General Awareness

  InsideIIM believes in preparing you end to end for the upcoming MBA Exam season. In addition to our Daily Verbal Dose, News Burger and the Test Prep Engine, we bring to you each day a curated list which would help you in acing the General Awareness Section of MBA Exams like XAT, IIFT, SNAP and many other MBA Exams. This list will be updated each day, so bookmark it and make sure you visit daily. Here we begin- We have prepared a quiz for you on General Awareness. See what you have learnt till now. Take the quiz here 12th January 2015 - Current Affairs January Part 1 January 1 - January 10 A.K. Mittal appointed as Chairman of Railway Board

A.K. Mittal was appointed as the Chairman of Railway Board on 31 December 2014. He succeeded Arunendra Kumar who superannuated from Railway Services on 31 December 2014.
At the time of this appointment, Mittal was Member Staff, Railway Board and ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India. He had also served as General Manager of South Western Railway-SWR (Headquarters Hubli) and was also looking after the additional charge of General Manager, South Central Railway- SCR (Headquarters Secunderabad).

  Former ISRO Chairman V R Gowarikar died in Pune Senior Scientist and former Chairman of ISRO Vasant Ranchhod Gowarikar died after a brief illness in Pune, India on 2 January 2015. He was 82. Chiefly known as the Father of the Indian Monsoon Model, Gowarikar was the first scientist to develop first indigenous weather forecasting model that predicted monsoon correctly. Between 1991 and 1993, he served as Scientific Advisor to late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.   ICICI Bank launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank on 2 January 2015 launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat.The project was launched in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar. The project aimed to provide services ranging from cashless banking to digitised school teaching. The digital village has three themes i.e. cashless, comprehensive and connected.   Andy Murray won ATP World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi   Sutirtha Bhattacharya took charge as CMD of Coal India Limited Sutirtha Bhattacharya on 5 January 2015 took charge as Coal India Limited’s full-time Chairman and Managing Director (CMD). The post was vacant for over six month. Prior to taking the charge of Coal India, Bhattacharya, a 1985 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre was the CMD of the state-owned Singareni Collieries Company.   Forbes released its fourth annual The 30 Under 30 List Read here   Larry Page named Business Person of the Year 2014 Read here   Nilesh Shah resigned as MD & CEO of AXIS Capital Limited Nilesh Shah on 5 January 2015 resigned as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD &CEO) of Axis Capital Limited. Shah with over 20 years of experience in capital markets has worked with the investment bank for nearly four years. Shah joined Axis Bank as President, Strategic Initiatives—Corporate Banking in March 2011. He took over as MD & CEO of Axis Capital in November 2013.   10th December 2014 - Formula 1 Teams and their Drivers 2014  

Teams	Drivers
Mercedes	Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton
Red Bull Racing	Daniel Riccardo and Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari	Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen
Wiiliams	Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa
McLaren	Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen
Force India	Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez
Lotus	Romain Grosjean and Pastro Maldonado
Sauber	Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez
Toro Rosso	Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniil Kvyat
Marussia	Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton
Caterham	Kamui Kobayashi and Will Stevens

  8th December 2014 - Nobel Prize Winners 2014  

Nobel Prize	Winners
Physics	Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amnao and Shuji Nakamura
Chemistry	Eric Betzig, Stefan W.Hell and William E. Moerner
Physiology or Medicine	John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser
Literature	Patrick Modiano
Peace	Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel	Jean Tirole

  6th December 2014 - Badminton Super Series 2014  

Super Series	Men's singles	Women's singles	Men's doubles	Women's doubles	Mixed doubles
Korea	Chen Long	Wang Yihan	Mathias BoeCarsten Mogensen	Bao YixinTang Jinhua	Zhang NanZhao Yunlei
Malaysia	Lee Chong Wei	Li Xuerui	Goh V ShemLim Khim Wah	Bao YixinTang Jinhua	Xu ChenMa Jin
England	Lee Chong Wei	Wang Shixian	Mohammad AhsanHendra Setiawan	Wang XiaoliYu Yang	Tontowi AhmadLilyana Natsir
India	Lee Chong Wei	Wang Shixian	Mathias BoeCarsten Mogensen	Tang YuantingYu Yang	Joachim Fischer NielsenChristinna Pedersen
Singapore	Simon Santoso	Wang Yihan	Cai YunLu Kai	Bao YixinTang Jinhua	Tontowi AhmadLilyana Natsir
Japan	Lee Chong Wei	Li Xuerui	Lee Yong-daeYoo Yeon-seong	Misaki MatsutomoAyaka Takahashi	Zhang NanZhao Yunlei
Indonesia	Jan Ø. Jørgensen	Li Xuerui	Lee Yong-daeYoo Yeon-seong	Tian QingZhao Yunlei	Joachim Fischer NielsenChristinna Pedersen
Australia	Lin Dan	Saina Nehwal	Lee Yong-daeYoo Yeon-seong	Tian QingZhao Yunlei	Ko Sung-hyunKim Ha-na
Denmark	Chen Long	Li Xuerui	Fu HaifengZhang Nan	Wang XiaoliYu Yang	Xu ChenMa Jin
France	Chou Tien-chen	Wang Shixian	Mathias BoeCarsten Mogensen	Wang XiaoliYu Yang	Tontowi AhmadLilyana Natsir
China	Srikanth Kidambi	Saina Nehwal	Lee Yong-daeYoo Yeon-seong	Wang XiaoliYu Yang	Zhang NanZhao Yunlei
Hong Kong	Shon Wan-ho	Tai Tzu-ying	Mohammad AhsanHendra Setiawan	Tian QingZhao Yunlei	Zhang NanZhao Yunlei

  5th December 2014 - Tennis Grand Slams 2014  

Grand Slams	Category	Champion(s)
Australian Open	Men’s Singles	Stanislas Wawrinka
	Women Singles	Li Na
	Men’s Doubles	Lukasz Kubot, Robert Lindstedt
	Women’s Doubles	Sara Errani, Roberta Vinci
	Mixed’s Doubles	Kristina Mladenovic, Daniel Nestor
French Open	Men’s Singles	Rafeal Nadal
	Women Singles	Maria Sharapova
	Men’s Doubles	Julien Benneteau, Édouard Roger-Vasselin
	Women’s Doubles	Hsieh Su-wei, Peng Shuai
	Mixed’s Doubles	Anna-Lena Grönefeld, Jean-Julien Rojer
Wimbledon	Men’s Singles	Novak Djokovic
	Women Singles	Petra Kvitová
	Men’s Doubles	Vasek Pospisil, Jack Sock
	Women’s Doubles	Sara Errani, Roberta Vinci
	Mixed’s Doubles	Nenad Zimonjić, Samantha Stosur
US Open	Men’s Singles	Marin Čilić
	Women Singles	Serena Williams
	Men’s Doubles	Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan
	Women’s Doubles	Ekaterina Makarova, Elena Vesnina
	Mixed’s Doubles	Sania Mirza, Bruno Soares

    4th December 2014 - Five Year Plans and their Objectives  

Plan	Notes
First Plan (1951 - 56)	It was based on Harrod-Domar Model.
	Community Development Program launched in 1952.
	Focus on agriculture, price stability, power and transport.
	It was a successful plan primarily because of good harvests in the last two years of the plan.
Second Plan (1956 - 61) Target Growth: 4.5% Actual Growth: 4.27%	Also called Mahalanobis Plan named after the well known economist.
	Focus - rapid industrialization
	Advocated huge imports through foreign loans.
	Shifted basic emphasis from agriculture to industry far too soon.
	During this plan, prices increased by 30%, against a decline of 13% during the First Plan.
Third Plan (1961 - 66) Target Growth: 5.6% Actual Growth: 2.84%	At its conception, it was felt that Indian economy has entered a take-off stage. Therefore, its aim was to make India a 'self-reliant' and 'self-generating' economy.
	Based on the experience of first two plans, agriculture was given top priority to support the exports and industry.
	Complete failure in reaching the targets due to unforeseen events - Chinese aggression (1962), Indo-Pak war (1965), severe drought 1965-66.
Three Annual Plans (1966-69) Plan holiday for 3 years.	Prevailing crisis in agriculture and serious food shortage necessitated the emphasis on agriculture during the Annual Plans.
	During these plans a whole new agricultural strategy was implemented. It involving wide-spread distribution of high-yielding varieties of seeds, extensive use of fertilizers, exploitation of irrigation potential and soil conservation.
	During the Annual Plans, the economy absorbed the shocks generated during the Third Plan.
	It paved the path for the planned growth ahead.
Fourth Plan (1969 - 74) Target Growth: 5.7% Actual Growth: 3.30%	Main emphasis was on growth rate of agriculture to enable other sectors to move forward.
	First two years of the plan saw record production. The last three years did not measure up due to poor monsoon.
	Influx of Bangladeshi refugees before and after 1971 Indo-Pak war was an important issue
Fifth Plan (1974-79) Target Growth: 4.4% Actual Growth: 3.8	The fifth plan was prepared and launched by D.D. Dhar.
	It proposed to achieve two main objectives: 'removal of poverty' (Garibi Hatao) and 'attainment of self reliance'
	Promotion of high rate of growth, better distribution of income and significant growth in the domestic rate of savings were seen as key instruments.
	The plan was terminated in 1978 (instead of 1979) when Janta Party Govt. rose to power.
Rolling Plan (1978 - 80)	There were 2 Sixth Plans. Janta Govt. put forward a plan for 1978-1983. However, the government lasted for only 2 years. Congress Govt. returned to power in 1980 and launched a different plan.
Sixth Plan (1980 - 85) Target Growth: 5.2% Actual Growth: 5.66%	Focus - Increase in national income, modernization of technology, ensuring continuous decrease in poverty and unemployment, population control through family planning, etc.
Seventh Plan (1985 - 90) Target Growth: 5.0% Actual Growth: 6.01%	Focus - rapid growth in food-grains production, increased employment opportunities and productivity within the framework of basic tenants of planning.
	The plan was very successful, the economy recorded 6% growth rate against the targeted 5%.
Eighth Plan (1992 - 97)	The eighth plan was postponed by two years because of political uncertainty at the Centre.
	Worsening Balance of Payment position and inflation during 1990-91 were the key issues during the launch of the plan.
	The plan undertook drastic policy measures to combat the bad economic situation and to undertake an annual average growth of 5.6%
	Some of the main economic outcomes during eighth plan period were rapid economic growth, high growth of agriculture and allied sector, and manufacturing sector, growth in exports and imports, improvement in trade and current account deficit.
Ninth Plan (1997- 2002) Target Growth: 6.5% Actual Growth: 5.35%	It was developed in the context of four important dimensions: Quality of life, generation of productive employment, regional balance and self-reliance.
Tenth Plan (2002 - 2007)	To achieve 8% GDP growth rate
	Reduction of poverty ratio by 5 percentage points by 2007.
	Providing gainful high quality employment to the addition to the labour force over the tenth plan period.
	Universal access to primary education by 2007.
	Reduction in gender gaps in literacy and wage rates by atleast 50% by 2007.
	Reduction in decadal rate of population growth between 2001 and 2011 to 16.2%.
	Increase in literacy rate to 72% within the plan period and to 80% by 2012.
	Reduction of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) to 45 per 1000 live births by 2007 and to 28 by 2012.
	Increase in forest and tree cover to 25% by 2007 and 33% by 2012.
	All villages to have sustained access to potable drinking water by 2012.
	Cleaning of all major polluted rivers by 2007 and other notified stretches by 2012.
Eleventh Plan (2007 - 2012)	Accelerate GDP growth from 8% to 10%. Increase agricultural GDP growth rate to 4% per year.
	Create 70 million new work opportunities and reduce educated unemployment to below 5%.
	Raise real wage rate of unskilled workers by 20 percent.
	Reduce dropout rates of children from elementary school from 52.2% in 2003-04 to 20% by 2011-12. Increase literacy rate for persons of age 7 years or above to 85%.
	Lower gender gap in literacy to 10 percentage point. Increase the percentage of each cohort going to higher education from the present 10% to 15%.
	Reduce infant mortality rate to 28 and maternal mortality ratio to 1 per 1000 live births.
	Reduce Total Fertility Rate to 2.1.
	Provide clean drinking water for all by 2009. Reduce malnutrition among children between 0-3 years to half its present level. Reduce anaemia among women and girls by 50%.
	Raise the sex ratio for age group 0-6 to 935 by 2011-12 and to 950 by 2016-17.
	Ensure that at least 33 percent of the direct and indirect beneficiaries of all government schemes are women and girl children.
	Ensure all-weather road connection to all habitation with population 1000 and above (500 in hilly and tribal areas) by 2009, and ensure coverage of all significant habitation by 2015.
	Connect every village by telephone by November 2007 and provide broadband connectivity to all villages by 2012.
	Increase forest and tree cover by 5 percentage points.
	Attain WHO standards of air quality in all major cities by 2011-12.
	Treat all urban waste water by 2011-12 to clean river waters.
	Increase energy efficiency by 20 percentage points by 2016-17.
Twelfth Plan (2012 -  2017)	Growth rate at 8%.
	Reduce poverty by 10%
	Raising agriculture output to 4 per cent for the full Plan.
	Manufacturing sector growth to 10 per cent for the full Plan.

