30 Oct-14 : Current Affairs

Current Affairs 30th October 2014 - Important Points

• Steve Waugh and Sachin Tendulkar inducted into Don Bradman Hall of Fame

• Union Culture Minister, Shri Shripad Naik inaugurated festival of India in Japan

• World's Children prize bagged by Malala Yousafzai

• Zambian President Michael Sata passed away at 77

• Global Gender Gap Report 2014 released by World Economic Forum

Current Affairs 30th October 2014 - Details

Steve Waugh and Sachin Tendulkar inducted into Don Bradman Hall of Fame

Among the Important Sports Current Affairs, On 29th October 2014 Noted Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar and former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh were inducted into Bradman Hall of Fame. Both were inducted as the 2014 Bradman Honourees at a gala dinner held at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground.

Union Culture Minister, Shri Shripad Naik inaugurated festival of India in Japan

On 27th October 2014, The Festival of India in Japan was inaugurated by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Shripad Naik and Tourism Minister of Japan Mr. Akihiro Ohta in Tokyo.

Covering 20 cities, the 2014 Festival of India in Japan represents one of the largest events India has conducted in Japan. Mr. Naik said that the Festival of India in Japan is being conducted in two phases - the October phase-I comprises of a series of dance productions being presented in Japan, till date, the Kalakshetra Foundation, the Manipur Dance Academy and the Kuttiyattam Kendra have presented performances in Japan. The February 2015, phase-II will comprise of the Buddhist Art exhibition which will be presented in the Tokyo National Museum. 

World's Children prize bagged by Malala Yousafzai

Among the important recognition current affairs, On 29th October 2014, Malala Yousafzai bagged World's Children Prize for 2014. 

She was awarded with cash prize of 50000 US dollar. 

Zambian President Michael Sata passed away at 77

On 28th October 2014, President of Zambia Michael Sata passed away. He was 77 years old. He was fourth President of Zambia, before him three Presidents were Frederick Chiluba, Levy Mwanawasa and Rupiah Banda. Michael Sata became President of Zambia in 2011 for five years, but after his death Vice President Guy Scott has been appointed as acting president until an election is held for new President.

Global Gender Gap Report 2014 released by World Economic Forum

 On 28th October 2014, World Economic Forum (WEF) released Global Gender Gap Report 2014 which provides Gender Gap scores for 142 countries. 

India was given 114th rank with a score of 0.646. India was ranked 101 out of 136 countries in the report released in 2013.

Top 10 ranked countries with most gender-equal societies in the world are Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Ireland, Philippines and Belgium (10).

• FDI rules relaxed in construction.
  • The newly launched project smart cities by PM Modi will get an advantage and will push for affordable housing.
  • The proposal seeks to reduce the minimum built-up area from 50,000 sq. metres to 20,000 sq. metres. The minimum capital requirement for such projects has also been brought down to $5 million from $10 million.
  • It will ensure faster completion of projects as it will bring funds to the debt burdened sector.
  National

  
  
 
• BrahMos mini is being planned for air force and navy.
  • Its a lighter version of supersonic cruise missile BrahMos called as BrahMos-M.
  • It will weigh around 1.5 tonnes.
  • It can be also launched from submarines torpedo tubes.
  National

  
  
 
• GSAT-6 scheduled to be launched in march.
  • Its an advanced communication satellite.
  • Its S-band satellite with five special transponders for multimedia services.
  • The 2000 kg satellite will be launched on a GSLV launcher from sriharikota.
  • Currently, a third of the satellite capacity comes from transponders leased on foreign satellites.
  Science & Tech.

  
  
 
• Seven new species of frogs found in western ghats and sri lanka.
  • They are Hylarana sreeni, Hylarana magna, Hylarana doni, Hylarana urbis, Hylarana serendipi, Hylarana indica, Hylarana Caesar.
  • The team of researchers were from india and sri lanka.
  World News

  
  
 
• WTO gives conditional nod to treat MDR TB with a new drug.
  • New drug, Delamanid, remains limited, as it has only been through Phase IIb trial [the phase specifically designed to study efficacy — how well the drug works at the prescribed dosage] and studies for safety and efficacy, the WHO has issued interim policy guidance that lists five conditions that must be in place if the new drug is used to for treatment of MDR-TB.
  • According to the WHO 4,80,000 people developed MDR-TB in the world in 2013 and more than half of these cases occurred in India, China and the Russian federation.
  • The biggest increases were in India, South Africa and Ukraine.
  • The WHO has advocated “special caution” for the use of Delamanid in people aged 65 and over, in adults living with HIV, patients with diabetes, hepatic or severe renal impairment, or those who use alcohol or substances.
  National

