OCTOBER 2014 – FACT FILE {SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR SBI ASSOCIATES PO AND IBPS CLERK}

OCTOBER 2014 – FACT FILESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR SBI ASSOCIATES PO AND IBPS CLERK

CONTENTSBANKING AND FINANCE ------------------- 1NATIONAL NEWS ------------------- 4INTERNATIONAL NEWS ------------------- 10APPOINTMENTS ------------------- 14AWARDS AND HONOUR ------------------- 15DEFENCE & TECHNOLOGY ------------------- 17NOBEL PRIZE 2014 ------------------- 20SUMMITS AND MEETINGS ------------------- 21COMMITEES ------------------- 21SCHEMES ------------------- 22REPORTS AND RANKINGS ------------------- 24BOOKS ------------------- 25OBITUARIES ------------------- 26DATES ------------------- 27SPORTS ------------------- 27ASIAN GAMES 2014 ------------------- 30

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BANKING AND FINANCE» The upcoming Bandhan Bank has appointed FIS International, one of the largest

banking and payments technology solutions provider globally, to develop its core banking software solutions.

» RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has been conferred with the Best Central Bank Governor award for 2014 by Euromoney magazine.

» Karur Vysya Bank has bagged the Best Bank Award of IDRBT (Institute for Development and Research in Banking) for Business Intelligence Initiatives among small banks. The bank's CMD, K Venkataraman, received the award from Raghuram G Rajan.

» Federal Bank won the IDRBT Banking Technology Excellence award for 2013-14 in 4 out of total 5 categories as the ‘best bank’ for use of Technology for Financial Inclusion, Social Media and Mobile Banking, Business Intelligence Initiatives and for Best IT Team.

» The European Central Bank (ECB) has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at record low of 0.05%.

» The Finance Ministry is considering amendments to the RBI Act 1934 to enable the central bank appoint a 5th Deputy Governor and a Chief Operating Officer (COO).

» Exim Bank extends two additional Lines of Credit to Cuban Bank ‘Banco Exterior De Cuba’ aggregating $7.76 million.

» RBI has signed a pact with Central Bank of Kenya for exchange of information and supervisory cooperation.

» Cap of 3 free ATM transactions in six metros (Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad) came into effect from 1st November 2014.

» China's $100 billion “Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank” formally recognized on 24th October, 2014 on a signing ceremony held in Beijing. 21 countries signed the bill, which included: China, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore etc. Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and Australia were not in attended the meeting.

» Bank of India (BOI) gets licence to set up bank in Vietnam.» SBI launched a facility called 'mPassBook', on its 'State Bank Anywhere' mobile

application, for its retail banking users.» The government has set up a committee to frame bankruptcy law to enable

entrepreneurs to close down unviable businesses under T K Vishwanathan, former Law Secretary.

» Puduchery and Chandigarh two Union Territories achieved a unique milestone of 100% banking coverage as revealed in a meeting of Finance Ministry on 1 October 2014. (All the households with at-least one account).

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» Vysya Bank CMD ‘Shailendra Bhandari’ resigned from his post after taking charge of the Bangalore-based private lender.

» The Centre has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court in the black money case, naming three prominent businessmen Pradip Burman of Dabur group, Goa-based miner Radha S Timblo and Bullion trader Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhya.

» With the Centre submitting a list of 627 account holders in foreign banks to Supreme Court in the blackmoney case, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi announced that the deadline for investigation under the Income Tax Act into these accounts is 31st March 2015.

» China took over US to become the world’s largest economy in Purchasing Power Parity terms. IMF revealed this information. As per the IMF report, in PPP terms China’s GDP is at $17.6 trillion and constituted 16.48% of the world GDP. But US GDP is $7277.279 billion which is only 6.8% of Wold GDP.

» RBI directs banks to partially freeze the accounts of those who don't comply with the KYC norms within a reasonable period of time.

» The new Monetary Policy Framework Agreement, which aims to change the monetary policy formulation and will also focus on inflation targeting, is proposed to be signed by 1 February 2015 as announced by the Finance Ministry recently. The proposed framework is based on a combination of recommendations by FSLRC and the Urjit Patel Committee, along with inputs from the R Rajan Panel on Financial Sector Reforms.

» According to media reports, the RBI has ordered its supervision team to monitor trading in debt markets by companies. This is the strongest expression of concern shown by the RBI on this issue. The primary reason for this move of the RBI was Reports that many companies are building large trading positions in debt and currency markets.

» Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF) - the new global service launched by the World Bank which aims at mobilising the private sector to help tackle the massive infrastructure deficit facing developing countries.

» DLF Limited was barred by SEBI from accessing capital markets for three years. This penalty was imposed due to some non-disclosure violations related to DLF’s initial public offering (IPO) of 2007.

» Centre issues commemorative coins of 100 and 5 rupees denominations to mark the 100-year of 'Komagata Maru Incident'.

» Government relaxed FDI norms for construction, real estate sector. The Union Cabinet approved a comprehensive proposal by the DIPP, dropping the minimum 10-hectare rule for serviced housing plots and slashing the minimum floor area for construction development projects to 20,000 sq m from 50,000 sq m to be eligible for overseas investment.

» The Modi govt has sacked the heads of six Public Sector banks. The move comes after the Chairman of Syndicate Bank was arrested on bribery charges in


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August. A panel headed by the RBI Governor during the UPA rule had shortlisted the names for Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, United Bank and Vijaya Bank.

» The Union Govt. is all set to give instructions about the current monetary policy framework. Under this the govt. will specify specific inflation related targets for the RBI instead of the RBI setting a target for itself. This decision is taken from the recommendations of Urjit R. Patel expert committee of the RBI, which had recommended that the monetary policy decision-making should be vested with a monetary policy committee, chaired by the RBI Governor. The Urjit Patel Committee in its recommendations had also stated that the RBI should adopt the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the measure of the nominal anchor for monetary policy and set the target CPI inflation level at 4 per cent (+/- 2%) to be achieved through its monetary policy tools.

» RBI came out with an additional criterion that ‘Implementation of Core Banking Solution’ for classifying an urban co-operative bank (UCB) as financially sound and well managed (FSWM). Till now the UCBs were classified as FSWM banks if they fulfilled criteria such as capital to risk weighted assets ratio of not less than 10%, gross non-performing assets of less than 7% and net NPAs of not more than 3%. The new criterion of CBS implementation would henceforth be considered for processing applications received from UCBs for opening of on-site/off-site/mobile ATMs, applications under Annual Business Plans,


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» IMF has announced new growth projection for India for 2014-15 – 5.6%, and 6.4% in 2015.

» World Bank predicts - Indian economy to grow 5.6% in 2014-15, 6.4% in 2015-16 and 7% in 2016-17.

» JP Morgan cut its India GDP growth projection for 2014-15 to 5.1% from 5.3% due to weak factory output.

» According to IMF's latest world economic outlook, India set to become $2 trillion economy this year, while its GDP size would cross $3 trillion after 5 years in 2019. US would remain the world's largest economy with a size of $17.42 trillion, followed by China at $10.35 trillion.

» FDI in the services sector dipped by 9% to USD 1.08 billion during the April-August period of the ongoing fiscal.

» The wholesale price index based inflation for September 2014 was down to 2.38%. This was the lowest WPI-based inflation since October 2009.

» The inflation based on Consumer Price index for September 2014 was 6.46% 7.3% in August.

» World Bank released South Asia Economic Focus report, which says, the region’s economy will expand by 6% in 2015 and by 6.4% in 2016 as compared to 5.4% in 2014.


extension of area of operation, shifting of premises and all other permissions from RBI.

» Mumbai headquartered Kotak Mahindra Bank launched Facebook-based funds transfer platform KayPay, for Facebook users to send money to each other. Users won't have to depend on net banking or have to know the details of the payee. Users can transfer funds by choosing recipients from their Facebook friends list. KayPay is built on top of the mobile based Immediate Payment System launched by the National Payment Corporation of India. Users have to register their bank accounts once to start using the service. KayPay uses Facebook user id & password and a One Time Password to authenticate a transaction.

» To provide robust platform for large volume of repetitive payments, Corporation Bank has launched the ‘e-Mandate’ (digital mandate) service.

NATIONAL NEWS» Election Commission launched video game titled 'Get Set Vote' to promote

voter awareness.» Prime Minister Narendra Modi connected with the people through national

broadcaster All India Radio on 3rd October. The speech, titled 'Man ki Baat', is exclusive to AIR and will also be telecast on all news channels of Doordarshan.

» Unveiling an austerity drive to cut non- plan expenditure by 10% and to trim fiscal deficit , the Modi govt. has barred bureaucrats from travelling first class on overseas visits and have been asked to use video conferencing as much as possible. It also freezes new appointments in the Central govt. and all meetings in five-star hotels and the purchase of cars .

