September 1, 2014

Explanation:  17^th Asian Games would be the largest sports extravaganza in Asia and would be held from 19 September to 4 October 2014. Incheon is the third South Korean city to host this event after capital Seoul (1986) and Busan (2002). 45 countries would take part in these games.

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2) How many agreements were signed between India and China on the occasion of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s official visit to India? – Sixteen (16)

Explanation: The sixteen agreements included four agreements signed on 17 September in Gujarat and 12 signed on 18 September 2014. The agreements were signed on varied subjects including a Memorandum of Understanding on peaceful uses of outer space, cooperation in Railways, opening of an additional route to Kailash Mansarovar, etc. China also committed investments worth $20 billion in India over the next five years. The Chinese president brought along with him a business delegation of 135 Chinese CEOs.

Explanation: The agreement for establishing sister-city relations between Mumbai-Shanghai and Ahmedabad- Guangzhou was inked so as to enhance people-to-people exchanges fostering greater mutual understanding between the respective sister cities.

Explanation: Guangdong is China’s richest province posting the highest GDP growth compared to all Chinese provinces, since 1989. It is where Chinese reformist leader Deng Xiaoping launched his famous SEZ pilot project at Shenzhen which became China’s biggest business and industrial hub. With a population of over 100 million, Guangdong raked in a GDP of $1.5 trillion last year with per capita income of over $9,500. This MOU was signed between Chief Secretary, Government of Gujarat and the Executive Vice Governer of Guangdong Province. The agreement will enhance people-to-people exchanges and in fostering greater mutual understanding between the two states.

Explanation: The route through Nathu-la Pass will augment the capacity and reduce the hardship and journey time for this annual Yatra to the abode of Lord Shiva. The new path will enable many more pilgrims, particularly the aged ones, to undertake the Yatra. However, India’s request to open another route through Shipki-la pass in Himachal Pradesh was not accepted by Chinese authorities.  The route via Nathu-la will however prove a long one, particularly for pilgrims from Northern and Western regions of India.

Explanation: L&T Metro Rail is undertaking this Rs. 16,000 crore project covering 71-Km metro-rail in the city of Hyderabad. The state’s ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) reportedly demanded changes in the project, and wanted realignment of some routes. The company has reportedly been asked to build underground to accommodate the changes, which would escalate the costs.

Explanation: The jihadists of the IS were reportedly on their way to carry-out the beheading a member of the public on camera. The raids by Australian agencies, which spanned multiple suburbs apart from Sydney and Brisbane, came barely a week after the country boosted the terror threat level to “high” for the first time in a decade on growing concern about militants returning from fighting in Iraq and Syria. Around 800 federal and state police officers were involved in these raids in which 15 persons were arrested.

Explanation: Alessandro del Piero is a former captain of Italian national team and also played for marquee club Juventus. He will be a brand ambassador of the ISL, the eight-city football league slated for 12 October-20 December 2014. Del Piero had scored a penalty in the shoot-out of the 2006 World Cup final against France that Italy won. He is currently Italy’s joint fourth all-time leading scorer.

Explanation: This committee will look at the investment guidelines in a “wholesale” manner so as to enable flow of pension monies in new instruments such as long term infrastructure bonds to be floated by banks, infrastructure debt funds and Basel 3 compliant bonds. The committee will among other things also consider moving to dynamic market-based allocation of funds/choice of fund managers. The review of investment guidelines will also help revamp the role of pension fund managers (PFMs) and could allow them to proactively promote pension products.  The members of the expert committee include Deepak Satwalekar, former CEO and Managing Director at HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, S B Mathur, former LIC Chairman, C R Murlidharan, former IRDA Member and Madhavi Das, Executive Director, PFRDA.

Explanation: 55.3% Scottish voters voted in favour of remaining with the UK while the remaining 44.7% voted for independence of Scotland. The question asked in this referendum was – “Should Scotland be an independent country?”. In is worth mentioning that Scotland joined the United Kingdom in 1707 which comprised of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. Later Ireland became independent and came to be known as Republic of Ireland.

Explanation: U. Shrinivas was one of the most famous Carnatic classical instrumentalist of present times. His greatest achievement was his amazing dexterity with a western instrument like Mandolin, on which he played some of the most complex Carnatic compositions. He was better known as Mandolin Shrinivas for his command over the instrument. As a child prodigy, he created waves in the Carnatic music world at the tender age of 11.

