Current Affairs: FEB 18, 2014

Current Affairs: FEB 18, 2014

National Affairs

1. Tamil Nadu transport department creates Guinness world record for organising the largest blood donation camp. 

i) The camp saw 53,129 volunteers donating a total of 18439 litres of blood.

ii) It was organized to celebrate CM Jayalalithaa's birthday.

iii) The previous record was held by a camp organized in Haryana where 43732 people had volunteered to donate blood in 2010.

2. Telangna Bill passed in Lok Sabha by voice vote

i. In an unprecedented move, live telecast of Parliament proceedings was stopped as the Lok Sabha passed the controversial bill that seeks to create a Telangana state by dividing Andhra Pradesh. 

ii. The bill was passed unanimously, with the support of the main opposition BJP, but the party says it was not aware of the TV blackout. 

iii. In proceedings that cannot be witnessed outside the House, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has spoken and the bill is now being taken up clause by clause. 

iv. Notwithstanding the continuing protests inside and outside Parliament, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde moved the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2014 for consideration even as MPs from Seemandhra, including ministers, were in the Well opposing bifurcation of the state. 

v. Sixteen members from the region, belonging to Congress, TDP and YSR Congress, were suspended from the House last Thursday till 20th February after unprecedented pandemonium that saw expelled Congress member L Rajagopal bursting pepper spray causing commotion. 

vi. Members from Telangana region were also in the Well seeking early creation of the separate state. 

3. India has met bud deficit target; fiscal position weak: Moody's

i. Global rating agency Moody's on Tuesday said India's interim budget is in line with the policy assumptions that underpin the government's Baa3 rating with a stable outlook. 

ii. The global rating agency has, however, cautioned that India's fiscal position remains "weak". 

iii. Moody's stable outlook on India's Baa3 sovereign rating incorporates the macro-economic risks posed by the government's high deficit and debt ratios as well as its recent efforts to control the fiscal deficit through ad hoc measures," it said in a statement on Tuesday. 

iv. The rating also incorporates the medium-term credit support provided by the government's favourable access to domestic savings for the purposes of financing its large borrowing requirements, the statement added. 

v. "Moody's notes that India's fiscal deficit ratios have declined over the last two years, but its general (central and state) government fiscal deficits remain higher than those of similarly rated peers," it said. 

vi. The fiscal deficit, which is the gap between expenditure and revenue, was at 4.9 percent of GDP in the previous financial year. 

vii. According to Moody's, while demonstrating a commitment to meeting its deficit targets, the Indian government's spending cuts are also likely to constrain GDP growth in the current year. 

4. Bhagat Singh's house, school get Rs 80 mn for restoration 

i. Legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh's ancestral house, school and his village in Punjab Province in Pakistan will be restored under a Rs 80-million project. 

ii. The amount will also be spent for the uplift of Singh's village where clean drinking water is not available and drainage system is in bad shape," Faisalabad District Coordination Officer Noorul Amin Mengal said.

iii. Mengal said that people in Faisalabad "take pride in the fact that Bhagat Singh was the son of their soil" and want the place to be known as "the town of Bhaghat Singh".

iv. The celebrated revolutionary was born September 28, 1907 at Bangay village, Jaranwala Tehsil in the Faisalabad (then Lyallpur) district of the Province.

v. The Punjab government had decided to rechristen the Fawara Chowk to Bhaghat Singh Chowk in October 2012.

vi. The plan, however, was put on hold after the report of renaming drew objections from some quarters

5. No death sentence for Rajiv Gandhi's assassins: SC

i. In a major relief to three condemned prisoners in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday commuted their death sentence to life imprisonment on the ground of 11 years delay in deciding their mercy plea by the Centre.

ii. A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam rejected the Centre's submission that there was no unreasonable delay in deciding their mercy plea and the condemned prisoners did not go through agonising experience as they were enjoying life behind the bars. 

iii. The bench, also comprising justices Ranjan Gogoi and S K Singh, said they are unable to accept the Centre's view and commuted the death sentence of convicts--Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan--to imprisonment for life subject to remission by the government. 

iv. "Their main contention was that the delay of 11 years and four months in disposal of the mercy petitions made the execution of the death sentence "unduly harsh and excessive," amounting to violation of their right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. 

Note: i. Rajiv Gandhi was killed in May 1991. His assassins were convicted by a TADA court in January 1998 and were awarded death sentence, which was confirmed by the apex court 11th May 1999. 

ii. The bench had reserved its verdict on 4th February on the petition of the three convicts for commutation of their death sentence to life imprisonment on ground of delay in deciding their mercy plea. 

iii. Their plea was strongly opposed by the Centre which had said that it was not a fit case for the apex court to commute death sentence on the ground of delay in deciding mercy plea. 