» Nokia to shut down Sriperumbudur plant, Chennai from 1st November

» ‘Bachpan Bachao Andolan’ Founder, Kailash Satyarthi won the Nobel Peace Prize 2014. It was founded in 1980 to fight the problem of child labour in India.

» Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on 10th October met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also met telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss expanding reach of internet including by using alternate technology. The big reason for his visit is giving a push to his dream project, ‘’Internet.org’’ that aims to bring affordable Internet access to everybody.

» Sangeet Natak Akademi chairperson Leela Samson resigned. (Bharatnatyam dancer).


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The New York Times issued an apology to its readers for its racist cartoon on India’s Mars Mission.


» Cyclone Hudhud hits parts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The name Hudhud, suggested by Oman, refers to the bird Hoopoe which is national bird of Israel.

» RINL (Rashtriya Ishpat Nigam Ltd) suffered Rs.300 crores loss to due to Hudhud Cyclone.

» Cyclone Nilofar brought heavy rain fall in Kutch area of north Gujarat and adjoining Pakistan coast. The new cyclonic storm, formed in Arabian Sea, not as intense as Hudhud. The name Nilofar, referring to the ’water lily’, was suggested by Pakistan.

» PM announced an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore for Andhra Pradesh to take up immediate relief work in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Cyclone 'Hudhud'.

» India Contributed $1 million to UN body on gender equality and women empowerment.

» Madhya Pradesh celebrates 2015 as Tourism Year.» Gujarat increased women's reservation to 33% in government jobs.» India has the largest burden of global blindness – about 3.5 million with

30,000 new cases being added each year.» Madhya Pradesh has been ranked as the fastest growing state for the year

2013-14, replacing Bihar from the top place after several years. Madhya Pradesh economy grew by 11.08% in 2013-14 against the national GDP growth of 4.7%.

» President, Pranab Mukherjee visited 2 nations Norway and Finland started October 12. During his visit, President Mukherjee met the Head of the State of Norway and Finland---King Harald V and Sauli Niinisto respectively.

» The Congress dropped its former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor from the party’s panel of Spokespersons in view of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee’s demand for disciplinary action against him for accepting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to a select panel of prominent personalities to advocate the Swachh Bharat Mission.

» 10-year-old boy Sadiq becomes Hyderabad’s Police Commissioner for a day on 15th October. (Hyderabad Commissioner, M. Mahender Reddy)

» Full mobile number portability (MNP) available from 31st March 2015.» Anjuman Society of Khandan-e-Amiriya (ASKeA) in Tonk district decided to end

its 150 year old tradition of sacrificing camel on the occasion of Eid-Ul-Zuha festival.

» The month-long ritual Akashdeep (skylight) started in Varanasi, UP to honour the soldiers who laid down their lives for the motherland since Independence in 1947.

» PM Narendra Rs. 1,000-crore package to help Andhra Pradesh get back on its feet.

» Indian Embassy in Kuwait simplified the visa procedure for Kuwaiti nationals as well as for emigrants living in Kuwait.


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» BJP to form govt in Haryana emerges as single largest party in Maharashtra.» Cabinet approved an inter-governmental MoU with Iran to upgrade Chabahar

port Phase-I. Under the Chabahar port Phase-I project India will set up a Joint Venture Company with an investment of $85.21 million and operate the port for 10 years, through a leasing agreement.

» IRCTC launched ticket booking app for Android - IRCTC Connect, the official railway ticket booking app for Android.

» India made it mandatory for tobacco companies to devote 85% space on packets of cigarettes and other tobacco products to warnings against the ill effects of tobacco consumption.

» Maharashtra registers 64% turnout, Haryana creates history with 76% polling for the 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra and 90 seats in Haryana.

» BJP nominee Pritam Munde creates new record, won by record 6.96 lakh vote margin in Beed LS seat against her nearest rival Congress nominee and former minister Ashok Patil. In the 2004 LS poll, CPI-M candidate from Arambagh (West Bengal) Anil Basu demolished his rival with the highest ever victory margin of 5,92,502 votes.

» Govt brings in ordinance to e-auction cancelled coal mines.» Ciaz the new mid-sized sedan car launched by Maruti Suzuki.» The rates of the tatkal tickets of Indian Railways went up from October 2014 with

the railways deciding to sell 50% of the quota tickets using dynamic fare system. The ‘Premium Tatkal Ticket scheme’ became operational in 80 trains from 1 October 2014.

» More than 40 persons were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede in Gandhi Maidan, historic ground of Patna, Bihar on 3rd October. The accident took place after people were returning after watching the “Ravan Vadh” ceremony on the occasion of Dussehra.

» Flipkart Indian online retail company organised the “Big Billion Day” sale on 6 October with a target of $100 million sale in gross merchandise value (GMV). “Big Billion Day” sale on the day by offering a wide range of products at unprecedented discounted rates. (Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, the founders)

» The Supreme Court on 24th September cancelled allocation of 204 coal blocks to various companies between 1993 and 2009.

» India’s largest Ferris wheel named ‘Delhi Eye’ was inaugurated at Kalindi Kunj in Delhi. This 200-foot high offers panoramic view of the city of Delhi.

» Computer Management Corporation Limited (CMC) a subsidiary firm of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is to be merged with the company.

» The Bombay High Court gave its landmark ruling in favour of British telecom-multinational Vodafone in a long-running dispute with the Indian tax authorities. “The shares in Vodafone India Services Private Ltd were allegedly undervalued and were transferred to the parent company in Britain in


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2009-10” This was the primary charge of Indian tax authorities on Vodafone on this $490 million case.

» Rajasthan became the first state of India to start olive refinery at Lunkaransar area of Bikaner was inaugurated by CM Vasundhara Raje.

» ‘NABARD’ sets up Rs 2,000 crore fund for mega food parks.» Tata Group is only Indian-owned entity to have its brand in an elite annual club

of world’s 100 most valuable brands list for 2014 compiled by leading brand consultancy Interbrand.

» DIPP (The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) approved 33 defence proposals. Of these 33 proposals, 19 are related to the foreign direct investment that aims to boost the manufacturing in defence sector.

» “Operation Lehar” the relief and rescue operation launched on 13 October by the Indian armed forces in Andhra Pradesh’s cyclone-affected districts after the havoc brought on by cyclonic storm ‘Hudhud’ on 12 October. The Indian Navy has been made the nodal agency to carry out relief and rescue works under “Operation Lehar”.

» Global retail giant Amazon entered into a strategic partnership with Future Retail Ltd Indian Retail Company to exclusively retail its product through Amazon.in platform.

» Tata Value homes launched www.tatavaluehomes.com to sell homes online.» According to latest reports Railways' revenue earnings have gone up by over

12% during 1 April 2014 to 30 September 2014.» IndiGo airlines signed an agreement to buy 250 planes from European aircraft

giant Airbus start on 2018, a deal said to be the biggest sale ever for Airbus in terms of number of aircrafts.

» India is all set to become the first cruelty-free cosmetics zone in South Asia by following a national ban on animal testing for cosmetics by banning the import of animal-tested cosmetics as well.

» Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) removed former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi as its President Vice President Amin Pathan as the acting President.

» TS GENCO (Telangana State Power Generation Corporation) and BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) signed MoU to establish thermal power plants to generate 6000 MW of electricity in Telangana in the next three years.

» West Bengal State Government constituted a high-level composite Task Force headed by GM P Reddy (DGP of W Bengal) to investigate into the blasts at Khagragarh in Burdwan District.

» Hinduja group company Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd (GOLIL) tied up with Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) for developing a dedicated line of products for the M&M tractors.

» Bombay High Court ruled in favour of Vodafone in 3200 crore rupees tax dispute case.


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» Union Government decided to sell LED bulbs to households at 10 rupees against the market price of 400 rupees. The Union Power Ministry has already decided that all BPL households at the time of electrification will be provided LED technology under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyuthikaran Yojana (RGGVY)

» Shipping Corporation of India Limited (SCI) launched India Myanmar Service (IMS) Container service that will operate container services from Chennai to Myanmar.

» Emaar MGF Land Limited tied up with PayU India for its online payment service» The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) constituted a special

management team named as ‘Japan Plus’ to facilitate and fast track investment proposals from Japan.

» The US Department of Defence, Pentagon, approved two previously-stalled technology transfer licences to India. The Pentagon also allocated $20 million for strategic cooperative science and technology projects with India.

» India signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The convention is named after the Japanese city Minamata that has become synonymous with deadly mercury contamination since 1950. The Minamata Convention gives 5 years time to India to control and reduce emissions from new power plants and 10 years time for the already existing power plants.

