AUGUST 2014

24 Standing Committees formed; BJP to head 11, Congress 5

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has declared the list of members and
chairpersons for 24 DRSCs (Department Related Standing Committees) of
Parliament. While the ruling BJP grabbed 11 chairperson posts of these panels, the
Congress will chair 5, including the coveted Committee on Finance.
The Trinamool Congress will chair two panels. Members of Bahujan Samaj Party,
Telugu Desam Party, Biju Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), Shiv Sena and the AIADMK
will chair one panel each.
Rajya Sabha Panels
Committee on Commerce: Chandan Mitra (BJP)
Committee on Home Affairs: P Bhattacharya (Congress)
Committee on Human Resource Development: JP Nadda (BJP)
Committee on Industries: KC Tyagi (JD-U)
Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests: Ashwani Kumar
(Congress)
Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture: KD Singh (Trinamool Congress)
Committee on Health and Family Welfare: SC Mishra (BSP)
Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice: EM Sudarsana
Natchiappan (Congress)
Lok Sabha Panels
Committee on Finance: Veerappa Moily (Congress)
Committee on Agriculture: Hukm Deo Narayan Yadav (BJP)
Committee on IT: Anurag Singh Thakur (BJP)
Committee on Defence: BC Khanduri (BJP)
Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution: JC Divakar Reddy
(TDP)
Committee on Labour: Virendra Kumar (BJP)
Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas: Prahlad Joshi (BJP)

Committee on Railways: Dinesh Trivedi (Congress)

Committee on Urban Development: Pinaki Mishra (BJD)
Committee on Water Resources: Hukum Singh (BJP)
Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers: Anandrao Adsul (Shiv Sena)
Committee on Rural Development: P Venugopal (AIADMK)
Committee on Coal and Steel: Hansraj Ahir (BJP)
Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment: Ramesh Bais (BJP)
Committee on Energy: Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP)
Committee on External Affairs: Shashi Tharoor (Congress)
Financial Committees
Committee on Estimates: Murli Manohar Joshi (BJP)
Committee on Public sector Undertakings: Shanta Kumar (BJP)
Public Accounts Committee: K V Thomas (Congress)
2. Harry Belafonte to receive honorary humanitarian Oscar
Oscar organizers declared that they will give a esteemed humanitarian award to US
actor-producer-singer Harry Belafonte, whose efforts as an activist has assisted
throw light on racism and discrimination.
He was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and marched besides Martin
Luther King, Jr in his prime. In 1987, he was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
3.August 29: India celebrates National Sports Day
August 29 was celebrated as National Sports Day across the country. The day marks
the birth anniversary of Hockey Wizard, Major Dhyan Chand.
The legendary player contributed immensely in winning gold medals for India at
1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympic Games.
4.PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
a record 1.5 Crore (15 million) bank accounts were opened under this scheme.
The ambitious scheme aims to achieve the gargantuan task of enrolling over 7.5
crore (75 million) households and to open their accounts. In its current phase, the
scheme targets to provide universal access to banking facilities starting with Basic

Banking Accounts with overdraft facility of Rs.5000 after six months and RuPay
Debit card with inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs. 1 lakh and RuPay Kisan Card.
The scheme will add micro insurance & pension etc. in the next phase.
The slogan for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan mission is Mera Khata Bhagya
Vidhaata.
5.Recep Tayyip Erdogan: New President of Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in as 12th President of Turkey. He was sworn-in a
ceremony held at Parliament of Turkey in Ankarra.
6.Ahmed Davutoglu: New PM of Turkey
Turkeys Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has been named the new Prime Minister
of the country
7.Shahrukh Khan to become the brand ambassador for Turn Back Crime campaign
of Interpol
Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) has become the first Indian to become
the brand ambassador of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
Interpol has signed SRK as the ambassador for its global Turn Back Crime
campaign.
8.Dot Bharat (.) domain lauched by Govt.
Union Government launched a new domain Dot Bharat (. ) in Devanagari script .
Originally the domain will cover 8 languages like Hindi, Bodo, Dogri, Konkani,
Maithili, Marathi, Nepali and Sindhi.
These 8 languages are from the list of 22 languages that has been contained in the
Schedule-8 of the Constitution of India.
Objective of . domain:
To connect individuals with social media and deliver content in regional languages,
particularly to those who are not acquainted with English.
To deliver information to persons in their own regional languages which will help in
advancement of e-governance.
9.Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards for 2012 declared
Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards for the year 2012 were declared by Union
Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan. The
awards are awarded by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

