CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEC-MAY2014 POINTS TO REMEMBER • The Hollywood film based on the life of Julian Assange – The Fifth State • India’s rank in terms of competitiveness in the ‘Global Competitiveness Report 2013-14’ released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) recently – 60th • The country hit by the powerful typhoon Usagi recently – China • The Indian city that ranked as the world’s second most honest city in a recent survey carried out in 16 cities across four continents - Mumbai • The Seventh Pay Commission approved by the Prime Minister recently is likely to be implemented from – Jan 1, 2016 • The team to whom Indian women hockey team lost in the semifinals of the eighth Asia Cup hockey tournament in Kuala Lumpur recently – South Korea • The country in which China is in process to lease 3m hectare of arable farmland - Ukraine • World Tourism Day is observed on – 27 Sep • General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) provisions will come into effect from – 1 Apr, 2016 • The anti-chemical weapons activists who have won the Swedish Right Livelihood Award – Paul Walker, Hans Herren and Denis Mukwege • The person awarded with the fifth Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics 2013 – Raghuram Rajan • The least developed state as per the report submitted by the Raghuram Rajan committee – Odisha • The Internet giant who celebrated its 15th birthday recently - Google • The most developed states as per the Raghuram Rajan panel report – Kerala and Goa • The winner of the 2013 women’s Table Tennis World Cup – Liu Siwen • World Rabies Day is observed on – Sep 28 • The country to which India started exporting electricity recently - Bangladesh • The country which will host the 2014 NATO summit for the first time in more than 20 years - England • World Heart Day is observed on – 29 Sep • Miss World 2013 – Megan Young • The present president of the BCCI – N Srinivasan • The dedicated pin code issued by the postal department for the Supreme Court of India recently - 110201 CSB, Ch-17, Ph: 044-24333346 CA/PTR/Page-1 • The country that unveiled its most powerful super computer Raijin recently - Australia • The country that won the 3rd Sultan of Johor Cup under-21 hockey tournament recently - India • The satellite on which the US space agency NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has detected propylene – Titan (Saturn’s moon) • The country where the Supreme Court has barred murder convicts from contesting in the upcoming polls - Nepal • International Day of Older Persons is observed on – 1 Oct • The new Chairperson of the International Coffee Council – Jawaid Akhtar • The country that signed the CTBT accord recently – Iraq • The name of the campaign launched by the Ministry of Tourism to promote tourism in Himalayas – 777 days of incredible Indian Himalayas • The technology giant that has set up a new company called Calico to make improvements in human health and well-being - Google • The places at which India is building first-of-its-kind strategic oil storages – Padur, Mangalore and Visakhapatnam • The country with which India is set to sign a historic ‘Motor Vehicles Agreement’ - Bangladesh • The university ranked on the top among the Indian institutions of higher education in the recent Times Higher Education World University Rankings – Panjab University • The country that announced to leave the 54-member Commonwealth group recently - Gambia • The current global infant mortality rate (IMR) as per the recent report of the UNICEF - 37 • The challenge round in which Miss India Navneet Kaur won at the recent Miss World competition held in Bali - Multimedia • The indigenously developed nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile successfully test-fired by India – Prithvi-II • The cricket team that created history by becoming the first team to win the Champions League T20 cricket tournament twice – Mumbai Indians • The first Tamil Chief Minister of a Sri Lankan province sworn in recently – CV Wigneswaran • The Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) elected for the second four-year term – Irina Bokova • Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and Indian Railways will jointly set up a forged wheel plant at – Rae Bareli • The first-ever woman chairperson of India’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI) – Arundhati Bhattacharya CSB, Ch-17, Ph: 044-24333346 CA/PTR/Page-2 • The new Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently – 9 per cent • The famed military commander of Vietnam who died recently and who had masterminded the defeats of France and the United States in his country – General Vo Ngugen Giap • The country in which the two-day summit of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) took place recently - Indonesia • The winner of