Current Affairs Update - 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 Nov, 2014

• ·         The United Bank of India (UBI) on Wednesday decided to continue with five free ATM transactions per month (including non-financial ones) at other bank ATMs for all savings account holders in both metros and non-metros.
• ·         According to a release issued by the bank, it has also decided to continue with free transactions at its own ATM network without levying any cap.
• ·         As per the new guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks in six metros – New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore – are free to charge other bank customers beyond 3 ATM transactions per month. Banks have also been allowed to restrict free transactions to 5 for customers at its own ATM network.
• ·         According to Sanjay Arya, Executive Director, UBI, by putting a further cap on ATM transactions may lead to increased footfall at branches thereby resulting in higher operating costs.

• ·         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.
• ·         Anita Kapur will be serving as the Chairperson of CBDT till November 2015. Till now she was serving as Member  of Legislation and Computerisation and Income-Tax in CBDT.

• ·         At a meeting of insurance officials organised by the Insurance Ombudsman for Kerala and Lakshadweep here on Thursday, insurance companies agreed to put in place a system to address the grievances of policyholders.
• ·         Representatives of 34 insurance companies, including the LIC, attended the meeting. Ombudsman PK Vijayakumar discussed policyholders’ complaints.
• ·         Mis-selling of policies by agents, lapse or foreclosure of policies without proper notice to policyholders, high surrender charges levied for foreclosure, denial of claim on account of pre-existing illness, non-payment of interest for delay in settling claims, fabrication of evidence to reject claims, high-handedness of third-party administrators appointed by the companies and over-dependence on surveyor’s report to reject claims were some of the common complaints made by policyholders.
• ·         The meeting decided to set up a grievance redressal machinery for all insurance companies.

• ·         SEBI plans to allow foreign venture capital investors (FVCI) to invest in core investment companies (CIC) which fund the infrastructure sector.
• ·         CICs are companies which have their assets predominantly as investments in shares for holding stake in group companies which is neither for trading nor for carrying on any other financial activity.
• ·         Currently, venture capital investors are not allowed to invest in non-banking financial services (with certain exceptions). CICs are classified by the RBI as non-banking financial companies.
• ·         The proposal has been endorsed by the Government and the RBI and is one of the recommendations of High Level Committee on Financing of Infrastructure, said SEBI.
• ·         A consultative paper for amending the SEBI venture capital regulations has been put out for this purpose. The proposal is expected to infuse funds into the infrastructure sector and FVCI funds had already invested over ₹20,000 crore or more than half their cumulative net investment in India’s infrastructure sector such as power, telecom, roads, bridges and urban infrastructure, said SEBI. According to 12th Five Year Plan, India requires an investment of about Rs 65 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector between 2012 and 2017.
• ·         SEBI said the proposal was based on the fact that CICs were essentially holding companies and did not engage in financing activity similar to other NBFCs and, therefore, do not go against the intent of the FVCI regulations of not allowing FVCI investment in non-banking financial services.

• ·         Hasmukh Adhia was appointed as the Union Financial Services Secretary (FSS) on 3 November 2014. He is the 1981-batch IAS officer of Gujarat-cadre.
• ·         At the time of being appointed as FSS, Adhia was working as Additional Chief Secretary in the Finance Department of Gujarat government.
• ·         He succeeded GS Sandhu who was made the Chairman of the National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention. Sandhu is a 1980-batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer.
• ·         Adhia replaced Sandhu in a major bureaucratic reshuffle made by Union Government. In this reshuffling, government made over 60 Special and Joint Secretary-level appointments.

• ·         The mortgage financier HDFC became the first listed Indian company among the 30 SENSEX firms to have more than 75 percent shareholding by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).
• ·         It happened after the FIIs raised their stake in the company to a record-high of nearly 78 percent during the July-September 2014 quarter.
• ·         Cumulative FII holdings in the company rose from 73.09 percent in July-September 2013 to 77.85 percent in the July-September 2014. In the April-June 2014 quarter, FIIs' holding in HDFC stood at 77.36 percent.
• ·         Moreover, shareholding of FIIs in HDFC has been steadily rising since September 2013. The rise in the shareholding of the FIIs in the company is the result of smart returns given by the company.
• ·         The rise of overseas shareholding in the mortgage lender coincides with overall bullishness shown by foreign entities in the Indian stock market.
• ·         In the period July-September 2014, FIIs have invested more than 23000 crore rupees in the Indian equities. This has happened on the back of ongoing reform initiatives taken by the Union government.
• ·         Further, the overall holding FIIs also rose to 88.17 percent during July-September 2014 from 88.01 percent at the end of 30 June 2014. The increase happened mostly on account of additional share purchases by FIIs.
• ·         The domestic institutional holdings stood at 10.32 percent as on 30 September 2014 which is down from 10.65 percent in April-June 2014.

