Current Affairs 2014 at a glance

❖ Narendra Damodardas Modi was sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India on May 26, 2014.The swearing in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended by the heads/ representatives of eight SAARC nations. Along with Modi 44 Ministers also took oath.

❖ The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became the first party in 30 years to win a majority on itsown in the Lok Sabha. In the 16th Lok Sabha elections it won 282 seats. Indian National Congress won 44 seats.

❖ Anandiben Patel became the first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat in May 2014. Sikkim Democratic Front leader Pawan Chamling was sworn in as the CM of Sikkim for a record fifth consecutive term. Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik was sworn in as the CM of Odisha for the fourth consecutive term. Congress leader Nabam Tuki became the CM of Arunachal Pradesh for the second consecutive time.

❖ Jitan Ram Manjhi succeeded Nitish Kumar as the new CM of Bihar. TR Zeliang succeeded Neiphiu Rio as the CM of Nagaland.

❖ 13 - year-old Malavath Purna became the youngest female climber to scale the Mount Everest on May 25, 2014.

❖ Dalia Grybauskaite was re-elected as the President of Lithuania in May 2014. She is the first female President of Lithuania.

❖ Salvador Sanchez Ceren took office as the President of El Salvador on June 1, 2014. Luis Guillermo Solis became the President of Costa Rica on May 8, 2014. Juan Carlos Varela assumed office as the President of Panama on July 1, 2014.

❖ Peter Mutharika assumed office as the President of Malawi on May 31, 2014.

❖ Major General Kristin Lund of Norway is the first-ever woman to serve as the head of a UN peacekeeping operation.

❖ Nripendra Mishra was appointed as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is the former Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

❖ Former United States Secretary of the State Hillary Rodham Clinton launched her book 'Hard Choices'.

❖ 'RuPay', India's own card payment network, was launched by the President Pranab Mukherjee. It was developed by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). The RuPay card is accepted at all ATMs.

❖ Justice B. S. Chauhan was appointed the Chairman of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

❖ Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) has been included in the second schedule to the RBI Act, 1934.Now BMB becomes eligible for loans from RBI on bank rate.

❖ RBI made it mandatory for banks to install talking ATMs with Braille keypads from July 2014onwards. It is for the benefit of persons with disabilities.

❖ P.J. Nayak Committee appointed by the RBI recommended the reduction of government stake in public sector banks to less than 50 percent.

❖ Japan won the Thomas Cup men's badminton title for the first time. Japan defeated Malaysia in the final in New Delhi in May 2014. China won the Uber Cup women's badminton title for the13th time by defeating Japan in the final in New Delhi. India won a bronze medal for the first time in Uber Cup.

❖ Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the Indian Premier League- 7 title by defeating Kings XI Punjab at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on June 1, 2014. It is KKR's second IPL trophy.

❖ Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K. Chandrasekar Rao was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of Telangana, the 29th State of India, on June 2, 2014. Telugu Desham Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu took over as the first Chief Minister of bifurcated Andhra Pradesh on June 8, 2014.

❖ The Supreme Court appointed Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee to probe the 2013 IPL spot fixing allegations.

❖ Manuel Santos won the Presidential elections of Colombia for the second time in June 2014.

❖ Reuven Rivlin succeeded Shimon Peres as the new President of Israel in June 2014.

❖ Former army chief Abdel Fattah el Sisi was sworn in as the President of Egypt in June 2014.

❖ Mukul Rohatgi was appointed the Attorney General of India in June 2014. Ranjit Kumar is the new Solicitor General.

❖ N. Srinivasan is the first Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

❖ Petro Poroshenko was sworn in as the President of Ukraine.

❖ Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a third term in office in June 2014.

❖ Sumitra Mahajan became the Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha in June 2014. She represents Indore Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh.

❖ Former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval was appointed the National Security Adviser (NSA). He is the first police officer to be decorated with Kirti Chakra, a gallantry award given during peacetime.

❖ Kedarnath Singh was chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for 2013. He is the 10th Hindi writer to receive the honor and is the 49th recipient of Jnanpith award.

❖ The 2013 Moortidevi award was given to Malayalam writer C. Radhakrishnan. He is a scientistturned writer.

❖ France announced to honor Shah Rukh Khan with Officer of the Legion of Honour for his contribution to cinema.

❖ Former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland is the first recipient of the Tang Prizefor sustainable development. She is the former Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO).

❖ India-born plant scientist Sanjay Rajaram was chosen for the World Food Prize for 2014. He is a renowned wheat scientist.

❖ Irish author Eimear McBride won the 2014 Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction for her debutnovel 'A Girl is a Half-formed Thing'. This prize was earlier known as Orange Prize.

❖ The autobiography of Hindi actor Dilip Kumar 'The Substance and The Shadow' was launched.