the Korean Grand Prix Formula One championship – Sebastian Vettel • The person nominated by the US President Barack Obama to head Federal Reserve – Janet Yellen • The retail chain run by Bharti group in India – Easy Day • The population of world which will be online by the end of 2013 according to a recent report published by the United Nations – 40 per cent • The winner of the men’s singles title of the China Open tennis tournament – Novak Djokovic • The country which is on the top among the recipients of foreign remittance in 2013, according to a recent estimate released by the World Bank - India • The country where M23 rebels are active – Democratic Republic of Congo • The new president of Ethiopia – Mulatu Teshome • The country to which the US govt suspended delivery of large-scale military systems and cash assistance recently - Egypt • The state that topped in terms of infant mortality rate (IMR) as per a recent report released by the Registrar General of India - Kerala • The winner of the women’s doubles title of the China Open tennis tournament – Sania Mirza and Cara Black • World Mental Health Day – 10 Oct • The present Prime Minister of Libya who was held hostage by the rebel militiamen recently – Ali Zeidan • International Day of the Girl Child – 11 Oct • The campaign launched by the govt to remove the stigma attached to leprosy - HEAL • The person who has been given the Indira Gandhi National Integration Award 2012 – MS Swaminathan • The person who has been awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov human rights prize – Malala Yousafzai • The Indian shuttler who approached the high court challenging the decision of BAI to recommend a life ban on her for alleged indiscipline in the IBL – Jwala Gutta CSB, Ch-17, Ph: 044-24333346 CA/PTR/Page-3 • The country where the ASEAN-India Summit took place recently - Indonesia • International Day for Disaster Reduction – 13 Oct • The Indian state whose archers were issued stapled visas by China for Youth World Archery Championship in central China’s Wuxi city – Arunachal Pradesh • The cyclone that hit the eastern coast of India recently and forced to evacuate lakhs of people and devastated property worth crores of rupees - Phailin • The winner of the Japanese Grand Prix Formula One championship – Sebastian Vettel • The winner of the 2013 Man Booker Prize – Eleanor Catton • The organisation which won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize – Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) • Justice MB Shah Commission is associated with – Illegal mining across the country • The state-of-the-art Geo-scientific research vessel that has been dedicated to the nation at Kandla Port of Gujarat recently – RV Samudra Ratnakar • The company that has become the first private company of the country to earn over Rs.1 lakh crore in a quarter – Reliance Industries (RIL) • The country that overtook Saudi Arabia to become world’s biggest oil producer recently - US • The country that was lashed by typhoon Wipha recently – Japan • India’s ranking in the Global Hunger Index 2013 released by the IFPRI - 63 • The county in the P5+1 group along with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - Germany • India’s GDP growth rate estimated by IMF for the current financial year – 8.5 per cent • The state which has registered maximum number of human rights violations till 30 Sep 2013 as per the data released by the NHRC – Uttar Pradesh • The country which overtook US to become the world’s largest net oil importer - China • The country where the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) took place – Sri Lanka • The first country in the world to implement a new financial transaction tax called ‘Tobin Tax’ - Italy • The first Indian to reach final stage of a world ranking Snooker event – Aditya Mehta • The debt ceiling approved by the US Congress after the govt remained shut down for many days - $17 trillion • India’s GDP expansion in 2013-14 as pegged by the World Bank – 4.7 per cent CSB, Ch-17, Ph: 044-24333346 CA/PTR/Page-4 • World Osteoporosis Day – 20 Oct • The place where the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) started digging the earth for the prophesied 1,000 tonnes of gold - Unnao • The newly elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council that rejected the seat recently – Saudi Arabia • The panel that has recommended prohibition on development activities in 60,000 sq km vast ecologically sensitive area of Western Ghats – K Kasturirangan Panel • The winner of the 2013 Macau Open Squash women’s single title – Dipika Pallikal • The country where India has launched its ambitious pension scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana, for the Indians working there - UAE • Mexico has announced to award its 2013 International Prize for Equality and Non-Discrimination