  
  
 
• NASA rocket explodes at launch.
  • The cargo was carrying 5055 pounds of supplies, science equipments and experiments to the international space station.
  Science and Technology

  
  
 
• India will be signing oil and gas MoU with Mozambique.
  • It will facilitate oil and gas cooperation between India and Mozambique for five years.
  • Offshore gas discoveries in two adjacent offshore blocks in 2010 have seen Mozambique emerge as a significant hydrocarbon rich nation.
  International Relations
 
• Malala yousafzai awarded the Worlds childrens prize.
  • Millions of children has voted to award her this years Worlds childrens prize.
  World News

  
  
 
• A study by Nasscom depicts India as the third largest start up ecosystem in the world.
  • India is the fastest growing and third largest start-up ecosystem in the world after the U.S. and the U.K
  • The study also says India is poised to see a rapid growth in the number of product start-up operational by 2020.
  • At present, there are around 3,100 start-ups in India, and is expected to grow to 11,500 by the end of 2020, says the study.
  • It also says that the rapid growth in start-up will create an employment for around 250,000 people by 2020 as against the current 75,000.
  Science and Technology

  
  
 

29 Oct-14 : Current Affairs

• Devendra fadnavis set to become the CM of Maharashtra.
  • He would be the 1st CM of BJP party in Maharashtra.
  • He will be the 2nd youngest after sharad pawar, who became CM at the age of 38.
  • The new CM comes from rss background.
  • He is four time MLA from Nagpur.
  Constitution/Indian polity

  
  
• Low intensity NILOFAR will hit gujrat on Saturday.
  • It will make its landfall in naliya village in kutch district.
  • At this time it is above Arabian sea and is quite strong,but by the time it makes landfall it will weaken with wind speed of 80-90 kmph.
  World News

  
  
• Centre submits report to the SC in black money issue.
  • As revealed to it by the French government, the Centre on Wednesday submitted to the Supreme Court names of the 627 Indians who are holding accounts in foreign banks.
  • Earlier the central government was directed by the Supreme Court to furnish in a sealed envelope the list of all individuals and entities in its possession who have accounts in overseas banks, legitimate or otherwise.
  Constitution/Indian polity

  
  
• Peoples in Sitamarhi on Jal Satyagraha.
  • Hundreds of peoples in sitamarhi, a district in bihar ,started three day Jal Satyagraha to restore a local river named lakhandei to its original bed.
  • The changed river course has severely affected agriculture in the area.
  • They were forced to migrate from their villages in search of livelihood.
  National

  
  
• Govt. launches a scheme to lift human development indices of tribal peoples.
  • The scheme is named as Vanbandhu kalyan yojna.
  • Its aim is to improve the infrastructure and HDI of the tribal peoples.
  • The scheme allots rs 10 crores to each block with a tribal population of over 33%.
  • The scheme has been launched on pilot basis in one block each of the States of AP, MP, HP, Telangana, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
  • VKY also envisages to focus on convergence of different schemes of development of Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments with outcome oriented approach.
  National

  
  
• Vitenams defence forces to be modernized by India.
  • The two countries signed several agreements including a MoU for exploration by OVL in two blocks of south china sea.
  • The $100 million line of credit for Vietnam’s defence purchase was also operationalised.
  International Relations

  L
  
• Softbank kick starts its plan, Snapdeal gets $627 million.
  • A popular mobile app for cab booking Ola gets $210 million.
  • Softbank has a plan to invest $10 b in india.
  • Its investment would be mainly in the area of indias IT and communication spaces,and the fast growing e-commerce sector in india.
  World News

  
  

Some common spoken words and their usage in English

Keep going

• Meaning: Continue
• Usage: keep going. You need the exercise.

 Drop by

• Meaning: Visit for short time
• Usage: I dropped by the camera store to pick up our photos.

 In charge of

• Meaning: Responsible for; supervisor of
• Usage: He is in charge of training new staff.
• Note: sometimes in charge of + _ing

Running short of time

• Meaning: Getting close to a deadline
• Usage: I’d love to finish this meeting soon. Let’s move on to the next point because we’re running short of time.

Get a move on

• Meaning: Go faster
• Usage: We have to get a move on if we want to finish by Wednesday.

Ahead of/ on/ behind schedule

• Meaning: Faster than planned / as planned / slower than planned
• Usage: Please drive faster. We’re behind schedule.
• Project is going fine. Everything is on schedule.

