September 2014

CURRENT AFFAIRS SEPTEMBER 2014

• Manoj Bajpai-starrer Chittagong won the best feature award at third annual Washington DC South Asian Film Festival (DCSAFF).
• Indian Dental Association (IDA) Organized World Dental Congress in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Indian VIP Visits To foreign Countries -

 

• Indian President Pranab Mukherjee Visited Vietnam.
• Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj Visited Vietnam and Afghanistan.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Japan.
• Japan Promised 35 Billion USD investment in India.
• Indian and Japan agreed for cooperation in various key areas such as education, Railways and Infrastructure.
• Massive Floods in Jhelum, Chenab and Ravi rivers caused large scale devastation in Jammu and Kashmir. Indian Armed Forces started Operation Megh Rahat Rescue operation to save stranded and affected people.
• CSO (Central Statistics Organization) Presented Economy Report for First Quarter of FY 2014 - 15. Indian Economy GDP growth was 5.7% during Apr - June 2014. It is much better then statistics in recent years.
• 26th Summit of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was held in Wales, UK.
• US Open Tennis 2014 - Male - Marin Cilic (Croatia) won by beating Kei Nishikori (Japan).
• US Open Tennis 2014 - Female - Serena Williams (USA) won by beating Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark).
• Lalita Kumaramanglam has been appointed as chief of National Commission for Women.
• Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been appointed as 12th President of Turkey.
• Indian Agricultural Research Institute conferred Honorary Doctorate Jose Graziano da Silva, Chief of United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
• T N Suresh Kumar has become First India Person to Travel to Stratosphere (Second Layer of Earth's Atmosphere).
• Indian Actor Shahrukh Khan has been appointed as the Brand Ambassador of Interpol, International Police Co-Operation Organization.
• Wrestler Sushil Kumar has been appointed Sports Brand Ambassador of Delhi.
• Sakari Momoi (111 Years) of Japan has been named as the Oldest Person Alive on earth by Guinness Book of World records.
• Indian-origin Asanish Kalyanasundaram is named as brightest student in Britain as he scored a perfect five in his main subjects with 100 per cent marks.
• Bhartendu Harishchandra Awards for the years 2011 and 2012 has been conferred. These Awards are given for excellent Literature writing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Women’s Issues, National Integration and Children’s Literature.
• Indian scientist and ecologist Kamal Bawa has won the prestigious Midori Prize in Biodiversity 2014 for his research that included climate change in the Himalayas.

Hindi Seva Puraskar 2010 & 2011 -

 

Total 28 People were Awarded in all categories awards for 2010 & 2011 by Kendriya Hindi Sansthan.

Various Awards Included in the Hindi Seva Puraskar are -

Gangasharan Singh Puraskar -

2010 - R F Neeralkutty, Padma Sachdev, Janu Ruha, S A Suryanarayan Verma.

2011 - H Balsubramanyam, Robin Das, T R Bhatt, Kulchandra Sharma

Aatma Ram Puraskar -

2010 - Kali Shankar and Anil Kumar Chaturvedi

2011 - Mahesh Kulkarni and Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Puraskar -

2010 - Ravish Kumar, Dilip Kumar Chaubey

2011 - Shivnarayan , Govind Singh

Subramania Bharati Puraskar -

2010 - Sudhir Chaudhary, Shyam Sunder Dubey

2011 - Dilip Singh, Nityanand Tiwari

Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan Puraskar -

2010 - Rarmanand Panchal, Raghuvir Chaudhary

2011 - Asgar Wajahat, Ved Rahi

Dr. George Grierson Puraskar -

2010 - Shamtof Azaad

2011 - U Zo Kim

 

