Union Government on 4 February 2015 sacked Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami from his post. What is the reason for his removal?
- His alleged attempts to stall the arrest of former minister Matang Sinh in Saradha scam
Anil Goswami had admitted to calling the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials dealing with the Saradha case after former minister Matang Sinh was named in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund case of West Bengal. Sinh was arrested by the CBI team on 1 February 2015. Goswami was summoned by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on 4 February and he was removed from his post by late evening. Goswami is the third top-ranking bureaucrat to have been shunted out since the Modi government took charge. Earlier, in January the tenures of Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and DRDO chief Avinash Chander were cut short.
Who was appointed as the new Home Secretary after Anil Goswami was sacked from this post on 4 February 2015?
- L.C. Goyal
L.C. Goyal is a 1979-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre. Till now he was the Rural Development Secretary. He had earlier served as joint secretary (internal security) in the home ministry from 2002 to 2007. He will have a fixed tenure of two years as Home Secretary.
Which country is on its way to become the first in the world to allow the creation of babies from three people after this country’s parliament passed a bill associated with this controversial subject on 3 February 2015?
- United Kingdom
British Parliament’s lower house, the House of Commons, passed the bill by 382 MPs in favour and 128 against it on 3 February. Now the bill goes to the House of Lords for its approval. This bill allows the ground-breaking Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy (MRT) technique that uses a modified version of IVF to combine the DNA of the two parents with the healthy mitochondria of a donor woman. Thus three persons are required to give birth to such baby. This technique can prove a big boon for women having some mitochondrial problems which do not allow such women to bore a live or healthy baby. While advocates of this technique are pressing for its approval its critics feel that it raises too many ethical and safety concerns.
The RBI on 2 February 2015 directed banks to prominently display the name of unclaimed bank account holders on the websites and provide them with a “Find” option to locate the information easily. What are the present provisions for such unclaimed and inoperative bank accounts?
- Banks are required to pay back the amounts laying in inoperative accounts for ten years or more, along with interest
The banks can later lodge a claim for refund from the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund for an equivalent amount paid to the customer/depositor. This was done in a bid to help people who have unclaimed deposits lying with banks. The banks were asked to complete the action by 31 March 2015. In its directions to the banks, the RBI cautioned against disclosing the account numbers of such holders. It said that they should give information about process of claiming the unclaimed deposits or activating the inoperative account. As per government estimates, banks had Rs 5,124 crore in unclaimed deposits lying with them as on 31 December 2013.
Which country became the world’s top FDI destination during 2014 and thus replaced the United States from top place as disclosed by a latest report by United Nations Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD)?
- China
This UNCTAD report released on 29 January 2015 disclosed that during 2014 total foreign direct investments (FDI) or investment by foreign firms in China stood at $128 billion while the same for the U.S. stood at $86 billion. Hong Kong stood second in this list with FDI worth $111 billion. The U.S. was occupying the top position since 2003. Other countries among top 10 in this list include Singapore ($81 billion), Brazil ($62 billion), UK ($61 billion), Canada ($53 billion), Australia ($49 billion), the Netherlands ($42 billion) and Luxembourg ($36 billion).
According to the latest data disclosed by market research firm Canalys, Budget smartphone maker Micromax overtook Korean behemoth Samsung to become the largest smartphone seller in the Indian market. The data pertaining to fourth quarter of 2014 suggest that Micromax’s share stood at 22% to Samsung’s 20% in the smartphone segment. What is the significance of this data?
- This is the first time that an Indian company has taken the top spot in the highly competitive smartphone segment
The Canalys report released on 3 February 2015 disclosed that 21.6 million smartphones were sold in India in the October-December quarter, which is an astonishing 90% increase since last year. Micromax’s market stood at 22% while the leader till now Samsung stood at 20%. Micromax and Samsung were followed by two other Indian budget smartphone brands, Karbonn and Lava. However, Samsung rejected this report and claimed that it still occupies the No.1 spot in smartphone segment in the country. India, which has the world’s second-highest number of mobile phone accounts after China, is the third-biggest market by number of smartphones sold. Low-priced smartphones are the top sellers as many buyers are upgrading from feature phones.
