TOP 100 CURRENT AFFAIRS OF 2014

National

Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2014 introduced in Lok Sabha

• It is also called Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill
• It seeks to introduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime
• Inserts article Articles 246A, 269A and 279A in the Constitution
• Provides for Union Finance Minister headed GST Council
• Sets in a uniform and integrated indirect tax regime in India

14th Finance Commission submitted its report to President

• It covers the period between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2020
• The Commission headed by former RBI Governor Y V Reddy
• Provides for devolution of tax receipts from the Centre to the States
• Article 280 of Constitution provides for appointment of Finance Commission
• First and 13th Finance Commission was headed by K C Neogy & Dr Vijay Kelkar resp.

Union government decriminalized Attempt to Suicide

• For this purpose Section 309 of Indian Penal Code removed
• 20^th Law Commission headed by Justice A P Shah recommended in its 210 Report
• 210th Report on Humanization and Decriminalization of Attempt to Suicide
• France was the first country to decriminalize this offence

Lok Sabha passed the Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill, 2014

• Introduced as a periodic measure for updating the list of laws in force
• Seeks to repeal 90 laws and pass amendment to two laws
• Proposes to amend the two laws to rectify typographical errors
• The laws are Railways (Amendment) Act, 2008 and the Indian Maritime University Act, 2008

Karnataka Mobile One App launched for m-governance

• Launched by President Pranab Mukherjee in Bengaluru
• First such app in India to usher in an era of mobile governance
• Developed under the ICARE program of Karnataka government
• Expected to provide more than 4000 services to citizens

Social Justice Bench constituted on social issue

• Constituted by Supreme Court on 3 December 2014
• Started operation on 12 December 2014
• The brainchild of Chief Justice of India H L Dattu
• Two-judge bench to be headed by Justice Madan B Lokur
• The other member is Justice U U Lalit

627 names of Indians holding black money abroad submitted to SC

• Includes details of treaties India signed with France and other nations
• Half of the 627 names are Non-Resident Indians (NRIs)
• Most of them have accounts with HSBC Bank, Geneva
• SIT headed by Justice M B Shah is probing black money case

Union government unveiled new counter-Naxal doctrine

• Proposes four-pronged approach to deal with Naxals
• These are Security, Development, Rights and Entitlement and Public Perception Management
• Focus on security interventions in worst LWE-affected areas
• In moderately-affected areas, security and development initiatives will be focus
• In less affected areas, development interventions will take precedence

Swachh Bharat Mission launched

• Launched on occasion of 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
• Aims at making India clean by 2019
• The year 2019 will be 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
• Nine people nominated to inspire people to join the Mission

SC quashed allocation of 214 coal blocks

• Quashed by SC bench headed by Justice R M Lodha
• Allocations were arbitrary and illegal
• 4 out of 218 coal blocks not cancelled
• Includes one of NTPC and SAIL each and two of Sasan UMPP owned by Anil Ambani

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) launched

• It was launched on 28 August 2014
• Aims to open 15 crore bank accounts by 15 August 2015
• It is a mega financial inclusion plan
• Each person covered to be provided bank accounts and RuPay debit cards
• Also provision for inbuilt insurance cover of 1 lakh rupees

India: first Country to Ratify the Marrakesh Treaty

• India ratified the treaty on 30 June 2014
• Will facilitate access to published works for blind and visually impaired persons
• The treaty was signed in Marrakesh, Morocco on 28 June 2013
• It has been signed by 64 countries

SC ruled Shariat Courts are illegal

• No legal status has been granted to the Sharia Courts
• Its fatwas/decrees are illegal if it violates fundamental rights
• The decision was delivered by SC bench headed by Justice C K Prasad
• The judgement given on a petition filed by Vishwa Lochan Madan in 2005

India became permanent signatory to Washington Accord

• India signed the Accord on 13 June 2014
• Joined a select group of 17 countries who joined the Accord
• Global employment opportunities for India’s technical and engineering graduates to increase
• Accord promotes mobility and quality assurance of engineers across international boundaries

Sumitra Mahajan elected as Speaker of 16th Lok Sabha

• She replaced Meira Kumar
• Became the second women presiding officer of the Lok Sabha
• She was elected to 9th Lok Sabha in 1989 for the first time
• 2014 elections was her eighth continuous term as Member of Parliament