• 66th Primetime Emmy Awards were presented in USA. Breaking Bad won most Awards (Five Categories - Drama Series, Writing, Actor, Actress and Support Actor).
• Bengali film Jaatishwar Nominated for 87th Academy Awards (Oscars).
• Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards 2012 have been conferred by BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). Best Performance award has been given to Rail Wheel Factory, Bengalore.
• 13 Youth have been Honored in Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2014. Kumar Anupam has been Honored for Hindi.
• 13 People have been honored in Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2014. Dinesh Chamola has been honored for Hindi.
• Renowned novelist Mithileshwar has been honored by Shri Lal Shukla Smiriti Iffco Sahitya Samman Award 2014.
• First Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) was started in Howrah, West Bengal.
• Odyssey of My Life is the autobiography of Former Home Minister Shivraj Patil.
• Not Just an Accountant has been written by Vinod Rai (India's Former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)).
• Assasination of Rajeev Gandhi : an Inside Job has been written by Faraj Ahmad.
• Government raised the import duty on raw and white sugar to 25 per cent to help sugar mills pay large dues of farmers.
• India signed agreement with Western African Counrtry Ghana for setting up a joint venture for a urea plant due to high abundance of gas in Ghana which is used for manufacturing of the UREA.
• Discovery Channel started Broadcasting of a New Channel Investigation Discovery in India.
• Indian American Sankar Chatterjee has won the prestigious 'Fulbright Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award'.
• Rona Fairhead has been appointed as the first women chief of BBC.
• Vijay Bahadur Singh has been appointed as Advocate General of uttar pradesh.
• Bimal Jalan has been appointed as Chief of Expenditure Management Commission.
• A New committee has been formed nder Shanta Kumar to suggest measures to be adopted to carry out improvements in functioning of food corporation of India (FCI).
• R.N Ravi has been appointed as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee.
• SAIL Chief C.S Verma has been appointed as The first chief of Steel Association of India.
• U.S Postal Service has issued a honored postal stamp of Indian Telgu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. He is the first indian actor to recive this honor.
• Indian Veena Sahajwalla has been honored by Australian Laureate Fellowship for her work in micro-recycling of e-waste.
• Himachal Pradesh High Court has banned animal sacrifice during all the religiousv activities in Himachal Pradesh.
• Government launched 'Incredible India' mobile application to assist tourists in accessing various Travel related information.
• Supreme Court approved recognition of Urdu as second official language of Uttar Pradesh.
• Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for 2014 has been given to Apathukatha Sivathanu Pillai.
• Scotland People decide to stay with UK through a Public Referendum as 55 % voted NO for separation.
• G - 20 Countries' Labour and Employment Ministers Met in Australia.
• 14th SCO Summit (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. India has been approved as new (7th) member of SCO.
• Abdullah al-Thani has been appointed as Prime Minister of Libya for second Time.
• Equadfor to become First Country to issue Digital National Currency.
• A Hindu temple, claimed as worlds first ‘eco-temple with solar panels and rainwater harvesting system is opened in London, UK.
• New Government formed In france by President Francois Hollande wit Manuel Wells as Prime Minister-
• Emmanuel Macron - Finance Minister
• Najat Vallaud - Education Minister
• Laurent Fabius - Foreign Minister
• Government Started National Ayush Mission' for increasing number of hospitals and availability of drugs and Medical manpower.
• Supreme Court ordered 3% Reservation for Persons with Disabilities (PWD) in all Government Sector Jobs.
• Government Started Digital India Scheme for expansion of Broadband Internet services in Rural areas across the country and bringing all the public sector work Online. The cost is estimaated at about Rs. 1 Lakh Crores.
• Government started 'Swach Bharat Mission' to promote cleanliness across the nation. A new 'Swach Bharat Kosh' was formed with an Initial Funding of Rs. 400 Crore to connect all the schools with the Swach Bharat Mission.'
• Vijay Kelkar Committee for determining pricing formulas for natural gas submitted its report and suggested not to reduce prices of Natural gas for all customers except primary sector (Agriculture and related sectors).
• Government has set up R Ramanujam committee to identify obsolete laws that cause avoidable confusion.
• Government decided to import Rice from Myammar in view of suspected shortage of rice in North East Countries due to stoppage of supply of food commodities as Railway Lines to North East states are being upgraded.
• Government decided to import Rice from Myammar in view of suspected shortage of rice in North East Countries due to stoppage of supply of food commodities as Railway Lines to North East states are being upgraded.
• Government started .Bharat Web Domain Registration to promote website development in Hindi.
• Supreme Court ordered cancellation of all coal block allocations between 1993 - 2010 due to attached corruption activities.
• India has signed the free trade agreement (FTA) in services and investments with 10-member Asean (Association of South East Nations), To Promote free movement of professionals and further opening opportunities for investments.
• India has signed the free trade agreement (FTA) in services and investments with 10-member Asean (Association of South East Nations), To Promote free movement of professionals and further opening opportunities for investments.
• The Global Competitiveness Report 2014 (By World Economic Forum) -
• India ranked at 71st Place, Lowest in all BRICS Countries.
• India was at 60th place in 2013's Report. From 2009 onwards, India has seen continuous decline in Competitiveness as per this report.
• Switzerland, Singapore and Britain are the top three competitive countries as per this report.