• ·         To clamp down on cheque-related fraud cases, the Reserve Bank today asked banks to alert account holders by a phone call and contact the base branch in case of non-home cheques before clearing high value payments.
• ·         The RBI also asked banks to send an SMS alert to payer/drawer when cheques are received for clearing and examine cheques under UV lamp for clearance beyond Rs 2 lakh. The central bank further said multi-level checking should be done before clearing cheques above Rs 5 lakh.
• ·         "Banks may consider the following preventive measures for dealing with suspicious or large value cheques: Alerting the customer by a phone call and getting the confirmation from the payer/drawer and contacting base branch in case of non-home cheques," RBI said in a communication to banks.
• ·         The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said directions have been issued in the wake of a rise in the number of cheque-related fraud cases. It said cases have been reported where even though original cheques were in the custody of account holders cheques in the same series were presented and encashed by fraudsters.

• ·         India and Russia on 5 November 2014 agreed to constitute a Joint Study Group (JSG) for Free Trade Zone with Eurasian Custom Union. The Eurasian Custom Union comprises of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
• ·         Both the sides agreed to constitute the JSG during the 20th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission meeting in New Delhi on 5 November 2014. The meet was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.
• ·         During the meet, the two sides also decided to increase bilateral trade through the International North South Corridor Project (INSTC) that runs through Iran particularly in agriculture and food processing industry.
• ·         The two sides also signed a protocol to deepen bilateral cooperation in trade and economic spheres.
• ·         India and Russia also discussed the prospects of launching the joint production of Sukhoi Superjet-100 medium-haul airliners on Indian soil.
• ·         The interactions during the meet also served to review the preparations for the forthcoming visit of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin to India for the 15th India-Russia Annual Summit. Putin will visit India in second week of December 2014.

• ·         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.
• ·         Following the acquisition, the Motorola will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Lenovo but will remain headquartered in Chicago's Merchandise Mart.
• ·         The completion of acquisition by Lenovo will bring global scale, a diverse product portfolio and a track record of seizing strategic opportunities for the Motorola.
• ·         Further the acquisition will bring new boundaries of choice and value and new experiences to the consumers as both the companies have an impressive portfolio of smartphones, wearable and PCs.

• ·         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.

• ·         Mallikarjun Kharge, a leader of Congress in Lok Sabha on 3 October 2014 was inducted into the three-member CIC selection committee. The committee will select the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).
• ·         The other two members of the committee are Prime Minister Narendra Modi (as head) and Union Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitely.
• ·         Kharge was inducted in the selection committee by virtue of being the leader of the single largest party in the opposition in Lok Sabha as there as there was a lack of clarity on the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
• ·         Till now, appointment of the CIC was on hold since 22 August 2014, because there was no clarity on the status of leader of opposition in Lok Sabha. For this purpose the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had sought a clarification from the Lok Sabha secretariat as early as June 2014.
• ·         In October 2014, the PMO directed the DoPT to issue an advertisement for the position. This fact was made public in response to an RTI application by Lokesh Batra.
• ·         The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 says that CIC selection can be done by a three-member panel comprising the Prime Minister, who shall be the Chairperson of the committee, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and a cabinet minister nominated by the Prime Minister.
• ·         For removal of doubts, the Act has declared that where the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People has not been recognised as such, the Leader of the single largest group in opposition of the Government in the House of the People shall be deemed to be the Leader of Opposition.

• ·         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.
• ·         This exercise is a part of counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency in the island nation.
• Participants of the Mithra Shakti exercise
• •       India – more than 42 Indian Army personnel are taking part in the exercise 
• •       Sri Lanka – a contingent of 168 officers and other ranks from Sri Lanka Army Special Forces and Commando Regiment, accompanied by 16 officers and other ranks from Sri Lanka Navy and 16 officers and other ranks from Sri Lanka Air Force
• •       The exercise is seen as New Delhi’s attempts to advance a dialogue, which began with Colombo in 2012 to counter China’s growing influence in the region and is indicative of strengthening bilateral military relations.

