Daily Current Affairs : 14th January 2014 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1.Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Bihu being celebrated with enthusiasm across the country; Eid-milad-un-nabi, marking the birth anniversary of prophet Mohammed is also celebrated with religious fervour. Two major harvest festivals, Makar Sankranti and Pongal are being celebrated across the country with much pomp and fanfare. it is known as Makar Sankranti in northern regions of India, down South, the festival is celebrated by the name Pongal in Tamil Nadu. People from different parts of the country thronged the bank of river Ganges to take holy dip and offer special puja. Assam is celebrating Bhogali Bihu or Magh Bihu, the harvest festival with feasts and prayers. Bihu festival is an occasion when all differences are forgotten and people unite People begin celebrations by erecting hut-like homes with bamboo, hay and dry leaves. Bihu is a celebration of food after a good harvest and a variety of sweets are prepared from rice, coconut and til. Jashne Eide Muladunnabi or the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad is being celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety in several parts of Uttar Pradesh and in Lucknow. In the shape of Julus-e Madh-e Sahaba is being taken out from JhandewalanPark in Lucknow on the birth anniversary of Prophet Hazrat Muhammed today. 2.Corporation Bank will launch ‘Corp Micro Plus’, a special campaign for micro enterprises from January 17 to March 31. According to a press statement by the bank, the rate of interest will be at base rate (10.25 per cent currently). There will be no processing charges during the campaign period. 3.Tata AIA Life Insurance today launched a product, Money Maxima, a long-term plan which is compliant with new IRDA guidelines. Money Maxima is a long term plan that stretches to fit the dreams of our customers through flexibility of plan duration. 4.Delhi government on 13 January 2014 withdrew the Foreign Domestic Investment (FDI) in Multibrand Retail. With this, Delhi became first state to take this step. This action is a reversal of previous Government’s stand in FDI that was made in July 2012 and allowed multi-brand retail trade. Delhi is one of the major recipients of FDI. This action can adversely affect the investment in the capital and tarnish its FDI friendly image. 5.President of India, Pranab Mukherjee presented the Sunil Gangopadhyay Memorial Award of 2012 and 2013 on 11 January 2014 to two eminent Bengali poets, namely Nirendranath Chakraborty and Sankha Ghosh, respectively. The awards were given at a function at Raj Bhawan in Kolkata. 6.A parliamentary delegation from Bhutan on Monday left for New Delhi to discuss issues of bilateral cooperation. The 13-member delegation led by the Speaker of Bhutan’s National Assembly Jigme Zangpo on the invitation of the Speaker of Lok Sabha Meira Kumar. During the four-day visit, the parliamentarians will meet Kumar and discuss issues of bilateral parliamentary cooperation. 7.South Korean President Park Geun -hye will arrive in New Delhi on Wednesday on a four-day visit and will hold extensive talks with Indian leadership with India making it clear that the trade deficit and market access would be among the issues which will be flagged. The South Korean President, who will be accompanied by senior ministers for foreign affairs, trade and science, will hold extensive talks with leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 8.Aegon Religare Life Insurance has announced the appointment of KS Gopalakrishnan as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the company. Prior to this elevation, he was the Executive Director of the company and earlier to this, he was the Appointed Actuary and the Chief Financial Officer at ARLI. 10.Google has announced its acquisition of smart thermostat start-up Nest in a deal valued at USD 3.2 billion. This will help the internet giant to enter into consumer electronics hardware, adding smartphonesynched thermostats to its Motorola Mobility smartphones; Nexus mobile devices, and the promise of releasing Google Glass eyewear some time this year. 11.FIFA named Portuguese attacker Cristiano Ronaldo world’s best soccer player for the 2012/2013 season. He was voted in ahead of Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich and Barcelona’s Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who was shortlisted to pick up the award for a fifth year in succession. Ronaldo last won the FIFA World Player award in 2008. 12Germany goalkeeper Nadine Angerer has been voted the best women’s football player in the world for 2013. Angerer, the current European player of the year, defeated United States forward Abby Wambach, last year’s winner, and five-time champion Marta of Brazil. Angerer helped Germany win the European Championship last year. 13.Anju B George gets gold medal for India in world athletics. The long jumper, who won the silver at the World Athletics Final in 2005, was elevated to the top spot by the International Association of Athletics Federations on Monday, after gold medal winner Russia’s Tatyana Kotova was disqualified for doping. 14.Vijay Zol was selected as the Captain of India’s U-19 Cricket World Cup team by the All-India Junior Selection Committee yesterday. The U-19 Cricket World Cup will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in February 2014. He also led India to win the U-19 Asia Cricket Cup after defeating arch rival Pakistan earlier this month. India has won the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup three times in 2000, 2008 and 2012. thegatecoach
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 13:07:06 +0000