1. Teresa Kho is ADBs new Country Director for India i. The - TopicsExpress



          

1. Teresa Kho is ADBs new Country Director for India i. The Asian Development Bank has a new Country Director for India in Teresa Kho. ii. Kho, who assumed charge as Country Director for India on Monday, was previously heading the Bangladesh Resident Mission of ADB. iii. She replaces Hun Kim, who is now Deputy Director General of ADBs South Asia Department in Manila. iv. “India is one of the ADB’s most important clients. For ADB, it has been a privilege to partner with the Indian Government and support the Government’s development agenda. 2. Facebook celebrates its 10th birthday i. Facebook — with more than 1.2 billion users worldwide — is celebrating its 10th birthday amidst challenges of keeping its original base of young users with new innovative social networks coming to the fore. ii. The company was launched by Mark Zuckerberg on February 4, 2004, from Harvard University. iii. The site was conceived as a way to connect students, and let them build an online identity for themselves, ‘Computer World’ reported. iv. According to the company’s own recent figures, the social networking site has since expanded to cover a large swath of the world, with more than 1.2 billion people using its site on a monthly basis. v. Among the growing challenges is the soaring popularity of smartphone apps that let people share images, videos, thoughts or observations at any moment. vi. Social networking sites such as Pinterest, Twitter and SnapChat have sparked concerns that Facebook which set a social networking trend in motion may be losing its original teen base. vii. A recent Princeton University study suggested that Facebook may lose around 80 per cent of its users over the next three years, a claim which was challenged by the social networking site. viii. According to a recent report in iStrategyLabs, Facebook lost more than 3 million users in the age group of 13 and 17 between January 2011 and January 2014. 3. Silverine Swer, Meghalayas first Padma Shri Awardee died i. Silverine Swer, the first Padma Shri awardee of Meghalaya died on 1 January 2014 at her residence at Riatsamthiah. ii. She was of 103 years in age. She received the Padma Shri award in 1990 from the then President of India, R. Venkararaman. She was also the oldest voter from Meghalaya. About Silverine Swer i. She saw four wars namely the two world wars, Sino-India War and India’s involvement in the Liberation War of Bangladesh ii. She was born on 12 November 1910 iii. In 1932, she completed her degree from the Scottish Church College in then Calcutta iv. She was a member of the Good Will Movement of the Moral Rearmament (MRA) v. She served as the Chairperson of the State Social Welfare Advisory Board vi. Chairperson of the International Year for Women – 4. Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour died i. Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York apartment yesterday, a law enforcement official said. He was 46. ii. Hoffman has over 60 film credits to his name, including Magnolia, The Master, Boogie Nights, the Big Lebowski, Mission Impossible iii. He won the best actor Oscar for his 2005 portrayal of writer Truman Capote in the film Capote. He made his debut as a film director in 2010 with the New York-set Jack Goes Boating, in which he also starred. 5. India, Germany may sign €1 bn pact for greenfield projects i. India and Germany could sign an agreement for €1 billion for greenfield projects during the visit of the German President. Addressing a press conference, the German ii. Ambasador says the agreement is being finalised. The President arrives here on February 4 for a state visit. 6. Karnataka beat Maharashtra; Lift Ranji Trophy i. Karnataka defeated Maharashtra by seven wickets to lift the Ranji Trophy for cricket today. On the fifth and the last day of the final at Hyderabad , chasing a target of 157 runs, Karnataka sailed through, losing only three wickets in their second innings. ii. Earlier, Maharashtra resuming their innings with overnight 272 for six were all out for 366 in their second innings. For Karntaka, R Vinay Kumar and Shreyash Gopal claimed four wickets each while remaining two were bagged by Abhimanyu Mithun. Maharashtra were 210 runs behind Karnataka on the basis of first innings score. iii. Karnataka have won the trophy for seventh time. Lokesh Rahul of Karnataka who made the highest 131 in the first innings and 29 in the second was adjudged Man of the Match. iv. BRIEF SCORE: Karnataka: 515 and 157 for three; Maharashtra: 305 and 366 all out. 7. Rafael Nadal remains top in ATP ranking list i. Rafael Nadal remains top of the men’s ATP tennis rankings released Monday. ii. The Spaniard tops the standings ahead of Serbia’s Novak Djokavic and Australian Open winner Statislas Wawrinka of Switzerland. ATP top 10 as of February 3 (1) Rafael Nadal, Spain, (2) Novak Djokovic, Serbia (3) Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland (4) Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina (5) David Ferrer, Spain, 8. Serena Williams continues to dominate WTA tennis rankings i. Serena Williams retains her commanding advantage at the top of the WTA women’s tennis rankings issued Monday. ii. Williams remains on 13,000 points, well clear of next challengers Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) on 6,581 and Australian Open winner Li Na on 6,570. WTA top 5 as of February 3 (1) Serena Williams, United States (2) Victoria Azarenka, Belarus (3) Li Na, China, (4) Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland (5) Maria Sharapova, Russia 9. Virat Kohli fourth in ICC Twenty20 rankings i. Virat Kohli slipped a rung but was still the best-placed Indian batsman at fourth in the latest ICC Twenty20 rankings issued today. ii. He was followed by Suresh Raina at fifth and Yuvraj Singh at sixth. Both these batsmen gained a position to move up the list. iii. However, no Indian found a place in the top-10 of bowlers’ list, while Yuvraj was steady at third in the all-rounders’ chart. iv. Elsewhere, Australia opener Aaron Finch jumped five places to a career-best third position after the home side beat England by 84 runs in Sydney to sweep the series 3-0. 10. Govt slashes CNG prices by Rs 15 per kg i. With an aim to connect with the ‘Aam Aadmi’ chord, Central government on Monday announced the reduction in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) prices by about Rs 15 per kg and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) by Rs 5. ii. Prices of CNG or compressed natural gas in the national capital had been hiked by Rs 4.50 last month to Rs 50.10 a kg after retailers such as Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) were forced to buy a fifth of their gas (LNG) requirements from overseas. iii. The price increase led to protests from the newly-elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government in Delhi as well as autorickshaw operators, who had called a maha-panchayat this week to decide on a possible strike. iv. CNG in Delhi currently costs Rs 50.10 per kg and piped cooking gas Rs 29.50 per standard cubic metre.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 19:11:49 +0000

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