  3rd December 2014 - Mergers and Acquisitions 1. Flipkart- Myntra Founders Flipkart – Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal Myntra – Mukesh Bansal, Vineet Saxena and Ashutosh Lawania The huge and most talked about takeover or acquisition of the year. The seven year old Bangalore based domestic e-retailer acquired the online fashion portal for an undisclosed amount in May 2014. Industry analysts and insiders believe it was a $300 million or Rs 2,000 crore deal. Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal insisted that this was a “completely different acquisition story” as it was not “driven by distress”, alluding to a plethora of small e-commerce players either having wound up or been bought over in the past two years. Together, both company heads claimed, they were scripting “one of the largest e-commerce stories”. 2. Asian Paints- Ess Ess Bathroom Products Founders Asian Paints – Champaklal H. Choksey, Arvind R. Vakil, Suryakant C. Dani, Chimanlal N. Choksi Asian paints signed a deal with Ess Ess Bathroom products Pvt Ltd to acquire its front end sales business for an undisclosed sum in May, 2014. “The company on May 14, 2014 has entered into a binding agreement with Ess Ess Bathroom Products Pvt. Ltd and its promoters to acquire its entire front-end sales business including brands, network and sales infrastructure,” Asian Paints said in a filing to the BSE on Wednesday. Ess Ess produces high end products in bath and wash segment in India and taking them over led to a 3.3% rise in share price for Asian paints. 3. RIL- Network 18 Media and Investments Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) took over 78% shares in Network 18 in May 2104 for Rs 4,000 crores. Network 18 was founded by Raghav Behl and includes moneycontrol.com, In.com, IBNLive.com, Firstpost.com, Cricketnext.in, Homeshop18.com, Bookmyshow.com while TV18 group includes CNBC-TV18, CNN-IBN, Colors, IBN7 and CNBC Awaaz. 4. Merck- Sigma Deal One of the leading Indian manufacturers, Merck KGaA took over US based Sigma-Aldrich Company for $17 billion in cash, hoping the deal will help boost its lab supplies business. Sigma is the leading supplier of organic chemicals and bio chemicals to research laboratories and supplies groups like Pfizer and Novartis with lab substances. 5. Ranbaxy- Sun Pharmaceuticals Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra which manufactures and sells pharmaceutical formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) primarily in India and the United States bought the Ranbaxy Laboratories. The deal is expected to be completed in December, 2014. Ranbaxy shareholders will get 4 shares of Sun Pharma for every 5 Ranbaxy shares held by them. The deal, worth $4 billion, will lead to a 16.4 dilution in the equity capital of Sun Pharma. 6. TCS- CMC Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the $13 billion flagship software unit of the Tata Group, has announced a merger with the listed CMC with itself as part of the group’s renewed efforts to consolidate its IT businesses under a single entity. At present, CMC employs over 6,000 people and has annual revenues worth Rs 2,000 crores. The deal was inked a few days back. TCS already held a 51% stake in CMC. 7. Tata Power- PT Arutmin Indonesia India’s largest private power producer, Tata Power, purchased 30% stake in Indonesian coal manufacturing firm for Rs 47.4 billion. Earlier this year, they sold off 5% of its stake in PT Arutmin Indonesia (Arutmin) and PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) for Rs. 250 billion due to falling coal prices globally. It plans to sell the remaining 25% stake for $ 1 billion soon too. 8. Tirumala Milk – Lactalis The largest dairy player in the world, Groupe Lactalis SA, acquired the 18 year old Hyderabad based Tirumala Milk products for a whopping Rs 1750 crore ($275 million)in January, 2014. Founded in 1896 by D Brahmanandam, B Brahma Naidu, B Nageswara Rao, Dr N Venkata Rao and R Satyanarayana, Tirumala is the second largest private dairy company in South India. Lactalis acquired 100% of their shares. 9. Aditya Birla Minacs- CSP CX Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd (ABNL) owned ABNL IT & ITeS Ltd. was sold to a Canadian based technology outsourcing firm marking Aditya Birla’s exit for the IT industry. The deal was chalked out with a group of investors led by Capital Square Partners (CSP) and CX Partners (CXP) for $260 million (approximately Rs. 1,600 crore). 10. Sterling India Resorts- Thomas Cook India Billionaire Prem Watsa owned Thomas Cook India bought the Sterling Resorts India for Rs 870 crores in , marking Thomas Cook’s entry into the hospitality sector. Thomas Cook had earlier acquired Ikya Human Solutions in 2013. 11. Yahoo- Bookpad Founders Bookpad – Aditya Bandi, Niketh Sabbineni and Ashwik Reddy The search engine giant, Yahoo, acquired the one year old Bangalore based startup Bookpad for a little under $15 million, though the exact amount has not been disclosed by either of the two parties concerned. While the deal value is relatively small, this was the first acquisition made by Yahoo, and was much talked about and hence finds a mention in our list. Bookpad was founded by three IIT Guwahati pass outs and allows users to view, edit and annotate documents within a website or an app.   2nd December 2014 - Social Search Engines and Websites and their Founders  

Social Search Engines and Websites	Founders
Google	Larry Page, Sergery Brin
Yahoo	Jerry Yang, David Filo
Wikipedia	Jimmy Wales, Larry Sanger
Bing	Microsoft Corporation
Gmail	Paul Buchheit
Hotmail	Sabeer Bhatia
Facebook	Mark Zukerberg
Twitter	Jack Dorsey
Linkedin	Reid Hoffman
Pinterest	Ben Silbermann
Google+	Larry Page
Tumblr	David Karp
Hi-5	Akash Garg, Ramu Yalamanchi
Youtube	Chad Hurley, Steve Chen
Flickr	Ludicorp
Myspace	Tom Anderson, Chris Dewolfe
Skype	Janus Friis, Niklas Zennstrom

  1st December 2014 - International Organizations and their headquarters  

International Organizations	Headquarters
United Nations Organisation	New York
United Nations Childrens’ Fund (UNICEF)	New York
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)	New York
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)	Geneva
World Health Organisation	Geneva
International Labour Organisation	Geneva
International Committee of the Red Cross	Geneva
World Trade Organisation	Geneva
World Meteorological Organisation	Geneva
World Intellectual Property Organization	Geneva
International Organization for Standardization	Geneva
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)	Paris
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)	Paris
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)	Vienna
International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA)	Vienna
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)	Vienna
International Monetary Fund (IMF)	Washington DC
World Bank	Washington DC
Amnesty International	London
Commonwealth of Nations	London
International Court Of Justice	The Hague
Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)	Rome
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)	Brussels
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC)	Kathmandu
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)	Jakarta
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)	Singapore
International Olympic Committee(IOC)	Lausanne, Switzerland
World Economic Forum (WEF)	Geneva, Switzerland
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)	Zurich, Switzerland
International Cricket Council (ICC)	Dubai, UAE
International Hockey Federation (FIH)	Lausanne, Switzerland
Fédération internationale des échecs (FIDE) or World Chess Federation	Athens, Greece
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)	Gland, Switzerland

  29th November 2014 - Current Affairs November Part 2 November 6 - November 10 Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography Playing It My Way launched Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography Playing It My Way was launched on 5 November 2014 in Mumbai. The book was unveiled by Sachin himself in the presence of some of his former teammates, celebrities and family members. Mahendra Singh Dhoni named as captain of ICC ODI Team of the Year 2014 Sanjay Baweja appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of Flipkart Sanjay Baweja was on 5 November 2014 appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of e-retailer Flipkart. The post of CFO was vacant in the company since 2013. He will be part of the leadership team at Flipkart and will contribute to the overall organisational development along with defining the strategic roadmap for profitable revenue growth for Flipkart. Earlier, he was Global CFO of Tata Communications. Forbes list of World's Most Powerful People 2014 released Read here Angelo Mathews named as captain of the ICC Test Team of the Year 2014 Lenovo completed acquisition of Motorola Mobility Chinese PC maker Lenovo completed the acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google on 30 October 2014. The deal, valued at 2.91 billion US dollars, was announced in February 2014. Google had acquired Motorola Mobility a couple of years ago. Anita Kapur appointed as the new chairperson of CBDT Senior IRS officer Anita Kapur was on 5 November 2014 appointed as the new chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex authority of the Income-Tax Department. She succeeded K V Chowdary who retired on 31 October 2014. National Cancer Awareness Day observed on 7 November across the nation National Cancer Awareness Day was observed on 7 November 2014 across the nation. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in September 2014 had announced that 7 November will be observed as National Cancer Awareness Day every year. Cristiano Ronaldo received 2013-14 European Golden Boot award Burger King partnered with eBay to launch its burgers online Burger King partnered with eBay to launch its burgers online in India on 3 November 2014. Consumers will be able to pre-order Burger King's signature burger Whopper, one of the world's most popular five-inch diameter burgers, for a limited time period. Central Statistical Office released the Women & Men In India 2014 Report Read here Havells India Limited chairman Qimat Rai Gupta passed away Virat Kohli became fastest cricketer to reach 6000 ODI runs   28th November 2014 - Current Affairs November Part 1 November 1 - November 5 Rajiv Mehrishi took charge as Union Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on 31 October 2014 took charge as Union Finance Secretary under the Union Ministry of Finance. He was appointed as Secretary of Economic Affairs of Finance. Fourth International Counter-Piracy Conference held in Dubai Fourth International Counter-Piracy Conference was held in Dubai from 29 – 30 October 2014. The theme of the Conference was Securing State Recovery: Sustaining Momentum at Sea, Confronting Instability Land. It sought to address the challenges, and current concerns regarding maritime piracy. UN chief Ban Ki-moon launched global campaign to end female genital mutilation United Nations (UN) chief Ban Ki-moon on 30 0ctober 2014 launched a global campaign in Kenya to end the deadly practice of female genital mutilation. More than 125 million girls and women have been cut in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East. If current trends continue, 86 million young girls are likely to undergo same form of the practice by 2030. Hockey India President Narinder Batra became a member of FIH Executive Board

Hockey India President Narinder Batra on 2 November 2014 became a member of International Hockey Federation (FIH) Executive Board.
The decision was taken during the 2014 Ordinary Congress of FIH. The event was held in Marrakesh, Morocco.

New tower of World Trade Center re-opened 13 years after 9/11 attacks World Trade Center of the United States on 3 November 2014 re-opened its new tower for business. The tower was reopened for business thirteen years after the original twin towers were destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attack. It took eight long years to build New York's World Trade Center at an expense of 3.8 4 billion US dollar. It is now the tallest building in the US. Bill Gates announced to donate 500 million US dollars to fight malaria Bill Gates announced the donation of 500 million US dollars to fight malaria and other infectious diseases in the developing world. It was announced on 3 November 2014 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in the US. Hasmukh Adhia appointed as Union Financial Services Secretary India-Sri Lanka started joint military exercise, Mithra Shakti

Mithra Shakthi exercise: three week mock war drill between Special Forces of Indian and Sri Lankan Army
The special forces of Indian and Sri Lankan armies on 3 November 2014 began a three-week long mock war drill at the Uva-Kudaoya Commando Regiment Training School near Colombo in the island nation. The exercise will continue till 23 November 2014.

US became partner for Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit 2015 The United States (US) on 3 November 2014 became the partner country for Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit 2015. US will be the eighth country to partner the event. Other partner countries include UK, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Singapore, South Africa and Japan. The members of US India Business Counsil (USBIC) and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies will also be taking part. Narinder Batra awarded with the President's Award of International Hockey Federation Bhuvneshwar Kumar won LG People’s Choice Awards Oil prices slipped to four-year low of 82.82 US dollars per Barrel

The global benchmark, Brent crude oil, dropped 1.96 US dollar from 84.78 US dollars per barrel to 82.82 US dollars per barrel on 4 November 2014. This was the lowest price of Brent oil in last four years, that is, since 21 October 2010.
The price of oil slipped to its lowest because of the decision of the Saudi Arabia, the largest exporter of oil, to cut the sales price to the US.

Nikki Haley won second term as South Carolina Governor HDFC became first listed Indian company to have 75% shareholding by FIIs Mumbai recorded the largest number of Internet users in India in 2014   15th November 2014 - Current Affairs October Part 3

October 21 - October 31

List of Nobel Prize Winners 2014 Read here WHO declared Nigeria as Ebola Free country The World Health Organisation (WHO) on 20 October 2014 declared Nigeria as Ebola free country. It was declared Ebola free after no new cases were reported within the 42 day period stipulated by the WHO for a country to be declared Ebola free. The last reported case in Nigeria was confirmed on 8 September 2014. Pankaj Advani won World Billiards Point Format Championship Indian-origin Sahil Doshi won 2014 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge Sahil Doshi, an Indian-American student on 22 October 2014 won the 2014 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. He was awarded for his innovative design of an eco-friendly battery that could help lower harmful greenhouse gases. India became the fourth largest steel maker of the World India was preceded by China, Japan and the United States. India became the world’s fourth largest steel producer by delivering 62.41 Million Tonnes (MT) output from January 2014 to September 2014. The findings were published on 21 October 2014 in the World Steel Association (WSA) data. India has been the world’s fourth largest steel maker since 2010. As per the World Steel Association (WSA) data, the steel production of India grew by 1.8 percent during the January-September period of 2014. India produced 61.27 MT of steel in the same period in 2013. Google CEO Larry Page appointed Sundar Pichai as new Product Chief of Google Google CEO Larry Page on 26 October 2014 appointed Sundar Pichai as new Product Chief of Google. The India-born executive will oversight over products such as search, maps, Google+, commerce, advertising and infrastructure. Meanwhile, Google’s YouTube will remain under the command of Susan Wojcicki, CEO of the well known video hosting website. Google celebrated 100th birthday of Dr Jonas Salk Google on 28 October 2014 celebrated the 100th birthday of Dr Jonas Salk with a doodle on its homepage. Dr Jonas Salk was the American scientists who developed the first successful polio vaccine. World Polio Day observed across the world on 24 October Japanese telecom giant Softbank announced to invest 627 million US dollar in Snapdeal

Japanese telecom giant Softbank on 27 October 2014 announced to invest 627 million US dollar in Snapdeal.
With the investment, the Snapdeal will become the largest shareholder in the online marketplace major. Through this strategic investment and partnership with Snapdeal, the SoftBank Group aims to further strengthen its presence in India and leverage synergies with its network of Internet companies around the world.

Malala won 2014 World’s Children prize

Malala Yousafzai won the 2014 World’s Children Prize on 29 October 2014 after a global vote involving millions of children. She received the prize at a ceremony in Mariestad near Stockholm.
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in history was nominated for the 2014 World’s Children’s Prize for her courageous and dangerous fight for girls’ right to education. She received 50000 US dollar as award.

