4th Jaunary 2014 Current Affairs

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International Affairs

• Bangladesh's main opposition party BNP today called for a fresh 48-hour shutdown to derail Sunday's polls with its chief Khaleda Zia asking people to boycott the "farce" election, even as two people were killed in clashes and five makeshift voting centers torched.
• South Sudan's warring parties were set to begin direct talks on Saturday in a bid to end the conflict pushing the world's youngest nation towards civil war as fighting intensified for control of a key oil town.
• The US has agreed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the arrest of an Indian diplomat has caused hiccups in bilateral ties, but said it is now focused on getting the relationship back on really strong footing.
• Indian High Commissioner T C A Raghavan meets Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, discusses issues of mutual interest.
• With general elections to be held in Bangladesh tomorrow, the Border Security Force has stepped up vigil on this side of the border to prevent miscreants from crossing over to India.
• A newly formed Syrian rebel alliance has declared war on the powerful al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and joined other opposition groups in battling the extremists.
• US Secretary of State John Kerry today cited progress on the Mideast peace process, yet acknowledged that some of the most intractable disputes between Israelis and Palestinians were unsolved after more than 20 rounds of negotiations.

National Affairs

• Today is 205th birth anniversary of inventor of Braille script Louis Braille.
• 90th birthday of Hindi Poet Gopaldas Neeraj to be celebrated today.
• Today is 20th death anniversary of legendary singer RD Burman.
• Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is campaigning to scrap India's single time zone, which causes problems for easterners who face summer sunrise as early as 4:30am.
• Lt Governor of Puducherry Virendra Kataria  inaugurated the 20th International Yoga festival conducted by the Directorate of Tourism  in Puducherry today.
• 16th edition of BharatRangMahotsav, National School of Drama’s annual theatre festival, gets underway today and will be on till January 19.
• Facing criticism, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today announced his decision not to take up the two five-bedroom duplex flats he has been alloted.
• SP's state executive member K P Yadav was today expelled from the party for alleged anti-party activities.
• Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Prashant Bhushan on Saturday announced that the party will contest most Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and a final list of candidates would be released by February 15.
• PM ManmohanSingh Inaugurates LNG terminal in Cochin today.
• Putting to rest the rumours of launching a new party, Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today said Congress MLAs and leaders from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions will discuss their "future" in two-day long "brainstorming" session to be held after January 23.
• CBI registers case against Brig V S Saini for allegedly receiving kickbacks to clear sale of helicopters for the Army.
• The Himachal Pradesh cabinet today decided to allot land to the poor in urban and rural areas for construction of houses.

Science and Technology

• An H1N1 flu outbreak in Alberta has sickened nearly 1,000 people and killed five, the Canadian province's health minister said Friday, urging everyone to get vaccinated.
• 29 hour Countdown for launch of India's heavy-duty rocket, GSLV,which would carry communication satellite GSAT-14 set to begin today at Sriharikota.
• Even as ISRO is gearing up for the launch of GSLV D5 from Sriharikota tomorrow, preparations are on for launch of the PSLV C24 carrying IRNSS-1B, which is likely in March.

Sports

• 28th Federation Cup National Basketball Championship began at YMCA International Centre in Ahemdabad today.
• Asia's cricket chiefs on Saturday said violence-plagued Bangladesh would remain the venue for next month's Asia Cup and added Afghanistan as the fifth team in the regional one-day tournament.
• Somdev Devvarman recovered from his shock Chennai Open defeat against little-known compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan to edge past Belgium's Niel Desein in a tight opening round of the ATP Apia International Qualifiers on Saturday.
• India skipper Vijay Zol (100) and Sanju Samson (100) scored contrasting centuries as India colts posted a comprehensive 40-run win over arch-rivals Pakistan to clinch the Under-19 Asia Cup title today.

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