» Gujarat government set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to promote Vadodara as the cultural capital of Gujarat and encourage tourism in Vododara. Gujarat became the first state in India to set up the authority for promoting tourism.

» Karnataka govt. prohibited the ongoing strike at the auto component maker Bosch’s plant in Bangalore. The workers are on strike since 16 September 2014 in support of their demands pertaining to wages, benefits and regularisation of temporary workers.

» The Union Finance Ministry has allocated 520 crore rupees to NABARD to create warehousing infrastructure for agricultural commodities in West Bengal.

» Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy signed a MoU for setting up a Joint Venture Company to undertake the first-ever Offshore Wind Power Project about 100 MW in India along the Gujarat coast.

» A five-year-old Indian boy from New Delhi, ‘Harshit Saumitra’, has become the youngest person to reach the Everest Base Camp.

» India is among the top five contributors to the UN Ebola response with a contribution of $12.5 million. (U.S.A, European Union, Canada, Netherlands)

» UN ready to contribute $110 million for peacekeeping operations in India the 2nd highest outstanding payment to any country after Ethiopia.

» The Andhra Pradesh Govt. has indicated that the World Bank may fund the development of the State’s Buddhist Tourism Circuit.


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» India’s growth in industrial production slowed to a five-month low of 0.4% August.

» India was re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) from 2015-17, receiving the highest number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group. India is currently a member of 47-nation UNHRC and its first term is due to end on this 31st

December. » Vietnam PM Nguyen Tan Dung arrived at Gaya in Bihar on a 2-day visit to

India.» President Pranab Mukherjee released a commemorative postage stamp on Sri

Lankan Buddhist monk ‘Anagarika Dharmapala’, who is credited to have revived Buddhism in India in the 19th century.

» Prime Minister announced Rs.745 crore relief for rebuilding damaged homes and hospitals in flood affected Jammu and Kashmir.

» India remains the world’s fourth largest steel producer in the first nine months of the current year, preceded by China, Japan and the US.

» SunEdison Inc. signed a MoU with the Rajasthan Govt. to establish 5000 MW capacity of solar power in Rajasthan in next 5 years.

» Amitabh Bachchan was summoned by a US Federal Court in Los Angeles for allegedly instigating violence against the Sikh community during the November 1984 riots. Amitabh Bachchan was accused of raising the slogan “Khooon Ka Badla Khoon” (blood for blood) on 31 October 1984 after then PM Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her 2 Sikh bodyguards.

» PM dedicated birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as "Rashtriya Ekta Divas", (National Unity Day) on 31st October.

» Italian superbike brand Benelli, now owned by Chinese motor group Qianjiang, has signed a partnership agreement on technical partnership with Pune-based DSK Motowheels to enter into India's two-wheeler market.

» India’s first hospital to treat abnormalities and diseases in fish will be set up in Kolkata by mid-2015. The institute will not only help fish farmers increase yield by reducing the number of fish deaths, but will also ensure that people will consume healthy fish.

» After the success of the recent Mars Orbit Mission (MOM), ISRO is planning to conduct 2nd Mars Mission in 2018 with a heavier satellite which will carry a lander and a rover.

» The Vigilance Awareness Week observed this year from 27th October to 1st

November and this year’s theme is ‘Combating Corruption Technology as an enabler’.

» Union Home Ministry announced to rename 12 cities and towns of Karnataka as per pronunciation in Kannada language. Bangalore renamed as ‘Bengaluru’.


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» Election Commission announced a five-phase assembly poll in Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand from 25th November to 20th December. Counting for the two states will be held on 23rd December.

» First Public Wi-Fi Pilot of Airtel started in Hyderabad. It was launched in the IT hub of Hyderabad offers 750 mb of free data per user per day.

» IRCTC Connect, Android App, launched by IRCTC. It helps the users to search, book and cancel tickets at a click of button.

» India has initiated efforts to have ‘June 21’ commemorated each year as the 'International Day of Yoga' at the United Nations.

» First American Business corner to set up by Indo American Chamber of Commerce in Maharashtra in Pune.

» Tata Motors first overseas manufacturing facility opened in China.» Tihar Jail Authority set up E- Library for women inmates in Tihar Jail. Main aim is

to train the inmates which help them to find jobs so that they will not do crime again.

» Suicide Rate in India is 11 per lakh. Highest suicide rate is recorded at Puducherry which is 35.6 per lakh.

» The Nobel Memorial wall inaugurated by Embassy of Sweden and DMRC. This wall is inaugurated at Rajiv Chowk Metro Station in Delhi.

» Delhi’s Trilokpuri area is under 144 section due to Clashes between Hindus and Muslims.

» Free SMS Service Launched by AIR in 4 more languages. Those languages were Assamese, Malayalam, Tamil and Gujarati. Aim is to provide news updates to the people.

» Forest department official captured Flying Squirrels at Balijharan Village in Jharkhand.

» General Assembly of Association of Asian Election Authorities elected Election Commission of India as a Chair of the organisation. It will hold the office for the tenure of 2 years. 2014 General Assembly Meeting of AAEA will host by ECI at New Delhi.

» Hundreds of peoples in Sitamarhi, a district in Bihar, started 3 day Jal Satyagraha to restore a local river named Lakhandei to its original bed.

» Small factories Bill proposed to govern wages and conditions of work in SMEs.

» Govt has instructed all the central ministries and departments to put all the information given under RTI online. This will ease off the hassle that the public offices have to go through while answering the same queries over and again.

» Govt, for the first time ever, is going to import potatoes to curb rising prices. Pakistan and European countries are likely to be the importers.


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INTERNATIONAL NEWS» India and Nepal have signed a Power Trade Agreement (PTA), allowing

exchange of electricity and opening up new vistas of cooperation in the hydro-power sector.

» India and the US have established an inter-agency Contact Group on the civil nuclear deal to sort out outstanding liability and technical issues to fast-track its full implementation.

» India and the UK government launched UK-India Financial Partnership to strengthen Links Between the Financial Services Industries.

» India and UK signed a MoU on Culture Cooperation over next five years.» India and Norway signed 13 agreements to promote bilateral relations.» India and Vietnam agree to step up security and defence ties that will see

supply of four naval patrol vessels to Hanoi and increased training of its military personnel, a month after India extended $100 million Line of Credit (LoC) for defence procurement.

» India offered a $300 million credit line to Vietnam for trade diversification.» India will be signing Oil and Gas MoU with Mozambique. It will facilitate oil and

gas cooperation between India and Mozambique for 5 years.» Govt launched Indo Canadian Science Programme to focus on Clean water

Technologies.» Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to New Delhi after a five-day visit to the

US.» The Georgetown University has appointed its first Hindu priest ‘Pratima

Dharm’ to serve the religious needs of its Hindu students, whose number has increased in recent years.

» Gandhi Inspired Tourist Attraction project launched by South African Tourism. This project identifies 13 places where seminal in MK Gandhi’s tenure in the country.

» At 17, Malala becomes the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner and first Pakistani to get this award.

» The European Union has nearly doubled its assistance to combat the raging Ebola virus in West Africa to 1 billion euros.

» The “Queen of Jaffna,” a once-popular train linking the ethnic Tamil’s northern heartland to the rest of Sri Lanka before a bloody civil war cut the link 24 years ago, chugs back into service in the third week of October.

» Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced have donated $25 million to fight against the Ebola virus disease.

» Venezuela, Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand and Spain on 16 October 2014 were elected as non-permanent members of United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The new members have tenure of 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2016.


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» Nigeria declared Ebola-free by WHO. » Srilankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa flagged off Yal Devi Express from

Palai after 25 years. Currently it is running between Colombo and Palai it will be extended to Jaffna.

» Turkey‘s Parliament on 2 October voted to authorize the government to take military action in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State (IS).

» The US has signed an agreement with India to help India to develop three smart cities as a part of India's recently launched 100 smart city programmes. The three cities are Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam.

» During October 2014 the American Congress has initiated a probe against 14 generic drug makers for price escalation of generic drugs that includes top Indian drug companies Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy’s Lab and Cadila Healthcare.

» Former ’News of the World’ editor Ian Edmondson admits to phone hacking.» British House of Commons passed symbolic motion to recognise Palestinian

state.» The Mauritian parliament was dissolved on 6th October to pave the way for

elections that could lead to changes in the country's constitution. » Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of Kenya became the first-ever serving head of

state to appear before the International Court of Justice.» Hurricane Gonzalo struck Bermuda.» With the objective of Reducing Russia’s dependence on the European market and

establishing a firm ground in the Asia-Pacific market Russia and China signed a mega gas deal worth $400 billion. China is slated to receive 38 billion cubic metre of gas every year for 30 years through this gas project.

» Kobani is also known as ‘Ayn al-Arab’ the Syrian town which has become the centre of the Syrian Civil War with the ongoing siege between the militants of Islamic State & Syrian Kurds.

