General Awareness Updates – October 2013

General Awareness Updates – October 2013

Persons in News

• Robert Mugabe was sworn in as Zimbabwe’s president for another five-year term. He has been in power since 1980.
• Dilip Trivedi has been named the Director General of the Central Reserve Paramilitary Force (CRPF), India’s largest paramilitary force. An IPS officer of the 1978 batch from UP cadre, Trivedi is currently special DG of the BSF. He succeeds Pranay Sahay.  The 3-lakh troop strong CRPF is the nodal agency of the country’s anti-Maoist operations.
• Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and his close associate Asadullah Akhtar were remanded to 12-day police custody by a Delhi court after the National Investigation Agency said their custodial interrogation was required to unearth larger conspiracy of terror attacks.
• Nearly three months after he had to resign as Union Law minister in a blaze of controversy, Ashwani Kumar has been appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his Special Envoy to visit Japan in the rank of a Cabinet Minister.
• Italy’s top court has confirmed a prison sentence for former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. This is the first ever definitive conviction in a tumultuous career for the billionaire tycoon.
• Deposed Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak has been released from prison, over two years after he was jailed on charges of corruption and for killing protesters, but will remain under house arrest pending trials.

Places in News

• The Central Government has identified 65 terror groups active in the country, out of which a maximum of 34 are in Manipur, the Lok Sabha was informed.
• Iraqis angrily blamed their government for failing to head off attacks that killed 74 people as they marked the Eid al-Fitr holiday ending Iraq’s deadliest Ramadan in years.
• Suspected Islamic militants gunned down at least 44 people praying at a mosque in northeast Nigeria, the latest in a string of attacks blamed on religious extremists. Militants believed to be linked to radical sect Boko Haram opened fire on people worshipping inside the mosque in Konduga near Nigeria’s restive city of Maiduguri.
• Over 6,000 people are feared to have been killed in the devastating floods, cloudbursts and landslides in Uttarakhand in June, the Central Government said. “The scale and magnitude of the extreme event was such that more than 580 persons are confirmed to have lost their lives. Besides, another 5,474 persons who are still missing and feared to be no more,” Defence Minister A. K. Antony said in a statement in Lok Sabha.

Awards & Honours

Ronjan Sodhi receives Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

Trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi, the first Indian to win two back-to-back World Cup gold medals, has been conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, while cricketer Virat Kohli was among the 14 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna award by the selection committee.

Rising badminton player P. V. Sindhu, who became the first Indian woman shuttler to clinch a bronze medal at the recent World Championships, was also in the list of 14 sportspersons picked for the Arjuna award.

Ranjan Sodhi is the seventh shooter to be honoured with the Khel Ratna. Interestingly, it is for the third consecutive year that a Khel Ratna award has gone to a shooter. Gagan Narang had been presented the award in 2011, followed by Vijay Kumar last year.

This year’s Arjuna awardees list features just one boxer, World Championship bronze medalist Kavita Chahal. The list includes quite a few women with veteran squash player Joshna Chinappa, former hockey captain Saba Anjum, paddler Mouma Das, wrestler Neha Rathi and shooter Rajkumari Rathore recommended for the award. Not to forget archer Chekrovolu Swuro, who was part of the silver medal-winning team in the 2011 World Cup.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award: Ronjan Sodhi.

Arjuna Award winners: Virat Kohli (Cricket), Chekrovolu Swuro (Archery), Renjith Maheshwary (Athletics), P V Sindhu (Badminton), Kavita Chahal (Boxing), Rupesh Shah (Snooker), Gaganjeet Bhullar (Golf), Saba Anjum (Hockey), Rajkumari Rathore (Shooting), Joshna Chinappa (Squash), Mouma Das (Table Tennis), Neha Rathi (Wrestling), Dharmendra Dalal (Wrestling), and Amit Kumar Saroha (Parasports).

