Current Affairs (April 14th - 20th 2014)

5/23/2014 Current Affairs (April 14th - 20th 2014)
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Current Affairs (April 14th - 20th 2014)
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
South Korean ship carrying 462 passengers and crew drowned on 16th April 2014 off the
south of the Korean Peninsula. Only 174 passengers were rescued and as many as 293
people were still missing. The ship was drowned some 20 kilometres off the island of Byungpoong.
Ship was carrying about 470 passengers including the students and teachers towards a route to
Jeju Island. Jeju Island is located at about 100 km (60 miles) south of the Korean peninsula and is
an excursion place. At least four people, including a student, died in the accident.
Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine on 17th April agreed on a
plan to resolve the crisis in Ukraine through a constitutional reform. It would grant more
powers to Russian-speaking regions. The Foreign Ministers of the four Countries signed a
joint statement on de-escalation of the Ukraine crisis. Talks were held at Geneva. The Plan
document claims that disarming all irregular forces and vacating seized buildings across Ukraine. It
also provides for amnesty for all protesters, except those who have committed grave crimes.
Russia, the U.S. and the E.U. have called on Ukraine to launch a broad national dialogue involving
all political forces and all regions with the aim of undertaking a constitutional reform. The
constitutional reform should provide for decentralisation of authority, election of regional bodies
of power and guaranteeing the language rights of Russian-speakers. The plan has incorporated
Russias main demands for a settlement in Ukraine. The four-party talks took place against the
backdrop of a serious aggravation of the situation in eastern Ukraine.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika won the Presidential elections for the fourth time consecutively in
Algeria on 18th April 2014. He belongs to National Liberation Front party. Abdelaziz Bouteflika
got around 81 per cent of the vote. Ali Benflis, main opponent, received 12.18 percent of the total
votes. In 1999, Bouteflika took office when Algeria was still in a civil war between the military and
Islamist militants and restored some economic stability.
Algeria is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa on the Mediterranean coast.
Its capital city is Algiers.
Algeria is the tenth-largest country in the world.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been the President of Algeria since 1999 and has won four
consecutive elections.
Algeria's economy is largely based on hydrocarbons. The country supplies large
amounts of natural gas to Europe and energy exports are the backbone of the
economy.
Algeria has 17th largest reserves of oil in the world, and second largest in Africa.
Two Russian navy ships on 19th April reached at Karachi port on a first-ever goodwill
visit to Pakistan for a naval exercise. The visit is for strengthening bilateral relations. During
their stay, various training activities and discussions on maritime security will be held between
Pakistani and Russian naval officers. The Russian ships will also conduct passage exercise with
Pakistan Navy's vessels. The Russian navy ships are being led by Rear Admiral Dmitrieve Vladimir
Alexandrovich. The Russian navy goodwill visit is so important that, Pakistan and Russia have
historically been on opposite sides since the Cold War, when Islamabad supported the anti-Soviet
Mujahideen in neighbouring Afghanistan against invading Russian troops in the 1980s. Russia has
also been traditionally close to India and is a major defence supplier for the Indian military.
NATIONAL ISSUES
Supreme Court of India in a judgement on 15th April 2014 recognised transgender as the
third category of sex. In a land mark judgment that came while hearing PIL (Public Interest
Litigation) of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v/s Union of India & Ors., the Supreme
Court claimed transgender as socially and economically backward. A bench of Supreme Court
comprising Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and A.K. Sikri in its decision had directed the centre and
state governments to take essential steps for bringing the community into the mainstream by
providing adequate healthcare, education and employment. The Court expressed concern over
discrimination and harassment of the transgenders across the country hence it has asked the
government to take remedial measures. In its direction, the bench has also asked the governments
to grant them all facilities like voter, driving license, ration card and passport.
Kul Bhushan, Member of Railway Board inaugurated a web based Electrical Energy
Management System called RAILSAVER on 15th April. The new system will improve the
energy efficiency on Indian Railways. RAILSAVER is a web based Electrical Energy
Management System, which was developed by Centre of Railway Informatics System (CRIS), an
autonomous organization under the Ministry of Railways. This portal will be very useful for Indian
Railways in reducing carbon footprint which is very important for addressing the challenges of
global warming and sustainability of our environment.
The portal RAILSAVER will provide a perfect IT based platform for energy consumption data which
will pave the way for systematic collection, assimilation, interpretation and analysis of data in
evolving future strategies for conceiving, implementing and further intensifying energy
conservation efforts on Indian Railways. The portal is a part of the project for Improving Energy
Efficiency in Indian Railway System being executed by Indian Railways under programmatic
framework of UNDP through Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funding of US $ 5.2 million.
ECONMIC ISSUES
The European Parliament on 15 April 2014 approved the Banking Union reforms. The
banking reforms provides for a set of rules to supervise the euro zone banks and deal
with any future failures. The Banking Union reforms are essential for the monetary union of the
Euro single currency whose very existence came under threat as the debt crisis forced Greece and
then Ireland and Portugal to seek massive international bailouts in the recent past.
