31st August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• Modi's Japan Visit
• Japan today agreed to work with India in developing a treatment for the Sickle Cell Anaemia after Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought help for finding remedy to the deadly disease commonly found among tribals in India.
• Modi said on Saturday that the India-Japan relationship was below potential and the two sides would strive to achieve in five years the unrealized hopes of five decades.
• Modi visits ancient Buddhist temple in Japan ( Toji temple in Kyoto)

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30th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

National Affairs

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said banks have opened about 2.14 crore saving accounts since the launch of Jan Dhan Yojana on August 28.

International Affairs

• US military operations in Iraq, including airstrikes and surveillance flights, have cost about USD 560 million since mid-June, the Pentagon has said today.

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29th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• The United States warned today that it was considering new sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the latest fighting in Ukraine.
• The World Health Organization said today that the number of Ebola cases was increasing rapidly and could exceed 20,000 before the virus is brought under control, as the death toll topped 1,500.
• Libya's toothless interim government, led by prime minister Abdullah al-Thani, announced it had tendered its resignation to the elected parliament, days after a rival Islamist administration was created.

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28th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• Syria's President Bashar al-Assad formed a new government today, two months after his reelection. The new line-up includes 11 new ministers, but leaves Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and Defence Minister General Fahd al-Freij in their posts.
• Turkey's unrivaled leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in as the country's first publicly elected president, heralding a new political order in a critical Western ally after a monthslong campaign to consolidate power.
• India and the US share a rich and robust relationship and President Barack Obama looks forward to building on that when he meets with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, the White House said today.

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27th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• UN chief Ban Ki-moon has welcomed a long-term ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israel in Gaza and voiced hope that it will act as a "prelude" to a political process aimed at achieving durable peace.
• Facing his toughest test since becoming Pakistan's Prime Minister, a defiant Nawaz Sharif today brushed aside the demand of protesters asking him to quit saying the country has survived "difficult times" and the current political crisis too shall pass.
• A United Nations humanitarian aid convoy crossed into Gaza from Egypt today for the first time since a blockade was introduced on the territory in 2007.

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26th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

National Affairs

• The Chabad (Jewish learning centre) Centre at the Nariman House reopened today, nearly six years after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, in which six people were killed in the Nariman House building, including a Rabbi and his wife.
• 'Universal Identity Cards' would be issued to people with disabilities for which a survey would begin next month to ascertain the exact number of disabled people in the country, Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said today.
• Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Kalraj Mishra today said his ministry is working to bring out new policy for the sector and a committee with officials from Ministries of Finance, MSME and RBI has been formed to chalk out issues to be included in the new policy. 
• India today barred scam-tainted Italian defence firm Finmeccannica from participating in future tenders while deciding to carry out ongoing contracts with the group and its subsidiary AgustaWestland, more than a month after putting all deals on hold.

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25th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

National Affairs

• The ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’, an ambitious financial inclusion scheme under which the government intends to provide every household with a bank account and insurance cover, will be launched on 28 August by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The Supreme Court today declared that all coal mining rights distributed between 1993 and 2010 were assigned illegally by the government in a process that lacked transparency in the absence of a competitive bidding system.
• The Supreme Court today declined to entertain petitions challenging the 121st constitutional amendment and the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) bill, saying they are "premature" but allowed the petitioners to approach the court at a later stage.
  

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24th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• '9th Cultural Festival' in Kuwait to showcase India's rich artistic heritage begins today.
• Seeking a more dynamic relationship with strategically-important Vietnam, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is on a three day visit to vietnam. During this visit she will participate in talks with the country’s top leadership during which cooperation in defence, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and textiles would be in focus.
• Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said his successor would take office on 2nd September 2014, despite a slow-moving vote audit designed to eliminate fraudulent ballots cast for the two contenders.
• Two alarming new cases of Ebola have emerged in Nigeria, widening the circle of people sickened beyond the immediate group of caregivers who treated a dying airline passenger in one of Africa's largest cities. 

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23rd August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• The United States demanded Russia "immediately" withdraw a convoy of vehicles from Ukraine and warned of further international sanctions if Moscow did not respect Kiev's sovereignty.
• The UN security council has strongly condemned the "heinous and cowardly" murder of journalist James Foley by Islamic State militants and called for the immediate release of all hostages.

 

National Affairs

• The Supreme Court today refused to postpone the UPSC preliminary examination. "Nine lakh students are ready to appear in exam and it cannot be postponed", SC says while dismissing the plea of a civil services aspirant
• Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar opened the first edition of northeast film festival at Delhi and said the government is committed to mainstream new initiatives in the region.

