CURRENT AFFAIRS ( NOV 2013 TO MAY 2014)

Current Affairs[May 2014]

• Modi became India's 15th PM
  Narendra Modi, India's 15th prime minister, took oath Monday at a ceremony held in the open at Rashtrapati Bhavan and attended by the Who's Who of the nation – including political leaders, business honchos, celebrities and leaders of religious faiths – as well as leaders of neighbouring countries.
  The oath of office and secrecy was administered in Hindi to Modi by President Pranab Mukherjee.


• IB Ex-Chief Is New Chief Information Commissioner
  Former Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Mathur was Thursday sworn-in as the new chief information commissioner, Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
  The oath was administered to Mathur by President Pranab Mukherjee, said a statement.


• 2014 election sees highest ever voter turnout
  The national voter turnout of 66.38 percent in the 2014 general election was the highest ever in Indian polls, the Election Commission said Monday.
  "The voting percentage for the whole nation this time was 66.38 percent, which is the highest ever in history," Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi said at a press conference here.
• Pranab to dedicate indigenous payment card RuPay to nation
  RuPay, an indigenous payment card accepted at most retail and e-commerce platforms and all automated teller machines (ATMs) across the country, will be dedicated to the nation Thursday.
  President Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to dedicate the card payment network to the nation at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.


• States Can't Make Linguistic Minorities Choose Mother Tongue: SC
  The Supreme Court Tuesday said states in India have no powers to compel the children of linguistic minorities to choose the language considered to be the mother tongue in a state as a medium of instruction at primary level.
  A constitution bench of Chief Justice R.M.Lodha, Justice A.K.Patnaik, Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya, Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla said: "We hold that the state has no power under article 350A of the constitution to compel the linguistic minorities to choose their mother tongue only as a medium of instruction in primary schools."
• Doval Tipped To Be Next National Security Advisor
  Former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval Monday met prime minister-to-be Narendra Modi and BJP chief Rajnath Singh, intensifying speculation that he may be appointed the next National Security Advisor.
  Doval, who was Intelligence Bureau chief 2004-05, is currently director of the Vivekananda International Foundation, a think tank.

Current Affairs[April 2014]

• Hydro Projects were blamed for Uttarakhand Disaster
  nAfter the Uttarakhand disaster which struck in June 2013, green activists have been blaming it all on dams, tunnels and hydropower projects in the area. But Now, an expert committee of the environment ministry believes that there should be enactment of legislation for protecting small but significant rivers as this area is eco-sensitive. "A larger number of members of the panel have consensus that the hydropower projects aggravated the damage to surroundings.
• Indian Activist Honoured With Goldman Environmental Prize
  Indian environment activist Ramesh Agrawal has won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize that honours heroic grassroot environmentalists around the world for their achievements.
  The Goldman Prize, in its 25th year, is the largest award for grassroots environmental activism given annually by Goldman Environmental Foundation based in San Francisco, the foundation said in a statement Monday.
• Disclosing Identity Of UPSC Interviewers May Be Harmful: HC
  The possibility of a failed candidate attempting to take revenge on the selection commission members of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cannot be ruled out, said Delhi High Court as it agreed that disclosing their names will "expose them to danger".
• Justice Lodha Is India's New Chief Justice
  Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha was Sunday sworn in as the chief justice of India. He was administered the oath of office by President Pranab Mukharjee.Chief Justice Lodha, 64, is the 41st chief justice.
  The oath taking ceremony at the Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan was also attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and cabinet ministers Sushilkumar Shinde, A.K. Antony, Kapil Sibal and M. Veerappa Moily.
• 90 Fresh Candidates Selected Civil Services 2012
  90 candidates have been declared qualified for Civil Services Examination, 2012 by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
  998 candidates were declared qualified by the UPSC for the 2012 examination in order of merit for appointment to IAS, IFS, IPS and other central services, as against 1,091 vacancies, results of which were declared in May last year.
• Modi, Kejriwal, Arundhati Roy among Time's 100 influential people
  Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal have made it to Time 100 list of the world's most influential people along with Indian novelist Arundhati Roy.
  While Modi figures in the category of "leaders", Kejriwal is listed among the "pioneers" and Roy makes the grade among "icons" in the annual list released Thursday after an online poll of readers.
• Railways Integrator, Unifier Of India, Says President
  Millions of Indians from various backgrounds use one common mode of transportation – the Indian Railways – which thus play a major role as an "integrator and unifier" of the country, President Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday.
  "Every day, millions of passengers speaking different languages, consuming different types of food, wearing different types of dresses and believing in diverse religions use one common vehicle for transportation," Mukherjee said addressing a group of 68 probationary officials of the Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE) of the 2011 batch.
• 2014 Lok Sabha Election – Some facts
  Following are some facts about the nine-phase Lok Sabha elections that begin Monday Total electorate – 814 million (814,591,184). Male voters – 426 million (426,615,513), Female – 387 million (387,911,330) and Others – 28,341

Current Affairs[March 2014]

