Daily Current Affairs: 14 February 2014

1) Arvind Kejriwal steps down as Delhi chief minister: Arvind Kejriwal decided to resign as Delhi Chief Minister as his Jan Lokpal Bill was blocked from being tabled in the Assembly. He quit as chief minister of Delhi after 49 turbulent days at the helm. Kejriwal announced his resignation in a rousing address to supporters outside the party's Hanuman Road office, cheering despite the cold and rainy weather. He called on the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the assembly and hold fresh polls, effectively launching the Aam Aadmi Party's campaign for state and national elections. As Delhi enjoys a special status being a Union Territory, it is the President who finally accepts the resignation letter of the Chief Minister. In case of other states, the Governor is the final authority.

2) Mount Kelud volcano erupted: Mount Kelud, one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world situated in Indonesia blasted ash and debris 18 kilometers (12 miles) into the air on Friday, killing three people while forcing authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 and close seven airports. The overnight eruption of Java island's Mount Kelud could be heard up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) away, Indonesia's disaster agency said.

3) Delhi Police launched a Helpline number 1093 for North-Eastern People: The Delhi Police launched a new helpline number 1093 exclusively for North-Eastern people living in New Delhi. The number 1093 will allow the north-eastern people to register all sorts of complaints including racism and harassment directly to the police. The number will have 5 direct lines and all calls will be received at the central police control room (CPCR) situated at Delhi Police headquarters.

4) Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta resigned: Italian PM Enrico Letta resigned having lost the no-confidence vote brought by his own party. President Giorgio Napolitano, will hold consultations Friday and Saturday to nominate his successor, the presidency said.

5) Mukul Mudgal new chairperson of Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC): Former chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal will take over as the new chairperson of Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC), a self-regulatory body for non-news channels. Justice Mudgal succeeds Justice (retd) Ajit Prakash Shah, who left office after being appointed chairperson of the 20th Law Commission in November 2013.

6)  India vs New Zealand 2nd test match started: The second test match between India and New Zealand started in Wellington. India was 100 for two in their first innings in reply to New Zealand’s 192 on the opening day.

7) SEBI approved the new Corporate Governance norms: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) board approved the new corporate governance norms in a meeting held in New Delhi on 13 February 2014. The new corporate governance norms would become applicable for all listed companies with effect from 1 October 2014.

8) Motorola Mobility CEO Dennis Woodside Heads to Dropbox: Late in January of 2014, Google announced that it was selling off Motorola Mobility to Lenovo. As the deal nears completion, the CEO of Motorola Mobility, Dennis Woodside, is moving on to become CEO of Dropbox. Taking over the vacated CEO spot at Motorola Mobility will be Jonathan Rosenberg, the former head of product management at Google. Dropbox allows consumers and business customers to easily share and store content online.

9) Belgium became second country to allow Mercy Killing for Children: Parliament of Belgium on 14 February 2014 legalised death to terminally ill children of any age. The Parliament took the decision despite of opposition from the Church and some pediatricians. This action of legalizing death for the children came 12 years after the country legalised euthanasia for adults.

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Daily Current Affairs: 13 February 2014

1) World Radio Day observed: World Radio Day was observed on Thursday across the world to celebrate radio as a medium, to improve international cooperation between broadcasters and to encourage major networks and community radio. It was proclaimed on 3 November 2011 by UNESCO’s 36th General Conference. The theme for 2014 is “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Radio”.

2) National Women’s Day/Birthday of Sarojini Naidu celebrated:  ‘National Women’s Day’ was celebrated on Thursday across India. It is the birthday of Sarojini Naidu who was also known as the ‘Nightingale of India’. She was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and was also the first Indian woman to become Governor of any State (Uttar Pradesh) in India.

3) Veteran film-maker Balu Mahendra passed away: Renowned filmmaker Balu Mahendra passed away on Thursday at a private hospital in Chennai following a cardiac arrest. He was 75 and he suffered a heart attack, was rushed to the hospital where he breathed his last. Balu Mahendra started his career in the industry as a cinematographer for the Malayalam movie ‘Nellu’ in 1974. While his movies Veedu (1988) and Vanna Vanna Pookkal (1992) won the national award for the best feature film in Tamil, Sandhya Raagam (1990) won the award for best film on family welfare.

