Current Affairs September 2014(First Week)

Karnataka became first state in India to launch Health Adalat

in the country to launch a Health Adalat. The Health Adalat was launched by the State Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khader in Gulbarga, Karnataka on 2 September 2014.

It was launched to address health issues at the grassroots level and ensure that all health facilities extended by the government reached all sections of society.

During Health Adalat the department will interact with public representatives and general citizen and understand their problems and concern, grievance about the health services and efforts would be made to provide solution then and there.

The adalat also aimed at narrowing the gap between the Health Department and the elected representatives who function as a bridge between the government and the people. It will also provide an opportunity to health officials to introspect on the implementation of government programmes.

Department of Health and Family Welfare of the State will address the problems and will take necessary steps and conduct the workshops to create awareness about government programmes and their benefits.

Union MHA approved forest land diversion to fight Maoists

Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on 2 September 2014 approved diversion of forest land to fight Maoists. The forest land under the Forest Conservation (FC) Act of 1980 will be diverted to construct all categories of public roads. 
The move is aimed at expediting the creation of road infrastructure in LWE affected districts to enable the security forces to effectively combat Maoists. 
These public roads will be constructed in all the forestland areas falling under 117 Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts of the country. However, the approval will not be extended for the roads which were falls under the protected areas.
Further, relaxation under the FC Act has been extended for diversion of forestland from the present one hectare to five hectares for execution of public utility projects of 15 specified categories in 117 LWE districts.These categories are schools, dispensaries, hospitals, medical colleges, electrical and telecommunication lines, drinking water, non-conventional sources of energy, skill upgradation, power sub-stations etc.
All categories of public roads, including communication posts, police establishments like stations, outposts, border outposts, watch towers in sensitive areas underground laying of optical fibre cables, telephone lines etc. are also included.
About LWE affected districts
117 LWE districts are spread over several States in India. These States include Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. 
While, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar are considered severely affected. On the other hand, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are considered partially affected. Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are considered slightly affected.

Blue Economy-International workshop on sustainable growth held in Bangladesh

Blue Economy-International Seminar was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 1 -2 September 2014 to discuss better ways to explore the resources of the Bay of Bengal.

The aim is to establish links with countries and organisations working in ocean research and resources to ensure the protection and sustainable utilization of the resources of the Bay of Bengal.

The main areas of discussion are to understand the dynamics of ocean-based blue economy, developing maritime policies, and access and sustainable development of ocean resources.

Representatives from Australia, Seychelles, Sweden, Oman, China, South Africa, Iran, the Philippines, Japan, India, the Netherlands, Thailand, South Korea, Sri Lanka, United States, Kenya, Mauritius, Myanmar, Tanzania, Mauritius experts on marine resources are participated and shared experiences.


Libyan Government lost its control over state offices in Tripoli to Militants

Libyan Government on 1 September 2014 lost its control over state offices in Tripoli to Militants. Tripoli is the capital of Libya.
Energy-rich Libya has slipped ever deeper into chaos since veteran dictator Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown and killed in 2011.
Gunmen surrounded government offices, threatened ministers with assassination and prevented employees from entering their workplaces. 
Comment
Libya now has two competing parliaments, with each declaring the other illegitimate. The Tobruk-based House of Representatives on 1 September 2014 reappointed Abdullah Thinni as prime minister and asked him to form a new government.

Abdullah Thinni was originally named prime minister in March 2014, but that was challenged by the Islamist-dominated General National Congress, the rival parliament that has refused to disband.

Sint Martin General Election 2014

The General election of Sint Marteen was held on 29 August 2014. The United People's Party won the election with seven of the 15 seats in the Estates.
They were the first elections since Sint Maarten became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2010.
Five parties contested the elections. The Democratic Party Sint Maarten (DP), the National Alliance (NA), the Sint Maarten People Party (OSPP), the United People's Party (UP) and the United Sint Maarten Party (US). 
Procedure of Election 
Sint Marteen elects a legislature called the Estates of Sint Maarten. It consists of 15 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation.

The first estates were elected in 2010 as the island council of the island area Sint Maarten as the elections took place before the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles.
Background
Sint Marteen is an island in the northeast Caribbean. It is located east of Puerto Rico. 
The island is divided roughly between France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The two parts are roughly equal in population. 
It is the smallest sea island divided between two nations with inhabitants. The division was done in 1648. This is the only land border shared by these two countries anywhere on Earth.

Ecuador unveiled plans to issue world’s first digital currency

Ecuador on 29 August 2014 unveiled plans to issue world’s first digital currency. The currency will be issued by Central Bank of Ecuador. The new currency was approved by Ecuador's National Assembly in July 2014.

