Current Affairs Update – 24-29 Oct, 2014

• ·        
  Masayoshi son was recently in news because he announced the biggest ever
  investment in the India. He announced to invest 10 billion US dollar in the
  coming years in the IT sector.
• ·        
  He started with the announcement to invest 627 million US dollar in the
  Snapdeal. With the investment, the snapdeal will become the largest shareholder
  in the online marketplace major.
• ·        
  Masayoshi Son is a Korean-Japanese businessman. He is the founder and
  current chief executive officer (CEO) of SoftBank, the chief executive officer
  of SoftBank Mobile, and current chairman of Sprint Corporation.
• ·        
  He is the richest man in Japan despite having the distinction of losing
  the most money in history. He lost approximately 70 billion US dollar during
  the dot com crash of 2000.
• ·        
  According to Forbes magazine, his net worth is 22.3 billion US dollar as
  of 2014. Forbes also describes him as a philanthropist.
• ·        
  Son was named the world’s 45th most powerful person by Forbes Magazine’s
  List of The World’s Most Powerful People in 2013.

• ·        
  Harvard Business Review (HBR), in the issue of November 2014, named CEO
  of Amazon Jeff Bezos as best-performing CEO in the world.
• ·        
  The Harvard Business Review compiled its list of top CEOs by comparing shareholder
  returns for S&P Global 1200 companies from each executive’s first day in
  office until 30 April 2014. Bezos won by a wide margin.
• ·        
  The report lists only one CEO of Indian origin Ajay Banga of Mastercard,
  among the 100 names representing various industries.
• ·        
  Jeffrey Preston “Jeff” Bezos was born on 12 January 1964 in
  Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a business magnate, investor and a technology
  entrepreneur who has played a key role in the growth of e-commerce as the
  founder and CEO of Amazon.com, an online merchant of books and later of a wide
  variety of products.
• ·        
  He founded Amazon.com in 1994 with headquarters at Seattle. Under his
  guidance, Amazon.com became the largest retailer on the World Wide Web and a
  top model for Internet sales.
• ·        
  As of October 2014, Bezos’s personal wealth is estimated to be 27.6
  billion US dollars, ranking him number 21 on the Forbes list of billionaires.

• ·        
  India along with 20 other countries on 23 October 2014 signed an
  agreement to become the founding member of the China-backed Asian
  Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
• ·        
  The AIIB bank aims to aid the infrastructure development in the Asian
  region and reduce the dependence on Western-dominated World Bank and IMF.
• ·        
  The agreement was signed by the Usha Titus, Joint Secretary, Economic
  Affairs division of the Union Ministry of Finance on behalf of India at a
  special ceremony in Beijing at the Great Hall of the People.
• ·        
  On the Chinese counterpart, the agreement was signed by the China’s Vice
  Finance Minister Jin Liqun. He was also the former Vice-President of the Asian
  Development Bank and he has been appointed as the Secretary General of AIIB.
• ·        
  The AIIB is in addition to the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and
  South Africa) Development Bank formed in 2014. The bank will be based in
  Shanghai. It is set to commence its operations with an Indian as its President.
•  

• • The Bank
  will be headquartered in Beijing.
• • The bank
  is expected to be operational by 2015.
• • The
  authorised capital of AIIB is 100 billion US Dollar and the initial subscribed
  capital is expected to be around 50 billion US Dollar. The paid-in ratio will
  be 20 per cent.
• • Voting
  rights are to be decided after consultations among the members over fixing the
  bench marks which were expected to be combination of GDP and Purchasing Power
  Parity (PPP).
• • Based on
  this formula, India will be second largest share holder of the bank after
  China.
• • The bank
  will help to bridge the infrastructure deficit by playing a complimentary role
  along with other financial institutions like ADP and IMF and work for good
  governance.
• • Besides
  India and China, other AIIB members are Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Sri
  Lanka, Singapore, Qatar, Oman, the Philippines, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh,
  Brunei, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia and Myanmar.