 Telangana became the 29th state of India

• It achieved statehood on 2 June 2014
• Ten districts of the then Andhra Pradesh became part of Telangana
• Chandrasekhar Rao sworn-in as the first Chief Minister
• ESL Narasimhan is the Governor of Telangana
• Hyderabad is the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

Narendra Modi sworn-in as 15th Prime Minister of India

• He was sworn-in on 26 May 2014
• He took oath with 45 Council of Minister including 23 Cabinet Ministers
• First Prime Minister of India born in independent India
• For the first time 25% of the Cabinet post allocated to women
• Swearing-in ceremony attended by heads of seven SAARC countries

16th Lok Sabha Elections 2014

• The election results for 543 constituencies declared on 16 May 2014
• Bharatiya Janata Party emerged victorious with 282 seats
• Congress led incumbent government just secured 44 seats
• BJP won the majority for the first time since independence
• The elections were conducted in nine phases from 7 April – 12 May 2014

Karnataka: first state in India to launch Health Adalat 

• The Health Adalat was launched in Gulbarga, Karnataka.
• Aims to ensure that all health facilities extended by the government reached all sections of society.
• During Health Adalat the department will interact with public representatives. 

Debroy Panel on restructuring Railway Board

• The Panel would submit its report till the end of 2015
• The seven-member panel will be headed by economist Bibek Debroy
• Mandated to estimate the financial needs of railways and ensure policies to raise resources
• Restructuring of railway board announced in Union Budget 2014-15

Film Liar's Dice: India's official entry for Oscar Awards 2015

• The movie has been directed by Geethu Mohandas
• It is nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film category
• 12-member jury headed by eminent filmmaker T Hariharan nominated it
• Leading casts are Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui
• The 87th Oscar Awards will be held in the US on 22 February 2015

C Rangarajan Committee on Poverty

• Total number of poor in India at 363 million or 29.6 percent of the population
• The daily per capita expenditure pegged at 32 rupees for the rural poor
• The daily per capita expenditure pegged at 47 rupees for the urban poor
• Poverty line is pegged 972 rupees per month for rural India
• Poverty line pegged at 1407 rupees per month for urban India 

Largest Solar Power Plant of India launched

• 130-MW Welspun Solar Plant launched at Bhagwanpur in Neemuch, MP
• It is also the Asia's Largest Solar Power Plant.
• It was constructed at a cost of 1100 crore rupees.
• The Project will raise Indian solar capacity by 7 percent.

International

US President signed Ukraine Freedom Support Bill, 2014

• The Act authorizes administration to impose sanctions on Russia
• The sanctions to be imposed if needs arises
• Sanctions were imposed on Russia over Ukraine crisis
• Authorizes 350 million US dollars in lethal and non-lethal military aid Ukraine

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe re-elected

• He was re-elected for another four year term
• Japan's ruling coalition won a two thirds majority in the Snap elections
• Elections were held for the Lower House of the National Diet.
• The elections saw the voter turnout at 52.7 percent, the lowest since World War-II 

Nobel Prize presented

• Peace Prize winners Kailash Satyarthi & Malala Yousufzai
• Physiology Prize winners John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser
• Literature Nobel Prize winner French author Patrick Modiano
• Physics Nobel Prize winner Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura
• Chemistry Nobel Prize Eric Betzig from Janelia Research Campus, Stefan Hell, Gottingen
• Economic Nobel Prize given to Jean Tirole 

First World Soil Day observed on 5 December 2014

• The Day was observed by the UNFAO
• UNFAO and GSP declared the year 2015 as UN International Year of Soils
• Events held to raise idea that soil is a critical component of natural system
• The day coincides with birthday of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 released

• This was the 20th edition
• Measures perceived levels of public sector corruption in 175 countries
• India with a score of 38 was ranked 85^th
• The index was topped by Denmark with a score of 92.
• Index is prepared by Transparency International 

Time Magazine released list of 25 Best Inventions 2014

• Mangalyaan named among the best inventions of 2014
• Magazine describes it as a technological feat
• It is described as Supersmart Spacecraft- Mangalyaan
• The list also includes two inventions of Indians namely Blue Room and tablet toy, Osmo 