• •       India is working on the inclusion of Mauritius in the group of countries to be listed in its Visa on Arrival scheme, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today describing the bilateral ties as truly unique and extraordinary.
• •       "Mauritius was the first and largest recipient of indentured labour from India, and is home to the Aapravasi Ghat, a spiritual and emotional shrine to the memory of these brave souls," Swaraj said at the inauguration of the International Conference on Indentured Labour Route Project here.
• •       "India's relationship with Mauritius is truly unique and extraordinary, and is anchored in the footsteps imprinted on the sixteen steps of the Aapravasi Ghat by the first Indians that landed there 180 years back," she said.

• •       Veteran Bollywood actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar who is known for his stellar performances in villainous roles in movies like Sadak, Ishq and Ardh Satya, died on Monday morning at the Kokilaben Dhirbubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai.
• •       Reema Amrapurkar, Sadashiv's daughter, had earlier said that the actor was on life support ventilator, in a critical condition. Reema is a director and her short film Janani was screened at Cannes Film festival, 2010.  Based on female foeticide and sex determination, Janani was adjudged the best short film at International Film Festival of India, 2009, which was held in Goa.
• •       Born as Ganesh Kumar Narwode, the actor adopted the stage name Sadashiv Amrapurkar in 1974 and made a mark on theatre as well as the silver screen with his spine-chilling performances in negative roles. The 64-year-old actor is best known for his performances in Sadak and Ardh Satya. His performance in Ardh Satya (1983) as don Rama Shetty won him the Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actor. Sadashiv was also the first actor to receive the Filmfare award for 'Best Performance in a Negative Role' for his portrayal of Maharani, an evil eunuch running a brothel, in the Sanjay Dutt-starrer Sadak in 1991.
• •       Amrapurkar began his acting career in theatre where directed and acted in nearly fifty plays. Sadashiv got his first onscreen break in Marathi film 22 June 1897 in which he played Bal Gangadhar Tilak. It was Govind Nihlani's Ardh Satya that gave Amrapurkar his first Hindi onscreen appearance. He left a remarkable impression with his acting prowess. The actor moved on to comic roles in the 90s and worked in Aankhen, Aunty No 1 and several other films. His last onscreen appearance was in Bombay Talkies where he did a cameo in the short film by Dibakar Banerjee.

• •       Shedding the colonial name, Bangalore today became Bengaluru synchronising with the state formation day "Karnataka Rajyotsava".
• •       In tandem, 11 other cities across Karnataka were also rechristened by the state government, casting away the anglicised names.
• •       The new names have come into force after the state government issued a special gazette notification to effect the changes, giving them the distinct local flavour.
• •       Now Bangalore will be called Bengaluru, Mangalore (Mangaluru), Mysore (Mysuru), Bellary (Ballari), Belgaum (Belagavi), Hubli (Hubballi), Tumkur (Tumakuru), Bijapur (Vijayapura), Chikmagalur (Chikkamagaluru), Gulbarga (Kalaburagi), Hospet (Hosapete) and Shimoga (Shivamogga).
• •       In the ninth century, Bangalore was called Bengaval-uru (city of guards). In the 12th century, according to another legend, it became Benda-kaalu-ooru (town of boiled beans).
• •       According to an apocryphal, 12th century Hoysala king Veera Ballala II lost his way during a hunting expedition in a forest. A poor old woman offered him boiled beans to the tired king, who with a sense of gratitude called the place "benda-kaalu-uru".
• •       Kempegowda, a feudatory ruler under the erstwhile Vijayanagara Empire, was considered the founder of Bangalore. He chose Bendakaluru for his capital in early 16th century, which transformed into Bengaluru and in colonial times, and during British rule became Bangalore.
• •       The city has in recent decades metamorphosed into the country's IT capital, earning it the tag the Silicon Valley of India, as also as Biotech capital, after its earlier forms as a Pensioner's Paradise and Garden City.
• •       With explosive growth and cracking infrastructure, the city has now earned the notorious distinction as "Garbage City". Bengaluru is also evolving as a "StartUp City", incubating the new ventures.