World Economic Forum released Global Gender Gap Report 2014 World Economic Forum (WEF) on 28 October 2014 released the Global Gender Gap Report 2014. The 2014 report provides Gender Gap scores for 142 countries compared to 136 countries included in 2013 report. In the Report, India with a score of 0.646 has been ranked 114. In 2013, India was ranked 101 out of 136 countries. Deeper integration for peace, prosperity chosen as the theme for 18th SAARC Summit Deeper integration for peace and prosperity was chosen as the theme for the upcoming 18th SAARC Summit to be held in Kathmandu on 30 October 2014. The Summit is scheduled to be held on 26-27 November 2014 in Nepal. Pankaj Advani won IBSF World Billiards Championship China overtook US to become the world’s largest economy in PPP terms Read here 14th November 2014 - Current Affairs October Part 2 October 11 - October 20 Third International Day of the Girl Child observed across the world Third International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) was observed across the world on 11 October 2014. The theme was Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence. The theme of IDGC was selected in recognition of the importance of investing in and empowering girls during adolescence and preventing and eliminating the various forms of violence they experience. Fortune released the list of powerful people titled 40 under 40 The list was topped by ridesharing service company Uber's 38-year-old co-founder Travis Kalanick and community-driven hospitality company Airbnb's 33-year-old CEO Brian Chesky. Followed by, Founder and CEO of Facebook, 30-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, at the number two spot and Italy's youngest Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (39) at the third position. The list also included 38-year-old co-founder and CEO of texting company WhatsApp, Jan Koum on rank 5, Yahoo's 38-year old CEO Marissa Mayer (ranked 6), New York Stock Exchange President 38-year-old Tom Farley (ranked 7) and Twitter co-founder and CEO 37-year-old Jack Dorsey (ranked 11). Mary Kom voted as India's Most Valuable Player in Asian Games 2014 Olympic bronze medalist MC Mary Kom on 13 October 2014 was chosen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of India’s Incheon Asian Games campaign at a felicitation of the medal winners by contingent sponsors, Samsung India. Global Hunger Index Report 2014 released: India Ranked at 55th Position The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI) was released on 13 October 2014 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide. It revealed that two billion people were suffering from hidden hunger even though the levels of hunger in many developing countries decreased. The 2014 GHI was calculated for 120 developing countries and countries in transition, 55 of which have a serious or worse hunger situation. Paralympic Games to be held in India in February 2015 The Narrow Road to the Deep North authored by Richard Flanagan won Man Booker Prize The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a novel of Australian author Richard Flanagan. The book was in news after it won the 2014 Man Booker Prize. Indian-born scientist Sanjaya Rajaram received World Food Prize 2014 An eminent Indian scientist Dr Sanjaya Rajaram on 16 October 2014 received the World Food Prize 2014 for his scientific research that led to a prodigious increase in world wheat production by more than 200 million tons building upon the successes of the Green Revolution. President Pranab Mukherjee visited Norway Read here Raghuram Rajan won Euromoney Award for Best Central Bank Governor of the Year 2014 Dr. Raghuram Rajan, Governor of Reserve Bank of India on 10 October 2014 was conferred with Euromoney’s Central Bank Governor of the Year Award 2014 in Washington. Euromoney in its comment said that Rajan’s tough monetary medicine combated the storm ravaging the deficit-ridden economy in the recent emerging market crisis. At present, he is battling vested interests to arouse a sleepy financial system for over one million people. India successfully test-fired nuclear capable Nirbhay cruise missile India on 17 October 2014 successfully  test fired its first long range subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay with a strike range of over 1000 km from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Orissa. ICC awarded global broadcast rights from 2015 to 2023 to Star India and Star Middle East The International Cricket Council (ICC) on 10 October 2014 awarded the global broadcast agreement rights for ICC Events from 2015 to 2023 to Star India and Star Middle East. India won Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 Hockey title Joko Widodo sworn in as Indonesia President   13th November 2014 - Current Affairs October Part 1 October 1 - October 10 President Pranab Mukherjee authorised Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as CVC President Pranab Mukherjee on 30 September 2014 authorised Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as chief of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) until the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner.  His appointment came with effect from 29 September 2014. Google social network site–Orkut closed MC Mary Kom bagged her first Asian Games Gold Medal Rajasthan became first Indian state to start Olive refinery Rajasthan on 3 October 2014 became the first state of India to start olive refinery. The refinery established at an expense of 3.75 crore rupees in Lunkaransar area of Bikaner was inaugurated by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. With this launch, the state government feels that the refinery would fulfill people’s demand of olive oil in coming years. Olive oil produced in the refinery will be marked under the brand name of Raj Olive Oil and would be made available in market after some time. Chennai Super Kings won 2014 Champions League Twenty20 title Hewlett-Packard to split into two publicly traded companies

Technology giant Hewlett-Packard known as HP on 6 October 2014 announced that it will split itself into two separate publicly traded companies. Besides, it also announced to lay off another 5000 employees and invest the saved money on account of lower headcount into research and development.
One part, HP Inc., will consist of the company’s personal-computer and printer businesses.
The other, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, will sell computer servers, data-storage gear, software, consulting operations and other services for corporate-technology departments.

17th Asian Games Incheon 2014 held in South Korea 17th Asian Games Incheon 2014 was held in Incheon, South Korea from 19 September to 4 October 2014, featuring 439 events in 36 sports. It is officially called XVII Asiad. It is governed by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The theme of the 2014 Asian Games is Meet Asia’s Future. Indian Air Force celebrated 82nd Air Force Day on October 8 Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg arrived New Delhi Founder of social site Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg arrived in New Delhi on a two day visit from 9 October to 10 October 2014. His aim behind the visit is to take help of India in connecting people of the world. French author Patrick Modiano won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Literature French author Patrick Modiano on 9 October 2014 won the Nobel Prize for literature for the year 2014. The Nobel Prize for Literature is granted by the Swedish Academy. The Nobel Prize in Literature 2014 was awarded to Patrick Modiano for the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation. The award presented to the writer is worth eight million kronor. Ericsson signed 4G network deal with Bharti Airtel Swedish telecom gear firm Ericsson on 9 October 2014 signed a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or 4G network deal with Bharti Airtel. Airtel signed the deal with Ericsson for FDD-LTE network. The signing of the deal will add to the existing 4G services offered by Bharti Airtel.  The company is offering 4G services using TDD-LTE technology on 2300 Mhz band in Ludhiana, Mohali, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh and Panchkula. Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel peace prize 2014 Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi on 10 0ctober 2014 won the Nobel Peace Prize 2014. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.   12th November 2014 - Current Affairs September Part 3 September 21 - September 30 Ancient Nalanda University inaugurated after 800 years Ancient Nalanda University (NU) was formally inaugurated after 800 years on 19 September 2014 by Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Rajgir near Nalanda, Bihar. The 455-acre University campus was opened in the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and NU Vice-Chancellor Gopa Sabharwal. Narula Brothers won 7 crore rupees in Season 8 of Kaun Banega Crorepati The Narula brothers of Delhi on 20 September 2014 became the first ever contestants to win 7 crore rupees in the television show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, hosted by Amitabh Bachchan. The two brothers, Achin and Sarthak Narula emerged victorious in Season 8 of the show after answering 14 questions correctly, with help of four lifelines. Post election win, New Zealand PM John Key called for referendum on national flag John Key, the Prime Minister of New Zealand on 21 September 2014 announced that his government would go ahead with plans to hold a referendum to change the national flag. He announced the referendum after his election triumph. UN Secretary-General announced to establish UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 20 September 2014 announced to establish the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) in New York. He declared Ebola outbreak in West Africa a threat to peace and security. Indian space programme created history as Mangalyaan entered Mars orbit successfully

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, Manglayaan on 24 September 2014 successfully entered the Martian orbit. To insert the spacecraft into the orbit the operation was started at scheduled time 07:17:32 am when its Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) was fired for 24 minutes 16 seconds.
By achieving this fete, India created the history of becoming the first country to insert the spacecraft of the mission around the Mars in first attempt. Apart from this, India also came one step closer to its cherished dream of landing on Mars.

UN Climate Change Summit 2014 held in New York UN Climate Change Summit 2014 was held at UN headquarters in New York on 23 September 2014 to put the planet on course towards reversing global warming. P.M. launched Make In India Campaign to make India a manufacturing hub Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 September 2014 launched Make In India Campaign at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi to make India a manufacturing hub. Rajat Sharma appointed as the president of News Broadcasting Association Cricketers Sachin Tendulkar & Steve Waugh selected as 2014 Bradman Honouree 3rd Meeting of SAARC Culture Ministers adopted Delhi Resolution Read here Forbes India released The 100 Richest Indian List 2014 The Forbes India magazine released The 100 Richest Indian List 2014 on 25 September 2014. As per the list, the top 100 richest tycoons in India are all billionaires for the first time. The combined net worth of 100 richest tycoons in India is 346 billion US dollars in 2014 up more than a third from 259 billion US dollars in 2013. According to the Forbes India List, the Top 10 Richest people of India: 1. Mukesh Ambani; 2. Dilip Shanghvi; 3. Azim Premji; 4. Pallonji Mistry; 5. Lakshmi Mittal; 6. Hinduja brothers; 7. Shiv Nadar; 8. Godrej family; 9. Kumar Birla; 10. Sunil Mittal Sukinda Chromite Mine of the Tata Steel in Odisha won Asian CSR Leadership Award India announced to contribute 12 million US dollar to UN to fight Ebola virus PM Narendra Modi inaugurated India Food Park in Tumkur Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 September 2014 inaugurated India Food Park at Tumkur in Karnataka. Through this park, Indian farmers will get access to global markets. PM Narendra Modi addressed 69th session of UNGA in Hindi The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 27 September 2014 addressed the 69th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. He addressed the 193-member UN General Assembly in Hindi becoming the second Prime Minister after Atal Behari Vajpayee who was a Prime Minister from 1998 to 2004. World Heart Day observed globally on 29 September World Heart Day was observed across the world on 29 September 2014. The objective of the day is to inform people around the world of the danger of heart disease and stroke. Europe won 40th Ryder Cup in Gleneagles World Tourism Day observed across the world World Tourism Day (WTD) was observed across the world on 27 September 2014. The theme of the World Tourism Day 2014 is Tourism and Community Development. The 2014 WTD is focused to highlight the ability of tourism to empower people and provide them with skills to achieve change in their local communities. RBI announced fourth Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2014-15 Read here   11th November 2014 - Current Affairs September Part 2 September 11 - September 20 Subhash Chandra Garg appointed as Executive Director of World Bank Senior IAS officer Subhash Chandra Garg was appointed as the Executive Director (ED) of World Bank on 10 September 2014. An order issued by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) said that Garg will have tenure of three years from the date of assuming charge of the post. India and Bangladesh signed MoU in the field of traditional medicines India and Bangladesh on 9 September 2014 signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of traditional medicines and homeopathy. The MoU aims to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the health sector. Tata Technologies Ltd appointed Warren Harris as MD and CEO

Engineering and information technology company Tata Technologies Ltd on 9 September 2014 appointed Warren Harris as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of the company.
Warren Harris replaced Patrick McGoldrick who has retired from his position as CEO and Managing Director of Tata Technologies after 20 years in the company. However, McGoldrick will continue to provide counsel to the company board in retirement.

BlackBerry acquired UK mobile technology start-up Movirtu BlackBerry acquired a U.K-based mobile technology start-up Movirtu on 11 September 2014. Movirtu's  software allows users to have multiple phone numbers on the same device. The acquisition of Movirtu will help BlackBerry in ramping up its portfolio of services to cater to the needs of its corporate and government clients. Chitresh Tatha is the youngest sailor at the Asian Games 2014 Chitresh Tatha, 12, is the youngest sailor to represent India at the 2014 Asian Games . He sails in the Optimist Dinghy category. Union Government launched New Payment Gateway Integrated to e-Filing System Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 8 September 2014 launched a New Payment Gateway Integrated to e-Filing System of the Intellectual Property Office of India (IPOI). It was launched by Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The new facility will enable payment using internet banking, credit cards or debit cards of more than 70 Banks as against internet banking of 2 banks earlier. This will lead to increase in online filing of forms for patent and trademarks by 25 to 75 percent. Earlier all Forms was made available by Intellectual Property Office (IPO). RBI fixed the upper age limit at 70 years for M.D. and CEO in private sector banks As per the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 under Section 196(3), it prescribed that no company shall appoint or continue the employment of any person as managing director, whole-time director or manager who is below the age of 21 years or has attained the age of 70 years. However, individual bank’s boards are free to prescribe a lower retirement age for WTDs, including MD & CEO, as an internal policy. Russian hackers leaked around five million Gmail passwords The same Google account password is used across all Google products, such as Gmail, Drive, Plus, YouTube, Maps etc. The account details have been posted on bitcoin forum btcsec.com by a user named Tvskit. Tvskit claimed that approximately 60% of the passwords are still active. On the other hand, Google denied the claim and said that only 2% of the passwords still work. It claimed that its automated anti-hijacking systems would have blocked many of the login attempts. SC ruled 3 percent quota for disabled persons in all government jobs

The Supreme Court on 12 September 2014 ruled 3 percent quota for disabled persons in all government jobs, including Indian Administrative Services (IAS), and promotions.
A bench headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha said that the disabled people have not got their due in the last 19 years. Despite the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act was passed in 1995. The bench also comprised Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton F Nariman.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited India Foreign Minister of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited India from 6 to 7 September 2014. During his visit he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj. He also had discussions on trade, investment, high tech cooperation and renewable energy collaboration. During his visit, both the countries agreed to prepare a road map for cooperation in skill development, solid waste management and cleaning of rivers. He conveyed that Germany has strong desire to work with India to further expand and deepen bilateral relations. USA won FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 President of India presented Indira Gandhi Rajbhasa Awards The President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 14 September 2014 presented Indira Gandhi Rajbhasa awards on the occasion of National Hindi Divas at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Indira Gandhi Rajbhasa awards also known as Indira Gandhi Official Language Awards are celebrated every year on 14 September. G-20 Labour and Employment Ministerial meet The G-20 Labour and Employment Ministerial meet was held at Melbourne, Australia on 10 September 2014 to 11 September 2014. The meet was called to put forward recommendations to G20 Leaders. During the meet, discussions were held on how to increase job growth across the G20 to help address disadvantage, improve productivity and drive growth. India-Vietnam signed 7 pacts to strengthen Strategic Partnership Read here Naseeruddin Shah released his autobiography And then One Day: A Memoir Padmini Prakash became the first transgender television news anchor in India Padmini Prakash became the first transgender television news anchor in India. On the eve of Independence Day on 15 August 2014, she for the first time read out the day’s headlines from a teleprompter for the Lotus News Channel Studios. A month after she started, Padmini has become the face of the Coimbatore-based Lotus News Channel's daily 7pm special bulletin. Earlier, Padmini had acted in a television serial. She also contributed herself as a vocal social activist for transgender rights. 17th Asian Games began in Incheon, South Korea Sardar Singh became India's flag bearer at 17th Asian Games opening   10th November 2014 - Current Affairs September Part 1 September 1 - September 10 Jaipur Pink Panthers won the inaugural title of Pro Kabaddi League A Nageswara Rao became first Indian actor to be honoured by US post service Indian Telugu Actor, Akkineni Nageswara Rao became the first Indian actor to be honoured with a postage stamp by the US Post Service (USPS). It was announced by the Akkineni Foundation of America (AFA) on 30 August 2014. Carolina Marin became the first Spaniard to win World Badminton Championship Carolina Marin on 31 August 2014 became the first Spaniard to win World Badminton Championship. The World Badminton Championship was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ebola Virus Disease Read here Tessy Thomas and V. Ravindranath became first Women directors in IIT council Tessy Thomas and V. Ravindranath on 1 September 2014 became first Women directors in IIT council. The appointment was confirmed by Union HRD Ministry. Karnataka became first state in India to launch Health Adalat Karnataka became the first State in the country to launch a Health Adalat. The Health Adalat was launched by the State Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khader in Gulbarga, Karnataka on 2 September 2014. It was launched to address health issues at the grassroots level and ensure that all health facilities extended by the government reached all sections of society. CAD narrowed down to 1.7 per cent of GDP in Q1 of 2014-15: RBI Reserve Bank of India on 1 September 2014 released the data on Balance of Trade and Balance of Payments. According to the Balance of Trade data, Current Account Deficit (CAD) of India narrowed down sharply to 1.7 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the Quarter 1 (Q1) of the fiscal year 2014-15 as compared to 4.8 percent in the Q1 of 2013-14. Q1 refers to the period April–June. Japan Researchers developed new method called RT-LAMP to detect Ebola virus Read here Snapdeal signed joint venture with Den Networks The venture will leverage the robust distribution network of Den Networks and Snapdeal’s wide product range and more than 30000 vendors. Den Networks is the largest cable TV distribution company of India. The company serves 13 million homes in more than 200 cities. This deal would benefit both Snapdeal and Den Networks where Snapdeal gets direct access to millions of households at one go while Den gains from the deep domain expertise of the former to build up a strong revenue stream. The deal creates an entity that could evolve into something similar to US based QVC, the world largest home shopping company with annual sales of 8.6 billion US dollar. India, Australia signed pact on Civil Nuclear Energy deal ndia and Australia on 5 September 2014 signed a pact on civil nuclear energy deal. This inking of the pact on civil nuclear energy deal has opened decks for the sale of Australian uranium to India. Now, Australian uranium will be purchased by India to support its growing energy needs. India slipped to 71st rank in WEF's annual Global Competitiveness List 2014-2015

India slipped to 71st position out of 144 countries by losing 11 places in the global competitiveness list of Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) that came on 3 September 2014.
India stood at the lowest position among the BRICS countries. Among BRICS countries, China stood at one place with 28th spot, Russia stood at 2nd place with rank at 53rd position followed by South Africa (56th rank) and Brazil (57th rank). The decline of  11 places poses challenge for the Indian government to improve competitiveness and revive the economy. However, in Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014, India ranked at 60th position.

