14th February 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• The United States has welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to send Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to Islamabad, a move seen as an effort to revive the suspended Indo-Pak talks. 
• India today signed a loan agreement worth USD 8 million with World Bank for sustainable livelihoods and adaption to climate change.
• The agreement was signed by Joint Secretary (MI) in Ministry of Finance Tarun Bajaj and World Bank's India Country Director Onno Ruhl.

National Affairs

• Arvind Kejriwal takes oath as Chief Minister of Delhi
• He Promises to make Delhi first corruption-free city.

• He allocated portfolios among the Ministers.
• Deputy CM Manish Sisodia will hold the charge of Eduction, Finance, Planning & Revenue
• Satyendar Jain will look after Power, Health, Industries & PWD departments.
• Gopal Rai has been given the responsibility of Transport, Labour & Employment departments
• Sandeep Kumar will hold the portfolios of Women & Child Development, Social Welfare and SC & ST departments.
• Asim Ahmed Khan  will look after Food, Civil Supply & Environment and Forest departments
• Jitender Singh Tomar has been given the charge of Law & Justice, Home, and Tourism.
• Kejriwal will not keep any department under his charge, he will oversee the work of different departments and supervise their work.
• The 23rd edition of 9 day long New Delhi World Book Fair began at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi today.
• Inaugurated by HRD Minister Smriti Irani.
• This year's theme : Suryodaya: Emerging Voices from Northeast India.
• Singapore has been accorded the Guest of Honour Country status for this edition of fair while the Focus Country is South Korea.
• Organised by National Book Trust (NBT), an apex body of the under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. 
• Smriti Irani said that her Ministry would approach the Railway& Civil Aviation ministries to set up book stalls of National Book Trust on platforms and in airports to encourage people to read books.
• A local court in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district has acquitted all the 70 accused in the 2002 post-Godhra riots that took place in Seshan Nava village for lack of evidence.
• A total of 14 Muslims were killed in the riots that broke out on March 2, 2002 and two persons from the Hindu community were killed in police firing.

Science & Technology

• India today successfully test-fired the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from INS Kolkata, the navy's most powerful and newest warship, in Arabian sea.
• Google's ambitious Project Loon will be commercially available by 2016. 
• Under the Project Loon, Google plans to provide affordable Internet to everyone through Internet beaming helium balloons which will be travel 20km above the Earth's surface, in the stratosphere.

New Appointments

• Commodity exchange MCX has roped in BSE's Chief Business Officer B Venkataramani to head the bourse as Managing Director and CEO.
• The top post at MCX has been lying vacant since May last year when the then MD & CEO Manoj Vaish resigned.

People in News

• The Chairman of a Hyderabad-based English daily Deccan Chronicle T. Venkattram Reddy was today arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the alleged default of Rs 357 crore loan from Canara Bank.

Sports

• World Cup 2015
• Australia and New Zealand win their group matches
• India to clash with Pakistan tomorrow.

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