• RBI Annual Report 2013 - 2014 -
• Report expressed signs of optimism in the economy and that the GDP may grow at 6% in FY 2014 - 15 as key sectors are showing Performance Improvements and RBI suppressed the fear of drought.
• Gaps in fiscal and current accounts will likely remain under control in 2014-15.
• CPI (Consumer Price Index) based Inflation may come under 8 % by Jan 2015 and Under 6% by Jan 2016.
• State Bank of India started Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan', two new savings bank products for children. 'Pehla Kadam' is a savings account for minors of any age operated jointly with parent/guardian and 'Pehli Udaan' is a 'single' operated savings account for minors who can sign uniformly.
• RBI directed all Private banks to set retirement age for MD/CEOs to maximum of 70 Years (Min 21 Years).
• RBI issued Statistics related to Trade and Payments Balance.
• The report states that India's Current Account Deficit (CAD) stood at 1.7% of GDP During First Quarter of FY 2014 - 2015 due to decline in trade deficit and less import of Gold due to heavy duties put on it by Government.
• This Figure of CAD is much better than 4.8% CAD During First Quarter of FY 2013-2014. This shows signs of Optimism and improvements in Economical balance of the cvountry.
• India signed a USD 107 Million Loan agreement with World Bank for MSRP Stage 2 Project (Mizoram State Roads Project).
• ITC has surpassed TCS as the most admired Indian company as per annual List of 45 Most Reputed Indian Companies released by US Magazine 'Fortune'.
• As Per FIEO (Federation of Indian Exports Organization) has expected India's Total Exports to reach $750 billion by 2018-19.
• Japanese researchers conducted world's first surgery to implant "iPS" stem cells in a human body as a major boost to regenerative medicine (Transplant of Body Parts to function as normal).
• China Launched Gaofen-2 (China) and BRITE-PL-2 (Poland) Observation Satellites from Its 4B Rocket.
• Naval Offshore Patrolling Vessel INS Sumitra was conducted into Indian Navy.
• India and Nepal Armies conducted Joint Army Exercise Surya Kiran VII in Uttarakhand.
• Indian Coast Guard Ship Abhiraj Patrolling Vessel was Inducted into The Indian Coast Guard.
• First Pro Kabaddi League Tournament was won by Pink Panthers by beating U Mumba in the Final.
• 41st Chess Olympiads (Norway) -
• Male - Gold - China, Silver - Poland & Bronze - India
• Female - Gold - China, Silver - Poland & Bronze - India
• Indian Badminton Player Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar won the Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Tournament 2014 by beating Firman Abdul Khaliq (Indonesia).
• World Badminton Championships 2014 (Copenhagen (Denmrark)) - China Stayed at top and India at Seventh with One Bronze. Carolina Marin became first spanish to win Women's singles' title.
• Famous Billiards Player pankaj Advani announced his retirement from Professional Snooker.
• Second Summer Youth Olympics 2014 (China) -
• Total 3600 Atheletes from 201 Countries Participated.
• China Stayed at the top. Russia and USA are 2nd & 3rd.
• India Rank at 63 with two Medals - Rahul Rangla - Silver (Weight Lifting), Atul Verma (Archery).
• Hockey Madhya Pradesh has been Included into Hockey India as the 23rd Member.
• Government constituted a committee to plan efficient utilisation of mineral resources in Meghalaya to prevent environmental degradation.
• Puducherry Presented a Tax Free Budget of Rs. 6100 Crores for the Union Territory.
• India's First Solar Thermal Power Plant to be Started in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
• India's First Health Court started in Karnataka.
• 17th Asian Games 2014 (Organized in Incheon, South Korea) -
• 9,501 Atheletes from 45 Countries Participated in 36 Sports.
• China Stayed at the Top of Medal Tally with Total 342 Medals (Gold - 151, Silver - 108, Bronze - 83). Followed by South Korea and Japan.
• India at the Asisn Games 2014 -
• 541 Indian Atheletes Participated in 28 sports
• India Stayed at the 7th Position with total 57 Medals (Gold - 11, Silver - 10, Bronze - 36)
• After 16 years India won the Gold medal in Asian Games men's hockey (Beating Pakistan), and earned direct entry in 2016 Summer Olympics hockey.
• Indian Male and Female Kabaddi Teams won Gold Medals.
• There were Two Golds in Atheletics - 400 Metre Relay Team and Seema Punia in Discuss Throw.
• There was one Gold in each of Hockey, Squash, Tennis (Saketh Myneni & Sania Mirza), Shooting (Jitu Rai), Archery, Boxing (Mary Kom), Wrestling (Yogeshwar Dutt).
• Next 18th Asisn Games will be held in 2018 in Jakarta (Indonesia)
• Indian Origin South African Daya Reddy has been appointed as Chief of ICSU (International Union for Science).
• Andhra Pradesh government conducted paperless eCabinet meeting for the first time in country.
• A new Committee has been formed under T S R Subramanian to review laws related to protection of forests and suggest changed to make them more effective.
• Paleontologists (Researchers) have found fossils of huge Dinosaur in Argentina weighing about 60 Metric Tonnes, Largest So far.
• Central Board of Direct Taxes has set up a committee to scrutinise all Income Tax cases arising out of the retrospective tax amendment. It will decide on such cases within 60 days of receiving them from the Assessing Officer.
• H L Dattu is appointed as India's new (42nd) Chief Justice (Full Name - Handyala Lakshminarayanaswamy Dattu).
• Sanjeev Singh is appointed as new chief of Delhi Transco.
• Himanshu Asnani from Kota (Rajasthan), student at Stanford University has been given 2014 Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar Award for his demonstration of Good scientific and entrepreneurial capabilities at an early age.
• God of Antartica has been written by Yashwardhan Shukla.
• And then one day is the autobiography of Actor Nasiruddin Shah.
• 1 to 7 Sep - National Nutrition Week.
• 1 Sep - LIC Foundation Day.
• Dhyanchand Awards 2014 -
• Hockey - Gurmail Singh
• Swimming - K P Thakkar
• Tennis - Zeeshan Ali
• Dhyanchand Awards 2014 -
• Hockey - Gurmail Singh
• Swimming - K P Thakkar
• Tennis - Zeeshan Ali
• Prayuth Chan-ocha is the new Prime Minister of Thailand.
• Bombay High Court created a Committee under V V Daga for Forensic Audit of NSEL (National Spot Exchange Limited).