• India's own satellite navigation system by 2014 end: ISRO chief
  ndia is expected to have its own satellite navigation system with the launch of three more satellites before the end of this year, said the Indian space agency's chief Monday.
  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K.Radhakrishnan told IANS that Indian communication satellite INSAT-3E has been decommissioned couple of days ago and the users are being migrated to other satellites.
• Corruption, Lokpal to be key poll issues: Google survey
  Corruption and Lokpal are likely to be the two decisive factors on which young people are going to vote in the Lok Sabha polls, search engine Google has said.
  After a three-month survey, Google concluded that the Lok Sabha elections have evoked unprecedented interest among online users who want to know about the various issues influencing national politics.
• India Visa Facility Via E-Button Soon
  The electronic visa facility or e-visa is in its final stage of development and is expected to be introduced this year, a tourism ministry official said Wednesday.
  Speaking at the "Think Tourism-Think India: Thought Leadership Meet", organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), tourism secretary Parvez Dewan said the move would catapult India among the top four countries with visa-friendly policies.
• Empowering Rural Women Key For Kids' Nourishment
  Mothers in rural India who participate in vocational training programmes get, in return, an increased bargaining strength at homes – thus significantly improving their children's consumption of rice and dairy.
  "There is evidence that if women have more bargaining power in the household – particularly in developing countries where cash is very tight – quite often more resources go toward the kids," said economist Kathy Baylis from University of Illinois.
• Basic Idea Of India Being Challenged: Sam Pitroda
  The basic ideas of India's democratic values, freedom of speech and social inclusion have been challenged in the run-up to the general elections, said Sam Pitroda, adviser to prime minister on public information infrastructure and innovations.
  "The upcoming elections are India's most important polls in recent history. However, the basic ideas of India, democratic values, freedom of speech and social inclusion are being challenged," Pitroda said while addressing the Growth Net 2014 conference here Tuesday.

Current Affairs[February 2014]

• India, Russia To Conclude Deal On Two Kudankulum Reactors
  India and Russia Wednesday agreed to conclude at an early date the general framework agreement on reactors 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu, official sources said.
  The "general agreement" concerning the reactors was reached during the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission meeting chaired by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin in Delhi.
  The meeting also focused on nuclear, space, energy and economic cooperation.
• Rajiv assassins' death sentence commuted to life imprisonment
  Supreme Court Tuesday commuted the death sentence to the three assassins of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to life imprisonment, holding that the 11-year long delay in deciding their mercy petition had a dehumanising effect on them.
  The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam said that the delay was not only inordinate but also unreasonable and unexplained.
  The court said that life imprisonment would mean life in jail till end.
• Budget 2014 – Loan subsidy to benefit 9 lakh students
  Nearly nine lakh students stand to benefit from a subsidy scheme on educational loans taken before March 31, 2009, according to the interim budget proposals presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Monday.
  According to the budget presented in the Lok Sabha, Rs.2,600 crore will be provided in the current fiscal for payment of outstanding interest liability for the period till Dec 31, 2013.
• Budget 2014 – Government sets up fund for Scheduled Caste entrepreneurs
  With an eye to the approaching general elections, the government Monday announced the setting up of a Rs.200 crore venture capital fund to promote entrepreneurship among the Scheduled Castes.
  The Industrial Finance Corporation of India will set up the fund that will provide concessional finance to entrepreneurs from the community, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said.
  "I propose to provide an initial capital of Rs.200 crore, which can be supplemented," said the minister, while presenting the inetrim budget for fiscal 2014-15.
• Budget 2014 – Chidambaram bats for a new model of urban governance
  Stressing that urbanisation is a necessary condition for economic growth, Finance minister P. Chidambaram Monday called for a new model of governance to arrest urban decay.
  "Cities have wealth, cities also create wealth. That wealth should be tapped for resources to rebuild the cities with a new model of governance," Chidambaram said outlining his vision for the future.
  India is urbanising fast and the Planning Commission has observed that the pace of urbanization poses an unprecedented managerial and policy challenge.
• Budget 2014 – Chidambaram's 10-point agenda to make India 3rd largest economy
  Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Monday unveiled a 10-point agenda that would help make India the third largest economy by 2043 only behind the US and China.
  While presenting the interim budget for the fiscal 2014-15 in the Lok Sabha, the finance minister said the size of Indian economy is the 11th largest in the world.
  "I wonder how many have noted the fact that India's economy, in terms of the size of its GDP, is the 11th largest in the world. There are great things in store," he said.
• Budget 2014 – Chidambaram's poll budget seeks to please all, with prudence
  Seizing the limited elbow room in an election year, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram presented the interim budget for the next fiscal Monday saying the Indian economy was more stable today than two years ago and sought to win over key sections like scheduled castes, minorities, women, farmers and army personnel with more money for their welfare while pleasing the middle class with excise cuts to make cars, mobile phones and items of daily consumption cheaper.
• No Fare Hike, 72 New Trains In India's Interim Rail Budget 2014
  Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge presented the interim rail budget for the next fiscal Wednesday sans much fanfare with no hike in fares or freight rates, and announced 72 new trains and connectivity to two more northeastern states.
  In what was his personal first and the last such exercise in the 15th Lok Sabha for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Kharge also promised a new tariff-setting body and said work on eastern and western freight corridors was progressing well.

