Current Affairs: August 2014 Month Current Affairs

August 2014 Month Current Affairs

Hi Government Job  Exams Aspirants. Today we Publishing the August 2014 Month Current Affairs for Upcoming Competitive Exams.  We hope this post helps you in coming competitive exams. All the best....

National & International Current Affairs:

• Pakistan Government on 29 August 2014 appointed Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif's as mediator to defuse political crisis.

The decision to seek Army chief General Raheel Sharif's help was taken after both Imran Khan, chief of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Tahir-ul-Qadri, the chief of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) refused to budge from their demand asking Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to quit.

• Maharashtra State Cabinet on 28 August 2014 approved the formation of Transgender Welfare Board. After Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra became the second state to announce the formation of the board.

• Delhi-based 13 year old school boy Yashwardhan Shukla authored a novel, "Gods of Antarctica". The book is fictional tale of gods and monsters. It was put into print by the Readers Paradise publishers.
• Maharashtra Government on 28 August 2014 included 10 Sub- Caste of Lingayat community in Other Backward Category (OBC) category. Besides, it also agreed to recommend to the Union that the Lingayat community be given minority status.
• Union Government on 25 August 2014 notified the Securities Laws Amendment Act, 2014 (SLAA, 2014). The Act came into force on the day it was notified amends the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and the Depositories Act, 1996.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 August 2014 launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. The Yojana is a mega financial inclusion plan.  Under the yojana bank accounts and RuPay debit cards with inbuilt insurance cover of 1 lakh rupees will be provided to crores of persons with no access to formal banking facilities.
• Sivaramakrishnan committee constituted by the Union Government to suggest the place to build the capital city of Andhra Pradesh submitted its report on 27 August 2014 to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.
• Union Cabinet on 27 August 2014 announced to lift the restriction of one LPG cylinder per month per household.

However, the Union Cabinet did not change the overall cap of 12 subsidised cylinders per year.   Cooking gas consumers will now get 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg at subsidised rate in a year, even if they don’t consume one bottle/month.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 27 August 2014 set up a Ramanujam committee to identify obsolete laws. The committee will identify the laws which they believed hamper governance by creating avoidable confusion.

The Committee will be chaired by R. Ramanujam, Secretary in the PMO, V.K. Bhasin, former Secretary, Legislative Department, will be its other member.

• The Union Minister for Tourism Shripad Naik on 26 August 2014 launched the comprehensive Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) for Accommodation, Tour Operators and Beaches, Backwaters, Lakes &Rivers Sectors.
• Union Government on 27 August 2014 launched a new domain, Dot Bharat  in Devanagari script in New Delhi. Initially the domain will cover eight languages like Hindi, Bodo, Dogri, Konkani, Maithili, Marathi, Nepali and Sindhi. The included languages are from the list of 22 languages that has been included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
• Google will be building Knowledge Vault to store world’s information. It is the largest information storage in human history. It is readable by both human and Machine and is a knowledge base that autonomously gathers and merges data from across the web to provide unprecedented access to all facts about the world.
• Rajasthan government reduced the probation period in direct recruitment of its employees on higher posts from two to one year on 25 August 2014. This decision was taken at a State cabinet meeting in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
• The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated India's first Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) at Shibpur, Howrah in West Bengal on 24 August
  
  2014.

While inaugurating the IIEST, President Pranab Mukherjee emphasized that the state level institutions need to be prioritized as these institutions account for 96 percent of higher education capacity.

• India’s first indigenously-built stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) INS Kamorta was commissioned in Indian Navy by Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on 23 August 2014. It was commissioned at naval dockyard in Vishakhapatnam.

INS Kamrota is India’s first vessel in the navy whose all weapon systems are manufactured indigenously.