World Literacy Day observed across the world World Literacy Day was observed across the world on 8 September 2014. The theme of International Literacy Day 2014 is Literacy and Sustainable Development. The aim is to highlight the importance of literacy to individual, communities and societies. On this day, UNESCO reminds the international community of status of literacy and adult learning. On this day, International Conference on Girls’ and women’s literacy and education: Foundations for sustainable development and the awarding of UNESCO Literacy Prizes was held in Dhaka with cooperation of Bangladesh. President Pranab Mukherjee presented Saakshar Bharat Awards 2014 President Pranab Mukherjee on 8 September 2014 presented the Saakshar Bharat Awards 2014 at International Literacy Day Celebrations. The function was organized by Union Ministry of Human Resource Development at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. He gave away 11 Saakshar Bharat Awards 2014 to State, Districts, Blocks, Gram Panchayats, State Resource Centre (SRC) and Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) for their best performance in the field of adult education. Suresh Kumar became first Indian to visit Stratosphere TN Suresh Kumar on 15 August 2014 became the first Indian to visit to the stratosphere, the second layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. He traveled to an altitude of 17100 meters in MIG-29 from Sokol Airbase near Nizhny Novgorod in Russia. During the travel to reach the stratosphere in 48 minutes, the aircraft reached to a maximum speed of 1850 km per hour. Pankaj Advani announced to retire from professional snooker   8th November 2014 - Current Affairs August Part 2 August 21 – August 31 Ice Bucket Challenge started to raise awareness and fund for ALS Disease ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was in news recently because since its start in July 2014, the Challenge has led to raising of millions of dollars as funds for research of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease. DIPP notified Press Note 8 allowing 100% FDI in Rail infrastructure Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 27 August 2014 notified Press Note 8. Press Note 8 allows 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through automatic route in rail infrastructure of Indian Railways. Shah Rukh Khan became Ambassador of Turn Back Crime campaign of Interpol Shah Rukh Khan on 27 August 2014 became the Ambassador of Turn Back Crime campaign of Interpol. This was revealed from a statement released from Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France. The campaign will promote awareness on how everyone can play a role in preventing crime. He, thus, became first Indian to become the ambassador of Interpol. Prime Minister launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 August 2014 launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. The Yojana is a mega financial inclusion plan.  Under the yojana bank accounts and RuPay debit cards with inbuilt insurance cover of 1 lakh rupees will be provided to crores of persons with no access to formal banking facilities. God of Antarctica written by 13 year old Yashwardhan Shukla Delhi-based 13 year old school boy Yashwardhan Shukla authored a novel, Gods of Antarctica. The book is fictional tale of gods and monsters. It was put into print by the Readers Paradise publishers. The boy said Amish Tripathi’s ‘Shiva’s Trilogy’ and J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series has inspired him in writing. He also said Rick Riordan remains his favourite author. National Sports Day was celebrated on the 29 August President Pranab Mukherjee presented National Sports Awards to eminent sportsperson The President of India Pranab Mukherjee presented the National Sports Awards to eminent sportsperson on 29 August 2014 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.  The awards were presented on the occasion of National Sports Day. No sportsperson was selected for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2014. India Signed agreement with World Bank for MSRPII project

India on 29 August 2014 signed loan agreement with World Bank for Mizoram State Roads Project (MSRP II). As per the agreement, soft loan window of World Bank, International Development Agency (IDA) will provide assistance of 107 million US dollars for the Project.
The agreement was signed by Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary (MI), Department of Economic Affairs and Onno Ruhl, Country Director, World Bank, India.

Union Government notified enhancing the social security cover limit under EPFO Union Government on 28 August 2014 notified enhancing the social security cover limit under the social security schemes run by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) - the retirement fund manager of the Union. Minimum monthly pension of 1000 rupees under Employees Pension Scheme -1995 (EPS-95). This would benefit 28 lakh pensioners including 5 lakh widow pensioners who used to get less amount SEBI issued norms for sharing KYC details with financial regulators The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 30 August 2014 allowed sharing of Know-your-Client details with entities regulated by other financial sector watchdogs. According to the new norms, the system of KRA may be connected with any central KYC registry authorized by the Union Government for the purpose of collation and sharing of the KYC information in the financial sector. These new norms are called as the Securities and Exchange Board of India KYC Registration Agency. Yohann Diniz broke 50km Walk World Record at the European Athletics Championship Yohann Diniz of France broke the 50-km Walk World Record at the European Athletics Championship held in Zurich, Switzerland. He broke the record with a timing of 3 Hours 32 Minutes and 33 Seconds. Finance Minister Ahmet Davutoglu named as Prime Minister of Turkey Turkey's ruling party named Finance Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as New Prime Minister of Turkey on 10 August 2014.   He will replace Recep Tayyip Erdogan.  He will resume office from 28 August 2014. French President Francois Hollande dissolved French government over economic policy French President Francois Hollande dissolved his government on 25 August 2014 after an open feud in the cabinet over the country's economic policy. President appointed Governors for Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa

The Governors names are:
• Kalyan Singh- Rajasthan Governor
• Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala- Karnataka Governor
• Ch. Vidyasagar Rao- Maharashtra Governor
• Mridula Sinha- Goa Governor

T M Bhasin elected as Chairman of Indian Banks Association T M Bhasin was elected as Chairman of Indian Banks Association (IBA) on 20 August 2014. He will be the Chairman of IBA for 2014-15.T M Bhasin is the chairman and managing director of Indian Bank. K R Kamath, who is the chairman and managing director of Punjab National Bank, was the previous chairman of this Association. K R Kamath was chairman for two consecutive tenures, that is, 2012-13 and 2013-14. Indian Army discovered tunnel in Pallanwalla sector along LoC leading to PoK Indian Army on 23 August 2014 discovered a tunnel in the Pallanwalla sector along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir. The tunnel, discovered in an incomplete form, was leading to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). The tunnel is located 50 meter inside the Indian Territory and is about two-and-half feet wide and about three-and-half feet high. Finance Minister Ahmet Davutoglu named as Prime Minister of Turkey Senior MP KV Thomas appointed as Chairman of PAC Prof. Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas was appointed as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on 20 August 2014. He will be the 94th Chairman of PAC. KV Thomas is the senior Congress Parliamentarian from Ernakulum Constituency, Kerala. World’s first Hindu eco-temple Shree Swaminarayan Mandir opened in UK World’s first Hindu eco-temple named Shree Swaminarayan Mandir was opened in Kingsbury of northwest London, United Kingdom on 19 August 2014. The eco-temple features solar panels on its roof and a rainwater harvesting system. Filmmaker Muzaffar Ali presented with 22nd Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award   7th November 2014 - Current Affairs August Part 2 August 11 – August 20 Narendra Modi released a book titled Gujarat's success story in Water Management A book titled Gujarat’s success story in Water Management was released on 9 August 2014 by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and the Party National President Amit Shah at JLN Stadium in Delhi. This book was written by BJP’s National Convener of Water Management Cell, Sriram Vedire. K.V. Chowdary appointed as new Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes Senior IRS officer K V Chowdary appointed as new Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). He was apoointed on 1 August 2014.  CBDT is the apex authority of the Income Tax department. He succeed R K Tewari. He retired on 31 July 2014. Miroslav Klose of Germany announced retirement from International Football WHO approved the use of experimental drug ZMapp to fight Ebola Virus The World Health Organisation (WHO) on 12 August 2014 sanctioned the use of experimental drug ZMapp to fight against Ebola as the death toll increased. The declaration of WHO came after a US company Mapp Biopharmaceutical supplied ZMapp to two US doctors Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebo who got affected with the Ebola disease while treating Ebola affected patients in Liberia. It showed some positive effects in saving the lives of Ebola-affected people. Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan to head the Expenditure Management Commission The Union Government decided to appoint former RBI governor Bimal Jalan as the head of the Expenditure Management Commission on 12 August 2014. He would be tasked to suggest ways for managing public finances by reducing food, fertiliser and oil subsidies to include fiscal deficit. Kush Kumar became first Indian player to reach semi final of World Junior Squash Championship SC gave 2-week time to Union Government for Ganga clean-up roadmap Supreme Court of India on 13 August 2014 asked the Union Government to come up with a road-map to make river Ganga pollution free. It asked the government to submit its road-map within two-week. The road-map was asked by the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice TS Thakur. Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman to bag Fields Medal Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian born mathematician, became the first woman to win coveted Fields Medal on 13 August 2014 in Seoul, South Korea. The award recognized her contributions to the field of geometry particularly in studying the symmetry of curved surfaces such as spheres. Sri Lankan Batsman Mahela Jayawardene retired from Test Cricket Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos died Eduardo Campos, the Brazilian presidential candidate, died on 13 August 2014 after his private jet crashed in São Paulo, Brazil. He was 49. Roger Federer won Cincinnati Tennis Open Ravi Shastri appointed as the Director of Indian Cricket Team Adille Sumariwala appointed as the Chef-de-Mission for 2014 Asian Games TCS and Bharti Foundation announced to spend 200 crore rupees for Clean India Campaign TCS has decided to provide hygienic sanitation facilities in 10000 schools for girl students. On the other hand, Bharti Foundation (development arm of Bharti Enterprises) decided to build toilets in Ludhiana in next three years covering every rural household. India and Czech Republic signed MoU on technical cooperation in Railway India and Czech Republic on 19 August 2014 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on technical cooperation in railway sector. This MoU was signed between the Union Ministry of Railways and Czech Railways (Ceske Drahy) of the Czech Republic and Association of Czech Railway Industry (ACRI) of the Czech Republic. SC issued notice to government seeking response on amendment of Article 348 of Constitution Read here World-renowned yoga guru B K S Iyengar died   6th November 2014 - Current Affairs August Part 1 August 1 – August 10 SS Mundra took charge as fourth RBI Deputy Governor Subhash Sheoratan Mundra on 31 July 2014 took charge as the fourth Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Government of India vide its notification on 30 July 2014 appointed Mundra as the Deputy Governor of RBI for three years from the date of assuming charge of the office. One Life is Not Enough written by Natwar Singh released One Life is Not Enough: An Autobiography written by Kunwar Natwar Singh was published on 1 August 2014. The book is an autobiography of the former External Affairs Minister and senior Congress Party leader Natwar Singh. Dipa Karmakar became first Indian woman gymnast to win medal in Commonwealth Games Dipa Karmakar on 31 July 2014 became the first Indian woman gymnast and second person of the country to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. She bagged a bronze in the vault event and scripted history for and in India. Deputy National Security Adviser Nehchal Sandhu resigned Deputy National Security Adviser Nehchal Sandhu resigned on 30 July 2014. His resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31 July 2014. Sandhu was appointed Deputy NSA in March 2013 for a fixed three year term. He was the Director of the Intelligence Bureau between 2010 and 2012. Muzaffar Ali selected for Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award Muzaffar Ali, a noted filmmaker of India was selected for Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award on 31 July 2014. His name was selected for his outstanding contribution towards the promotion of Communal harmony, peace and goodwill. RBI canceled the Licence of The Vasavi Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Hyderabad The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 14 July 2014 cancelled the licence of The Vasai Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Hyderabad (Telangana). The order came into effect with the notification. The order was issued in view that the bank has ceased to be solvent and all its efforts to revive the bank have also failed and the depositors were being inconvenienced by continued uncertainty. Guitar legend Dick Wagner died at 71 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games concluded; India finished 5th with 64 medals Read here Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Nepal Syndicate Bank CMD SK Jain suspended for allegedly receiving bribe Syndicate Bank Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) SK Jain was suspended by Union government on 4 August 2014 after he was arrested by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 2 August 2014 for accepting bribe. Xavi, the Spanish midfielder retired from international football Blencathra Mountain’s purchase bid by Lakshmi Mittal Sparks Protests Blencathra Mountain in Britain was in news in the first week of July 2014 due to bid made by Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal to buy the mountain range. The purchase bid led to protests from the local people who think that this proposal could make the area a playground for the rich Angela Nemeth, the 1968 Olympic javelin champion died Robert Frederick Panara, pioneer of Deaf Studies Died Robert Frederick Panara, the poineer of deaf studies died in Rochester, US on 20 July 2104 due to heart ailments. He was 94. Edward Snowden granted three-year residence in Russia Russia on 7 August 2014 granted a three-year residence permit to Edward Snowden, the Former US intelligence contractor turned whistleblower. It is not a political asylum. WHO declared Ebola as Global Health Emergency The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Ebola as Global Health Emergency. The decision was taken after a two-day emergency session held in Geneva. During the two-day session, WHO appealed for global aid to help afflicted countries. Didier Drogba, the striker of Ivory Coast announced retirement from International football    5th November 2014 - Current Affairs July Part 4 JULY 16 – JULY 31 SEBI barred Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju and 4 others from accessing capital markets

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 15 July 2014 barred founder of Satyam Computers, B Ramalinga Raju and four other top executives from accessing the capital markets for 14 years. The four executives are  
• B Rama Raju, the company’s former managing director
• Vadlamani Srinivas, its former chief financial officer
• G Ramakrishna, its former vice-president (finance)
• VS Prabhakara Gupta, its former head (internal audit)

BRICS to create 100 billion dollar development bank and emergency reserve fund The founding treaty for the New Development Bank and the Contingency Reserve Agreement were signed by the economy ministers of the member nations. Initially, the bank will start off with 50 billion dollars in initial capital with the five BRICS putting in 10 billion US dollars each.

