it to the wisdom of the

PM and CMs not to recommend such names to the President and Governor.

iii. Observing that it cannot add disqualification in Article 75 (1) (appointment of PM and Council of

Ministers), the Bench, however, said that the PM and CMs should not consider people with criminal

antecedents and against whom charges have been framed in serious offences, including corruption,

for appointment as ministers.

iv. It further said that the Constitution reposes immense trust in the PM and CMs and they are

expected to act with constitutional responsibility and morality.

2. Mother Dairy, SBI launch 'SmartChange Card'

i. Dairy products major Mother Dairy and the State Bank of India today announced the launch of the

'SmartChange Card' for Mother Dairy booths in the National Capital Region.

ii. The card, introduced to facilitate convenience of payment has been rolled out 76 booths already

and the company plans to expand coverage to 150 booths over the next three months.

iii. The card, priced at Rs. 25 at the time of issuance, will have a top up limit of Rs. 1,000 while the

limit per transaction has been set at Rs. 500. Customers can use the card to shop for various items

available at the booths, including milk and other dairy products, Safal products like fruit and

vegetables and Dhara oil.

3. C.S.Verma elected as First President of Indian Steel Association

i. C.S.Verma was elected as First President of Indian Steel Association (ISA). Other members of the

ISA were Sajjan Jindal, Chairman & Managing Director, JSW, Mr. TV Narendran, MD, Tata Steel, ,

P Madhusudan, CMD, RINL.

About ISA : The Indian Steel Association was formally launched on 26 August 2014 by the Major

domestic steel producers of India.

4. Avia Indra-2014, the Indo-Russia maiden aerial exercise started

i. Indian Air Force (IAF) and Russian Federation Air Force (RFAF) Indo-Russian Air Force

Exercise, Avia Indra-2014 at Astrakhan region, near the Caspian Sea in Russia.

ii. Avia Indra-2014 is the first Indo-Russia aerial exercise that involves the air forces of the two

countries. The exercise will go on till 5 September 2014.

iii. The exercise is being conducted to boost cooperation between the air forces of two countries and

involves aircraft like Su030MKI and Mi-17 helicopters.

iv. It also involves fighter pilots, helicopter pilots, missile combat crew, as well as engineers from

the IAF along with their counterparts of the RFAF.

5. Reliance Jio Infocomm signed tower sharing deal with BSNL

i. Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) on 26 August 2014 signed a deal with Bharat Sanchar Nigam

Limited (BSNL) for sharing around 4000 mobile towers.

ii. Along with tower sharing deal, Reliance Jio signed Infrastructure sharing deal with Bharti Airtel,

Viom Network, Ascend Telecom Infrastructure, Reliance Communications and American Tower

Company to utilise their infrastructure.

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6. Mithali Raj Remains Number One Batswoman in ICC Rankings

i. India captain Mithali Raj has retained the top spot in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC)

women's rankings for batters.

ii. Mithali maintained her reign on the top with scores of 34 and 30, respectively, to be the second-

highest run-scorer for her side in the series India lost 2-0 in England.

iii. Her teammate Smriti Mandhana is the biggest mover on the table, jumping 23 places to a career-

high 40th, following her knocks of 32 and 74.

iv. England captain Charlotte Edwards has jumped five places to second position after leading her

side to a thumping victory over India in the opening round of the ICC Women's Championship.

7. First private wildlife corridor to come up in M.P

i. 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.

ii. The company and Grow-Trees.com, the exclusive Indian planting partner for United Nation’s

Environment Programme’s Billion Tree Campaign, today announced the launch of its joint initiative

to create India’s first private wildlife corridor.

iii. “The corridor is being developed between Kanha-Pench Wildlife Reserve by planting 3,00,000

trees over a period of three years.


1. Four new Governors appointed

i. Kalyan Singh has been appointed Governor of Rajasthan

ii. Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala appointed Governor of Karnataka

iii. Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao has been appointed Governor of Maharashtra and

iv. Mridula Sinha appointed Governor of Goa.

ii. Maharashtra Governor's post fell vacant yesterday when incumbent K Sankaranarayanan resigned

after he was transferred to Mizoram.

iii. Post of the Governor of Karnataka has remained vacant since July end when former Law Minister

H R Bhardwaj had completed his five year tenure while the post of Rajasthan Governor fell vacant

after Margaret Alva completed her tenure early this month.

iv. Goa Governor's post fell vacant when former SPG chief B V Wanchoo resigned last month.

2. Kerala Governor Sheila Dikshit resigns

i. Kerala Governor Sheila Dikshit tendered her resignation on Tuesday, a day after she met President

Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

ii. The former Delhi chief minister was appointed the Governor of Kerala by the UPA-II government

about five months ago.

iii. Ms. Dikshit said she will speak on the issue only after she gets an official word on the acceptance

of the resignation.

3. EPFO retains interest rate on provident fund at 8.75%

i. Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has decided to retain interest rate on provident

fund at 8.75 percent for the current fiscal.

ii. A decision in this regard was taken at the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees, the apex

decision making body of the EPFO, in New Delhi today.

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4. Indian origin Seema Malhotra appointed as Shadow Minister in U.K.

i. Indian – Origin Seema Malhotra was appointed as Shadow Minister in U.K. on 25 August 2014.

Seema Malhotra became the first MP from any party to be shadow Minister.

ii. She belonged to Labour Party. Labour Party appointed Seema Malhotra to tackle domestic

violence and related issues and to prevent violence against women and girls.

iii. She will replace Helen Jones. Helen Jones resigned from the post of Shadow Minister in July

2014.

5. Shiv Nadar gets ICSI award for corporate governance

i. 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.

ii. “HCL represents a culture of evolving globally acceptable standards of corporate governance. We

are pleased to felicitate Nadar for his exemplary work in institution— building and good

governance,” ICSI President CS R Sridharan said.

6. Ranjan Ben Bhatta is BJP's candidate for Vadodara LS seat

i. BJP today announced the name of Vadodara deputy mayor Ranjan Ben Bhatta as its candidate for

the Vadodara Lok Sabha seat vacated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ii. The party also announced the name of local municipal corporator Suresh Patel as the candidate for

the Maninagar Assembly constituency that Modi represented as Chief Minister of Gujarat.

iii. It was widely speculated that BJP President Amit Shah would be fielded from the seat, but Shah

has decided not to contest keeping in view the responsibility entrusted upon him in steering the party.

iv. The party has also declared the name of local leader Prem Singh Shakya as the candidate for the

Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh vacated by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Daily GK Updates: 24 - 25th August 2014

1. Textiles Ministry, Flipkart join hands for handloom weavers

i. Textiles Ministry today inked a pact with homegrown e-retailing major Flipkart to provide an

online marketing platform to handloom weavers across the country, an initiative to boost the

handloom sector, empower the weavers and uplift manufacturing in the country.

ii. Textiles Minister Santosh Gangwar, who was present on the occasion, emphasised that the focus

of this association should be to help weavers and weaver entrepreneurs to produce products in tune

with the buyer requirements and grow them significantly so that they may become manufacturers not

only at a local but also at a national level.

iii. This (MoU) will help us reach out to thousands of weavers across India... Through this initiative

we are giving a direct platform to the weavers to reach out to the customers. There will be no

middlemen.

iv. The customer will get access to variety of products across India. Flipkart will help them (weavers)

to list on the marketplace,” Ankit Nagori, Vice President—Marketplace at Flipkart.

2. 'Gandhi' filmmaker Richard Attenborough dies at 90

i. Oscar-winning British filmmaker Richard Attenborough, renowned for his critically-acclaimed

biopic on Mahatma Gandhi, has died at the age of 90.

ii. Lord Attenborough won an Academy Award for best director for 'Gandhi', one of many highlights

of a distinguished career that spanned six decades, on both sides of the camera.

iii. One of Britain's leading actors before becoming a highly successful director, he appeared in films

like 'Brighton Rock', World War II prisoner of war thriller 'The Great Escape' and later in

blockbuster 'Jurassic Park' as a theme park developer.