• •       Prime Minister Narendra Modi charmed the residents of Jayapur, a village he has adopted under the Sansad Adarsh gram Yojana scheme for MPs. While making connecting with the cheering crowd, Mr. Modi said that he had come there with a request to adopt him.
• •       “It's a privilege to be associated with Jayapur village. I am not adopting Jayapur but I request you to adopt your MP,” said Mr. Modi who flew to Jayapur after stopping in Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency, where he urged residents to think of him as their "sevak".
• •       Mr. Modi is on a visit to Varanasi which is also the first visit of the Prime Minister to his parliamentary constituency since it voted him in the May General Election.
• •       “We have introduced Sansad Adarsh gram Yojana scheme for MPs, even I had to take responsibility as part of this. Jayapur took special place in my heart long time ago. An MP does not adopt a village. A village adopts an MP,” the Prime Minister further added.
• •       The Prime Minister also explained why he chose Jayapur, a village about 25 kilometers from the ancient temple town of Varanasi.

• •       Telangana Finance Minister Rajinder on 5 November 2014 speared the first budget of the state in the Assembly. The state government proposed an expenditure of 100637 crore rupees for the financial year 2014-15.
• •       Out of the proposed expenditure, the total plan expenditure is of 48648 crore rupees and non-plan expenditure is of 51989 crore rupees.
• •       The amount of 100 crore rupees was allocated towards financial assistance for the families of 459 martyrs who laid down their lives for the separate state.

• •       The Twentieth Session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) was held in New Delhi on 5 November 2014.
• •       The chairwoman from the Indian side was Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj and the chairman from the Russian side was Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation.
• •       The Commission reviewed the progress on a broad spectrum of bilateral issues including trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation and suggested actions for realizing the full potential of this important relationship.
• •       The next session of the IRIGC-TEC will be held in Moscow in 2015.

• •       A Joint Study Group for the proposed agreement between India and the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation for trade in goods and services.
• •       Enhancement of bilateral trade through the International North South Corridor Project (INSTC) by freight forwarders and exporters particularly to bolster trade in agriculture and food processing industry.
• •       Maintain the momentum of cooperation in some priority areas such as hydrocarbons, coking coal, fertilizers, mining, civil aviation, infrastructure and trade in rough diamonds;
• •       Joint cooperation between the Indian company National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and the Russian company ACRON for development of potassium and magnesium deposits in Talitsky mine in Perm region of Russia and Partomchorr apatite-nepheline ore deposit (Murmansk region);
• •       Proposals for establishment of a Smart City in India by the Russian company manufacture of lighting equipment for general and special purpose in Karnataka, India.
• •       It also proposed to include group of telecommunication satellites NextStar on geostationary orbit of the Earth on the basis of low budget platform.

• •       The Union Cabinet on 6 October 2014 gave its approval for signing a treaty on transfer of sentenced persons between India and Nigeria. The treaty for the transfer of prisoners was approved under the Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003 passed by the Union government for this purpose in 2003.
• •       The treaty will facilitate Indian prisoners imprisoned in Nigeria or vice-versa to be near their families, for serving the remaining part of their sentence and shall facilitate their social rehabilitation.
• •       The same kind of negotiations has also been concluded with the Governments of Canada, Hong Kong, Australia and Spain.
• •       So far India has singed such Agreements with the United Kingdom, Mauritius, Bulgaria, Brazil, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Bangladesh, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, the UAE, Maldives, Thailand, Turkey, Italy, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Israel, Russia and Vietnam.

• •       The Commemorative Postage stamp on Liver Transplantation in India was released on 4 November 2014 by the Department of Posts and Union Ministry of Communications & IT in New Delhi.
• •       The patient who had undergone first successful liver transplantation in India in 1998 Sanjay Kandaswamy was also present on the occasion.
• •       The release of a commemorative postage stamp acknowledges the progress and milestones achieved by the Indian medical fraternity in the field of Liver transplantation in the span of the last 15 years.

• •       Mumbai recorded the largest number of internet users in India in 2014. This was revealed by a study conducted by the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and released on 4 November 2014.
• •       According to the study, Mumbai recorded 16.4 million internet users surpassing Delhi and Kolkata. Delhi recorded 12.15 million internet users and Kolkata recorded 6.27 million internet users.
• •       Bangalore with 5.99 million internet users and Chennai with 5.58 million internet users are fourth and fifth respectively.