The electronic money, as yet unnamed, will start circulating in December 2014. The new money will be used alongside the existing currency in Ecuador, the US dollar. Ecuador introduced the US dollar as its currency after a crippling bank crisis in 2000.

According to plans, the new digital currency will help 2.8 million Ecuadoreans, 40 per cent of participants in the economy, who cannot afford traditional banking. It will also help poorer Ecuadoreans make and receive payments using mobile phone technology which will be similar to the mobile payments schemes run in African nations by private players.

Analysts say the introduction of the electronic currency could be used to increase the money supply and devalue US dollar holdings - a first step towards abandoning the US dollar.

Bitcoin vis-a-vis New Digital Currency

The new digital currency is not like Bitcoin, whose advantage is in its technical underpinnings. That is only a limited amount of Bitcoin can be minted. Without that safeguard, economists have warned, a government could theoretically create as much as it wants, risking inflation.

It is believed that the digital currency would not be a crypto-currency like Bitcoin. The amount of the new currency created would depend on demand. Bitcoin (a global digital currency) has faced huge challenges to get people around the world to use it, and that is a worldwide movement with thousands of developers working on it.

Tessy Thomas and V. Ravindranath became first Women directors in IIT council

Tessy Thomas and V. Ravindranath on 1 September 2014 became first Women directors in IIT council. The appointment was confirmed by Union HRD Ministry. 
About IIT Council
IIT Council is the apex body of 16 IITs. IIT council is headed by HRD minister and consists of three members of Parliament, chairpersons and directors of all IITs, chairperson of UGC, director general of CSIR, chairman and directors of IISc, nominee of HRD ministry and three appointees each of the ministry and AICTE.
About Tessy Thomas
Tessy Thomas is the Project Director for Agni-IV missile in Defence Research and Development Organisation. She is the first woman scientist to head a missile project in India.

Tessy Thomas was conferred the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for her outstanding contribution for making India self-reliant in the field of missile technology.
About Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath
She was the first to initiate newer areas of research to revitalize the growth of modern neuroscience in India. 
She became the first Director of NBRC (National Brain Research Centre). Her research on neuro generative disorders can be used to develop disease-modifying therapies.
She became the Member of the Governing Council of International Brain Research Organization and the Asia Pacific Regional Council.
She was awarded with Padma Shree award in 2010

Japan removed six Indian space and defence entities from foreign end users list

Japan on 1 September 2014 removed six Indian space and defence entities from the foreign end users list, which will help in defence technology cooperation. This decision was taken during the meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. PM Narendra Modi is on a five-day visit to Japan.

Japan and India completed an agreement for buying the US-2 amphibian aircraft that includes transfer of the aircraft and its technology to India. Both the countries agreed to work together even in exporting the aircraft to third countries which will be the beginning of defence industry in India.

Both the countries also made significant progress in negotiations on civil nuclear cooperation and have agreed to instruct their negotiators to work expeditiously to strengthen strategic partnership. Japan declared that goods and technologies transferred from Japan would not be used for delivery systems for WMD (weapons of mass destruction).

Both the countries decided to expand cooperation in advanced technology, science and technology, people-to-people exchanges and educational exchanges.

Abkhazia midterm Presidential Election 2014, Raul Khajimba won the election

The presidential midterm election of Abkhazia was held on 24 August 2014. Raul Khajimba won the presidential election.
Allegations of corruption and misrule had forced the former President Aleksandr Ankvab to resign in early June 2014. His resignation consequently lead to the rescheduling the date of presidential elections from 2016 to August 2014.
60% votes polled in the election. Raul Khajimba won the presidential elections with 50.57% of the votes in the first round. While his main rival Aslan Bzhani only gained 35.91%. The other two remaining candidates Mirab Kishmaria and Leonid Dzapshba respectively obtained 6.4% and 3.4% of votes.
Raul Khajimba is the leader of Abkhazia’s biggest opposition party, the Forum of the National Unity of Abkhazia. 
Background
Abkhazia became de facto independent from Georgia after driving out Georgian troops from its soil in a civil war that killed thousands between 1992 and 1993
Today, the region is only recognised as independent de jure by a handful of couabkhaziantries such as Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Currently, Abkhazia is totally dependent on Russia to ensure both its security and its economic stability. Its economy notably functions with rubles, while two thirds of its budget is paid by Moscow. The situation has been denounced by Tbilisi, which maintain de-jure sovereignty over Abkhazia. 
Since the 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia, Moscow has supported Abkhazia’s independence, and recognised it as such on the international scene.
In January 2014, the Georgian government had accused Russia of moving its frontier in order to increase its territory over Abkhazia, and violating its territorial sovereignty.
The 2008 South Ossetia war between Russia and Georgia revived tension in Abkhazia and annulled the ceasefire that had been agreed on in 1994.

Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane deposed by Coup Leader Kamoli

Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane was deposed on 30 August 2014 by the military coup led by army commander Lieutenant-General Tlali Kamoli. 
The chief reason behind the coup seems to be the decision of Thabane to suspend parliament in June 2014 to prevent it from passing a motion of no confidence against him which could have brought down his government. It is widely believed that Lesotho Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing was behind the coup.
In a further development on 31 August 2014 Thabane was escorted by the South African security forces from his hideout in Ladybrand to attend a Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting chaired by South African President Jacob Zuma in Pretoria on a trial of resolving the crisis in Lesotho country.
Zuma authorised South African Special Forces to provide Thabane with security when or if he returned to Lesotho and also issued a stern warning to Kamoli that it would not tolerate any further disturbances.

About Lesotho
The Kingdom of Lesotho is land locked by South Africa and is made up mostly of highlands where many of the villages can be reached only on horseback, by foot or light aircraft. 
South Africa is the Country on which Lesotho is depended for employment and trade of its main natural resource - water. 
UN described 40% of the Lesotho population as ultra-poor. Because of its high rate in Aids the food output was drastically reduced as the farmers are the most victims of the disease.

RBI issued guidelines on implementation of Basel III Capital Regulations

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 September 2014 issued guidelines on implementation of Basel III Capital Regulations. The issued guidelines are to facilitate raising of non-equity regulatory capital instruments by banks under Basel III framework. The guidelines are applicable with immediate effect from 1 September 2014.

Guidelines
• Banks can issue the instruments with the principal loss absorption through either (i) conversion into common shares or (ii) write-down mechanism (temporary or permanent) which allocates losses to the instruments.
• Banks should ensure that the non-common equity capital instruments issued by them meet all the eligibility criteria such as legal, accounting and operational etc., in order for such instruments to be recognised as regulatory capital instruments.
• The Call option on Additional Tier 1 instrument Non-Cumulative Preference Shares (PNCPS) and Perpetual Debt Instruments (PDI) will be permissible at the initiative of the issuer after the instrument has run for at least five years. At present, the Call option on the PNCPS and PDI respectively is permissible only after the instrument has run for at least ten years. 
• Banks can issue Tier 2 capital instruments that are Redeemable Non-Cumulative Preference Shares (RNCPS) and Redeemable Cumulative Preference Shares (RCPS) with a minimum original maturity of at least five years compared to ten years at present.
• Banks can issue Tier 2 debt capital instruments (Perpetual Cumulative Preference Shares / Redeemable Non-Cumulative Preference Shares / Redeemable Cumulative Preference Shares) to retail investors, subject to the board approval.


Union Government relaxed onion import norms

Union Government on 1 September 2014 relaxed the import norms of Onion by allowing fumigation in India. The fumigation has been allowed up to 30 November 2014. The norms were relaxed in light of public concern over high prices of onion in the market.
According to the Union Ministry of Agriculture release, consignments of imported onions that arrive on Indian ports without fumigation and endorsement will be fumigated in the country by the importer through an accredited treatment provider. Then the consignments will be inspected thoroughly by quarantine officials and released only if they are found free from pests and diseases of concern to India.


The release also stated that the consignments of onions for consumption will not be subjected to the four times penal fees on account of non-compliance of conditions of import. 

Reason for Fumigation
Fumigation is a method performed to get rid of pests. The technique used in the process of fumigation either poisons or suffocates the pests.

Hockey Player Manpreet Singh named Junior Men Player of the Year by AHF

Hockey Player Manpreet Singh on 31 August 2014 named Junior Men Player of the Year by Asian Hockey Federation. 
The announcement was made at Asian Hockey Federation in the Congress held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 
Indian midfielder Manptreet Singh has played 103 international matches and captained junior men’s team in the Hero FIH Hockey Junior Men’s World Cup 2013, and the 3rd Sultan of Johor Cup in 2013 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Manpreet Singh belonged to Jalandhar. He made his international debut in 2011. He is in the current national squad and also the captain of India Junior Hockey Team.

At present, Manpreet is a part of senior men’s core probable team for the 2014 Asian Games.
About Manpreet Singh 
Manpreet Singh is a field hockey player for India National Team. Manpreet Singh is the only player to be listed in the Azlan Shah XI team.
He was a part of the Silver medal winning Indian team at the XX Commonwealth Games 2014 in Scotland.
He has represented India at the FIH Men’s World Cup 2014 (Netherlands), Hero FIH Hockey World League Final 2014 (India), FIH Hockey World League Semi-final 2013 (Netherlands), FIH Hockey World League Round 2, 2013 (India), Men’s Asia Cup 2013 (Malaysia), FIH Champions Trophy 2012 (Australia), Asian Champions Trophy 2012 (Qatar), Olympic Games 2012 (London) and FIH Champions Challenge 2011 (South Africa).

