CURRENT AFFAIRS 9th November’14 – 11th November’14 CURRENT AFFAIRS 9th - 10th November’14 1) 21 ministers were inducted into the Narendra Modi Cabinet on 9 November 2014 with which the total strength of the Union Council of Ministers reached 66. How many new Cabinet ministers were inducted? – Four Explanation: The four cabinet ministers inducted included include former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu, Haryana leader Birendra Singh and BJP General Secretary J.P. Nadda. Three ministers of state (independent charge) and 14 ministers of state (MoS) were also inducted. The three ministers of state (independent charge) included Bandaru Dattatreya, Dr. Mahesh Sharma and Rajiv Pratap Rudy. 14 ministers of state included Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajyavardhan Rathore, Ramshankar Katheria, Vijay Sampla, Babul Supriyo, Ram Kripal Yadav, Sanwar Lal Jat, Giriraj Singh, Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Jayant Sinha, Y.S. Chowdary, Hansraj Gangaram Ahir and Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary. Following are the portfolios of 4 new Cabinet Ministers Manohar Parrikar – Defence Minister (Arun Jaitley relieved of his Defence Ministry portfolio) Suresh Prabhu – Rail Minister (DV Sadananda Gowda shifted to the Law and Justice Ministry , relieving Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from this additional charge.) J P Nadda – Health and Family Welfare Minister (Harsh Vardhan has been shifted to the Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Ministry) Birender Singh – Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister (This charge was held by Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari till now after the demise of Gopinath Munde) 2) Who became the new Chief Minister of Goa on 8 November 2014? – Laxmikant Parsekar Explanation: Laxmikant Parsekar was elected the leader of the Goa BJP Legislative Party on 8 November and was administered the oath of office on the same day. He replaced Manohar Parrikar, who took oath as Union Cabinet Minister on 9 November. Three-time legislator Laxmikant Parsekar was Health Minister till now and became the 11th Chief Minister of the state. Francisco D’Souza, who had earlier voiced discontent for choosing Parsekar as the new chief minister, was inducted into Cabinet along-with Dayanand Mandrekar, Ramesh Tawadkar, Mahadev Naik, Dilip Parulekar, Milind Naik, Alina Saldanha (all BJP), Ramkrishna Dhavlikar and Deepak Dhavlikar (both MGP). 3) Which Shiv Sena leader came to highlight for formally joining the BJP before being sworn in as Cabinet Minister in the first expansion of the Narendra Modi government on 9 November 2014? – Suresh Prabhu Explanation: Prabhu was a cabinet minister in the erstwhile Atal Bihari Vajpayee Govt. of 1999-2004. He received the party’s primary membership on 9 November and was welcomed by senior party leaders. He is expected to assist Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the upcoming G20 Summit in Brisbane. However, Suresh Prabhu’s walkover to the BJP was ridiculed by the Shiv Sena for being opportunist. 4) Which anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was observed on 9 November 2014? – 25th Explanation: The infamous Berlin Wall, that was used to separate West Berlin from the portion of Berlin under the possession of the erstwhile East Germany, was erected in 1961 by East Germany to protect the population of East Germany from fleeing to the affluent West Germany. It was often called the “Wall of Shame” or the “Iron Curtain” which restricted the freedom of movement. On 9 November 1989 the East German government announced that all East German citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. This not just led to the dismantling of this wall but also to unification of Germany in 1990. 5) In a major breakthrough The West Bengal Police arrested Sajid, the mastermind of the Burdwan blast case, on 8 November 2014. He is said to be associated with which Bangladesh-based terror group which was allegedly planning to assassinate Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina? – Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Explanation: Sajid alias Sheikh Rahmatullah, is a member of JMB and is also a member of Majlis-e-Sura which is the central committee of JMB. He was the chief of the Burdwan module of JMB. This case is associated with the blasts took place on 2 October 2014 in a house in the Khagragarh locality of Burdwan. Later during investigations over 50 explosive devices were recovered from the house. The case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which unearthed the various complexities of the case and associated it with suspected plots to assassinate Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Khaleda Zia. 6) Who was named as the most-powerful woman in business in India by ‘Fortune Magazine in a list released on 8 November 2014? – Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairperson of SBI Explanation: Arundhati Bhattacharya is heading India’s largest banking group – the State Bank of India (SBI). Bhattacharya made to number one spot due to her relentless fight against bad loans. Since she took over a year or so ago, she has improved assets quality, cut costs and recapitalised SBI. ICICI Bank’s Chanda Kochhar and Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank follow Bhattacharya at the second and the third place respectively. The other women who figure in the top 10 are Zia Mody Co-founder AZB Partners; Mallika Srinivasan CEO of TAFE and Aruna Jayanthi CEO of Capgemini India; Preetha Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospital Enterprise; Kiran Mazumdar Shaw chairperson and MD at Biocon and Shobhana Bhartia, chairperson, HT Media. 