• •       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.

• •       The Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) on 3 November 2014 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support the Make in India Initiative of Union Government.

• •       The MoU is initially signed for a 5-year period to support the Make in India programme of Union Government.
• •       The MoU will form the basis for a technical partnership with the primary objective of creating more and better quality employment in India.
• •       The activities will be focused around three priority areas- entrepreneurship development, good workplace practices for improving productivity and enhancing integration into global supply chains
• •       The MoU will also focus on research and knowledge-building related to sustainable enterprises and formalization strategies.

• •       Rapid urbanisation is expected to create another 15 metropolitan cities over the next decade. By 2025, India’s 69 metropolitan cities, combined with their hinterlands, will generate over half its incremental GDP between 2012 and 2025, and just over half of its incremental consuming class households, according to a report by Global Consultancy firm McKinsey & Company.
• •       The report titled ‘India’s Economic Geography in 2025: States, Clusters and Cities’, which asserts that a granular understanding of India’s market potential and strategies tailored for the same will help companies emerge winners, has identified key economic and business growth hotspots for the period up to 2025 after analysing 29 Indian States and 7 Union Territories in the country. The emerging cities include Jamnagar, Dehradun, Cuttak, Bhavnagar, Kolhapur, Vellore, Amaravati, Ajmer, Udaipur, Sangli, Nanded and Mangalore.
• •       The report has also defined metropolitan clusters as groups of districts that have high economic potential are contiguous such that each cluster represents a serviceable market, and have a metropolitan district as the nucleus. Example: The Nagpur cluster and Kolkata cluster, for example extend beyond the metropolitan districts that they stretch across and include the adjacent five and six districts respectively.
• •       With those parameters, it has identified 49 metropolitan clusters spread across the country.
• •       These clusters are expected to account for about 77 per cent of incremental GDP by 2025.

• •       US Navy SEAL commando who shot Osama bin Laden at his Pakistan hideout in Abbottobad on 2 May 2011 revealed his identity. He is Robert O’Neill who shot three bullets into the head of al Qaeda's kingpin.
• •       O’Neill, 38, revealed his identity in an interview to the Washington Post and informed that he fired the fatal shot.
• •       He revealed his identity ahead of a two-part Fox News series dubbed as The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden. The series was supposed to be launched by the end of November 2014.
• •       His decision to come out and speak as the shooter of Laden has angered SEAL headquarters and Pentagon.
• •       O’Neill has completed more than 400 combat missions and has killed more than 30 targets in 16 years of service. He is one of the most-decorated SEALs ever. His heroic actions have been featured in three movies namely Zero Dark Thirty, Captain Phillips and Lone Survivor.
• •       Before O’Neill, another Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette made some details of Osama raid and in 2012 he published a book titled No Easy Day authored under the name Mark Owen.

• •       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.
• •       The 104-storey building is the centrepiece of the 16-acre site where the twin towers once stood, before they came crashing down on 11 September 2001, killing about 3000 people.
• •       At present, almost 60 percent of the building is leased and employees of the publishing giant Conde Nast have started moving in. Executive Director of the Port Authority, which owns the restored site, said that the building is the most secure office building in America.

• •       The International Textile Fair begins in Dubai today. More than 200 exhibitors from all over the world including India will showcase their latest fashion designs, fabrics and clothing at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The first dedicated international textile show in the Gulf region has brought together textile manufacturers and designers from India, China, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Italy and other countries at one platform. The ITF The textile fair provides a platform for buyers and designers to view the showcased latest trims and accessories, from current ranges to pre-collections of the 2015 edition.
• •       The founder President of Dubai Textile City and the Textile Merchants Association of India Ashok Sawlani told AIR in Dubai that the textile trade in Dubai amounts to around 400 million Dirhams per month which is equal to around 850 crores rupees per month and around 10,000 crore rupees per annum. 10 percent of the textile material is used in Dubai and UAE while the rest is meant for exports and or re-exports. Indian textile mills account for nearly 85 percent of the Indian traders in Dubai account for nearly 20 percent of the business. He said there is a lot of potential for Indian textiles in Dubai with a large expatriate community from Indian sub-continent and a growing demand from the local population in the gulf region.
• •       Dubai aims to be one of the premier platform for fashion, fabrics and clothing. It offers buyers, distributors and designers the opportunity to view a huge range of textiles from the most prestigious textile mills all over the world, all under one roof. The organizers of the event said it has attracted designers, buyers and product developers to source and develop new and exciting products with inspirational, relevant and directional collections. ITF Dubai also has dedicated segments for digital prints, machine embroidery, haute couture fabrics and new innovations.