Tied up

• Meaning: Busy doing something that you can’t stop
• Usage: I’m tied up now, but I’ll be free in an hour.

Held up

• Meaning: Delayed
• Usage: I got home at 10 o’clock last night. I was held up at the office doing paperwork.

No wonder

• Meaning: Now I understand why
• Usage: I didn’t study. No wonder I failed.

It slipped my mind

• Meaning: I forgot
• Usage: I was supposed to meet my friend last night, but it slipped my mind.

Under a lot of pressure

• Meaning: Feeling stress
• Usage: Students are under a lot of pressure at exam time

Put up with something

• Meaning: Accept something bad
• Usage: my office is freezing, but I put up with it because I love my job.

Right away

• Meaning: Immediately; now
• Usage: The client is waiting. He needs the report. I’ll get it right away.

It’s not the end of the world

• Meaning: The situation is not very bad
• Usage: I hurt my knee, but it’s not the end of the world. I can still play golf.

In the same boat

• Meaning: In the same situation
• Usage: We all lost money last year. We’re all in the same boat.

Can I take a rain check?

• Meaning: Can we change the plan to another time in future?
• Usage: I have to cancel our plans for lunch today. Can I take a rain check?

On top of that

• Meaning: In addition to; also
• Usage: I’m very busy. I have two children, I work full time, and on top of that I take evening classes.

For good

• Meaning: Forever; permanently
• Usage: I’ve tried to quit smoking before, but this time I’m quitting for good.

I heard it through the grapevine

• Meaning: Someone told me something as gossip or a rumour
• Usage: He lost his job. I heard it through the grapevine.

Better off doing something

• Meaning: Say this to show a better choice
• Usage: the bus takes five hours. I’m better off taking the train.

Run into someone

• Meaning: Meet someone unexpectedly
• Usage: sometimes I run into him at the bank. We both go on Mondays.

We don’t see eyes to eye

• Meaning: This is a polite way to say we don’t agree
• Usage: we both agree on the problem. But we don’t see eye to eye on the solution.

Play it by ear

• Meaning: Do it without a plan
• Usage: Don’t book a hotel room. Play it by ear. Look for a hotel when you get to the city.

Come off

• Meaning: Become detached
• Usage: I bought a cheap suitcase. The wheels came off after one week!

Give someone a hand

• Meaning: Help someone
• Usage: He had to photocopy 100 pages, so I gave him a hand with the job.

Get by

• Meaning: Manage but with difficulty
• Usage: we don’t have much money, but we can get by if we don’t spend much.

Can’t make it

• Meaning: Not able to attend
• Usage: He’s working late. He can’t make it to the movie.

29th October-14 : Current Affairs

Current Affairs 29th October 2014 - Important Points

• On 29th October International Internet Day observed across the globe

• Amitabh Bachchan summoned by US court

• Shailendra Bhandari, CEO of ING Vysya Bank resigned

• Sir Schindler Nicholas Winton honoured with Order of the White Lion of Czech Republic

Current Affairs 29th October 2014 - Details

On 29th October International Internet Day observed across the globe

On 29th October 2014, International Internet Day was observed across the globe. This day was observed to mark the anniversary of the first usage of the Internet to send a message electronically in 1969. 

Do you Know : 

On 29th October 1969, Charley Kline of University of California transmitted the first ever electronic message.

Amitabh Bachchan summoned by US court

On 28th October 2014, Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan was summoned by a US Federal Court in Los Angeles for allegedly instigating violence against the Sikh community in 1984 riots.

This complaint was filed by New York-based Sikh for Justice (SFJ) and two persons Babu Singh Dukhiya and Mohender Singh. 

Shailendra Bhandari, CEO of ING Vysya Bank resigned

On 28th October 2014, MD and CEO of ING Vysya Bank Shailendra Bhandari resigned from his post and his resignation was later approved by board of directors.

Board also proposed the name of Uday Sareen as the new CEO of the ING Vysya Bank. Uday Sareen is deputy CEO and wholesale banking head of the ING Vysya Bank. Now appointment of Uday Sareen as MD & CEO is subjected to approval of RBI.

Sir Schindler Nicholas Winton honoured with Order of the White Lion of Czech Republic

On 28th October 2014, Sir Schindler Nicholas Winton was awarded with the Order of the White Lion of Czech Republic by the President Milos Zeman. 

He was awarded with this prestigious award for saving 669 children from Nazis. Sir Schindler Nicholas Winton got this award at the age of 105.

Do you Know : 

The Order of the White Lion is the highest civilian honour of the Czech Republic