Explanation: China won the first gold medal when its women shooters-Olympic champions Guo Wenjun, Zhang Mengyuan and Zhou Qingyuan – clinched the 10m Air Pistol team title. The silver and bronze medals were won by Taiwan and Mongolia respectively. The competitive events started on 20 September 2014 after a grand opening ceremony a day earlier at Incheon (South Korea).

Explanation: Ace shooter Jitu Rai won the first gold medal for India on 20 September 2014 when he stood first in the men’s 50m Pistol event. Rai accumulated 186.2 points in comparison to Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Phuong’s 183.4 and Wang Zhiwei (China) stood a distant third with 165.6 points. Jitu Rai is the Lucknow-based shooter and he completed a grand double as he had won gold in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this year.

Explanation: Shweta Chaudhary won the bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol at the Ongnyeon International Shooting Range. She shot a total of 176.4 in the final to clinch the bronze medal while the silver went to South Korean Jung Jeehae (201.3) and China’s Zhang Mengyuan (202.2) won the gold.

Explanation: 32-year old Li set a host of milestones for tennis in China, including being the first Chinese player to win a WTA title and the first to win a major. She became the first player from China to win a Grand Slam singles title when she won the French Open title in 2011. She retired due to her recurring injuries.

Explanation: Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai is a former finance minister of the country. The power sharing deal was struck between Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah after months of turmoil over a disputed election that destabilised the nation at a crucial time as most foreign troops are preparing to leave. The deal was brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry even though the final results of a hotly contested run-off poll held on 14 June 2014 are yet to be released. Later country’s election commission also declared Ashraf Ghani as country’s next president. He will replace outgoing leader Hamid Karzai.

Explanation: NSCN(IM) has been on this ceasefire to hold discussions with the Government of India on its numerous demands pertaining to Nagaland. While the group has dropped its demand for ‘sovereignty’, it has maintained that it would continue to press for integration of all Naga-inhabited areas, with the present state of Nagaland.

Explanation: A detailed probe by SEBI found that these entities actively traded in the shares of GDR-issuer companies and thereby facilitated the sub accounts of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in selling those shares in Indian markets. The 13 entities are – Basmati Securities, Oudh Finance and Investment, Alka India, SV Enterprise/Sarfaraz Khan Pathan, Ashok Panchariya, Madanlal Girdharilal Bugualiya, Indra Varun Trade Impex, Delight Financial Advisors, Vinod Amrutlaal Naai, Newgen International, Excel Paints, Cherry Cosmetics and Edelweiss Estate.

Explanation: Hosts South Korea defeated India by 3-1 in the semi-finals. The lone victory for India was achieved by country’s no. 1 player Saina Nehwal, who pulled off a great victory in three tough games against Korean world no. 4 Sung Jihyun 21-12, 10-21, 21-9. Other members in the Indian team were P.V. Sindhu, P.C. Thulasi, Pradnya Gadre and N Sikki Reddy. India along with other losing semifinalist Japan (who lost to title favourites China 1-3) automatically gained the bronze. This was India’s first medal in badminton since the team bronze won by the men in Seoul, 1986.

Explanation: John Key-led National Party (NP) scored a huge victory in country’s Parliamentary elections. His victory sealed his third consecutive term in office as the alliance between controversial leader Kim Dotcom and the Maori Mana Movement (MMM) failed to win a single seat. It was the first time since the MMP voting system was introduced in 1996 that any party has held an outright majority in New Zealand parliament. Key led his party to victory at the November 2008 general election and had repeated this feat in the November 2011 general election. He is the 38^th Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Explanation: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won the Singapore GP to take a slender 3-point lead over his teammate Nico Rosberg (Germany), who was leading the 2014 season till now. Rosberg could not complete the race due to steering wheel problems. Second spot was claimed by Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (Germany) while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) was third. Hamilton now has 241 points and is followed closely by Rosberg with 238 points with 5 races remaining in the season.

Explanation: “Operation Megh Rahat” was launched early in September 2014 in response to the disastrous floods that inundated huge areas of the state causing very heavy loss to lives and property. Huge resources from Army, Navy and Air Force were employed in the massive operation. Till 20 September almost 2.5 lakh people were rescued and a huge set of temporary and permanent infrastructure was created under the operation. Almost 30,000 troops were involved in “Operation Megh Rahat”.

