INTERNATIONAL

Mauritius Parliament Dissolved For Elections
The Mauritius parliament was dissolved on 6 October, paving the way for elections that could lead to changes in the country’s constitution. The ruling Labour party, led by Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, wants to split powers between the president, now a largely ceremonial position, and the prime minister. That would require changes to the constitution.

Bolivian President Evo Morales Re-elected For A Third Term
Bolivian President Evo Morales was re-elected for a third term with more than 60 percent of the vote according to the election results declared on 12 October. As per the results, Evo Morales got 60 percent while his closest competitor Samuel Doria Medina could secure only 25 percent.

United Nations Elected Five New Non-permanent Members To Security Council
Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela and Spain on 16 October were elected as the new non-permanent members of the Security Council for a two years term by the UN General Assembly. These five countries replace retiring members Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, South Korea and Rwanda.The newly elected members term will be begining from January 1, 2015.

Dilma Rousseff  Re-elected As Brazil President
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was re-elected in the Presidential Elections held in the country on 26 October 2014. She belongs to the center-left Workers’ Party and her second term will finish in December 2018. Rousseff took 51.6% of the votes while her centre-right challenger Aecio Neves representing Brazilian Social Democracy Party (BSDP) got 48.4% votes.


INDIA & WORLD

UK and Ireland Signed Single Visa Deal
Britain and Ireland on 6 October Signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on visa cooperation to allow Chinese and Indian visitors to travel to the two island nations on a single visa. The agreement was signed at the Irish Embassy in London by UK home secretary Theresa May and Irish Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

India Ranks 18th On Most Desirable Place To Work
According to the consulting giant Boston Consulting Group latest report released on 7 October, India has been ranked 18th globally on the list of most desirable destinations to work, even as 70-80% of Indians are willing to work in an overseas location.The US has been ranked on the top, followed by the UK, Canada, Germany and Switzerland.

India Ranked 55th In Global Hunger Index
The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI) was released on 13 October by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide. According to the report, India improved its position in the Global Hunger Index in 2014 as it climbed to 55th position among 76 emerging economies from 63rd position in 2013. Mauritius holds the top place alongwith Thailand.

India Ranked 142 On WEF’s Gender Gap Report
Global Gender Gap Report 2014, which was published on 28 October by World Economic Forum (WEF) – India was ranked 114 out of 142 countries on Gender Gap index. Iceland has the narrowest gender gap in the world, followed by Finland, Norway and Sweden.


NATIONAL

PM Narendra Modi Launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 2 October launched the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ or ‘Clean India’ campaign in New Delhi. The campaign was launched on the occasion of 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.The total expected cost of the programme is Rs. 62,009 crore, out of which the proposed central assistance will be of Rs. 14,623 crore.

PM Narendra Modi Launched ‘Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY) on the occasion of the birth anniversary of renowned Socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan on 11 October. SAGY will be implemented under the overall supervision of Union Ministry of Rural Development. The programme is an ambitious village development project under which each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility for developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.

Prime Minister Launched Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram on 16 October in New Delhi.The scheme is aimed at creating conducive environment for industrial development and doing business with ease.

Union Govt Launched Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana
Union Government has launched Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana (VKY) on 28 October for welfare of Tribal people and particularly to lift human development indices of tribal people.


STATES

Gujarat Govt Set Up ‘ SPV ‘ To Promote Vadodara As Cultural Capital
Gujarat government on 10 October set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to promote Vadodara as the cultural capital of Gujarat and encourage tourism in Vododara. The SPV set up will be known as Vadodara International Art and Culture Festival Authority and it will be headed by State Tourism and Finance Minister Saurabh Patel. Thus, Gujarat became the first state in India to set up the authority for promoting tourism.

Union Home Ministry Announced To Renamed 12 Cities and Towns of Karnataka
Union Home Ministry on 17 October announced to rename 12 cities and towns of Karnataka. According to the proposal, the 12 cities whose names were sought to be changed are:- Bangalore as Bengaluru; Mangalore as Mangaluru ; Bellary as Ballari ; Bijapur as Vijayapura or Vijapura ; Belgaum as Belagavi ; Chikmagalur as Chikkamagaluru ; Gulbarga as Kalaburagi ; Mysore as Mysuru ; Hospet as Hosapete ; Shimoga as Shivamogga ; Hubli as Hubballi, and Tumkur as Tumakuru.

Bharatiya Janta Party Won The 2014 Assembly Elections of Haryana
Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won the state assembly elections of Haryana. The results of the elections were announced by the Election Commission of India on 19 October 2014. BJP by securing 47 seats emerged as the largest party, with clear majority. The elections were held for total 90 seats on 15 October 2014.