❖ The supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was test-fired. It is an Indo-Russian missile with a range of 290 km.

❖ Okavango Delta in Botswana became the 1000th site to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site List.

❖ Rani-ki-Vav, an 11th century stepwell in the Patan area of Gujarat and the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Himachal Pradesh were accorded the UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

❖ The government has accepted the report of Arvind Mayaram Committee on rationalizing definitions of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

❖ Salman Rushdie, the India born UK author was named the winner of 2014 Pen Pinter Prize.

❖ Saina Nehwal won the Australian Open Super Series badminton title defeating Spain's Carolina Marin.

❖ Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the World Rapid Chess Championship and also the World BlitzChess Championship, both in Dubai in June 2014.

❖ Australia retained the men's Hockey World Cup title by outplaying Netherlands in the final inThe Hague, Netherlands in June 2014. Netherlands defeated Australia to win the women's title.

❖ Rafael Nadal of Spain clinched the 2014 French Open tennis men's singles title beating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final. It is Nadal's 9th French open title. Maria Sharapova of Russia wonher second French Open women's singles title by defeating Simona Halep of Romania.

❖ Two Indian Americans Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe became the co-champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest held in USA.

TOP 100 CURRENT AFFAIRS OF 2014

NationalGoods and Services Tax Bill, 2014 introduced in Lok Sabha

It is also called Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill

It seeks to introduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime

Inserts article Articles 246A, 269A and 279A in the Constitution

Provides for Union Finance Minister headed GST Council

Sets in a uniform and integrated indirect tax regime in India

14th Finance Commission submitted its report to President

It covers the period between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2020

The Commission headed by former RBI Governor Y V Reddy

Provides for devolution of tax receipts from the Centre to the States

Article 280 of Constitution provides for appointment of Finance Commission

First and 13th Finance Commission was headed by K C Neogy & Dr Vijay Kelkar resp.

Union government decriminalized Attempt to Suicide

For this purpose Section 309 of Indian Penal Code removed

20th Law Commission headed by Justice A P Shah recommended in its 210 Report

210th Report on Humanization and Decriminalization of Attempt to Suicide

France was the first country to decriminalize this offence

Lok Sabha passed the Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill, 2014

Introduced as a periodic measure for updating the list of laws in force

Seeks to repeal 90 laws and pass amendment to two laws

Proposes to amend the two laws to rectify typographical errors

The laws are Railways (Amendment) Act, 2008 and the Indian Maritime University Act, 2008

Karnataka Mobile One App launched for m-governance

Launched by President Pranab Mukherjee in Bengaluru

First such app in India to usher in an era of mobile governance

Developed under the ICARE program of Karnataka government

Expected to provide more than 4000 services to citizens

Social Justice Bench constituted on social issue

Constituted by Supreme Court on 3 December 2014

Started operation on 12 December 2014

The brainchild of Chief Justice of India H L Dattu

Two-judge bench to be headed by Justice Madan B Lokur

The other member is Justice U U Lalit

627 names of Indians holding black money abroad submitted to SC

Includes details of treaties India signed with France and other nations

Half of the 627 names are Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)

Most of them have accounts with HSBC Bank, Geneva

SIT headed by Justice M B Shah is probing black money case

Union government unveiled new counter-Naxal doctrine

Proposes four-pronged approach to deal with Naxals

These are Security, Development, Rights and Entitlement and Public Perception

Management

Focus on security interventions in worst LWE-affected areas

In moderately-affected areas, security and development initiatives will be focus

In less affected areas, development interventions will take precedence

Swachh Bharat Mission launched

Launched on occasion of 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

Aims at making India clean by 2019

The year 2019 will be 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

Nine people nominated to inspire people to join the Mission

SC quashed allocation of 214 coal blocks

Quashed by SC bench headed by Justice R M Lodha

Allocations were arbitrary and illegal

4 out of 218 coal blocks not cancelled

Includes one of NTPC and SAIL each and two of Sasan UMPP owned by Anil Ambani

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) launched

It was launched on 28 August 2014

Aims to open 15 crore bank accounts by 15 August 2015

It is a mega financial inclusion plan

Each person covered to be provided bank accounts and RuPay debit cards

Also provision for inbuilt insurance cover of 1 lakh rupees

India: first Country to Ratify the Marrakesh Treaty

India ratified the treaty on 30 June 2014

Will facilitate access to published works for blind and visually impaired persons

The treaty was signed in Marrakesh, Morocco on 28 June 2013

It has been signed by 64 countries

SC ruled Shariat Courts are illegal

No legal status has been granted to the Sharia Courts

Its fatwas/decrees are illegal if it violates fundamental rights

The decision was delivered by SC bench headed by Justice C K Prasad

The judgement given on a petition filed by Vishwa Lochan Madan in 2005

India became permanent signatory to Washington Accord

India signed the Accord on 13 June 2014

Joined a select group of 17 countries who joined the Accord

Global employment opportunities for India’s technical and engineering graduates to increase

