Daily Current Affairs: 06 January 2014

1) Justice (Retd) A.K. Ganguly quits Bengal human rights panel:  Former Supreme Court judge, Justice (Retd) A.K. Ganguly has stepped down from his post as West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), sources said. Ganguly reportedly tendered his resignation during a meeting with West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan on Monday evening at the Raj Bhavan. Neither Ganguly nor Raj Bhavan sources confirmed the development. Accused of harassing a law intern, Ganguly has been in the eye of a storm with pressure mounting on him to step down from the post of a WBHRC Chairman.

2)  Lok Sabha elections to be held from mid-April:  Bracing for the big exercise, the Election Commission is all set to hold Lok Sabha elections starting mid-April and spread it over at least five phases till early May. The much-awaited announcement for the polls is likely to be made by the end of February or early March, for which work has already begun, top Commission sources said.

3) ISRO carries out first orbit-raising manoeuvre of GSAT-14: The first orbit-raising operation of the GSAT-14 communication satellite was successfully carried out by ISRO on Monday, a day after it was shot into space in a milestone launch by the GSLV-D5 rocket powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine. The Apogee Motor on the spacecraft was fired for 3,134 seconds with a realised orbit of 8,966 km Perigee, nearest point to earth, by 35,744 km Apogee, the farthest point to earth, the Indian Space Research Organisation said. ISRO said the remaining two orbit-raising operations are planned on January 7 and 9 to place the satellite in a geostationary orbit.

4) Telugu actor Uday Kiran found dead; suicide suspected: Telugu film actor Uday Kiran, who was one the youngest winners of the Filmfare best actor award, allegedly committed suicide at his house here last night.

5) Bangladesh elections: Awami League wins over 2/3rd seat in Parliament- Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League won more than two-thirds of the seats in Parliament after an election boycotted by major Opposition parties and marred by violence and low turnout. The party led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina secured 232 out of 300 Parliamentary seats, according to preliminary results announced by the Election Commission on Monday. The Jatiya party of former military dictator Hussain Muhammad Ersha was second with 33 seats.

6) Latvia Poised to Get First Female Prime Minister: Laimdota Straujuma to be Latvia's first female prime minister. The Baltic state of Latvia is poised to get its first female prime minister after the President and leading parliamentary parties agreed on a single candidate. Laimdota Straujuma is currently the Agriculture Minister and was not a member of any party until joining the Unity party over the weekend.

7) BlackBerry cuts Q5 price again, by 20% now:  In the third price reduction across models in the past six months, handset manufacturer BlackBerry has slashed the price of its smartphone Q5 by 20 per cent. The Canada-based company is now offering the device for Rs 19,990, compared with the launch price of Rs 24,990.

8) TMB begins search for new chief: Tamilnad Mercantile Bank has started the process of finding a new Managing Director and Chief Executive in view of the incumbent K.B. Nagendramurthy’s approaching retirement in June..

9) Aditya Joshi is world No.1 junior shuttler: Young shuttler Aditya Joshi from Madhya Pradesh has become the first male junior badminton player from India to be ranked top in the world. Aditya, 17, a resident of Dhar town, recently got the number one slot in the January rankings of the World Badminton Federation (WBF).

10) Banks approach RBI to hike ATM transaction fee:  Banks are likely to start charging customers for transacting more than five times a month at any bank ATM, including their own bank. Banks have mooted the charge on ATM transactions to pay for the increased security costs at ATMs, put in place by many State Governments, following the grievous attack on a woman inside an ATM kiosk in Bangalore last November.

11) Canara Bank to open branch in New York shortly: State-owned Canara Bank on Monday said it will soon open a branch in New York as it has got regulatory approvals from the US authorities.

12) Justice Chauhan is Chairman of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal: The Centre will soon appoint Justice B.S. Chauhan, a Judge of the Supreme Court, as Chairman of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal to take up pending applications.

13) INS Vikramaditya enters Indian Navy's area of operation:  As India’s newest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya entered the Indian Navy’s area of operation in north western Arabian Sea, accompanied by three other vessels, it was rendezvoused — in Naval parlance RVed — with the Western Fleet that had gone all the way from Mumbai to receive it.

14) Australia beat England to seal 5-0 Ashes sweep: Australia on Sunday sealed a 5-0 Ashes series sweep with five dominant victories on home soil. It is only the third 5-0 sweep in the long history of Ashes series.

15) Bhutan King, Queen arrived in New Delhi today on 5-day visit to India: King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck arrives in New Delhi today on a five-day visit to India.