BJP emerged As The Largest Party In Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2014
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra assembly elections of 2014, the results for which were declared on 19 October 2014. The elections were held on 15 October 2014 for total 288 seats. Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) by winning 122 seats emerged as the largest party but none of the parties succeeded in securing a secure clear majority.


CONFERENCES

12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 12)
The 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 12) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP-12) was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea from 6 – 17 October 2014.  “Biodiversity for Sustainable Development” was the theme for the COP 12 summit. The conference was attended by more than 2000 delegates from 193 countries. The meeting concluded on a disappointing note that biodiversity targets agreed upon in 2010 at Nagoya are far from being met with most nations continuing on a business as usual track. The 13th meeting of the parties to the convention takes will take place October 2016 in Los Cabos, Baja California South, Mexico. The Conference of the Parties is the governing body of the Convention, and advances implementation of the Convention through the decisions it takes at its periodic meetings.


AWARDS & HONOURS

Indian American Thomas Won US National Medal of Science
Thomas Kailath, a Pune educated Indian-American engineering professor at Stanford University, is one of the recipients of the US National Medal of Science announced by President Barack Obama on 3 October.

Nobel Prize Winners 2014 Announced
The Nobel Prize winners of 2014 in the different categories were announced in the month of October 2014. Nobel Prizes are announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences every year in the memory of Alfred Nobel.The categories were the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, The Nobel Literature Prize and The Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Prize Winners of 2014 in the different categories were as follows:-

* Physiology (or) Medicine :-  U.S.-British scientist John O’Keefe and Norwegian couple May-Britt Moser, Edvard Moser won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering the “inner Global Positioning System (GPS)” that helps the brain navigate through the world.

* Physics :- Three Japanese-born researchers Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics. They were honoured for inventing efficient blue Light-Emitting Diodes(LED) lamps that worked as a bright and energy-saving white light sources.

* Chemistry :- American scientists Eric Betzig and William Moerner and Germany’s Stefan Hell won the 2014 Nobel prize for chemistry. The trio of Betzig, Moerner and Hell were conferred for their contribution in the area of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy which helped in bringing optical microscopy into the nano-dimension.

* Literature:- The Nobel Prize in Literature 2014 was awarded to French author 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. He is the 14th French writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature (one, Jean Paul-Sartre, declined to accept it).

* Peace :- Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai have been jointly awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.

* Economics :- French economist Jean Tirole won the 2014 Economics Nobel Prize for his analysis of market power and regulation.It was the second Nobel Prize for a French national this year after author Patrick Modiano won the literature award.

Australian Author Richard Flanagan Won 2014 Man Booker Prize
Australian author Richard Flanagan was on 15 October awarded the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his wartime novel “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”. The novel narrates story of a love and war during the construction of the Thailand Burma Death Railway in World War II. Flanagan is the third Australian to win the prize after Thomas Keneally and Peter Carey.

Malala Won 2014 World’s Children Prize
Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan 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. World Children’s prize was created in 2000 and is run by the World’s Children’s Prize Foundation (WCPF), based in Mariefred, Sweden.


SPORTS & GAMES

Chennai Super Kings Won Champions League Twenty-20
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) 2014 title of Cricket. CSK lifted the title by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 8 wickets in the final match in Bengaluru on 4 October. P.Negi of the Chennai Super Kings was named the Player of the Match.This is the second Champions League win for the Chennai Super Kings, who won earlier in 2010.

India Finish Incheon Asiad In 8th Place
India ended the 17th Asian Games – 2014 with 57 medals to finish in eighth place. India won 11 gold, 10 silver and 36 bronze but failed to emulate their 2010 exploits at Guangzhou, where they won 65 medals – 14 gold, 17 silver and 34 bronze.  China has topped the medal table for the ninth successive times in the 17th Asian Games. With a total of 342 medals including 151 gold, 108 silver and 83 bronze, China dominated the medal tally in the 17th edition of Asian Games. Hosts South Korea were second with 79 golds while Japan finished third with 47 gold medals. The 17th Asian Games also known as XVII Asiad, was held from 19 September 2014 to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. The theme of the 2014 Asian Games is “Meet Asia’s Future”. “Diversity Shines Here” was the motto of 17th Asian Games.The moscot of the Asian Games Incheon 2014 was three spotted Harbour Seal siblings named Barame, Chumuro and Vichuon meaning wind, dance and light in Korean language.The 2019 Games will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Here are all the Gold Medal Winners from India:-

* Jitu Rai – Men’s 50 metre Pistol Shooting

* Sandeep Kumar, Rajat Chauhan, Abhishek Verma – Men’s compound team Archery

* Saurav Ghosal, Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu, Mahesh Mangaonkar, Kumar Kush – Men’s team squash

