13th Dec- 14th Dec 2014

Nation remembered and paid homage to martyrs of Parliament attack

13-DEC-2014

  • Nation remembered and paid homage to martyrs of Parliament attack on 13th anniversary of Parliament attack on 13 December 2014.
  • Nation paid homage to martyrs of Parliament attack that took place on 13 December 2001. On this day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan paid tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives during the terror attack.
  • Other leaders include UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other members attended a formal ceremony held in Parliament.
  • About Parliament attack
    The parliament attack was terror attacks at the Parliament of India in New Delhi on 13 December 2001.The five persons responsible for attack of Indian parliament were Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists.
  • During the attack, all the five militants: Hamza, Haider alias Tufail,Rana, Raja and Mohammed were killed by the security of India. In the investigation found that the other three militants namely Maulana Masood Azhar, Ghazi Baba and Tariq Ahmed were also involved in planning the attack.
  • And also the investigation revealed involvement Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain and S.A.R. Gilani were convicted for the offence. The court has imposed death sentences on the three accused for the offences under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).
  • Later, Geelani and Afsan were set free by the high court on appeal but upheld death sentence of Shaukat Hussain and Afzal Guru. Even Shaukat Hussian was released but Afzal Guru was hanged in February 2013 in secrecy due to security reasons.

Ruhi Singh won Miss Universal Peace & Humanity 2014

13-DEC-2014

  • Ruhi Singh of India was in news because she won Miss Universal Peace & Humanity 2014 at Beirut, Lebanon on 10 December 2014.She is the first person to win this pageant from India and she won the pageant among the 145 other countries. She was Femina Miss India East first runner-up in 2011.
  • Rebecca Boggiano from Australia finished as first runner-up and Sofia Alkhadra from Palestine was the second runner-up.
    Miss Universal Peace & Humanity 2014 Pageant promotes, inspires, and empowers all women to develop and utilize their strengths and inner qualities to positively impact all people throughout the world.
  • About Miss Universal Peace & Humanity
    • The Miss Universal Peace & Humanity 2014 was conceptualized by the World Peace Mission Organization under the patronage of the International Human Rights Commission. 
    • The purpose of international grand beauty pageant with the theme Beauty Speaks for Peace is to call out for peace, to embrace peace, to preserve peace.
    • The main aim is to identify and showcase the world's best tourism cause and ambassadors for peace. It also aims at promoting peace around the world and beauties from around the world compete in this event.

Maharashtra government declared Dahi Handi as adventurous sport

13-DEC-2014

  • The Maharashtra Government on 12 December 2014 declared Dahi Handi as adventurous sport to make it a safe sport. Dahi Handi involves making a human pyramid and breaking an earthen pot filled with buttermilk tied at a height on the occasion of Krishan Janmashtami. It is a traditional sport in Maharashtra.
  • The state government took decision to make Dahi Handi as a safe activity and will formulate new rules and safety guidelines prescribed by the state commission. It will also ensure proper training for the participants and the use of all safety instruments.
  • In August 2014, Bombay High Court had banned the participation of children below 18 years of age in Dahi Handi citing fatal accidents at the events. However, Supreme Court had reduced the age limit to 12 years and had asked the organizers to use proper safety measure at events.

Asha Bhosle awarded DIFF Lifetime Achievement Award 2014

13-DEC-2014

  • Playback singer Asha Bhosle on 10 December 2014 was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 11th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) held in Dubai. She received the award for her decades of dedication to Indian Film Industry.
  • Along with her, another Egyptian actor Nour El-Sherif was also received the DIFF Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on over 100 films, in a career spanning nearly five decades.
  • The DIFF Lifetime Achievement Award is dedicated to honour the world's greatest film actors, writers, directors and producers. Previous winners of the awards includes Martin Sheen, Omar Sharif, Faten Hamamah, Adel Imam, Jameel Rateb, Sabah, Morgan Freeman, Sean Penn, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Daoud Abdel Sayed, Youssef Chahine, Rachid Bouchareb, Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai among others.
  • About Asha Bhosle
    • Asha Bhosle was born in 1933 and started her career as playback singer in 1943. 
    • She has recorded more than 12000 songs and she is known for her versatility as a singer is it folk songs, Indian classical music, pop songs, ghazals and bhajans.
    • She is noted as the most recorded artist in music history by the Guinness Book of World Records.
    • She was also awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan 2008.
    • In 2013, she made acting debut in the Mai movie at the age of 79 and played role of 65 years old-mother who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and is abandoned by her children.
  • About Dubai International Film Festival
    The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is the leading film festival started in 2004. The festival serves as an influential platform for Arab filmmakers and talent at an international level, by leading the cinema movement in Gulf region.