• ·        
  Japanese telecom giant Softbank on 27 October 2014 announced to invest
  627 million US dollar in Snapdeal.
• ·        
  With the investment, the Snapdeal will become the largest shareholder in
  the online marketplace major. Through this strategic investment and partnership
  with Snapdeal, the SoftBank Group aims to further strengthen its presence in
  India and leverage synergies with its network of Internet companies around the
  world.
• ·        
  This is the largest investment made by a single investor in an
  e-commerce company in India. Other existing investors have also participated in
  this round of investment but the company declined to disclose the amount.
• ·        
  Snapdeal has risen close to 1 billion US Dollar during the year 2014.
  Founded in 2010, Snapdeal has more than 25 million registered users and more
  than 50000 business sellers.
• ·        
  The investment was a part of the SoftBank commitment to investment 10
  billion US dollar (over 60000 crore rupees) in India’s IT and communications
  space. This was one of the biggest investment commitments from a Japanese firm.

• ·        
  Realty firm Emaar MGF Land Limited on 27 October 2014 tied up with
  payment gateway firm PayU India for providing an online payment facility to its
  customers.

• •      
  Emaar MGF customers can now pay EMIs for their properties through PayUMoney.
• •      
  PayUMoney will help customers to pay anytime and any amount with no
  restrictions of NEFT or RTGS.
• •      
  The association will enable Emaar MGF to offer a unique and secured
  payment gateway on its customer service portal e-Services.
• •      
  The customers need not make multiple payments for different projects of
  Emaar MGF. Simply they have to make one payment and PayUMoney will split it
  among the various projects.

• ·        
  PayU India is one of the world’s largest consumer payment processors.
  PayU India’s parent company is Naspers Group, a media and internet firm listed
  in Johannesberg and London stock exchange.
•  
• ·        
  PayUMoney is a payment solution developed by PayU India. PayUMoney
  serves more than 40000 businesses with some of the prominent names like bookmyshow,
  goibibo, rechargeitnow, redbus etc.

• ·        
  The Union Government on 27 October 2014 disclosed names of black money
  account holders in an affidavit to Supreme Court (SC). The affidavit was filed
  after the union government was attacked by political rivals that it was
  cautious of revealing names.
• ·        
  These account holders were suspected for stashing black money in foreign
  banks. The names revealed by the government were:

• •      
  Pradip Burman, one of Dabur India promoters
• •      
  Bullion trader Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhya
• •      
  Goa-based mining company Timblo Pvt Ltd and its five directors Radha
  Satish Timblo, Chetan S Timblo, Rohan S Timblo, Anna C Timblo and Mallika R
  Timblo

• ·        
  They were charged under various sections of the Income Tax Act and Money
  Laundering Act. These names were received from French authorities and other
  countries.

• ·        
  Telecom giant SoftBank of Japan on 27 October 2014 pledged to make an
  investment of 10 billion US dollars (over 60000 crore rupees) in India’s IT and
  communications sector in coming years.
• ·        
  With this investment, SoftBank looks forward for opportunities in
  telecom space and the fast-growing e-commerce sector in India.
• ·        
  The investment proposal was made by SoftBank Chairman and Chief
  Executive Officer (CEO) Masayoshi Son during his meeting with Union Telecom
  Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. During his India visit, Masayoshi Son also met
  with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
• ·        
  Apart from this, SoftBank Group and Snapdeal on 28 October 2014 also
  announced definitive agreements under which SoftBank Group will become the
  largest investor in Snapdeal, through a total investment of 627 million US
  dollar.
• ·        
  The Group also announced a definitive agreement with ANI Technologies
  Pvt. Ltd. (better known as Ola Cabs) to invest 210 million US dollar in Ola
  along with existing investors.

• ·        
  Targeting an annual bilateral commerce of $15 billion by 2020, India on
  Tuesday offered a $300 million credit line to Vietnam for trade
  diversification. India has already extended a $100 million Line of Credit (LoC)
  last month to the South East Asian nation for defence procurement to help it
  modernise its armed forces.
• ·        
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan
  Dung noted that enhancing economic cooperation should be pursued as a strategic
  objective.
• ·        
  Expressing satisfaction on the steady progress made in enhancing trade
  and investment between the countries, both the leaders agreed to take measures
  to significantly expand and diversify bilateral commerce for mutually
  beneficial results and “agreed to enhance the trade targets to $15 billion
  by 2020,” a joint statement issued after the meeting said.
• ·        
  In 2013-14, the two-way commerce between India and Vietnam stood at $8
  billion.