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3. U.S. Open Tennis Championships begins today

i. The U.S. Open Tennis Championships begin today. Serena Williams, who opens her quest for a

third successive US Open title with a meeting against fellow African American Taylor Townsend

tomorrow, said Arthur Ashe would have been proud.

ii. On Arthur Ashe Kids' Day that drew legions of young hopefuls to the National Tennis Center on

Saturday, Williams pondered the significance of her clash against the 18-year-old Townsend and the

legacy of Ashe, whose name graces the center court stadium.

4. Indira Sivasailam Endowment Award for T M. Krishna

i. Carnatic vocalist T. M. Krishna has been chosen for the fifth Indira Sivasailam Endowment Medal

and Concert.

ii. The fifth Indira Sivasailam Endowment Concert will be held at The Music Academy in Chennai

on September 25 during the Navaratri season.

iii. The artist is selected by a panel comprising members from the Endowments Committee of The

Music Academy and Ms. Mallika Srinivasan (Chairman - TAFE Limited), daughter of late A.

Sivasailam (Former Chairman - Amalgamations Limited) and late Indira Sivasailam.

iv. Every year, the Indira Sivasailam Endowment Fund recognizes an outstanding Carnatic musician

based on an established set of criteria.

5. Renewable energy award for GERMI director

i. Gandhinagar-based Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) Director, Prof T

Harinarayana has been conferred with “Energy and Environment Foundation Global Excellence

Award-2014 in Renewable Energy Sector” on August 21.

6. Maharashtra Gov K Sankaranarayanan quits

i. Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan resigned from his office on 24 August 2014. He

tendered his resignation in the backdrop of being transferred to Mizoram. He refused to take charge

of his new assignment. His tenure would have ended in 2017.

7. RN Ravi appointed new chief of Joint Intelligence Committee

i. Government has cleared the name of R N Ravi as the new chief of Joint Intelligence Committee, a

body tasked to assess intelligence gathered by various intelligence agencies including IB and RAW

ii. Ravi, a 1976 batch IPS officer from Kerala, who retired in 2012 as Special Director of Intelligence

Bureau, will hold the charge for next three years in the rank and pay of a Secretary to the

Government. The JIC functions under the National Security Council Secretariat.

Daily GK Updates: 23rd August 2014

1. T M Bhasin elected as Chairman of Indian Banks Association

i. T M Bhasin was elected as Chairman of Indian Banks Association (IBA) . He will be the Chairman

of IBA for 2014-15.T M Bhasin is the chairman and managing director of Indian Bank. He

replace KR Kamath.

ii. Besides, Chanda Kochhar who is ICICI Bank's managing director, Arun Kaul, CMD of UCO

Bank and S L Bansal who is the head of Oriental Bank of Commerce have been elected as the deputy

chairpersons of the association. Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairperson of State Bank of India was

elected as Honorary Secretary of IBA for 2014-15.

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Note: K R Kamath, who is the chairman and managing director of Punjab National Bank, was the

previous chairman of this Association. K R Kamath was chairman for two consecutive tenures, that

is, 2012-13 and 2013-14.

About Indian Banks Association i. The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) was formed on the 26 September 1946 with 22 members. As

on 1 April 2014 IBA has 189 members.

ii. Homi P Mody was the First Chairman of IBA.

iii. IBA is an association of Indian banks and financial institutions. It is based in Mumbai.

iv. The members comprises of Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks, Foreign Banks having

offices in India and Urban Co-operative Banks.

2. RBI notifies increase in deposit money under PPF

i. RBI has notified the increase in deposit money under Public Provident Fund, PPF to 1.5 lakh

rupees from 1 lakh rupees. ii. This is in pursuance to an announcement made by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier this

month. After the new ruling, people can now deposit up to 1.5 lakh rupees annually in their PPF

account. The Finance Minister had raised the investment limits in tax saving schemes with an aim to

encourage household savings.

3. INS Kamorta Anti-submarine corvette inducted into the Navy

i. INS Kamorta, an indigenously built anti-submarine warfare corvette, was inducted into the Eastern

Fleet of the Indian Navy on Saturday.

ii. INS Kamorta is the first of four ASW stealth corvettes designed by the Navy’s in-house

organisation, the Directorate of Naval Design (DND), under Project 28, with around 90 per cent

indigenous components. Measuring 110 meters in length, 14 meters in breadth and displacing 3,500

tonnes, the ship can achieve speeds of 25 knots.

iii. The ship is fitted with anti-submarine rockets and torpedoes, medium and close-in weapon

systems, and an indigenous surveillance radar.

4. Eminent Kannada writer UR Anantha Murthy passes away

i. Eminent Kannada writer and Jnanpith Award winner UR Anantha Murthy, 82, passed away here

on Friday.

ii. Anantha Murthy, a writer and critic, was considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement

in Kannada literature.

iii. He is the sixth person among eight recipients of the Jnanpith Award for the Kannada language. In

1998, he was conferred the Padma Bhushan.

iv. He served as the Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam, Kerala, during the

late 1980s.

Note: i. Anantha Murthy was one of the finalists of Man Booker International Prize in 2013.

ii. His important literary works include Samskara and Avasthe (both of which were made into movies

and won several awards), Bhava and Bharathi Pura. He has also written numerous short stories.

iii. Several of his novels and short fictions have been made into movies. One of his short

stories, Bara, was also made into a movie by renowned director MS Sathyu.

5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Pradhan Mantri Krishi Seenchayi Yojana

i. 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.

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Background Earlier, the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Seenchayi Yojana was proposed in the Lok Sabha on 10 July

2014 by Arun Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister in his maiden Budget Speech. The scheme was

planned to provide assured irrigation to mitigate risk to the farmer since bulk of the farm lands are

rain fed and it depends on monsoon.

6. 20th edition of annual Delhi Book Fair begins in New Delhi

i. Twentieth edition of annual Delhi Book Fair began at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi today. Theme

of the nine- day event is 'Literature in Cinema'.

ii. Around 530 stalls have been set up and 300 publishers are participating in the event. Online

booking option to avoid queue and ten air-conditioned buses to ferry visitors from different gates of

Pragati Maidan to exhibition halls have been arranged.

iii. Conferences, seminars, painting competitions, book launches and debates have also been planned.

Fair is being jointly organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and Federation of

Indian Publishers(FIP). Entry charge for adult is 20 rupees and for children 10 rupees.

7. Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul won first gold for India at Youth Olympics

i. Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul on 22 August 2014 bagged Silver medal in the 77 kg category

by lifting 141 kg in Snatch and 175 kg in Clean and Jerk to finish with a total of 316 kg. With this,

Rahul won India's first medal of the second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

ii. Silver medal of Rahul was also India's first medal in Weightlifting in Youth Olympics. It was also

his personal best performance in the total lift, which was six kg more than he did at the 2013 Asian

Youth Games held in Nanjing.

iii. Apart from this, Maymon Poulose in the 110 meter hurdles and Mithra Varun in the discus throw

qualified for the Final-A stage, which is the second stage.

8. Veteran CPI-M leader Amitava Nandy died at 71

i. Veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Amitava Nandy died in Kolkata. He

was 71 and was suffering from cancer in pancreas.

ii. He was a Member of Parliament of 14th Lok Sabha (2004-09).

iii. He represented the Dum Dum constituency in North 24 Parganas of West Bengal and was a

member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) political party.

9. Guru Hanuman Akhara chosen for 2014 Rashtritya Khel Protsahan Puraskar

i. Guru Hanuman Akhara, a Delhi-based wrestling academy was chosen for the 2014 Rashtritya Khel

Protsahan Puraskar (RKPP) . The Akhara was chosen in the category of establishment and

management of sports academies of excellence.

ii. Rashtritya Khel Protsahan Puraskar will be given on 29 August 2014 at the National Sports

Awards function by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee along with Arjuna, Dronacharya and

Dhyan Chand awards.

Other awardees of Rashtritya Khel Protsahan Puraskar are i. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (employment of sports persons and sports welfare measures)

ii. Jindal Steel Works (community sports — identification and nurturing of budding/young talent)

iii. Child Link Foundation of India — Magic Bus (other forms of sports activities not covered in the

categories mentioned in the schemes)

10. Afghanistan celebrated 95th Independence Day

i. Afghanistan celebrated its 95th Independence Day on 19 August 2014. It is celebrated to mark the

signing of the 1919 Anglo-Afghan treaty, which gave the country complete independence from

British Empire.