Current Affairs at a Glance 2014
- ❖ Latvia adopted the Euro currency on January 1, 2014 and became the 18th member of the Eurozone.
❖ Corey Anderson of New Zealand scored the fastest century in One Day International cricket history on January 1, 2014. He scored a hundred in just 36 deliveries against the West Indies. He beat the previous record of 100 off 37 balls set by Shahid Afridi of Pakistan in 1996.
❖ Sheikh Hasina was sworn in on January 12, 2014 for the third time as Bangladesh's Prime Minister. Her party is Awami League.
❖ India's first monorail service was started in Mumbai on February 2, 2014.
❖ Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and eminent scientist CNR Rao were conferred the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India on February 4, 2014. The award was announced on November 16, 2013.
❖ Harish Rawat was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on February 1, 2014.
❖ 'Chronicles of a Corpse Bearer' is a book written by Cyrus Mistry, which won the DSC Prize for
South Asian Literature at the Jaipur Literary Festival 2014. This award in 2013 was won by Jeet Thayil for his novel 'Narcopolis'.
❖ Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland beat Spain's Rafael Nadal to win the 2014 Australian Open men's singles tennis title. Li Na of China won the women's singlestitle by defeating Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
❖ The prestigious Padma Awards for 2014 were announced which includes Padma Vibhushan for two individuals, Padma Bhushan for 24 and Padma Shri for 101 people. Out of 127 awardees 27 are women. Padma Vibhushan awardees are Raghunath Mashelkar (Science & Engineering) and yoga guru B.K.S. Iyengar.
❖ Shinzo Abe became the first Japanese Prime Minister to be the chief guest at India's 65th Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2014.
❖ Janet Yellen is the first woman ever to head the United States central bank Federal Reserve.
❖ Sub-Inspector K. Prasad Babu was conferred the Ashok Chakra posthumously on the 65th Republic Day by the President Pranab Mukherjee. K. Prasad Babu was from Andhra Pradesh. He was given this award for an anti-Maoist operation near Andhra Pradesh- Chhattisgarh border. Ashok Chakra is India's highest peacetime gallantry award.
❖ Matteo Renzi became the youngest Italian Prime Minister in February 2014. He is 39 years old.
❖ Sushil Koirala assumed office as the Prime Minister of Nepal on February 11, 2014. He is also the President of the Nepali Congress Party.
❖ N.Ramachandran was elected the new President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in February 2014. He is also the World Squash Federation President.
❖ Satya Nadella, an Indian American, was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft on
February 4, 2014. He succeeded Steve Ballmer.
❖ Former Supreme Court judge Ashok Kumar Mathur has been appointed the Chairman of the
7th Pay Commission.
❖ Eminent Gandhian and environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt was selected for the 2013 Gandhi Peace Prize. He is one of the pioneers of the Chipko movement. He was awarded the Ramon
Magsaysay Award in 1982.
❖ Famous Hindi writer Vishwanath Tripathi has been selected for the prestigious Vyas Samman for the year 2013 for his memoir 'Vyomkesh Darvesh'. Vyas Samman is a literary award given by
the K.K. Birla Foundation.
❖ Odia became the sixth language to get classical language status after Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu,
Kannada and Malayalam.
❖ The Expert Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework, headed by RBI Deputy Governor Urjit Patel suggested the central bank to adopt the new consumer price index for anchoring the monetary policy.
❖ Facebook announced its acquisition of WhatsApp Inc. for $19 billion. WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Brian Acton and John Koum. It is an instant messaging app for smartphones.
❖ The Winter Olympics were held in Sochi, Russia in February 2014. Russia topped the medals table with13 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze. It won a total of 33 medals. India did not win any medal. Next Winter Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang in South Korea in 2018.
❖ Michelle Bachelet was sworn in as the President of Chile on March 11, 2014. She already served as the President once from 2006 to 2010.
❖ The third edition of the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) was held in The Hague, Netherlands in March 2014. The NSS aims to prevent nuclear terrorism by reducing the amount of dangerous
nuclear material in the world.