Contribution of different nations
• China will contribute 41 billion US dollar
• Brazil, Russia and India will contribute 18 billion US dollar each
• South Africa will provide 5 billion US dollar

PM Narendra Modi met Russian President Putin in Fortaleza The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Fortaleza, Brazil on 15 July 2014. He met the Russian President Putin on the sidelines of Sixth BRICS Summit. The meeting was the first-summit level interaction of PM Narendra Modi with Russian President. Bashar al-Assad sworn in as President of Syria Bashar al-Assad was sworn in as Syria’s President in Damascus for a seven-year term on 16 July 2014. With this he became the President for the third consecutive term. He was re-elected after a presidential election that was held in June 2014. India and Brazil signed three agreements to strengthen the bilateral relation

The three agreements signed between the two countries are
• MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Environment
• Agreement on Space
• MoU on Cooperation in the Establishment of a consultation mechanism on mobility and consular issues.

7th BRICS Summit to be held in Russian city of Ufa 7th BRICS Summit will be held in Russian city of Ufa in 2015. The announcement was made in Fortaleza Declaration on 16 July 2014 on the sidelines of 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil. India to host 7th IBSA Summit in 2015 7th India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit will be held in New Delhi, India in 2015. This was announced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met South African President Jacob Juma on the sidelines of 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil on 16 July 2014. Malaysia Airlines plane Boeing 777 MH-17 crashed over Eastern Ukraine Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane, MH-17, was shot down over war-torn eastern Ukraine near the Russian border on 17 July 2014. The Plane was shot down at an altitude of 10000 meters (33000 feet) World Bank President Jim Yong Kim Arrived in India The World Bank President Jim Yong Kim arrived in New Delhi, India on 21 July 2014 on his three-day visit. During his visit, he will meet Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi for understanding the development priorities in India. Jim Yong Kim is scheduled to meet the Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley also. KN Tripathi sworn in as 22nd Governor of West Bengal Keshari Nath Tripathi was sworn in as 22nd Governor of West Bengal on 24 July 2014. The Acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court Asim Kumar Banerjee administered the oath of office to KN Tripathi in Raj Bhavan, Kolkata. India decided against signing WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement Read here Abhinav Bindra won Gold medal in Men's 10m Air Rifle at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Olympic Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra on 25 July 2014 won the Gold medal in Men’s 10-m Air Rifle event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. He shot 205.3 points to win the Gold. Kargil Vijay Diwas Celebrated across the country on 26 July RBI penalised 12 Banks in Deccan Chronicle Holdings case These 12 banks are Andhra Bank; Axis Bank; Canara Bank; Corporation Bank; HDFC Bank; ICICI Bank; IDBI Bank; IndusInd Bank; Kotak Mahindra Bank; Ratnakar Bank; State Bank of Hyderabad; Yes Bank Amitabh Bachchan named as Maharashtra's horticulture ambassador The Vijay Mallya Story written by K Giriprakash published The Vijay Mallya Story written by K Giriprakash was published by Penguin Books Limited in 2014. K. Giriprakash is the Chief of Bureau, The Hindu Business Line. Jacques Kallis announced retirement from all formats of International cricket   4th November 2014 - Current Affairs July Part 3 July 11 – July 15 World Population Day 2014 observed across the world World Population Day was observed across the world on 11 July 2014. The theme of World Population Day 2014 was Investing in Young People. World Population Day is observed to bring awareness to people about importance of small families and living healthy lives. The day is celebrated with several programs that are initiated to educate people about family planning methods. Germany won the 2014 FIFA Football World Cup beating Argentina 1-0 Germany on 13 July 2014 became the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion after defeating Argentina 1-0 at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The single goal of the final was made by Mario Gotze during the extra-time. With this win, Germany lifted the trophy for the fourth time in the history of FIFA world Cup and first since 1990. Sim Bhullar became first Indian-origin basketball player to join NBA Sim Bhullar became the first basketball player of Indian origin to join the National Basketball Association (NBA). He signed a summer contract in second week of July 2014 with the Sacramento Kings, a professional basketball team in the US. World-renowned conductor Lorin Maazel died at 84 Lorin Varencove Maazel, the American conductor of classical music, violinist and composer died on 13 July 2014 at his home in Castleton, Virginia. He died due to complications following pneumonia. He was 84 and is survived by four daughters, three sons and four grandchildren. Jayawardene announced retirement from Test Cricket Mahela Jayawardene, the former skipper of Sri Lankan cricket team, announced his retirement from Test cricket on 14 July 2014. He will retire from Test Cricket after the home series against Pakistan in August 2014. India & Sri Lanka signed MoU to set up Engineering & Agricultural faculty for University of Jaffna

India on 14 July 2014 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sri Lanka for setting up a Faculty of Agriculture and a Faculty of Engineering for the University of Jaffna at Kilinochchi. The MoU was signed in the presence of Sri Lanka’s Minister of Higher Education, SB Dissanayake in Colombo and the signatories of the MoU were
• YK Sinha, High Commissioner of India
• Dunil Jayantha Nawaratne, the Secretary to the Ministry of Higher Education

Brazil Football Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari resigned Luiz Felipe Scolari, the football coach of Brazil on 14 July 2014 resigned after Brazil failed to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup. His resignation was confirmed by the Country’s Football Federation Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF). President appointed Governors of five states

People, who have been appointed as the Governors by the President are
• Ram Naik as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh
• Balramji Dass Tandon as the Governor of Chhattisgarh
• Keshari Nath Tripathi as the Governor of West Bengal
• Om Prakash Kohli as the Governor of Gujarat
• Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya as the Governor of Nagaland

Environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt won the Gandhi Peace prize 2013 Environmentalist and social activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt on 15 July 2014 was awarded with the prestigious Gandhi Peace prize for 2013. He was awarded by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. PM Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Fortaleza The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Fortaleza, Brazil on 15 July 2014. He met the Chinese President on the sidelines of Sixth BRICS Summit being held in Fortaleza. The meeting was the first-summit level interaction of PM Narendra Modi with Chinese President. 3rd November 2014 - Current Affairs - July Part 2 July 6 - July 10 MCC XI won the match played to celebrate 200 years of Lord’s Cricket Ground Marylebone Cricket Club XI on 5 July 2014 won the match played to celebrate 200-years (bi-centenary) of Lord’s Cricket Ground – the Home of Cricket. Sachin Tendulkar-led MCC XI beat Shane Warne-led Rest of the World XI in Lord’s in London, UK. Novak Djokovic won the Men’s Wimbledon Tennis Open defeating Roger Federer With this win world number two Djokovic reclaimed top spot in the men’s rankings replacing Rafael Nadal for the first time since September 2013. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed Governor for Mizoram and Nagaland

Governor of Gujarat, Kamla Beniwal was transferred and appointed as Governor of Mizoram for the remainder of her term.
Vakkom Purushothaman, the Mizoram Governor, transferred and appointed as Governor of Nagaland for the remainder of his term.

M S Mehta appointed as CEO of Reliance Infrastructure He took charge as CEO for a period of five years.He replaced Lalit Jalan, who held the post of CEO of Reliance Infrastructure for more than seven years. Kvitova won the Women’s Wimbledon Tennis Open Union Rail Budget 2014-15: Highlights Read here Granville Austin, the scholar of Indian constitution died He described Indian Constitution as first and foremost a social document that embodied the objectives of a social revolution. Alfredo Di Stefano, the Real Madrid FC legend died Stefano was a football player, who played for three different nations at international level but never appeared at the world cup. He played for Argentina, Colombia and Spain. Eduard Shevardnadze, the ex-President of Georgia died at 86 He became the second President of Georgia in 1992 after disintegration of Georgia from the erstwhile Soviet Union. He had succeeded Zviad Gamsakhurdia. He was toppled in November 2003 after the Rose Revolution led by Mikheil Saakashvili. India successfully test-fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile BrahMos has been inducted into the Army and Navy, while, the Air Force is in final stages of trial. The induction of the first version of BrahMos Weapon Complex (N1) in the Indian Navy commenced from 2005 with the missile being deployed on-board warship INS Rajput (the first ship with the missile). Emma Watson appointed as UN Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson, the British Actress on 8 July 2014 was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women. With this appointment, the accomplished actress and humanitarian Watson will work for empowerment of young women and also as an advocate for UN Women’s HeForShe campaign in promoting gender equality. Economic Survey of India 2013-14: Highlights Read here Railway Budget 2014-15: New Initiatives Read here   31st October 2014 - Current Affairs July Part 1 July 1st – July 5th India and China inked 3 agreements including one to facilitate setting up of Chinese Industrial India and China on 30 June 2014 signed three agreements in the fields of commerce, water resources and human resources development. The signed agreements will facilitate China to set up industrial parks, share hydrological information during Brahmaputra floods and impart training to public officials. These agreements were signed after delegation level talks between Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India and his Chinese counterpart Li Yuanchao at Chinese Parliament called Great Hall of People in Beijing. Hamid Ansari was on a visit to China from 26 June to 30 June 2014. Former Haitian President Leslie Manigat died at 83 Former Haitian president Leslie Francois Manigat on 27 June 2014 died at the age of 83. He was elected as the President of Haiti in January 1988 but was overthrown by General Henri Namphy in June 1988. He led the centre-left Assembly of Progressive National Democrats party (RNDP) that was founded in the late 1970s. India announced new liberal visa policy for Afghanistan nationals India on 30 June 2014 announced a new liberal visa policy for nationals of Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds. The Policy was released by Union Home Ministry and will be effective from 1 July 2014. The new policy allows nationals of Afghanistan to stay in India on stay visa or resident permit for a period of two years at a time. Besides, Afghanistan nationals below 12 years or above 65 years are also granted exemption from police reporting Malala Yousafzai won Liberty Medal for the year 2014 Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani education advocate, on 30 June 2014 won the 2014 Liberty Medal given by the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, US. National Doctors’ Day observed across India on 1 July India on 1 July 2014 observed the National Doctors’ Day. The day is observed to honour legendary physician, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy whose birth and death anniversary falls on the same day. On 4 February 1961, he received the Bharat Ratna. France announced to provide 1 billion Euros credit line to India France on 30 June 2014 announced to provide one billion Euros (8200 crore rupees) line of credit over a three years period to India. The announcement was made by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius who is on a visit to India. The line of credit will help India take initiative in the climate control area and enable India to work closely with France on the issue of climate change. Bor Wildlife Sanctuary of Maharashtra to be the country’s 47th Tiger Reserve Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on 1 July 2014 notified Bor Wildlife Sanctuary as Tiger Reserve. With this, Bor Wildlife sanctuary will become the 47th Tiger Reserve of India and sixth Tiger Reserve of Maharashtra. The approval aimed at strengthening the conservation efforts of the national animal. Rajasthan Government declared Camel as the State animal State Government of Rajasthan on 30 June 2014 declared Camel as the State animal. The step has been taken to check the diminishing number of camels in the State.  Indian pistol shooter Jitu Rai ranked No. 1 in the world Jitu Rai became World Number 1 pistol shooter in the men's 10m air pistol category. This was revealed by the latest rankings released by the International Shooting Federation (ISSF) on 1 July 2014. World Bank released a report titled Student Learning in South Asia World Bank released a report titled Student learning in South Asia: challenges, opportunities, and policy priorities on 30 June 2014. According to the report, the poor quality of education is hampering the development of South Asia including India Sujit Choudhry became the first Indian-American dean of Berkeley Law School Sujit Choudhry became the first Indian-American dean of the Berkeley Law School, University of California. He is the 12th dean of the famed Law school and he will serve the institution for five years starting from 1 July 2014. India became the first Country to Ratify the Marrakesh Treaty India on 30 June 2014 became the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are blind and visually impaired. Dilip Sinha, the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, handed over the Instrument of Ratification to Francis Gurry, Director General, WIPO. The instrument was handed over at a ceremony held during the 28th Session of SCCR (Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights) in WIPO Headquarters. Coffee-Table book titled First Citizen: Pranab Mukherjee in Rashtrapati Bhavan released A coffee-table book titled First Citizen: Pranab Mukherjee in Rashtrapati Bhavan was released on 2 July 2014 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The book’s first copy was received by Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India. Michelle Howard became first female four-star admiral in US Navy Michelle Howard became the first female four-star admiral in US Navy. She is the first women admiral in 236 year old history of US Navy. Vice-Admiral Michelle was promoted to the highest rank of four-star admiral at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in US on 1 July 2014. The Promotion ceremony was presided over by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. Former French President Sarkozy charged with corruption & influence peddling Nicolas Sarkozy, the former President of France, on 2 July 2014 was charged with corruption and influence peddling. Sarkozy was charged on the allegation that he sought insider information from a judge regarding an investigation into illegal campaign financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Ram Naresh Yadav sworn-in as Governor of Chhattisgarh Ram Naresh Yadav was sworn-in as Governor of Chhattisgarh at Raj Bhawan, Raipur on 2 July 2014. Ram Naresh Yadav, Governor of Madhya Pradesh, has been given the additional charge of Chhattisgarh. Four-party meet in Berlin agreed to resume ceasefire in eastern Ukraine Four-party meet held in Berlin on 2 July 2014 agreed on a series of step to resume the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. The four-party meet was held between Foreign Ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.The steps include reopening talks before 5 July 2014 with the goal of reaching an unconditional and mutually agreed sustainable cease-fire. The talks will be monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSC) in Europe. China – South Korea bilateral summit held in Seoul China – South Korea bilateral summit was held in Seoul on 3 July 2014. The summit was held between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was held during the Chinese President Xi’s first visit to South Korea since he became the President in 2013. ADB approved 300 million US dollar loan for Assam’s power sector The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 3 July 2014 approved 300 million US dollars loan to Assam. The loan will help Assam in its drive to eliminate power sector inefficiencies that are hurting its consumers, its world-famous tea industry, and its environment. Olympian and WW II veteran Louis Zamperini died Louis Zamperini, a 1936 US Olympic distance runner and World War II veteran, died due to pneumonia on 2 July 2014. He was 97. B V Wanchoo, the Governor of Goa resigned Bharat Vir Wanchoo, the Governor of Goa resigned on 4 July 2014. He is the fifth Governor to resign in last one month after M K Narayanan (West Bengal), B L Joshi (Uttar Pradesh), Shekhar Dutt (Chhattisgarh) and Ashwani Kumar (Nagaland). Senegal President Macky Sall sacked Prime Minister Aminata Toure Senegal President Macky Sall on 4 July 2014 sacked Prime Minister Ms Aminata Toure. She was sacked due to her failure to win a seat from Dakar in the 2014 local elections. Aminata Toure, 51, headed the Alliance for the Republic (APR) was appointed as Prime Minister in September 2013.  Earlier she was a Justice Minister. NABARD and SFAC signed a MoU for development of Small Farm Producers National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) on 4 July 2014 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of Small Farm Producers. The MoU seeks to bring the two institutions in close coordination for implementing schemes for promotion of Producer Organisations (POs).   30th October 2014 - G8 Countries and Summits Countries 1.Canada 2.France 3.Germany 4.Italy 5.Japan 6.Russia (Suspended) 7.United Kingdom 8.United States European Union (The Chair)   Summits  