4) MPs made it a day of shame for Parliament: The Lok Sabha witnessed an unprecedented low on Thursday when Congress MP from Vijayawada L. Rajagopal used a can of pepper spray inside the House to protest against the tabling of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill. Modugula Venugopala Reddy of the Telugu Desam Party broke the glass and microphone on the table of the Lok Sabha Secretary-General while Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde was introducing the Bill that seeks to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar suspended 18 MPs from Andhra Pradesh for rest of the session after unprecedented pandemonium broke out in the House over the Telangana issue.

5) President Pranab gets Rotary's highest award:  President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday got the Rotary's highest award for his leadership in the country's victory over polio. The 'Award of Honour' was presented by Ron Burton, President of Rotary International, at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The award is a recognition for heads of countries or governments who have rendered unique service to the humanity and served the country and its people upholding values reflected in the Rotary's motto 'Service Above Self'.

6) US envoy Powell meets BJP's PM candidate Modi in Gujarat: US Ambassador to India, Nancy Powell has met BJP Prime Ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar on Thursday. The meeting is significant as the US has refused to give a diplomatic visa to Narendra Modi for the last nine years on the ground of human rights.

7) Chhetri gets AIFF Player of the Year prize: Sunil Chhetri was awarded the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year prize by the federation on Thursday. The Indian captain had won this award in 2007 and 2011 also. In addition to the football awards, the FICCI sports awards were given away on Thursday as well. Archer Deepika Kumari was recognised as the sportsperson of the year. The breakthrough sports personality prize was won by P.V. Sindhu for her wonderful performance at the BWF World Championships in Guangzhou last year. A lifetime achievement award was also given away, with Rahul Dravid being the recipient. Baldev Singh from hockey walked away with the best coach prize.

AIFF awards: Player of the Year: Sunil Chhetri; Woman Player of the Year: Oinam Bembem Devi; Emerging Player of the Year: Jeje Lalpekhlua; Best grassroots development programme: Mizoram FA; Award for long-time contribution to Indian football: Tata Football Academy.

FICCI awards: Sportsperson of the Year: Deepika Kumari (archery); Coach of the Year: Baldev Singh (hockey); Breakthrough Sportsperson of the Year: P.V. Sindhu (badminton); Comeback of the Year: Rani Rampal (hockey); Paralympics Sportsperson of the Year: Devender Jhajharia (javelin).

8)  India Post (Dept. of Posts) launched electronic Indian Postal Order (e-IPO) for Indian Citizens living in India:  Last year the Department had launched the e-IPO for Indian Citizens living abroad across the globe to facilitate them for paying online fee for seeking information under the RTI Act, 2005. e-IPO is a facility to purchase an Indian Postal Order electronically for paying RTI fee on-line through e-Post Office Portal https://www.epostoffice.gov.in or India Post web-site www.indiapost.gov.in. After paying the fee on-line one just need to annex the print-out of the receipt to the RTI application.

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Current Affairs daily updates: 12 February 2014

1) Interim Rail Budget for 2014-15 presented, No fare hike, 72 new trains: Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has presented interim railway budget for 2014-15 in Lok Sabha on 12 February 2014. 17 new premium trains, 38 express trains and 10 passenger trains have been announced. There is no increase in rail fare and freight fare. It also proposed elimination of all unmanned crossings. Mallikarjun Kharge is the second Railway Minister from Congress Party in the 10-year UPA regime to be presenting a Railway Budget, although interim after Lalu Prasad from RJD had presented vote-on-account (interim budget) in 2009 under UPA -I.

2) Karnataka won Irani Cup 2014: Karnataka defeated Rest of India by an innings and 222 runs at M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Wednesday to win their 5th Irani Trophy. Earlier, Karnataka had ended 15 years of drought by winning Ranji Trophy by beating Maharashtra last month. The platform for Karnataka’s innings victory, however, was set up by their batsmen. Stuart Binny (122), C M Gautam (122), Karun Nair (92) and Ganesh Satish (84) played impressive knocks to help Karnataka amass a mammoth 606 in their first innings in reply to ROI’s 201.

