Economy
Metro Rail begins in Maharashtra
- Maharashtra’s first Metro Rail was inaugurated with Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan showing a green flag to the maiden Mumbai Metro service.
- It was the first rail corridor linking east-west Mumbai suburbs between Versova and Ghatkopar.
- Each coach of the colourful four-coach rakes has a capacity of around 375 commuters, with a total capacity of around 1,500 commuters per service.
EU raises 500 mn euros for Ukraine
- The European Commission raised 500 million euros ($677 million) to fund the first loan tranche for Ukraine under a new programme.
UP signs MoUs worth Rs.54,606 crore with investors
- Twenty memoranda of understanding (MoU) worth around Rs.54,606 crore were signed by 23 companies in the inaugural session of an investor conclave organized by the Uttar Pradesh government.
China-Bangladesh economic corridor
- China and Bangladesh Tuesday vowed to make joint efforts to build an economic corridor linking Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar.
- China and Bangladesh agreed to remain actively engaged towards the development of the corridor along with other countries.
DMRC to extend Metro to Ghaziabad
- The GDA MoU with the DMRC soon following the Uttar Pradesh cabinet’s nod for extension of the Metro line from Dilshad Garden till the New Bus Stand here.
- Rs.1,770 crore will be shared by the union government, the state government and the DMRC for the 9.41 kilometre elevated-track project.
- The stretch will have seven stations Shaheed Nagar, Rajbagh, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala and New Bus Stand.
Houses for all by 2022
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that government will do its best to provide houses for all by 2022.
World Bank loan to Himachal
- Himachal Pradesh got a $100 million development policy loan from the World Bank.
- Loan will be beneficial for the state to enable the hill state to manage its natural resources.
Bihar’s Sudha cooperative in NCERT book
- The success story of Bihar’s Sudha milk cooperative is all set to get its place in NCERT Text books.
- Sudha Dairy, as it is famous has now found its place for its success story in the state of Bihar. Recently it has launched its business in national capital Delhi.
Rs.28,318 crore investment in Bengal
- West Bengal received 156 investment proposals amounting to Rs.28,318 crore in fiscal 2013-14.
Persons in News
Vishal Sikka: New Infosys CEO
- Indian IT bellwether Infosys Ltd’s new CEO Vishal Sikka, 47, will be on a learning curve at the global software major and will operate from California where he is based with his family.
- With his appointment, Sikka becomes the first non-founder CEO of Infosys.
- He joined SAP in 2002 as a head of its advanced technology group and in 2010 he joined the company’s executive board, leading the development of HANA.
Rohatgi: Attorney general of India
- The government appointed senior Supreme Court advocate Mukul Rohatgi as the new Attorney General of India, the top law officer of the country.
- Mr Rohatgi had served as Additional Solicitor General in the last NDA regime.
Sunil Sinha:Resident director for MENA region
- Tata Group appointed Sunil Sinha as resident director for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and said it will set up an office in Dubai in collaboration with its overseas unit Tata International.
Vice Admiral Chatterjee: CINCAN chief
- Vice Admiral Pradeep Kumar Chatterjee is the new Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman & Nicobar Command (CINCAN).
- Vice Admiral Chatterjee is an alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College, DehraDun, and the National Defence Academy, Pune
Arun Jaitley : Leader of house in Rajya Sabha
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley named as the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha.
- Jaitley (61), a senior BJP member was earlier Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha during UPA governmen.
- Jaitley lost elections from Amritsar in Punjab.
Ghulam Nabi Azad: Leader of opposition in RS
- Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad was declared the Leader of the Opposition.
- Congress leader Azad is a member from Jammu and Kashmir.
- Azad (65) was Union Health Minister in the earlier UPA government.
Ranjit Kumar: New solicitor general
- Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar assumed charge as the Solicitor General (SG) of India.
- The other appointed six additional Solicitors’ General (ASGs) are senior advocates Maninder Singh, L Nageshwar Rao, Tushar Mehta, P S Patwalia, Neeraj K Kaul and P S Narasimha.
Novembirth Ch Marak: Arrested
- Chairman of Meghalaya-based militant outfit UALA arrested from a hospital in Assam.
Shanti Patel: Veteran freedom fighter, ex-MP dead
- He was associated with the shipping industry for over six decades and was a trustee of Mumbai Port Trust.
- He also served as the president of National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) for over 40 years.
- He served as Mumbai mayor 1970-71.
- In 1980, he was a Rajya Sabha member for one term from the Janata Dal.
Shaktipada Rajguru: Eminent Bengali author, died
- Renowned Bengali author and screenplay writer Shaktipada Rajguru penned over 100 novels and had several of his works adapted into films.
- Ritwik Ghatak directed classic “Meghe Dhaka Tara” (The Cloud-Capped Star) and the Uttam Kumar-Sharmila Tagore starrer “Amanush” were his works.
- “Barsaat Ki Ek Raat”, featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Raakhee was based on his novel Anusandhan.
Pascal Plisson: French Filmmaker
- Award winning filmmaker Pascal Plisson all set to make a documentary with his team to capture the saga of Super 30.
- Anand Kumar is the founder of the Super 30 which is a free coaching centre to crack the prestigious IIT-JEE – the joint entrance examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology.