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ii. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this eve greeted Afghanistan’s President Hamid

Karzai on behalf the Government and people of India.

Daily GK Updates: 22nd August 2014

1. RBI projects 5.5 % GDP growth during current fiscal

i. The Reserve Bank has said the economy is likely to grow at 5.5 per cent in the current fiscal as it

sees pick-up in manufacturing and investment.

ii. As per the RBI’s annual report for the Financial Year 2013-14 released yesterday, there are signs

of improvement in mining and manufacturing activity, expected pick-up in investments, improved

external demand and stabilizing global commodity prices.

iii. The RBI also said that its surplus for the Financial Year 2014 fiscal declined 14.75 per cent to

52,679 crore rupees as its interest income from investments in foreign sovereign bonds declined

during the year even as its investments increased.

2. Arvind Subramanian all set to be the Chief Economic Advisor (CEA).

i. The Modi Government is likely to name Arvind Subramanian, the Dennis Weatherstone Senior

Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and senior fellow at the Centre for

Global Development as its Chief Economic Advisor (CEA).

ii. The CEA’s post has been vacant since last September after Dr. Raghuram Rajan took over as

Reserve Bank Governor.

iii. The Modi Government that has the economy’s revival high on its agenda presented its maiden

Budget last month without a full-time senior economist on-board.

iv. The appointment could also give the Centre’s war on food price rise a key strategist as the CEA

normally heads the Inter-Ministerial Group on inflation, of course if the Modi Government decides

to retain it

3. Import duty of sugar hiked from 15 to 25 per cent

i. Government today hiked the import duty on raw and refined sugar from 15 per cent to 25 per cent

to help the sugar industry clear cane arrears to farmers.

ii. The hike in duty is aimed at curbing import of sugar and improving the bearish sentiment in

domestic market.

iii. The sugar imports have been putting pressure on domestic prices and have prevented millers from

clearing cane arrears to farmers.

iv. However the move is expected to make the sweetener costlier for the common man.

4. B'desh to set up exclusive Economic Zone for Japan

i. Bangladesh has decided to set up an Exclusive Economic Zone for Japan to attract investors and

entrepreneurs. Ii. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told this to reporters last evening after a

meeting with visiting Japanese Vice Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry.

iii. The first Bangladesh-Japan Public-Private Economic Dialogue aimed at deepening economic and

commercial co-operation was held in Dhaka yesterday.

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iv. Japan has been moving investment away from China after adoption of "China plus One" policy in

2008 to reduce over dependence on Beijing. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit to Japan

in May, 2014 had offered 40 industrial plots in the Export Processing Zones to Japan.

v. The Commerce Minister told reporters that the allocation of the Exclusive Economic Zone will be

finalised during the forthcoming visit of the Japanese Premier to Bangladesh on 6th September.

5. Hockey India inducts Madhya Pradesh as new Associate Member

i. Hockey India on Thursday added its 23rd associate member by welcoming on board Hockey

Madhya Pradesh under its wings.

ii. Prior to being the associate member of Hockey India, Hockey Madhya Pradesh was known as

Madhya Pradesh Hockey Association, HI said in a statement.

iii. Speaking on the newly formed Hockey Madhya Pradesh, HI Secretary General Narinder Batra

said, "I welcome Hockey Madhya Pradesh to the family of Hockey India and we look forward to

them to continuing their commendable work that they have been doing since their inception as

Madhya Pradesh Hockey Association.

Note:i. Hockey India currently has 25 permanent, 23 associate, 2 members through State Olympic

Associations, 6 Academy members and 1 Hoc-Key Member.

ii. Nitin Dhimole is the President and Lok Bahadur is the General Secretary of the Hockey Madhya

Pradesh.

6. Lifter Rahul bags first gold for India at Youth Olympics

i. Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul bagged India's first medal of the second Youth Olympic Games

in Nanjing, China on Thursday.

ii. In the 77 kg category, Rahul won the Silver by lifting 141 kgs in Snatch, and 175 kgs in Clean and

Jerk to finish with a total of 316 kgs. This was also India's first medal in Weightlifting in Youth

Olympics.

iii. India had won eight medals, 6 Silver and 2 Bronze, in the inaugural Youth Olympics in 2010 in

Singapore.

7. India maintain its 2nd position in ICC ODI team rankings

i. India has maintained its second position in the latest ICC ODI team rankings after Australia despite

not having played ODIs for quite some time.

ii. Australia has 115 points while India has 112 points followed closely by South Africa and Sri

Lanka with 111 points each.

iii. Among the batsmen, Virat Kohli is placed third while skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is sixth and

Shikhar Dhawan is ranked eleventh in the ranking list.

iv. Hashim Amla is at the top followed by AB Devillliers. Amoong the bowlers, India’s Ravindra

Jadeja is placed fifth while Ashwin is at 18th place.

Daily GK Updates: 21st August 2014

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1. Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha elected new PM of Thailand

i. Thailand coup leader, Army Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha, has been elected Prime Minister of

Thailand.

ii. He was backed by 191 members of the 197-strong junta-picked national assembly, with three

abstentions and three voters absent. No assembly member opposed the selection of the army chief,

who was the sole candidate for the post.

iii. Prayuth seized power from an elected government in a bloodless coup on May 22nd, shortly after

Yingluck Shinawatra was dismissed as Prime Minister in a controversial court ruling.

Note: Prayuth seized power from an elected government in a bloodless coup on May 22nd, shortly

after Yingluck Shinawatra was dismissed as Prime Minister in a controversial court ruling.

2. Bangladesh to join BRICS Bank

i. 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.

ii. This was informed to news reporters by Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith last evening. Talking to

our correspondent, the Finance Minister said the Ministry had sent letters to Bangladesh Missions in

the five countries to know about the details of joining the bank.

iii. The Finance Minister also said that he had earlier expressed willingness of Bangladesh to join the

BRICS Bank to Indian High Commissioner, Pankaj Saran.

Note: Named as 'New Development Bank', BRICS Bank was formed after an agreement was signed

by BRICS countries during July, 2014 Summit in Brazil, with the aim at easing financing constraints

faced by BRICS and other developing countries to address infrastructure gaps and sustainable

development needs.

3. RBI issues guidelines for NBFCs on lending against shares

i. To reduce volatility in the capital market arising from non-banking finance companies (NBFCs)

offloading shares pledged by borrowers who have defaulted on loans, the Reserve Bank of India on

Thursday introduced a minimum set of guidelines on lending against shares.

ii. According to the guidelines applicable to NBFCs with asset size of Rs. 100 crore and above, the

NBFCs have to maintain a loan-to-value (of shares pledged) of 50 per cent and accept only

Group 1 securities as collateral for loans of a value more than Rs. 5 lakh.

iii. All NBFCs with asset size of Rs. 100 crore and above should report online to stock exchanges

information on the shares pledged in their favour by borrowers to avail themselves of loans.

iv. RBI said the NBFCs also have to ensure that these do not in any way come in the way of meeting

the requirements of genuine borrowers. The guidelines come into effect immediately.

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4. PM dedicates Ranchi-Dharamjaygarh-Sipat transmission line to the nation

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today dedicated to the nation the Ranchi-Dharamjaygarh-Sipat

765kv inter-regional power transmission line in Jharkhand.

ii. This line is the first inter-regional link between eastern region and western region, an official

statement said.

The Prime Minister also inaugurated the commencement of work at state-run NTPC’s thermal power

plant (3x660 MW) at North Karanpura at Chatra in Jharkhand.

iii. Central transmission utility Power Grid Corporation has implemented the Ranchi-

Dharamjaygarh-Sipat inter-regional transmission line at a total cost of Rs. 1,600 crore.

iv. Two new sub-stations have been built at Ranchi in Jharkhand and Dharamjaygarh in

Chhattisgarh, the statement added.

5. Squash Legend of Pakistan Hashim Khan died

i. Squash Legend of Pakistan Hashim Khan died. He died due to congestive heart failure. He was

believed to be 100. He died at his home in Aurora, Colorado.

ii. He was born in Nawakille near Peshawar in Pakistan in 1916.

iii. In 1942, Khan became a squash coach at a British Air Force officers' mess. In 1944, he won the

first All-of-India squash championship in Bombay, and successfully defended this title for the next

two years.

iv. When Pakistan became an independent state, he was appointed a squash professional at the

Pakistan Air Force, and won the first Pakistani squash championship in 1949.