3) India ranked 140th in world press freedom index: India has been ranked 140th list of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index 2014, whereas China and Pakistan were placed at 175th and 158th position respectively. It has been published by the Organisation “Reporters Without Border” in its latest annual report. As per the report, India experienced an unprecedented wave of violence against journalists, with eight killed in 2013.

4) ATMs to soon give cash without bank account too: People without a bank account in India would soon be able to withdraw cash from an automated teller machine (ATM) with the use of mobile technology, Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan announced on Wednesday.  At present, only bank account holders can withdraw cash from an ATM.

5) Gurmit Singh is new Managing Director, Yahoo India: Yahoo on Wednesday announced the appointment of Gurmit Singh as Managing Director for Yahoo India.  As MD, Gurmit will oversee Yahoo’s business in India, responsible for its growth in the country, a company release said, adding that he will report to Yvonne Chang, VP & Head of India and South East Asia, Yahoo.  Most recently, Gurmit was the CEO of Forbes India at Network 18.

6) South Africa issued Nelson Mandela stamp: South Africa's postal service has issued a commemorative stamp with a portrait of Nelson Mandela on the 24th anniversary of his release from prison during white minority rule.

7) K Raghu elected Chartered Accountants Institute President: Chartered Accountants Institute has appointed K Raghu as its new President. Earlier, he was Vice-President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), and was elected the President of the second largest accountancy body in the world on 12th February. The Central Council of the CA Institute has also elected Manoj Fadnis as the Vice-President for 2014-15.

8) Yuvraj, Karthik big winners at IPL 7 auction: Flamboyant all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was the surprise recipient of a windfall at the IPL players' auction, fetching a record bid of Rs 14 crore from the Royal Challengers Bangalore while Dinesh Karthik also clinched a mind-boggling Rs 12.5 crore purse from Delhi Daredevils on Wednesday. Delhi Daredevils retained Kevin Pietersen for Rs 9 cr which is the highest amount attracted by any foreign cricketer. Major changes include, Delhi Daredevils bought Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary and Murali Vijay, Kings XI Punjab bought Virendra Sehwag, Mitchell Johnson and Cheteshwar Pujara. KKR bought Jacques Kallis, Piyush Chawla and Robin Uthappa.

9) India launches HIV salvage therapy: India on Wednesday launched third-line drug therapy for people living with HIV/AIDS and extended free anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to more of them by revising the eligibility norm. The third-line therapy, sometimes called salvage or rescue therapy, is prescribed for people who have limited drug options left — after the failure of at least two drug regimens and with evidence of HIV resistance to at least one drug in each line or the latter cause alone. The highly expensive therapy will be provided free.

10) Aadhaar not mandatory for MGNREGA wages:  Ministry of Rural Development on Tuesday directed the States not to deny workers job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for non-possession of either bank/post office account numbers or the Aadhaar card.

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Current Affairs Quiz Questions for competitive Exams: 7 February 2014

1)  Union Cabinet cleared the Telangana Bill on 7 Feb 2014. As per the bill which will be the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh?

(A) Telangana

(B) Seemandhara

(C) Hyderabad

(D) Secunderabad

2) Reserve Bank on 4 Feb 2014 has issued ‘certificate of authorisation’ to four non-bank entities to set up White Label ATMs (WLAs) in the country. Which among the following was not in that list of non-bank entities?

(A) Tata Communications Payment Solutions Limited

(B) Muthoot Finance

(C) Prizm Payment Services

(D) Varkeys Ventures

3) Country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki recently (Feb 2014) has stopped production of its nearly three-decade-old which popular car?

(A) Maruti Ritz

(B) Maruti 800

(C) Maruti Swift

(D) Maruti Alto

4)  Which country is hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics which commenced officially on 7 February 2014 at Sochi?

(A) Russia

(B) China

(C) Australia

(D) Scotland

5) Which city is India’s official bid for the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site as announced on 6 Feb 2014?

(A) Jaipur

(B) Ahmadabad

(C) Warangal

(D) Delhi

6) John Thompson was appointed as the Chairman of which tech giant on 5 Feb 2014?

(A) Google

(B) Microsoft

(C) Yahoo

(D) Facebook

7) Malala Yousafzai has been nominated for the World Children’s Prize on 7 Feb 2014. In which year World Children’s Prize, also known as the ‘Children’s Nobel Prize’ was founded?

(A) 2013

(B) 2005

(C) 2000

(D) 1995

8) Which among the following has bagged the All India Management Association (AIMA) high performance brand award for 2013?

(A) Jhonson & Jhonson

(B) Hindustan Uniliver

(C) Sony

(D) Amul

9) Who among the following has been appointed as director-general of  global conversation organisation, WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) on 6 February 2014?

(A) James Leape

(B) Lucile Packard

(C) Marco Lambertini

(D) Julian Huxley

10) Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty became Rajya Sabha MP from which state on 7 Feb 2014?

(A) Punjab

(B) West Bengal

(C) Karnataka

(D) Maharashtra

Answers

1) Ans. (C) Hyderabad

2) Ans. (D) Varkeys Ventures

3) Ans. (B) Maruti 800

4) Ans. (A) Russia

5) Ans. (D) Delhi

6) Ans. (B) Microsoft

7) Ans. (C) 2000

8) Ans. (D) Amul

9) Ans. (C) Marco Lambertini

10) Ans. (B) West Bengal

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Daily Current Affairs from 11 February 2014

1) India back in Olympic fold as IOC revokes ban on IOA: More than a year after being banned from the Olympic movement due to tainted officials, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) revokes ban on Indian Olympic Association (IOA) after conducting fresh election. The IOC lifted the 14-month-old ban on India after the IOA barred charge-framed officials from its fresh election held on Sunday in which N. Ramachandran, was elected as the new President. With this decision, India back in Olympic fold and Indian players will be able to play under Indian flag now and they can walk behind their national flag at the closing ceremony in Sochi winter Olympics.

2) Polio-free India to get WHO certification: As India celebrates its victory over polio — completing three years without any case of the debilitating infection — the nation becomes entitled to polio-free certification by the World Health Organisation in March.  It is only the second time in the history that a disease is being eliminated in India through immunisation after small pox in May 1980.

3) Interim Railway budget in Lok Sabha on Wednesday: The interim Railway budget for 2014-15 will be presented in Parliament on Wednesday. Railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge will present the budget in the Lok Sabha at noon. The Railway minister is likely to announce more trains, better amenities and safety measures for passengers. Sources in the ministry said it will be a growth-oriented budget.

4) Shinde orders CBI probe into Arunachal student Nido Tania's death: Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania's death in the national capital recently.

5) New Chairman and Managing Director of Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB): Jatinder Bir Singh has been appointed Chairman and Managing Director of Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB). He will succeed D.P.singh. Prior to this, Singh, 1983-batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, was an Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources.

6) Vinod Sawhny is the new Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Communications: Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications has roped in former Bharti Airtel executive Vinod Sawhny as chief executive in its third restructuring of senior management in four years aimed at spurring growth. Sawhny was the head of Bharti Airtel's phone-manufacturing division when he left that company in 2012, after spending a decade with the group.

7) Iconic child star Shirley Temple passed away at 85: Former Hollywood child star Shirley Temple has died at the age of 85. The actress found fame as a young girl in the 1930s in films like Bright Eyes, Stand Up and Cheer and Curly Top. Her singing, dancing and acting won over fans worldwide. She was given a special juvenile Oscar in 1935, when she was just six years old. After retiring from films in 1950 at the age of 21, Temple returned to the public eye as a Republican candidate for Congress and as a US diplomat.

8) Penguin India decides to ban and withdraw Indologist Wendy Doniger's book "The Hindus: An Alternative History". The decision follows an out of court settlement with 'Shiksha Bachao Andolan' which alleged it hurts the feeling of Hindus and contains wrong facts.

9) 8th Defence Expo 2014 concluded: 8th Defence Expo was organized at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi from 6 February 2014 to 9 February 2014. The DefExpo was Organised by the Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) was the event manager of the DefExpo 2014.

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Current Affairs Quiz Questions: 05 & 06 February 2014

1) Who was presented with the 26th Moorti Devi Award of the Bharatiya Jnanpith on 4 February 2014?

(A) Haraprasad Das

(B) Gopi Chand Narang

(C) Gulab Kothari

(D) Akkitham

2) Which England batsman's international career was on 5 February 2014 came to an abrupt end after he was dumped from the team for the upcoming tour of the West Indies and the subsequent World Twenty20 Championships in Bangladesh?

(A) Alastair Cook

(B) Jonathan Trott

(C) Ian Bell

(D) Kevin Pietersen

3) Who among the following became the 1st women Executive Director of Air India (Southern Region) on 5 Feb 2014?

(A) Lakshmi Sharma

(B) Indu Krishna

(C) Meenakshi Dua

(D) Aruna Bahuguna

4) Name the expelled AAP MLA who decided to withdraw support to the Delhi Government on 5 Feb 2014?

(A) Madan Lal

(B) Vinod Kumar Binny

(C) Rambir Shokeen

(D) Mukesh Sharma

5) Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) during February 2014 issued an advisory to banks to ensure business continuity after Microsoft ends support for its popular Windows XP operating system on 8 April 2014. In which year XP OS was launched?

(A) 2005

(B) 2003

(C) 2001

(D) 1998

6) Government plans to set up an integrated computer-aided dispatch system to bolster its emergency response system for Women and other vulnerable groups facing increasing violence as announced in Feb 2014. It will have a one number for all emergencies. Which among the following will be that number?

(A) 100

(B) 139

(C) 555

(D) 911

7)  In a significant step towards liberalization of the visa regime, Union Government on 6 Feb 2014 decided to extend visa-on-arrival facility to tourist from how many countries?

(A) 90

(B) 180

(C) 75

(D) 150

8) Which eminent Hindi writer has been selected for the prestigious Vyas Samman for the year 2013 in Feb 2014?

(A) Maitreyi Pushpa

(B) Vishwanath Tripathi

(C) Rajendra Yadav

(D) Uday Prakash

9) Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 6 Feb 2014 approved 100% FDI in which mobile company thus making it the country's first telecom player to be fully owned by a foreign company?

(A) Bharati Airtel

(B) Telenor

(C) Vodafone

(D) Reliance

10) Who won the “Amazing Indian Award” instituted by Times Now channel on 6 Feb 2014?

(A) Mary Kom

(B) P V sindhu

(C) Kiran Bedi

(D) Arunima Sinha

Answers

1) Ans. (A) Haraprasad Das

2) Ans. (D) Kevin Pietersen

3) Ans. (C) Meenakshi Dua

4) Ans. (B) Vinod Kumar Binny

5) Ans. (C) 2001

6) Ans. (D) 911

7) Ans. (B) 180

8) Ans. (B) Vishwanath Tripathi

9) Ans. (C) Vodafone

10) Ans. (D) Arunima Sinha

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Daily Current Affairs: 10 February 2014

1) Sushil Koirala becomes new PM of Nepal: Veteran Nepali Congress leader Sushil Koirala was on Monday elected Prime Minister of Nepal with the support of the CPN-UML, ending months of political instability following last year's elections. Koirala, the sole contestant in the premier race, was elected with 405 votes in the 601-member Constituent Assembly.

2) Sikkim is India's first state with 100% sanitation coverage:  Sikkim has done remarkably well to become India's first state with 100 percent sanitation coverage, according to a report of the drinking water and sanitation ministry. All 6,10,577 inhabitants have latrines with high sanitation and hygiene standards. The state has also sensitised people to adopt a holistic approach to improve sanitation and hygiene in a clean environment while accelerating its overall development.

3) Meiyappan involved in betting: BCCI chief N Srinivasan’s son-in-law and former Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan was indicted on charges of betting by the Justice Mukul Mudgal committee, formed by the Supreme Court to inquire into spot-fixing and illegal betting in the Indian Premier League last year.

4) Distance runner Olympian Ranjit Bhatia passed away: Olympian distance runner Ranjit Bhatia, who represented India in 1960 Games in Rome, on Sunday, passed away in New Delhi after a prolonged illness at the age of 77.

5) Abhinav Bindra claims third gold in Inter Shoot Tri series Shooting: Olympic Medal winner Indian shooter, Abhinav Bindra won third gold-medal in the Inter-Shoot Tri-series Shooting in the Air Pistol event. With this win, He became the first person to win three gold medals in the event that is being held at the Hague, Netherlands.

6) Akshaya Patra gets award for excellence in financial reporting: The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been awarded the Gold Shield and Hall of Fame by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the year 2012-13. The foundation has been awarded under the Category XI Not-for-Profit Sector.

7) India retained 2nd ranking in Tests: India has retained its second position in the latest ICC Test rankings even after losing the first test against New Zealand last week. South Africa retained No 1 rank with 131 points followed by India with 117 points and Australia with 111 points.

8) Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg named top US philanthropist: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have been named joint top US philanthropists for 2013. The couple gained the accolade after a donation of 18 million Facebook shares to a Silicon Valley foundation. The donation, worth more than $970m (£590m), was the largest in the US in 2013. The gift outstripped philanthropists such as Bill and Melinda Gates, the Chronicle of Philanthropy said.

9) Two More Attempts for UPSC's Civil Services Exams: In a good news for lakhs of civil services aspirants, the government on Monday decided to give two additional attempts to all categories of candidates of the prestigious exam conducted by Union Public Service Commission.

10) 15 yr old Russian becomes youngest Olympic figure skating gold medalist: Yulia Lipnitskaya, 15-years-old, became the youngest Russian athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics currently being held at Sochi, Russia. She won the medal in free skating in the team figure skating competition. Yulia scored 141.51 points and earned a combined total of 214.41 under the International Judging System.

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Two More Attempts for UPSC's Civil Services Exams- Good news for lakhs of Civil Services Aspirants

>> In a good news for lakhs of civil services aspirants, the government on Monday decided to give two additional attempts to all categories of candidates of the prestigious exam conducted by Union Public Service Commission. 

>> "The central government has approved two additional attempts to all categories of candidates with effect from Civil Services Examination 2014, with consequential age relaxation of maximum age for all categories of candidates, if required," the Ministry of Personnel said in an order.       

>>The Civil Services Examination (Preliminary), 2014 is tentatively scheduled to be held on August 24, this year.       

>>The Civil Service Examinations is conducted by the UPSC to select Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) among others.      

>> The examinations is conducted in three stages-- preliminary, mains and interview.               

>> A candidate is permitted a maximum of four attempts for the examination. However, there is no restriction on number of attempts by a candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). 

>> As many as seven attempts are permissible to an aspirant belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBCs), according to a notification issued for Civil Services Examinations, 2013.           

>> A candidate who has attained the age of 21 years but not attained 30 years may apply for the civil services examination, as per eligibility mentioned in the notification. 

>> The upper age limit is relaxable up to a maximum of five years for candidates belonging to SCs or STs categories and up to a maximum of three years for candidates of OBC category among others.        

>> The upper age limit is also relaxable upto a maximum of five years if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in Jammu & Kashmir during January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1989.       

>> It can also be relaxed upto a maximum of three years in the case of defence services personnel disabled in operations during hostilities with any foreign country or in a disturbed area and released as a consequence thereof.          

>> There is also a relaxation in upper age upto a maximum of 10 years in the case of blind, deaf-mute and orthopaedically handicapped candidates besides other categories, the rules said.

Click Here to view official order

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Daily Current Affairs Updates: 09 February 2014

1) All-India banks on 2-day strike from Monday: Banking services in the country would be hit from Monday, with staff of both public and private sector banks planning a two-day strike against the proposed banking sector reforms and for immediate revision in wages. Over a million bank employees and officers working in 27 public sector banks, including the State Bank of India, and 12 private and eight foreign banks, will go on a two-day nationwide strike Feb 10-11, the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) Sunday said.

2) IOA elects new body, hopes for Olympic return: The three Indian athletes participating in the ongoing Winter Olympics may get to walk with the Tricolour at the closing ceremony of the Sochi Games. They were forced to march under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) flag during the opening ceremony last Friday due to the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The IOA, after a not so gentle nudge from IOC, elected a new set of office-bearers including a new president on Sunday, a development which could now make the world body lift the ban that has been in force since December 2012.