• •       Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will be awarded ‘The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers’, after becoming the first Indian to receive the rare honour.
• •       He has been chosen for one of Japan’s top national awards for his significant contribution to the enhancement of relations and promotion of friendship between Japan and India for about 35 years.
• •       Acknowledging the award, Singh said he is truly honoured and feels humbled by the love and affection showered upon him by the people and government of Japan.
• •       He said it had been his dream to see India-Japan relationship grow and prosper.

• •       India on 29 October 2014 was re-elected to United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). India's term at ECOSOC was scheduled to end in 2014.
• •       Apart from India, the other countries which were re-elected are Austria, Burkina Faso, France, Germany, Greece, Japan and Portugal.
• •       India was re-elected after getting 183 votes, the highest in the Asia Pacific group, followed by Japan and Pakistan with 181 votes each.
• •       India had competed in the Asia-Pacific group in which four seats were up for election and it received 162 votes, the highest number in the Asia-Pacific group.
• •       Besides, the General Assembly also elected 10 other members in addition to the re-elected members. The countries which were elected are Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Japan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
• •       These 18 countries were elected to replace the 18 outgoing members. They are Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lesotho, Libya, Nigeria and Portugal. These 18 elected members will serve three-year terms. The term will begin from 1 January 2015.

• •       Indian-origin British politician Nigel Keith Anthony Standish Vaz known as Keith Vaz was on 6 November 2014 named as the Labour MP of the year 2014.
• •       He was choosen for this award for his valuable work for underrepresented, deprived and minority sections of the country.
• •       Speaker of the house John Bercow announced the Patchwork Foundation MPs of the Year 2014 at Speakers House.  The awards were announced for those who have represented and worked with underrepresented, deprived and minority communities across the country.

• •       Scientists from the University of Texas on 4 November 2014 confirmed that the World’s first inhalable Ebola vaccine passed animal tests.
• •       Professor Maria Croyle along with Dr Gary Kobinger at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg confirmed the tests.
• •       The vaccine has shown a long-term protection for non-human primates against the deadly Ebola virus. Results from a recent pre-clinical study represent the only proof to date that a single dose of a non-injectable vaccine platform for Ebola is long lasting, which could have significant global implications in controlling future outbreaks.

• •       The Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful People 2014 was released on 5 November 2014. The list gives the annual ranking of the World’s 72 Most Powerful People on the basis of their financial resources, scope and use of power and the number of people they impact.
• •       The list features 17 heads who run nations with a combined GDP of around 48 trillion US dollars.
• •       Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his debut in the world's most powerful people list. He ranked 15th on the Forbes list. Modi was credited for the massive reconstruction projects in his home state of Gujarat. His administration promises to bring economic rejuvenation to other beleaguered parts of India.
• •       The next Indian on the list is Mukesh Ambani at 36th rank. Ambani has business ventures in petrochemicals, manufacturing, oil and gas production, and now wireless sectors.

• 1.     Vladimir Putin - Russia
• 2.     Barack Obama United - States
• 3.     Xi Jinping - China
• 4.     Pope Francis - Roman Catholic Church
• 5.     Angela Merkel - Germany

• •       Indonesia on 3 November 2014 announced to support the establishment of Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The decision to support was announced after the meeting of Indonesian President Joko Widodo with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta.
• •       This was the first trip of Chinese FM Wang Yi to Indonesia since the inauguration of President Joko Jokowi Widodo.
• •       Moreover, both the countries are also looking ahead to develop China-Indonesia relation, as the two countries are strategic partners.
• •       The decision to enter and contribute to the bank was taken because Indonesia believes that infrastructure financing in Asia and Indonesia cannot be achieved through existing multilateral institutions, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank.
• •       By joining AIIB, Jokowi will be able to brighten his chances of fulfilling his campaign promises. During the campaign, Jokowi had promised to construct 2000 kilometres of new roads, 10 airports, 10 new ports and establish 10 new economic zones.

