1) Atletico
de Kolkata defeated Kerala Blasters to win Inaugural edition of ISL: The
Indian Super League trophy went to the traditional and most passionate home of
Indian football as Atletico de Kolkata edged past Kerala Blasters 1-0 in the
final in Mumbai on 20 December 2014, bringing the curtains down on what proved
to be a successful inaugural event. Mohammad Rafique scored the most-important
goal in the dying minutes to help Atletico de Kolkata emerge triumphant at the
DY Patil Stadium. Here are the awards of ISL 2014
Golden Ball Award for the best player of the league: Iain Hume, Kerala
Blasters
Golden Boot Award for the ISL's top scorer: Elano Blumer, Chennaiyin
FC
Emerging Player Award: Sandesh Jhingan, Kerala Blasters
Golden Glove Award: Jan Seda, FC Goa
Goal of the League Award: Kostas Katsouranis, FC Pune City
Fair Play Award: Delhi Dynamos and Best Fans Award: Kerala Blasters
2) India
exported its first warship ‘CGS Barracuda’ to Mauritius: By delivering an
offshore patrol vessel to Mauritius, India on 20 December 2014 exported its
first warship. “This is the first time that the export barrier has been
breached. This would be the first among the long line of ships that we hope to
export to various parts of the world,” Minister of State for Defence Rao
Inderjit Singh said during the warship handing over ceremony. Built by defence
PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) in Kolkata, the
$58.5 million ‘CGS Barracuda’ measures 74.10 m in length.
3) India’s
entry ‘Liar’s Dice’ out of Oscar race: India's official entry "Liar's
Dice" is out of Oscars' race after it failed to make the cut in the
Academy's shortlist in the best foreign film category. Nine films advanced to
the next round of voting in the category for the 87th Academy Awards out of 83
movies that had qualified. "Liar's Dice", a road drama about a tribal
woman's journey to find her missing husband, is the debut film of Geetu
Mohandas. It stars Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles.
4) Australia
beat India by 4 wickets in the second test: A listless India capitulated to
a four-wicket defeat in the second Test against Australia with an inept batting
display by the top-order to give the hosts an invincible 2-0 lead in the
four-match series. Resuming at the overnight score of 71 for one, the visitors
lost four wickets in quick succession with an addition of only 16 runs and were
eventually bowled out for 224 in 64.3 overs. Chasing a paltry victory target of
128, Australians lost as many as six wickets but were always in control as they
knocked off the required runs with more than a day to spare in what turned out
to be a miserable fourth day for the Indians at the Gabba. Smith was named man
of the match.
5) Morgan
replaced Cook as England's World Cup captain: Eoin Morgan has replaced
Alastair Cook as England's World Cup captain, The England and Wales Cricket
Board announced on 20 December 2014.
6) Real
Madrid beat San Lorenzo 2-0 to win Club World Cup: Real Madrid outclassed
San Lorenzo of Argentina 2-0 in the Club World Cup final on 20 December 2014 to
put a crown on their status as the best club in world football. The cup added
to Madrid’s 2014 trophy haul of Champions League, Copa del Rey, and European
Super Cup, and it will carry a 22-game winning streak into 2015.
7) Jyotsna
Suri is new FICCI president: Jyotsna Suri, chairperson of Bharat Hotels
Ltd, on 20 December 2014 took over as the president of the Federation of Indian
Chambers of commerce & Industry (Ficci). Suri succeeded Sidharth Birla.
8) Indian-American
Verma sworn in as US Ambassador to India: Indian-American Richard Rahul
Verma has been sworn in as the US Ambassador to India by Secretary of State
John Kerry. 46-year-old Verma is the first ever Indian-American to be the top
US diplomat in New Delhi. He is scheduled to arrive in India ahead of Kerry's
visit to Delhi next month. US President Barack Obama will arrive in late January
to attend the Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2015 as the Chief Guest.
9) Federal
Bank CEO to head IBA panel on private banks: Federal Bank Managing Director
and CEO Shyam Srinivasan has been appointed Chairman of the reconstituted
Indian Banks’ Association committee on member private sector banks for
2014-15. The panel consists of
executives from 13 private banks. The committee looks after the specific needs
of all the 23 private sector banks that are members of the IBA. The term of the
committee is one year, according to a press release.
10) Flipkart
files for conversion to a Public Company in Singapore: India’s e-commerce
giant Flipkart, on 20 December 2014 announced a US $ 700 million investment
with new investors. Along with the latest funding round, Flipkart Limited
(incorporated at Singapore) has filed with ACRA Singapore for conversion to a
Public Company.
11) RAW,
CRPF get new chiefs: Rajinder Khanna will be the new chief of the Research
and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency. The government
on 20 December 2014 also appointed Prakash Mishra, Special Secretary (Internal
Security) in the Union Home Ministry, the new Director-General of the Central
Reserve Police Force (CRPF). A senior 1977-batch IPS officer of the Odisha
cadre, Mr. Mishra has served as Director-General of the Odisha Police and in
the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In choosing Mr. Khanna to head RAW,
the government has preferred to look inside the organisation to pick a
successor to Alok Joshi, who retires as its chief on December 31.
12) International
Human Solidarity Day observed: The UN General Assembly, on 22 December
2005, by resolution 60/209 identified solidarity as one of the fundamental and
universal values that should underlie relations between peoples in the
Twenty-first century, and in that regard decided to proclaim 20 December of
each year International Human Solidarity Day. This year's theme - 'Moving
together as one'.