3) N Ramachandran elected new president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA): As expected, N Ramachandran, chief of the World Squash Federation and brother of BCCI boss N Srinivasan, was elected the new president. Most of the office bearers, including Ramchandran and secretary Rajiv Mehta, were elected unopposed, but polling had to be conducted since nine candidates had filed nominations for eight vice-president posts. Elections were conducted by a three-member election panel, consisting of former judges, and a three-member delegation of the IOC headed by Robin Mitchell. The IOC observers, who would be submitting their report to the IOC in Sochi, did not say when the suspension could be lifted. But Ramachandran said he was expecting the suspension to end very soon.

4) Sushil Koirala set to become next PM of Nepal:  Veteran Nepali Congress leader Sushil Koirala is set to become the next prime minister of Nepal with the support of the CPN-UML, ending months of political gridlock following last year’s elections. The Parliament of Nepal will elect Koirala, 75, as prime minister following the Constituent Assembly elections on November 19 that failed to throw up a clear winner.

5) Banking sector may create 20 lakh new jobs in next 5-10 years: Experts:  The banking sector may create up to 20 lakh new jobs in the next 5-10 years, helped by issuance of new licences and efforts being made by the RBI and the Government to expand financial services into rural areas, according to experts. Hiring trend may get a further boost from the public sector banks, as many of them would need to hire fresh talent in the wake of nearly half of their workforce scheduled to retire in the next few years.

6) India lost first Test against Newzealand: India conjured up the hopes of a record run chase before a lower middle-order collapse saw the visitors slump to a 40-run defeat against New Zealand in the thrilling first cricket Test and hand over a 1-0 lead to the hosts in the two-match series played in Aucland.

7) Isro arm inks pact for launching satellites from UK, Singapore on-board PSLV: Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro), has signed agreements for launching satellites from UK and Singapore on-board Isro’s work-horse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Isro said that the Corporation signed Launch Services Agreement with DMC International Imaging (DMCii), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), United Kingdom (UK), for launch of three DMC-3 Earth Observation Satellites being built by SSTL, on-board Isro’s PSLV. Antrix also signed another Launch Services Agreement with ST Electronics (Satcom & Sensor Systems) Pte Ltd, Singapore, for launch of TeLEOS-1 Earth Observation Satellite, on-board PSLV. These launches are planned between 2014-end and 2015-end, said Isro.

8) China to compete with Oslo, Krakow in bid to host 2022 Winter Games: Beijing staked its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, which if selected will earn the Chinese capital the distinction of being the first city to organise both summer and winter versions of the Games. The bid by the 2008 Summer Olympics host was formally announced by Chinese officials at Sochi in Russia, where the Winter Games are currently going on. Beijing, along with Zhangjiakou in north western Hebei province, is vying with several other European cities to host the Winter Games, according to the plan outlined by the officials.

9) US hospital announces first leadless pacemaker implant:  An Indian-origin doctor has implanted the first miniature-sized, leadless cardiac pacemaker in the US directly inside a patient’s heart without surgery. The leads-free pacemaker is implanted directly inside the heart during a catheter-guided procedure through the groin via the femoral artery.

10) Narendra Modi’s poll promise: an IIT and IIM in every State: The BJP will set up prestigious institutions such as IITs, IIMs and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in every State when it comes to power, said Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the party’s prime ministerial candidate.

11) Medical Prescriptions may soon be in capital letters:  Your doctor will soon have to write the prescription in capital letters, if a proposal is approved by the Health Ministry. The Medical Council of India has approved a draft notification which makes it mandatory for doctors to write the prescription in capital letters to avoid illegibility amid complaints that chemists sometimes give wrong medicines because of similar sounding names of drugs. The draft notification will come into effect after its approval by the Health Ministry, official sources said.

12) SBI to hike minimum fee for cash deposits at non-home branches:  State Bank of India has decided to hike the minimum charges for cash deposit at non-home branches to Rs. 50  from Rs.10 in a bid to augment fee income. The new charges will come into effect from March 8. A home branch is the branch where a customer has a bank account. All other branches of the bank are non-home branches for the customer. In the personal segment, the maximum amount of cash deposit that SBI customers can currently make at non-home branches is Rs. 25,000 per day.

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