• Pradhan Mantri Krishi Seenchayi Yojana was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19 August 2014. The Yojna has been announced to meet the irrigation needs of all farmers across the country. Sum of 1000 crore rupees has been allocated for implementation of the scheme.
• Afghanistan celebrated its 95th Independence Day on 19 August 2014. It is celebrated to mark the signing of the 1919 Anglo-Afghan treaty, which gave the country complete independence from British Empire.
• World’s first Hindu eco-temple named Shree Swaminarayan Mandir was opened in Kingsbury of northwest London, United Kingdom on 19 August 2014. The eco-temple features solar panels on its roof and a rainwater harvesting system.
• Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on 16 August 2014 dedicated India’s indigenously designed warship INS Kolkata (D63) to the nation. With this, INS Kolkata was commissioned in Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• The Union Government on 14 August 2014 re-launched the Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY) for the benefit of citizens aged 60 years and above. This re-launched scheme would provide financial security to almost half a million people by ensuring regular income during their advancing year.
• The Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on 11 August 2014 introduced The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014, and the 121st Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.

• Gujarat’s success story in Water Management: Sriram Vedire

A book titled "Gujarat’s success story in Water Management" was released on 9 August 2014 by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and the Party National President Amit Shah at JLN Stadium in Delhi. This book was written by BJP’s National Convener of Water Management Cell, Sriram Vedire.

• The Union cabinet on 6 August 2014 approved the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014 to amend the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2000. The Union government plans to introduce the bill in the Monsoon session of Parliament.
  
• NASA announced on 31 July 2014 at its headquarters in Washington, US, that it will send a new rover to Mars in 2020 named as Mars 2020 rover mission. Mars 2020 mission will attempt to determine the potential habitability of the Mars environment, and directly search for signs of ancient Martian life. This attempt if successful will pave the way for future manned missions.

Awards:

• US actor and singer Harry Belafonte was named for  honorary Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar Award on 29 August 2014. Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Oscar Award is one of the three Governor's Award given by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for lifetime achievement.
• Border Security Force (BSF) personnel set a LIMCA Book of Record by planting saplings at all BSF locations on 19 August 2014 in a special tree plantation drive. This drive was carried out under Green Mission.

Around two lakh saplings were planted in 30 minutes at all Frontiers, Headquarters, Sector Headquarters, Training Institutions, Battalion Headquarters and all Border Outposts along the Bangladesh border of 4,096 km and Pakistan border of 3,323 Km.

• Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul on 22 August 2014 bagged Silver medal in the 77 kg category
  
  by lifting 141 kg in Snatch and 175 kg in Clean and Jerk to finish with a total of 316 kg. With this, Rahul won India's first medal of the second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.
• Guru Hanuman Akhara, a Delhi-based wrestling academy was chosen for the 2014 Rashtritya Khel Protsahan Puraskar (RKPP) on 21 August 2014. The Akhara was chosen in the category of establishment and management of sports academies of excellence.
• Muzaffar Ali, renowned filmmaker and poet, was presented the 22nd Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana award on 20 August 2014 at Jawahar Bhawan in New Delhi. The award was presented by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, the president of All-India Congress Committee (AICC).
• Delhi University professor Dr. Sunil Kumar on 13 August 2014 received Global South Award given by International Political Science Association (IPSA). The award was given at the 23rd world congress of political science held in Montreal, Canada.
• Indian Women’s Recurve team on 10 August 2014 won gold medal at the Archery World Cup Stage IV in Wroclaw, Poland. The second seeded Indian team led by Deepika Kumari andincluded Bombayala Devi Lashram and Lakshmi Rani Manji defeated the Mexican team 6-0.

• Muzaffar Ali, a noted filmmaker of India was selected for Rajiv Gandhi National SadbhavanaAward on 31 July 2014. His name was selected for his outstanding contribution towards the promotion of Communal harmony, peace and goodwill.

• Bipan Chandra, former professor of history, was considered to be a specialist in the economic and political history of modern India and was a left leaning historian.

Sports:

• The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on 18 August 2014 that Jammu and Kashmir will host Football Federation Cup in August 2015.
• England won the 5-match Pataudi Trophy test-series played against India by 3-1. England achieved the feat after defeating India on 17 August 2014 in the fifth and final Test at The Oval by an innings and 244 runs.
• The Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI) appointed Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri as the Director of Indian Cricket Team on 19 August 2014. The decision came after seeing defeat of Indian Cricket Team in Test series against England.