BEST OF ALL AWARD

Rail Wheel factory (Ministry of Railways), Bangalore, Karnataka
CATEGORY AWARDS:
Large scale manufacturing: Sakthi Masala P. Ltd., Erode, Tamil Nadu
Large scale service sector: Tata Business Support Services Limited, Hyderabad
Small scale service sector: Elin Appliances Pvt. Ltd., Solan, Himachal Pradesh
COMMENDATION CERTIFICATES
Large Scale Manufacturing Industry
Chemical: Dalmia Cement (B) Limited, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh
Electrical & Electronic: EOS Power India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, Maharashtra
Engineering & Others: Currency Note Press (A unit of security Printing & Minting
Corporation of India Ltd.), Nashik, Maharashtra
Food & Drug: Mehsana Dist Co-Op Milk Producers Union Ltd., Dudhsagar Dairy,
Mehsana, Gujarat
Large Scale Service Industry
Health care: Apollo Speciality Hospital Madurai, Tamil Nadu
Others: Engineers India Limited, New Delhi
Education: Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Finanace: Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA), New
Delhi
Small Scale Manufacturing Industry
Engineering & Others: Suprabha Protective Products Pvt. Ltd, Pune, Maharashtra

Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Awards

Introduced in 1991, the Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award is given by the BIS to
Indian manufacturing and service organizations that show excellence in their
performance.
The award purposes to encourage quality services to the customers and to provide
special appreciation to organizations that contribute considerably towards the

quality movement of India.

The award is presented annually as per the financial year, and is similar to other
national quality awards worldwide like the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
of the United States, European Quality Award of the European Union and the
Deming Prize of Japan.
The award is presented to organizations in 5 broad categories:
Large scale manufacturing
Small scale manufacturing
Large scale service sector
Small scale service sector
Best overall
Cash prize of Rs 5,00,000 for BEST OF ALL category, Rs 2,00,000 for each winner in
respective category and Rs 1,00,000 for each winner of commendation certificate.
Hindi Sevi Samman for 2010 and 2011 presented by President Pranab Mukherjee
August 26, 2014
The President of India Pranab Mukherjee presented the Hindi Sevi Samman for the
years 2010 and 2011:
Various Categories included:
Ganga Sharan Singh Award
(For work in the field of promotion and training of Hindi)
2010:
Janhu Barua
Padma Sachdev
R.F. Nirankatti
S.A. Suryanarayan Verma
2011:
C Kulchandra Sharma
Dr. H. Balasubrahmanium

Robin Das
T. R. Bhatt
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Award
(For work in the field of journalism and creative literature)
2010:
Dilip Kumar Chaubey
Ravish Kumar
2011:
Dr. Shivnarayan
Govind Singh
Atmaram Award
(For work in the field of Science and Technology Literature and Machinery growth)
2010:
Anil Kumar Chaturvedi
Kali Shankar
2011:
Mahesh D Kulkarni
Vijay Kumar Malhotra
Subramanyam Bharti Award
(For work for promotion of Hindi in constructive or criticism way)
2010:
Sudhish Pachauri
Dr. Shyam Sundar Dubey
2011:
Dilip Singh
Nityanand Tiwary

Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan Award

(For work in the field exploration and research as well as for description on its
journey)
2010:
Dr. Parmanand Panchaal
Raghuveer Chaudhary
2011:
Ashgar Vajahat
Ved Rahi
Dr. George Grierson Award
(Awarded to people of foreign origin for promotion and training of Hindi outside
India)
2010:
Samtoff Azad (Uzbekistan)
2011:
JO Kim (South Korea)
Padmabhushan Dr. Moturi Satyanarayan Award
(Awarded to people of Indian origin for promotion and training of Hindi outside India)
2010:
Madanlal Madhu (Russia)
2011:
Tejendra Sharma (UK)
10.The Green Bus project: Indias first ethanol-run public bus launched in Nagpur
11.Oscar-winning director and actor Richard Attenborough passed away
As a director he was best known for Gandhi, which won him two Oscars.
12.General Prayuth Chan-ocha is new PM of Thailand
13.MoU inked between Ministry of Textiles and Flipkart: ABHIYAAN Flipkart