Accord promotes mobility and quality assurance of engineers across international

boundaries

Sumitra Mahajan elected as Speaker of 16th Lok Sabha

She replaced Meira Kumar

Became the second women presiding officer of the Lok Sabha

She was elected to 9th Lok Sabha in 1989 for the first time

2014 elections was her eighth continuous term as Member of Parliament

 Telangana became the 29th state of India

It achieved statehood on 2 June 2014

Ten districts of the then Andhra Pradesh became part of Telangana

Chandrasekhar Rao sworn-in as the first Chief Minister

ESL Narasimhan is the Governor of Telangana

Hyderabad is the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

Narendra Modi sworn-in as 15th Prime Minister of India

He was sworn-in on 26 May 2014

He took oath with 45 Council of Minister including 23 Cabinet Ministers

First Prime Minister of India born in independent India

For the first time 25% of the Cabinet post allocated to women

Swearing-in ceremony attended by heads of seven SAARC countries

16th Lok Sabha Elections 2014

The election results for 543 constituencies declared on 16 May 2014

Bharatiya Janata Party emerged victorious with 282 seats

Congress led incumbent government just secured 44 seats

BJP won the majority for the first time since independence

The elections were conducted in nine phases from 7 April – 12 May 2014

Karnataka: first state in India to launch Health Adalat 

The Health Adalat was launched in Gulbarga, Karnataka.

Aims to ensure that all health facilities extended by the government reached all sections of

society.

During Health Adalat the department will interact with public representatives. 

Debroy Panel on restructuring Railway Board

The Panel would submit its report till the end of 2015

The seven-member panel will be headed by economist Bibek Debroy

Mandated to estimate the financial needs of railways and ensure policies to raise resources

Restructuring of railway board announced in Union Budget 2014-15

Film Liar's Dice: India's official entry for Oscar Awards 2015

The movie has been directed by Geethu Mohandas

It is nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film category

12-member jury headed by eminent filmmaker T Hariharan nominated it

Leading casts are Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui

The 87th Oscar Awards will be held in the US on 22 February 2015

C Rangarajan Committee on Poverty

Total number of poor in India at 363 million or 29.6 percent of the population

The daily per capita expenditure pegged at 32 rupees for the rural poor

The daily per capita expenditure pegged at 47 rupees for the urban poor

Poverty line is pegged 972 rupees per month for rural India

Poverty line pegged at 1407 rupees per month for urban India 

Largest Solar Power Plant of India launched

130-MW Welspun Solar Plant launched at Bhagwanpur in Neemuch, MP

It is also the Asia's Largest Solar Power Plant.

It was constructed at a cost of 1100 crore rupees.

The Project will raise Indian solar capacity by 7 percent.

InternationalUS President signed Ukraine Freedom Support Bill, 2014

The Act authorizes administration to impose sanctions on Russia

The sanctions to be imposed if needs arises

Sanctions were imposed on Russia over Ukraine crisis

Authorizes 350 million US dollars in lethal and non-lethal military aid Ukraine

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe re-elected

He was re-elected for another four year term

Japan's ruling coalition won a two thirds majority in the Snap elections

Elections were held for the Lower House of the National Diet.

The elections saw the voter turnout at 52.7 percent, the lowest since World War-II 

Nobel Prize presented

Peace Prize winners Kailash Satyarthi & Malala Yousufzai

Physiology Prize winners John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser

Literature Nobel Prize winner French author Patrick Modiano

Physics Nobel Prize winner Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura

Chemistry Nobel Prize Eric Betzig from Janelia Research Campus, Stefan Hell, Gottingen

Economic Nobel Prize given to Jean Tirole 

First World Soil Day observed on 5 December 2014

The Day was observed by the UNFAO

UNFAO and GSP declared the year 2015 as UN International Year of Soils

Events held to raise idea that soil is a critical component of natural system

The day coincides with birthday of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 released

This was the 20th edition

Measures perceived levels of public sector corruption in 175 countries

India with a score of 38 was ranked 85th

The index was topped by Denmark with a score of 92.