- Plisson makes films for National Geographic and BBC and he is world famous film maker.
Event in News
INS Vikramaditya
- The country’s largest warship INS Vikramaditya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation which was procured from Russia.
- INS Vikramaditya joined the Indian Navy on November 16, 2013.
- It has an overall length of about 284 metres and a maximum beam of about 60 metres.
Andhra to develop many mega cities
- The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to develop Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati as mega cities.
- Newly elected chief minister Chandrababu Naidu announced in this regards.
Festival to mark India-South Africa friendship
- The festival, beginning July 18, will mark 20 years of the end of apartheid rule in South Africa and two decades of diplomatic engagement between the two countries.
- It will cover eight South African cities including Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban and will conclude Aug 31.
Manish Malhotra : LFW grand finale designer
- Fashion designer Manish Malhotra will be the grand finale designer for Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2014 (LFW WF 2014).
- The Event is all set to organise to be held from Aug 20 to Aug 24 in Mumbai.
Lakme Fashion Week: Venue changed
- The venue for the prestigious bi-annual Lakme Fashion Week has been changed from Grand Hyatt to Palladium Hotel.
- It is one of the India’s premier fashion events which will be here in Mumbai for the forthcoming edition of Winter-Festive 2014.
India to take part in Jakarta Fair 2014
- India will be take part in the Jakarta Fair 2014 for the first time in history.
- The Jakarta Fair 2014 is the largest fair with about 3,000 micro, small and medium enterprises as well as 90 sponsor companies taking part in Indonesia.
Kolkata: Youth-centric European films Festival
- The 19th edition of the European Film Festival held in Kolkata beginning.
- Movies took part in the show, will revolve around the youth in EU countries and it will offer a glimpse of the tradition and style of cinema in Europe.
Brahmos missile test-fired
- The supersonic anti-ship cruise missile BrahMos was test-fired for the first time from a warship built in India.
- Needless to say, Brahmos is the Indian-Russian joint venture and 290-km range supersonic missile which is yet-to-be commissioned stealth destroyer INS Kolkata.
“Three Masters”: Exhibition
- In the exhibition,’ three master’, artists have showcased their works highlighting the tragic Bengal famine (1943), rural and pastoral Bengal and political turbulence of the bygone era.
- Three artists are Chittoprasad Bhattacharya, Haren Das and Somenath Hore.
Cultural Center in Jaffna
- The Indian government will build a cultural centre in Jaffna.
- The integrated cultural space would come up at a cost of LKR 1.2 billion.
Miscellaneous
Stone Idol of Pala dynasty discovered
- A stone idol of a Hindu deity idols understood from the 12th century Pala dynasty, was discovered in Murshidabad district, West Bengal.
- Dimension of the idol was 4.5 feet high and 2.7 feet wide.
Beas tragedy Himachal:
- Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) witnesses a major accident in which about 24 students from an engineering college were washed away in strong current of the river Beas.
- So far eight bodies have been recovered.
Thane: Important district to be split
- Thane,a popular district of India is all set to be split into two parts.
- One a highly urbanised district led by the Thane collectorate and the other with a more tribal populace living in remote areas.
- Palghar: It will be the state’s 36th district, which was cleared by the state cabinet.
Houses with taps, toilet facilities by 2022
- President Pranab Mukherjee said that by 2022 every house in India will have pucca (brick and cemented) houses with water connection and toilet facilities.
- It is noted that 2022 will be the time the nation completes 75 years of its independence and it will be decided to fulfill the target.
Six killed in Bhilai gas leak
- In an accident, Six people, including three senior officials, were killed and six people were injured in a gas leak at the Bhilai Steel Plant.
Narmada dam’s height
- The Narmada Control Authority has cleared an eight-year-old proposal to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam by 17 metres.
Surat: Delhi Police studies CCTV system
- In a bid to study the CCTV system, a Delhi Police team went to Surat in Gujarat to study the CCTV cameras installation.
- The team will study the installation of CCTV Cameras in the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Kolkata: 22 new municipalities
- The West Bengal government will set up 22 new municipalities as part of its policy of decentralising administration and ensuring development through local bodies.
Book/ Authors
Book- Kamaraj: The Life and Times of K. Kamaraj
- Written by Bala Jeyaraman
BOOK: Kanshiram: Leader of the Dalits
- Author: Badri Narayan
Book: A world quite likes ours: A tribute to ancient Rome
- Author: Vikas Datta
Sports
FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil : Important Facts
- This is the 20th edition of World Cup
- World Cup will be from June 12 to July 13. The 32 sides are divided into 8 groups and top 2 from after the league stage qualify for the knockout stages.
- The 32 teams taking part in the competition are divided into eight groups of four teams.
- It is the second time that Brazil has hosted the competition, the first being in 1950.
- Most World Cup titles won – by Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
- Most goals in World Cup history, record held by Brazil’s Ronaldo
Australia won men’s field hockey World Cup
- Australia beat the Netherlands 6-1 to take their second consecutive men’s field hockey World Cup.
- Drag flick specialist Chris Ciriello scored a hattrick.
Murali Kartik Retirees
- Veteran left-arm spinner Murali Kartik announced his retirement from competitive cricket.
- Kartik played eight Tests and 37 ODIs for India between 1999 and 2007 taking 24 and 37 wickets respectively.