• ·        
  India ranked 142 among the 189 countries surveyed for the latest World
  Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” report released on Wednesday, a drop by two
  places from the last year’s ranking, as Singapore topped the list.
• ·        
  The fall in ranking from last year’s 140 is mainly because other nations
  performed much better, Bank officials said. India’s ranking originally stood at
  134 last year, but was adjusted to 140 to account for fresh data.
• ·        
  In the 2014 report, India had 52.78 points and this year it scored 53.97
  points.
• ·        
  The latest ranking, however, does not take into account a slew of
  measures taken by the Modi government to make India a business friendly
  destination.

• ·        
  Supreme Court on 28 October 2014 rapped the Union Government and
  Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung over delay in Delhi Government
  formation.
• ·        
  The reprimand came when the Union Government informed Supreme Court that
  the President of India Pranab Mukherjee had given consent to invite the
  single-largest party BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) for forming the government in
  Delhi.
• ·        
  The Supreme Court also mentioned that in a democracy President Rule
  cannot go on forever. Currently, Delhi is in its eighth month of President Rule
  after the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government headed by Arvind Kejriwal
  resigned in February 2014.

• ·        
  President’s rule refers to Article 356 of the Constitution of India that
  deals with the failure of the constitutional machinery of an Indian state.
• ·        
  Article 356 is invoked if there has been failure of the constitutional
  machinery in any state of India. During President’s rule, the Governor has the
  authority to appoint retired civil servants or other administrators to assist
  him.

• ·        
  Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar on 28 October 2014 was elected
  Vice-President (VP) of Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) in Macau.  He was elected unopposed.
• ·        
  While, the representative from South Korean broadcaster KBS was chosen
  president.
• ·        
  Jawhar Sircar is the Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati, India’s
  national public service broadcaster, with the rank of Secretary to the
  Government of India.
• ·        
  He supervises the two broadcasting networks of India, namely, All India
  Radio (AIR) & Doordarshan (TV) that are among the first three biggest in
  the world.
• ·        
  He has served as the Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Government of
  India from late 2008 to February 2012, where he reported directly to the Prime
  Minister for most of his tenure.
• ·        
  He resigned to take over the current assignment for which he was chosen
  by an eminent panel led by the Vice President of India and Justice M Katju.

• ·        
  Surya Prakash on 28 October 2014 was appointed as the Chairman of Prasar
  Bharti Board for a term of three years. 
  He succeeded Mrinal Pande whose term ended on April 2014.
• ·        
  He was appointed on the recommendation of a three-member committee
  headed by Vice President M Hamid Ansari and comprising of Press Council of
  India Chairman Markandey Katju and Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal
  Julka.
• ·        
  At present, he is a Distinguished Fellow at the Vivekananda
  International Foundation in New Delhi and Director of India Foundation in New
  Delhi.

• ·        
  India and Vietnam on 28 October 2014 signed seven Memoranda of
  Understandings (MoUs) in New Delhi. The MoUs were signed during the visit of
  Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung in India.
• ·        
  The delegation level talks between India and Vietnam were focused on
  setting up projects in Vietnam on build, operate and transfer basis.

• •      
  The agreements were signed in the areas of education, culture,
  Information and Broadcasting and oil exploration.
• •      
  One agreement was signed for establishing Nalanda University.
• •      
  Another agreement was signed for developing a Centre of English language
  and Information and Communication Technology training at the Telecommunications
  University, Ministry of Defence, Vietnam.
• •      
  An agreement for audio-visual cooperation between Prasar Bharati and
  Voice of Vietnam was also signed.
• •      
  The two sides signed pacts for conservation and restoration of heritage
  sites of My Son, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam.
• •      
  An agreement was signed between the heads of ONGC Videsh Limited and
  PetroVietnam.
• •      
  Another agreement was signed for the establishment of a cultural
  exchange programme for 2015-17 between the Ministry of Culture of both nations.