The G20 Summit 2014 concluded

• The Summit saw release of Brisbane Action Plan
• Action Plan comprises of 800+ reforms to boost global growth
• Sets an ambitious goal to lift G20 growth by 2.1 percent by 2018
• Seeks to reduce the gender gap in labour force participation rates by 25 percent by 2025 

25th anniversary of Fall of Berlin Wall celebrated

• The fall of the Berlin Wall happened on 9 November 1989
• It was the most significant event in recent German history
• The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 by East Germany
• It was built to stop people fleeing from East Germany to the West
• The Wall stretched for 155 kilometers of which only 3 kilometer remains now

Forbes list of World's Most Powerful People 2014 released 

• The list gives the annual ranking of the World’s 72 Most Powerful People
• The list was topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was ranked 15th
• Mukesh Ambani is ranked 36th on the list 

India re-elected to UNHRC

• It was re-elected for the period 2015-2017
• India received the highest 162 votes in the Asia Pacific group
• India’s first term as member due to end on 31 December 2014
• 14 other member states also elected to UNHRC for a three-year term
• The UNHRC promotes and protects human rights

India-Vietnam signed 7 pacts

• Pacts signed to strengthen Strategic Partnership
• Signed during President Pranab Mukherjee visit to Vietnam
• President gifted sapling of the holy Bodhi Tree to Vietnam
• Diplomatic relations between the two countries established in 1972
• The strategic relationship between the two countries established in 2007

Inaugural Tang Prizes 2014 presented in Taipei

• The Tang Prize is treated as Asia's version of the Nobels
• Winners of the inaugural Tang Prizes are 
  
  •  Sustainable Development - Gro Harlem Brundtland former Premier of Norway
  •  Sinology – Chinese American, Historian Yu Ying-shih
  •  Biopharmaceutical Science - James P Allison of US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan
  •  The Rule of Law - Albie Sachs, former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa

Unity Deal signed in Afghanistan

• Unity deal signed between Abdullah Abdullah and Ghani Adhmadzai
• The deal ended three-month stalemate over government formation in Afghanistan
• The stalemate was due to allegations that elections were rigged
• The deal calls of creation of post of CEO who will be the acting Prime Minister

Ebola Virus Disease outbreak

• More than 7000 patients died due to the Ebola Virus in West Africa.
• Ebola Virus disease first surface in Guinea in March 2014
• Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are the countries affected
• Ebola disease was first detected in Congo basin of Zaire

Fields Medal 2014 

• The Fields Medal Awards held in Seoul, South Korea.
• The award recognized contributions of four medalists.
• Artur Avila, Manjul Bhargava, Martin Haire, Maryam Mirzakhani are the recipients
• The Fields Medal was first awarded in 1936.
• First winner were Finnish mathematician Lars Ahlfors and American mathematician Jesse Douglas. 

Prayuth Chan-ocha elected Prime Minister of Thailand

• He is the 29^th Prime Minister of Thailand
• He was elected with a vote of 191-6 votes in National Legislative Assembly (NLA)
• He is a former Army Chief of Thailand
• He seized the power in June 2014

6th BRICS Summit: Fortaleza Declaration 

• Held in Fortaleza, Brazil on 15 July and 16 July 2014.
• Theme of the Summit was Inclusive Growth: Sustainable Solutions.
• The participating countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
• The BRICS Network University will be established
• BRICS Development Bank to be established 

UNSC adopted resolution to probe into MH-17 plane crash 

• Resolution adopted by 15-member UNSC unanimously.
• It demands free access to the crash site of Malaysian plane MH17.
• It insisted on dignified and respectful treatment of bodies of the victims.

Science & Technology

Scientific breakthrough of the year 2014: Rosetta space mission

• Rosetta is the European space mission
• First spacecraft to land on a comet
• The comet is named 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
• It landed on 12 November 2014, 10 years after the launch

ISRO successfully launched GSLV Mark-III-X from Sriharikota

• This was the experimental launch of the rocket
• Weighing 630 tonnes, it is India’s heaviest rocket
• It carried Crew module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE)
• The full fledged launch of the rocket will take place in two years.

India joined Thirty Meter Telescope Project

• India jointed the project as Full Member
• India to deliver 100 smaller, hexagonal mirrors
• The project in India coordinated by Dept of Science & Technology and DAE
• The telescope will be the largest in the world.
• It is being built atop Mauna Kea Mountain in Hawaii. 