No.	Date	Host
1st	November 15–17, 1975	France
2nd	June 27–28, 1976	United States
3rd	May 7–8, 1977	United Kingdom
4th	July 16–17, 1978	West Germany
5th	June 28–29, 1979	Japan
6th	June 22–23, 1980	Italy
7th	July 20–21, 1981	Canada
8th	June 4–6, 1982	France
9th	May 28–30, 1983	United States
10th	June 7–9, 1984	United Kingdom
11th	May 2–4, 1985	West Germany
12th	May 4–6, 1986	Japan
13th	June 8–10, 1987	Italy
14th	June 19–21, 1988	Canada
15th	July 14–16, 1989	France
16th	July 9–11, 1990	United States
17th	July 15–17, 1991	United Kingdom
18th	July 6–8, 1992	Germany
19th	July 7–9, 1993	Japan
20th	July 8–10, 1994	Italy
21st	June 15–17, 1995	Canada
22nd	June 27–29, 1996	France
23rd	June 20–22, 1997	United States
24th	May 15–17, 1998	United Kingdom
25th	June 18–20, 1999	Germany
26th	July 21–23, 2000	Japan
27th	July 20–22, 2001	Italy
28th	June 26–27, 2002	Canada
29th	June 2–3, 2003	France
30th	June 8–10, 2004	United States
31st	July 6–8, 2005	United Kingdom
32nd	July 15–17, 2006	Russia
33rd	June 6–8, 2007	Germany
34th	July 7–9, 2008	Japan
35th	July 8–10, 2009	Italy
36th	June 25–26, 2010	Canada
37th	May 26–27, 2011	France
38th	May 18–19, 2012	United States
39th	June 17–18, 2013	United Kingdom
40th	June 4–5, 2014	European Union (Belgium)
41st	June 4–5, 2015	Germany

29th October 2014 - SAARC Countries and Summits Countries 1.Afghanistan 2.Bangladesh 3.Bhutan 4.India 5.Maldives 6.Nepal 7.Pakistan 8.Sri Lanka   Summits  

No	Date	Country	Host
1st	7–8 December 1985	Bangladesh	Dhaka
2nd	16–17 November 1986	India	Bangalore
3rd	2–4 November 1987	Nepal	Kathmandu
4th	29–31 December 1988	Pakistan	Islamabad
5th	21–23 November 1990	Maldives	Malé
6th	21 December 1991	Sri Lanka	Colombo
7th	10–11 April 1993	Bangladesh	Dhaka
8th	2–4 May 1995	India	New Delhi
9th	12–14 May 1997	Maldives	Malé
10th	29–31 July 1998	Sri Lanka	Colombo
11th	4–6 January 2002	Nepal	Kathmandu
12th	2–6 January 2004	Pakistan	Islamabad
13th	12–13 November 2005	Bangladesh	Dhaka
14th	3–4 April 2007	India	New Delhi
15th	1–3 August 2008	Sri Lanka	Colombo
16th	28–29 April 2010	Bhutan	Thimphu
17th	10–11 November 2011	Maldives	Addu
18th	(Planned November 2014)	Nepal	Kathmandu

  28th October 2014 - ASEAN Countries and Summits Countries 1.Brunei 2.Burma 3.Cambodia 4.Indonesia 5.Laos 6.Malaysia 7.Myanmar 8.Philippines 9.Singapore 10.Thailand 11.Vietnam   Summits  

No	Date	Country
1st	23–24 February 1976	Indonesia
2nd	4–5 August 1977	Malaysia
3rd	14–15 December 1987	Philippines
4th	27‒29 January 1992	Singapore
5th	14‒15 December 1995	Thailand
6th	15‒16 December 1998	Vietnam
7th	5‒6 November 2001	Brunei
8th	4‒5 November 2002	Cambodia
9th	7‒8 October 2003	Indonesia
10th	29‒30 November 2004	Laos
11th	12‒14 December 2005	Malaysia
12th	11‒14 January 20071	Philippines
13th	18‒22 November 2007	Singapore
14th	27 February – 1 March 2009 10–11 April 2009	Thailand
15th	23 October 2009	Thailand
16th	8–9 April 2010	Vietnam
17th	28–31 October 2010	Vietnam
18th	7–8 May 2011	Indonesia
19th	14–19 November 2011	Indonesia
20th	3–4 April 2012	Cambodia
21st	17–20 November 2012	Cambodia
22nd	24–25 April 2013	Brunei
23rd	9–10 October 2013	Brunei
24th	10–11 May 2014	Burma
25th	10–12 November 2014	Burma

  27th October 2014 - Controversial Books 2014  

Book	Author
The Accidental Prime Minister	Sanjaya Baru
Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths	PC Parakh
The Hindus	Wendy Doniger
Sahara: The Untold Story	Tamal Bandyopadhyay (Yet to be released)
The Descent of Air India	Jitendra Bhargava
Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis	Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Subir Ghosh and Jyotirmoy Chaudhuri

  21st October 2014 - Female Leaders All over the World  

No.	Country	Leader	In office since:
1	Germany	Chancellor Angela Merkel	Nov. 22, 2005 -
2	Liberia	President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf	Jan. 16, 2006 -
3	Argentina	President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner	Dec. 10, 2007 -
4	Bangledesh	Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed	Jan. 6, 2009 -
5	Lithuania	President Dalia Grybauskaite	Jul. 12, 2009 -
6	Costa Rica	President Laura Chinchilla	May 8, 2010 -
7	Trinidad and Tobago	Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar	May 26, 2010 -
8	Brazil	President Dilma Rousseff	Jan. 1, 2011 -
9	Kosovo	President Atifete Jahjaga	Apr. 7, 2011 -
10	Denmark	Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt	Oct. 3, 2011 -
11	Jamaica	Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller	Jan. 5, 2012 -
12	Malawi	President Joyce Banda	Apr. 7, 2012 -
13	South Korea	President Park Geun-hye	Feb. 25, 2013 -
14	Slovenia	Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek	Mar. 20, 2013 -
15	Cyprus (North)	Prime Minister Sibel Siber	Jun. 13, 2013 -
16	Senegal	Prime Minister Aminata Touré	Sep. 3, 2013 -
17	Norway	Prime Minister Erna Solberg	Oct. 16, 2013 -
18	Latvia	Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma	Jan. 22, 2014 -
19	Central African Republic	President Catherine Samba-Panza	Jan. 23, 2014 -
20	Chile	President Michelle Bachelet	Mar. 11, 2014 -
21	Malta	President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca	Apr. 7, 2014 -
22	Poland	Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz	Apr. 7, 2014 -

  18th October 2014 - Indian Government Schemes  

Scheme	Provisions
Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana	(posthumously awarded)death and disability insurance for rural landless households
Bachat Lamp Yojna	reduce the cost of compact fluorescent lamps
Central Government Health Scheme	comprehensive medical care facilities to Central Government employees and their family members
Deendayal Disabled Rehabilitation Scheme	Create an enabling environment to ensure equal opportunities, equity, social justice and empowerment of persons with disabilities.
Gramin Bhandaran Yojna	Creation of scientific storage capacity with allied facilities in rural areas to meet the requirements of farmers for storing farm produce, processed farm produce and agricultural inputs. Improve their marketability through promotion of grading, standardization and quality control of agricultural produce.
Indira Awaas Yojana	Provides financial assistance to rural poor for constructing their houses themselves.
Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana	A cash incentive of Rs. 4000 to women (19 years and above) for the first two live births.
Integrated Child Development Services	tackle malnutrition and health problems in children below 6 years of age and their mothers
Integrated Rural Development Program	self-employment program to raise the income-generation capacity of target groups among the poor
Janani Suraksha Yojana	One-time cash incentive to pregnant women for institutional/home births through skilled assistance
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya	Educational facilities (residential schools) for girls belonging to SC, ST, OBC, minority communities and families below the poverty line in Educationally Backward Blocks
Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana	Scholarship program to encourage students to take up research careers in the areas of basic sciences, engineering and medicine
Livestock Insurance Scheme (India)	Insurance to cattle and attaining qualitative improvement in livestock and their products.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act	Legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage of Rs. 120 per day in 2009 prices.
Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme	Each MP has the choice to suggest to the District Collector for, works to the tune of Rs.5 Crores per annum to be taken up in his/her constituency. The Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament can recommend works in one or more districts in the State from where he/she has been elected.
Midday Meal Scheme	Lunch (free of cost) to school-children on all working days
National Literacy Mission Programme	Make 80 million adults in the age group of 15 - 35 literate
National Pension Scheme	Contribution based pension system
National Service Scheme	Personality development through social (or community) service
National Social Assistance Scheme	Public assistance to its citizens in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases of undeserved want
Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana	Integrated development of Schedule Caste majority villages in four states
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana	Good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana	Achieve 4% annual growth in agriculture through development of Agriculture and its allied sectors during the XI Plan period
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana	Health insurance to poor (BPL), Domestic workers, MGNERGA workers, Rikshawpullers, Building and other construction workers, and many other categories as may be identified by the respective states
RNTCP	Tuberculosis control initiative
Saksham or Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Boys	Aims at all-round development of Adolescent Boys and make them self-reliant, gender-sensitive and aware citizens, when they grow up. It cover all adolescent boys (both school going and out of school) in the age-group of 11 to 18 years subdivided into two categories, viz. 11-14 & 14-18 years. In 2014-15, an allocation of Rs. 25 crore is made for the scheme.
Sabla or Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls	Empowering adolescent girls (Age) of 11–18 years with focus on out-of-school girls by improvement in their nutritional and health status and upgrading various skills like home skills, life skills and vocational skills. Merged Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG) and Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY).
Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana	Providing additional wage employment and food security, alongside creation of durable community assets in rural areas.
Swabhiman	To make banking facility available to all citizens and to get 5 crore accounts opened by Mar 2012
Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana	Bring the assisted poor families above the poverty line by organising them into Self Help Groups (SHGs) through the process of social mobilisation, their training and capacity building and provision of income generating assets through a mix of bank credit and government subsidy.
Swavalamban	pension scheme to the workers in unorganised sector. Any citizen who is not part of any statutory pension scheme of the Government and contributes between Rs. 1000 and Rs. 12000/- per annum, could join the scheme. The Central Government shall contribute Rs. 1000 per annum to such subscribers.
Udisha	Nationwide training component of the World Bank (External website that opens in a new window) assisted Women and Child Development Project (External website that opens in a new window). Udisha has been cleared with an outlay of about Rs.600 crores for five years. UNICEF is also a technical collaborator in the Project. The programmes aims to train child care workers across the country.
National Rural Livelihood Mission(NRLM)	This scheme will organize rural poor into SHG groups and make them capable for self-employment. The idea is to developing better livelihood options for the poor.

  17th October 2014 - Laptop Companies and their Countries  

Laptops	Parent Country
Acer	Taiwan
Asus	Taiwan
Dell	USA
Hewlett - Packard	USA
Lenovo	China
Apple	USA
HCL	India
LG	South Korea
Samsung	South Korea
Toshiba	Japan
VIAO	Japan

  16th October 2014 - Mobile Companies and their Countries  

Mobile Company	Parent Country
BlackBerry	Canada
Gionee	China
Lenovo
Xiamoi Tech
Micromax Mobiles	India
Karbonn Mobiles
Celkon Mobiles
XOLO
iball
LG	SouthKorea
Samsung
HTC	Taiwan
Apple	UnitedStates
Motorola Mobility
Sony Mobile Communications	Japan

  15th October 2014 - Indian Space Missions 2013-2014  

Satellite	Launch Date	Launch Vehicle	Remarks
SARAL	25th February 2013	PSLV-C20	SARAL, The Satellite with ARGOS and ALTIKA (SARAL) is a joint Indo-French satellite mission for oceanographic studies.
IRNSS-1A	1 July 2013	PSLV-C22	IRNSS-1A is the first satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). It is one of the seven satellites constituting the IRNSS space segment.
INSAT-3D	26 July 2013	Ariane-5	INSAT-3D is the meteorological Satellite with advanced weather monitoring payloads.
GSAT-7	30 August 2013	Ariane-5	GSAT-7 is the advanced multi-band communication satellite dedicated for military use.
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)	5 November 2013	PSLV-C25	The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), informally called Mangalyaan is India's first Mars orbiter.
GSAT-14	5 January 2014	GSLV-D5	GSAT-14 is the twenty third geostationary communication satellite of India to augment the In-orbit capacity of Extended C and Ku-band transponders.
IRNSS-1B	4 April 2014	PSLV-C24	IRNSS-1B is the second satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
PSLV-C23	30 JUNE 2014	PSLV-C23	Carried 5 foreign satellites for first time from sriharikota.