Kaarigar Ke Dwar to provide an online marketing platform to handloom weavers

14.INS Kamorta: Indias first domestically built stealth warship commissioned into
Navy
Indias first indigenously-built stealth anti-submarine warfare INS Kamorta was
commissioned into Indian Navy by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley at naval dockyard
in Vishakhapatnam
15.T M Bhasin: New Chairman of Indian Banks Association
August 20, 2014
Mr. T M Bhasin, CMD, Indian Bank, has been elected by the managing committee of
Indian Banks Association (IBA) as its Chairman for the year 2014-15.
On behalf of IBA, Mr Bhasin, will be associated with Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan
Yojana Mission, headed by Union Finance Minister.
Indian Bank Association (IBA)
16.Filmmaker Muzaffar Ali conferred Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award
August 20, 2014
AliNoted filmmaker and Poet, Muzaffar Ali (69), has been conferred 22nd Rajiv
Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Sonia Gandhi, the president of All-India Congress Committee (AICC), presented him
the award.
17.KV Thomas is new Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
The Comptroller and Auditor General is the friend, philosopher and guide of the
Committee (PAC).
18.Yoga exponent B.K.S. Iyengar passed away
August 20, 2014
BKSGlobally acclaimed yoga exponent B.K.S. Iyengar (95) passed away in Pune.
19.Yamaha launches Project Indra to manufacture global low-cost bike
20.IBM Simon: Worlds first smartphone turns 20
21.Rajni Razdan: New UPSC chief
22.PM Modi accentuates promoting Tourism, Clean India campaign to be
launched on October 2

23.Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his maiden Independence Day speech from the
Red Fort shared his dream of a Digital India.
24.PM Modi announced Snsad Adarsh Gram Yojana
While delivering his maiden Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red
Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a scheme on behalf of the Member of
Parliament- Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana.
25.Indias future lies in manufacturing with Zero-Defect and Zero-Effect: PM
Narendra Modi
August 15, 2014
PM Narendra Modi, in his maiden speech from Red Fort, stressed on achieving
economic self-reliance, saying the country should strive to become a manufacturing
hub for global investors with Zero-defect products and Zero-effect on environment.
Zero Defect, Zero Effect manufacturing
PM Modi urged entrepreneurs that they would never compromise, at least on two
fronts. First, Zero defect and, second, Zero effect. He suggested that Indian goods
should be manufactured in such a way that they bear zero defects and that our
exported goods are never returned to us. The goods should also have zero effect
that they should not have a negative impact on the environment.
26.PM Modi indicates creation of a new body to replace Planning Commission
August 15, 2014
During his speech on Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced
a radical measure to replace the Planning Commission with a new body in a short
span of time. Mr. Modi said the new institution would foster cooperative federalism,
facilitate Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and help tackle the new economic
challenges the faced by country in a much better way.
PM Modi announces Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana on Independence Day
27.Independence Day: Modis mantras for new India
August 15, 2014
Addressing India on the occasion of countrys 68th Independence Day, PM Narendra
Modi made a sensational and motivational speech using catchy slogans expressing
his vision and mantras for building a new India.
Excerpts from his speech:
Pradhan Sevak: Today Indians, both in India and all over the world, are celebrating