Index is prepared by Transparency International 

Time Magazine released list of 25 Best Inventions 2014

Mangalyaan named among the best inventions of 2014

Magazine describes it as a technological feat

It is described as Supersmart Spacecraft- Mangalyaan

The list also includes two inventions of Indians namely Blue Room and tablet toy, Osmo 

The G20 Summit 2014 concluded

The Summit saw release of Brisbane Action Plan

Action Plan comprises of 800+ reforms to boost global growth

Sets an ambitious goal to lift G20 growth by 2.1 percent by 2018

Seeks to reduce the gender gap in labour force participation rates by 25 percent by 2025 

25th anniversary of Fall of Berlin Wall celebrated

The fall of the Berlin Wall happened on 9 November 1989

It was the most significant event in recent German history

The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 by East Germany

It was built to stop people fleeing from East Germany to the West

The Wall stretched for 155 kilometers of which only 3 kilometer remains now

Forbes list of World's Most Powerful People 2014 released 

The list gives the annual ranking of the World’s 72 Most Powerful People

The list was topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was ranked 15th

Mukesh Ambani is ranked 36th on the list 

India re-elected to UNHRC

It was re-elected for the period 2015-2017

India received the highest 162 votes in the Asia Pacific group

India’s first term as member due to end on 31 December 2014

14 other member states also elected to UNHRC for a three-year term

The UNHRC promotes and protects human rights

India-Vietnam signed 7 pacts

Pacts signed to strengthen Strategic Partnership

Signed during President Pranab Mukherjee visit to Vietnam

President gifted sapling of the holy Bodhi Tree to Vietnam

Diplomatic relations between the two countries established in 1972

The strategic relationship between the two countries established in 2007

Inaugural Tang Prizes 2014 presented in Taipei

The Tang Prize is treated as Asia's version of the Nobels

Winners of the inaugural Tang Prizes are 

o  Sustainable Development - Gro Harlem Brundtland former Premier of Norway

o  Sinology – Chinese American, Historian Yu Ying-shih

o  Biopharmaceutical Science - James P Allison of US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan

o  The Rule of Law - Albie Sachs, former justice of the Constitutional Court of South

Africa

Unity Deal signed in Afghanistan

Unity deal signed between Abdullah Abdullah and Ghani Adhmadzai

The deal ended three-month stalemate over government formation in Afghanistan

The stalemate was due to allegations that elections were rigged

The deal calls of creation of post of CEO who will be the acting Prime Minister

Ebola Virus Disease outbreak

More than 7000 patients died due to the Ebola Virus in West Africa.

Ebola Virus disease first surface in Guinea in March 2014

Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are the countries affected

Ebola disease was first detected in Congo basin of Zaire

Fields Medal 2014 

The Fields Medal Awards held in Seoul, South Korea.

The award recognized contributions of four medalists.

Artur Avila, Manjul Bhargava, Martin Haire, Maryam Mirzakhani are the recipients

The Fields Medal was first awarded in 1936.

First winner were Finnish mathematician Lars Ahlfors and American mathematician Jesse

Douglas. 

Prayuth Chan-ocha elected Prime Minister of Thailand

He is the 29th Prime Minister of Thailand

He was elected with a vote of 191-6 votes in National Legislative Assembly (NLA)

He is a former Army Chief of Thailand

He seized the power in June 2014

6th BRICS Summit: Fortaleza Declaration 

Held in Fortaleza, Brazil on 15 July and 16 July 2014.

Theme of the Summit was Inclusive Growth: Sustainable Solutions.

The participating countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa

The BRICS Network University will be established

BRICS Development Bank to be established 

UNSC adopted resolution to probe into MH-17 plane crash 

Resolution adopted by 15-member UNSC unanimously.

It demands free access to the crash site of Malaysian plane MH17.

It insisted on dignified and respectful treatment of bodies of the victims.

Science & TechnologyScientific breakthrough of the year 2014: Rosetta space mission

Rosetta is the European space mission

First spacecraft to land on a comet

The comet is named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

It landed on 12 November 2014, 10 years after the launch

ISRO successfully launched GSLV Mark-III-X from Sriharikota

This was the experimental launch of the rocket

Weighing 630 tonnes, it is India’s heaviest rocket

It carried Crew module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE)

The full fledged launch of the rocket will take place in two years.

India joined Thirty Meter Telescope Project

India jointed the project as Full Member

India to deliver 100 smaller, hexagonal mirrors

The project in India coordinated by Dept of Science & Technology and DAE

The telescope will be the largest in the world.

It is being built atop Mauna Kea Mountain in Hawaii. 