Sirleaf receives Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

The President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was conferred the coveted Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for 2012 by President Pranab Mukherjee who said India will continue to support the African nation in its pursuit of stability and economic growth.

Seventy-four year-old Ms Sirleaf, the first democratically elected women Head of State of any African country, was honoured for serving as an example and an inspiration for ensuring the return of peace, democracy, development, security and order in Liberia and for her strong interest in the consolidation and improvement of ties between both the nations. Sirleaf was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakel Karman of Yemen.

70th Venice Film Festival

Golden Lion for Best Film: Sacro Gra by Gianfranco Rosi (Italy, France)

Silver Lion for Best Director: Alexandros Avranas for Miss Violence (Greece)

Grand Jury Prize: Jiaoyou by Tsai Ming-Liang (Chinese Taipei, France)

Best Actor: Themis Panou for Miss Violence by Alexandros Avranas (Greece)

Best Actress: Elena Cotta for Via Castellana Bandiera by Emma Dante (Italy, Switzerland, France)

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress: Tye Sheridan for Joe by David Gordon Green (U.S.)

Best Screenplay: Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for Philomena by Stephen Frears (United Kingdom)

Special Jury Prize: Die Frau Des Polizisten (The Police Officer’s Wife) by Philip Gröning (Germany)

Sports

BADMINTON

World Badminton Championship, Guangzhou (China)

Gold: Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand)

Silver: Li Xuerei (China)

Bronze: P. V. Sindhu (India)

Malaysia Open

Winner: P. V. Sindhu (India)

Runner-up: Juan gu (China)

CRICKET

The Ashes

Series Result: England humiliate Australia 3-0 to retain the Ashes.

Players of the Series: Ian Bell (Eng) and Ryan Harris (Aus)

India in Zimbabwe

ODI Series Result: India whitewash Zimbabwe 5-0.

Players of the Series: Ian Bell

MOTORRACING

Belgian Grand Prix

Winner: Sebastian Vettel (Germany/Red Bull-Renault)

Second: Fernando Alonso (Spain/Ferrari)

Third: Lewis Hamilton (Britain/Mercedes)

TENNIS

Citi Open

Men’s Singles

Winner: Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina)

Runner-up: John Isner (U.S.)

Women’s Singles

Winner: Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovak Republic)

Runner-up: Andrea Petkovic (Germany)

Rogers Cup

Men’s Singles

Winner: Rafael Nadal (Spain)

Runner-up: Milos Raonic (Canada)

Women’s Singles

Winner: Serena Williams (U.S.)

Runner-up: Sorana Cirstea (Romania)

Indian women win gold at World Cup Archery

Indian women’s recurve team upset the South Korean team to win gold medal in the World Cup Archery (Stage IV) at Wroclaw, Poland for their second successive gold after Medellin meet.

Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi, and Rimil Buriuly stunned world champions South Koreans 219-215 in a thrilling final as Indian archery team returned with the solitary gold from the last leg of the World Cup.

Deepika concluded the four World Stages with two golds (Medellin, Wroclaw) and two silvers (both Shanghai) and one bronze (Medellin). Deepika had returned empty-handed from Stage 2 in Antalya.

Based on her performances in the four World Stages, Deepika finished inside top seven to qualify for the World Cup Finals to be held on 21^st and 22^nd September inParis.

Deepika thus qualified for the Finals for second year in a row. In her maiden appearance in Tokyo last year, Deepika had returned with Silver medal. Based on their rankings after four stages of the World Cup, top seven archers in men’s and women’s sections make the cut for the Finals, while the hosts country (France) get a quota berth. Dola Banerjee is the only Indian to have won Gold medal in the 2007 World Finals.