To establish a new oversight system known as the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) under the
European Central Bank (ECB), the new scheme will become operational from November 2014. A
fund of 55 billion Euros (76 billion dollars) will be set up to cover the cost of closures. The fund will
be paid by a levy on the banks. Lenders must comply with stricter rules of conduct and capital
levels. The aim is to limit the amount of risk a lender can take on and to ensure that shareholders
and creditors shoulder the cost of any rescue, not the taxpayer.
About EU-
The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 28 member states that are
located primarily in Europe. The EU operates through a system of supranational independent
institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the member states.
The EU has 7 institutions- the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the
European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Parliament, the
European Central Bank, the Court of Auditors. The European Parliament is elected every five
years by EU citizens.
The EU was the recipient of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.
The European Union membership-28.Czech republic joined as 28th nation on 1 July 2013.
President of the European Council is Herman Van Rompuy.
European Commission President is Jose Manuel Barroso.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
U.S astronomers have discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the
"habitable zone" by using Kepler telescope. They confirmed that planet has the size of Earth
exist in the habitable zone of stars other than our sun. Even though some planets have previously
been found in the habitable zone, they are all at least 40 percent larger in size than Earth and
understanding their makeup is challenging. Kepler-186f is more reminiscent of Earth. NASA
sources say that the discovery of Kepler-186f is a significant step toward finding worlds like our
planet Earth. Although the size of Kepler-186f is known, its mass and composition are not yet
known.Kepler-186f resides in the Kepler-186 system, about 500 light-years from Earth in the
constellation Cygnus. Kepler-186f orbits its star once every 130-days and receives one-third the
energy from its star that Earth gets from the sun, placing it nearer the outer edge of the habitable
zone. On the surface of Kepler-186f, the brightness of its star at high noon is only as bright as our
sun appears to us about an hour before sunset.
Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other
stars. The spacecraft, named after the Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler. It was
launched on March 7, 2009.
Kepler is part of NASA's Discovery Program of relatively low-cost, focused primary science
missions.
AWARDS
The 61st National Film Awards for 2013 were announced in New Delhi on 16 April 2014.
Ship of Theseus directed by Anand Gandhi was selected as the Best feature film. Best
popular film award went to Bhaag Milkha Bhaag that was produced and directed by Rakeysh
Omprakash Mehra in 2013. Farhan Akhtar played the role of Milkha Singh in the film.
The list of winners who won the National Film Awards 2013 is as follows
1. Best Actor Raj Kumar for Shahid in hindi and Suraj Venjaramoodu for Perariyathavar in
Malyalam
2. Best Actress Geetanjali Thapa for Liars Dance in Hindi
3. Best Direction Hansal Mehta for film Shahid
4. Best Supporting Actor Saurabh Shukla for Jolly LLB
5. Best Supporting Actress Amruta Subhash for Astu in Marathi and Aida El-Kashef for Ship of
Theseus
6. Best Film on Social Issues Gulabi Gang directed by Nishtha
7. Best Childrens Film Kaphal (Hindi)
8. Best Child Artist Somnath Avghade for Fandy in Marathi and Sadhana for Thanga Meengal
in Tamil
9. Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director Fandry in Marathi directed by Nagraj
Manjule
10. Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration Thalaimuraigal (Tamil)
directed by Balu Mahindra
11. Best Writing on Cinema or Book of the Cinema Cinema Ga Cinema in Telugu authored by
Nandagopal.
About the Award-
The National Film Awards are most prominent awards given away to the film fraternity.
These awards were established in 1954. Annually,
The national panel is appointed by Government of India to select the winners in different
categories.
For the year 2013, best writing on Cinema or Book of the Cinema Cinema Ga
Cinema in Telugu authored by Nandagopal.
The 98th annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music were announced
on 15 April by Columbia University in New York. India-born poet Vijay Seshadri has won
the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for his collection of poems 3
Sections. Seshadri, who was born in Bangalore in 1954 came to America at the age of five and
grew up in Columbus, Ohio. He was a Columbia University alumnus. He would receive $10,000
reward for this prize.
Seshadri is the fifth person of Indian origin to bag the prestigious Pulitzer award. The first
writer who won the award was Gobind Behari Lal in 1937. Lal, a science editor, was awarded
the Pulitzer in the Reporting category for his coverage of science at the tercentenary of
Harvard University when he was working for Universal Service.
Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri got Pulitzer for fiction in 2000 for her collection of
stories Interpreters of Maladies.
Journalist-writer of Indian origin Geeta Anand was the third person to get the award. Anand
was the investigative reporter and feature writer for the Wall Street Journal and won the award
in 2003.
