21st October Current Affairs: Awards 1. Malala Yousafzai conferred 2014 Liberty Medal • Malala Yousafzai was conferred with the 2014 Liberty Medal on 21 October 2014 at the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia. • She was honoured with the award for her continued demonstration of courage and resilience in the face of adversity and for serving as a powerful voice for those who have been denied their basic human rights and liberties. • Malala has pledged to donate the award money of 100000 US Dollars towards education in Pakistan. 2. Denis Mukwege won prestigious Sakharov human rights prize • Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege Mukengere on 21 October 2014 won the prestigious Sakharov human rights prize 2014. • He was awarded for his efforts in helping thousands of gang rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo. • The pro-Western Ukraine democracy and rights group EuroMaidan which led the popular revolt against deposed president Viktor Yanukovych was declared as the runner-up. Appointments 1. Manohar Lal Khattar, a 60-year-old RSS man and first-time legislator will be Haryanas new chief minister. He was elected at a meeting of the BJPs new MLAs, edging out other contenders like Captain Abhimanyu, a Jat leader. • ML Khattar will be Haryanas first non-Jat chief minister in 18 years; Jats have for long dominated politics in the state as the single biggest chunk of voters. In the days ahead, the party, which has won a majority on its own for the first time in Haryana, will have to do a balancing act. • ML Khattar is an unmarried former RSS pracharak or functionary, who was deputed to the BJP 20 years ago. He has worked closely with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the latter had charge of the state in the 90s. The PM began his Haryana campaign from Karnal, ML Khattars constituency. 2. Indian-American Anita M Singh, who previously worked at the White House on cyber-related issues, has been appointed the Chief of Staff and Counsellor in the National Security Division of the US Justice Department. • As NSDs Chief of Staff, Singh will focus on strategic management issues including the design of structural changes to support work in emerging threat areas, according to a statement from the Justice Department. 3. Cairn India announced that its board has approved the appointment of Mayank Ashar as the company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer with effect from November 17. • Ashar has more than 36 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and his previous assignments include leadership roles in British Petroleum, Petro-Canada and Suncor Energy. Banking 1. SBI determined to continue retail banking in UK • State Bank of India is still determined to carry out the carry out the retail banking operations in UK. The SBI has been operating in UK since past 95 years. • The bank has reported that tough the bank of England has halted on the operations of foreign-owned banks in the country, but bank is determined to continue. The SBI is having 900 million pounds of deposits in Britain. The bank is very well established in the country. Deaths 1. Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta died • Iconic fashion designer Oscar de la Renta died on 20 October 2014 at Kent, Connecticut. • He was 82.He died after a 10-year battle with cancer. • He was famous for floral, feminine, classy, elegant designs, flattering silhouettes with full skirts. 2. CEO of Total Christophe de Margerie died • Chief Executive officer (CEO) of oil company Total Christophe de Margerie on 21 October 2014 died in Moscow plane crash. • He was 63. His corporate jet collided with a snow plough and was then engulfed in flames. • Christophe de Margerie was the CEO of Europes third largest oil company since 2007. He was highly regarded within the oil industry. Economy 1. Govt orders merger of NSEL with its holding company FTIL • To ensure speedy recovery of dues for investors and others hit by 5,600-crore rupees fraud at the National Spot Exchange Ltd, the government today ordered merger of the scam-hit firm with its holding company Financial Technologies India Ltd, FTIL. • The decision, which comes over a year after the payments cam broke out at NSEL in July 2013, has been taken in essential public interest as the exchange is not left with any viable, sustainable business while FTIL has necessary resources to facilitate speedy recovery of dues. • The move to merge NSEL with FTIL, possibly the first major government intervention in a scam-hit private sector entity since the Satyam case in 2009. • Financial Technologies (India) Ltd is the holding company of this group, which had also set up commodity bourse MCX and stock exchange MCX-SX, among other exchange ventures. 2. CBI files revised closure report in Hindalco coal case • The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a detailed and comprehensive revised final closure report before special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar in a coal block allocation scam case involving Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, former Coal Secretary PC Parakh and others About Hindalco: • The Hindustan Aluminum Corporation Limited was established in 1958 by the Aditya Birla Group. In 1962 the company began production in Renukoot in Uttar Pradesh making 20 thousand metric tons per year of aluminium metal and 40 thousand metric tons per year of alumina. In 1989 the company was restructured and renamed Hindalco 3. Govt to sell 5 per cent stake in ONGC in November, may garner Rs 18,000 crore • The official said the disinvestment secretary held a meeting with merchant bankers in this regard. • The disinvestment department has also selected 5 merchant bankers - Citigroup, HSBC Securities, UBS Securities, ICICI Securities and Kotak Mahindra Capital - for managing the stake sale. • The government had last sold 5 per cent stake in ONGC in 2012 for Rs 14,000 crore. • In the current fiscal the government plans to mop up Rs 43,425 crore from stake sale in various public sector undertakings. About disinvestment: • The cabinet committee on economic affairs on Wednesday approved stake sales in Coal India Ltd (CIL), Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) and NHPC Ltd, seeking to raise money that could help plug the government’s fiscal deficit and fund public works projects to lift economic growth. • The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Narendra Modi will sell a 5% stake in ONGC (the country’s biggest energy explorer), 10% in CIL (the world’s biggest coal miner), and 11.36% in NHPC (the state-owned hydropower producer). About Budgetary target of dis-investment: • The budget set a disinvestment target of Rs.58,425 crore, including Rs.15,000 crore from the sale of residual stakes in the erstwhile government companies. International 1. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the scientific community to invest more talent and resources to research that would contribute to UN’ s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). • Ban made the remarks at the United Nations Economic and Social Council Special Event that marks the 60th anniversary of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). • Calling CERN’s work “groundbreaking”, Ban noted “whether we are trying to address climate change, stop the Ebola virus, deal with cyber security threats, or curb nuclear proliferation, we need scientists with a clear vision and a commitment to work together to find solutions.” • CERN, founded in 1954 in Geneva, owns the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest particle accelerator which is used to study the fundamental constituents of matter and forces between them. CERN is also the birthplace of the World Wide Web. National 1. Goa Tourism has launched a women taxi service, thus making Goa among the few states in the country to offer taxis driven by women, as per a release. The service was flagged off by Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister of Goa, in Miramar. • Goa Tourism decided to take this step to cater to female tourists and residents in the state. • The initiative taken up by Goa Tourism is good, this will give a new career direction to women. Private companies should take note and hire women, thus creating jobs for women. Goa must also go for 100 per cent metering in all taxis. • The taxis will be driven by female drivers who are trained in self defence, soft skills, first aid, and have knowledge of tourist spots, thus doubling up as tourist guides to their passengers when needed. The drivers are groomed in basic etiquette, personal hygiene, and customer relations. The cars will be equipped with GPS monitoring system, which supports a panic alert button controlled by the back office. 2. The e-auction of coal blocks for private companies got the nod from President Pranab Mukherjee who promulgated an Ordinance cleared by the Union Cabinet in the backdrop of Supreme Court order quashing 214 coal blocks to companies since 1993. • The move, seen as a step towards energy sector reforms, will allow private companies to bid for captive use and allot mines directly to State and Central public sector undertakings. 3. The Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) demanded a ban on the film ‘Rang Rasiya’ saying it maligns the character of great Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma. • The film directed by Ketan Mehta, not only indulges in character assassination of Raja Ravi Verma but it also has the potential to malign people’s perspective of him. The great artist’s descendant Mr. Rama Varma has strongly opposed the film.The HJS came down heavily on Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for “passing films which are obscene and anti-Hindu”. 4. The Andhra Pradesh government would soon constitute a committee of experts to come out with a Blue Book to tackle cyclones and other disasters, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. • Addressing a press conference, Mr. Naidu said the Blue Book would be a kind of a manual containing the whole gamut of measures to be taken on disaster management, including prevention, preparedness, relief, restoration and rehabilitation. • National and State-level experts would be on the committee. International experts too would be consulted. It would also go into issues such as the equipment and manpower needed. Persons in News 1. Indias chief hockey coach Terry Walsh sprang a surprise by resigning from his post because of a pay dispute, barely three weeks after guiding the team to a historic gold medal in the Asian Games in Incheon. • The 60-year-old Australian, himself a noted Olympian, submitted his resignation in dramatic fashion, saying that he was finding it difficult to adjust to the decision making style of the sporting bureaucracy in the country. • I hereby tender my resignation as the Chief Coach, Indian Mens Hockey Team, effective as per the details of my contract or as agreed to by all concerned parties, Walsh said in a letter sent to SAI Director General Jiji Thomson. 2. Oscar Pistorus has been sentenced to five years in prison for the death of Reeva Steenkamp, although the disgraced athlete could serve as little as 10 months behind bars. • Judge Masipa ruled a non-custodial sentence would send the wrong impression to the community, but a long sentence would not be appropriate because it would appear to lack mercy. • The athlete was immediately taken down to the cells, before being transferred to the notorious Pretoria Central Prison. Seminars – Meetings 1. India and China has agreed to step up engagements between their militaries by setting up hotlines between the Army headquarters. • The two sides have also agreed to establish new border meeting posts to address incidents of incursions like the one in Ladakh area that occurred in September 2014. • This decision was disclosed by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying in Beijing. • The agreement was reached during the meet of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs which was held in New Delhi. Special Days 1. Global Iodine Deficiency Disorders Prevention Day • Global Iodine Deficiency Disorders Prevention Day was observed across the World on 21 October 2014. • The day was observed to create awareness of the need to prevent iodine deficiency. • One third of the world population is exposed to the risk of iodine deficiency disorders. • In India, more than six core people are suffering from iodine deficiency disorders including endemic goiter and 88 lakh people from mental or motor handicaps. 2. Police Commemoration Day • The Police Commemoration Day was observed in New Delhi on 21 October 2014 with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh as chief guest. • The day was observed as a mark of respect to brave police martyrs, who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. • The day was observed to mark the memory of these gallant personnel who were killed in Ladakh and all other Police personnel killed on duty during the year. Sports 1. BCCI suspends all bilateral tours to West Indies • BCCI will take legal action against West Indies Cricket Board after its national team abandoned the India series with another one-dayer, a Twenty20 international and three Test matches left to play over a protracted payment dispute between the players and their board. • The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to suspend bilateral tours with West Indies and will take legal against the Caribbean cricket Board for abruptly pulling out of the India tour last week • The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said it had been left with no choice but to abandon the tour of India, an action that angered the worlds richest cricket body, who swiftly roped in Sri Lanka as replacement to play a five-match ODI series next month. 2. Caroline Wozniacki Beats Maria Sharapova at WTA Finals • Maria Sharapovas chances of claiming the season-ending No. 1 ranking after a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-2 loss to Caroline Wozniacki at the WTA Finals. • It was Wozniackis second straight victory over Sharapova. The Dane also won in the fourth round of this years US Open.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 01:42:58 +0000
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