6. Australian Cyril Baldock is oldest to swim English Channel

i. Australian Cyril Baldock has set the world record for the oldest person to swim the English

Channel.

ii. The 70 year old Bondi Surf Life Saving Club member completed the swim between England and

France in 12 hours and 45 minutes yesterday.

iii. It was his second Channel swim, after first completing the test considered the Everest of

swimming in 1985, when he became the fifth Australian to do so.


1. K V Thomas takes over as new PAC Chairman

i. Senior Congress leader K V Thomas today took over as the new Chairman of Parliament’s Public

Accounts Committee.

ii. The key committee, which examines CAG reports after they are tabled in Parliament, will hold its

first meeting next week.

iii. The post of the PAC Chairman is held by a senior member of the Opposition party. Murli

Manohar Joshi (BJP) was the Chairman of the PAC in the last Lok Sabha.

Note: i. The PAC, constituted every year, consists of not more than 22 members — 15 members

elected by the Lok Sabha and not more than seven members from the Rajya Sabha.

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ii. The PAC’s controversial 2011 draft report on the 2G scam, which had strongly indicted former

Telecom Minister A Raja and come down heavily on the PMO and the Cabinet Secretariat for not

taking “corrective action”, continued to be on its ‘unfinished agenda’ for three years.

2. Yoga guru BKS Iyengar passes away

i. World-renowned yoga guru and founder of the Iyengar School of Yoga BKS Iyengar passed away

here early this morning following illness.

ii. 96-year-old Iyengar had been ailing since some time and was admitted to a private hospital here a

week back. He was put on dialysis after his condition worsened two days back.He breathed his last at

3.15 am.

iii. Iyengar, honoured with Padma Vibhushan, is survived by a son and daughter.

3. HDFC Bank accorded most valued brand

i. 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 that was announced in Mumbai

today.

ii. At pole position, HDFC Bank’s valuation was much higher than telecom major Airtel at $ 8.2 bn

that occupied the second spot.

iii. Other banking sector leaders like State Bank of India (SBI) at $ 6.8 bn were placed at

number three with ICICI Bank ($ 3.53 billion) at fourth position.

iv. The combined brand value of all the 50 top brands in the ranking was about $70bn.

Note: The study, undertaken by marketing and brand consultancy Millward Brown in conjunction

with the WPP Group, claims to be the only one in India that takes into account consumer opinions of

brands to calculate the contribution that product brands make to business success.

4. IDBI donates Rs9 cr to build toilets in rural schools

i. The IDBI Bank has donated Rs 9 crore towards the building of 300 gender-segragated toilets in

schools close to the bank’s branches in rural and semi-urban areas.

ii. IDBI CMD M.S. Raghavan said this was the Bank’s contribution to the Swachh Bharat Mission

announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day.

iii. This was part of its CSR initative, he said, lauding the national mission which was sure to go a

long way to improve health and sanitation facilities for rural India and encourage the girl child’s

education.

5. 2015-16 to be observed as Water Conservation Year: Uma Bharti

i. Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti has stressed the need for interlinking of rivers to save

excess water from floods.

ii. Speaking at an International Seminar in New Delhi today, Ms Bharti said that her Ministry has

finalized 30 river interlinking projects which will be implemented in the next 10 years.

iii.The Union Cabinet has recently approved the Ken-Betwa link.

iv. She said that interlinking is being done keeping in view the aqua life and ecological balance.

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6. TCS and Bharti Foundation announced to spend 200 crore rupees for Clean India Campaign

i. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Bharti Foundation announce to spend 200 crore rupees

for Clean India Campaign.

ii. TCS has decided to provide hygienic sanitation facilities in 10000 schools for girl students. On the

other hand, Bharti Foundation (development arm of Bharti Enterprises) decided to build toilets in

Ludhiana in next three years covering every rural household.

iii. This initiative of Bharti Foundation is part of Satya Bharti Abhiyan where in it will invest in

improving sanitation facilities in government schools in rural Ludhiana by building new toilets for

girls where no such facilities exist.

7. Indian neuroscientist Partha Mitra awarded research grant to map the human brain

i. Partha Mitra, an Indian neuroscientist in the United States, was awarded Early Concept Grants for

Exploratory Research (EAGER) to map the human brain on 19 August 2014 under President Barack

Obama’s multi-year BRAIN Initiative.

ii. Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) is an Initiative by the

US government to identify brain structures.

iii. Partha Mitra was awarded this grant along with Florin Albeanu, a researcher at the National

Science Foundation. With this grant, they would develop a virtual neuroanatomist, an artificial-

intelligence system that can recognize neural structures and cell types in tiny images of brain slices.

They would also be developing conceptual and physical tools that may help to promote

neuroscience.

8. Hindu eco-temple opens in London

i. A Hindu temple, claiming to be the world's first 'eco-temple' featuring solar panels and a rainwater

harvesting system, has been opened in northwest London in the UK.

ii. The ornate Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Kingsbury combines traditional Indian architecture,

intricate carvings and masterful artistry with green technology.The temple opened yesterday.

iii. Mayor of London Boris Johnson described the new temple and facilities as stunning and

impressive during his recent visit to the temple.

9. India and Czech Republic signed MoU on technical cooperation in Railway

i. India and Czech Republic on 19 August 2014 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on

technical cooperation in railway sector. This MoU was signed between the Union Ministry of

Railways and Czech Railways (Ceske Drahy) of the Czech Republic and Association of Czech

Railway Industry (ACRI) of the Czech Republic.

ii. The MoU was signed at Rail Bhawan in New Delhi by Chairman of Railway Board, Arunendra

Kumar and Ambassador of Czech Republic, Miloslav Stasek.

10. Jammu and Kashmir to host Football Federation Cup in August 2015

i. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on 18 August 2014 that Jammu and Kashmir

will host Football Federation Cup in August 2015.

About Federation Cup

i. The Federation Cup is an annual club level football tournament of India. It was started in 1977.

23 | P a g e

ii. Presently it is the most important club tournament after the I-League to which it has become a de

facto League Cup. The winning club of the Federation Cup gets a chance to compete in the

continental level in AFC Cup.

iii. The current holders of the Federation Cup are Churchill Brothers which defeated Sporting Clube

de Goa by 3–1 in the 2014 final held in Kochi.

11. Dutch teenager Max Verstappen to become youngest Formula One driver

i. Max Verstappen of Netherlands will become the youngest Formula One (F1) driver in the F1

history when he will compete for the 2015 season. For the 2015 season he will make the F1 debut

with Scuderia Toro Rosso

ii. Verstappen currently racing in Formula Three is the son of former Formula 1 driver Jos

Verstappen, who had contested for 106 Grands Prix for teams such as Benetton and Tyrrell between

1994 and 2003.

iii. The youngest driver to earn a Championship point is Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, who was 19

when he finished ninth in this season's opening race in Australia. The Russian will be Verstappen's

team-mate in 2015.


1. PM invites ideas from people on new plan body

i. Taking a step further towards scrapping the Planning Commission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Tuesday invited ideas from the people on the new institution to replace the plan body.

ii. The government also announced creation of a special open forum on the website mygov. Nic. In

for suggestions on the new institution.

iii. "We envision the proposed Institution as one that caters to the aspirations of 21st century India

and strengthens participation of the States.... Let the ideas flow," the Prime Minister said in a

statement. It said, "The Prime Minister has invited ideas from people on what shape the new

institution to replace the Planning Commission can take."

iv. Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on Independence Day, Modi had said that the 64-year

old Planning Commission, a vestige of socialist era, would be soon replaced with a new institution to

address the current economic challenges and strengthen the federal structure.

v. "We need a new body with a new soul.... We will have to think about giving a new shape to the

Planning Commission.... Very soon this new institute will start working in place of Planning

Commission," Modi had said.