World’s first womb-transplant baby born 

The baby boy was born to a Swedish woman

It was born at the University of Gothenburg's hospital

The woman was born without a womb, although the ovaries were intact

The replacement womb came from a 61-year-old woman

She was suffering from a genetic condition called Rokitansky syndrome

New compound BQU57 developed

It will block protein Ral aiding cancer growth

Developed at University of Colorado Cancer Center

The study of the compound published in journal Nature

The lead author of the study is Dan Theodorescu

ISRO launched Mangalyaan to Mars orbit

India inserted the spacecraft in Mars orbit in first attempt

ISRO became the fourth space agency in the world to send a mission to Mars successfully

Mangalyaan costs 74 million US dollars, the most cost-effective in world

It will be finding the presence of methane on the Mars

INS Kolkata dedicated to nation

INS Kolkata commissioned at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai

It is the country’s largest indigenously built warship

Equipped against enemy submarines, surface warships, anti-ship missiles and fighter aircraft

It is commissioned without its main air defence weapon

The warship has been constructed by Mazagon Dockyards Limited

New biochip to detect blood sugar via saliva

The advancement will help diabetics to not to undergo blood test

It is made from a one-inch-square piece of quartz coated with a thin layer of silver

It uses a series of specific chemical reactions combined with plasmonic interferometry

The device is sensitive enough to detect minutest differences in glucose concentrations

Lima Call for Climate Action

Issued at the conclusion of the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (CoP)

The President of 20th CoP was Manuel Pulgar-Vidal

Intended Nationally Determined Contributions to form foundation for climate action post 2020

Seeks to put world on track to New Universal Climate Agreement

21st COP will be held in Paris, France 

The US and China agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions

US will reduce carbon emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025, compared with 2005 levels

China did not set a specific target, but said emissions would peak by 2030

The two countries agreed to reduce the possibility of military accidents in the air and sea

The two countries together produce about 45% of the world's carbon dioxide

India State of Forest Report 2013

It was released by Union Ministry of Environment & Forest

The India State of Forest Report 2013 was the 13th report in the series

States with maximum increase in forest cover are West Bengal, Odisha and Kerala

States with largest forest cover are MP & Arunachal Pradesh

Mizoram has the highest forests cover in terms of percentage of forest

Bor Wildlife Sanctuary of Maharashtra

It is India’s 47th Tiger Reserve

Union Environment Ministry notified Sanctuary as Tiger Reserve

Bor sanctuary is in Wardha district of Maharashtra

It will be an important corridor between Tadoba – Andhari and Pench Tiger Reserves

Tiger Reserves in Maharashtra: Melghat, Pench, Tadoba, Nagzira and Sahyadri

PersonalitiesMiss South Africa Rolene Strauss crowned Miss World 2014

Outgoing Miss World, Megan Young of the Philippines presented the sash

Miss Hungary, Edina Kulcsar, was the first runner-up

Miss United States, Elizabeth Safrit, was the second runner-up

India's Koyal Rana bagged the sub-title of Best Designer of the world

This was the 64th Miss World Competition

Justice Vaidyanathapura Rama Krishna Iyer died at 100

He died on 4 December 2014 due to renal and cardiac failure.

He was former Supreme Court Judge and an MLA from Kerala.

He became the judge of the Supreme Court in 1973

He retired at the age of 65 in 1980.

There are 105 published books by V. R. Krishna Iyer. 

Australian opener Philip Hughes died 

Died after a bouncer ball of Sean Abbott hit back of his head

The accident happened at Sheffield Game at Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia

He was a left-handed opening batsman

He had played 26 Tests and 25 ODIs for Australia

Indian cricketers Raman Lamba and Nari Contractor also died in same situations 

Chief Guest of Republic Day 2015: US President Barack Obama 

He will be the first US President to attend the Republic Day Parade of India.

Obama will participate in the Republic Day celebrations of India on 26 January 2015.

Obama will be the first US President to travel to India twice.

Legendary Kathak danseuse Sitara Devi died

Dance based on themes, poetry and choreography of her father

She was born as Dhannolakshmi in the Brahmin family

Rabindranath Tagore described her as Nritya Samragini

She is known as a pioneering force in bringing the genre to Bollywood

Neha Gupta won International Children’s Peace Prize 2014

Awarded for her work to help orphans in India

Her organisation Empower Orphans has helped 25000 vulnerable children

She became the first ever American to be awarded with the prize

In 2013, the award was conferred on Malala Yousufzai

Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh received 49th Jnanpith Award

Conferred for his outstanding contribution towards Indian literature

10th Hindi writer to receive the country’s highest literary award

Known for his work Abhi Bilkul Abhi and Yahan Se Dekho

First recipient G Sankara Kurup for Odakkuzhal (Flute) in Malyalam language

Sanjaya Rajaram received World Food Prize 2014

Awarded for his research that led to increase in wheat production

He is credited with developing the Veery lines of wheat in the 1980s

He helped secure 1.3 percent rise in global wheat production per annum.

He is senior scientific advisor at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry

Areas

Arvind Subramanian appointed Chief Economic Advisor

Appointed Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) for a period of three years

Third economist of international rapport to be appointed as CEA

Expert of the Indian and Chinese economy

Raghuram Rajan, the RBI Governor, was previous CEA 

Justice H L Dattu sworn-in as 42nd Chief Justice of India

Oath of office administered by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Succeeded Chief Justice RM Lodha

Lodha demitted office on 27 September 2014

Dattu will retire from his office on 2 December 2015.