• World number three tennis player, Roger Federer of Switzerland on 17 August 2014 won Cincinnati Tennis Open, also called Western & Southern Open. He defeated David Ferrer of Spain 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in the final played in Cincinnati, US. This was sixth Cincinnati title for 33-year-old Federer and was the first Masters title for Federer since 2012.

• European champions and Spanish giant Real Madrid football club on 13 August 2014 lifted the UEFA Football Super Cup, the first European trophy of the season. To lift the trophy, Real Madrid defeated Sevilla football club, 2-0 in Cardiff, Wales. With this win, Madrid has 14 major European trophies.
• Dipa Karmakar on 31 July 2014 became the first Indian woman gymnast and second person of the country to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. She bagged a bronze in the vault event and scripted history for and in India.

• Yohann Diniz of France broke the 50-km Walk World Record at the European Athletics Championship held in Zurich, Switzerland. He broke the record with a timing of 3 Hours 32 Minutes and 33 Seconds.

Days:

• 29 August: National Sports Day was celebrated on the  throughout the country.

National Sports Day is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of hockey player Dhyan Chand. This day is celebrated by organizing friendly matches between different Indian hockey teams at the Dhyan Chand National stadium in New Delhi.

• 19 August: World Humanitarian Day

World Humanitarian Day was observed across the world on 19 August 2014. The day is observed to recognise humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. The theme for the year 2014 is The World Needs More Humanitarian Heroes.

• 12 August: World Elephant Day 

World Elephant Day was observed across the world on 12 August 2014. It is an international annual event and is dedicated towards the preservation and protection of the world’s elephants.

Deaths:

• Noted historian Bipan Chandra died on 30 August 2014 at his residence in Gurgaon after prolonged illness. He was 86
• Chemancherry Narayanan Nair, the noted Malayalam drama and film actor died on 25 August 2014 at Chengottukavu near Koilandy in Kozhikode, Kerala. He was 79.  

• Oscar-winning British filmmaker and actor Richard Attenborough died on 24 August 2014 in London. He was in poor health for some time. He was 90.

• World-renowned yoga guru Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar died on 20 August 2014. He died at the age of 96. He died due to renal failure at a Pune-based hospital.

Business Deals:

• Adani Enterprises on 29 August 2014 agreed to pay 145 million US dollar to Singapore-listed Linc Energy to buy the royalty rights of the Australian firm Carmichael coal project.

The royalty will cost Adani Enterprises 2 Australian dollar per tonne, indexed to inflation, for the first 20 years of production from the coal mine.

• State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) on 29 August 2014 announced to invest 5219 crore rupees for the production of Daman gas fields in the Arabian Sea.

The investment will be made towards Daman Development project to enhance production of natural gas and condensate in its Tapti Daman Block in Arabian Sea by the mid of 2016.

• India on 29 August 2014 signed loan agreement with World Bank for Mizoram State Roads Project (MSRP II). As per the agreement, soft loan window of World Bank, International Development Agency (IDA) will provide assistance of 107 million US dollars for the Project.

The agreement was signed by Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary (MI), Department of Economic Affairs and Onno Ruhl, Country Director, World Bank, India.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 27 August 2014 approved the swapping of Save Our Soul (SOS) village land in Borjhar, Assam with the Airport Authority of India’s (AAI) airport land. As per the approval the SOS village’s 2397 square meter land will be swapped with AAI’s equivalent airport land that measures 2397 square meter.
• The Supreme Court of India on 27 August 2014 directed the real estate developer DLF Ltd to pay a fine of 630 crore rupees that was imposed on it by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). CCI had imposed a fine on DLF for alleged unfair business practices.
• Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) on 26 August 2014 signed a deal with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for sharing around 4000 mobile towers.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 August 2014 announced to launch Energy Highway for Eastern India. The pipeline project will connect Eastern India with the national gas grid.

GAIL will implement the project. GAIL has already started activities related to detailed survey of the pipeline route.