RBI asked banks to set time line to process loans

 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 September 2014 asked banks to set a timeline to process loans. The direction was issued to expedite credit decision. However, RBI didn’t set any particular time frame for it. 
Apart from this, RBI also asked banks to make suitable disclosures about time lines by conveying credit decisions through their websites and notice boards. In its notification, the central bank said that Banks should clearly delineate the procedure for disposal of loan proposals, with appropriate timelines, and institute a suitable monitoring mechanism for reviewing applications pending beyond the specified period.

The decision was made by RBI after it noticed inordinate delays by banks in conveying credit decisions, leading to delays in project implementation.

Union Government to SC: It wants re-auction of all 218 coal blocks

Union Government on 1 September 2014 informed to the Supreme Court that it wants re-auction of all 218 the coal blocks that was declared illegal by it. But it also urged the Apex Court to spare 46 coal blocks of which 40 are functional and 6 are ready to start operations, out of the 218 those were declared illegal by it on 25 August 2014. 
The exemption from cancellation and re-auction of the 46 blocks were asked, provided they meet the condition of compensating the loss caused to the government.


Earlier, the three-judge bench of Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India R M Lodha termed all the allocations between 1993 and 2010 as illegal. It asked the government whether it would not be better, if the government started again on a clean slate. 
During the hearing of the apex court on 1 September 2014, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi informed the court that of 218 allocations, 80 were already de-allocated prior to the verdict. At present there are only 138 allocated blocks of which 40 are operational and six are ready for operations. 
He also informed to the court that the government didn’t agree with its suggestion to appoint a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to study the consequences of declaring coal block allocations illegal.
After being informed by Attorney-General, the Supreme posted the hearing of the case on 9 September 2014 and also directed the government to file an affidavit with its suggestions.

Ebola Virus Disease

EVD:Ebola Virus Disease

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever. It is a severe and often fatal illness in humans. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. No licensed specific treatment or vaccine is available for use in people or animals.

EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests. Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are considered to be the natural host of the Ebola virus.

Ebola first appeared in 1976, in Nzara and Sudan. Later it was reported in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Symptoms
EVD is a severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

The Filoviridae family consists of 3 members 
• Marburgvirus
• Genus Cuevavirus
• Genus Ebolavirus, its family includes 
1. Bundibugyo ebolavirus 
2. Zaire ebolavirus 
3. Reston ebolavirus 
4. Sudan ebolavirus 
5. Tai Forest ebolavirus

Saina Nehwal decided to train under new Coach Vimal Kumar

Saina Nehwal on 1 September 2014 decided to train under new Coach Vimal Kumar. She decided to split with the national head coach Pullela Gopichand.
She confirmed that her loss of form and the rise of other players like PV Sindhu and K Srikanth had made her rethink her coaching options as Gopi was forced to split his time between these top shuttlers
Incidentally, this is not the first split of their partnership. In 2011, Saina decided to train under Baskar Babu but returned to Gopichand within three months. She later regretted that decision and praised Gopi for helping her win the Olympic bronze.

Gopichand became the national Coach in 2006. Saina Nehwal became Indian girl to win the Grand Prix Gold, Super Series and Super Series Premier titles under the training of Gopichand.
About Sania Nehwal
Saina Nehwal is an Indian badminton player who attained a career best ranking in 2010 by Badminton World Federation. She belongs to Haryana.
She is the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. 
She is the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics and was also the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open in 2009.

Venus Remedies tied up with Israel-based generic drug maker Teva

Pharmaceutical firm Venus Remedies tied up with Israel-based generic drug maker Teva on 1 September 2014 for selling an anti- cancer drug in the Canadian market.

Details of the collaborative agreement 
• Initially, Venus Remedies would be manufacturing the anti- cancer drug at its research unit Venus Medicine Research Centre for assisting Teva in registrations.
• Thereafter, Venus will assist Teva in enhancing the business from this drug in the Canadian market through its manufacturing capabilities.
• Teva will use the infrastructure and regulatory competence of Venus for the commercialization of this anti-cancer product in the Canadian market
• This association will help Venus capture a sizeable market share for this product in the first year of the agreement.

The anti-cancer drug
The high-potential drug is under patent protection till 2016. The drug is mainly used for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma and non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. 
The market size of this anti-cancer drug in Canada is 75-100 million US dollars.

Renowned Kathak dancer Maya Rao died

02-SEP-2014

Veteran Kathak dancer Maya Rao died on 1 September 2014 following a massive cardiac arrest on 31 August 2014. She was 86. 
Known for her mastery over abhinaya and dance ballet, Maya Rao helped the dance form Kathak to gain popularity in South India.