He joined Supreme Court of India as a Judge on 17 December 2008.

Lalitha Kumaramangalam appointed Chairperson of National Commission for Women

Eighth chairperson of National Commission for Women

She was the National Spokesperson National Executive of BJP

National Commission for Women was set up as a statutory body in January 1992

It was set up under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 

Narula Brothers won 7 crore rupees in Season 8 of KBC

The two brothers, Achin and Sarthak Narula emerged victorious in Season 8 of KBC

The tagline for the season 8 is Yahan Sirf Paise Nahi, Dil Bhi Jeete Jate Hain

The show was first telecast on Star Plus in 2000

It is based on the UK game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Govind Mishra received Saraswati Samman 2013

He received it for novel Dhool Paudhon Par

His novel was published in 2008

The novel illustrates the struggle of modern Indian women

He is the second Hindi author to be conferred with award

Harivansh Rai Bachchan was the first Hindi author to receive the award

Pran, the Creator of Chacha Chowdhury died at 75

He created or sketched Chacha Chaudhary for the Hindi magazine Lotpot in 1969

His Chacha Chaudhary strips found a permanent place in International Museum of Cartoon

Art, USA.

His name was included in People of the Year 1995 by Limca Book of Records.

Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag took over as Chief of Army Staff

He succeeded General Bikram Singh to become the 28th Army Chief

He will serve as Army chief for 29 months till 31 December 2016

He is the 2nd Gorkha Rifles officer to become Army chief

First was Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw

Veteran actress Zohra Sehgal died at 102

She was called as the grand old lady of Bollywood

She was the recipient of Padma Vibhshan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri

Sehgal’s daughter Kiran in 2012 wrote her biography named Zohra Segal: Fatty

Zohra last appeared in Sanjay Leela Bhasali's film Saawariya in 2007

Chandi Prasad Bhatt won the Gandhi Peace prize 2013

He is a Gandhian, an environmentalist and a social activist.

In 1964, he founded Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) in Gopeswar.

He was awarded with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1982.

In 2005, he was awarded with Padma Bhushan.

SportsGermany won men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014

Germany defeated Pakistan by 2-0 margin to win the trophy

This was 10th Champions Trophy crown for Germany.

It had last won the tournament in 2007

For bronze medal, World champion Australia defeated India 2-1

UAE captain Khurram Khan: the oldest player to score an ODI century

He scored the winning century against Afghanistan in Dubai

He achieved the feat at an age of 43 years and 162 days

He broke the record of Sanath Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya had scored 109 against India in 2009 at the age of 39

Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma scored the highest ODI score ever of 264 

The score of 264 runs is also the second-highest List A score

With this he became the only cricketer to score two Double ODI centuries

He achieved this distinction during the 4th ODI between India and Sri Lanka

He broke the record of highest ODI score of 219 runs made by Virender Sehwag

Sachin Tendulkar was the first cricketer to score double century in ODIs 

Virat Kohli became fastest cricketer to reach 6000 ODI runs

He achieved the distinction after his 53-run knock in the third ODI between India and Sri

Lanka

He took 144 match and 136 innings to make 6000 runs

He is the eighth Indian to have scored 6000 or more runs and 47th overall

He overtook legendary West Indian Vivian Richards' record

Richards reached the milestone in 1989 by playing 141 innings in 156 matches 

MC Mary Kom bagged her first Asian Games Gold Medal

She defeated Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan

She won in women’s flyweight category (48-51kg)

First Indian woman boxer to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Games

She is nicknamed as Magnificent Mary

Chennai Super Kings won 2014 Champions League Twenty20 title

It defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 wickets

The match was played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Chennai Super Kings won the trophy for the second time.

Earlier they won the CLT20 in South Africa in 2011. 

Hockey Player Manpreet Singh named Junior Men Player of the Year by AHF

The announcement was made at Asian Hockey Federation Congress

The congress was held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh has played 103 international matches.

He is the captain of the India Junior Hockey team.

He made his international debut in 2011.

Marin Cilic of Croatia won Men's Singles title of US Tennis Open

Cilic defeated 10th seed Kei Nishikori of Japan

The Women’s singles was won by Serena Williams of US

The Men’s Doubles title was won by Mike and Bob Bryan of US

Sania Mirza of India and Bruno Soares of Brazil won the Mixed Doubles title

Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina of Russia won the US Open women's doubles title

2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games concluded

The Medal tally was topped by England

India stood at the fifth position in the rankings.

