Current Affairs, August 2014

30th August:
• India and Japan sign MoU to develop Varanasi into 'smart city' during the first day of Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Cristiano Ronaldo wins UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.

29th August:
• India's GDP growth in the first quarter is 5.7 percent which is highest in last 2 and half years.
• CBI Files charge-sheet in Aircel-Maxis deal which includes name of Former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and seven others.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fly to Kyoto on Saturday on a five-day visit to Japan, his first trip outside South Asia since he took office.
• Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated across India.
• National Sports Day is celebrated on the occasion of birthday of Hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand.

28th August:
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scheme named "Jan Dhan Yojana" to provide a bank account to every household where account holders will get a debit card and accidental insurance cover of up to a lakh.
• Wayne Rooney named as captain of the England national football team.

27th August:
• The Union Cabinet lifted the monthly cap on subsidised LPG cylinders, but retained the overall annual limit at 12 cylinders. LPG consumers can avail 12 cylinder quota anytime in the year.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today set up a committee to identify "obsolete" laws which will submit its report in three months.

26th August:
• BJP leader LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee have been dropped from the new BJP Parliamentary board.
• Sheila Dikshit has resigned as the Governor of Kerala.
• Kalyan Singh appointed as Governor of Rajasthan, while former union minister Vidyasagar Rao will be Governor of Maharashtra.
• Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala and Mridula Sinha will take charge as the governors of Karnataka and Goa respectively.
• Israel and the Palestinians have reached a Gaza ceasefire deal to end month long war between the two sides.
• 66th annual Emmy Award given at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
• England midfielder Frank Lampard retired from England's national team.

25th August:
• The coalition party of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar along with the Congress party won six of ten assembly seats in Bihar by-elections.
• The Supreme Court declared coal blocks allocations by governments since 1993 as illegal.
• Richard Attenborough, Oscar winning British Actor-Director and maker of the famous Film "Gandhi" died at the age of 90.

24th August:
• Maharashtra governor K. Sankaranarayanan resigned from the post after he has been transferred to Mizoram.
• Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt set a new record of 9.98sec for the rarely run 100m indoors at Warsaw's national stadium.

23rd August:
• Defence Minister Arun Jaitley commissioned India’s first indigenously-built stealth Anti-Submarine warfare INS Kamorta to the Indian Navy.
• 2 civilians killed and 5 injured in a major ceasefire violation along international border by Pakistan.
• US swimmer Katie Ledecky breaks 400-metres freestyle world record to win the Pan Pacific championships title in 3 minutes 58.37 seconds.

22nd August:
• Jnanpith award winner and renowned Kannada writer UR Ananthamurthy died at a hospital in Bangalore.

21st August:
• 22 people were killed when a private bus rolled into a gorge in Rohtrung village in Himachal Pradesh.
• American photojournalist James Foley killed by ISIS militant in middle east.

20th August:
• The Iron woman of Manipur, human rights activist Irom Sharmila release from Manipur jail after 14 years. Sharmila had been on a fast for the last 14 years demanding repeal of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).
• Famous Indian yoga guru BKS Iyengar died in Pune after suffering kidney failure at the age of 95.

19th August:
• Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan formally ruled out the Leader of Opposition post to Congress.
• The Board of Control for Cricket in India appointed former cricketer Ravi Shastri as director of the Indian Cricket team for ODI series against England.

18th August:
• India has cancelled talks with Pakistan scheduled for next week in Islamabad after series of ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops along the Line of Control and invitation of Kashmiri separatists for talks by Pakistan.

17th August:
• Janmashtami is celebrated across India.
• India lost the test series against England by 3-1 in England.

16th August:
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday commissioned the country's largest indigenously-built destroyer warship INS Kolkata into the Indian Navy.
• Rajni Razdan became the new Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission.

15th August:
• India celebrates 68th Independence Day.
• PM Narendra Modi gives his maiden independence speech from Lal Quila.

