- Prologue
- SPIN: Sarkaari People in News
- CIN: Committees in News
- FIN: Foreign in News
- DSPIN: Diaspora in News
- DIN: Dead in news for CDS
Prologue
Total three parts:
- Persons in News, Committees, Diaspora, You’re here
- Booker-2014, Books-Authors, Disasters & Places in News
- Sports, ASIAN Games 2014, and BusinessGK
Defense and Space compilations separately. Later on.
SPIN: Sarkaari People in News
List not exhaustive, only notable from Oct-2014
Chief economic advisor |
IMF economist Arvind Subramanian |
CVC |
Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as CVC till regular appointment is made. |
Finance Secretary |
- Finmin has 4 secretaries — Economic Affairs, Expenditure, Revenue and Financial Services.
- The senior most among them is called Finance Secretary.
- Rajiv Mehrishi (Rajasthan Cadre IAS) has replaced Arvind Mayaram as Finance Secretary.
- Mayaram sent to Minority affairs.
|
Goa |
- Governor Mridula Sinha.
- She is one of the 9 people nominated by Modi for cleanliness campaign.
|
Haryana |
New CM Manohar lal Khattar (BJP) |
India Post |
- Was setup on 1st October, 1854. Completed 160 years.
|
Maharashtra |
New CM Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) |
MEA spokesperson |
- Vikas Swarup likely to replace Syed Akbaruddin
- Vikas wrote the book “Q&A”. Oscar winning movie Slumdog millionaire is based on that book.
|
Prasar Bharati |
- Surya Prakash became new Chairman for 3 years.
- Prasar Bharati Chief is selected by a 3 person Committee, including VP+Press council chairman and Secretary in I&B ministry.
|
CIN: Committees in News
Committee |
Purpose? |
Prabha Sridevan |
To review IPR policy of India. By DIPP, commerce ministry. Yet to give report. |
Shyamal Sen |
This retired justice was probing Saradha chit fund scam. But now W.Bengal Government shut it down. |
TV Mohandas Pai |
DRISHTI: Driving Information System for Holistic Tax Initiatives) in February 2014. Gave report in October. |
Vishwanathan |
for bankruptcy legal framework. By finance ministry. Yet to give report. |
FIN: Foreign in News
List not exhaustive, only notable from Oct-2014
Hong Kong |
- 1997: Britain handed over Hong Kong to China.
- Hong Kong is designated as China’s Special Administrative Region (SAR).
- Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
- Place in new due to Democratic protests.
|
Australia |
- Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
- Decided to stop Air-strikes plan on ISIS fearing it’ll kill Iraqi Civilians as well.
- 457 visa: four year temporary work visa for skilled professional in Australia.
|
Brazil |
Leftist President Dilma Rousseff won re-election. She defeated pro-business politician Aecio Neves. |
Burkina Faso |
- President Blaise Compaore continuously in office for last 27 years. YET he tried to introduce new bill that’d extend his term.
- Now juntaa fed up and protesting. So he says election in 90 days.
|
Canada |
- Authorized air-strikes in Iraq.
- Terrorist Attack on its parliament
- PM Stephen Harper
|
Congo |
- Kinshasa is the capital of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
- 1920s: HIV began from here.
|
Egypt |
North Sinai province: emergency declared due to terrorism. |
Finland |
- Capital Helsinki
- PM Alexander Stubb; President Sauli Niinisto
- In news because Pranab visited this country.
|
Indonesia |
- Joko Widodo elected new President. Popularly called “Jokowi”
- Sulawesi island. Oldest rock art discovered here. 40k years old. (Painted Pigs)
- This has broken record of France- where 35-38k years old rock art discovered. (Painted Rhinos).
|
Myanmar |
- Rohingya Muslims will get citizenship IF they admit they’re “Bengalis”
- But it implies they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh despite having lived in the area for generations.
- In future, Government may force them in camps. Hence controversy
|
Nepal |
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala. Promised Constitution by Jan 2015 |
NIGERIA |
- WHO declares Nigeria free of Ebola
- President Good luck Jonathan will borrow money from abroad, to train military to fight Boko Haram terrorists, who are kidnapping Nigerian schoolgirls.
|
Norway |
- King Harald V
- Prime Minister Erna Solberg
- In news because Pranab visited this country and met Santa Clause.
|
Paki |
- Will introduce EVM machines in 2018 Election.