❖ Renowned Hindi author Govind Mishra was selected for the Saraswati Samman for the year 2013 for his book "Dhool Paudho Par". He is the second Hindi author to receive the honor after the late Harivansh Rai Bachchan in 1991.
❖ ESPN cricinfo presented the Cricketer of the Generation award to Sachin Tendulkar.
❖ The International Women of Courage Award 2014 was presented by the US firstlady Michelle Obama to Laxmi, a Delhi acid attack survivor.
❖ Mortal remains of about 282 Indian soldiers of 1857 mutiny were exhumed from a well at Ajnala
in Amritsar district of Punjab in March 2014.
❖ The Reserve Bank of India had extended the deadline for Indian banks to meet capital requirements under the Basel III norms by a year to March 31, 2019.
❖ Mizoram defeated Railways to win the 68th Santosh Trophy Football championship in Siliguri in
March 2014. It is the maiden Santosh Trophy title for Mizoram.
❖ Viswanathan Anand won the World Candidates chess tournament title at Khanty Mansisyk, Russia.
❖ Khushwant Singh, a renowned author, passed away on March 20, 2014. He authored books such as 'Train to Pakistan', 'With Malice towards One and All', 'The Sunset Club', 'Truth, Love and a Little Malice', etc.
❖ Eminent film lyricist Gulzar was chosen for the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2013. This award is the highest film award in India.
❖ The people of Crimea voted to become part of Russia in a referendum in March 2014. The leaders of Group of Eight (G8) countries suspended Russia from the group on the issue of annexation of Crimea by Russia. Crimea was separated from Ukraine.
❖ The third Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar in March 2014. India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand are the seven members of this group. Sumith Nakandala of Sri Lanka is the Secretary General. The Secretariat of BIMSTEC is established in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
❖ Assam is the first State in India to observe Child Protection Day to secure the future of children
on March 4, 2014.
❖ The armies of Nepal and India held a joint military exercise named Surya Kiran VI in Nepal.
❖ Admiral Robin K. Dhowan assumed office as the Chief of Naval Staff on April 17, 2014. He succeeded Admiral D.K. Joshi.
❖ R. Gandhi has been appointed as a Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India. RBI has four deputy governors.
❖ The 2014 Goldman Environment Prize was awarded to Ramesh Agrawal of Chhattisgarh.
❖ Koyal Rana won the Miss India 2014 crown.
❖ India - born poet Vijay Seshadri won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for his collection of poems "3 Sections".
❖ Ex-coal secretary P.C. Parakh released his book titled "Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and Other Truths".
❖ Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian novelist, died on April 17, 2014. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. His major books include One Hundred Years of Solitude, Autumn of the Patriarch, Chronicle of a Death Foretold and Love in the Time of Cholera.
❖ Renowned cinematographer V.- K. Murthy passed away. He won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2008. He shot India's first cinemascope movie 'Kagaz ke Phool'.
❖ RBI gave approvals to IDFC Ltd and Bandhan Financial Services Private Limited to start new banks. IDFC is an infrastructure finance company based in Mumbai and Bandhan is a micro lender based in Kolkata.
❖ Sun Pharmaceuticals will buy Ranbaxy Laboratories.
❖ Sri Lanka won the World Twenty 20 title for the first time defeating India by six wickets in Mirpur, Bangladesh in April 2014.
❖ Australian women cricket team won the Women's World Twenty 20 Cup 2014 by defeating England in the final in Mirpur, Bangladesh. This is the third successive Women's World Twenty20 title for Australia.
❖ Narendra Damodardas Modi was sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of India on May 26, 2014.
The swearing in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended by the heads/ representatives of eight SAARC nations. Along with Modi 44 Ministers also took oath.
❖ The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became the first party in 30 years to win a majority on its
own in the Lok Sabha. In the 16th Lok Sabha elections it won 282 seats. Indian National Congress won 44 seats.