7) The Bangladesh High Court on 9 November 2014 questioned the legality of the 16th amendment of the country’s Constitution. The notice came on a writ petition filed by nine Supreme Court lawyers seeking to overturn the amendment two months after the parliament amended the Constitution. This amendment is associated with which issue? – Empowering Parliament to impeach Supreme Court judges for incapacity or misconduct Explanation: The parliament, led by ruling Awami League, had passed the amendment bill on 17 September 2014 17 restoring an old provision allowing it to impeach Supreme Court judges for “misconduct and incapacity”. Following the amendment, a Supreme Court judge could be removed by adopting a resolution with a two-third majority in parliament on the basis of a government probe. The judiciary of the country fears that the amendment might have been done with a mala fide intention and that the judges might feel at risk to pass an order against a lawmaker. 8) What is the name of the Badminton’s top-ranked male player who was temporarily suspended on 8 November 2014 after he failed a doping test? – Lee Chong Wei Explanation: Lee Chong Wei is a Malaysian player of Chinese origin and is presently ranked No.1 in men’s badminton. A badminton official of Malaysia confirmed that it was the sample of Lee Chong Wei which had failed during this year’s World Championships. This sample test was carried out on 5 November at Oslo (Norway) and concluded that the banned steroid dexamethasone was taken. However, Chong Wei denied cheating or relying on banned substances despite this result. 9) India has successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-II missile with a strike range of more than 2000 km from the Wheeler Island off Odisha coast yesterday as part of a user trial by the Indian Army.It has a launch weight of 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of 1000 kg over a distance of more than 2,000 km. Agni-II is part of the Agni series of missiles developed by DRDO which includes Agni-with more than 5,000 km range though the latest version is still under trial. 10) Famous Hindi poet Dr Kedarnath Singh was awarded with the 49th Jnanpith Award for his outstanding contribution towards Indian literature. He was presented with the award by the President Pranab Mukherjee at a function in New Delhi. 11) India’s software product committee Indian Software Product Industry Round Table (iSPIRT) has launched iSPIxB2B index for the top 30 B2B software product companies. As per the index, there are 30 IT software product companies in India, which have a combined valuation of USD 6.2 billion. Also these companies together employ 18,250 people. 27% of these companies are having head quarter in Bangalore, 20% in NCR and rest are in different cities including Singapore and Silicon Valley in the USA. 12) Famous Indian batsman Virat Kohli has become the fastest cricketer to reach 6000 One-Day International run mark in the history of ODI. He cross 6000 ODI runs in his 144th match and 136th innings. He broke almost 2 decades old record of legendary West Indian Vivian Richards who crossed 6000 runs in 156 matches and 141 innings. With this, he has also become the eighth Indian to have scored 6000 or more runs and 47th overall. 13) Laxmikant Parsekar was sworn in as New Chief Minister of Goa along with nine other Ministers at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan today. Goa Governor Smt Mridula Sinha administered the oath of the office and secrecy to the new Chief Minister. Earlier, he was holding a portfolios of Health, Panchayat and Rural development in the Manohar Parrikar Government. He was chosen as the new Chief Minister as Manohar Parrikar resigned yesterday as Chief Minister to assume Central role and Union Minister. 14) US fast food chain Burger King has opened its first store in India today at Select City Walk mall in New Delhi today. It has announced its plan to open about 12 outlets in India over the next 60-90 days. Last year, the chain announced a tie-up with the Everstone Group to enter in Indian market. It has also tied up with online e-commerce company eBay to launch its burgers online in India. 15) India’s leading private bank Axis Bank has signed a pact with the one of the largest banks in South Korea, NongHyup Bank (NH Bank), in order to improve cooperation in treasury, trade and other business between India and South Korea. This new deal will help to strengthen existing relationship between these two banks and to enhance cooperation in the areas of treasury, trade and other business. 16) India’s forex reserves increased by USD 1.732 billion to USD 315.910 billion during the week ended 31st October, as per weekly report published by the RBI. The increase was mainly due to increase in foreign currency assets which increased by USD 2.033 billion to USD 290.365 billion during the same week. However Special Drawing Rights and the India’s reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were decreased by USD 19.5 million and USD 7 million respectively while Gold Reserves decreased by USD 275 million to USD 19.738 billion. 