  14th October 2014 - Oceania Countries, Capitals and their Currencies  

Country	Capital	Currency
Australia	Canberra	Australian Dollar
American Samoa	Fagatogo, Utulei	US Dollar
Christmas Island (Australia)	The Settlement	Australian Dollar
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	West Island	Australian Dollar
Cook Islands	Avarua	New Zealand Dollar
Fiji	Suva	Fiji Dollar
French Polynesia	Papeete	Pacifique franc
Guam	Agana	US Dollar
Kiribati	Bairiki	Australian Dollar
Marshall Islands	Majuro	US Dollar
Nauru	Yaren	Australian Dollar
New Caledonia	Noumea	Pacifique franc
New Zealand	Wellington	New Zealand Dollar
Niue	Alofi	New Zealand Dollar
Norfolk Island	Kingston	Australian Dollar
Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan	US Dollar
Papua New Guinea	Port Moresby	Kina
Palau	Koror	US Dollar
Pitcairn Island	Adamstown	New Zealand Dollar
Samoa	Apia	Tala
Solomon Islands	Honiara	Solomon Islands Dollar
Tonga	Nuku'alofa	Pa'anga
Tuvalu	Funafuti	Australian Dollar
Tokelau	-none-	New Zealand Dollar
Vanuatu	Port-Vila	Vatu
Virgin Islands (British)	Road Town	US Dollar
Virgin Islands (US)	Charlotte Amalie	US Dollar
Wallis and Futuna	Mata-Utu	Franc

  13th October 2014 - South American Countries, Capitals and their Currencies  

Country	Capital	Currency
Argentina	Buenos Aires	Austral,  Neuvo Peso
Bolivia	La Paz	Boliviano
Brazil	Brasilia	Real
Chile	Santiago	Chilean Peso
Colombia	Bogota	Colombian Peso
Ecuador	Quito	Sucre
Guyana	Georgetown	Guyana Dollar
French Guiana	Cayenne	Franc
Falkland Islands	Stanley	Falkland Pound
Peru	Lima	New Sol
Suriname	Paramaribo	Suriname Guilder
Uruguay	Montevideo	Uruguayan New Peso
Venezuela	Caracas	Bolivar

  11th October 2014 - North American Countries, Capitals and their Currencies  

Country	Capital	Currency
Antigua and Barbuda	St. Johns	East Caribbean Dollar
Bahamas	Nassau	Bahamian Dollar
Barbados	Bridgetown	Barbados Dollar
Belize	Belmopan	Belize Dollar
Canada	Ottawa	Canadian Dollar
Costa Rica	San José	Colón
Cuba	Havana	Peso
Dominica	Roseau	East Caribbean Dollar
Dominican Republic	St. Domingo	Peso
El Salvador	San Salvador	El Salvadorian Colón
Grenada	St. George's	East Caribbean Dollar
Guatemala	Guatemala	Quetzal
Haiti	Port-au-Prince	Gourde
Honduras	Tegucigalpa	Lempira
Jamaica	Kingston	Jamaican Dollar
Mexico	Mexico City	Mexican New Peso
Nicaragua	Managua	Córdoba
Panama	Panamá	Balboa
St. Kitts and Nevis	Basseterre	East Caribbean Dollar
St. Lucia	Castries	East Caribbean Dollar
Trinidad and Tobago	Port of Spain	Trinidad and Tobago Dollar
United States of America	Washington D.C.	US Dollar

  10th October 2014 - European Countries, Capitals and their Currencies  

Country	Capital	Currency
Albania	Tirane	Lek
Andorra	Andorra-la-vella	Andorran Peseta, Euro
Armenia	Jerevan	Dram
Austria	Vienna	Schilling, Now Euro
Azerbaijan	Baku	Manat
Belarus	Minsk	Rouble
Belgium	Brussels	Belgian Franc, Now Euro
Bosnia & Herzegovina	Sarajevo	Dinar
Bulgaria	Sofia	Lev
Croatia	Zagreb	Kuna and Croatian Dinar
Cyprus	Nicosia	Cyprus Pound
Czech Republic	Prague	Czech Koruna
Denmark	Copenhagen	Danish Krone
Estonia	Tallinn	Kroon
Finland	Helsinki	Markka, Now Euro
France	Paris	French Franc, Now Euro
French Guiana	Cayenne	French Franc, Now Euro
Georgia	Tbilisi	Lari
Germany	Berlin	Deutsche Mark, Now Euro
Greece	Athens	Drachma, Now Euro
Hungary	Budapest	Forint
Iceland	Reykjavik	Icelandic Krona
Italy	Rome	Lire, Now Euro
Latvia	Riga	Lat
Liechtenstein	Vaduz	Swiss Franc
Lithuania	Vilnius	Litas
Luxemburg	Luxemburg	Luxemburg Franc, Now Euro
Macedonia	Skopje	Macedonian Dinar
Malta	Valletta	Maltese Lira
Martinique	Fort-de-France	French Franc, Now Euro
Moldova	Kishinev	Moldavian Leu
Monaco	Monaco	French Franc, Now Euro
Netherlands	Amsterdam	Dutch Guilder, Now Euro
Norway	Oslo	Norwegian Krone
Northern Ireland	Belfast	Pounds
Poland	Warsaw	New Zloty
Portugal	Lisbon	Escudo, Now Euro
Romania	Bucharest	Romanian Leu
Russia	Moscow	Russian Federation Rouble
San Marino	San Marino	Italian Lire
Scotland	Edinburgh	Pound Sterling
Slovakia	Bratislava	Slovak Koruna
Slovenia	Ljubljana	Tolar
Spain	Madrid	Peseta, Now Euro
Sweden	Stockholm	Swedish Kroner
Switzerland	Berne	Swiss Franc
Tajikistan	Dushanbe	Tajik Rouble
Ukraine	Kiev	Hryvna
United Kingdom	London	Pound Sterling
Uzbekistan	Toshkent/Tashkent	Uzbekistani Som
Vatican City	Vatican City	Italian Lire
Yugoslavia	Belgrade	New Dinar
Whales	Cardiff	Pound Sterling

    9th October 2014 - African Countries, Capitals and their Currencies  

Country	Capital	Currency
Algeria	Algiers	Algerian Dinar
Angola	Luanda	New Kwanza
Benin	Porto-Novo	Franc
Botswana	Gaborone	Pula
Burkina Faso	Ouagadougou	Burkina Faso Franc
Burundi	Bujumbura	Burundi Franc
Cameroon	Yaoundé	Franc
Cape Verde	Praia	Escudo Caboverdiano
Central African Republic	Bangui	Franc
Chad	N'Djamena	Franc
Comoros	Moroni	Comorian Franc
Congo	Brazzaville	Franc
Côte d'Ivoire	Yamoussoukro	Franc
Djibouti	Djibouti	Djibouti Franc
Egypt	Cairo	Egyptian Pound
Equatorial Guinea	Malabo	Franc
Eritrea	Asmara	Eritrean Nakfa
Ethiopia	Addis Ababa	Birr
Gabon	Libreville	Franc
Gambia	Banjul	Dalasi
Ghana	Accra	Cedi
Guinea	Conakry	Guinea Franc
Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	Guinea-Bissau Peso
Ivory Coast	Abidjan and Yamoussoukro	Franc
Kenya	Nairobi	Kenyan Shilling
Lesotho	Maseru	Loti
Liberia	Monrovia	Liberian Dollar
Libya	Tripoli	Libyan Dinar
Madagascar	Antananarivo	Malagasy Franc
Malawi	Lilongwe	Malawian Kwacha
Mali	Bamako	Malian Franc
Mauritania	Nouakchott	Ouguiya
Mauritius	Port Louis	Mauritius Rupee
Mayotte	Dzaoudzi and Mamoudzou	French Franc
Morocco	Rabat	Moroccan Dirham
Mozambique	Maputo	Metical
Namibia	Windhoek	Namibian Dollar and Rand
Niger	Niamey	West African Franc
Nigeria	Abuja	Naira
Reunion	Saint-Denis	Euro
Rwanda	Kigali	Rwanda Franc
Sao Tome and Principe	Sao Tome	Dobra
Senegal	Dakar	West African Franc
Seychelles	Victoria	Seychelles Rupee
Sierre Leone	Freetown	Leone
Somalia	Mogadishu	Somali Shilling
South Africa	Cape Town	Rand
St. Helena	Jamestown	St. Helena Pound
Swaziland	Mbabane and Lobamba	Lilangeni
Tanzania	Dar es Salaam	Tanzanian Shilling
Togo	Lome	Franc
Tunisia	Tunis	Tunisian Dinar
Uganda	Kampala	Ugandan Shilling
Zambia	Lusaka	Zambian Kwacha
Zimbabwe	Harare	Zimbabwe Dollar

  8th October 2014 - Asian Countries, Capitals and their Currencies  

Country	Capital	Currency
Afghanistan	Kabul	Afgani
Armenia	Yerevan	Dram
Azerbaijan	Baku	Manat
Bahrain	Al-Manamah	Bahraini Dinar
Bangladesh	Dhaka	Taka
Bhutan	Thimphu	Ngultrum
Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan	Brunei Dollar
China	Beijing	Yuan
Cyprus	Nicosia	Cypriot Pound
Cambodia	Phnom Penh	Riel
East Timor	Dili	U.S. Dollar
India	New Delhi	Indian Rupee
Indonesia	Jakarta	Rupiah
Iran	Tehran	Rial
Iraq	Baghdad	Iraqi Dinar
Israel	Tele Aviv	Shekel
Japan	Tokyo	Yen
Jordan	Amman	Jordanian Dinar
Kazakhstan	Akmola	Tenge
Korea (North)	Pyongyang	Won
Korea (South)	Seoul	Won
Kuwait	Kuwait City	Kuwaiti Dinar
Kyrgyzstan	Bishkek	Kyrgyzstani Som
Laos	Vientiane	Kip
Lebanon	Beirut	Lebanese Pound
Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysian Ringgit
Maldives	Male	Rufiyaa
Mongolia	Ulan-Bator	Tugrik
Myanmar	Yangon	Kyat
Nepal	Kathmandu	Nepalese Rupee
Oman	Muscat	Rial Omani
Pakistan	Islamabad	Pakistani Rupee
Philippines	Manila	Peso
Qatar	Doha	Qatari Riyal
Russia	Moscow	Russian Ruble
Saudi Arabia	Riyadh	Saudi Riyal
Singapore	Singapore	Singapore Dollar
Sri Lanka	Colombo	Sri Lankan Rupee
South Korea	Seoul	South Korean Won
Syria	Damascus	Syrian Pound
Taiwan (ROC)	Taipei	New Taiwan Dollar
Tajikistan	Dushanbe	Tajikistan Somoni
Thailand	Bangkok	Thai Bhat
Turkey	Ankara	Turkish Lira
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat	Turkmenistan Manat
United Arab Emirates	Abu Dhabi	UAE Dirham
Uzbekistan	Tashkent	Uzbekistan Som
Vietnam	Hanoi	Vietnamese Dong
Yemen	Sana'a	Yemeni Rial

  7th October 2014 - Cars and their Parent Countries  

Cars	Country
Alfa Romeo	Italy
Aston Martin	Great Britain
Audi	Germany
Bentley	Great Britain
BMW	Germany
Bugatti	Germany
Cadillac	USA
Chevrolet	USA
Citroen	France
Dodge	USA
Ferrari	Italy
Ford	USA
General Motors	USA
Honda	Japan
Hummer	USA
Hyundai	South Korea
Jaguar	Great Britain
Lamborghini	Italy
Lexus	Japan
Mercedes-Benz	Germany
Porsche	Germany
Suzuki	Japan
Toyota	Japan

  6th October 2014 - Indian Rivers  

River	City	State
Yamuna	Yamuna Nagar, Delhi, Mathura, Agra, Etawah, Kalpi, Allahabad, Baghpat, Noida, Firozabad, Hamirpur	Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana
Ganges	Allahabad, Badrinath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Patna, Varanasi, Farrukhabad, Fatehgarh ,Kannauj, Kanpur Cantonment, Shuklaganj, Chakeri, Hajipur	Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal
Narmada	Jabalpur, Bharuch	Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat
Brahmaputra	Guwahati, Dibrugarh	Assam
Godavari	Rajahmundry, Nashik, Nanded	Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh
Krishna	Sangli, Karad, Vijayawada	Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh
Kaveri	Erode, Thiruchirapalli	Tamil Nadu
Jhelum	Srinagar	Jammu & Kashmir

    3rd October 2014 - Top Peaks of the Continents  

Continent	Peak	Height (Meters)
Asia	Mount Everest	8488
	K2	8611
	Kangchenjunga	8586
Africa	Mount Kilimanjaro	5895
	Mount Kenya	5195
	Mount Stanley	5199
Australia	Mount Kosciuszko	2228
	Mount Townsend	2209
	Mount Twynam	2195
Europe	Mount Elbrus	5642
	Monte Shkhara	5193
	Mount Blanc	4810
North America	Mt McKinley (Denali)	6168
	Mt Logan	5959
	Pico de Orizaba	5636
South America	Aconcagua	6962
	Ojos del Salado	6893
	Huascaran	6769

  2nd October 2014 - Top 14 Peaks in the World  

Mountain	Location	Height
		Meters	Feet
1. Everest1	Nepal/Tibet	8,850	29,035
2. K2 (Godwin Austen)	Pakistan/China	8,611	28,250
3. Kangchenjunga	Nepal/India	8,586	28,169
4. Lhotse	Nepal/Tibet	8,516	27,940
5. Makalu	Nepal/Tibet	8,463	27,766
6. Cho Oyu	Nepal/Tibet	8,201	26,906
7. Dhaulagiri	Nepal	8,167	26,795
8. Manaslu	Nepal	8,163	26,781
9. Nanga Parbat	Pakistan	8,125	26,660
10. Annapurna	Nepal	8,091	26,545
11. Gasherbrum I	Pakistan/China	8,068	26,470
12. Broad Peak	Pakistan/China	8,047	26,400
13. Gasherbrum II	Pakistan/China	8,035	26,360
14. Shisha Pangma	Tibet	8,013	26,289

  1st October 2014 - Days Observed  

Date	Month	Day
12	January	National Youth Day (India)
4	February	World Cancer Day
13	February	World Radio Day
28	February	National Science Day (India)
3	March	World Wildlife Day
8	March	International Women's Day
21	March	International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
22	March	World Water Day
7	April	World Health Day
22	April	Earth Day
26	April	World Intellectual Property Day
1	May	International Workers Day
31	May	World No Tobacco Day
5	June	World Environment Day
14	June	World Blood Donor Day
11	July	World Population Day
12	August	International Youth Day
5	September	International Day of Charity
8	September	International Literacy Day
15	September	International Day of Democracy
21	September	International Day of Peace
26	September	World Contraception Day
11	October	International Day of the Girl Child
16	October	World Food Day
24	October	United Nations Day
27	October	Labour Day
14	November	World Diabetes Day
1	December	World AIDS Day
10	December	Human Rights Day

  30th September 2014 - IPL - Teams, Winners, Owners And Controversies (2008-2014)   