Maya Rao
• Born in 1928 in Bangalore, Maya Rao practised the Lucknow and Jaipur gharana of Kathak from Shambhu Maharaj and Sunder Prasad.
• She studied Masters in Choreography from the USSR in 1964.
• Maya’s ground-breaking work in choreography helped thousands of dancers in learning the composition and arrangement of dances.
• She trained over 4000 students across the globe in about eight decades of her career.
• She had set up the Natya Institute of Dance and Choreography in 1987 at Malleswaram. 
• Some of her dance ballets such as Amir Khusro, Krishnadevaraya, Vijayanagara Vaibhava, and Masti’s Kaamana Billu are regarded as her masterpiece productions in dance.
• She initiated National Performing Arts Festivals at heritage monuments such as Somanathpura, Pattadakkal and Halebid during her tenure as the chairperson of the Karnataka Sangeet Nritya Academy from 1987 to 1990.
• Maya Rao was a recipient of the prestigious Karnataka Rajyotsava awards (1986) and Shantala Awards(2000).

Libyan parliament reappointed Abdullah al-Thinni as Prime Minister

Libyan parliament reappointed Abdullah al-Thinni as the Prime Minister on 1 September 2014 as the government lost control over the ministries in Tripoli which had been taken over by armed groups. Thinni, a former defence minister, had been the prime minister of Libya since March 2014.

64 out of 106 representatives voted for Abdullah al-Thinni and on the basis of these votes the house instructed him to form a crisis government within two weeks. Abdullah al-Thinni is tasked to assert government control over the country where a fear of full-scale civil war looms large.
Background
The move came after the Islamists rejected the authority of the new Parliament and asked Omar Al Hassi to form a salvation government in a week. Subsequently, the Islamists' Misrata Forces took control over the capital Tripoli. 
They secured control over the government headquarters, ministries and buildings along with the US embassy in Tripoli which was evacuated in July 2014 for safety reasons. 
It is believed that the forces attacked Tripoli to harm the displaced people from the western town of Tawergha, a town in Libya. The Misrata forces accused the Tawergha people of having backed Libya's former dictator Muammar Gaddafi who was ousted in a US NATO-backed rebellion in 2011.
The situation worsened in Tripoli due to a separate clash in the eastern port city of Benghazi where Khalifa Haftar, a renegade general from the Libyan army, declared war on Islamist militants. Following which the Islamist militia launched an attack to capture Benghazi’s civilian and military airport from Libyan special forces which is under the control of general Khalifa Haftar.
However, the victory of Misrata forces in Tripoli has not yet affected oil production in the country.

KPMG-FICCI study ranked India among top three medical tourism destinations in Asia

KPMG-FICCI on 1 September 2014 released a study on medical tourism destinations titled Medical Value Travel in India. The study has ranked India among top three medical tourism destinations in Asia. The other two countries within Asia that receive maximum medical tourists are Thailand and Singapore. As per the report, these three countries together accounted for about 60 percent of the total Asian revenue in 2012. 
In its report it also highlighted low cost of treatment, quality health care infrastructure and availability of highly-skilled doctors as the reason for being among the top three. The report pointed out that Asian countries have introduced various marketing strategies to attract medical tourists.


The report says that in past few years, Asia has taken the lead as one of the most preferred destination for medical value travel.
In context of India, the report said that India is known mostly for its cost-effective medical treatments along with high standards in cardiology, orthopaedics, nephrology, oncology and neuro surgery. The country is also known for its alternative treatment options such as yoga and ayurveda.
The study is based on the research that was conducted in India and other Asian countries. The study found that the sector has emerged as one of the largest sectors in India and in 2012 it earned an estimated 78.6 billion dollar. It poises to grow at an annual rate of 15 percent to reach 158.2 billion dollars by 2017.

Himachal HC banned animal sacrifice at any place of public religious worship

The High Court of Himachal Pradesh on 1 September 2014 banned animal sacrifice to appease deities. It ruled that no person throughout the state shall sacrifice any animal in any place of public religious worship. 
As per the order the banned area also includes all lands and building near such places of religious worship that are ordinarily connected for religious purposes or in any ceremony/Yagya/congregation or procession connected with any religious worship in a public street.


The High Court division bench comprised of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Sureshwar Thakur issued its direction after hearing petitions seeking ban on inhuman practice of animal sacrifice. It also directed all Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police, sub-divisional officers and station house officers to comply with these directions punctually and faithfully. 
The bench in its direction said that compassion is basic tenets in all the religions and the practice of animal sacrifice is a social evil and is required to be curbed.