- Bilawal Bhutto- Pakistan people’s party (PPP). Wants to take Kashmir from India.
|
Saudi Arabia |
- Eid-ul-Adha is celebrated to commemorate Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice.
- Places associated with Haj Pilgrim: Mount Arafat, Mina Valley, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
|
South Africa |
Denied visa to Dalai Lama to attend nobel peace summit. |
Syria |
- Kobani: a Border town. Kurdish fighers trying to protect it from ISIS.
|
WHO |
Director-General Margaret Chan |
Zambia |
Vice-President Guy Scott (a White person) will become acting President. |
DSPIN: Diaspora in News

Here I count all Indian, NRI, PIO, Foreigners making news. (even if they’ve no Indian connection)
Anand Kumar |
- Indian mathematician and founder of Super 30 IIT class.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University have invited him to deliver guest lecture.
|
Inspector Shakti Devi |
- from Jammu and Kashmir Police
- She is deployed in the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
- She has won International Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014.
|
KTM Iqbal |
- Indian-origin Singaporean poet and writer
- He won Cultural Medallion, Singapore’s highest cultural award by President Tony Tan Keng Yam.
|
P. Sainath |
- Journalist in theHindu
- Won public welfare award at World media summit in USA.
|
Panda Award for wildlife photography |
- Ashwika Kapoor from Kolkata for “Kakapo Parrot” in New Zealand.
- Kakapo Parrot is nocturnal, can not fly, critically endangered.
|
Pratima Dharm |
- Earlier Hindu chaplain in the U.S. Army.
- Now first Hindu chaplain at the Georgetown University.
|
SASTRA Ramanujan Prize |
- To mathematician at or below 32.
- Earlier Manjul Bhargav won it
- 2014: Dr. James Maynard (age 27) of Oxford univ.
|
Vanita Gupta |
Indian-American attorney. Appointed in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division. |
DIN: Dead in news for CDS
Arathil Candeth Narayan Nambiar |
- He was a soviet spy according to British records.
- Netaji Bose’s deputy
- Friend of Nehu
- Ex-Indian ambassador
|
Begum Akhtar |
- Akhtar Bai Faizabadi, popularly called Begum Akhtar / Mallika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazals).
- Noted classical singer from Uttar Pradesh.
- Specialized in Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri
- Got Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for vocal music, Padam Shri and Padam Bhushan (Posthumously).
- 100th Birth anniversary. Coins released.
|
Ben Bredlee |
Washington Post. Reported the watergate scandal, that led to President Nixon’s fall. |
Gopinath Munde |
BJP leader, Union rural minister. Died in June 2014 in a car accident.CBI said no foul play. |
M.V. Kamath |
worked with Times of India and wrote the book ‘The Man of the Moment: Narendra Modi.’ |
Martin Perl |
- Nobel Prize-winning physicist from Stanford University.
- Discovered a subatomic particle known as the tau lepton.
|
Turaga Janaki Rani |
Telugu writer and radio artist. |
Warren M. Anderson |
- Boss of Union Carbide, producing “Sevin” pesticide.
- Responsible for Bhopal gas tragedy in Dec.1984 due to Methyl isocyanate.
- Died in USA after long illness.
|
For other parts visit Mrunal.org/PIN.
Thanks Mrunal………nice Article
SIR CAN U ARRANGE PREVIOUS YEAR PAPERS FOR HARYANA ASSISTANT TREASURY OFFICERS EXAM.
Mrunal Ji, Good work.., One Repeatation Shyamlal Sen-Chit fund case.
yes deleted the repeated entry.
dear sir,
i have seen 5th department, disinverstment, in finmin against 4 u have mentions above in section ‘sarkari person in news’.
thankx
Hii plz contact me whtsapp 9041414194
is UPSC site down?
yes UPSC site not morning here either since morning.
Ys…its down I gues…nt opening..may be morning rush…
Tried calling Upsc..bt no one responding…
Will try late night ..less traffic..may b help..
Hello,
I wanted to know 2 things about Mains form fillup.
1. If self attestation is accepted?
2. 10th mark sheet can it be used for certificate of age?
indian diaspora article for mains 2014 is not been able to trace plz fwd or suggest for study…..find it difficult…..plz reply
Burkino Faso
President Blaise Compaore tried to move a bill that would extend his term for coming years .
And so angry people and army ousted him.
