Current Affairs - 23rd and 24th April 2014
Ila Patnaik, economic advisor to ministry of finance
Ila Patnaik has been named as the economic advisor in the ministry of finance. She has taken over the post from Deepak Das Gupta.
Mathangi Satyamurthy, MS Subalakshmi Award 2014
The MS Subalaksmi award 2014 has been given to Karnataka musician Mathangi Satyamurthy. The prestigious award was instituted by Varkala Sreekrishna Natya Sangeeta Academy and the M S Subbulakshmi Foundation.
Solar Champions of Change 2014
Indian American professor Rajendra Singh is one of the ten awardees of the “solar champions of change” title given by the White House in USA. He received the honor for working towards promoting solar energy across the USA.
Tamil Nadu, state with highest rate of increase in electors
Tamil Nadu is the Indian state which has registered highest rate of increase in the number of electors in the past five years with an increase of 29.15%. Haryana was at number second with increase rate of 29.01% followed by MP at third position, Meghalaya at fourth and Sikkim at fifth rank.
Novartis AG to swap assets with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
Novartis AG, the Switzerland based drug company is all set to buy the GSK’s oncology business worth $14.5 billion and in return sell its vaccine business worth $7.1 billion to GSK. The firm will also sell its animal health arm to Eli Lilly & Co. for around $5.4 billion.
Bengaluru FC won the I-club
Bengaluru FC team created history by winning I-league title in their debut season defeating Dempo Sports club. Bengaluru FC is owned by the Jindal Steel Works (JSW) and its Chief Coach is Ashley Westwood, the former assistant manager of Blackburn Rovers.
SC appoints a panel to suggest measures to curb road accidents
Supreme Court of India appointed a panel to suggest measures in order to prevent road accidents after a PIL filed by famous orthopedic Rajasekran. The members of panel as nominated by the SC are:- Justice KS Radhakrishnan, S. Sundar and D. Nishi Mittal.
New mineral discovered in Australia
Putnisite is the name of the new mineral discovered in Australia. Putnisite was discovered at Lake Cowan, north of Norseman in Western Australia. Its appearance is dark pink as on dark green and white rock. It combines the elements strontium, calcium, chromium, sulphur, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. The name has been given after the Australian mineralogist Andrew and Christine Putnis. Now this new mineral has become a part of the 4000 mineral species found in the world.
Naval Exercise by China
The Chinese navy conducted a naval exercise to celebrate its anniversary and the ships from India and Pakistan also participated in the exercise which was named “Maritime Cooperation 2014”. Ships from Bangladesh, Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore also participated where India’s INS Shivalik showed its prowess.
Supreme Court sets up panel to frame guidelines on TV ads
The SC has set up a four member committee for framing guideline regarding the misuse of public and government funds while advertising for political parties. The panel was forms after PIL filed by Common Cause and CPIL NGOs. The 4 members are:- N R Madhava Menon, former Director of National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, T K Viswanathan, former Secretary Lok Sabha, Ranjit Kumar, Senior Advocate and The Secretary, Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