» India has deferred the India-Africa Forum Summit 2014 due to ‘Ebola scare’, which was proposed to be held at New Delhi on 4 December participating 54 African nations.

» Jamaat-ul-Ahrar the breakaway faction of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (in August 2014), whose militants had fired bullets into Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai in 2012 and which has now criticised awarding her with this prestigious prize.

» Apple has been ranked as the world's most valuable brand with brand value of nearly $119 billion followed by Google at $107 billion, as per the Interbrand Best Global Brands annual report. Social networking giant Facebook has been the biggest riser in the chart at 29th spot.

» ‘Typhoon Phanfone’ made a landfall over Japan also affected the Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands. The typhoon's name, contributed by the Laos which means "animal".


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» ‘Typhoon Vongfong’ the strongest typhoon of 2014 hit Japan. The typhoon's name, contributed by Macau which means "wasp".

» 1st Parliamentary elections held in Tunisia.» The tallest building in New York – ‘432 Park Avenue’, a residential tower being

constructed height of 1,396 feet.» Construction of 1800-km highway along China border in Arunachal Pradesh by

India has strongly opposed by China.» Britain and Ireland signed a MoU on new joint Visa cooperation. According to

the MoU the non-European travelers to these nations will be provided with a common short-stay visa. With this short-stay visa, travelers from outside the European Union will be allowed to move freely between the two jurisdictions on a single permit.

» Pakistan recorded the highest number of polio cases in 2014 reached 202 was the highest in 14 years. According to data revealed by the National Institute of Health of Pakistan. The previous highest was recorded in 2000 when it reached 199 polio cases.

» Belgium and the Netherlands of European Union are planning to legalise ‘Bio cremations’. So far, it has been legalised only in the US and Canada. (A bio cremation is a practice that ensures that the human body is turned into a liquid and not into ashes. The process is also known as chemical hydrolysis).

» Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd changed the name of its Alipay financial services unit as Ant Financial Services Group.

» NASA’s Earth Observatory claimed that world's fourth-largest lake, Aral Sea located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has dried and is at the verge of vanish.

» The US announced to lift 40 years long ban on arms sales to Vietnam to boost sea defence in the South China Sea. The ban was put in place after the end of Vietnam War in 1975.

» New York Declaration on Forests was released at the UN Climate Summit in New York, US which says that all the Governments, multinational companies and campaigners to take pledge to eliminate deforestation by 2030.

» Nasdaq-listed IT Services Company Cognizant has acquired digital marketing company Cadient Group for an estimated $30 million.

» China announced that it will launch a new constellation of marine surveillance satellites HY-3 by 2019 to monitor ships, oil rigs and marine disasters. It aimed to amidst a string of raging maritime disputes with its neighbours.

» The world's tallest building Burj Khalifa has bagged a newest Guinness World - the highest man-made vantage point on earth.

» Cipla Medpro inked a collaboration pact with Teva Pharmaceuticals of Israel for sales and distribution of the latter's drugs in South Africa.


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» An Italian court in Busto Arsizio acquitted ‘Giuseppe Orsi’ and ‘Bruno Spagnolini’ of corruption charges in the 3600 crore rupees VVIP chopper deal with India.

» The Australian Cabinet has given its approval for fighter jets to join the US-led military action against Islamic State militants targets in Iraq.

» “Leah Kalanguka” was crowned as Miss Uganda 2014; she was a former mushroom and poultry farmer.

» Sweden became the 1st European Union country to officially recognise the State of Palestine.

» Kosovo granted provisional Olympic recognition by IOC.» Canada witnessed fatal shooting of a soldier and an attack on parliament

building.» Taiwan banned govt officials from higher studies in mainland china. This

decision was taken due to the national security reasons.» Nigeria signed ceasefire agreement with Islamic extremist Boko Haram; likely

to get back all the abducted schoolgirls as part of the deal. Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in Hausa (African language).

APPOINTMENTS» Aamir Khan has been appointed as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for South

Asia.» Khaled Bahah new PM of Yemen. (President - Mansour Hadi)» New Prime Minister of Uganda is Ruhakana Rugunda.» Richard Rahul Verma nominated as the next U.S. Ambassador to India.» Former IMF economist Arvind Subramanian was appointed Chief Economic

Advisor in the Finance Ministry. The post of CEA has been lying vacant since Raghuram Rajan left the Finance Ministry to join the Reserve Bank as Governor in September last year.

» Rajiv Mehrishi (currently the Chief Secretary of Rajasthan) replaced Arvind Mayaram as Finance Secretary. Arvind Mayaram was transferred to the Tourism Ministry.

» Joko Widodo takes over as Indonesian president.» Evo Morales re-elected to a 3rd successive 4-year term as the President of

Bolivia.


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» Isha Ambani and Akash Ambani twin children of Mukesh Ambani were appointed to the boards of the company’s telecoms and retail businesses.

» NIIT Ltd (National Institute of Information Technology Limited) appointed Rahul Keshav Patwardhan as its next CEO. He will take charge as CEO on 1st April 2015.

» Civil Aviation Ministry approved the appointment of Cramer Ball as CEO of Jet Airways the second largest airline in India, after IndiGo. Former CEO - Garry Kenneth Toomey.

» Kalpana Morparia was appointed as 1st woman director of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL).

» Narinder Batra was elected unopposed as the president of the Hockey India while Mohammed Mushtaq Ahmad elected as new general secretary.

» Manohar Lal Khattar elected as Chief Minister of Haryana (first BJP CM).» Indian-American Anita M Singh was appointed as Chief of Staff and Counselor in

the National Security Division (NSD) of the US Justice Department.» Rear Admiral Atul Kumar Jain appointed as Chief of Staff of Southern Naval

Command.» Dilma Rousseff has been re-elected as Brazilian President defeating center-right

challenger Aecio Neves.» Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh was designated as the head of Future

Earth Engagement Committee, a global research platform panel of UNEP, UNESCO and WMO on sustainable development.

» Maharashtra BJP President “Devendra Fadnavis” took oath as the first BJP Chief Minister and 27th and youngest of the state.

» Surya Prakash appointed as the Chairman of Prasar Bharti Board for a term of 3 years, succeeding Mrinal Pande.

» New President for Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Industry is Rajkumar Gupta.

» Dr. Venkatesh Panchapagesan has been appointed as member of the advisory committee of the World Economic Forum on real estate.

» Kaushal Srivastava has been chosen as the new Chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Custom (CBEC), the apex policy making body of indirect taxes.

» Google CEO Larry Page has appointed Indian-born Sundar Pichai as head of all Google products business as part of a big management re-structure process. From now he will head of Google Plus, search, maps, research, commerce and ad products as well as infrastructure. YouTube will remain under Susan Wojcicki, CEO of the YouTube.

» Former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami appointed as the new chairman of the governing board of the Chennai-based Kalakshetra Foundation.


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» Mulayam Singh Yadav re-elected as Samajwadi Party Chief for 9th consecutive time. He will act as party chief for next 3 years.

» Next MD of Adidas is Dave Thomas.» Guy Scott, Vice President of Zambia, appointed as Acting President by the

Govt, after the death of President Michael Sata.

AWARDS AND HONOUR» Shah Rukh Khan has been honoured with Global Diversity Award 2014 by

British parliament for his contribution to cinema.» President Presents Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for excellence in Public

Administration, Academics and Management for the year 2014 to Dr. Apathukatha Sivathanu Pillai.

» Anoop Jain was named recipient of the 2014 Waislitz Global Citizen Award for his "exemplified values of a Global Citizen" through his work in founding Humanure Power (HP) in Bihar in 2011 that builds community sanitation facilities in rural India.

» Australian author Richard Flanagan won Man Booker prize 2014 for his book 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North'

» All India National Unity Council honoured poet-diplomat Abhay K with Asia-Pacific Excellence Award.

» Padma Bhushan winner Indian-American Stanford University professor, Thomas Kailath, has been shortlisted among 10 innovators to receive US National Medal of Science announced by USA President Barack Obama for their contribution to the field of science.

» India-born Mexican scientist Sanjaya Rajaram has been presented with the prestigious World Food Prize 2014 for his agricultural research that led to a remarkable increase in world wheat production building on the successes of the Green Revolution.

» Indian police inspector ‘Shakti Devi’ of the Jammu & Kashmir Police has been named recipient of a prestigious international female peacekeeper award by the UN's police division for her "exceptional achievements" in her duty with the UN mission in Afghanistan, including her efforts towards helping victims of sexual and gender-based violence.

» Noted lyricist Sameer was honoured with the National Kishore Kumar Award for 2012-13.

» Saiyid Hamid was conferred with Sir Ross Masood Lifetime Achievement Award 2014 established by Aligarh Muslim University Association Inc. New York for Excellence in Leadership, Education, community & Public Service. He is the Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard University and former Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University.