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed amendment of Reservation Act 2004

Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on 30 August 2014 amended Reservation Act 2004. The amendment bill provides five percent reservation in jobs to Pahari-speaking people of the state.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill 2014 was passed in the J & K Legislative Assembly house with a voice vote. The objective of the Bill is to provide reservation to the Pahari-speaking people of the Jammu and Kashmir state.

The Pahari-speaking people are economically, socially, and educationally backward and are not able to compete with the more advanced sections of the society in the J & K state.  The Bill was proposed by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah about the reservation on 15 August 2014 providing job opportunities to the Pahari-speaking people of the J & K state.

Cate

State Government of Andhra Pradesh on 1 September 2014 proposed a Metro Rail Project for Temple Town Tirupathi. It will be the third venture that the government aimed to complete after completing the other two in three and half years.
The other two ventures were in Vishakhapatnam and Vijayawada-Mangalagiri lines. The principal adviser of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), E Sreedharan was appointed as the adviser for the AP government on the metro rail projects and the state government assigned the construction of the projects to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

Metro Rail Projects in India 
• Metro train was first started in Kolkata in 1984. But, The Modern Metro was started first in Delhi.
• The Mumbai Monorail is the first monorail in India and was opened on 7 February 2014, since the closing of the Patiala State Monorail Trainways in 1927.
• It was planned that all Indian cities having population more that 2 million will have metro rail system.
• Metro rail lines in India are composed of both standard gauge and broad gauge.
• Delhi Metro used broad gauge for its earliest lines but all new projects in India are on standard gauge.
• One exception is the Ahmadabad Metro, which will use Broad gauge, as there is more space available inside the coach.
• Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Kolkata and Mumbai are the cities in which Metro is running.
• Jaipur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Navi Mumbai, Kochi and Lucknow are the cities in which Metro is being constructed.
• And it is planned to build in more than 15 cities throughout India.

Zimbabwe defeated Australia in one-day cricket match for first time in 31 years

Zimbabwe on 31 August 2014 defeated Australia for the first time in 31 years in the one-day match played at the Harare Sports Club. This was the first win for Zimbabwe since 1983 World Cup of Cricket in Trent Bridge. 
It defeated Australia by 3 wickets in the fourth match of the tri-nation series that also features South Africa.


in the match, Australia batted first and posted 209 runs for 9 in 50 over. In reply, the Zimbabwe overhauled the target with 2 overs to spare and 3 wickets in hand. 
Man of the match was given to Zimbabwean captain Elton Chigumbura who scored 52 not out and helped the team to win the match. 
Zimbabwe's international record against Australia

Match Format

Games

Australia won

Zimbabwe won

Draws/ties

No result

Tests

3

3

0

0

0

ODIs

30

27

2

0

1

Twenty20

1

0

1

0

0

Zimbabwe won the Twenty20 internationals against Australia at the inaugural ICC World T20 in 2007.

Carolina Marin became the first Spaniard to win World Badminton Championship

Carolina Marin on 31 August 2014 became the first Spaniard to win World Badminton Championship. The World Badminton Championship was held in Copenhagen, Denmark. 
Carolina won women’s singles titles by defeating world number one Li Xuerui of china. China’s Chen Long won the men’s singles titles of the World Badminton Championships.

This victory had earned Spain first major title in the sport. Carolina ninth seed recovered from dropping the opening game to the top seed and Olympic champion to complete an incredible 17-21, 21-17, 21-18 victory.
Earlier, China extended their dominance in women's doubles as Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei claimed won the country's 12th straight gold medal in the event.

A Nageswara Rao became first Indian actor to be honoured by US post service

Indian Telugu Actor, Akkineni Nageswara Rao became the first Indian actor to be honoured with a postage stamp by the US Post Service (USPS). It was announced by the Akkineni Foundation of America (AFA) on 30 August 2014.

The stamp will be issued on the birth anniversary of Nageshwara Rao that is on 20 September 2014 in Dallas Texas. The AFA is planning to release the stamp in India on 17 December 2014 at the first International Akkineni Awards Ceremony being planned at ANR College, Andhra Pradesh.

About Akkineni Nageswara Rao

• Nageswara Rao popularly known as ANR was born in Rama Puram, Andhra Pradesh on 20 September 1923 and died on 22 January 2014. He was also a film producer with the name of the Annapurna Studios banner.
• His first movie was Dharmapatni and last movie was Manam in Telugu. He acted in 255 films in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi. He had 75 year acting career and he was named as Nata Samrat.
• His movies are Maya Bazaar, Chenchu Lakshmi, Laila Majnu, Missamma, Anarkali, Batasari, Devadasu, Prem Nagar, Premabhishekam, and Meghasandesham.
• He received Padma Bhushan (1988), Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1991) and Padma Vibhushan (2011) for his contribution to Indian Cinema. 
• He also received many awards including Filmfares, Nandi Award and Kalaimamani.
• ANR founded Annapurna International School of Film and Media in 2011 to encourage talents in the acting field.