World’s first womb-transplant baby born 

• The baby boy was born to a Swedish woman
• It was born at the University of Gothenburg's hospital
• The woman was born without a womb, although the ovaries were intact
• The replacement womb came from a 61-year-old woman
• She was suffering from a genetic condition called Rokitansky syndrome

New compound BQU57 developed

• It will block protein Ral aiding cancer growth
• Developed at University of Colorado Cancer Center
• The study of the compound published in journal Nature
• The lead author of the study is Dan Theodorescu

ISRO launched Mangalyaan to Mars orbit

• India inserted the spacecraft in Mars orbit in first attempt
• ISRO became the fourth space agency in the world to send a mission to Mars successfully
• Mangalyaan costs 74 million US dollars, the most cost-effective in world
• It will be finding the presence of methane on the Mars

INS Kolkata dedicated to nation

• INS Kolkata commissioned at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai
• It is the country’s largest indigenously built warship
• Equipped against enemy submarines, surface warships, anti-ship missiles and fighter aircraft
• It is commissioned without its main air defence weapon
• The warship has been constructed by Mazagon Dockyards Limited

New biochip to detect blood sugar via saliva

• The advancement will help diabetics to not to undergo blood test
• It is made from a one-inch-square piece of quartz coated with a thin layer of silver
• It uses a series of specific chemical reactions combined with plasmonic interferometry
• The device is sensitive enough to detect minutest differences in glucose concentrations

Lima Call for Climate Action

• Issued at the conclusion of the 20th session of the Conference of the Parties (CoP)
• The President of 20th CoP was Manuel Pulgar-Vidal
• Intended Nationally Determined Contributions to form foundation for climate action post 2020
• Seeks to put world on track to New Universal Climate Agreement
• 21st COP will be held in Paris, France 

The US and China agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions

• US will reduce carbon emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025, compared with 2005 levels
• China did not set a specific target, but said emissions would peak by 2030
• The two countries agreed to reduce the possibility of military accidents in the air and sea
• The two countries together produce about 45% of the world's carbon dioxide

India State of Forest Report 2013

• It was released by Union Ministry of Environment & Forest
• The India State of Forest Report 2013 was the 13th report in the series
• States with maximum increase in forest cover are West Bengal, Odisha and Kerala
• States with largest forest cover are MP & Arunachal Pradesh
• Mizoram has the highest forests cover in terms of percentage of forest
  

Bor Wildlife Sanctuary of Maharashtra

• It is India’s 47th Tiger Reserve
• Union Environment Ministry notified Sanctuary as Tiger Reserve
• Bor sanctuary is in Wardha district of Maharashtra
• It will be an important corridor between Tadoba – Andhari and Pench Tiger Reserves
• Tiger Reserves in Maharashtra: Melghat, Pench, Tadoba, Nagzira and Sahyadri

Personalities

Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss crowned Miss World 2014

• Outgoing Miss World, Megan Young of the Philippines presented the sash
• Miss Hungary, Edina Kulcsar, was the first runner-up
• Miss United States, Elizabeth Safrit, was the second runner-up
• India's Koyal Rana bagged the sub-title of Best Designer of the world
• This was the 64th Miss World Competition

Justice Vaidyanathapura Rama Krishna Iyer died at 100

• He died on 4 December 2014 due to renal and cardiac failure.
• He was former Supreme Court Judge and an MLA from Kerala.
• He became the judge of the Supreme Court in 1973
• He retired at the age of 65 in 1980.
• There are 105 published books by V. R. Krishna Iyer. 

Australian opener Philip Hughes died 

• Died after a bouncer ball of Sean Abbott hit back of his head
• The accident happened at Sheffield Game at Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia
• He was a left-handed opening batsman
• He had played 26 Tests and 25 ODIs for Australia
• Indian cricketers Raman Lamba and Nari Contractor also died in same situations 

Chief Guest of Republic Day 2015: US President Barack Obama 

• He will be the first US President to attend the Republic Day Parade of India.
• Obama will participate in the Republic Day celebrations of India on 26 January 2015.
• Obama will be the first US President to travel to India twice.