India won 64 medals (15 Gold, 30 silver and 19 Bronze)

This was third highest medal haul after 2010 Delhi CWG and 2002 Manchester CWG

The 21st Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast in Australia

Kush Kumar first Indian player to reach semis of World Junior Squash Championship

The World Junior Squash championship held at Windhoek in Namibia.

He defeated England's George Parker in straight games in quarterfinal.

Kush Kumar is a professional squash player from Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Presently, his ranking is 220 in the world.

Himachal Pradesh to host First Para-gliding World Cup 2015 in India

This will be the first para-gliding World Cup to be hosted in India.

To be organised under Para-gliding World Cup Association, France.

It will be hosted in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh from 24 October 2015

Himachal Pradesh had hosted the Para-gliding pre-World Cup in 2013

Germany won the 2014 FIFA Football World Cup

Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in the final

Final was played at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Mario Gotze scored the lone goal of final during the extra-time

It lifted the trophy for 4th time in FIFA world Cup history and first since 1990

Germany became 1st European team to win World Cup played in North or South America 

Sim Bhullar became first Indian-origin basketball player to join NBA

He signed a summer contract with the Sacramento Kings.

Sacramento Kings is a professional basketball team in the US.

Sim Bhullar is originally from Canada and his parents are from Punjab.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia won the Men’s Wimbledon Tennis Open 2014

He defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland

This is the second Wimbledon title for Djokovic

Djokovic won the seventh career Grand Slam

Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title in 2011

Economy & CorporateAdvisory Group on Integrated Development of Power

The Group was headed by Suresh Prabhu

It has suggested opening up of the coal sector

Called for improvement in Coal India Ltd and its subsidiaries

Expedite reforms in the distribution sector with targeted actions 

SBI Mutual Fund launched Shariah Equity Fund 

The fund is aimed at attracting investments from Muslim populations of India. 

The fund approved by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board

SBI MF fourth fund house in India to have an Islamic equity fund.

India second country outside the Islamic world where a state-owned bank is offering such

fund

The UK is the first country who issued sovereign Islamic bonds in June 2014

Kotak Mahindra Bank first bank in India to fully own insurance business

RBI gave permission to the bank for setting up Kotak General Insurance

Kotak General Insurance will be the 29th non-life insurance company in the country

The CEO of the company will be Mahesh Balasubramanian

The bank already promotes life insurance with Old Mutual of South Africa

SEBI de-recognised Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE)

De-recognised on account of serious irregularities in demutualisation process

SEBI demutualisation rules requires every stock exchange to sell brokers' 51% equity

DSE was incorporated in 1947

It is an amalgamation of Delhi Stock and Share Brokers' Association Ltd and the Delhi

Stocks and Shares Exchange Ltd 

Shell India won 18000-crore rupees tax dispute case

It won the tax case against Income Tax department

The decision given by Bombay High Court

Decision based on legal principle laid down in the Vodafone case

It ruled that transfer pricing does not arise in case of transfer of shares

The case pertains to alleged under pricing of shares issued by Shell India

Alibaba made the record of earning 9.3 billion US dollars on a single day

Alibaba shipped 278 million orders out of which 43 percent were mobile devices

It achieved the staggering figure on Singles Day shopping event

The event celebrates the bachelorhood of Young single Chinese

Alibaba is a Chinese e-commerce giant founded by Jack Ma

SoftBank of Japan to invest 10 billion dollars in India

Will invest in India's IT and communications sector in coming years

Announced to invest 627 million US dollars in Snapdeal

Signed definitive agreement to invest 210 million US dollars in ANI Technologies

Chairman and CEO of the SoftBank is Masayoshi Son

Union government de-regulated diesel and hiked natural gas rates

The price of diesel to be market-linked

The retail rates will reflect price changes in the global market.

The government will no longer provide subsidy on diesel.

This is the first reduction in diesel rates since 2009.

Google closed Orkut

Orkut is a social network site

Google announced to shut down Orkut in June 2014.

Old users of Orkut can take back up of pictures till September 2016.

Orkut was started in 2004 and named after its creator, Orkut Buyukkokten.

Google has moved to a new platform the Google Plus.

Union government decided to wind up HMT Watches

The unit has been incurring losses since 2000

HMT Watches is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Machines Tools (HMT) limited

HMT Limited was set up at Bangalore in 1961 in collaboration with Japan’s Citizen Watch

In 2000, HMT Watch Business group was restructured as HMT Watches Ltd.

RBI fixed the upper age limit at 70 years for M.D. and CEO in private sector banks

The decision was taken to comply with the Section 196(3) of the Companies Act, 2013

Individual bank’s boards free to prescribe a lower retirement age for whole time Directors

Earlier, no maximum age was specified and decisions were taken case by case

Union Government granted Navratna Status to CONCOR

CONCOR is the 17th Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) to achieve Navratna Status.

The status was accorded by the Department of Public Enterprises.