• ·        
  Despite these agreements, the State Bank of Vietnam and the Bank of
  India also handed over the license between each other for opening a
  full-fledged branch of the Bank of India in Vietnam.
• ·        
  Moreover, India will soon operationalise 100 million US Dollars Line of
  Credit to Vietnam. India-Vietnam aim to enhance the trade targets to 15 billion
  US Dollars by 2020.

• ·        
  Union Defence Ministry on 25 October 2014 cleared the deal worth 8000
  crore rupees to buy anti tank missiles from Israel. The decision was taken at a
  meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) which was headed by Defence
  Minister Arun Jaitley.
• ·        
  Under the deal, India will buy at least 8000 Spike missiles and more
  than 300 launchers in a deal worth 32 billion rupees.
• ·        
  Twelve Dornier aircraft will also be bought for the navy and 362
  infantry combat vehicles. The council also agreed to go ahead with locally
  build six submarines in collaboration with a foreign partner in a project worth
  50000 crore rupees.
• ·        
  It also includes acquiring 1768 critical rolling stock – open and closed
  wagons for transport of military equipment at a cost of 740 crore rupees.
• ·        
  Under the deal, the union Ministry picks the Spike anti tank missile
  over the Javelin missiles of the US.

• ·        
  First, the extent of Technology Transfer to the Indian counterpart
  Bharat Dynamic wasn’t clear;
• ·        
  Second, the cost of the Israeli missiles was cheaper than the US missile
  and
• ·        
  Third, canceling the Israeli deal at the last moment would have sent
  wrong signals to the international community.

• ·        
  Delhi High Court (HC) on 26 October 2014 issued notice to the Attorney
  General of India (AGI) to suggest ways to reform the Indian Easement Act of
  1882 and examine the constitutional validity of the Section 60 (b) of the Act.
  With this, the Delhi HC begun the exercise independently to zero in on outdated
  laws that need to be phased out.
• ·        
  The Indian Easement Act deals with rights conferred on an individual
  over land not owned by him, but negotiated through a license agreement.
• ·        
  A Delhi HC bench headed by Justice J R Midha issued notice to the AGI
  after settling a property suit between two brothers. While settling the
  property suit, the bench raised questions about the Constitutional validity of
  section 60 (b) of the Act. Section 60 (b) gives all encompassing powers to a
  licensee in a property even though he doesn’t own it.
• ·        
  Justice Midha decided to examine the validity of the Act after it came
  to his attention during the hearings on the private suit that Section 60(b) of
  the Indian Easement Act, 1882 is heavily tilted against owner of the property.

• ·        
  India became the world’s fourth largest steel producer by delivering
  62.41 Million Tonnes (MT) output from January 2014 to September 2014. The
  findings were published on 21 October 2014 in the World Steel Association (WSA)
  data.
• ·        
  India has been the world’s fourth largest steel maker since 2010. As per
  the World Steel Association (WSA) data, the steel production of India grew by
  1.8 percent during the January-September period of 2014. India produced 61.27
  MT of steel in the same period in 2013.
• ·        
  India was preceded by China, Japan and the United States. China logged
  2.3 percent growth by producing 618 MT steel during the January-September
  period of 2014. Japan remained at the second position with 83.1 MT
  production  and United States stood at
  the third spot with 66.33 MT production.

• ·        
  68th Infantry Day was observed across India on 27 October 2014 to pay
  homage to war heroes.
• ·        
  The day was observed by performing the wreath-laying ceremony at the
  Parachute Regiment Training Centre War Memorial, JC Nagar in Bangalore,
  Karnataka.
• ·        
  Indian Army’s first Infantry contingent including troops of the 1 Sikh
  Infantry Battalion on 27 October 1947 landed at Srinagar Airfield and fought a
  courageous battle to liberate the Kashmir valley from the intruders. Till then,
  the princely State of Jammu and Kashmir was under attack by the tribal raiders
  supported by the troops of the newly formed Pakistani Army.
• ·        
  To commemorate this gallant action by the Infantry, 27 October is
  celebrated as the Infantry Day.