• •       Indian-American Niraj Antani on 5 November 2014 was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. With this, he became one of the youngest state lawmakers in the US. He is 23.
• •       A law student at the University of Dayton, he is the youngest Ohio State legislature so far. He defeated 62-year-old Patrick Morris of the Democratic Party.
• •       He is the second Indian American — after Jay Goyal who served 3 terms from 2006 from the 73rd District — in the Ohio House.
• •       Meanwhile, Saira Blair at 18 is America's youngest elected lawmaker as a delegate in the West Virginia House. She defeated a 44-year-old attorney for the spot in the House of Delegates.
• •       Blair won her election with 63 per cent of the votes and will represent a small district in West Virginia's eastern panhandle.
• •       There are more than 7300 state legislators in the US, and fewer than five per cent are under the age of 30, according to Morgan Cullen, a policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
• •       The average age in Congress is 57, and the average age in the United States Senate is 62.

• •       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.
• •       The Conference was hosted by UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with global marine terminal operator DP World. The Conference addressed the challenges, and current concerns regarding maritime piracy.
• •       It was attended by more than 600 delegates including attendees from over 50 Government and non-governmental organisations.

• •       Central Zone won the 2014-15 Duleep Trophy title of cricket on 2 November 2014 by defeating South Zone in the finals played at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi with 9 runs. This was the first Duleep title for Central zone in ten seasons and the narrowest win in the tournament’s history, in terms of runs.
• •       South Zone, while chasing a victory target of 301 in the second innings of the final match were all out for 291 in 88.4 over.

• •       Central Zone: Piyush Chawla
• •       South Zone: Vinay Kumar
•  
• •       K Rahul was adjudged as the Man-of-the-match for his knocks of 185 and 130 in the final.

• •       Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on 5 November 2014 was named as the captain of ICC ODI Team of the Year 2014. He has been selected in the ICC ODI team of the year for the eight time (seventh year in a row), while fifth year as a captain of the team.

• •       Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan)
• •       Quinton de Kock (South Africa)
• •       Virat Kohli (India)
• •       George Bailey (Australia)
• •       AB de Villiers (South Africa)
• •       MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper) (captain)
• •       Dwayne Bravo (West Indies)
• •       James Faulkner (Australia)
• •       Dale Steyn (South Africa)
• •       Mohammad Shami (India)
• •       Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka)
• •       Rohit Sharma (India) (12th man)

• •       The selected ICC ODI team was chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by the ICC’s Cricket Committee chairman and former India captain Anil Kumble. Other members of the committee were Jonathan Agnew, a former England international and now a respected broadcaster/journalist, ex-Sri Lanka opener Russel Arnold, former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, and Betty Timmer, former Chair of the ICC Women’s Committee.

• •       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.
• •       Earlier, Sachin gave first copy of the book to his mother Rajni, while at the launch he presented a copy to his mentor and childhood coach Ramakant Achrekar in the presence of his daughter Sara.
• •       Before the launch of the book, cricket analyst and host of the launch occasion, Harsha Bhogle had three panel discussion sessions with Sachin’s former teammates and family, who feature in the book. The first panel discussion was attended by former Indian captains Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri and former Mumbai cricketer Vasu Paranjape. Others who joined him on stage were Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.

• •       Sri Lankan cricket captain Angelo Mathews on 5 November 2014 was named as captain of the ICC Test Team of the Year 2014.

• •       David Warner (Australia)
• •       Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
• •       Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
• •       AB de Villiers (South Africa)
• •       Joe Root (England)
• •       Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka) (captain)
• •       Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
• •       Stuart Broad (England)
• •       Dale Steyn (South Africa)
• •       Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)
• •       Tim Southee (New Zealand)
• •       Ross Taylor (New Zealand) (12th man)

• •       The ICC Test team of the Year was chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by the ICC’s Cricket Committee chairman and former India captain Anil Kumble. The selection panel also included Jonathan Agnew, a former England international and now a respected broadcaster/journalist, ex-Sri Lanka opener Russel Arnold, former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, and Betty Timmer, former Chair of the ICC Women’s Committee.

• •       India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar on 5 November 2014 won LG People’s Choice Award 2014. He is the third Indian player to win the coveted prize and overall fourth cricketer to win this prize.
• •       Earlier the award has been won by Sachin Tendulkar (first-ever recipient in 2010), Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (in 2011 and 2012), and Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2013).

• •       England women’s captain Charlotte Edwards
• •       Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson
• •       Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews
• •       South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn