Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Daily Current Affairs: 31 March 2014

1) Petrol price cut by 75 paise a litre; diesel hike put off: The price of petrol was on Monday cut by 75 paise per litre, the first reduction in five months, while the already unpopular monthly hike in diesel rates was put off during the election season.

2) US ambassador to India Nancy Powell resigned: In a sudden development, US ambassador to India Nancy Powell has resigned from her post, days after media speculation that she may be shipped out. "US ambassador to India Nancy J Powell announced in a US mission town hall meeting on March 31 that she has submitted her resignation to President Obama and, as planned for some time, will retire to her home in Delaware before the end of May," an announcement in the US embassy website said.

3) World Twenty20: Sri Lanka beat New Zealand to enter semis: Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 59 runs in a low-scoring World Twenty20 Super-10 group one match in Chittagong Monday to cruise into the semi-finals. New Zealand were bowled out for their lowest Twenty20 total of 60 in 15.3 overs in the final match of the group played at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium.

4) Paris Gets First Female Mayor:  It was a victory to savour. As she bid to become the first female mayor of Paris, Spanish-born socialist Anne Hidalgo had to endure taunts from her opponents about her modest origins and lack of Parisian roots. But in the end, voters in the French capital brushed such snobbery aside and defied the national trend by electing the 54-year-old by a convincing margin.


5) Smriti Irani to contest from Amethi against Rahul Gandhi: The BJP has announced on Monday evening that its vice-president Smriti Irani will contest from Amethi Lok Sabha constituency. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is the sitting MP from the constituency. AAP leader Kumar Vishwas had already announced to contest from the same constituency against Rahul Gandhi. The BJP's decision to field Irani from Amethi makes it a three-way blockbuster of a contest for the Lok Sabha seat.

6) President Pranab Mukherjee confers Padma awards: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday conferred Padma awards on 66 eminent personalities at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Noted scientist Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar received Padma Vibhushan while classical singer Begum Parveen Sultana, actor Kamal Hasan, sportsperson Pullela Gopichand were among those who were honoured with Padma Bhushan. Padma Shri Awardees included sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik and actress Vidya Balan. Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were the Vice President Mohd. Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

7) K R Kamat front-runner for RBI Deputy Governor post:  Raghuram Rajan headed search panel has zeroed in on a successor to RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty and PNB Chairman K R Kamath is believed to be top in the reckoning. Besides RBI Governor Rajan, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru and other expert members had on last Friday interviewed CMDs of nine public sector banks here, an official privy to the selection process told PTI.

8) Indian Shuttler Sourabh Varma loses Malaysia Grand Prix Gold final: Indian shuttler Sourabh Varma gave a fantastic fight but eventually went down to Indonesian 15th seed Simon Santoso in the men’s singles final of the $120,000 Malaysia Grand Prix Gold on Sunday. Despite leading a large chunk of the match, the eighth seeded Indian went down 21-15, 16-21, 19-21 in a marathon encounter which lasted an hour and nine minutes at the Stadium Perbandaran Pasir Gudang.


9) Slovakia elects Andrej Kiska as president: A non-aligned centrist, Andrej Kiska, swooped in to clinch Slovakia's presidency by a landslide, dealing a heavy blow to the credibility of the prime minister, Robert Fico, before a general election in 2016. Andrej Kiska will be Slovakia’s first president since independence in 1993 without a past in the Communist party.

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