• ·        
  Sir Schindler Nicholas Winton on 28 October 2014 was awarded the Order
  of the White Lion of Czech Republic by the President Milos Zeman. The Order of
  the White Lion is the highest civilian honour of the Czech Republic.
• ·        
  He was awarded at the age of 105 in a ceremony held at Prague Castle,
  Czech Republic for saving 669 children from Nazis.
• ·        
  Nicholas also known as the British Schindler organised the
  transportation and settlement of 669 children, mostly Jews from German occupied
  Czechoslovakia before the Second World War broke out in 1939. He was 29 years
  old when he arranged trains to take the children out of occupied Czechoslovakia
  and for foster families to meet them in London.
• ·        
  In 2003, Winton received the Pride of Britain Award for Lifetime
  Achievement and he was named a British Hero of the Holocaust by the British
  Government in 2010.

• ·        
  Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan was recently in news as he was
  summoned by a US Federal Court in Los Angeles on 28 October 2014 for allegedly
  instigating violence against the Sikh community during the November 1984 riots.
• ·        
  Amitabh Bachchan  was accused of
  raising the slogan Khooon Ka Badla Khoon (blood for blood) on 31 October  1984 after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
  was shot dead by her two Sikh bodyguards.
• ·        
  The US Federal Court has given 21 days to Bachchan to respond to the
  charges of human rights violations as per the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
  However, if he failed to respond, judgment by default will be entered against
  him for relief demanded in the complaint.
• ·        
  The complaint against Amitabh Bachchan was filed by New York-based Sikh
  for Justice (SFJ) and two alleged victims Babu Singh Dukhiya and Mohender Singh
  of the anti-Sikh riots.
• ·        
  Over the past several years, SFJ has unsuccessfully tried to drag
  several Indian leaders to US courts in the alleged human rights violations
  cases.

• ·        
  Former Indian ambassador, Arathil Candeth Narayan Nambiar was described
  as a Soviet Spy by the declassified documents of the National Archives of
  Britain. The documents were released on 24 October 2014 under the 30-year-rule.
• ·        
  The declassified documents said that Nambiar, who was a deputy of
  freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and was also old friend of Pandit
  Jawaharlal Nehru, went to Berlin in 1924 as a journalist and worked with the
  Indian communist group, visiting Moscow as a Soviet guest in 1929, the year
  when he came under the radar of the British intelligence services.

• •      
  Nambiar was expelled from, Germany on the outbreak of the Second World
  War but was allowed to return as Subhash Chandra Bose’s deputy in Berlin
• •      
  He became a German-financed leader of the Free India Movement in Europe
  after Bose moved to the Far East to join the Japanese
• •      
  He lived in Europe during 1930s and 1940s
• •      
  In June 1945, he was arrested in Austria and was interrogated in
  September 1945 as a Nazi collaborator
• •      
  After World War-II, he worked as counsellor at the Indian Legation in
  Berne, as Indian ambassador to Scandinavia and then to West Germany
• •      
  He worked as European correspondent of the Hindustan Times
• •      
  The British documents also include the names and details of Netaji-led
  Azad Hind activities in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
• •      
  The declassified files also include copies of letters from Nambiar to
  Bose which recovered from the German submarine U-boat 234 after it surrendered
  during the Second World War

• ·        
  Google CEO Larry Page on 26 October 2014 appointed Sundar Pichai as new
  Product Chief of Google.
• ·        
  The India-born executive will oversight over products such as search,
  maps, Google+, commerce, advertising and infrastructure. Meanwhile, Google’s
  YouTube will remain under the command of Susan Wojcicki, CEO of the well known
  video hosting website.
• ·        
  The new role make him second-in-command at Google. Pichai has been
  working at Google for more than 9 years.
• ·        
  Six executives who previously reported to Page, including the heads of
  research, social media and search, will now report to Pichai. Pichai will now
  report to Larry Page.
• ·        
  In addition to handling his new responsibility, Pichai will continue to
  work as Senior Vice President of Android, Chrome and Apps.
• ·        
  He joined Google in 2004, where he led the product management and
  innovation efforts for a suite of Google’s client software products, including
  Google Chrome and Chrome OS, as well as being largely responsible for Google
  Drive.
• ·        
  On 20 May 2010, he announced the open-sourcing of the new video codec
  VP8 by Google, and introduced the new video format WebM.
• ·        
  On 13 March 2013, Pichai added Android to the Google products he
  oversees. Android was formerly managed by Andy Rubin.
• ·        
  In 2014, Sundar Pichai launched Android one project in India. Android
  one project was aimed at reaching the next 5 billion people.