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» Former New York Mayor and philanthropist billionaire Michael Rubens Bloomberg was granted an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in Britain. He is the founder of the news and financial data company Bloomberg PLC.

» Alfonso Cuaron, the Oscar winning Mexican Director (Film – Gravity) To be honoured by Museum of Modern Art.

» Indian-origin Singaporean poet and writer KTM Iqbal was named for the 2014 Cultural Medallion, the highest cultural award of Singapore. Singapore President Tony Tan will deliver the award to him.

» Popular actress Maggie Smith was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, one of Britain’s highest honours by Queen Elizabeth.

» Indo-American student ‘Sahil Doshi’ won Americas ‘Top Young Scientist’ award for his innovative design of an eco-friendly device that seeks to reduce carbon footprint, while offering power for household usage.

» Malala Yousafzai became the youngest recipient of Liberty Medal 2014 (American award).

» Malala Yousafzai won the 2014 World’s Children Prize at a ceremony in Stockholm.

» Ashwika Kapur became the 1st Indian woman to win prestigious Wildscreen Panda Award (Green Oscar of the natural history and wildlife film industry). She won the coveted wildlife photography award in best newcomer category for her film, “Sirocco - how a dud became a stud”.

» SAIL, BPCL, IOCL, HAL, BEL, PFC and NSKFDC won prestigious SCOPE Meritorious Awards to central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) in specialized fields (2012-13).

» Sakharov prize 2014, Europe's top human rights award, goes to DR Congo doctor Denis Mukwege. He achieved this award for his efforts in helping thousands of gang rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

» Order of the White Lion (highest civilian honour) of Czech Republic was awarded to Sir Schindler Nicholas. It was presented by President Milos Zemana for saving 669 Children from Nazis.

» World Altitude Record for Highest Free Fall Parachute Jump broken by Alan Eustace jumped from 135908 feet, who is a Senior Google Vice President.

» Take Action against domestic violence Award achieved by Anu Peshwaria. She is an Indo-American Attorney who achieved this award for her efforts to and domestic violence.

» 2014 Sarala Award won by Prafulla Das Noted Odia Writer. He achieved this award for his contribution to literature.

» 2014 Shanti Swarup Bhartnagar Prize achieved by Venkata Mohan CSIR IICT Scientist. He achieved this award in the Engineering Sciences Category for his contribution in generating wealth from waste lending to the establishment of a


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viable link between waste remediation, 3rd generation biofuel and renewable energy.

DEFENCE & TECHNOLOGY» ISRO successfully launched India's 3rd navigation satellite IRNSS-1C on

October 16 using PSLV-C26 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. Its predecessors, IRNSS-1A and IRNSS-1B, were launched by PSLV-C22 and PSLV-C24 in July 2013 and April 2014, respectively. The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015.

» Defence projects worth Rs 80,000 crore were cleared by the government which decided that six submarines will be made indigenously and over 8,000 Israeli anti-tank guided missiles and 12 upgraded Dornier surveillance aircraft will be purchased.

» China test fires 10,000-km range nuclear missile - Dongfeng-31B. (Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)).

» India test-fired indigenously developed nuclear capable sub-sonic cruise missile 'Nirbhay', which can strike targets more than 700 kms away, from a test range at Chandipur.

» The Indian Air Force (IAF) is celebrating 82 years anniversary on 8 October 2014 (as its foundation day in the form of ‘Air Force Day’). (IAF was established on 8 October 1932)

» BrahMos mini is being planned for air force and navy. It is lighter version of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos called as ‘BrahMos-M’. It can be also launched from submarines torpedo tubes.

» GSAT-6 scheduled to be launched in March. It is an advanced communication satellite

» Windows 10 is the official name for Microsoft's next version of Windows.» “Lollipop” (Android 5.0) the upgraded version of Google’s Android software that

was planned to launch on 3rd November.» New Twitter feature allows users to listen to music. » Apple CEO Tim Cook says he’s proud to be gay.» Google Inc launched an email service called 'Inbox' that will better organize

emails and display information such as appointments, flight bookings and package deliveries in a more user-friendly way.

» Facebook has set up a new board ‘India Client Council’ in order to serve its partners in a better way. Through this council, the social networking site will be offering a forum to brands to share future ideas of marketing. The council has companies like Tata Motors, Flipkart, Vodafone, Airtel, Micromax, ICICI Bank, P&G, HUL and many others.


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» Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) announced plans to split the company into two listed companies by separating its computer and printer businesses from its faster-growing corporate hardware and services operations named Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and HP Inc.

» Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh launched the ingeniously manufactured Broad Spectrum Confocal Microscope that generates 3D images of objects.

» India is among the 5 group of countries will start work on the world’s biggest telescope in the Mauna Kea volcano in on Hawaii Island in the United States. This will enable to identify an object as small as coin from a distance of 500 km. The other four countries involved in this project include the U.S., Japan, China and Canada. The diameter of this telescope will be a mammoth 30 meter. It will cost around $1.4 billion and the construction is expected to be completed by March 2022.

» ‘We Phone’ a mobile application (app), the services of which were asked to be blocked by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in a recent request made to the Department of Telecom (DoT). The IB claimed that the ‘We Phone’ app facilitates spoofing of caller id and is difficult to identify to locate or identify actual caller.

» Scientists from the Australian National University found that the sea levels have risen more in past century as compared to any century in past 6000 years.

» 33 years after founding Infosys, two of its founders NR Narayana Murthy and S Gopalakrishnan bade farewell to the company. NR Narayana Murthy and S Gopalakrishnan along with six other persons (Nandan Nilekani, N. S. Raghavan, S. D. Shibulal, K. Dinesh, Venugopal and Ashok Arora) laid the foundation of Infosys in 1981.

» ‘RapidScat’ the first Earth-observing instrument of U.S. space agency NASA to be placed and activated on the International Space Station (ISS), which started delivering its first set of data from 1st October. It will be used to monitor ocean winds for climate research, hurricane monitoring and weather predictions.

» Argentina launched its first-ever domestically built satellite named ARSAT-1. It has been designed to provide digital television and cell phone services to Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for the next 15 years.

» World’s first womb-transplant baby was born to a 36-year-old Swedish woman at the University of Gothenburg's hospital in Sweden.

» Data released by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has showed that September of 2014 was the warmest September ever recorded.

» Scientists at Ohio State University, US developed the world’s first rechargeable solar battery.


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» Researchers at University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Appalachian Laboratory have developed a tool to predict how organisms may respond to climate change.

» Skype announced that it will stop the calling facility from its application on mobile and landline phones within India from 10th November.

» Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created a material that is ideal for absorption of solar radiation.

» As per the 3rd Ocean Health Index (OHI) 2014, the overall health score of the Oceans of the world stands at 67 out of 100.

» Ericsson signed a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G network deal with Bharti Airtel. Airtel signed the deal with Ericsson for FDD-LTE network. At present they using TDD-LTE technology.

» A recently released white paper by Ericsson says ‘‘India likely to have 600 million mobile broadband users by 2020’’.

» Japanese telecom giant SoftBank will invest $627 million in Snapdeal. This is the largest investment made by a single investor in an e-commerce company in India.

» WhatsApp founders Jan Koum & Brian Acton received 116 million shares of Facebook stock currently worth nearly $9 billion when they sold their unprofitable messaging service to the social networking leader earlier in October.

» Texas based company Xenex developed Ebola Killing Robot. This robot will clean a hospital room in 5 minutes and destroy the virus by fusing its DNA. Name of this robot is ‘Little Moe’.

» As per a new study, earth’s gravity changed due to Antarctica’s Ice Loss.» New Planet which resemblance like Uranus discovered by Astronomers in the

binary star system, about 25000 light years away.» An agreement between Google and Oxford University to advance research on

artificial intelligence to ultimately enable machines to better understand human users.

» Ebola.com domain sold for more than $2 lakh in cash and stock. This was purchased by Weed Growth Fund which is Russian Registered firm.

» WTO gives conditional nod to treat MDR (multidrug-resistant) TB to a new drug Delamanid.

» Researchers were from India and Sri Lanka discovered 7 new species of frogs in Western Ghats and Sri Lanka.

NOBEL PRIZE 2014


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List of Nobel laureates - India» Kailash Satyarthi - Peace, 2014,» Venkatraman Ramakrishnan - Chemistry,

2009» Amartya Sen - Economic Sciences, 1998» Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar - Physics,

1983» Mother Teresa - Peace, 1979» Hargobind Khorana – Physiology/

Medicine,1968» C.V. Raman - Physics, 1930


» The NOBEL prizes for Physics, Physiology/Medicine,Literature Chemistry, and Peace were first awarded in 1901 as will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

» The NOBEL Prize in Economic Sciences was started in 1969.

» All NOBEL Prizes except Peace Prize has been awarded by Sweden.

» Norway presenting the NOBEL Prize for Peace.» The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, while the other prizes are

awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.


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2014 Nobel Prize Winners

PeaceKailash Satyarthi (India)Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan)

For promoting child rights in the Indian sub-continent

Literature Patrick Modiano (France)

“Missing Person” (1980)“Trace of Malice” (1988)“Honeymoon” (1992)

PhysicsShuji Nakamura - Japan Hiroshi Amano - JapanIsamu Akasaki - Japan

LED Lights contribution to saving the Earth’s resources.

Physiology/ Medicine

Edvard MoserMay-Britt MoserJohn O'Keefex

They solved the mystery – How does the brain create a map of the space surrounding us and how can we navigate our way through a complex environment?

Chemistry

William E. MoernerEric Betzig Stefan Hell

Contribution in the area of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy which helped in bringing optical microscopy into the nano-dimension.

Economic Jean Tirole (France) For his analysis of market power and


https://www.google.co.in/search?client=firefox-beta&hs=1KV&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=rcs&biw=1024&bih=646&q=professor+john+o'keefe&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAGOovnz8BQMDgy0HsxC3fq6-gaGRgaFxSboSF4hTlWyYZFGlpZCdbKWfWJ5YlAIh45NTi1Jz8_Mqrcoz8_JSi4r1n7U9UNl__ODZqdMmM744KNT-Rb0fAABX8AtaAAAA&sa=X&ei=0ztHVLHbMoKauQSg_oLIBw&ved=0CKUBEMQNMBA

SUMMITS AND MEETINGS» 3rd International Tourism Mart held in Shillong, Meghalaya» India Expo 2014 held in Dubai.» 8th Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is held in London, UK.» 10th edition of World Islamic Economic Forum (WIFE) held in Dubai. The theme

of the forum is “Innovative Partnerships for Economic Growth”.» The 2nd Meeting of SAARC Ministers of Education/Higher Education was held

at New Delhi. Union HRD Minister, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, was unanimously elected to the Chair.

» 7th Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Scientific Session inaugurated by Hamid Ansari at New Delhi.

» Joint naval exercise 'IBSAMAR' among India, Brazil and South Africa held in South Africa.

» First 'Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet & Expo' (RE - INVEST) will take place in New Delhi from 15-17 February, 2015.

» Madhya Pradesh organised Global Investors Summit 2014 (GIS 2014), inaugurated by Modi. This is the 4th GIS summit.

COMMITEES» Union Govt constituted a committee under the Union Finance Ministry to provide

Bankruptcy code for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The committee will be headed by former Lok Sabha secretary-general T K Vishwanathan. They will submit report by February 2015.

» Union Govt has appointed a committee to assess compensation to be paid for taking over running or ready to produce mines headed by former CVC (Central Vigilance Comission) Pratyush Sinha. They will submit its recommendations by 10th November

» DIPP constituted a 6-member panel chaired by retired Justice Prabha Sridevan to draft the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) policy.

» MoUD (Union Ministry of Urban Development) constituted a committee to suggest ways to decongest roads of Delhi. This committee constitutes 17 members. Chairman of this committee would be Secretary of Union MoUD.

» The Supreme Court appointed high-powered ‘committee on guidelines for government ads’ headed by Prof. NR Madhava Menon submitted its report to the court. The committee in its report has framed guidelines to regulate expenditure and contents of advertisements paid out of tax payers' money. The 3 member committee includes TK Viswanathan, former Secretary General of Lok Sabha and Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar has recommended that names and pictures of


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political parties and their office bearers like presidents should not be mentioned in government advertisements.

» The Post Sachar Evaluation Committee headed by Prof. Amitabh Kundu submitted its final report to the Union Minister of Minority Affairs Najma Heptullah.

» District level transgender committees to set up by Chhattisgarh Govt. Through this committee benefits of the welfare schemes for transgender reach them.

» Centre constitutes BN Talukar committee to probe the inordinate delay in oil and gas generation in ONGC's Krishna Godavari basin KG-D5 block. The KG-D5 was allotted to ONGC at the same time as the neighbouring KG-D6 block was given to Reliance Industries (RIL). While RIL has started oil and gas production beginning 2009; ONGC is just in the discovery-phase.

SCHEMES» Mahatma Gandhi 145th birth anniversary - 2 October - PM launched Swachh

Bharat Abhiyaan; India's biggest ever cleanliness drive to fulfill Gandhi`s vision of ‘Clean India’ by 2nd October 2019 (The 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi).On this occasion President Pranab Mukherjee asked every Indian citizen to spend 100 hours annually in this drive. The total expected cost of the programme is Rs. 62,009 crore, out of which the proposed central assistance will be of Rs. 14,623 crore. The Union Cabinet during September 2014 also decided to merge the ‘Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan’, a campaign for rural sanitation with “Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan”.

» To ensure housing for all by 2022, the urban housing mission will be soon launched and named as Sardar Patel Urban Housing Mission. 30 million houses will be built by 2022, mostly for the economically weaker sections and low income groups, through public-private-partnership, interest subsidy and increased flow of resources to the housing sector.

» Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 11th October launched Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana on the occasion of birth anniversary of Jai Prakash Narayan, as he had declared in his maiden Independence Day speech. 800 MPs develop three villages each by 2019; around 2500 villages will be covered.

» PM launched the ‘Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate scheme’ (PDUSJ scheme’), under which he dedicated a Shram Suvidha portal, Labour Inspection scheme and Portability through Universal Account Number for Employees Provident Fund to the nation. Appointment of National Brand Ambassadors of Vocational Training to instill pride and confidence in ITI students under PDUSJ Scheme.

» India’s first ever mental health policy was launched with the primary objective of providing access to good quality treatment to mentally ill people named “Mental Health Action Plan 365”. It was also announced that 10th October, which is


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observed as the world mental health day, would now also be observed as the ‘National Mental Health Day’.

» The Union Government launched a website attendance.gov.in to monitor the attendance of government employees in real time (Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system) to increase transparency and accountability, as part of its Digital India programme.

» Union Government launched Pashmina Promotion Programme (P-3), aimed to control pashmina wool production up to 65 tonnes during 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17).

» Union Ministry of Science & Technology launched ‘The Maithreyi International Visiting Professorship’ in New Delhi. Under the scheme, India will invite 12 leading international science scholars from across the world to visit India as Visiting Professors.

» To extend the scope of Janani Shishu Suraksha Yojana (JSSY) with an aim to bring down the infant mortality rate in the State, the Rajasthan govt. has decided to provide free treatment to all newborn children born in public health facilities till they complete one year.

» With a view to uplift rural India, the government is set to launch a new programme called ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’. The programme is being launched in collaboration with the IIT and the NITs across the country.

» Modified Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme to re-launch approved by Union Govt. This scheme will be implemented from 10th November 2014 to 1st January 2015 in 54 districts. Currently beneficiaries who have bank accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana will get subsidy on LPG directly in their accounts.

» Underlining the plans of the Indian govt to eliminate Tuberculosis from the country, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan announced 'TB-Mission 2020'.

» National Air Quality Index launched by MoEFCC (Union Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change). It is an initiative under Swachh Bharat Mission envisioned by Prime Minister Modi to introduce the culture of cleanliness. Aim of this tool is to create awareness among people about quality of air they breathe.

» Govt to launch Kisan Vikas Patra along with some new saving instrument programmes for the girl Child as well as Physically Challenged Person as stated by senior finance Ministry.

» Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) website launched by Union Finance Ministry. This website will be available in two languages namely Hindi and English. Domain of this website is www.pmjdy.gov.in.

» Health Services Guarantee Scheme inaugurated in Madhya Pradesh by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. This scheme will provide 18 health services as guarantee.


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http://www.pmjdy.gov.in/

» Canada offers to assist India with ‘wooden multi-storey housing technology’ for ‘Housing for all by 2022’ scheme. They are also willing to help us in building the proposed 100 smart cities.

» Germany to help India in urban sanitation programmes; pledges 4 million Euros. It will also provide technical assistance with special focus on enabling effective measures against discharge of untreated waste water into surface and ground water.

REPORTS AND RANKINGS» India 55th on global hunger index (63rd in last year) out of 76 countries by the

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Mauritius, Thailand Tops while Burundi, Eritrea bottoms the Index.

» According to the report of ‘Boston Consulting Group’ India ranks 18th on list of most desirable places to work. 1st – USA, 2nd – UK, 3rd – Canada. As per this report 70 to 80% of the Indians were willing to work in an overseas location.

» A poll on quality of life for HSBC revealed Switzerland is the world’s favourite destination among expats, followed by Singapore and China. India ranks 9th in the list.