• The Reserve Bank of India on 21 August 2014 released its annual report for 2013-14. In its report. RBI suppressed the fear of drought stating that 'its way better than 2009' and the gaps in the fiscal and current accounts are most likely to remain contained in 2014-15.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 21 August 2014 dedicated 765 KV Ranchi-Dharmjaygarh-Sipat Transmission Line (Powergrid) to the nation. The transmission link was inaugurated online by the Prime Minister at Prabhat Tara, Dhurwa in Ranchi.
• Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank on 19 August 2014 launched EMI (equated monthly installments) facility on debit cards.
• Union Cabinet on 6 August 2014 raised the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit in Defence sector from 26 percent to 49 percent.
• Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014 was passed in the Lok Sabha by voice vote on 6 August 2014. The bill will empower and strengthen, SEBI to crackdown on fraudulent investment schemes and seeks information from any entity related to a probe.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 14 July 2014 cancelled the licence of The Vasai Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Hyderabad (Telangana). The order came into effect with the notification.

Appointments:

• Union Government on 29 August 2014 appointed chairman of Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) RN Ravi as Naga interlocutor. He will be the government of India’s representative in Naga peace talks.
• Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in on 28 August 2014 as 12th President of Turkey. He was sworn-in a ceremony held at Parliament of Turkey in Ankarra. The ceremony was attended by Heads of state from a dozen nations in Eastern Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East.

• C.S.Verma on 26 August 2014 was elected as First President of Indian Steel Association (ISA). Other members of the ISA were Sajjan Jindal, Chairman & Managing Director, JSW, Mr. TV Narendran, MD, Tata Steel, , P Madhusudan, CMD, RINL.
• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 August 2014 cleared the name of senior IPS officer Ramesh Chand Tayal for being appointed as Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Special Director-General (DG).

• Union Government on 25 August 2014 cleared the name of RN Ravi for appointment as Chief of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC). His name was cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). 

Ravi will hold the charge for next three years in the rank and pay of a Secretary to the Government.

• The Board of Cricket Control India (BCCI) appointed Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri as the Director of Indian Cricket Team on 19 August 2014. The decision came after seeing defeat of Indian Cricket Team in Test series against England.
• T M Bhasin was elected as Chairman of Indian Banks Association (IBA) on 20 August 2014. He will be the Chairman of IBA for 2014-15.T M Bhasin is the chairman and managing director of Indian Bank.
• Thailand coup leader, Army Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha was elected as the Prime Minister of Thailand on 21 August 2014. His election to the post of 29th Prime Minister of Thailand was backed by 191 members of the 197-strong junta-picked National Legislative Assembly (NLA).

• Rajni Razdan on 16 August 2014 became the new Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). She was appointed as Chairperson of UPSC by the President Pranab Mukherjee on 14 August 2014 in accordance with the Article 316 (1) of the Constitution.

• Senior IRS officer K V Chowdary appointed as new Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). He was apoointed on 1 August 2014.  CBDT is the apex authority of the Income Tax department.
• Three-time Olympian and former Hockey Captain Ajitpal Singh was selected as the Chairman of the Dronacharya Award Selection Committee on 7 August 2014.
• Former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev Nikhanj was selected as the Chairperson of the Arjuna Awards Selection Committee on 7 August 2014. This Committee will choose outstanding sportspersons for 2014 of the Country. This Committees will have 15 members which includes12 sportspersons and 3 officials.

• Justice Dr. Manjula Chellur took oath as the first woman Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court on 5 August 2014. Prior to this, Dr. Chellur was Chief Justice of Kerala High Court.

• President Pranab Mukherjee on 26 August 2014 appointed Governors for four states. These States are Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa. The four Governors were appointed in accordance with the Article 155 of the Constitution.

The Governors names are:

• Kalyan Singh- Rajasthan Governor
• Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala- Karnataka Governor
• Ch. Vidyasagar Rao- Maharashtra Governor
• Mridula Sinha- Goa Governor

Important Links:

• Current Affairs: July 2014 Month Current Affairs
• General Awareness Practice Paper
• National and International Sports Current Affairs