• ·        
  Brazilian incumbent President Dilma Rousseff was re-elected for her
  second four-year term on 26 October 2014. She belongs to the center-left
  Workers’ Party and her second term will finish in December 2018.
• ·        
  She was re-elected after she secured 51.45 percent votes in the second
  round of voting that was held after no party crossed 50 percent barrier in the
  first round of voting held on 5 October 2014.
• ·        
  On the other hand, her rival Aecio Neves of the conservative Brazilian
  Social Democracy Party bagged 48.55 percent of the votes.
• ·        
  Besides, the second round of voting also saw her Workers’ Party forming
  the government in Brazil for the fourth year in a row. Workers’ Party first
  formed the government in 2002 with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as the President.
• ·        
  Rousseff who is 66 years old first became President in 2010, thus
  becoming the first woman President of Brazil. She is popular among the poor in
  Brazil because of her government’s welfare policies.

• ·        
  Ashwika Kapur on 24 October 2014 became the first Indian woman to win
  prestigious Wildscreen Panda Award. She won the coveted wildlife photography
  award in best newcomer category for her film, Sirocco – how a dud became a
  stud.
• ·        
  Panda award also known as Green Oscar of the natural history and
  wildlife film industry was announced at the annual Wildscreen Film Festival
  held at Bristol, UK.
• ·        
  Ashwika’s film is a tale of a Kakapo parrot named Sirocco, which is perhaps
  the only bird in the world to have bagged a government job. Sirocco, a male
  bird was appointed as the official Spokesbird for Conservation in New Zealand
  who helped in conservation advocacy on social media.

• ·        
  Parliament of Australia on 19 October 2014 lifted ban on facial
  coverings including burqas and niqabs in Public areas.
• ·        
  However, the face coverings would have to be removed temporarily at the
  front door so that staff could identify any person who may have been banned
  from entering Parliament House or who may be known, or discovered, to be a
  security risk.
• ·        
  The ban was lifted after Prime Minister Tony Abbott intervened following
  wide-scale condemnation of the decision of the Department of Parliamentary
  Services (DPS). The decision of the DPS was criticised as a segregation of
  Muslim women and a potential breach of anti-discrimination laws.
• ·        
  Earlier in the first week of October 2014, DPS had announced that
  persons with facial coverings would no longer be allowed in the open public
  galleries. Instead, they were to be directed to galleries usually reserved for
  noisy schoolchildren where they could sit behind soundproof glass.

• ·        
  Manjul Bhargava was recently in news because he won the Fields Medal
  awards for the year 2014. The Fields Medal is also known as the Nobel Prize of
  Mathematics and is awarded to mathematicians who are aged below 40.
• ·        
  Manjul Bhargava was awarded the Fields Medal for his pioneering work on
  several long standing and important problems in number theory, and for the
  methods he has introduced to achieve this phenomenal progress, methods that
  will influence research for years to come.
• ·        
  Professor Manjul Bhargava of Princeton University was recognised for his
  path-breaking contributions to some of the most famous and difficult problems
  in Number Theory.

• ·        
  Biography of Allama Muhammad Iqbal was released in October 2014. The
  biography is titled Iqbal: The Life of a Poet, Philosopher and Politician. The
  biography is written by Zafar Anjum, the editor of Kitaab. The book has been
  published by Random House.
• ·        
  The book highlights the story of Iqbal’s evolution as a poet,
  philosopher and politician and talks about his personal life. It also
  highlights some of the least known facets of the poet’s life. These facets
  include how did a nationalist poet transform into a poet of Islamic revivalism
  and global revolution? How did three years in Europe change Iqbal’s political
  and philosophical outlook? Why did he start writing in Persian during his stay
  in Europe? Why did his first marriage fail and how did his romantic
  relationships affect him? What exactly was the poet’s role in bringing about
  Partition?
• ·        
  Allama Mohammad Iqbal remains a controversial figure in the history of
  the Indian subcontinent. Sarojini Naidu called him the Poet laureate of Asia.
• ·        
  On the one hand, he is considered the Spiritual Father of Pakistan.
• ·        
  On the other, his message of Eastern revivalism places him in the ranks
  of the twentieth century’s major intellectuals.
• ·        
  Iqbal’s tragedy was that after his death, he was made the national poet
  of Pakistan and largely ignored in India. In his time, he was lauded as much as
  Tagore but today India celebrates Tagore while Iqbal has been banished from her
  consciousness.