2. ICICI Bank offers EMI on debit cards

i. ICICI Bank, the country’s largest private sector bank, has launched EMI (equated monthly

instalments) facility on debit cards to enable its customers to convert their high value transactions

into easy instalments.

ii. The private lender has tied up with Samsung India to offer this facility across 9,000 stores in the

country, including large format retailers, multi-brand outlets and standalone stores, for purchase of

Samsung products like mobile phones, tablets and consumer electronics, among others.

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iii. The bank is the first in the country to introduce this facility, ICICI Bank said in a statement.

iv. ICICI Bank debit cardholders having fixed deposits with the bank can avail themselves of this

facility to buy products on EMIs of 3, 6, 9 or 12 months.s

3. Ravi Shastri appointed as the Director of Indian Cricket Team

i. The Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI) appointed Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri as the

Director of Indian Cricket Team on 19 August 2014. The decision came after seeing defeat of Indian

Cricket Team in Test series against England.

ii. Ravi Shastri would be assisting the team for the upcoming ODI series (25 August 2014-5

September 2014) and a single Twenty-20 (7 September 2014) against England. He would be

handling overall cricket affairs of the team. However, Duncan Fletcher will continue to serve as the

head coach of the team.

4. Chhattisgarh to develop marine fossil park in Manendragarh

i. Chhattisgarh government had proposed to set up a marine Fossil Park in Manendragarh area of

Koriya district.

ii. The department of forests of the state government would develop the park in Amakherwa area of

Manendragarh in Koriya district -- located in the Northern part of Chhattisgarh.

iii. The presence of marine fossil was first discovered by the forest officials during the visit in the

area located in the Northern part of the state.

iv. According to forest officials, the scientists had confirmed the presence of Fossil and suggested to

the state government to develop the area as Geoheritage centre.

5. Australia, Japan to assist India in civilian nuclear deal

i. Australia are soon expected to be the new entrant in the club of cooperating countries with India in

the civil nuclear sector.

ii. Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) official told Business Standard'', Japan is the leading

producer of turbine required for 1,000 MW capacity.

iii. The civil nuclear deal will be mutually helpful to both India and Japan. While Japan can tap huge

business potential in India's nuclear sector, India will certainly benefit from the equipment which is

not available generally.''

iv. As far as India's civil nuclear deal with Australia is concerned, the official said Australia with

huge uranium reserves will be able to meet India's future supplies.

v. Australia holds about a third of the world's recoverable uranium resources, and exports nearly

7,000 tonnes a year.

vi. The official informed that so far India since 2005 onwards has entered into civil nuclear

agreements with the US, Mangolia, Australia, Namibia, Argentina, UK, Canada, Kazakhstan and

South Korea.

6. Google buys travel guide app startup Jetpac

i. Google confirmed that it has bought the startup behind a Jetpac mobile application that creates

insightful travel guides by analyzing pictures from social networks such as Instagram.

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ii. Jetpac said that its application would be removed from Apple's online App Store in the days ahead

and that it would stop supporting the software in the middle of September.

iii. Jetpac was founded about three years ago and is based in San Francisco.

7. Roger Federer won Cincinnati Tennis Open

i. World number three tennis player, Roger Federer of Switzerland won Cincinnati Tennis Open, also

called Western & Southern Open.

ii. He defeated David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in the final played in Cincinnati, US. This was

sixth Cincinnati title for 33-year-old Federer and was the first Masters title for Federer since 2012.

iii. With this, he became the third oldest winner to win Cincinnati Open after Ken Rosewall (35 in

1970), Andre Agassi (34 in 2004). Besides, he also became the third player in the Open Era to reach

the 80 titles landmark, joining Jimmy Connors (109) and Ivan Lendl (94).

8. Founder of Delhi Gymkhana Club Dilbagh Singh died at 81

i. Dilbagh Singh, the noted club cricketer and founder of Delhi Gymkhana Club, died on 18 August

2104. He was 81. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

ii. His younger son Bantu Singh also was a dependable middle-order batsman who played for Delhi

during the mid 80's to early 90's and has also captained the side.

9. Humiliating defeat against England puts India to 5th position in ICC Rankings

i. With a humiliating defeat in the test series against England, India has been relegated to fifth

position behind South Africa, Australia, England and Sri Lanka in the latest ICC Test team rankings.

ii. The latest ICC Test ranking was released in Dubai today.

South Africa leads the ICC Test team ranking with 124 points followed by Australia with 123 points,

England with 104 points and Sri Lanka with 101 points.

iii. A pathetic display in England has pushed the Men in Blue to the fifth position in the ranking

table. No Indian batsman or bowler has been able to find a place in top ten.


1. ‘Janmashtami' fervour grips nation

i. Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna, is being celebrated in various parts of the country

today.

ii. The President, Vice President and Prime Minister have greeted the people on the occasion.. In his

message, President Pranab Mukherjee said that Lord Krishna's message of righteous conduct and

action inspires everyone to strengthen moral foundations of the society and strive selflessly to take

the country to new heights

iii. Vice President Hamid Ansari said that Lord Krishna's message of performing our duties with

sincerity and devotion, without attachment to the results of our actions remains a pertinent principle

for salvation of humanity.

iv. In his message, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, may Lord Krishna bless people with peace,

prosperity and happiness.

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2. Rajni Razdan takes over as new UPSC chief

i. Rajni Razdan on 16 August 2014 became the new Chairperson of the Union Public Service

Commission (UPSC). She was appointed as Chairperson of UPSC by the President Pranab

Mukherjee on 14 August 2014.

ii. She replaced Prof. D P Agrawal who completed his six-year tenure as Chairman of UPSC on 16

August 2014. He was appointed as Chairman of UPSC on 16 August 2008.

iii. She will serve as UPSC Chairperson for next six years. She had joined as UPSC member on 19

April 2010.

3. India ranked 5th amongst top 10 wind power producers: Report

i. India ranked fifth amongst top ten wind power producers in the world by adding 1,700 MW

capacity in 2013, a report said.

ii. “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.

iii. By the end of 2013, China, the US, Brazil, Canada and Germany remained the top countries for

total installed renewable power capacity, the report said.

iv. According to the report, over the past few years the costs of electricity generation from onshore

wind and particularly solar PV (photo-voltaic) have fallen sharply which has resulted in an increase

in wind and solar power projects being built without public financial support.

v. In terms of annual investment in the wind energy sector and production, China ranked number one

followed by Germany, UK, India and Canada.

vi. Worldwide more than 35,000 MW wind power capacity was added taking the total number to

3,18,000 MW in 2013 to which India contributed 1,700 MW.

4. HDFC Bank opens branch in Dubai

i. Expanding its global footprint, HDFC Bank has opened a branch in Dubai to provide wealth

management services to large Indian diaspora in the Gulf city.

ii. This is the bank’s third overseas branch after Bahrain and Hong Kong, the bank said in a

statement.

iii. In the United Arab Emirates, the second largest private lender has representative offices in Dubai

and Abu Dhabi, and plans to continue running both of them, it said.

iv. “The new branch at Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC) will offer advisory services to

NRIs regarding treasury products, trade finance, loans and other related services,” it said.

v. The branches at Bahrain and Hong Kong offer corporate, trade finance, loans and deposits to

corporates and ultra high net worth individuals, it added.

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5. AFI president Sumariwala to be Chef-de-Mission for Asian Games

i. Athletics Federation of India President Adille Sumariwala has been appointed the Chef-de-Mission

of the Indian contingent for next month’s Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

Note: India won 65 medals in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou in China with 12 medals (5 gold,

2 silver, 5 bronze) coming from athletics.

6. Haryana Government increases age of retirement from 58 to 60 years

i. The Haryana government announced a windfall for the state government’s employees which

includes raising the retirement age from 58 to 60 years, 25% per cent increment in Dearness

Allowance, full pension after 20 years service, and various other benefits.

ii. After 58 years of service, the employee will be given the option to either continue his service or

seek retirement.

7. Inflation dips to 5-month low of 5.19 % in July

i. Wholesale inflation dropped to a 5-month low of 5.19 per cent in July this year, due to a fall in

vegetable prices compared to the same month last year.

ii. Wholesale Price inflation had stood at 5.43 percent in June this year, and at 5.84 per cent in July

last year, according to data released by the government today.

iii. Inflation in the overall food articles basket rose to 8.43 percent in July this year. But vegetables

prices as a group actually declined 1.27 percent from last July, although they were up 22.83 percent

from June.

iv. Onion prices fell 8.13 per cent, year-on-year, in July. But potato prices shot up 46.41 per cent,

and fruits surged 31.71 per cent in July. Inflation in manufactured products stood at 3.67 percent.