Current Affairs[January 2014]

• Preliminary report on Status of Women released
  The High Level Committee released the Preliminary Report on Status of Women in India on 3 February 2014.
  The Committee headed by Pam Rajput was appointed by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development in February 2012 to understand the status of women since 1989.
  Report revealed that Violence against Women, Declining Sex Ratio and Economic Disempowerment of Women are three key burning issues which will require immediate attention and action by the government.
  There report made several recommendations for the immediate action by the government.
• Committee to deal False Advertisement set up
  The Central Consumer Protection Council (CCPC) headed by K V Thomas decided to set up a sub-committee on 3 February 2014. The CCPC is under the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs The committee will issue guidelines to monitor the advertisements as currently there is no any legal safeguard available for consumers to deal with the false advertisements.
  If the claims made by whitening creams proved un phenomenal as advertised, Consumer should have right to claim compensation not only from the advertisers but also from the celebrities endorsing the product.
  The committee will submit its recommendations by the end of February 2014.
• National Cloud Computing under MeghRaj Initiative launched
  Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology launched the National Cloud under MeghRaj Initiative on 4 February 2014.
  The National Cloud is being implemented by National Information Centre (NIC).
  The National Cloud will help the departments to procure ICT services on demand in the OPEX model rather than investing upfront on the CAPEX.
  The Cloud Services available are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Storage as a Service (STaaS). The features of the National Cloud includes self service portal, multiple Cloud solutions, secured VPN access and multi location Cloud.
  Government of India embarked upon an ambitious initiative GI cloud named MeghRaj to utilize and harness the benefits of Cloud Computing.

Current Affairs[December 2013]

• India, US In Diplomatic Row Over Diplomat's Arrest
  Amid a diplomatic row over the arrest of a senior Indian diplomat in New York for alleged visa fraud and exploitation of her housekeeper, India has asked the US to resolve the matter at the earliest.
  India's charged affaires in Washington, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, raised the issue with senior State Department officials during a meeting Friday, according to a statement by the Indian Embassy.
• India, Japan Close To Agreement On Civil Nuclear Deal
  India and Japan are "close to agreement" on a civil nuclear deal and are also in discussions on boosting their business and people-to-people ties, a Japanese official said as Emperor Akihito held talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here Monday.
  Sakutaro Tanino, press secretary to the emperor and a former envoy to India, said the two countries are in negotiations on peaceful use of nuclear energy and are "close to agreement" on a civil nuclear deal.
• Telangana To Have 17 Lok Sabha Seats, 119 Member Assembly
  Following the bifurcation of existing Andhra Pradesh state, the successor states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will have 17 and 25 Lok Sabha seats respectively.
  Telangana, comprising 10 districts including Hyderabad, will have a 119 member assembly while Andhra Pradesh, comprising 13 districts, will have 175 member assembly.
• India to set up National Cancer Institute
  India will set up a National Cancer Institute, with the union cabinet Thursday approving the proposal for the "landmark step" in the area of research in the disease which has emerged a major public health concern with 11 lakh new cases diagnosed every year.
  The 710-bed institute will come up up in the Jhajjar (Haryana) campus of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
• Must Reduce Toxicity In Food, Water And Environment: President
  President Pranab Mukherjee Friday said India needed to change its agricultural and industrial practices to reduce toxicity in food, water and environment.
  Speaking at the inaugural function of a five-day-long 37th Indian Social Science Congress-2013 at Aligarh Muslim University here, Mukherjee stressed on seriously considering the conservation of bio-diversity and natural resources.

Current Affairs[November 2013]

• Graft Hindering Efficient Performance Of Economy: President
  Corruption is one of the biggest factors that hinders efficient performance of our economy and there is a need to eliminate its interface in the delivery of services, President Pranab Mukherjee said here Friday.
  Speaking on the occasion of the Fourth UPSC Foundation Day Lecture on 'Governance and Public Service', the president said the success of a country's development programmes depends on the quality of public administration.
• Talwars sentenced to life for double murder
  A day after they were held guilty, a CBI court Tuesday sentenced dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar to life imprisonment on charges of killing their daughter and domestic help in 2008.
  Lawyers of the distraught couple, who were immediately taken back to the Dasna Jail in Ghaziabad district, said they would appeal in a higher court against the ruling.
• Over 32 million – a record – vote in Madhya Pradesh
  A record 32 million people – or the population of Peru – voted Monday in Madhya Pradesh in a largely peaceful exercise, with both the ruling BJP and the Congress claiming they will win.
  Only minor incidents of violence marred the polling that began at 8 a.m. to pick a new 230-member legislature barring three constituencies of Balaghat district where it started an hour earlier to foil Maoist designs.
• International standard airport at Agartala by 2016
  The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has undertaken a Rs.300-crore project to modernise Agartala airport and upgrade it to international standards by 2016, officials said Tuesday.
  "Within 36 months, the modernisation projects of the Agartala airport would be completed. The Rs.300-crore project has already been sent to the AAI board of directors for approval," Sudhir Raheja, member AAI board (Planning) told reporters here.