Independence Day. I convey my greetings to them not as a Pradhan Mantri, but

Pradhan Sevak (prime public servant).
Make in India: We need to build up the manufacturing sector. I want to tell the
world: Come, make in India. It is an invitation to investors with a view to make
India a manufacturing hub.
Zero defect, zero effect: Our manufacturing should have zero defect so that our
products should not be rejected in the global market. Besides, we should also keep
in mind that manufacturing should not have any negative impact on our
environment. This underscores the importance of skilled workforce, while also
keeping in mind the importance of protecting the environment.
Digital India: India used to be called a land of snake charmers. Today, our youth
has surprised the world with its IT skills. Our dream is to build a Digital India. The
digital focus was in consonance with Modis election promises of a new India and
focus on IT.
He concluded his speech saluting the devotion, the sacrifices of the security forces
of the country, para-military forces of the country, and all the security forces of the
country to protect Mother India. He urged the countrymen with the quote ,
, Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. He exhorted the countrymen to
be vigilant and take the country to new heights and move forward with this
resolution.
28.Now only 3 transactions per month from ATMs of other Banks
29.PM Modi promised in J&K:
1.Completion of Leh-Kargil-Srinagar power grid by 2017 at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore,
with Centre funding 95% of the cost.
2.One rank one pension to be effected
3.National war memorial to be built
4. 3 Ps to develop Ladakh: Prakash (light), Paryavaran (environment), Paryatan
(tourism)
5. Special attention to kesar grown in Valley, pashmina and solar energy
schemes.
30.Swiss tennis star Roger Federer achieved a new milestone as he became the first
man to win 300 matches at the ATP Masters 1000 level, defeating Vasek Pospisil in
Cincinnati.
31. justice Banumathi: Frist woman to become Supreme Court judge from TN

32. Bimal Jalan appointed as head of Expenditure Management Commission

33.Outstanding Parliamentarian Award to Arun Jaitley, Karan Singh and Sharad
Yadav
August 13, 2014
34.Panel recommends Awardees for Arjuna Award, No Khel Ratna
Sportspersons recommended for Arjuna Award:
Ravichandran Ashwin (cricket)
Akhilesh Varma (archery)
Tintu Luka (athletics)
H N Girisha (paralympics)
V Diju (badminton)
Geetu Ann Jose (basketball)
Jai Bhagwan (boxing)
Anirban Lahiri (golf)
Mamta Pujari (kabaddi)
Saji Thomas (rowing)
Heena Sidhu (shooting)
Anaka Alankamony (squash)
Tom Joseph (volleyball)
Renubala Chanu (weightlifting)
Sunil Rana (wrestling)
34.PM Modi inaugurates 44MW Chutak hydropower station at Kargil
Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the Chutak Hydroelectric
Plant at Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir. The power station is a run-of-the-river power
project on the Suru River (a tributary of Indus). The barrage of the project is at
Sarze village and the powerhouse has been built on the right bank of the Suru near
Chutak Village.

M Thambidurai to be deputy speaker of Lok Sabha

35. PIOs win top awards in the field of Mathematics

Persons of India Origin (PIOs) Manjul Bhargava bagged the Fields Medal 2014 while
Subhash Khot won the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize conferred by the IMU at International
Congress of Mathematicians 2014 held in Seoul, South Korea.
36.Vistara is the name of Tata-SIA airline, operations to begin from October 2014
August 12, 2014
Vistara has been announced as the brand name of the Tata-SIA joint venture
Airlines. Vistara is derived from the Sanskrit word, which means limitless expanse.
The airline by the Tata Group and Singapore International Airlines is targeting to
start its operations in October 2014. The launch of operations is subject to the
Directorate General of Civil Aviations (DGCA) approval, which is examining the
airlines application for an air operators permit.
37.A book Strictly Personal, Manmohan and Gursharan penned by Daman Singh
was released. It tells the untold story of Manmohan Singh, Indias 14th PM, and his
wife Gursharan.
38.Rosetta: First spacecraft placed into orbit around a comet
39. Ebola is a Public Health Emergency: WHO
The emergency committee of the World Health Organization has unanimously
agreed to proclaim the Ebola virus a Public Health Emergency of International
Concern.
40.Kapil Dev to chair Arjuna Award selection panel
August 8, 2014
Legendary India cricket skipper Kapil Dev will head the Arjuna Awards selection
committee for selecting outstanding sportspersons of the country for year 2014.
Former hockey captain Ajitpal Singh is expected to head the Dronacharya Awards
selection committee.
41.Union Cabinet gives nod to increase FDI in defence sector to 49%
42.ZMapp: Experimental drug to treat Ebola infected U.S. Aid Workers
August 7, 2014
A small biotech company Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. based in San Diego-based
has provided an experimental Ebola treatment for two Americans infected with the
deadly virus in Liberia. The biotechnology drug, produced with tobacco plants,
appears to be working.