8. Jayalalithaa appoints P.Venugopal as Parliamentary party leader in LS

i. AIADMK Party Chief Jayalalithaa has appointed A.Navaneethakrishnan as the leader of the

Parliamentary party in the Rajya Sabha and has removed Dr.Maitreyan who had been holding the

post for quiet a long time.

ii. Maitreyan has also been removed from the post of the leader of the Medical wing. Mrs. Sasikala

Pushpa has been named the Whip of the AIADMK party in the Rajya Sabha.

iii. A press release from the party also stated that Dr.P.Venugopal would be the leader of the

AIADMK Parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha .

iv. K.N.Ramachandran has been nominated as the whip of the party in the Lok Sabha.

9. Jayawardene ends test career in near-perfect style

i. Mahela Jayawardene ended his illustrious 17-year test career in near perfect style in the whitewash

win for Sri Lanka against Pakistan on Monday.

ii. A half-century at his home ground, another century stand with his friend and favourite batting

partner Kumar Sangakkara, capped with his teammates carrying him off the field on their shoulders.

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iii. In retirement he will be preparing a special place in his trophy cabinet for his 15-year test cap as

he turns his attention to playing at next year’s World Cup, before quitting international cricket

altogether.

iv. Jayawardene made his debut against India in 1997 as a 20-year-old and scored a half-century in

his first innings which largely went unnoticed because of Sri Lanka’s record breaking 952-6 with

Sanath Jayasuriya (340) and Roshan Mahanama (225) in a 576-run partnership.

10. Hollywood icon Lauren Bacall dead at 89

i. Legendary actress Lauren Bacall, an icon of Hollywood's golden age who lit up the silver screen in

a series of classic movies opposite her husband Humphrey Bogart, has died at the age of 89, her

family said.

ii. "With deep sorrow, yet with great gratitude for her amazing life, we confirm the passing of Lauren

Bacall," the Bogart estate Tuesday confirmed in a brief statement on Twitter.

iii. US media reports said Bacall had died after suffering a massive stroke at her home in New York

Tuesday morning.

iv. Born Betty Joan Perske "a nice Jewish girl from the Bronx," as she later put it Bacall electrified

Hollywood in her 1944 screen debut "To Have and Have Not", when she famously met Bogart and

"taught him how to whistle."


1. RBI cuts number of free cross-bank ATM transactions to 3 per month

i. Frequent withdrawal of money from ATMs will become expensive from November, with the RBI

imposing a limit of 3 transactions per month from ATMs of other banks and 5 from the same bank in

six metropolitan cities.

ii. A customer will be required to pay a fee of up to Rs 20 for using Automated Teller Machines

(ATMs) beyond the permitted numbers of transactions in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore,

Kolkata and Hyderabad.

iii. The new guidelines, which were issued in pursuance of a representation made to the central bank

by Indian Banks' Association, will come into effect from November 1, 2014.

iv. "The number of mandatory free ATM transactions for savings bank account customers at other

banks ATMs is reduced from the present 5 to 3 transactions per month (inclusive of both financial

and non-financial transactions) for transactions done at the ATMs located in 6 metro centres," RBI

said in a notification.

v. With regard to own bank ATMs, RBI said that banks will have to permit at least 5 free

transactions per month (both financial and non-financial).

vi. Banks have been allowed to charge a maximum fee of Rs 20 per transaction beyond the

stipulated ceilings.

vii. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also made it clear that the said reduction will not apply to

small/no frills/basic savings bank deposit account holders.

Note: i. Also, it will not be applicable for account holders other than the six metro cities.

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ii. The Reserve Bank said the cap on the number of free ATM transactions have been imposed in

view of the growing cost of ATM deployment and maintenance incurred by banks and also in view

of rising interchange outgo due to free usages.

2. Govt. launch Jan Dhan scheme to promote financial inclusion

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana' to help the poor open

bank accounts which will come with the facility of a debit card and an insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh.

ii. Observing that people have mobile phones but not bank accounts, Modi said, the scheme will help

in bringing the benefits of formal banking system to them.

iii. Under the Jan Dhan Yojana, he said, "the person who will open bank account will get a debit card

and the family will get Rs 1 lakh insurance cover.

iv. The Union Cabinet has already cleared the two-phase financial inclusion scheme under which

bank accounts will be opened for 15 crore poor persons with an overdraft facility of Rs 5,000 and

accident insurance of Rs 1 lakh.

Note: i. The main features of the scheme include Rs 5,000 overdraft facility for Aadhar-linked

accounts, Ru Pay Debit Card with inbuilt Rs 1 lakh accident insurance cover and minimum

monthly remuneration of Rs 5,000 to business correspondents who will provide the last link between

the account holders and the bank.

ii. The scheme, to be pushed by the government in a mission mode, seeks to provide two accounts to

7.5 crore identified households by August 2018.

3. Prime Minister Modi announces 'Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana'

i. Prime Minister also announced the 'Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojna' on the occasion of Independence

Day.

ii. Announcing the scheme for cleanliness drive, Modi said, "There are several schemes under Prime

Minister's name. But today I announce a scheme under Parliament's name, 'Sansad Aadarsh Gram

Yojna'.

iii. The blue print of Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana will be declared before the nation on October 11,

the birth anniversary of Jaiprakash Narain, he said.

iv. Earlier, he also announced the 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna' for farmers, under which the

farmers will be given the insurance of one lakh rupees.

4. PM Modi inducts INS Kolkata, says it will boost our military prowess

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday commissioned INS Kolkata, India's largest

indigenously built warship, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.

ii. It is an advanced version, but significantly more versatile, of the Delhi-Class ships – INS Delhi,

INS Mysore and INS Mumbai – which will add considerable teeth to India's maritime warfare

capabilities with all-round capabilities against enemy submarines, surface warships, anti-ship

missiles and fighter aircraft.

iii. Defence minister Arun Jaitley and chief of naval staff Admiral RK Dhowan were also present

during the ceremony.

iv. "INS Kolkata is entirely built in India and it is a symbol of self-reliance," said Modi while

addressing the sailors at the commissioning ceremony.

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v. The warship, constructed by the Mazagon Dockyards Limited, has been designed by Navy's

design bureau. The 6,800 tonne warship is a technology demonstrator and will showcase a giant leap

in shipbuilding technology in the country.

Note: The Prime Minister had dedicated India's largest warship INS Vikramaditya to the nation in

June in his first outing after taking charge.

5. Govt re-launches Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana

i. The government has re-launched the Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana, for the benefit of citizens

aged 60 years and above.

ii. The scheme will provide financial security to almost half a million people by ensuring regular

income during their advancing year.

iii. After re-launching the scheme in New Delhi yesterday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said it will

benefit the vulnerable section of society with limited resources as it will provide monthly pension

ranging from 500 to 5,000 rupees per month to senior citizens of the country.

Note: The Scheme will be administrated by the Life Insurance Corporation, LIC.

6. Bhutan, Nepal two most peaceful countries in South Asian region: GPI

i. Bhutan and Nepal are the two most peaceful countries in the South Asian region.

ii. According to Global Peace Index, 2014 released recently Bhutan stands at 16th position and

Nepal at 76th position.

iii. Banghladesh is ahead of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan in terms of 'state of peace'.

iv. While Bangladesh occupied 98th position, India was rated at 143, Pakistan 154, and

Afghanistan at 161.

v. The Global Peace Index is the world's leading measure of global peacefulness produced by the

Institute for Economics and Peace, gauging domestic and international conflict, safety and security in

162 countries by using 22 indicators.

vi. Sri Lanka has been rated at 105th position.

Note: Iceland, Denmark and Austria were ranked first, second and third respectively. India was

rated at 143.

7. Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan to head the Expenditure Management Commission

i. The Union Government decided to appoint former RBI governor Bimal Jalan as the head of the

Expenditure Management Commission. ii. He would be tasked to suggest ways for managing public

finances by reducing food, fertiliser and oil subsidies to include fiscal deficit.