Legendary Kathak danseuse Sitara Devi died

• Dance based on themes, poetry and choreography of her father
• She was born as Dhannolakshmi in the Brahmin family
• Rabindranath Tagore described her as Nritya Samragini
• She is known as a pioneering force in bringing the genre to Bollywood
  

Neha Gupta won International Children’s Peace Prize 2014

• Awarded for her work to help orphans in India
• Her organisation Empower Orphans has helped 25000 vulnerable children
• She became the first ever American to be awarded with the prize
• In 2013, the award was conferred on Malala Yousufzai

Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh received 49th Jnanpith Award

• Conferred for his outstanding contribution towards Indian literature
• 10th Hindi writer to receive the country’s highest literary award
• Known for his work Abhi Bilkul Abhi and Yahan Se Dekho
• First recipient G Sankara Kurup for Odakkuzhal (Flute) in Malyalam language

Sanjaya Rajaram received World Food Prize 2014

• Awarded for his research that led to increase in wheat production
• He is credited with developing the Veery lines of wheat in the 1980s
• He helped secure 1.3 percent rise in global wheat production per annum.
• He is senior scientific advisor at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas

Arvind Subramanian appointed Chief Economic Advisor

• Appointed Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) for a period of three years
• Third economist of international rapport to be appointed as CEA
• Expert of the Indian and Chinese economy
• Raghuram Rajan, the RBI Governor, was previous CEA 

Justice H L Dattu sworn-in as 42nd Chief Justice of India

• Oath of office administered by President Pranab Mukherjee.
• Succeeded Chief Justice RM Lodha
• Lodha demitted office on 27 September 2014
• Dattu will retire from his office on 2 December 2015.
• He joined Supreme Court of India as a Judge on 17 December 2008.

Lalitha Kumaramangalam appointed Chairperson of National Commission for Women

• Eighth chairperson of National Commission for Women
• She was the National Spokesperson National Executive of BJP
• National Commission for Women was set up as a statutory body in January 1992
• It was set up under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 

Narula Brothers won 7 crore rupees in Season 8 of KBC

• The two brothers, Achin and Sarthak Narula emerged victorious in Season 8 of KBC
• The tagline for the season 8 is Yahan Sirf Paise Nahi, Dil Bhi Jeete Jate Hain
• The show was first telecast on Star Plus in 2000
• It is based on the UK game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Govind Mishra received Saraswati Samman 2013

• He received it for novel Dhool Paudhon Par
• His novel was published in 2008
• The novel illustrates the struggle of modern Indian women
• He is the second Hindi author to be conferred with award
• Harivansh Rai Bachchan was the first Hindi author to receive the award

Pran, the Creator of Chacha Chowdhury died at 75

• He created or sketched Chacha Chaudhary for the Hindi magazine Lotpot in 1969
• His Chacha Chaudhary strips found a permanent place in International Museum of Cartoon Art, USA.
• His name was included in People of the Year 1995 by Limca Book of Records.

Lt General Dalbir Singh Suhag took over as Chief of Army Staff

• He succeeded General Bikram Singh to become the 28th Army Chief
• He will serve as Army chief for 29 months till 31 December 2016
• He is the 2^nd Gorkha Rifles officer to become Army chief
• First was Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw

Veteran actress Zohra Sehgal died at 102

• She was called as the grand old lady of Bollywood
• She was the recipient of Padma Vibhshan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri
• Sehgal’s daughter Kiran in 2012 wrote her biography named Zohra Segal: Fatty
• Zohra last appeared in Sanjay Leela Bhasali's film Saawariya in 2007

Chandi Prasad Bhatt won the Gandhi Peace prize 2013

• He is a Gandhian, an environmentalist and a social activist.
• In 1964, he founded Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) in Gopeswar.
• He was awarded with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1982.
• In 2005, he was awarded with Padma Bhushan.