There is also a Us military base there, which is useful for its counter terrorism operations.
thanks Hari updated the info.
Would someone explain me what is wage material ratio and why is gov trying to alter it… It is said that lower wage material ratio is suitable for areas with higher material costs(compared to other areas) this will in turn increase the employment…. I didn’t get the logic…
wage material ratio in MGNREGS is the ratio of expenditure of wages (Labour cost) versus the cost of the material of the work taken up under the scheme. As per the scheme now the ratio stands at atleast 60:40 . The ratio is kept as a rider for controlling the entry of contractors with machinery and to defeat the whole objective of the scheme i.e. Employment than mere development. Lower wage material will allow the increase in cost of work (Other than wages) and allow for taking up much bigger works involving construction of small check dams and pacca roads , small water tankers etc. Increase in the wage material ratio will increase the scope of MGNREGS works in turn will increase the employment opportunity.
Further the high wage and cost ratio of 60:40 is not allowing to take up the work at high terrain areas where infact the need for such intervention schemes is required. The high cost in terrain areas is actually due to the high transportation cost as mentioned in the article. Hence in these areas the scheme is unable generate any employment due to this technical bottle neck. Hence relaxing this norm will increase the employment generation in those areas under MGNREGS.
Thanks Naresh,
I read this article on MGNREGS in HIndu today.
I was not able to digest fully on the last para of the Article.
You explain so well that I will never forget.
thanks mrunal , plz write on cds on recently
Thanks
UPSC website is down.
But go through this link, it is active…
http://upscdaf.nic.in/DAF/daf_csm_2014/
respeted sir,
may i know what is the expected cut-off for ssc cgl 2014
hi,
can anyone provide link to subscribe this site
Thanks in advance
minor typos…That’s Kobane (Syria)
Mrunal Sir,
In Prasar Bharati Chief is selected by a 3 person Committee, including VP+Press council chairman and Secretary in I&B ministry.
what is VP stands for?? is it vice president of press council or vice president.
chairman is Hon’ble Justice Markandey Katju
& Secretary is Mrs Vibha Bhargava
IT is vice president.
sir can you tell me about ras pre . exam
mrunal sir add ACIO exam in Date box! it will remind us everytime!
Vicky, I’m unable to find the authentic info. on ACIO-exam date, hence not added in the countdown yet.
Arvind Mayaram has been transferred to Tourism Ministry not Minority affairs.
@Gaurav: arvind mayaram was first transferred to tourism ministry but he was again transferred to ministry of minority affairs.
yes Gaurav, but from tourism ministry, Mayaran was recently shifted to minority affairs ministry.
see this: http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/arvind-mayaram-moved-again-now-to-minority-affairs-114103000745_1.html
oops!
My mistake, sorrry.
pl sir guide us about nia exam what material to read and hoe to go about it…..
Dear Mrunal sir please update CDS 2nd 2014 answer keys.
Mr. Mrunal JI jai Hind …. mjhe civil ke preparation karna hai pls kuchh kre sir….mjhe way nhi pta hai kya karna hai but IAS ka bhoot savar ho chuka hai mujh pe…kya karu kaise karu please lead me…
thanx a lot sir.
Would someone explain me what is wage material ratio and why is gov trying to alter it… It is said that lower wage material ratio is suitable for areas with higher material costs(compared to other areas) this will in turn increase the employment…. I didn’t get the logic…
Would someone explain me what is wage material ratio and why is gov trying to alter it… It is said that lower wage material ratio is suitable fo r areas with higher material costs(compared to other areas) this will in turn increase the employment…. I didn’t get the logic…
Hello,
I wanted to know 2 things about Mains form fillup.
1. If self attestation is accepted?
2. 10th mark sheet can it be used for certificate of age?
Hello,
I wanted to know 2 things about Mains form fillup.
1. If self attestation is accepted?
2. 10th mark sheet can it be used for certificate of age?
Very good news.
sir koi math ki book hindi m batao.pls
jo sabhi exame ke liye ho.
nice article…. isase ek brushup bhi ho jayega monthly…. good work Sir.
Please post a study plan for insurance AO.
MAY YOU GET BILLIONS FOLLOWERS
Hi mrunal…suggest me some more books related mathematics and economics…my whatsapp no is 8521561707
hello sir,
why don’t you develop an efficient mobile app with same content, just a suggestion and requirement for getting things much handy.
enthusiatic work……….