Expenditure Management Commission

i. Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced the setting up of an Expenditure Management

Commission in the Union Budget 2014-15 in July 2014.

ii. The purpose of setting up the commission is to cut-off the spending and review government

expenditure to get maximum output.

iii. The Commission will submit its interim report before the Budget of 2015-16 and its final report

before the Budget of 2016-17.

8. Karnataka, Kerala sign MoU for rural livelihood mission

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i. Karnataka and Kerala governments have signed an MoU for rural livelihood mission.

ii. The Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchyatraj, H K Patil, and the Kerala Chief

Minister, Ommen Chandy, had signed the MoU on August 13 at Thiruvanathapuram.

iii. 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.

9. Gadkari announces 15,000 cr road projects for UP, Haryana

i. Union Minister for Roads, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari on Friday announced Rs 15,000

crore road projects in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

ii. The Centre would invest over 15,000 crore for construction of roads in Uttar Pradesh and

Haryana. 5,000 crore would be allotted for road projects in Uttar Pradesh whereas Haryana would

get 10,000 crore, Gadkari at the foundation stone laying ceremony of a flyover to be built over

Yamuna river here.

iii. The Minister said the 200 crore flyover project, stretching over 23 km, would connect Greater

Noida and Greater Faridabad.

iv. “The flyover would be completed in two years. It would help in the development of both the

districts,” he said.

10. Ravichandran Ashwin nominated for 2014 Arjuna Award

i. Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been nominated for the 2014 Arjuna Award for his

performances as India's leading spinner.

ii. The Tamil Nadu player, who made his Test debut in 2011, was part of India's World Cup victory

that year and recently became the number one allrounder in the ICC rankings.

iii. In the Test rankings, Ashwin displaced South Africa's Vernon Philander at the number one spot.

iv. The 27-year-old Ashwin has been India's premier offspinner for the last few years and he has

taken 104 Test wickets from 20 matches and 106 scalps from 79 ODIs.

11. Delhi University professor Dr. Sunil Kumar received Global South Award of IPSA

i. Delhi University professor Dr. Sunil Kumar received Global South Award given by International

Political Science Association (IPSA). The award was given at the 23rd world congress of political

science held in Montreal, Canada.

ii. Dr. Kumar received the award in recognition of outstanding work on the politics of the developing

world. He was awarded for his paper titled Changing Landscape of Electoral Democracy and

Political Demography: A Study of 2014 General Elections in India.

iii. He is an Associate Professor in Political Science Department of Shyam Lal College of Delhi

Univeristy.

iv. The first Global South Award was bagged by Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav in 2009.

12. China unveiled next generation ICBM Dongfeng -41 i. China on 3 August 2014 unveiled its next generation Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

(ICBM) Dongfeng – 41 (DF-41).

ii. The missile with an operation range varying between 12000 km to 15000 km is amongst the

world’s longest range missiles.

iii. DF-41 with its long range has similar abilities to the US rocketMinuteman, which has a range of

13000 km or Russian RS-24M Yars.

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iv. The DF-41 missile is a nuclear solid fuelled road mobile intercontinental ballistic missile and the

weapons are meant for deterrence. Further it is speculated that the DF-41 missiles will be able to

carry three nuclear warheads.

13. Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman to bag Fields Medal i. Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian born mathematician, became the first woman to win coveted

Fields Medal on 13 August 2014 in Seoul, South Korea.

ii. The award recognized her contributions to the field of geometry particularly in studying the

symmetry of curved surfaces such as spheres.

iii. Mirzakhani’s work has implications for the study of cryptography and prime numbers as well as

for physics and quantum field theory.

iv. She was one of four mathematicians who were awarded the Fields Medal 2014. Three other

awardees were:

• Artur Avila of the Institute of Mathematics of Jussieu, for his contributions in Dynamical Systems

Theory

• Manjul Bhargava of Princeton University, for developing new approach in the geometry of

numbers

• Martin Hairer of the University of Warwick, for his contributions to the Theory of Stochastic

Partial Differential Equations

14. Kush Kumar became first Indian player to reach semi final of World Junior Squash

Championship

i. Kush Kumar on became the first Indian player to reach the semi-final of World Junior Squash

Championship. The championship is being held in Windhoek, Namibia.

ii. He achieved this feat when he defeated England's George Parker 11-8, 11-8 in straight games in

quarterfinal of the WSF World Junior Individual Squash Championship. From the outset, Kumar had

a firm control of the proceedings, getting his drive on direction and drops to perfection.


1. Lok Sabha passes Judicial Appointment Bill

I. The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 was passed by voice vote along

with one official amendment.

II. Along with it, the 99th Constitution Amendment Bill, which will give Constitutional status to

the proposed Commission, was passed by 367 in favour and nil against.

III. Under the new law where a Commission will decide appointment of judges to Supreme Court

and High Courts, seniority along with “ability” and “merit” will be considered for elevation.

2. Major mathematics awards to two Indian origin scientists

I. Two mathematicians of Indian origin, Manjul Bhargava and Subhash Khot, are among the

eight winners of the prestigious awards of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) that were

announced at the inaugural of the 9-day International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) which

began today at Seoul, Republic of Korea.

II. The President of Korea, Park Geun-hye, gave away the awards.

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NOTE –

I. The ICM is held every four years and, traditionally, the IMU awards are presented at this

quadrennial event.

II. The awards include the Fields Medal, the highest award in mathematics, the Rolf Nevanlinna

Prize and the Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize.

3. UNHRC appointed members of Commission of Inquiry to probe human rights violations in

Gaza

I. United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on 12 August 2014 appointed three member

to its Commission of Inquiry to probe possible war crimes and human rights violations during a

month long conflict in Gaza

II. The panel will also investigate human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

including Jerusalem. The conflict on the Gaza strip began on 13 June 2014.

III. The commission will be headed by William Schabas a Canadian international criminal law

and human rights professor at Middlesex University in London.

IV. The other two members include Amal Alamuddin of United Kingdom (British-Lebanese

lawyer, specialising in international law and human rights) and Doudou Diene of Senegal (was the

United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, xenophobia and related

intolerance from 2002 to 2008).

4. Miroslav Klose of Germany announced retirement from International Football

I. Miroslav Klose of Germany announced his retirement from international football.

II. He was the part of Germany team that won the FIFA World Cup 2014 held in Brazil.

III. During the FIFA World Cup 2014, he scored 2 goals taking his total goals in all the editions of

World Cup to 16. With this he became the leading goal scorer in World Cup overtaking 15 goals

scored by Ronaldo of Brazil.

NOTE -

I. He also is the all-time top scorer for Germany with 71 goals in 137 appearances.

5. TRAI proposes ownership curbs, independent regulator for media

II. India’s telecom and media regulator on Tuesday recommended an independent regulator for the

media, barring political parties and government departments from entering either broadcasting or TV

distribution (through cable and direct-to-home, or DTH, TV), and suggested a formula for

calculating “media dominance” that will likely affect at least some media companies in some

markets.

III. Trai hasrecommended restrictions on cross-media ownership, but only if a media company has

dominance across print and television.

IV. The dominance will be calculated by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), and be market-

specific, which could cause problems for some companies in some markets.

6. Supreme Court gets four new Judges

Four new judges was sworn-in by the Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha today. The new judges are-

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I. Senior advocate Uday Umesh Lalit, who hails from Maharashtra joined the Bar in June 1983

is practising in the apex court since 1986. He will have a tenure of about eight years, including about

months as the Chief Justice of India in 2022 after the retirement of Justice N.V. Ramana.

II. Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, who hails from Madhya Pradesh became a Judge of Madhya

Pradesh High Court in 1999. Initially he was appointed Chief Justice of Manipur and later shifted to

Gauhati High Court as its Chief Justice. He will have a tenure of over five years.

III. Justice R. Banumathi, who hails from Tamil Nadu was elevated as Judge of the Madras High

Court on April 3, 2003 and elevated as Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court in November 2013.

She will be first woman judge from Tamil Nadu to occupy the highest judicial office. She will have a

tenure of over six years.

IV. Justice Prafull Chandra Pant, who hails from the then undivided Uttar Pradesh became a

Judge of Uttarakhand High Court in 2004. He was appointed Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court

from September 2013. He will have a brief tenure of little over three years.