Revived Nalanda University started its first session on 1 September 2014

 

The revived Nalanda University on 1 September 2014 started its first session with 15 students in its makeshift campus at the Buddhist pilgrim town of Rajgir, about 100 km from Patna. 
The University started its first session 2014-15 with the classes for theSchool of Ecology and Environmental Studies and the School of Historical Studies. At present, the University has 10 faculty members. The University started its first session after completing the three-day orientation programme for students.
The formal inauguration of the University work will commence in mid-September, while the fully-residential university will be completed by 2020. Then it will have seven schools for post-graduate and doctoral students and will offer courses in science, philosophy and spirituality and social sciences. 
• Nalanda University Vice-Chancellor - Gopa Sabharwal 
• Chairman of the Governing Body of the university - Economist Amartya Sen


The University will come up in Rajgir, 12 km away from the location of ancient Nalanda University that stood till 12th Century, until it was razed by an invading Turkish army. 
The governing body of the University also has several renowned teachers from various countries ad its members that include Former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo and Ministry of External Affairs Secretary Anil Wadhwa. 
The University attracted 1000 application from 40 countries the world but only 15 students (5 are women) were selected. The selected students include one from each Japan and Bhutan and rest are from India. Further, the University some more students will be enrolled by September 2014 as the selection process is still under way. 
In the process of enrolling, the University received applications from the US, Russia, England, Spain, Germany, Japan, Myanmar, Austria and Sri Lanka, among others, as also from West Asian and Southeast Asian countries.
Revival of Nalanda University 
The Nalanda University has been revived following the proposal of the former President APJ Abdul Kalam. He proposed the revival of the university in 2006. The University came into existence by the Nalanda University Act 2010 that was passed by Parliament and got its notification on 15 November 2010. The Union government has sanctioned 2700 crore rupees for the university, to be spent over 10 years.
Apart from this, the University is an initiative of the Indian government and 18 East Asia Summit (EAS) countries. The Seven EAS countries in October 2013 during the trip of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Brunei inked an agreement for their commitment to the project. The seven EAS countries were Australia, Cambodia, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand, Laos and Myanmar.


Apart from this in November 2013 China also committed to provide 1 million dollar for project. This commitment was made by China during Beijing visit of Manmohan Singh. Singapore also pledged to donate 5 to 6 million dollars and Australia also planned to provide 1 million Australian dollars to the University. 
Ancient Nalanda University 
The ancient Nalanda University was established in the fifth century during the Gupta dynasty. It is an ancient international centre for learning in Bihar that attracted students from across the world, mainly from East Asia and China during 5th Century CE to 1197 CE. In the ancient times, the Nalanda University saw thousands of scholars and thinkers from across the world. It was destroyed in 1197 by the invading Turkish Army of Bakhtiyar Khilji a general of Qutbuddin Aibak. The blaze of the huge library is believed to have raged for several days.

Iraqi forces broke siege of Amerli town of Iraq from ISIS

Iraqi forces backed by US air strikes on 31 August 2014 broke the siege of Amerli town of Iraq which was under ISIS militant groups. 
The operation to reach Amerli began on 30 August 2014 when an alliance of Iraq government forces, Shia militias and Kurdish Peshmerga began a two-front attack on ISIS positions. The Amerli operation was the first major offensive success for the federal government since the conflict began.
The town was under siege of ISIS group since June 2014. Thousands of Iraqis were trapped by jihadists.
The UK, France and Australia joined the US in dropping humanitarian aid.

Moreover, US military confirmed it had carried out two further air strikes on 31 August 2014. One was near the Mosul Dam and had destroyed an IS armed vehicle. The other was near Amerli, where an IS tank was damaged.
About Amerli
Amirli is a town in the Tooz District of Salah ad Din Governorate. The town is located near the border with Diyala Governorate, in northern Iraq, about 100 km from the Iranian border. 
It has a population of 26000, mainly from Iraq's Turkoman ethnic minority. It is the centre of a farming region.

USFDA granted QIDP status to Indian pharmaceutical firm Wockhardt

US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) on 31 August 2014 granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) status to two drugs of Wockhardt, an Indian firm. The two drugs that received the QIDP are WCK 771 and WCK 2349. With this, Wockhardt became the first Indian Pharmaceutical company whose drugs have received the QIDP status.

WCK 771 is an intravenous (IV) drug while WCK 2349 is a solid oral tablet. These two drugs act against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), which causes a range of diseases from skin infection to severe respiratory infections. Besides this these two drugs have also shown potential in treatment of Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (HAP).