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22nd August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

National Affairs

• Month-long Madras Week celebrations - to mark the city's 375th birthday begin today .
• Organized by the Directorate of Film Festivals of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi, the three-day long North-East Film Festival (first edition) begins today. 
• Opening film is 'Khawnglung Run’ by Mapuia Chawngthu
• The Assam and Nagaland governments, in the presence of Union MoS for Home Kiren Rijiju, mutually agreed to resolve the border row amicably and to form a joint mechanism to work out a solution to the problem.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s comment describing the 2012 Delhi gang-rape as “one small incident of rape in Delhi” that hit Indian tourism has been picked up for strong condemnation on social media. "I regret words used was construed as insensitive, not my intention" he later apologized.

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21st August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

National Affairs

• Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan's death anniversary today.
• The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre on a writ petition filed by Uttarkahand Governor Dr. Aziz Qureshi challenging the Union Home Secretary’s oral communication asking him to resign from the post.
• Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association today moved the Supreme Court challenging the Constitution amendment and National Judicial Commission Bills providing for replacing the collegium system of appointment of Judges to High courts and Supreme Court.  

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20th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• Liberia's president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf declared a curfew and ordered security forces to quarantine a slum home to at least 50,000 people late Tuesday as the West African country battled to stop the spread of Ebola in the capital.
• An Israeli air strike on Gaza City has killed the wife and infant daughter of elusive Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif.
• Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit today defended his meetings with Hurriyat leaders over which India called off planned talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries, but said his government was committed to the dialogue process with India.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today decided to meet opposition leader Imran Khan in an effort to end the anti-government protests at Islamabad seeking his ouster, as Pakistan's powerful military called for calm and asked all stakeholders to resolve the impasse through meaningful talks.  

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19th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

National Affairs

• A court in Manipur today ordered the release of Irom Sharmila who has staged a 14-year hunger strike in protest at human rights abuses in Manipur.
• Taking a step further towards scrapping the Planning Commission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today invited ideas from the people on the new institution to replace the plan body.The government also announced creation of a special open forum on the website mygov.nic.in for suggestions on the new institution. 
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid the foundation stone of 166 km Kaithal- Rajasthan border section of the National Highway-Haryana. 

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18th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• Afghanistan celebrates the 95th anniversary of its Independence Day.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to President Hamid Karzai extending greetings for Afghanistan’s Independence Day with a promise to continue India’s full support to the efforts to build a strong, united, peaceful, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan.
• The Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers ended "difficult" talks on the Ukraine crisis on Sunday with no concrete advances but "some progress", hosts Germany said, as clashes continued on the ground.

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17th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• Kenya is closing its borders to travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three countries worst hit by the Ebola outbreak.
• Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan today warned the PML-N Government that thousands of his supporters could enter the high-security Red Zone at Islamabad if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif refuses to quit, as popular cleric Tahir-ul Qadri issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding the same.
• The US military has conducted air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) near Irbil and Iraq's largest dam in an effort to help Kurdish forces retake it from violent extremists.

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16th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• Having allocated over Rs 7,000 crores in its recent budget for development of 100 'smart cities', India today roped in Singapore for providing its expertise in this even as the two countries decided to step up economic engagement besides defence and security cooperation.
• Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are poised to resume indirect talks with Egyptian mediators on reaching a more permanent ceasefire before a current truce expires at midnight on Monday.
• Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced today that he will step down and endorse his nominated successor. 

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15th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make her maiden visit to China later this month amid hectic consultations between the two countries to sort out scheduling problems in Chinese President Xi Jinping's high-profile trip to New Delhi. 

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14th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• Pope Francis is on a visit to South Korea to beatify 124 Korean martyrs and encourage the faithful in a church seen as a model for the future of Catholicism. He becomes the first pontiff in 25 years to visit South Korea.
• An agreement between Israel and Hamas had decided to extend the temporary truce in Gaza for five more days, Egypt has said today.
• The Ebola virus killed 56 people in just two days, bringing the global death toll to 1,069, the World Health Organization announced.

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13th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki today said that a probe by the UN Human Rights Council will prove that Israel committed war crimes and violated humanitarian law during its Gaza offensive.
• Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki today said that he will not relinquish power until a federal court rules on what he called a "constitutional violation" by the president to replace him with a member of his own party.

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12th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updtes

International Affairs

• Italian Premier Matteo Renzi today spoke to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and sought a "rapid and positive solution" in the case of the two Italian marines being held in India for allegedly shooting to death two Indian fishermen in 2012.
• The US has continued with its two-pronged mission in Iraq, hitting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets and providing humanitarian aid to thousands of people stranded on Mount Sinjar.  

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