Current Affairs from 14 July 2014

1) Lok Sabha passed TRAI Bill: The Narendra Modi government on Monday overwhelmed Congress in Lok Sabha in the first parliamentary showdown by isolating it from important regional players to get the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill passed. The passage of the legislation, designed to pave the way for the appointment of Nripendra Misra as principal secretary to the PM, was always a foregone conclusion given BJP's absolute majority in the lower House.

2) Mahela Jayawardene to retire from Tests: Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene will retire from Test cricket following the home series against South Africa and Pakistan, the country's cricket board said on Monday. "It was not an easy decision to make given that it has been a great privilege and honour representing my country during the past 18 years, but I believe this is the right time," the 37-year-old said in a statement released by Sri Lanka Cricket. The stylish right-handed batsman is the most capped test player for Sri Lanka with 145 appearances and his 11,493 runs shares sixth spot, along with compatriot Kumar Sangakkara, on the list of highest scorers in the longest format of the game. One of the most elegant batsmen of his generation, Jayawardene has scored 33 test centuries since his debut against India in 1997 and enjoys a batting average of a little more than 50 runs per innings.

3) Nadine Gordimer, South African author & Nobel Laureate died: Nadine Gordimer, the Nobel Prize-winning South African author and anti-apartheid activist, died Sunday, her family said Monday. She was 90. Gordimer died peacefully in her sleep, according to a statement from her family. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991. Her literary works, including "A Guest of Honour" (1970), the Booker Prize-winning "The Conservationist" (1974) and "July's People" (1981) were cited by the Nobel committee as "giving profound insights into the historical process (and) help(ing) to shape this process."

4) Five states get new governors: Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ram Naik was on Monday appointed as governor of Uttar Pradesh and party's veteran Delhi leader O P Kohli will move to Gujarat, in the first appointment of five governors by the Narendra Modi government. According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, Naik will take over in Uttar Pradesh after B L Joshi. According to the communique, Keshari Nath Tripathi, a former Uttar Pradesh Speaker will take over in West Bengal, a post which had fallen vacant after the resignation of M K Narayanan after he was nudged to resign. Balram Das Tandon, 87, founder member of Jan Sangh in 1951, was appointed governor of Chhatisgarh after Shekhar Dutt tendered his resignation on June 18 after he too was sounded by the Union Home Ministry. Padmanabha Acharya, a member of working group on north east region of BJP and co-convener of overseas friends of BJP, was appointed governor of Nagaland.

5) Shankar Aggarwal is new Urban Development Secretary: The Government appointed 1980 batch IAS officer Shankar Aggarwal Secretary in the Ministry of Urban Development on Monday. The Uttar Pradesh cadre officer, Aggarwal was previously the Secretary, Union Ministry of Women & Child Development. In his 35 years of service, he has held several positions in the Governments of Uttar Pradesh and India, dealing with housing and urban development, IT, finance, energy, technical education, small-scale industries, transport and defence.