About QIDP status 
QIDP status is granted to drug that acts against pathogens that have a high degree of unmet need in their treatment. These drugs are identified by the Centre for Disease Control, the US government’s health and safety body.  This status allows fast-track review of drug applications by FDA, paving the way for an early launch.

About Wockhardt
• Wockhardt is a highly technology intensive global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company.  
• It is multi-disciplinary and innovative R&D programmes globally, are strongly focused on creating Intellectual Properties.
• It has 3 research centres globally and manufacturing facilities across India, USA, UK and Ireland.

d on 31 August 2014 set world record in the womens hammer throw at the Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) Berlin Athletics meet at Berlin's Olympic stadium in Germany.


With a throw of 79.58 meters she improved the world record by 16 centimetres.
She broke the three year old world record of 79.42 meters set by Betty Heidler of Germany in May 2011 in Halle, Germany.
About Anita Wlodarczyk
Anita Wlodarczyk is a two-time European champion. She had won silver medal in 2012 Olympic Games.

Włodarczyk won her first national U-23 championships in 2007 at the European Athletics U23 Championships Włodarczyk qualified for the 2008 World Athletics Final and won a bronze medal. 
In 2009, she took part in the European Team Championships, winning her first gold medal at a major international competition. On 22 August 2009 during the World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Włodarczyk set a world record with a throw of 77.96 metres 
About Internationales Stadionfest (ISTAF) Berlin Athletics meet
ISTAF is an annual track and field athletics meet at the Olympic Sadium in Berlin, Germany. It was first organised on 3 July 1921 at the Deutsches Stadium, which was replaced after the 1936 Munich Summer Olympics by the current stadium in 1937. Since 2010 it has been part of the IAAF World Challenge meetings, the second tier of global one day athletics events.

Jaipur Pink Panthers won the inaugural title of Pro Kabaddi League

Jaipur Pink Panther (JPP) owned by Abhisek Bachchan on 31 August 2014 won the inaugural title of the Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League. To win its first title of the tournament, Jaipur Pink Panther defeated U Mumba 35-24 at the NSCI Stadium in Mumbai. 
U Mumba that emerged as the runner up of the tournament is owned by Unilazer Sports.
• Captain of Jaipur Pink Panther - Navneet Gautam
• Captain of U Mumba - Anup Kumar

About Pro Kabaddi League 
Pro Kabaddi League was launched on 14 March 2014 jointly by Marshal Sports Pvt. Ltd. and the International Kabbadi Federation. It was launched at the National Sports Club of India, Mumbai with an aim to revive the indigenous sport of Kabaddi to levels of new professionalism. The inaugural tournament saw participation of eight teams owned by different people or organisations.


The teams that participated in the tournament and their owners were 
• Bengal Warriors - owned by Future Group and was captained by Nilesh Shinde 
• Bengaluru Bulls - owned by Kosmik Global Media and was captained by Manjit Chillar  
 Dabang Delhi - owned by Do It Sports Management and was captained by Jasmer Singh
• Jaipur Pink Panther - owned by Abhishek Bachchan and was captained by Navneet Gautam 
• Patna Pirates - owned by Rajesh Shah and was captained by Rakesh Kumar
 Puneri Paltan - owned byt Insurekot Sports and was captained by Wazir Singh 
• Telugu Titans - owned by Veera Sports and was captained by Rajguru Subramanian
• U Mumba - owned by Unilazer Sports and was captained by Anup Kumar

Union Government informed NGT to not to implement Madhav Gadgil Report on Western Ghats

Union Government informed National Green Tribunal (NGT) to not to implement Madhav Gadgil Report on Western Ghats.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) informed the NGT that it is rather relying upon a high-level working group (HLWG) report headed by Prof K Kasturirangan for taking all future calls on demarcating eco-sensitive areas. The Western Ghats is ecologically sensitive area, spread across the six states of Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The information to the NGT was given after NGT came down heavily on the NDA government for for creating a state of flux and not clarify whether Gadgil or not report has been rejected.

Earlier in October 2013, the UPA government had issued a notification giving in-principle approval to implement Kasturirangan Committee report, but refrained from execution, fearing possible political repercussions, and left the final decision on the next government.

Background

In its report submitted to the Union Ministry of Ministry of Environment and Forest in 2011, the Gadgil Committee had designated the entire Western Ghats as ecologically sensitive area. It recommended notification of nearly 3/4th of Western Ghats into ecologically sensitive zone, restricting all development activities.

However, under severe opposition from states where Western Ghats fall, the UPA government constituted K Kasturirangan Committee. This panel in 2013 recommended that only 37 per cent of area should be declared as ecologically sensitive, while simultaneously prescribing for prohibiting certain commercial activities like mining and thermal power generation.