Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Daily Current Affairs Updates: 04 February 2014

1) Justice Mathur to head 7th Central Pay Commission: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved composition of the 7th Pay Commission, which will revise the salaries of over 50 lakh central government employees. "The Prime Minister has approved the composition of the 7th Central Pay Commission," the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. Former Supreme Court Justice Ashok Kumar Mathur has been appointed as chairman of the Commission, with Oil Secretary Vivek Rae as full time Member. Rathin Roy (Director, NIPFP) will be part-time Member and Meena Agarwal (OSD, Department of Expenditure) its Secretary. The sixth Pay Commission was implemented with effect from January 1,2006, the fifth from January 1, 1996 and fourth from January 1, 1986. 7th Central Pay Commission is expected to be implemented from 1 January 2016.

2) Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella named Microsoft CEO: Microsoft's board on Tuesday named Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella as chief executive of the legendary tech giant that has given the world products which have become household names like Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook Express. The announcement elevates Nadella, an offspring of the Indian system, to one of the highest-profile corporate jobs globally. Nadella, 46, will be only the third CEO of Microsoft after founder Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, the man he is succeeding.

3) Bharat Ratna conferred on Sachin Tendulkar, Prof CNR Rao : Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, was conferred on legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and eminent scientist Prof C N R Rao on Tuesday. President Pranab Mukherjee presented the honours at a brief function at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Durbar Hall attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Union ministers, Sachin’s wife Anjali, daughter Sara and a host of dignitaries. Master batsman Tendulkar, who retired from international cricket on November 16 last year, is the first sportsman to be bestowed with the honour.  Prof Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao is the third scientist after CV Raman and former President APJ Abdul Kalam to be conferred with the Bharat Ratna.  He currently serves as the Head of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. The Bharat Ratna was announced after a gap of four years with Hindustani music doyen Bhimsen Joshi being the last recipient in 2009.

4) World Cancer Day observed across the world: The World Cancer Day 2014 was observed across the world on 4 February 2014 with its focus on Target 5 of the World Cancer Declaration: Reduce stigma and dispel myths about cancer, under the tagline Debunk the myths. This day is observed to raise the collective voices for improving the general knowledge around cancer and dismiss the misconceptions about the disease.

5) 4 more States identified for Aadhaar enrolment: Aadhaar enrolment in four States — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand — will be carried out in addition to enrolment by the Registrar General of India (RGI). A decision to this effect was taken on Tuesday by the Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India (CC UIDAI), which approved reallocation of States for Aadhaar enrolment.

6) Basant Panchmi celebrated: Thousands of devout Hindus took a holy bath and dip in the sacred waters of 'Sangam', the confluence of River Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati, on Tuesday in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, on the occasion of Basant Panchmi, a festival that marks the onset of spring. The festival glorifies Hindu Goddess Saraswati, patron of knowledge, music and the arts.

7) Sibal launches GI Cloud to utilize benefits of cloud computing: Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday launched the GI Cloud to utilize the benefits of cloud computing in the country. The facility will ensure optimum utilization of the infrastructure and speed up the development and deployment of eGovernance applications.

8) Bihar First Woman Muslim Minister Resigned: In a setback to Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, Social Welfare minister Parveen Amanullah resigned on Tuesday from the Cabinet.Ms. Parveen sent her resignation letter to the Chief Minister.  Ms. Parveen told reporters that she was finding it difficult to work in the present system and also announced to quit membership of the JD(U).

9) World Wetlands Day observed on 2 Feb 2014: World Wetlands Day' has been observed across the globe on February 2nd with the theme Wetlands and agriculture: partners for growth.

10) Janet Yellen sworn in as first woman to chair US Federal Reserve: Janet Yellen has been sworn in as chair of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve on 4 February 2014. Ms. Yellen was sworn in by Fed governor Daniel Tarullo, the bank said. She succeeds Ben Bernanke, whose term ended Friday.

11) Speed Post Launched Special Service for the Delivery of Delhi High Court Notices/ Summons: Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications & Information Technology, here today launched a special service of the Speed Post for booking and delivery of Notices/ Summons of the High Court of Delhi with ‘Proof of Delivery’ (PoD) facility. The ‘PoD’ in its return transmission will also be booked under Speed Post Service. Shri Justice N.V. Ramana , Chief Justice, High Court of Delhi, was the Guest of honour at the launch function held in the High Court premises.

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