Sports

Germany won men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2014

• Germany defeated Pakistan by 2-0 margin to win the trophy
• This was 10th Champions Trophy crown for Germany.
• It had last won the tournament in 2007
• For bronze medal, World champion Australia defeated India 2-1

UAE captain Khurram Khan: the oldest player to score an ODI century

• He scored the winning century against Afghanistan in Dubai
• He achieved the feat at an age of 43 years and 162 days
• He broke the record of Sanath Jayasuriya
• Sanath Jayasuriya had scored 109 against India in 2009 at the age of 39

Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma scored the highest ODI score ever of 264 

• The score of 264 runs is also the second-highest List A score
• With this he became the only cricketer to score two Double ODI centuries
• He achieved this distinction during the 4th ODI between India and Sri Lanka
• He broke the record of highest ODI score of 219 runs made by Virender Sehwag
• Sachin Tendulkar was the first cricketer to score double century in ODIs 

Virat Kohli became fastest cricketer to reach 6000 ODI runs

• He achieved the distinction after his 53-run knock in the third ODI between India and Sri Lanka
• He took 144 match and 136 innings to make 6000 runs
• He is the eighth Indian to have scored 6000 or more runs and 47th overall
• He overtook legendary West Indian Vivian Richards' record
• Richards reached the milestone in 1989 by playing 141 innings in 156 matches 

MC Mary Kom bagged her first Asian Games Gold Medal

• She defeated Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan
• She won in women’s flyweight category (48-51kg)
• First Indian woman boxer to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Games
• She is nicknamed as Magnificent Mary

Chennai Super Kings won 2014 Champions League Twenty20 title

• It defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 wickets
• The match was played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
• Chennai Super Kings won the trophy for the second time.
• Earlier they won the CLT20 in South Africa in 2011. 

Hockey Player Manpreet Singh named Junior Men Player of the Year by AHF

• The announcement was made at Asian Hockey Federation Congress
• The congress was held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh has played 103 international matches.
• He is the captain of the India Junior Hockey team.
• He made his international debut in 2011.

Marin Cilic of Croatia won Men's Singles title of US Tennis Open

• Cilic defeated 10th seed Kei Nishikori of Japan
• The Women’s singles was won by Serena Williams of US
• The Men’s Doubles title was won by Mike and Bob Bryan of US
• Sania Mirza of India and Bruno Soares of Brazil won the Mixed Doubles title
• Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina of Russia won the US Open women's doubles title

2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games concluded

• The Medal tally was topped by England
• India stood at the fifth position in the rankings.
• India won 64 medals (15 Gold, 30 silver and 19 Bronze)
• This was third highest medal haul after 2010 Delhi CWG and 2002 Manchester CWG
• The 21st Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast in Australia

Kush Kumar first Indian player to reach semis of World Junior Squash Championship

• The World Junior Squash championship held at Windhoek in Namibia.
• He defeated England's George Parker in straight games in quarterfinal.
• Kush Kumar is a professional squash player from Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• Presently, his ranking is 220 in the world.

Himachal Pradesh to host First Para-gliding World Cup 2015 in India

• This will be the first para-gliding World Cup to be hosted in India.
• To be organised under Para-gliding World Cup Association, France.
• It will be hosted in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh from 24 October 2015
• Himachal Pradesh had hosted the Para-gliding pre-World Cup in 2013

Germany won the 2014 FIFA Football World Cup

• Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in the final
• Final was played at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Mario Gotze scored the lone goal of final during the extra-time
• It lifted the trophy for 4^th time in FIFA world Cup history and first since 1990
• Germany became 1^st European team to win World Cup played in North or South America 

Sim Bhullar became first Indian-origin basketball player to join NBA

• He signed a summer contract with the Sacramento Kings.
• Sacramento Kings is a professional basketball team in the US.
• Sim Bhullar is originally from Canada and his parents are from Punjab.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia won the Men’s Wimbledon Tennis Open 2014

• He defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland
• This is the second Wimbledon title for Djokovic
• Djokovic won the seventh career Grand Slam
• Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title in 2011

Economy & Corporate

Advisory Group on Integrated Development of Power

• The Group was headed by Suresh Prabhu
• It has suggested opening up of the coal sector
• Called for improvement in Coal India Ltd and its subsidiaries
• Expedite reforms in the distribution sector with targeted actions 

SBI Mutual Fund launched Shariah Equity Fund 

• The fund is aimed at attracting investments from Muslim populations of India. 
• The fund approved by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board
• SBI MF fourth fund house in India to have an Islamic equity fund.
• India second country outside the Islamic world where a state-owned bank is offering such fund
• The UK is the first country who issued sovereign Islamic bonds in June 2014

Kotak Mahindra Bank first bank in India to fully own insurance business

• RBI gave permission to the bank for setting up Kotak General Insurance
• Kotak General Insurance will be the 29th non-life insurance company in the country
• The CEO of the company will be Mahesh Balasubramanian
• The bank already promotes life insurance with Old Mutual of South Africa