CONCOR current Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) is Anil Kumar Gupta.

It deals in Export-Import and domestic trade and commerce policy of India.

Expenditure Management Commission constituted 

The Commission will be headed by Bimal Jalan

He is a former RBI Governor

Commission will suggest the way for managing public finances by reducing subsidies. 

ICICI Bank became the first bank in India to launch EMI facility on Debit Card

This was so far available only for credit cardholders.

Will enable customers to convert their high value transactions into easy installments

Facility available to debit cardholders with minimum fixed deposit of 10000 rupees

C S Verma elected as First President of Indian Steel Association

C S Verma is currently working as the head of Steel Authority of India Limited

The Indian Steel Association was formally launched on 26 August 2014

Aims to work towards transforming the Indian steel industry as a global leader

Membership of ISA open to any steel producer with a yearly capacity of at least 2 million

tones

DIPP notified Press Note 8 allowing 100% FDI in Rail infrastructure

FDI in rail infrastructure will be through automatic route

FDI will not be allowed in train operations and safety

Proposals involving FDI beyond 49 percent in sensitive areas to be placed before the

Cabinet Committee on Security

Definitions of infrastructure and common facilities have also been widened

Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2014-15

This was the first budget of newly appointed government led by Narendra Modi

It focussed on providing good infrastructure like public transport, solid waste disposal

Emphasized on skill development and entrepreneurship in the budget

Announced that the FDI cap in Defence sector would be raised to 49 percent

Heads of Important Offices (World) 2015-------------------------------------------------------● Ban Ki-moon : Secretary-General, United Nations Organisation.● Jan Eliasson : Deputy Secretary-General, UN.● Dr. Jim Yong Kim : President, World Bank.

● Christine Lagarde : Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF).● Ms. Irina Bokova : Director-General-UNESCO.● Dr. Margaret Chan : Director-General, WHO.● Jose Graziano da Silva : Director-General, Food and Agricultural Organisation.● Guy Ryder : Director-General, International Labour Organisation.● Anthony Lake : Executive Director, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).● Antonio Guterres : Head, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.● Ms. Helen Clark : Administrator, United Nations Development Programme.● Mr. Mukhisa Kituyi : Secretary-General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).● Jose Angel Gurria : Secretary-General, Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).● Ronny Abraham : President, International Court of Justice.● Takehiko Nakao : President, Asian Development Bank.● Donald Kaberuka : President, African Development Bank.● Thomas Bach : President, International Olympic Committee.● Kamalesh Sharma : Secretary-General, Commonwealth.● Robert Mugabe : Chairman, African Union Assembly.● Ms. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma : Chairperson, African Union Commission.● Roberto Azevedo : Director-General, WTO.● Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein : High Commissioner, UN High Commission for Human Rights.● Donald Tusk : President, European Union● N. Srinivasan : Chairman, International Cricket Council.● Jean-Claude Juncker : President, European Commission.● Li Yong : Director-General, UNIDO.● Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al-Zayani : Secretary-General, Gulf Co-operation Council.● Iyad bin Amin Madani : Secretary-General, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.● Abdallah el-Badri : Secretary-General, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).● Luis Almagro : Secretary-General, Organisation of American States.● Hifikepunye Pohamba : President, South-West African People's Organisation (SWAPO).● Mr. Yukiya Amano : Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).● Jens Stoltenberg : Secretary-General, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).● Sir Alan Haselhurst : Chairman, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.● Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin : Executive Director, UNFPA.● Le Luong Minh : Secretary-General, ASEAN.● Arjun Bahadur : Secretary-General, SAARC● Lamine Diack : President, International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF).● Dr. Ellen Stofan : Chief of NASA (USA).● Salil Shetty : Secretary-General, Amnesty International.● Lt.-Gen.Chikadibia Obiakor : Military Adviser to UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations.● Hassan Rouhani : Secretary-General, Non-Aligned Movement.● Asha Kanwar : President and CEO, Commonwealth of Learning.● Mireille Ballestrazzi : President, INTERPOL.

< GK questions asked in NICL Assistant exam >** Asked in Today's Exam 26-04-2015**1. ICC 2015 world cup brand ambassador - Sachin Tendulkar2. Playing it my way autobiography of - Sachin Tendulkar3. Philippines currency - Philippine peso4. Dublin is capital of - Ireland5. Highest producer of cotton - China6. India rank in steel production - third7. Stockholm water prize award 2015 - Rajendra Singh8. Sukanya samridi max age of opening a/c - 10 years9. International labour day - 1 May10. Itanagar is a capital of- Arunanchal Pradesh11. Steve smith is related to which sports- cricket12. Central bank of singapore - Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)13. First Indian to achieve No. 1 badminton ranking in the world in women's circuit - Sania Nehwal