❖ Anandiben Patel became the first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat in May 2014. Sikkim Democratic Front leader Pawan Chamling was sworn in as the CM of Sikkim for a record fifth consecutive term. Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik was sworn in as the CM of Odisha for the fourth consecutive term. Congress leader Nabam Tuki became the CM of Arunachal Pradesh for the second consecutive time.
❖ Jitan Ram Manjhi succeeded Nitish Kumar as the new CM of Bihar. TR Zeliang succeeded Neiphiu Rio as the CM of Nagaland.
❖ 13 - year-old Malavath Purna became the youngest female climber to scale the Mount Everest on May 25, 2014.
❖ Dalia Grybauskaite was re-elected as the President of Lithuania in May 2014. She is the first female President of Lithuania.
❖ Salvador Sanchez Ceren took office as the President of El Salvador on June 1, 2014. Luis Guillermo Solis became the President of Costa Rica on May 8, 2014. Juan Carlos Varela assumed office as the President of Panama on July 1, 2014.
❖ Peter Mutharika assumed office as the President of Malawi on May 31, 2014.
❖ Major General Kristin Lund of Norway is the first-ever woman to serve as the head of a UN peacekeeping operation.
❖ Nripendra Mishra was appointed as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is
the former Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
❖ Former United States Secretary of the State Hillary Rodham Clinton launched her book 'Hard Choices'.
❖ 'RuPay', India's own card payment network, was launched by the President Pranab Mukherjee. It was developed by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). The RuPay card is accepted at all ATMs.
❖ Justice B. S. Chauhan was appointed the Chairman of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
❖ Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) has been included in the second schedule to the RBI Act, 1934.
Now BMB becomes eligible for loans from RBI on bank rate.
❖ RBI made it mandatory for banks to install talking ATMs with Braille keypads from July 2014
onwards. It is for the benefit of persons with disabilities.
❖ P.J. Nayak Committee appointed by the RBI recommended the reduction of government stake in public sector banks to less than 50 percent.
❖ Japan won the Thomas Cup men's badminton title for the first time. Japan defeated Malaysia in the final in New Delhi in May 2014. China won the Uber Cup women's badminton title for the
13th time by defeating Japan in the final in New Delhi. India won a bronze medal for the first time in Uber Cup.
❖ Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the Indian Premier League- 7 title by defeating Kings XI Punjab at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on June 1, 2014. It is KKR's second IPL trophy.
❖ Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K. Chandrasekar Rao was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of Telangana, the 29th State of India, on June 2, 2014. Telugu Desham Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu took over as the first Chief Minister of bifurcated Andhra Pradesh on June 8, 2014.
❖ The Supreme Court appointed Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee to probe the 2013 IPL spot fixing allegations.
❖ Manuel Santos won the Presidential elections of Colombia for the second time in June 2014.
❖ Reuven Rivlin succeeded Shimon Peres as the new President of Israel in June 2014.
❖ Former army chief Abdel Fattah el Sisi was sworn in as the President of Egypt in June 2014.
❖ Mukul Rohatgi was appointed the Attorney General of India in June 2014. Ranjit Kumar is the new Solicitor General.
❖ N. Srinivasan is the first Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
❖ Petro Poroshenko was sworn in as the President of Ukraine.
❖ Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a third term in office in June 2014.
❖ Sumitra Mahajan became the Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha in June 2014. She represents Indore Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh.
❖ Former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval was appointed the National Security Adviser (NSA). He is the first police officer to be decorated with Kirti Chakra, a gallantry award given during peacetime.
❖ Kedarnath Singh was chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for 2013. He is the 10th Hindi writer to receive the honor and is the 49th recipient of Jnanpith award.
❖ The 2013 Moortidevi award was given to Malayalam writer C. Radhakrishnan. He is a scientist
turned writer.
❖ France announced to honor Shah Rukh Khan with Officer of the Legion of Honour for his contribution to cinema.
❖ Former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland is the first recipient of the Tang Prize
for sustainable development. She is the former Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO).
❖ India-born plant scientist Sanjay Rajaram was chosen for the World Food Prize for 2014. He is a renowned wheat scientist.
❖ Irish author Eimear McBride won the 2014 Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction for her debut
novel 'A Girl is a Half-formed Thing'. This prize was earlier known as Orange Prize.