ICICI Bank launched India’s first transparent credit card in association with American Express

 

13-DEC-2014

  • ICCI Bank on 12 December 2014 launched India’s first credit card with a unique transparent design and a distinctive look. The credit card named ICICI Bank Coral American Express Credit Card. The card is a part of Gemstone Collection of ICCI Bank in association with American Express.
  • The new credit card will have the entire feature of plastic credit cards but without the opacity. The plastic cards are generally opaque in nature having details like card holder’s name, photograph, signature and bar code, among others.
    The card provides features with an extended period for repaying of retail purchases for the first two bill cycles by paying the minimum amount due.
  • Other offers of the card include complimentary movie tickets, access to certain lounges at Mumbai and Delhi airports, minimum 15 per cent discount on bills at leading restaurants across the country and no surcharge on fuel transactions at HPCL outlets, among others.

Union Government brought 52 new drugs under NPPA control

13-DEC-2014

  • Union Government brought 52 new drugs under National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) control to keep check on prices of essential medicines. The decision was notified by NPPA on 11 December 2014.
  • National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) extended the price control mechanism on 52 drugs which includes some commonly used painkillers and antibiotics as well as medicines used to treat cancer and skin disorders.
  • The medicine include such as antibiotic Ciprofloxacin, BCG vaccine and anti-diabetic Metformin, Paracetamol, Glucose, Amoxycilline, Diazepam, Codeine Phosphate,  Losartan and Diclofenac.
  • These new drugs join a list of nearly 400 essential treatments which is more than 450 drugs that involve NPPA ceiling and retail prices for these medicines.
  • The price caps on drugs only to specific companies include 
    • Lupin Limited of India
    • Cadila Healthcare Company of India 
    • Merck Company, Indian arm of Merck KGaA of Germany Company
  • Earlier in September 2014, the NPPA had fixed the prices of 36 drugs that include those to treat infections and diabetes.
  • About National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority
  • The NPPA was established under the Drugs Prices Control Order (DPCO).
  • Union Government established NPPA to fix or revise the prices of controlled bulk drugs and formulations and to enforce prices and availability of the medicines in India.
    Comment:
    The decision of ranging price cut will hit both domestic and foreign drugmakers and it was opposed by industries commenting that drug prices in India was already among the lowest in the world.

15th Indio-Russian Bilateral Annual Summit held in New Delhi

13-DEC-2014

  • 15th Indio-Russian Bilateral Annual Summit was held in Delhi 11 December 2014. President Vladimir Putin of Russia visited India to hold the summit on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin released a joint statement in which both the countries agreed on a vision for strengthening the India-Russia partnership over the next decade.
  • Highlights of the summit
    • During the summit, both the countries signed 20 agreements in the fields such as nuclear energy, and gas, health,  mining, media and wind power. 
    • Both the countries agreed on the construction of at least 12 new nuclear power units within the next 20 years, including two new units at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Both also countries agreed to find a new site to construct a new nuclear plant.
    • Both the countries agreed to promote bilateral economic,  and investment cooperation, including the idea of exploring the use of national currencies in settlements. 
    • Both the countries agreed to consult and coordinate in multilateral forums such as G20, East Asia Summit (EAS), BRICS and RIC.  The bilateral program on enhanced cooperation in oil and gas sphere underlines the serious commitments of the two counties to develop cooperation in energy area of great promise.
    • Both the countries envisage broader collaboration between hydrocarbon companies of the two countries in oil and gas exploration and by  as well as in LNG projects and supplies.
    • India reassured Russia that Russia will remain primary defence partner of India, though both the countries did not reach a concrete agreement on the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) and a multirole transport aircraft (MTA) projects.
    • Russia expressed that it would look at participating in the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor project and will speed up the negotiations for a free by  agreement between India and the Eurasian Union.
    • Russia looks forward to India to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
    • India and Russia supports the evolution of open, balanced and inclusive security architecture in the Asia Pacific region based on collective efforts, considering legitimate interests of all states of the region and guided by respect for norms and principles of international law.
  • About Indo-Russian Annual Summit 
    • President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Vajpayee launched the annual Summit process in 2000. The first summit Prime Minister Vajpayee visited Moscow and held the summit.
    • This is President Vladimir Putin's eleventh Annual Summit and first summit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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