14th August:
• India's highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashok Chakra will be awarded posthumously to Major Mukund Varadarajan tomorrow on Independence Day.
• Parliament approved a new proposal for appointment of judges where the responsibility given to a committee of six members: the Chief Justice of India, the next two most senior judges of the Supreme Court, the Law Minister, and two eminent persons.
• A total of 919 central and state forces police personnel were awarded gallantry and distinguished service medals on the eve of Independence Day.
• RBI imposing a limit of 3 transactions per month from ATMs of other banks and 5 from the same bank in six metropolitan cities. A customer will be required to pay a fee of up to Rs 20 for using Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) beyond the permitted numbers of transactions in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad.
• Borussia Dortmund beat Bayern Munich 2-0 to win the German Super Cup.
• France midfielder Franck Ribery announces his retirement from international football.

13th August:
• Arun Jaitley, Karan Singh and Sharad Yadav felicitated with Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards by President of India.
• Indian-Origin Manjul Bhargava wins Fields Medal Award also known as the "Nobel Prize of mathematics" in Seoul, South Korea.
• Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene retires from Test cricket.
• Real Madrid wins the UEFA Super Cup after defeating Sevilla 2-0.

12th August:
• Senior AIADMK leader M. Thambidurai filed his nomination and is set to be elected Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha unopposed.
• Hollywood comedian and Academy Award-winning actor Robin Williams died at his home in Marin County, California at the age of 63.

11th August:
• TRS MP and daughter of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao,K Kavitha booked for sedition for saying J&K and Telangana forcefully annexed to India.
• Iraq President nominated the deputy parliament speaker Haider al-Ibadi as new Prime Minister.
• German striker Miroslav Klose, the all-time World Cup top scorer, announced his retirement from international football.

10th August:
• 39 dead in floods in Odisha and around 33 lakh affected across 23 districts in the state.
9th August:
• BJP national council meeting held in Delhi today.
• Ivory Coast forward player Didier Drogba announced his retirement from international football.

8th August:
• US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel reach India on a three-day visit.
• The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria to be an international public health emergency.

6th August:
• Union Cabinet cleared the proposal for raising Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit in Defence to 49 per cent and 100 per cent FDI in Railway infrastructure segment.
• The Union Cabinet decided to amend Juvenile Justice Act that will empower Juvenile Justice Board to decide on whether a juvenile above 16 years involved in heinous crimes is to be sent to an observation home or tried in a regular court.
• Union Cabinet sacked Kamla Beniwal as Mizoram's governor.
• Cartoonist Pran the creator of cartoon character, Chacha Choudhury died due to cancer of the intestine at the age of 75.

5th August:
• Former Indian Foreign Service officer Arvind Gupta was on Monday appointed as deputy National Security Adviser.
• Indian Smartphone maker Micromax has ousted Samsung Electronics Co Ltd as the leading brand in all types of mobile phones in the April-June quarter.
• Spain midfielder football player Xavi Hernandez announced his retirement from international football.
• BCCI announced squad for England ODI series.

4th August:
• The government said that marks in English language comprehension skills in CSAT would not be included while preparing the merit list for the UPSC civil services exam.

3rd August:
• PM Narendra Modi starts two day visit to Nepal.
• 150 people were killed when a powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck southwest China's Yunnan province.
• Two Indian officials of the Indian Olympics Association, including its secretary Rajeev Mehta, have been arrested in Glasgow on charges of alleged assault.
• Dipika Pallikal and Joshana Chinappa created history by winning the first-ever gold medal in squash in commonwealth games.
• India finishes fifth position with 64 medals, including 15 gold medals at Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014.

2nd August:
• CBI arrested SK Jain (Chairman-cum- Managing Director of Sydicate Bank) and five others for allegedly taking bribe of Rs 50 lakh for enhancement of credit limit to some companies bypassing rules and regulations.

1st August:
• Vishal Sikka took over the charges as first non-founder chief executive officer of India's second largest software firm Infosys.
• Vikas Gowda becomes the first Indian man to clinch athletics gold in 56 years after winning gold medal of the 20th Commonwealth Games in men's discus throw competition.