❖ The autobiography of Hindi actor Dilip Kumar 'The Substance and The Shadow' was launched.
❖ The supersonic cruise missile BrahMos was test-fired. It is an Indo-Russian missile with a range of 290 km.
❖ Okavango Delta in Botswana became the 1000th site to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site List.
❖ Rani-ki-Vav, an 11th century stepwell in the Patan area of Gujarat and the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Himachal Pradesh were accorded the UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
❖ The government has accepted the report of Arvind Mayaram Committee on rationalizing definitions of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).
❖ Salman Rushdie, the India born UK author was named the winner of 2014 Pen Pinter Prize.
❖ Saina Nehwal won the Australian Open Super Series badminton title defeating Spain's Carolina Marin.
❖ Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the World Rapid Chess Championship and also the World Blitz
Chess Championship, both in Dubai in June 2014.
❖ Australia retained the men's Hockey World Cup title by outplaying Netherlands in the final in
The Hague, Netherlands in June 2014. Netherlands defeated Australia to win the women's title.
❖ Rafael Nadal of Spain clinched the 2014 French Open tennis men's singles title beating Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final. It is Nadal's 9th French open title. Maria Sharapova of Russia won
her second French Open women's singles title by defeating Simona Halep of Romania.
❖ Two Indian Americans Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe became the co-champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest held in USA.
● Two Indian Americans Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe became the co-champions of the
Scripps National Spelling Bee contest held in USA.
● The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) headed by Parthasarathi Shome suggested
abolition of the post of Revenue Secretary and merger of CBDT and CBEC.
● The 40th G7 Summit was held in Brussels, Belgium in June 2014. This Summit was held without Russia.
● Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari visited China to celebrate the 60th anniversary of signing of the Panchsheel in June 2014.
● Indian-origin V.K. Rajah was appointed the Attorney-General of Singapore.
● General Dalbir Singh Suhag succeeded General Bikram Singh as the 26th Chief of Indian Army on July 31, 2014. Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha took over as the Chairman of the
Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) on July 30, 2014.
● Shashi Kant Sharma, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) became a Member
of the United Nations Board of Auditors for a term of six years.
● The President appointed new Governors for six States in July 2014. They are: Kaptan Singh
Solanki - Haryana, Balramji Das Tandon- Chhaatisgarh, Keshari Nath Tripath- West Bengal, Ram
Naik- Uttar Pradesh, Padmanabha Acharya - Nagaland and Om Prakash Kohli - Gujarat.
● S.S. Mundra is the fourth Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He will have tenure of 3 years.
● Former External Affairs Minister and a senior Congress Party leader K.Natwar Singh released his
autobiography 'One Life is Not Enough'.
● Out of 187 countries, India is ranked 135th in the 2014 UNDP Human Development Index. Norway is the topper
● Germany won the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It beat Argentina in the final played at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on July 13, 2014. It is Germany's 4th World Cup Football title.
● Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland in Wimbledon men's singles tennis final. In the Wimbledon women's singles final Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic beat Eugenie Bouchard of Canada.
● The 6th BRICS Summit was held in July 2014 in Fortaleza, Brazil. The leaders signed a document to create the $100 billion New Development Bank. Its headquarters will be in Shanghai, China and the first President will be from India for a six year term. It is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first Summit.
● Sadananda Gowda presented the Railway Budget on July 8, 2014. Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley tabled the Economic Survey 2013-14 in Parliament on July 9, 2014 and presented his maiden Budget on July 10, 2014.
● Harry Potter fame actress Emma Watson was appointed Goodwill Ambassador by UN Women. Tennis player Sania Mirza is the brand ambassador for Telangana State.
● Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the new President of Turkey and Ahmet Davutoglu is the new Prime Minister of Turkey.
● General Prayuth Chan-ocha took over as the Prime Minister of Thailand in August 2014.
● In August 2014 four more States got new Governors. Rajasthan - Kalyan Singh, Maharashtra - Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, Karnataka- Vajubhai Vala and Goa- Mridula
Sinha.