» India ranks 6th in the ‘Raising Children Abroad’ list, according to the Expat Explorer Report 2014 by HSBC. New Zealand topped the list.

» A study by NASSCOM depicts India is the fastest growing and 3rd largest start-up ecosystem in the world after the U.S. and the U.K

» WEF (World Economic Forum) released 2014 Gender Gap Index. India slips 13 spots to 114 out of 142 countries. Iceland topped the list followed by Finland and Norway. On the bottom Yemen ranks 142nd and Pakistan ranked 141st.

» Recently released World Bank's "Ease of Doing Business" report says India ranked 142nd among the 189 countries, a drop by two places from the last year's ranking. Singapore topped the list followed by New Zealand. On the bottom Eritrea ranks 189th and Libya ranks 188th.

» India has been ranked at 7th place for minority investor protection, as per a sub-ranking released by the World Bank as part of its annual Ease of Doing Business report.

» ONGC overtook Reliance Industries to become the highest ranked Indian energy firm as per the ‘Platts Global 250 Rankings’ for this year. ONGC now ranked at 21st position globally and RIL secured 22nd rank while IOC and Coal India secured 43rd and 47th rank respectively. ‘Exxon Mobil Corp’ of US ranked the list.

» Mark Zuckerberg (30) ranked 2nd in the list of powerful people titled 40 under 40 released by Fortune. 3rd - Italy's youngest Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (39).


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» Amazon CEO Jeffrey Bezos topped the 100 best performing CEO’s list released by Harvard Business Review magazine. One India attained place in this list is MasterCard’s CEO Ajay Banga on 64th place.

» “Children of the Recession: The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Child Well Being in Rich Countries” Report released by UNICEF. As per the report child poverty increased in 23 developed countries since 2008 when the global recession starts.

» Capital of Australia, Canberra has been chosen as the best place in the world to live, as per the report published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

BOOKS» “Syntheism – Creating God in The Internet Age” authored by Alexander

Bard. Bard along with Jan Söderqvist has written three books on internet revolution collectively known as “The Futurica Trilogy”. This Triology includes,

a) The Body Machines (2009)b) The Global Empire (2002)c) The Netocrats (2000)

» “Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace” authored by Leon Panetta, and Jim Newton. Panetta is a former Defence Secretary and ex-CIA Director and Newton is an editor of the Los Angeles Times.

» “A Man and a Motorcycle, How Hamid Karzai Came to Power” written by Bette Dam (a Dutch journalist based in Afghanistan).

» International edition of ‘Encyclopedia of Hinduism’ by India Heritage Research Foundation was released by Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

» “Untold Story of the Indian Public Sector” authored by Dr UD Choubey was released by Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

» “Final Test: Exit Sachin Tendulkar” authored by Dilip D’Souza. (A close scrutiny of Sachin’s last Test played at the Wankhede in 14th -16th November 2013).

» “Making Sense of Chindia : Reflections on China and India” authored by former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh (2005)

2014 Man Booker Nominees» ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ by Richard Flanagan (Australian) ->

Winner» ‘We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves’ by Karen Jay Fowler (American)» ‘To Rise Again at a Decent Hour’ by Joshua Ferris (American)» ‘J’ by Howard Jacobson (British),» ‘The Lives of Others’ by Neel Mukherjee (British Indian}» ‘How to be Both’ by Ali Smith (British) Letz Talk => A Complete Current Affairs Solution [www.facebook.com/4krrish]

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» World Polio Day» UN (United Nations) Day 24th October.


OBITUARIES» Lok Sabha MP Kapil Krishna Thakur died.» Veteran Telugu writer and former radio artiste Turaga Janaki Rani died.» Benjamin Baradlee, Former Washington Post Editor, died.» American actress Elizabeth Pena passed away.» Former Union Carbide Chief Warren Anderson wanted in India in connection

with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy has died.» Jack Bruce Singer & multi-

instrumentalist, popular for being part of 1960s band ‘Cream’ died.

» British actress and presenter Lynda Bellingham passed away.

» Newly elected BJP MLA Govind M Rathod from Mudkhed Assembly in Nanded district of Maharashtra passed away.

» Russian Stage actor Yuri Lyubimov Died.» Veteran Tamil actor SS Rajendran passes away.» Veteran journalist Madhav Vittal Kamath passed away. He was former

Chairman of Prasar Bharati Board. He also served as Editor of ‘The Sunday Times’.

» Noted freedom fighter Jagdish Sharan Pande died.» Alan Henning, British hostage who was shown being beheaded in a video

released on 3 October 2014 by Islamic State militants. This is the fourth such video released by the ISIS militants. The three persons who were beheaded in the same manner include American reporters James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid worker David Haines.

» Thomas Eric Duncan the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States who died on 8 October 2014 thus raising enormous anxiety in the country.

» Zambian President Michael Sata died. He was the 5th President of Zambia, since 2011 until his death. He belongs to ‘Patriotic Front’ (PF)


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Indian Super League - TEAMS» Atlético de Kolkata (Sourav Ganguly)» Chennaiyin FC (M.S.Dhoni, Abhishek

Bachchan)» Delhi Dynamos » FC Goa (Virat Kohli)» Kerala Blasters (Sachin Tendulkar)» Mumbai City (Ranbir Kapoor)» NorthEast United (John Abraham)» Pune City (Salman Khan)


» Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta died. He was often described as the ‘sultan of suave’.

» Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Motiur Rahman Nizami sentenced to death for war crimes. (1971 Bangladesh Liberation War).

» German author Siegfried Lenz died. He was one of Germany's most significant post-war writers whose novels explored individuals' culpability for the horrors of Nazism and the struggle to shape a new national identity. He wrote ‘The German Lesson’, ‘The Heritage’.

DATES» October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This month is observed to increase

awareness on early detection and treatment as well as Palliative care of this disease.

» International Day of Older Persons observed on 1st October. The theme of 2014 is “Leaving No One Behind: Promoting a Society for all”. Started in 1990 by UN.

» World Animal Day observed on 4th October across the world (World Animal Lover Day). This day was started in 1931.

» UN celebrated World Habitat Day on 6th October with the theme “Voices from Slums”.

» 9th October: World Post Day» The World Mental Health Day Observed on 10th October. The theme for the year

2014 is "Living with Schizophrenia".» 3rd International Day of the Girl Child was observed on 11th October. This year’s

theme was ‘Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence’.» International Day for Disaster Reduction observed 13th October. The theme for

this year is 'Resilience is for Life'.» Global Hand washing Day observed on 15th October of each year. Theme for

2014 GHD is ‘Clean Hands Save Lives’.» World Food Day is celebrated on 16th October. Theme for 2014 is Family Farming:

“Feeding the world, caring for the earth”.» The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is celebrated on 17th

October. Theme for 2014 is: ‘leave no one behind: think, decide and act together against extreme poverty’.

» World Osteoporosis Day observed on 20th October» Azad Hind Day observed on 21st October. In 1943 Subhas Chandra Bose

formed Azad Hind Fauj on this day. This had made an important contribution against British in the 2nd world war.

» World Stroke Day is observed on 29th October.


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SPORTS» FIFA President Sepp Blatter has revealed the 2018 World Cup logo. The logo

depicts the World Cup trophy in red and blue, colors from the Russian flag, with a gold trim.

» Tintu Luka wins silver in 800m race at 17th Asian Games. The gold was won by Kazakhstan’s Mukasheva Margarita.

» Mary Kom becomes first Indian Woman Boxer to win Gold at Asian Games. Defeated Kazakhstan's Zhaina Shekerbekova in final. Women’s flyweight category (48-51kg).

» India beat defending champions Pakistan win men's hockey gold at Asian Games, and qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics. With this win India has now won 3 gold medals in men’s hockey at the Asian Games (Both victory on 1966 and 1998 at Bangkok, Thailand).

» India won women's 4x400m relay gold at Asian Games. The quartet of Priyanka Panwar, Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur and M R Poovamma.

» Both men’s and woman’s kabaddi teams of India won gold at Asian Games defeating Iran.

» Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) suspended from bowling in CLT20 final due to illegal bowling action.

» The 17th Asian Games ends. India finishes 8th. 57 medals, comprising 11 gold, 10 silver and 36 bronze.

» Chennai Super Kings lifted Champions League T20 2014, defeating Kolkata Knight Riders. Man of the Series & Man of Final - Suresh Raina. Most wickets - Sunil Narine. CSK has now won the Champions League T20 title two times.

» Novak Djokovic defeated Tomas Berdych to win 5th China Open title.» Maria Sharapova beat Petra Kvitova to claim China Open titles.» MS Dhoni becomes ISL team Chennaiyin FC co-owner along with Abhishek

Bachchan.» World Junior Chess Champion (In the Swiss League format) title achieved by Lu

Shanglei of China by defeating Aleksandar Indjic of Serbia held in Pune.» Michael Phelps, the 18-time Olympic swim champion arrested last week for

drunk driving, was banned for six months by USA Swimming and dropped from the 2015 World Championships.

» Indian Super League begins (Football League). Nita Ambani – Chairperson of the ISL. Atletico de Kolkata won the opening match against Mumbai City FC. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and International Management Group (IMG) are the two entities who have major stake in ISL. ISL started with its grand opening ceremony at Kolkata Salt Lake Stadium.


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» American twins Bob and Mike Bryan achieved ‘Masters Slam’ after winning Shanghai Masters men’s doubles title on 12th October to become the first pair to win all 9 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments.

» Roger Federer defeated Gilles Simon (France) for his maiden ATP Shanghai Masters Title.

» Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram clinched Dutch Open, bags maiden Grand Prix by defeating Indonesia's Ihsan Maulana Mustofa.

» Kevin-Pietersen (English Cricketer) launched his autobiography named 'KP'.» India to host inaugural leg of the Asia Cup world-ranking archery tournament

2015, while the 2nd and 3rd legs was allotted to Bangkok and Tehran..» Mary Kom named Most Valuable Player of India's Asian Games campaign.» West Indies cricket team aborted India tour after 4 ODIs.» India clinched Sultan of Johor Cup with a thumping 3-0 victory over hosts

Malaysia in the title clash of the U-21 hockey tournament.» Incheon 2014 Asian Para Games started on 18th October. Theme “Impossible

Drives Us”, the ceremony welcomed 2,500 athletes from 41 countries who will compete in 23 sports.

» The 123-year-old Mohammedan Sporting Club in Kolkata has decided to shut down due to financial crisis. (Founded in 1891)

» The next edition of Asian Games would be held in Jakarta (Indonesia). Indonesia was not the original host of 18th Asian Games to be held in 2018. The games were originally allotted to Hanoi (Vietnam). But Vietnam government expressed its inability to host these games due to financial constraints. Jakarta had hosted the 4th Games in 1962.

» Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes won the Japanese F1 Grand Prix .» Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes won the first edition of Russian F1 Grand Prix

held in Sochi.» Jules Bianchi, French formula one driver, met with an accident during

Japanese Grand Prix held at Suzuka track in Japan (Car - Marussiain).» Kuldeep Yadav (Chinaman bowler) became the first cricketer in the last 10

years to make it to the Indian national team without playing a single first-class (like Ranji Trophy) /list A match.

» Rashid Khan won the PGTI Eagleburg Masters golf tournament held in Bangalore.

» Poland defeated Germany in a Euro 2016 qualifier match to earn its first ever victory over Germany.

» Ethiopian footballer Fikru Lemessa scored the first goal of Indian Super League (ISL) for his team Atlético de Kolkata while playing against Mumbai City in the first match of ISL.


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» China clinched both Men’s and Women’s Singles titles at Denmark Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament with Chen Long and Li Xuerui respectively.

» ICC banned Zimbabwe bowler Prosper Utseya and Bangladeshi bowler Sohag Gazi for exceeding the 15 degree limit of arm extension in their bowling action)

» India lost its top rank in ICC ODI ranking after the defeat to West Indies. South Africa top the ranking, 3rd Australia.

» Bating Consultant in Cricket Association of Bengal’s Vision 2020 Project is VVS Laxman.

» The International Cricket Council (ICC) awarded the global broadcast agreement rights for ICC Events from 2015 to 2023 to Star India and Star Middle East.

» AIBA provisionally suspends India's woman boxer Laishram Sarita Devi for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the Asian Games podium ceremony.

» A day after announcement to resign, India's chief hockey coach Terry Walsh decided to continue in his post after a meeting with top sports officials, who have assured the Australian that all his concerns will be addressed in a fresh contract.

» MS Dhoni buys Ranchi franchise (Ranchi Rhinos the inaugural champions) of Hockey India League, along with Sahara Adventure Sports Limited.

» India won 33 medal including 3 Gold, 14 Silver, and 16 Bronze in Second Asian Para Games – 2014 Incheon, South Korea. China topped the medal table with 174 Gold.

» The India-Zimbabwe tennis pairing of Sania Mirza and Cara Black clinched the prestigious season-ending WTA Finals defeating Hsieh Su-wei & Peng Shuai in the final held Singapore.

» Serena Williams bagged 5th WTA Finals title after her victory over Simona Halep of Romania.

» Pankaj Advani won World Billiards Point Format Championship held at Leeds, UK, defeating Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist.

» Pankaj Advani won IBSF World Billiards Championship (Point Format) in Bangalore by defeating Robert Hall of the UK.

» Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri won Venetian Macau Golf Open.» India placed 2nd in the ODI and 6th place in the ICC Test rankings as on 2nd

November. South Africa topped both the rankings. » South Africa's football captain and goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa shot died.» The BCCI has slammed a damage claim worth 250 crore on West Indies

Cricket Board following their team's withdrawal midway through the India tour and threatened to take legal action if the board didn't respond within 15 days.

» Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh were inducted into the “Bradman Hall of Fame”.


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» Saina Nehwal jumped by a place to 5th rank in the latest BWF women's singles rankings, and P V Sindhu maintained 10th rank in the list. P Kashyap jumped by 4 places to 17th spot in the latest ranking.

» All India Football Federation (AIFF) suspended head coach of Atletico de Kolkata Antonio Lopez Habas for 4 matches while two players Robert Pires and Fikru Lemessa have been banned for 2 matches for breaching disciplinary code during the ongoing Indian Super League.

» A Euro 2016 qualifier match between Albania and Serbia was abandoned mid-way after a controversial flag was flown above the stadium by a drone device.

ASIAN GAMES – 2014» 17th Asian games held at Incheon, South Korea from 19th September to 4th October. » South Korea already hosted Asian Games in 2002 (Busan) and 1986 (Seoul).» Official Motto was – ‘Diversity Shines Here’» Mascot – Chumuro, Vichuro, Barame (Spotted Seals).» India sent 679 member team to this Asiad.» Indian Hockey team captain Sardar Singh was the Indian flag bearer in the opening

ceremony.» Amul Sponsored Indian Team for Incheon Games.» Adille Sumariwa was Chief d’ Mission Officer of Indian Team for Incheon Games.» India Ranked 8th in the games and medal table topped by China followed by South

Korea.» India ended the Games with a total of 57 medals, including 11 gold, 9 silver and 37

bronze, which is 8 less than the 65 medals (14 gold, 17 silver and 34 bronze) India won at the Guangzhou Games 2010.

» China bagged the First Gold medal in Asian games in Team Shooting.» Shewta Chaudhary became the first Indian Medal Winner (10m Air Pistol) and Jitu Rai

won first Indian Gold Medal (50m Air Pistol).

»


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Gold medal winners Silver medal winners Bronze (Important only)

Jitu Rai- 50m Air pistol Tintu Luka - 800m Women's Badminton team Yogeswar Dutt - 65kg Free StyleWrestling

Abishek Verma - Men Archery Compound

Abhinav Bindra - 10 Metre Air Rifle

Mixed Doubles Tennis – Saketh Myneni, Sania Mirza

Bajrang Kumar - 61 Kg Wrestling

Women's Double Tennis – Sania Mirza, Prarthana Thombare

Men’s Kabadi Team Manju Bala - Hammer throw MR Poovamma - 400mWomen’s Kabadi Team Saurav Goshal - Squash OP Jaisha - 1,500mMen’s Hockey Team Vikas Gowda - Discuss throw Inderjeet Singh - Shot PutMary Kom - 51 Kg Flyweight Kushbir Kaur - 20km Walk Vikas Krishan - 75 kg

boxing Men Squash - Saurav Goshal, Harinder Pal Singh, Kush Kumar, Mahesh Magnokar

Womens Squash Team – Deepika Pallikal , Anaka Alkamony & Joshna Chinnappa

Rahi Sarnobat, Anisa Sayyed, Heena Sidhu - Women's 25 Metre Pistol Team

Men Archery Compound – Sandeep Kaur, Raijat Chauhan, Abishek

Saketh Myneni , Sanam Singh - Men’s Doubles Tennis

Dipika Pallikal - Women's singles Squash

4*400m relay - Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur, M R Poovama, Priyanka Panwar

Pemba Tamang , Gurpeet singh &Vijay Kumar - 25m Men Center Fire Pistol Team

L. Sarita Devi - Women's 57-60 kg Boxing

Seema Poonia - Discuss Throw Annu Rani - Women's Javelin Throw



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OCTOBER 2014 – FACT FILE {SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR SBI ASSOCIATES PO AND IBPS CLERK}

Education

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