TEAMS	WINNERS	OWNERS
Current Teams
Chennai Super Kings	2010,2011	N.Srinivasan (India Cements)
Delhi Daredevils	-	Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (GMR)
Kings XI Punjab	-	Preity Zinta (PZNZ Media), Ness Wadia (Bombay Dyeing), Mohit Burman (Dabur),The Oberoi Group
Kolkata Knight Riders	2012,2014	Shahrukh Khan (Red Chillies Entertainment) Juhi Chawla, Jay Mehta (Mehta Group)
Mumbai Indians	2013	Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Group)Teesta Retail
Rajasthan Royals	2008	Lachlan Murdoch (Emerging Media) Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra (UK Tradecorp Ltd)
Royal Challengers Bangalore	-	Vijay Mallya (UB Group)
Sunrisers Hyderabad	-	Kalanidhi Maran (Sun Group)
Defunct Teams
Deccan Chargers	2009	Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited
Kochi Tuskers	-	Kochi Cricket Private Ltd
Pune Warriors India	-	Sahara Adventure Sports India

 

Year	Orange Cap	Purple Cap	Player of the Tournament
2008	Shaun Marsh	Sohail Tanvir	Shane Watson
2009	Matthew Hayden	R.P. Singh	Adam Glichrist
2010	Sachin Tendulkar	Pragyan Ojha	Sachin Tendulkar
2011	Chris Gayle	Lasith Malinga	Chris Gayle
2012	Chris Gayle	Morne Morkel	Sunil Narine
2013	Micheal Hussey	D.J. Bravo	Shane Watson
2014	Robin Uthappa	Mohit Sharma	Glenn Maxwell

 

Year	Controversies	Who was Involved?	Verdict
2008	Conflict with ECB AND Wales Cricket Board	England and Wales Cricket Board	None of the England players were given the No Objection Certificate
2009	General Elections	Government	Played in South Africa
2010	Lalit Modi	Alleged acts of individual misdemeanours	Suspension
2011	Bid for Kochi Tuskers	Kochi Franchise and Shashi Tharoor	Resignaation of Shashi Tharoor from the Centeral Government
2012	Spot Fixing	India TV aired a sting operation which accused 5 players for spot fixing	Suspension of the 5 players
2013	Spot Fixing and Betting Case. Pune Warriors India Withdrawal	3 players of RR were involved. Gurunath Meiyappan(top official of the Chennai Super Kings franchise and son-in-law of BCCI president N. Srinivasan).PWI	RR players were arrested by Delhi Police. Gurunath Mejyappan was arrested and N.Srinivasan to step down from his position(as a BCCI president).PWI had o withdraw as they couldn’t pay full franchise fee.
2014	Elections	Government	First half of the phase was played in UAE

  29th September 2014 - Indian Companies Fortune 500 List 2014  

Company	Position (2014)	Position (2013)
Wal-Mart	1	2
Royal Dutch Shell	2	1
Sinopec	3	4
IOC	96	88
Reliance Industries	114	107
Bharat Petroleum	242	229
Hindustan Petroleum	284	260
Tata Motors	287	316
State Bank of India	303	298
ONGC	424	369
Tata Steel	486	471

    26th September 2014 - Some Important happenings of 2013 China Moon Rover Lands on Moon. Nelson Mandela Dies at 95. Iran Nuclear Deal. Super Typhoon Haiyan Davastates Philippines. US government shutdown. Kenya Mall Attack. Washington DC Navy Yard Shooting. Tokyo Japan wins to host 2020 Olympics. Microsoft buys Nokia mobile phone business at $7.2 billiion. NASDAQ in error for three hours during trading time. Syria Chemical Attack Allegation. Detroit files for bankruptcy. Egypt Army Ousts President Mursi. US NSA Prism Program. Scientists successfully cloned human stem cells. Yahoo buy Tumblr for $1.1 billion. Bangladesh Factory Collapse, Over 700 Dead. Deadly earthquake hits China Sichuan. Boston Marathon Blasts . Margaret Thatcher Dies at 87. The rise of bitcoin. Cyprus plans to tax bank deposits. Meteorites injured hundreds in Russia. Pope Benedict XVI resigned. Source: http://www.endmemo.com/events/2013.php 25th Spetember 2014 - Popular Trade agreements ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) – Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) – Bangladesh, China, India, Republic of Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic , Sri Lanka, Nepal, Philippines, Mongolia G-3 Free Trade Agreement (G-3) - Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela G8 Nations-  France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Russia.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)- Islamic monarchies of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - Canada, Mexico, and the United States Pacific Alliance-Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives,Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka   24th September 2014 - HeadQuarters of International Organisations United Nations Organisation                                                                          New York United Nations Childrens' Fund (UNICEF)                                                 New York United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)                                                  New York United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)      Geneva World Health Organisation                                                                              Geneva International Labour Organisation                                                                 Geneva International Committee of the Red Cross                                                    Geneva World Trade Organisation                                                                                Geneva World Meteorological Organisation                                                                Geneva World Intellectual Property Organization                                                      Geneva International Organization for Standardization                                            Geneva United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)                                                                                                              Paris Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)                                                                                                                    Paris United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)               Vienna International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA)                                                   Vienna Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)                              Vienna International Monetary Fund (IMF)                                                                 Washington DC World Bank                                                                                                             Washington DC Amnesty International                                                                                          London Commonwealth of Nations                                                                                   London International Court Of Justice                                                                             The Hague Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)                                                        Rome North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)                                                      Brussels South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC)                           Kathmandu Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)                                            Jakarta Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)                                                        Singapore International Olympic Committee(IOC)                                                              Lausanne, Switzerland World Economic Forum (WEF)                                                                             Geneva, Switzerland Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)                               Zurich, Switzerland International Cricket Council (ICC)                                                                      Dubai, UAE International Hockey Federation (FIH)                                                               Lausanne, Switzerland Fédération internationale des échecs (FIDE) or World Chess Federation                                                                                       Athens, Greece International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)                                  Gland, Switzerland   23rd September 2014 2014 FIFA World Cup Hosts - Brazil Winners - Germany 1st Runners Up - Argentina Golden Ball - Lionel Messi (Argentina) Golden Boot - James Rodríguez ( Columbia) Golden Glove - Manuel Neuer (Germany)   2014 Men's Hockey World Cup Venue -  The Hague, Netherlands Winner - Australia 1st Runner Up - Netherlands India's position - Indian team ended up 9th in the Tournament India's Captain - Sardar Singh Most number of Goals in the Tournament - Gonzalo Peillat from Argentina Player of the Tournament - Mark Knowles from Australia Goalkeeper of the Tournament - Jaap Stockmann, Netherlands Goal of the Tournament - Sebastian Dockier, Belgium   Indian Winners at London Olympics 2012 Bronze - Men's 10 metre air rifle event - Gagan Narang Bronze - Women's singles in badminton - Saina Nehwal (first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics) Bronze - Women's flyweight category in Boxing - Mary Kom Bronze - Men's freestyle 60 kg wrestling event - Yogeshwar Dutt Silver - Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol event - Vijay Kumar Silver  - 66 kg Freestyle wrestling event - Sushil Kumar No Gold Medals were won.   22nd September 2014 -  Heads of Important Organisations  

Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO)	Director-General – José Graziano da Silva, Brazil (2012–present)
International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA)	Director-General – Yukiya Amano, Japan (2009–present)
International Labour Organization(ILO)	Director-General – Guy Ryder, UK (2012–present)
United Nations	Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, South Korea (2007–present)
United Nations	President of the General Assembly VukJeremic, Serbia (2012–2013) John William Ashe, Antigua and Barbuda (2013-2014)
United Nations	Security Council members – China, France, Russia,Security Council members – China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States (permanent members) Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan, Togo (elected for 2012–2013)Argentina, Australia, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Rwanda (elected for 2013–2014) United Kingdom, United States (permanent members)
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)	Executive Director – Anthony Lake, United States (2010–present)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)	Director-General – Irina Bokova, Bulgaria (2009–present)
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights	High Commissioner – NavanethemPillay, South Africa (2008–present)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)	High Commissioner – AntónioGuterres, Portugal (2005–present)
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)	Director-general – KandehYumkella, Sierra Leone (2005–present)
World Food Programme (WFP)	Executive Director – JosetteSheeran, United States (2007–present)
World Health Organization (WHO)	Director-General – Margaret Chan, China (acting) (2007–present)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)	President – Alexander Bedritsky, Russia (2003–present)
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)	Secretary-General – Michel Jarraud, France (2004–present)
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)	Secretary-General – TalebRifai, Jordan (2010–present)

   

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)	Secretary-General – Le Luong Minh, Vietnam (2013–present)
Commonwealth of Nations	Head – Queen Elizabeth II (1952–present), Secretary-General – Kamalesh Sharma, India (2008–present)
Commonwealth of Independent States	Executive Secretary – Sergei Lebedev, Russia (2007–present)
Council of Europe	Secretary General – ThorbjørnJagland, Norway (2009–present)
European Union (EU)	Presidency of the European Council – Herman Van Rompuy (2009–present)
Group of Eight (G8)	President (informal) – David Cameron, United Kingdom (2013)
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)	Chairman – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran (2012–present)
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation	Secretary-General – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Denmark (2009–present)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)	Secretary-General – José ÁngelGurría, Mexico (2006–present)
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC)	Secretary-General – Ahmed Saleem, Maldives (2012–present)
World Trade Organization (WTO)	Director-General – Roberto Azevêdo, Brazil (2013–present)

   

Asian Development Bank	President – Takehikonakao, Japan (2013–present)
International Monetary Fund	Managing Director – Christine Lagarde, France (2011–present)
World Bank	President – Jim Yong Kim, Korea (2012–present)

   

FédérationInternationale de Football Association (FIFA)	President – SeppBlatter, Switzerland (1998–present)
International Cricket Council (ICC)	President – Alan Isaac, New Zealand (2012–present)
International Olympic Committee (IOC)	President – Thomas Bach, Germany (2013–present)
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)	President – Michel Platini, France (2007–present)

   

International Court of Justice	President – HisashiOwada, Japan (2009–present)
International Criminal Court	President – Song Sang-Hyun, South Korea (2009–present)
International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)	Secretary-General – Ronald Noble, United States (2000–present)President – MireilleBallestrazzi, France (2012–present)
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)	Secretary-General -Edmund Daukoru, Nigeria, acting (2006–present)Mohammed S. Barkindo, Nigeria, acting for Daukoru (2006–present)

    19th September 2014 - Direct Questions can be asked Heads of Important Organisations in India  

Chief Economic Advisor	Raghuram Rajan
Chief Election Commissionor	V.S.Sampath
RBI	Raghu Ram Rajan
SEBI	U.K. Sinha
ISRO	Dr. K. Radhakrishnan
NABARD	PrakashBakshi
NASSCOM	Krishna kumarNatrajan
TRAI	Rahul Khullar
FICCI	Naina Lal Kidwai
ASSOCHAM	Rana Kapoor
CAG	Shashi Kant Sharma
National Commission for women	Mamta Sharma
National Innovation Commission	Sam Pitroda
National Security Advisor	Shivashankar Menon
National Security Council	Yakov Amridor
Attorney General of India	G.E. Vahanvati
Bombay Stock Exchange	Ashish Chauhan
National Stock Exchange	Chitra Ramkrishna
PM Economic Advisor	C.Rangrajan
Press Council of India	MarandeyKatju
Press Trust of India	K N Shanth Kumar

    18th September 2014 - Match the Following questions are asked  

Year	Number	City	Country	Date
2018	XXI	Gold Coast	Australia
2014	XX	Glasgow	Scotland	Jul 23-Aug 3
2010	XIX	Delhi	India	3-14 Oct
2006	XVIII	Melbourne	Australia	15-26 March
2002	XVII	Manchester	England	25 July-4 Aug
1998	XVI	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	10-20 Sept
1994	XV	Victoria	Canada	18-28 Aug
1990	XIV	Auckland	New Zealand	24 Jan-3 Feb
1986	XIII	Edinburgh	Scotland	24 July-2 Aug
1982	XII	Brisbane	Australia	30 Sept-9 Oct
1978	XI	Edmonton	Canada	3-12 Aug
1974	X	Christchurch	New Zealand	24 Jan-2 Feb
1970	IX	Edinburgh	Scotland	16-25 July
1966	VIII	Kingston	Jamaica	4-13 Aug
1962	VII	Perth	Australia	21 Nov-1 Dec
1958	VI	Cardiff	Wales	18-26 July
1954	V	Vancouver	Canada	30 July-7 Aug
1950	IV	Auckland	New Zealand	4-11 Feb
1938	III	Sydney	Australia	5-12 Feb
1934	II	London	England	4-11 Aug
1930	I	Hamilton	Canada	16-23 Aug
1911		London	England

  17th September 2014 Summer Olympic Games Sites - You get match the following questions in IIFT

1896 - Athens, Greece
1900 - Paris, France
1904 - St. Louis, United States
1908 - London, United Kingdom
1912 - Stockholm, Sweden
1916 - Scheduled for Berlin, Germany*
1920 - Antwerp, Belgium
1924 - Paris, France
1928 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
1932 - Los Angeles, United States
1936 - Berlin, Germany
1940 - Scheduled for Tokyo, Japan*
1944 - Scheduled for London, United Kingdom* 1948 - London, United Kingdom
1952 - Helsinki, Finland
1956 - Melbourne, Australia
1960 - Rome, Italy
1964 - Tokyo, Japan
1968 - Mexico City, Mexico
1972 - Munich, West Germany (now Germany)
1976 - Montreal, Canada
1980 - Moscow, U.S.S.R. (now Russia)
1984 - Los Angeles, United States
1988 - Seoul, South Korea
1992 - Barcelona, Spain
1996 - Atlanta, United States
2000 - Sydney, Australia
2004 - Athens, Greece
2008 - Beijing, China
2012 - London, United Kingdom
2016 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2020 - Tokyo, Japan

 

Winter Olympic Games Sites

1924 - Chamonix, France
1928 - St. Moritz, Switzerland
1932 - Lake Placid, N.Y., United States
1936 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
1940 - Scheduled for Sapporo, Japan*
1944 - Scheduled for Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy*
1948 - St. Moritz, Switzerland
1952 - Oslo, Norway
1956 - Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
1960 - Squaw Valley, California, United States
1964 - Innsbruck, Austria
1968 - Grenoble, France
1972 - Sapporo, Japan
1976 - Innsbruck, Austria
1980 - Lake Placid, New York, United States
1984 - Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)
1988 - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1992 - Albertville, France**
1994 - Lillehammer, Norway**
1998 - Nagano, Japan
2002 - Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
2006 - Torino (Turin), Italy
2010 - Vancouver, Canada
2014 - Sochi, Russia
2018 - Pyeongchang, South Korea

* Due to World War I and II, Summer Olympic Games were not held in 1916, 1940, and 1944. Due to World War II, Winter Olympic Games were not held in 1940 and 1944. ** The 1992 and 1994 Winter Games are two years apart due to the transition of the Winter Games to alternating even-numbered years with regard to the Summer Games.