● Congress leader K.V. Thomas is the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament.
● Former Chief Justice of India Justice P. Sathasivam was appointed the Governor of Kerala in September 2014.
● Daman Singh, the daughter of the former Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh, has written a book "Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan".
● Narendra Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) on August 28, 2014. The aim of the scheme is the financial inclusion of all Indians.
● Manjul Bhargava, a mathematician of Indian origin won the Field Medal. He was conferred
the award at the International Congress of Mathematicians held
in Seoul, South Korea in August.
● Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan was appointed the Chairman of the Expenditure Management Commission.
● Jaipur Pink Panthers beat U Mumba to emerge champion of the inaugural STAR ProKabaddi League in Mumbai on August 31.
● The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics were held from August 16 to 28, 2014 in Nanjing, China.
China topped the medals tally with 65 medals, including 38 Gold. India got two medals. Weightlifter Ragala Venkata Rahul bagged a silver medal and Atul Verma won a bronze in Archery.
● Shah Rukh Khan was appointed the ambassador of 'Turn Back Crime' campaign of Interpol. Amitabh Bachchan is Maharashtra's horticulture ambassador.
● India and Australia signed a civil nuclear agreement on September 5, 2014. The deal was signed during the visit of the Australian
Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
● The 20th edition of the Commonwealth Games was held from July 23 to August 3, 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland. England topped the medal chart with 174 medals. India bagged 64 medals
and finished fifth.
● Marin Cilic of Croatia defeated Kei Nishikori of Japan to win the 2014 US Open men's singles tennis title. Serena Williams of USA won women's singles title beating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the final. The mixed doubles title was won by India's Sania Mirza and Brazil's Bruno Soares.
● The 17th Asian Games were held in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 to October 4, 2014. China topped the medals tally with 342 medals. India won 57 medals and took the 8th position.
● Chennai Super Kings won the Champions League T20 title, defeating Kolkata Knight Riders
in the final in Bangalore on October 4, 2014.
● Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on the birth anniversary of Mahatma
Gandhi on October 2, 2014. The Mission aims to make India clean by October 2, 2019, Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary.
● Ancient Nalanda University was inaugurated after 800 years on September 19, 2014 by External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Bihar. The Chancellor is Amartya Sen and the Vice Chancellor is Gopa Sabharwal.
● The Union Government launched Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana for urban and rural poor on September 25, 2014.
● The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit was held in Wales, UK on September 4-5, 2014.
● Ashraf Ghani was sworn in as the new President of Afghanistan on September 29, 2014.
● John Key was re-elected the Prime Minister of New Zealand.
● O.Pannerselvam became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu succeeding Jayalalithaa.
● Justice H.L. Dattu became the 42nd Chief Justice of India on September 28, 2014.
● Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award 2014 was presented to A. Sivathanu Pillai, an eminent missile scientist.
● October 31 was celebrated as National Unity Day. It is the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first Home Minister.
● Devendra Fadnavis became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Manohar Lal Khattar was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Haryana in October 2014. Both are from BJP. Laxmikant Parsekar of BJP is the new Goa Chief Minister.
● India was reelected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the period of 2015 to 2017.
● Dilma Rousseff was re-elected for her second four-year term as the President of Brazil.
● Australian author Richard Flanagan won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel "The Narrow Road to the Deep North".
● Pakistani girls' rights activist Malala Yousafzai shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with India's Kailash Satyarthi. She also won the World's Children's Prize given by Sweden and America's Liberty Medal.
● Former Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg became the 13th Secretary General of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on October 1, 2014.
● Arvind Subramanian is the new Chief Economic Adviser and Rajiv Mehrishi is the new Finance Secretary of India.
● Indian Prime Minister attended the 9th G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia in November 2014.
● The 18th SAARC Summit was held in November 2014 in Kathmandu, Nepal.
● Anil Kumar Sinha is the new Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Rajinder
Khanna is the new Chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Prakash Mishra is the
new Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
● The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014 is given to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
● Rolene Strauss of South Africa was crowned Miss World 2014 in London on December 14, 2014.
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