Economy & Business

• Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram G Rajan, who as the IMF Chief Economist had predicted the 2008 global crisis, has been appointed the new RBI Governor.
• India’s exports grew by 11.64 per cent to U.S.$25.83 billion in July, snapping two consecutive months of decline, on the back of demand from Africa, ASEAN and Far East regions.
• Public sector banks have been asked to set up Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in all branches by March 2014 to enable customers in rural pockets to do banking round-the-clock, India’s Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has said. Inaugurating the 5999th branch of Punjab National Bank at Tirupattur in Tamil Nadu, Mr Chidambaram said orders had been issued to all nationalised banks in this regard and their CMDs had been asked to implement the same in the current financial year. The Finance Minister has also asked banks to take steps to set up 8,000 branches in the country, especially in rural areas.
• The Central Government raised customs duty on gold, silver and platinum to 10 percent in third revision this year in a bid to curb the surging imports and burgeoning CAD, a decision that will also rake in an additional 4,830 crore to the exchequer. While the duty on gold and platinum was raised from 8 per cent to 10 per cent, the levy on silver was hiked by 4 per cent, according to the notifications tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.
• Chad had suspended all operations of the local unit of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for flagrant violations of environmental regulations while exploring for crude. The decision was taken after Chad Oil Minister had visited Koudalwa, some 200 kilometres south of the capital N’Djamena, where the local unit of the state-owned Chinese company was exploring for oil. “Not only did they not have equipment to clean up oil that spilled out, but they intentionally let it spill in order to cut costs,” said the Oil Minister. He said that the CNPC’s local unit had dug huge trenches and let oil flow into them, and then had it removed by local workers without protective gear. He criticised the “flagrant violations” and “unacceptable behaviour” by the company. CNPC’s local unit has explored for oil in Chad since 2009 and also operates a refinery in the central African country Chad, which began producing oil in 2003, had an output of 120,000 barrels per day in 2011
• The Central Government has approved revival of 44 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) with a total assistance of 28,333 crore as on 31st July 2013, Parliament was informed.
• To ensure availability of loans at affordable rates for farmers, the Central Government has approved a scheme for providing short-term crop loans at concessional rate of 7 per cent, Information and Broadcasting Min Manish Tewari said.
• Amazon founder and chief executive officer Jeffrey P. Bezos has agreed to buy the newspaper assets of The Washington Post Company for U.S.$250 million. This would be Mr Bezos’ maiden entry into the newspaper industry, which in the last few years has seen a decline in circulation and a drastic drop in print revenue.
• The Central Government widened the definition of term ‘control’ for the purpose of mergers and acquisitions involving overseas companies, a move which will provide more clarity to foreign investors.

Miscellaneous

• India launched its first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, joining the elite club of nations with the capability of designing and building a warship of this size and capability. The 37,500-tonne carrier was launched at Kochi shipyard almost four-and-a-half years after its keel was laid. Other nations capable of designing and building a ship of equivalent size are the U.S., the UK, Russia and France.
• GSAT-7, India’s first full-fledged military communication spacecraft, meant for exclusive use by the Indian Navy, was launched from Kourou in South America on a European Ariane 5 launcher. The satellite is expected to give a big boost to the country’s maritime security and intelligence gathering in a wide area of the Indian Ocean region.
• In a major step towards completing its nuclear triad, India activated the atomic reactor on-board the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant paving the way for its operational deployment by the Navy. Nuclear triad is the ability to fire nuclear-tipped missiles from land, air and sea. After the nuclear reactor is activated, the agencies concerned can work towards readying the warship for operational deployments soon.
• NASA’s Juno spacecraft has reached halfway to Jupiter, touching a milestone in its five-year voyage to our solar system’s largest planet. The U.S.$1.1 billion Juno mission was launched on August 5, 2011, reached halfway to Jupiter, which means it has clicked 9.464 astronomical units.
• The Central Government has launched the National Media Centre in New Delhi. With its modern infrastructure it will serve as the communication hub of the government. The media centre is equipped with state-of-the-art technology to facilitate enhanced media access to the government and is likely to house the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) restrained sand mining without any licence or environmental clearance from river beds across the country on a plea alleging that such activities were going on in Uttar Pradesh with the “wilful connivance” of its state machinery.