Sunday 26 January 2014

25-26 January 2014 – Current Affairs


by Ravindra Agnihotri
BKS-Iyengar-Padma-Vibhushan
1) Which are the two recipients of India’s second highest civilian award - Padma Vibhushan for 2014, as announced by the Union Government on 25 January 2014? - B.K.S. Iyengar, the renowned Yoga guru and R.A. Mashelkar, former chief of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – B.K.S. Iyengar (95), who founded the Iyengar School of Yoga that has millions of followers across the globe including in China, was once named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential persons in the world. The 71-year-old Mr. Mashelkar has played a significant role in evolving science and technology policies in post-liberalised India. A chemical engineer, he is also a former head of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
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2) How many Padma awards were announced by the Union government on the eve of Republic Day on 25 January 2014? – 128 (This includes 2 Padma Vibhushans, 25 Padma Bhushans and 101 Padma Shri Awards)
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3) India and China on 24 January 2014 launched a special year to mark the coming year of exchanges in the field of economy, culture and people-to-people cooperation between the two countries. What is the name given to this year? – ‘Year of Friendly Exchanges’
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4) Leading Indian drug manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories' plant in Toansa (Punjab), which had recently received Form 483 from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), was put under import alert on 24 January 2014. With this, all products manufactured at Toansa would now remain banned from the US. This is Ranbaxy's fourth Indian plant to receive an import alert from the USFDA, which means that sale of all Ranbaxy drugs manufactured in India have been banned in the US. Which were the three plants which were banned by the USFDA earlier? - Ponta Sahib (Himachal Pradesh), Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) and Mohali (Punjab) - The USFDA’s inspection of the Toansa facility, which concluded on 11 January 2014, identified significant CGMP violations. According to the USFDA findings, the staff at Toansa facility were retesting raw materials and intermediate drug products and also finishing API that had earlier failed analytical testing and specifications.
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5) Who won the women’s singles title of Australian Open on 25 January 2014? – Li Na of China (She defeated Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (3), 6-0 to win her maiden Australian Open title. She also became the oldest woman to clinch the title in the Open era. Li, who turns 32 next month, lost Australian Open finals to Kim Clijsters in 2011 and to Victoria Azarenka last year. In between, she won the 2011 French Open to become the first Chinese woman to win a major)
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6) V.P. Agarwal, the Chairman of Airports Authority of India (AAI) was on 23 January 2014 removed from his post as the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) did not clear his name for an extension. He was replaced by whom? – Alok Sinha (Sinha is the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation and he was given the post of AAI Chairman as an additional charge. AAI is in the middle of a major investment programme to develop 50 low cost airports in the country and also privatise the running of major airports including Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Ahmedabad)
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7) What is the name of the new mascot of Hockey India League (HIL), which was launched on 23 January 2014 for HIL’s second edition? – ‘Gaurav’, the tiger (The introduction of mascot “Gaurav” will be a new and refreshing chapter in the HIL. The mascot is designed to arouse the interest for hockey in the country and to connect all hockey fans with the game in a completely redefined manner)
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8) The ‘fastest ever’ broadband speeds of 1.4 terabits per second have been achieved in a test in London recently, raising hopes of more efficient data transfer via existing infrastructure. This astonishing speed is enough to send 44 uncompressed HD films a second. Which companies collaborated in this test? - Alcatel-Lucent (France) and British Telecom – BT (Britain) - The test was conducted on a 410km (255-mile) link between the BT Tower in central London and Ipswich. This breakthrough is being seen as highly important for internet service providers (ISPs), as it means a greater amount of information can be sent through existing broadband infrastructure, reducing the need for costly upgrades. However, it may be many years before consumers get services at this speed)

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