4th September 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Nato summit 2014 begins in Newport (Wales) bringing together more than 60 heads of state and government.
• NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• All Nato's 28 member countries were represented.
• 60 world leaders, 70 foreign and 70 defense ministers are attending this summit.
• It is a 2 day summit (4th and 5th September 2014)
• UK has last hosted a Nato summit on 1990, when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister.
  
• The summit also marks the first time a serving US president has been to Wales.
• US President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain have called on NATO to reject “isolationist” impulses and confront the rising terrorist threat posed by Sunni militants in the Middle East, saying the United States and Britain “will not be cowed by barbaric killers.”
• Western leaders have criticized Russia for its "destabilizing" influence on the crisis in eastern Ukraine, as they opened a Nato summit in Wales.
• Ukraine, Afghanistan, and the future of the Nato alliance were at the top of the agenda for politicians and diplomats.
• The African Union announced today, that it will hold an emergency meeting next week (possibly on Monday) at Addis Ababa, aimed at hammering out a continent-wide strategy to deal with the Ebola epidemic.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has unveiled a seven-point plan for peace in Ukraine which he said could be approved by rival sides in the conflict during talks scheduled for Friday.
• The leader of terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, says they have launched a new off-shoot in the Indian sub-continent. The new organization aims to create a Muslim caliphate in Burma, Bangladesh and parts of India.

National Affairs

• Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan today commissioned INS Sumitra, the fourth indigenous Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel (NOPV) into the Indian Navy at an impressive ceremony in Chennai. This Saryu class vessel was handed over to the Indian Navy on July 17 and had successfully completed its sea trials recently.
• Delhi, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are all set to get 24-hour power supply like Gujarat, power minister Piyush Goyal said today.
• Andhra Pradesh's new capital will be located in Vijayawada region, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced in the state assembly today.
• India today said that it has received the free trade agreements on services and investments with ASEAN and it will “shortly” sign the pact.
• The Ministry of Tourism launched a new mobile application named 'Incredible India App', that will give domestic and international travelers access to government-recognised tourism service providers and details about places of interest on the go. This application was developed by the National Informatics Centre.

Visitors

• Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott started his India visit from Mumbai where he arrived early Thursday, heading a 30-strong business delegation.
• Describing India as an "emerging democratic superpower", he said that he looks forward to making the most of the abundant opportunities for business in the country.
• He launched his government’s New Colombo Plan, to enhance student exchange and collaboration between the universities of two countries, at the Mumbai University on Thursday.

Business & Economy

• The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the release of a 7 per cent additional installment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees. It also approved Dearness Relief (DR) for pensioners. Both DA and DR will become effective from July 1, 2014.
• The government has asked 12 state -run PSUs like SAIL, NTPC and DVC to immediately furnish all details of any joint ventures formed by them related to 20 coal blocks allocated for captive use for submission to the Supreme Court, which is looking into the issue.

New Appointments

• Veteran BJP leader Kalyan Singh sworn-in as the governor of Rajasthan.

People in News

• Rishikesh Reddy Kayathi of Oakridge International School has been declared a ‘World Topper in Mathematics’, in the Grade X International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) Examinations conducted by Cambridge University.

Deaths

• Former Goa & Maharashtra governor Mhd. Fazal passes away

Sports

• Owing to her bronze medal finish at the recently-concluded World Championships, India's top shuttler P V Sindhu has re-entered the top-10 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings, released today.  Saina Nehwal remained the top-ranked Indian player at No 7.

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