SEBI de-recognised Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE)

• De-recognised on account of serious irregularities in demutualisation process
• SEBI demutualisation rules requires every stock exchange to sell brokers' 51% equity
• DSE was incorporated in 1947
• It is an amalgamation of Delhi Stock and Share Brokers' Association Ltd and the Delhi Stocks and Shares Exchange Ltd 

Shell India won 18000-crore rupees tax dispute case

• It won the tax case against Income Tax department
• The decision given by Bombay High Court
• Decision based on legal principle laid down in the Vodafone case
• It ruled that transfer pricing does not arise in case of transfer of shares
• The case pertains to alleged under pricing of shares issued by Shell India

Alibaba made the record of earning 9.3 billion US dollars on a single day

• Alibaba shipped 278 million orders out of which 43 percent were mobile devices
• It achieved the staggering figure on Singles Day shopping event
• The event celebrates the bachelorhood of Young single Chinese
• Alibaba is a Chinese e-commerce giant founded by Jack Ma

SoftBank of Japan to invest 10 billion dollars in India

• Will invest in India's IT and communications sector in coming years
• Announced to invest 627 million US dollars in Snapdeal
• Signed definitive agreement to invest 210 million US dollars in ANI Technologies
• Chairman and CEO of the SoftBank is Masayoshi Son

Union government de-regulated diesel and hiked natural gas rates

• The price of diesel to be market-linked
• The retail rates will reflect price changes in the global market.
• The government will no longer provide subsidy on diesel.
• This is the first reduction in diesel rates since 2009.

Google closed Orkut

• Orkut is a social network site
• Google announced to shut down Orkut in June 2014.
• Old users of Orkut can take back up of pictures till September 2016.
• Orkut was started in 2004 and named after its creator, Orkut Buyukkokten.
• Google has moved to a new platform the Google Plus.

Union government decided to wind up HMT Watches

• The unit has been incurring losses since 2000
• HMT Watches is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Machines Tools (HMT) limited
• HMT Limited was set up at Bangalore in 1961 in collaboration with Japan’s Citizen Watch
• In 2000, HMT Watch Business group was restructured as HMT Watches Ltd.

RBI fixed the upper age limit at 70 years for M.D. and CEO in private sector banks

• The decision was taken to comply with the Section 196(3) of the Companies Act, 2013
• Individual bank’s boards free to prescribe a lower retirement age for whole time Directors
• Earlier, no maximum age was specified and decisions were taken case by case

Union Government granted Navratna Status to CONCOR

• CONCOR is the 17th Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) to achieve Navratna Status.
• The status was accorded by the Department of Public Enterprises.
• CONCOR current Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) is Anil Kumar Gupta.
• It deals in Export-Import and domestic trade and commerce policy of India.

Expenditure Management Commission constituted 

• The Commission will be headed by Bimal Jalan
• He is a former RBI Governor
• Commission will suggest the way for managing public finances by reducing subsidies. 

ICICI Bank became the first bank in India to launch EMI facility on Debit Card

• This was so far available only for credit cardholders.
• Will enable customers to convert their high value transactions into easy installments
• Facility available to debit cardholders with minimum fixed deposit of 10000 rupees

C S Verma elected as First President of Indian Steel Association

• C S Verma is currently working as the head of Steel Authority of India Limited
• The Indian Steel Association was formally launched on 26 August 2014
• Aims to work towards transforming the Indian steel industry as a global leader
• Membership of ISA open to any steel producer with a yearly capacity of at least 2 million tones

DIPP notified Press Note 8 allowing 100% FDI in Rail infrastructure

• FDI in rail infrastructure will be through automatic route
• FDI will not be allowed in train operations and safety
• Proposals involving FDI beyond 49 percent in sensitive areas to be placed before the Cabinet Committee on Security
• Definitions of infrastructure and common facilities have also been widened

Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley presented Union Budget 2014-15

• This was the first budget of newly appointed government led by Narendra Modi
• It focussed on providing good infrastructure like public transport, solid waste disposal
• Emphasized on skill development and entrepreneurship in the budget
• Announced that the FDI cap in Defence sector would be raised to 49 percent