* Yogeshwar Dutt – Men’s Freestyle 65 kg Wrestling

* Seema Punia – Women’s Discus throw athletics

* Sania Mirza, Saketh Myneni – Mixed doubles Tennis

* M.C. Mary Kom – Women’s 48-51 kg Boxing

* Priyanka Panwar, Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur, M. Poovamma – Women’s 4X400m relay athletics

* Indian team – Men’s Hockey

* Indian team – Women’s Kabaddi

* Indian team – Men’s Kabaddi

India Won Sultan of Johor Cup Under-21 Hockey Title
India on 19 October successfully defended its Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC) Under-21 Hockey title at Taman Daya Hockey Stadium, Johor Bohru, Malaysia. In the finals, Indian team defeated Great Britain, 2-1. With this win, India became the first team to win the title twice since the inception of the tournament in 2011. India won its first title in 2013.

Pankaj Advani Won World Billiards Point Format Championship
Indian player Pankaj Advani won the World Billiards Point Format Championship on 24 October. This was Advani’s 11th World title and third of the year in different formats of the game. In 2014, Advani has won three different world titles – the IBSF World 6 – Red Snooker, World Team Billiards and World Billiards Championship (point format), which is an unprecedented record in itself.


ECONOMY

India To Grow 5.6% In 2014
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast 5.6 percent growth rate for India this year and a higher 6.4 percent in 2015. According to the IMF latest World Economic Outlook report released on 7 October, In China growth will remain at 7.4 percent this year and is projected to be of 7.1 per cent in 2015.

Tata’s Land Rover Is Top Indian Brand
Tata group’s Land Rover is the only Indian brand in world’s 100 most valuable brands. Tata Group-owned iconic British car brand Land Rover has been ranked 91st with a brand value of $4.47 billion (Rs. 27,267 crore) and is one of the five new entrants to this annual list compiled by leading brand consultancy Interbrand. US company Apple has retained its top slot with a valuation of nearly $119 billion.

Asian Countries Signed MoU For Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
21 Asian countries, including India, have signed an agreement to become founding members of the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to aid the infrastructure development in the Asian region and reduce the dependence on Western-dominated World Bank and IMF. The Joint Secretary of the Economic Affairs division of the Ministry of Finance signed the MoU on behalf of India at Beijing on 26 October. The MoU specifies that the authorised capital of AIIB is $100 billion and the initial subscribed capital is expected to be around $50 billion. The Headquarters of the AIIB will be at Beijing, and the bank is expected to be operational in 2015. China’s Vice Finance Minister Jin Liqun, who was also the former Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank, has been appointed as the Secretary General of AIIB.The 21 members of the AIIB are China, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Myanmar, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

India Ranked 142 In World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business – 2015” Report
India has been placed at 142 among 189 countries in the latest World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business – 2015” report released on 29 October. India was ranked 134th in the last year’s edition of the list. Singapore topped this list with 88.27 points and is followed by New Zealand, Hong Kong, Denmark and South Korea.


SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

World’s First Solar Battery Developed By US Scientists
Scientists at Ohio State University, US developed the world’s first solar battery which recharges itself using air and light. The developed solar battery is in fact a hybrid device that is party rechargeable battery and part solar cell.

Japan Launches Weather Satellite ‘ Himawari-8 ‘
Japan successfully launched the nation’s next-generation Himawari-8 weather satellite on 7 October from the Tanegashima Space Center aboard an H-2A rocket.

ISRO’s PSLV-C26 Successfully Launched India’s Third Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1C
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched India’s third navigation satellite, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System -1C ( IRNSS-1C), into the space. The satellite was launched through ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C26 (PSLV-C26) rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on 16 October 2014. PSLV-C26 injected the IRNSS-1C satellite, weighing 1425 kg, into the designated orbit.This was the 27th consecutive successful flight of PSLV.

Researchers Develop World’s Thinnest Electric Generator
Researchers from Columbia Engineering and the Georgia Institute of Technology report on 15 October that they have made the first experimental observation of piezoelectricity and the piezotronic effect in an atomically thin material, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), resulting in a unique electric generator and mechanosensation devices that are optically transparent, extremely light, and very bendable and stretchable.

Argentina Successfully Launches Its First Communication Satellite
Argentina successfully launched its first geostationary communications satellite named ‘ARSAT-1’ from the spaceport near Kourou in French Guyana on 16 October.


PERSONS IN NEWS

A) APPOINTMENTS

Jens Stoltenberg Becomes NATO’s Secretary General
Former two-term Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg took up his post as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary General on 1 October. He succeeds Fogh Rasmussen. Stoltenberg was previously Prime Minister of Norway from 2000-2001 and from 2005-2013.

Aamir Khan Appointed As UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador
Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has been appointed as UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador for South Asian region on 9 October. Aamir Khan will focus on supporting child nutrition to end stunting across the region.