• Government created a Committee under RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan for suggesting measures to be taken for unclaimed Deposits in Banks.
• A special meet was held in Bangladesh Capital Dhaka To discuss measures for sustainable use of Blue Economy by efficient use of resources in Bay of Bengal.
• Supreme Court ordered West Bengal government not to Sterlise elephants by using Contraceptives that was proposed as a solution by west bengal Government to control population of Elephants.
• Arunachal Pradesh to get its Third Tiger Reserve in Dibang.
• Mouda Super Thermal Power Project of 1000 MW in Nagpur (Maharashtra) has been Inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi.
• India's first coral garden to be set up in Gujarat.
• Government ordered to Publicize notings of Mukul Mudgal Committee that inspected suspected Lobbying Activities of Retail company Walmart.
• Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has signed a pact with Indian GMR Infrastructure for financial help to Japanese companies investing in infrastructure projects of GMR Group.
• United Bank of India has declared Vijay Mallya as Wilful Defaulter. Note that IDBI bank has already declared Kingfisher Airlines creator Vijay Mallya as Wilful Defaulter.
• Foreign Debt on India Report 2013 - 2014
• Total Debt by MAR 2014 - 440.6 Billion USD, its 31.6 Billion USD more than the value at the end of MAR 2013.
• Long Term Debt - MAR 2014 - 351.4 Billion USD, its 42.2 Billion USD more than the value at the end of MAR 2013.
• Short Term Debt - MAR 2014 - 89.2 Billion USD, its 7.5 Billion USD Less than the value at the end of MAR 2013
• SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has asked PACL (Pearls Agrotech Corporation) to refund Rs 49,100 crore to investors within three months and immediately close all unauthorized collective investment schemes (CIS) of the company.
• Manpreet Singh has been named as Asian Hockey Federation's Junior Men's Player of the Year.
• Asian champion Aditya Mehta has become first Indian in 25 years to get perfect break of 147, maximum achievable in snooker.
• USA's Digitalglobe has successfully tested Worldview 3 Satellite, the Most advanced Commercial Imaging Satellite.
• Chandrakala Padia to be First Female Chief of Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS)
• Adil Zainulbhai has been appointed as head of Quality Council of India.
• Amit Mathew has been elected as Chairman of Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) for 2014-15.
• Richard Rahul Verma has been appointed as new USA ambassador to India replacing Kathleen Stephens.
• Indian young shooter Pradeep won bronze in the 51st Shooting World Championships in Spain.
• Government Launched Several welfare schemes in Gujarat under the 'Swavalamban Abhiyan' initiative.
• India - US held Joint military exercise "Yudh Abhyas 2014" in Rajasthan.
• International Economic Association (IEA) has appointed Kaushik Basu as president-elect of world bank.
• United Nations names Leonardo DiCaprio 'Messenger for Peace' on climate issues.
• Indian Carom Player Rashmi Kumari won Women's singles title in World Carom Championships in Maldives.
• FICCI expected 5.6% Growth rate for India in 2014-2015 in its report Economic Outlook.
• ASIA Europe Meeting (ASEM)of Finance Ministers Held in Milan (Italy).
• World Bank organized WRC 2 (World Reconstruction Conference) in Washington D.C. (USA). Kiren Rijiju (Union Minister of State for Home Affairs) Attended on India's Behalf.
• Narendra Ambvani has been appointed as chief of ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India).
• Indian Person Amrita Narlikar has been appointed as new president of German Institute of Global and areas studies.
• Indian Person Subhash Chandra Garg has been appointed as an Executive Director in the world bank.
• Haider al-Abadi has been appointed as new Prime Minister of Iraq.
• Bihar Government approved recognition of Transgenders as the Third Gender.
• India-born scientist Thomas John Colacot has won the American Chemical Society's ACS Award in Industrial Chemistry.
• Lal Krishan Advani to be the chief of proceeding committee (Aachaar Samiti) of Lok Sabha.
• All India Radio strated free News SMS service in Five languages - Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, Dogri and Nepali.
• Nalanda University in Bihar started working after full Reconstruction.
• French Yohann Diniz broke world record of 50 KM walk in European athletics championships in Switzerland.
• Indian Air Force gifted a vintage Dakota aircraft from its museum to the Bangladesh Air Force To revive historical ties.
• Government allowed All welfare schemes upto 1000 Crores to be approved directly by the respective ministeries.
• Ahmet Davutoglu is the new prime minister of Turkey.
• Otto Thaning from South Africa beacme oldest ever to cross swim English Channel successfully (English Channel is an arm of Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France).
• Iqbal ka harfe sheerin has been written by Abdul Haq.
• First Artificial Cave Hindu Shrine made in Australia.
• Bangladesh has the most child marriage rate as per a UN report related to child lives across the world.
• Government decided to fence over Bangladesh waters based on skid marine hedge model of Singapore.
• Railways will set up a National Academy for Railway Security at Maula-Ali in Andhra Pradesh with Advanced Training Features.
• Government Changed laws in MPLADS (Member of parliament Local area development scheme) and allowed MPs to spend Upto Rs. 25 lakh outside their Jurisdiction area up from 10 Lakh limit set previously.
• Government hiked the Dearness Allowance of Central government employees to 107%.
• India's first Eco-friendly Bus powered by ethanol was launched in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
• Government approved schemes of Rs 4,754 crore for strengthening power transmission systems in Arunchal Pradesh and Sikkim.
• Government decided to close HMT Watches due to its non-profitability since long time.
• Government decided to change GDP Growth Measure base year to 2011-2012 from 2004-2005.
• Government approved Defence purchases totalling Rs.17000 Crores for strengthening of armed forces Artillery Base.