17) Group Chairman of electrical equipment maker Havells India Limited, Qimat Rai Gupta passed away on Friday. He was 77. He started the equipment maker Havells and transformed it to a multinational company with presence in 51 countries. He had recently made it to the Forbes’ billionaire list for the first time and was ranked as India’s 48th richest man with a net worth of USD 2 billion as of Sep 2014. 18) Salgaocar FC won the Durand Cup in football for the third time after defeating Pune FC team in the final match played in Madgao today. The team had earlier won the Durand Cup in 1999 and 2003. The winners got by 25 lakh rupees, while Pune FC got 15 lakh rupees. Bengaluru FC and Sporting Clube de Goa, other two semi-finalists, were awarded Rs 5 lakh each. CURRENT AFFAIRS 11th NOVEMBER’14 1) The Union Govt. on 10 November 2014 unveiled the draft Civil Aviation Policy. Which two PSU stakeholders in aviation sector are proposed to be corporatised and listed on stock exchanges as listed in this draft? – Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) Explanation: The draft Civil Aviation Policy was unveiled by Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju. The draft would now be open for wider consultation with all stakeholders and is expected to be implemented by January 2015. It proposes to corporatise AAI and PHHL so as to improve transparency and efficiency of these two PSU entities. An in-house expert committee for suggesting road map of Air India’s revival has also been proposed. The draft also proposes to enhance regional air connectivity, develop six major metro airports as international hubs, create more airports through PPP mode, rationalise jet fuel cost, promote air cargo, MRO and helicopter operations and improve passenger facilitation. 2) Which state became the first in India to make voting compulsory in local bodies after the Governor of the state sanctioned the bill associated with the issue? – Gujarat Explanation: Gujarat Governor O.P. Kohli recently gave his sanction by signing the controversial Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2009. This bill empowers an official chosen by the State Election Commission to declare an absent voter a “defaulter” except in case of illness or being out of station. The defaulter is liable for punishment but the nature of penalty is not specified. The Bill also makes a provision for 50% reservation for women in local bodies, raising the quota from 33%. This bill was opposed by the Congress party. Legal experts also advocated that forcing voters could be unconstitutional and unworkable. 3) An aerial defence system developed jointly by Israel and India passed its first trial simulating combat conditions in Israel on 10 November 2014. What is the name of this missile system that is designed to shoot down incoming aircraft or missiles from land or sea platforms? – Barak 8 Explanation: Israel’s state-owned company Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) are jointly developing this Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM) system. The Israeli and Indian militaries both plan to use Barak 8 once it becomes operational within months. The total cost of this project is $1.4 billion and highlights burgeoning Israeli-Indian defence ties. 4) What is the name of the prize given on 9 November 2014 to 12 winners from fields of Science and Math with each prize worth $3 million, almost three times the cash a Nobel Prize winner receives? – Breakthrough Prize Explanation: The Breakthrough Prize was instituted in 2012 by Russian billionaire venture capitalist Yuri Milner. Later Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and other tech industry luminaries became associates in it and now jointly award it. The first edition of the prize was given in 2013 to 11 personalities from the field of Life Sciences. This year the prize was given to 6 personalities from the field of Life Sciences and 6 from the field of Mathematics. This prize is presently the most rewarding one as far the prize money is concerned. 5) Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg (Germany) won the Brazilian F1 Grand Prix, the penultimate GP race of the year, on 9 November 2014. With this it became clear that the F1 World Champion for 2014 would be selected in the last GP of the year. Which is the last Grand Prix event of the 2014 season? – Abu Dhabi GP Explanation: Rosberg’s win at Brazilian GP was his fifth of the year and now he trails by only 17 points to his teammate Lewis Hamilton who is leader. This means that even with an unprecedented double points on offer at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit, Rosberg can only become champion if Hamilton finishes out of the top two. Hamilton finished second in Brazilian GP while Brazilian Felipe Massa finished third for Mercedes-powered Williams in his home race. UPDATED BY: TEAM - SIR JOHN BEST INSTITUTE FOR COACHING IN SSC EXAM MOHALI BEST INSTITUTE FOR COACHING IN PSPCL EXAM MOHALI BEST INSTITUTE FOR INTELLIGENCE BUREAU EXAM COACHING IN MOHALI BEST INSTITUTE FOR HOTEL MANAGEMENT EXAM MOHALI BEST INSTITUTE FOR CTET & PTET EXAM MOHALI BEST INSTITUTE FOR JBT TEACHERS EXAM
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 05:53:35 +0000
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