6.  Arun Jaitley launched a book entitled ModiNomics in Delhi

i. Arun Jaitely, a BJP leader on 16 February 2014 unveiled a book entitled ModiNomics: Inclusive Economics, Inclusive Governanceat the Indian Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road in New Delhi. The book has been authored by Sameer Kochhar.

ii. The book presents an insight of Modi’s idea of both Inclusive Economics as well as Inclusive Governance.

iii. It also speaks about the vision of Narendra Modi about economic and development strategies. The programme of book launch was skipped by the BJPs Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. 

Some other books of Sameer Kochhar
i. Growth & Finance: Essays in Honour of C. Rangarajan. The books preface was written by P. Chidambaram and its forward has been written by Manmohan Singh
ii.  Speeding Financial Inclusion preface was written by C. Rangarajan
iii. Policymaking for Indian Planning: Essays on Contemporary Issues in Honour of Montek S. Ahluwalia was edited by Sameer Kochhar
iv. Building from the Bottom: Infrastructure and Poverty Alleviation was edited by Sameer Kochhar

International Affairs

7. Matteo Renzi has been asked by Italian president 'Giorgio Napolitano' to form new government  following resignation of PM Enrico Letta a few days ago.  

He, at 39, will become the country's youngest Prime Minister if he succeeds in proving his majority in parliament.

8. Abdul Basit is to replace Salman Bashir as the new High Commissioner of Pakistan to India. 

9.  Tom Finney, the former England footballer died at the age of 91

i. Tom Finney, the great footballer died at the age of 91 on 14 February 2014. In the English game, he was rivaled by Bobby Charlton and Staneley Matthews.

ii. He is nicknamed as the Preston Plumber. Between 1946 and 1960, Finney made appearance in more than 400 leagues for Preston North End and won 76 caps for England.

10.  Killa, a Marathi film bagged Crystal Bear award at 64th Berlin International Film Festival

i. Killa, a Marathi film on 17 February 2014 won the Crystal Bear (Glasernen Bar) for the best film award by the Children’s jury in Generation Kplus section at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.  The film has been directed by Avinash Arun. 

ii. The jury in its citation for the award to the film said that the film deals with the universal conflict of migration and how it impacts the lives of people, especially children made them want to discover India. The film Killa convinced the jury in all respects with good camera work and the great actors. 

iii. In the entire history in Berlinale, Killa is the third Marathi film to be selected and is the first Indian film to win this award.

Note: Killa is a film that deals with the universal conflict of migration and the process, how this migration impacts the lives of people, mainly children. The story of the film revolves around a young boy named Chinu who finds it difficult to adjust to the new surroundings after he migrated following death of his father.

Google purchases Israeli security start-up Slick Login - which has developed a sound based password alternative. 

Sports

11. India in 2nd position in ICC Test team rankings

i. India have retained their second position in the ICC Test team rankings following a draw in the second and final Test today against New Zealand, which won the series 1-Nil. 

ii. Australia are currently leading South Africa 1-0 in the three-Test series, and they need minimum of a draw in the series to move ahead of India.

iii. However, South Africa are already guaranteed with the number-one position at cut-off date.

12. NZ win 2-Cricket Test series against India 1-0 as 2nd Test at Wellington ends in draw

i. New Zealand have won the two match Test Series against India 1-Nil, with the Wellington Test ending in a draw. Resuming the final day today at the overnight score of 571 for 6, the hosts declared their second innings at 680 for 8, giving India an improbable 435 runs to chase in little over two sessions of play. 

ii. Earlier, New Zealand Skipper, Brendon McCullum created history by becoming the first Kiwi to score a triple hundred. McCullum struck a historic 302, while debutant James Neesham scored an unbeaten 137. Given 67 overs to survive, India were in strife as they lost their third wicket with just 54 on board. 

iii. ollowing which Virat Kohli entered and scored his 6th century to make sure India didn't lose the Test. The match ended in a draw, with India scoring 166 for 3 at stumps on the final day.

iv. McCullum was adjudged man of the match.

13. Peng Shuai of China ranked World No. 1 in WTA Doubles Ranking

i. Peng Shuai of China was ranked World Number 1 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Doubles ranking released on 17 February 2014.

ii. Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei was ranked No.2 in WTA Doubles ranking which is the highest ranking ever for a player from Chinese Taipei.

iii. Peng Shuai is the first Chinese player to ascend to the top of the WTA's doubles ranking.

iv. The pair is also the first team from Asia to win the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships held in Istanbul in 2013.

14. Li Na of China ranked World No. 2 in WTA Singles Ranking

i. Li Na of China was ranked World Number 2 in the latest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles ranking released on 17 February 2014. Li Na became the first Asian player, Male or Female, to hold the WTA World No. 2 singles ranking.

ii. She moved to second spot with 6690 points behind the American great Serena Williams, the 17-time Grand Slam title-winner, on 12380 points. She was ranked World No. 3 in WTA singles ranking in 2013.

iii. Li Na, 32, won the Australian Open 2014 adding to her only Grand Slam title French Open which she won in 2011.

15. India to host its maiden World Bridge Championship both for men (Bermuda Bowl) and women (Venice Cup) in October 2015. The biennial event is the biggest event of card games in the world. 

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