• ·        
  International Internet Day was observed globally on 29 October 2014 to
  mark the anniversary of the first usage of the Internet to send a message
  electronically in 1969.
• ·        
  International Internet Day is celebrated worldwide on 29 October every
  year. Since 2005, the International Internet Day has been celebrated to
  commemorate a momentous day in the history of telecommunications and
  technology.
• ·        
  At the time when history was being made, Internet was known as ARPANET
  (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). This was the year of 1969 when a
  student programmer at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Charley
  Kline transmitted the first ever electronic message on 29 October 1969.
• ·        
  Charley Kline working under the supervision of Professor Leonard
  Kleinrock transmitted a message from the computer based at the UCLA to a
  computer positioned at the Stanford Research Institute’s computer.

• ·        
  Serena Williams of the US on
  26 October 2014 won the Singles title of BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore 2014.
  In the finals held at Singapore Indoor Stadium, she defeated Simona Halep of
  Romania 6-3, 6-0.
• ·        
  With this win, she won the
  WTA Finals for the fifth time. Earlier, she had won the WTA Finals title in
  2001, 2009, 2012 and 2013.

• ·        
  Martina Navratilova – eight
  titles (1978, 1979, 1981, 1983-86*)
• ·        
  Steffi Graf – five titles
  (1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996)
• ·        
  Serena Williams – five
  titles (2001, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014)
• ·        
  Chris Evert – four titles
  (1972, 1973, 1975, 1977)
• ·        
  Monica Seles – three titles
  (1990, 1991, 1992)
• ·        
  Kim Clijsters – three titles
  (2002, 2003, 2010)

• ·        
  Sania Mirza (India) and Cara
  Black (Zimbabwe) won the WTA doubles title against Peng Shuai (China) and Hsieh
  Su-Wei (Chinese Taipei), 6-1, 6-0.

• ·        
  Para-swimmer Sharath
  Gayakwad on 26 October 2014 broke the 28-year old record of P T Usha of winning
  the most medals at a multi-discipline event by an Indian. He achieved this feat
  at Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea.
• ·        
  At the games, Sharath Gayakwad
  won 6 medals, thus breaking the record held by PT Usha. She had won 5 medals at
  the 1986 Asian Games held in Seoul, South Korea.

• ·        
  South Africa’s football
  captain and goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa died on 26 October 2014 after being shot.
  The incident occurred at Meyiwa’s girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s house in Vosloorus,
  south of Johannesburg.
• ·        
  The 27-year-old Meyiwa was
  killed after two armed men broke into the house where he was staying, while a
  third man remained outside. All three fled after the shots were fired.
• ·        
  South African Police has
  announced a reward of 14000 US dollars reward for information leading to the
  suspects’ arrest.

• ·        
  Alan Eustace, a senior
  Google vice-president on 24 October 2014 broke the world altitude record for
  highest free-fall parachute jump. Eustace broke the world altitude record of
  parachute jump set by Austrian Felix Baumgartner.
• ·        
  57-year-old Eustace jumped in
  a specially designed space suit from an altitude of 135908-feet. Baumgartner
  created a world record of jumping from 128000 feet on 12 October 2012.
• ·        
  He was carried by a large
  balloon filed with 35000 cubic feet of helium from New Mexico to over 40 kilometers
  (25 miles) above the earth. After Jumping, he crossed the speed of more than
  1300 kilometer per hour, which exceeded the speed of sound, setting off a small
  sonic boom, and broke three skydiving records in the process. After starting
  his fall, he reached earth within 15 minutes.

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