43.NGRBA brought under Ministry of Water Resources

August 5, 2014
The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) has been shifted from the
Ministry of Environment to the Ministry of Water Resources .
44.RBI leaves Repo unchanged, SLR slashed by 50 basis points
August 5, 2014
As per RBIs third bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2014-15 the central
bank has not made any change in Repo rate which is currently at 8%. The Reverse
Repo rate has also been left unchanged at 7% and the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is
also the same at 4%. The only major change is in Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR)
which has been slashed by 50 basis points (bps) to 22% from previous 22.50%.
45. NASAs Mars 2020 rover mission to have MOXIE to generate Oxygen on Mars
August 5, 2014
The US space agency NASA has decided to put MOXIE Mars Oxygen ISRU
Experiment as one of the payloads on the Mars 2020 rover mission. MOXIE will
produce oxygen on MARS using the Martian atmospheric Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
46.Micromax dethrones Samsung, emerges as Indias No. 1 mobile supplier
August 4, 2014
As per a report by an independent market research and consulting firm,
CounterPoint Research, Micromax has overtaken Samsung to become the largest
mobile phone supplier in India in Q2 2014
47.PM Modi to induct warship INS Kolkata
August 4, 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to induct countrys largest indigenouslybuilt combat vessel INS Kolkata in Mumbai in August 2014.
48. Glasgow Commonwealth Games: With Kashyaps historic gold India finishes 5th
August 4, 2014
GlasgowParupalli Kashyap created history as he clinched Gold in the mens singles
badminton at 20th Commonwealth Games being held in Glasgow, Scotland. With
his gold medal, the country earned a fifth-spot finish with 64 medals, including 15
gold. He created history by becoming the first Indian male shuttler in 32 years to
win a gold in the Commonwealth Games. Kashyap put up brilliant show to register

triumph over Derek Wong of Singapore in the final showdown. The shuttler from
Hyderabad thus joined badminton legend Prakash Padukone and the late Syed Modi,
who had won the title in the past. While Padukone had won the mens singles gold
medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Canada, Modi bagged it four years
later. Commonwealth Toppers:
England
Australia
Canada
Scotland
India
Gold Cost The XXI Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast City,
Queensland, Australia between 4 to 15 April 2018. The Gold Coasts creative
concept in the Ceremony brought to life the three brand pillars of the Gold Coast
2018 Commonwealth Games The Place, The Event and The Sport
49.Indias PM Narendra Modis Nepal visit concludes:
Highlights of Mr. Modis Nepal visit:

Mr. Modi is the first Indian PM to Nepal in 17 years. He was welcomed by the
guard of honour.

He addressed the Nepalese Parliament.

Aim was to forge a new relationship with Nepal and to begin a new chapter in
bilateral ties that will serve as a model and catalyst for regional collaboration.

Mr. Modi gave a HIT formula for Nepal expressing Indias willingness to help
Nepal build Highways (H), Information highways (I) and Transwaystransmission lines (T).

He promised to grant Nepal 10,000 crore Nepali rupee concessional line of

credit, for its development.

He announced Indias keenness to double power supply to Nepal.

India would help Nepal in building pipelines to help transport oil to Nepal.

The scholarships to students from Nepal would be increased.

India extended help to Nepal to enable it to emerge as a major exporter of

herbal medicines.

India would also help develop the tourism potential of Nepal, both as a
spiritual, and adventure tourism destination.

Mr. Modi extended assistance to Nepal in the fields of organic farming, and
soil health.

50.Israel-Gaza conflict destroys ancient Omari Mosque in Jabaliya in Gaza

51.Right to Research (R2R) Foundation to promote Indian researchers launched
The R2R Foundation calls it Intelligent Reverse Brain Drain.
52.Dongfeng-41: Chinas 12,000-kms intercontinental missile
August 2, 2014
Enhancing the reach of its fire-power, Chinas has unveiled the sophisticated InterContinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), which has a range of 12,000 kms, placing it
among the worlds longest-range missiles
53.Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award to Filmmaker Muzaffar Ali