Current Affairs – January 2014

1) India and the Netherlands signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in field of Sports. MoU provides exchange of knowledge and experience in the fields of sports management, competition infrastructure set-up, coaching, training systems and training of referees for various sporting disciplines. It also decides top-sport development through youth academies.

2) Arun Kumar Gupta took charge as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) by the Union Government.

3) Government of India and the government of Fiji signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

4) Kathy Cross of New Zealand  became the first woman to be appointed in an International Cricket Council (ICC) umpires panel. 

5) Six Public Sector Units (PSUs)– BHEL, Solar Energy Corporation of India,Sambhar Salt Ltd, Power Grid, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam,  have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up the World’s largest 4000 MW ultra solar power project in Rajasthan.

6) US Chamber of Commerce released the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index. In the IP Index, India has scored a low seven point out of maximum 30 points. India continues to have the weakest IP environment of all countries included in the GIPC Index for the second consecutive year.

7) Chilika lagoon in Odisha was named Destination Flyways by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The lagoon was named so for its sustainable and resilient destination for migratory birds.

8) 60-day state of emergencHamid Ansari, the Vice President of India has released a book entitled India’s Political and Foreign Relations with the Gulf Region on 21 January 2014 at New Delhi.om 22 January 2014.

9) Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India has released a book entitled India’s Political and Foreign Relations with the Gulf Region at New Delhi.

10) First Climate Change theatre was opened at Pushpa Gujral Science City in Kapurthala, Punjab. The theatre will educate people on climate change. This is the second theatre in the world to be opened after Canada.

11) Lewis Clarke, 16 years old became the youngest person to trek to the South Pole. Clarke spent 48 days at temperature of -40 Celsius and winds of up to 193 km/h.

12) Delhi government withdrew the Foreign Domestic Investment (FDI) in Multibrand Retail. With this, Delhi became first state to take this step.

13) Gorakhpur railway station’s platform number one of Uttar Pradesh has entered into the Limca Book of Records as longest rail platform in the world.

14) Facebook acquired Bengaluru-based Little Eye Labs for 90 crore rupees . It has become the first Indian and the third Asian company to be acquired by Facebook.

15) Bajaj Allianz General Insurance launched an all women branch in Pune . It is the first insurer to give an opportunity to women with an aim to tap the vast talent pool of women professionals.

16) R. Chandrashekhar was appointed as President of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) on 4 January 2014. He succeeded Som Mittal.

17) Young shuttler Aditya Joshi from Madhya Pradesh became the first male junior badminton player from India to be ranked top in the world.

18) Andhra Pradesh bagged the Oil and Gas Conservation Award for the best performance among the big States. The award is given by the Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

19) India completes three years without reporting any case of polio on 13 January 2014. It is only the second time in the history that a disease is being eliminated in India through immunisation after small pox in May 1980.

20) Seventh Global Insurance Summit was held at Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh. The summit was organised by National Council on Insurance of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). The focus of the summit was on the need for simplifying the insurance process and to provide financial security for the masses in India.

21) Country’s largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) decided to set up the world’s largest corporate learning and development centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The corporate learning centre will have a total capacity to train 50,000 professionals every year.

22) Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh launched the total E-literacy project implemented by PN Panicker Vigyan Vikas Kendra in Thiruvanathpuram. This would act as the corner-stone of the Kerala model of development.

23) Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the Order of Prince Henry by the Portugal’s president office . It is one of the Portugal’s highest honours.

24) The Wimbledon Foundation has teamed up with HSBC and All India Tennis Association (AITA) to launch The Road to Wimbledon event in India. This will be the first ever Wimbledon tennis event to be hosted outside the UK. The event was held at Delhi and Mumbai.

25) World Braille Day is absorbed across the world on 4 January. It is observed every year on 4 January to commemorate the birthday of Louis Braille.

26) Latvia became the 18th member of the Euro zone. The small ex-Soviet state has been preparing for the switch, since European Union finance ministers formally announced in July 2013 that Latvia could adopt the Euro.

27) Supercomputer PARAM Yuva-II was rated 1st in India, 9th in the Asia Pacific Region and 44th in the world among the most power efficient computer systems as per the Green 500 List.

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