Indian-American physician Siddhartha Mukherjees acclaimed book on cancer, The Emperor
of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, won the 2011 Pulitzer prize in the general non-fiction
category.
The 98th annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Drama, Letters and Music was announced
by Columbia University in New York.
2014 Pulitzer Prize Winners in Journalism are-
1. Public Service - Two Prizes: The Guardian US and The Washington Post (for revealing the
massive U.S. government surveillance effort)
2. Investigative Reporting - Chris Hamby of The Centre for Public Integrity, Washington, D.C.
3. National Reporting - David Philipps of The Gazette, Colorado Springs
4. International Reporting - Jason Szep and Andrew R.C. Marshall of Reuters
5. Breaking News Reporting - The Boston Globe Staff
6. Editorial Writing - The Editorial Staff of The Oregonian, Portland
2014 Pulitzer Prize Winners in Books, Drama and Music are-
1. Fiction - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
2. History - The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832 by Alan Taylor (W.W.
Norton)
3. Biography - Margaret Fuller: A New American Life by Megan Marshall (Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt)
4. Drama - The Flick by Annie Baker
5. Poetry - 3 Sections by Vijay Seshadri (Graywolf Press)
6. General Nonfiction - Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin (Bantam
Books)
7. Music - Become Ocean by John Luther Adams (Taiga Press/Theodore Front Musical
Literature)
About Pulitzer Prize-
The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism,
literature, and musical composition in the United States.
It was established in 1917 by the American (Hungarian-born) publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and is
administered by Columbia University in New York City.
Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of the categories, each winner
receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash award.
The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold
medal.
SPORTS
Indias squash player Dipika Pallikal on 14 April 2014 got the runner-up title at the
Womens Champion Fiberlass Texas Open squash tournament held at Houston, United
States. Dipika Pallikal was defeated by Nour El Sherbini od Egypt. Dipika is the world 12th rank
Squash player.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) established a Sport Integrity Unit on 15 April
2014 to investigate the cases related to fraud in sports. Betting and Match fixing are the
most common cases of sports fraud. With this CBI can combat malpractices in the sports. It can
coordinate with sports federations and law enforcement agencies It can also investigate into
matters related to sports fraud.
PERSONS
Justice G Rohini (58)---- President of India on 11 April 2014 approved the name of Justice
G Rohini (58) for appointment as the Next Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. With this,
she will become the first women Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. Now, Justice Rohini
is serving as the senior-most judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. She will serve the High
Court of Delhi as its Chief Justice for a period of four years. She will succeed Acting Chief Justice
Badar Durrez Ahmed. Justice Rohini enrolled herself as an advocate in December 1980 and
further became the chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Bar Council. In 2001, she was
appointed as an additional Judge and in 2002 was made a permanent Judge.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (87) --- Renowned Latin American author Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
passed away in Mexico on 17 April 2014. He was considered as the most popular Spanish-
language writer of our times. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1982 for literature. His novels and
short stories vividly depicted the Latin Americas passion, superstition, violence and inequality. His
first and epic novel One Hundred Years of Solitude was published in 1967. This novel was a huge
success and was translated into 25 languages around the world. His other books include- Love in
the Time of Cholera, Autumn of the Patriarch, Of Love and Other Demons and Living to Tell the
Tale.
Admiral RK Dhowan---The Government on 17 April appointed Admiral RK Dhowan as the
Chief of the Naval Staff. The Navy has been without a chief since the resignation of Admiral D.K.
Joshi in February, when he resigned owning moral responsibility for a series of accidents on board
submarines and warships. The government has appointed Vice-Admiral R.K. Dhowan as the new
Navy chief, superseding Vice-Admiral Shekhar Sinha. Admiral RK Dhowan was commissioned in
the Navy on 01 Jan 1975.
He is a Navigation and Direction specialist who has served with distinction in an array of Command,
Staff and Instructional appointments through his exemplary career spanning 40 years. He has
commanded frontline warships INS Khukri, INS Ranjit, INS Delhi and served as Chief Staff Officer
(Operations) Headquarters Western Naval Command. He has also served as Indian Naval Adviser
at the High Commission of India, London. He has commanded the Eastern Fleet as Flag Officer
Commanding Eastern Fleet and served as Chief of Staff at Headquarters Eastern Naval Command,
Visakhapatnam. He also has the distinction of commanding the prestigious National Defense
Academy, his alma mater as the Commandant.
Arvind Mayaram--- Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram has been designated as
Finance Secretary. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on 15 April approved a
proposal to designate Mayaram as the Finance Secretary. The post of Finance Secretary was lying
vacant since March 31 when Sumit Bose demitted office. Mayaram was a 1978 batch Rajasthan
cadre Indian Administrative Service officer. He has been holding charge as Economic Affairs
Secretary since 2012. The Finance Ministry currently has five secretaries including Mayaram.

Current Affairs (April 14th - 20th 2014)

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