Manohar Lal Khattar Sworn In As New Chief minister Of Haryana
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manohar Lal Khattar was on 26 October sworn in as new Chief Minister of Haryana, where BJP has formed government for the first time on its own. Khattar is also the first Punjabi to become the Chief Minister of the state. Khattar a first time MLA, represents Karnal constituency in the Haryana assembly. He is Haryana’s first non-jat chief minister in 18 years. Khattar is the 10th chief minister of the state, which was created November 1, 1966.

Devendra Fadnavis Sworn In As Maharashtra Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 31 October 2014. Devendra Fadnavis became the Mayor of Nagpur in 1997 when he was just 27 year old. He thus became the second youngest Mayor in India. He also was the youngest municipal corporator of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) at the age of 21 in 1992. He has been elected Member of the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra State, representing Nagpur, since, 1999.

B)RESIGNS

US Secret Service Director Julie Pierson Resigned
Julie Pierson, the director of the US secret service has resigned on 1 October amid mounting criticism of her handling of security breaches at the White House and allegations of misleading public statements.

C)DEATHS

Veteran Journalist M V Kamath Died
Former chairman of Prasar Bharati and veteran Journalist Madhav Vittal Kamath, popularly kmown as MV Kamath, died on 9 October. He was 93. He was awarded Padma Bhushan for his contributions to Indian journalism in 2004 and he has written over 50 books.

D)VISITORS

President of India Pranab Mukherjee Visited Norway
President of India Pranab Mukherjee visited Norway on 13 – 14 October 2014. During his visit, Pranab Mukherjee held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Erna Solberg. Pranab Mukherjee also met King Harald in Oslo, the capital of Norway. During the visit, India and Norway signed 13 agreements to promote bilateral relations. These include agreement between Defence sector of two countries and an agreement on exemption of visa requirement for holders of diplomatic and official passports. He became the first Indian head of state to visit Norway and first president to cross the Arctic Circle.

E)MISCELLANEOUS

MS Dhoni Ranks 5th On Forbes ‘Most Valuable Athlete Brand List’
India cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the only Indian sportsman to figure on Forbes’ List of the World’s Most Valuable Athlete Brands, a list that has been topped by American basketball player LeBron James and includes golfer Tiger Woods and tennis stars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Dhoni is ranked fifth with a brand value of USD20 million in 2014, slightly down from USD21 million in 2013. The top 10 Most Valuable Athletes list was released on 9 October 2014.


PLACES  IN  NEWS

India Among Five Nations To Build World’s Biggest Telescope
India, along with four other countries will start work on the world’s biggest telescope in the United States. The 30-metre telescope, also known as Thirty Minutes Telescope (TMT), will be constructed near the summit of the Mauna Kea volcano on Hawaii Island in United States. It will cost around $1.4 billion and the construction is expected to be completed by March 2022. The diameter of this telescope will be a mammoth 30 meter. This will enable to identify an object as small as coin from a distance of 500 km. The other four countries involved in this project include the U.S., Japan, China and Canada.


ABBREVIATIONS

UNICEF —— United Nation International Children’s Emergency Fund

UNESCO —— United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

IRNSS —–  Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System

TADA ——- Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act

WIPO ——- World intellectual property Organisation


BOOKS IN NEWS

“ Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace ” Book Released
A book titled “Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace ” authored by Leon Panetta, and Jim Newton was released on 7 Octobe. Panetta is a former Defence Secretary and ex-CIA Director and Newton is an editor of the Los Angeles Times. Panetta through the book for the first time came in a different tone in relation to ISI links with terror outfit. Leon Panetta served as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2009–2011, and as Secretary of Defense from 2011–2013.


COMMITTEES

Madhava Menon Committee Announced Guidelines For Govt Ads
The Supreme Court appointed high-powered committee headed by Professor NR Madhava Menon submitted its report to the court on 6 October. The committee in its report has framed guidelines to regulate expenditure and contents of advertisements paid out of tax payers’ money. The three-member committee has recommended that names and pictures of political parties and their office bearers like presidents should not be mentioned in government advertisements.


IMPORTANT DAYS AND DATES

World Food Day Observed Across The World
World Food Day was observed across the world on 16 October 2014 with the theme Family Farming: Feeding the world, caring for the earth.The UN General Assembly has designated 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming. This is a strong signal that the international community recognizes the important contribution of family farmers to world food security.The aim of World Food Day 2014 is to focus world attention on the significant role of family farming in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.

International Internet Day Observed Across The World
International Internet Day was observed across the world on 29 October 2014 to mark the anniversary of the first usage of the Internet to send a message electronically in 1969. International Internet Day is celebrated worldwide on 29 October every year. Since 2005, the International Internet Day has been celebrated to commemorate a momentous day in the history of telecommunications and technology.

Responses to “October 2014 Current Affairs Study Material”

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