IMPORTANT DATES:

2 Sep - World Coconut Day.

4 Sep - World Chocolate Day.

5 Sep - National Teachers' Day. (Birthday of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, India's second president..

7 Sep - Onam (Hindu Festival in Kerala).

8 Sep - International Literacy Day.

13 Sep - World First Aid Day.

 

14 Sep - Hindi Day

15 Sep - National Engineers' Day. Birth date of Mokshagundam Visvesvaray.

16 Sep - Ozone Day.

20 Sep - Red Panda Day.

21 Sep - International Day of Peace and Alzheimer Day.

26 Sep - World Maritime Day.

27 Sep - World Tourism Day.

28 Sep - World Rabies day and Deaf Day.

29 Sep - World Heart Day.

30 Sep - International Translation Day.

 

Foreign VIP Visits to India -

1. UK's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg Visited India.
2. German Foreign Minister FRANK Walter Steinmeier Visited India.
3. Asian Development Bank Chief Takehiko Nakao Visited India.
4. Premier of South Australia Jay Weatherill Visited India.
5. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abott Visited India.
6. Australia agreed to provide Uranium to India to help India produce more Nuclear Power.
7. Agreement for cooperation in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) was signed.
8. Tony Abbott started India's New Colombo Plan to enhance student exchange and collaboration between the universities of India and Asutralia.
9. Chinese President XI Xinping visited India.
10. He met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad, gujarat.
11. He is the third Chinese President to visit India.

New Governors of Indian states appointed in September 2014 -

 

• Vajubhai Vala - Karnataka
• P Sathasivam - Kerala (He became first former chief justice to be appointed as Governor of an Indian State)
• Krishan Kant Paul - Manipur
• Krishan Kant Paul - Mizoram
• Kalyan Singh - Rajasthan