1. 18th

BASIC Ministerial Meeting begin from today

i. Environment Ministers of BASIC countries will meet in New Delhi to discuss important issues

relating to current United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

negotiations.

ii. The 18th BASIC Ministerial Meeting will be held on August 7-8, 2014 at New Delhi.

iii. The two-day 18th BASIC Ministerial Meeting, to be held from tomorrow, will provide an

important opportunity to BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) to enhance

coordination on important issues under consideration in Climate Change negotiations and arrive at a

common position

iv. Issues related to Warsaw COP, Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP), the Green Climate

Fund (GCF), the Standing Committee on Finance, the Technology Executive Committee (TEC) and

the Climate Technology Center and Network (CTCN) were discussed during the meeting.

Note: i. The 17th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in Hanzghou, China in

October last year.

ii. India hosted the 14th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change on in February 2013 at

Chennai which was attended by representatives from Brazil, South Africa, India and China.

2. Norms tightened for asset reconstruction companies

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened norms for asset reconstruction companies to

improve discipline and bring about transparency in the sale and purchase of bad loans.

ii. Now, asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) will have to pay upfront 15 per cent of the bid

value of non-performing loans, against five per cent earlier.

iii. Also, those planning to buy bad loans will get more time (at least two weeks) to carry out due

diligence before bidding for stressed assets. So far, banks have enjoyed complete discretion in

deciding the timeframe for due diligence.

iv. RBI said ARCs would get up to six months to plan recoveries from the non-performing assets

acquired. Currently, ARCs get about a year for this.

v. On the valuation of securities receipts, RBI said the initial valuation of these receipts should be

carried out within six months of acquiring the asset, instead of the current one year.

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vi. ARCs will have to mandatorily disclose the basis of valuations in case the acquisition value of

assets is more than the book value. They will also have to disclose the details of the assets disposed

of at substantial discount during a year and the reasons for this.

3. Mizoram Governor Kamla Beniwal removed

i. Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India removed Kamla Beniwal the Governor of Mizoram on 6

August 2014. She was removed two months before her tenure was supposed to end.

ii. The President directed that Beniwal shall cease to hold the office and gave additional charge of the

office to Vinod Kumar Duggal, Governor of Manipur.

iii. Duggal will discharge the functions of the Governor of Mizoram in addition to his own duties,

until some regular arrangement for the office of Governor of Mizoram is made.

4. Aditya Vardhan Agarwal, new Vice-President of Indian Chamber of Commerce

i. Aditya Vardhan Agarwal, Director, Emami Group, has been nominated and appointed as the Vice-

President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

ii. He is the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Ethiopia in Kolkata. Earlier, he served as an

Executive Committee Member of Assocham and as a Director of the West Bengal Industrial

Development Corporation.

5. Union Cabinet approved the Juvenile Justice Bill, 2014 to amend the Juvenile Justice Act,

2000 i. The Union cabinet on 6 August 2014 approved the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of

Children) Bill, 2014 to amend the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2000. The Union government plans to

introduce the bill in the Monsoon session of Parliament.

Age of a Juvenile in the JJ Bill, 2014

i. 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.

ii. The bill empowered the Juvenile Justice Board to decide whether a minor would be tried in a

regular court or sent to a correctional centre.

iii. The bill provides that if a minor is sent to regular court, he would not be sentenced to life or death

if found guilty. Currently, the maximum punishment under the Juvenile Justice Act is three years

confinement at correctional homes.

The Provision for Children in conflict zones and Corporal punishment in the JJ Bill, 2014

i. 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.

ii. The Bill widens the definition of corporal punishment by including physical and verbal abuse.

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iii. It proposes stringent punishment for those who subject "a child to corporal punishment causing

hurt and emotional distress for the child".

iv. Offenders could face jail term between six months on first conviction. Depending on the gravity

of physical injury and mental trauma of the child, the offender could be punished with three to five

years in jail and up to 1 lakh rupees fine.

v. If the offender is an employee of an institution dealing with children, he can be dismissed from

service for repeat offence. Even the management of such institution can be sentenced to up to three

year jail and 1 lakh rupees fine for non-compliance or non-cooperation in any probe.

vi. Those ragging students within or outside an institution can be sentenced to up to three years in jail

and fined up to 1 lakh rupee. Anybody found to abet or propagate ragging can land in jail, too.

Note: If the Bill is passed in Parliament, India will join 40 other countries where corporal

punishment is a penal offence.

6. Arijit Basu is new MD & CEO of SBI Life Insurance

i. Arijit Basu has taken over as Managing Director and CEO of SBI Life Insurance, from Atanu Sen,

who retired on July 31, 2014, said the company in a release issued on Wednesday.

ii. A graduate in Economics and MA in History, Basu started his career with State Bank of India in

1983 as a Probationary Officer.

iii. He has over three decades of experience in the banking sector.

7. Padho Pardesh scheme for minority community

i. Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah has said the 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.

ii. She said 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.

iii. The Minister said under the scheme, 100 per cent interest subsidy will be provided on the interest

payable on the education loan availed for the period of moratorium, which includes the course period

plus one year or six months after getting the job, whichever is earlier.

8. Vladimir Putin signed decree baning imports of agricultural products from West

i. Russian President Vladimir Putin on 6 August 2014 signed a decree that bans imports of

agricultural products from all countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia over the crisis in

Ukraine. Major sanctions were made by the US and EU.

ii. Putin by targeting the western food exports aims to ensure the safety of Russia and this move

threatens to upset trade worth tens of billions of dollars.

iii. Ban on the food imports, should continue for up to one year. The decree that immediately came

into force asked the government to draw up a detailed list of products that would be banned.

iv. The decree stating ban on imports of agricultural products would have a heavy impact on Russia,

as it hugely depends on imported foodstuffs of which making are from West.

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Background

The Western Nations like the US and European Union (EU) has imposed several sanctions on Russia

after alleging that Russia is supporting the rebels of Ukraine. They imposed asset freezes and loan

bans on a score of individuals and companies.

9. 8 injured in blast at NTPC plant

i. Eight persons, including two engineers, sustained burn injuries in a blast on Wednesday evening in

a pipeline at one of the units of an NTPC plant in Korba district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

ii. The incident occurred at around 9 P.M. at Unit No.7 of the National Thermal Power Corporation

(NTPC) plant when labourers and engineers were at work there, a senior police official told

reporters.

10. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, CMD of Bandhan won ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award

i. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, CMD of Bandhan, has received the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award

from the All India Management Association (AIMA).

ii. Among the other awardees of the year were 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).

iii. The AIMA Managing India Awards 2014 were given away at a function in the Capital by Union

Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday.

iv. Every year, AIMA celebrates the achievements of outstanding companies, entrepreneurs and

managers, who have made salutary contribution to nation building.

11. SEBI gets powers to clamp down on fraudulent deposit schemes

i. The Securities Laws (amendment) Bill, 2014, which was approved unanimously by the Lok Sabha

on Wednesday, allows SEBI to issue disgorgement orders.

ii. SEBI, in its little over two decades of existence, has issued disgorgement orders only on two

occasions; once, in 2006, during the IPO irregularities issue, and for the second time in the Satyam

Computer scandal.

iii. The money collected will now be parked in SEBI’s Investor Protection and Education Fund.

iv. This fund should not be confused with the Investor Education and Protection Fund that has been

set up under the company law, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley clarified during a parliamentary

discussion on the Bill.

v. “They are two separate funds. The IEPF under SEBI will have disgorged monies from the

regulator’s directions. The other investor protection fund maintained under the company law is

mainly unclaimed dividends,” Jaitley said.

vi. Over the last one year — since the promulgation of an ordinance to initiate action against illegal

deposit-taking schemes — the IEPF under SEBI has garnered a corpus of ₹30 crore.

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vii. “This move to explicitly empower SEBI to issue disgorgement orders is a big thing and augurs

well for investor protection. So far, SEBI saw it only as an implicit power. Now that it will be

explicit, SEBI will, in all its actions, first look at the possibility of disgorgement from the offenders,”

MS Sahoo, Secretary, Institute of Company Secretaries of India, said.

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