Explanation: The lockdown involved a government order for the country’s 6 million residents to stay in their homes and a wide-spread sweeping and data collection by teams of health care workers and volunteers bearing information about the disease. Sierra Leone’s government was hoping the lockdown the most aggressive containment effort yet attempted would turn the tide against the disease. Spread by contact with bodily fluids, Ebola has killed more than 560 people in Sierra Leone and more than 2,600 across West Africa in the biggest outbreak ever recorded, according to the World Health Organization. The disease, which has also touched Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal, is believed to have sickened more than 5,500 people.

Explanation: The rating agency estimated that public sector Indian banks that it rates could need that external capital, assuming a moderate recovery in India’s GDP growth, and a gradual decline in non-performing loans from current levels. This report by Moody’s rated 11 PSU banks which represent around 62% of net loans in the Indian banking system. Basel III raises the minimum required capital levels for both total Tier 1 to 7.0% and Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital to 5.5%, and banks will also need to meet a Capital Conservation Buffer to pay dividends. That will pressure the Indian public sector banks, as low capital levels remain a key credit weakness.

Explanation: Lt. Gen Rizwan Akhtar is a close associate of Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Raheel Sharif and was appointed Director General of the agency. The ISI was established in 1948 and became the primary institution running the intelligence operations of country’s army, air force and navy.

Explanation: Dr. Ketan Desai’s appointment as WMA President was published in the latest issue of the WMA journal. He was chosen as president-elect of the WMA in 2009 prior to his arrest by the CBI in 2010. He allegedly went before the WMA Assembly last year with a letter from the Indian Medical Association (IMA) claiming that the CBI had dropped all charges against him. However, a large medical fraternity of the country feels that it is unacceptable that a doctor who is awaiting trial for serious criminal charges of bribery and corruption and whose medical registration still remains suspended by the MCI would head the world medical body.

Explanation: The team of these three shooters accumulated a total score of 1729 points to claim the bronze. Rahi Sarnobat scored 580 points, Anisa 577 points and Heena scored the remaining 572 points. Hosts South Korea won the gold with a score of 1748 while China got the silver with 1747 points.

Explanation: Dipika Pallikal was defeated in a one-sided semi final by Malaysia’s world number one Nicol David by 4-11, 4-11, 5-11. The top-seeded Malaysian came into the match as the overwhelming favourite, having not lost a singles match since the sport was introduced in the 1998 Bangkok Games.

Explanation: ‘Liar’s Dice’ is a Hindi film directed by Geetu Mohandas and starring Geetanjali Thapa and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles. The film is a road drama about a tribal woman’s journey to find her missing husband. It beat 29 other films to represent India at the Oscars 2015. The film won the National award for best actress to Thapa and best cinematography award to Rajeev Ravi. The last Indian film that made it to the final five nominees at the Oscars was Ashutosh Gowariker’s ‘Lagaan’. ‘Mother India’ and ‘Salaam Bombay’ are the only other two Indian films to have made it to the top five.

Explanation: Bibek Debroy is the leading economist and has been associated with the Centre for Policy Research (CPR). The committee basically has to suggest ways to restructure the board to ensure faster decision-making. It also has to suggest ways to ensure objectivity in decision-making. Additionally, it has to recommend ways to raise finances. Other members on the panel are Gurcharan Das, Ravi Narain (former CEO of National Stock Exchange), KM Chandrashekhar (former Cabinet Secretary), Partha Mukhopadhyay (Centre for Policy Research) and Rajendra Kashyap, former Finance Commissioner of Railways.

Explanation: The board of MCX-SX approved the proposal for rechristening the exchange few months ago and subsequently an application was submitted to the SEBI. The name change is a part of the turnaround strategy to give the exchange a new identity and disassociate itself from the scam-tainted promoter Financial Technologies.

Explanation: This move comes soon after the Delhi High Court instructed the Government and the pharmaceutical companies to resolve the matter expeditiously since it impacts people. The pharmaceutical associations challenged the move by NPPA to cap the price of 108 drugs by an order on 29 May 2014. The Authority had invoked Paragraph 19, DPCO, to extend the controlled regime to medicines which don’t fall under the National List of Essential Medicines. Under Paragraph 19, DPCO, the NPPA has the authority to extend price control over medicines outside of the essential medicines list in “extraordinary circumstances” and in the “public interest”.

Explanation: Saurav Ghosal won the silver medal in the men’s squash singles after he lost to Kuwait’s Abdullah Almezayen by 12-10, 11-2, 12-14, 8-11, 9-11. Saurav let the two-game advantage slip away as Abdullah staged an incredible come-back to claim the gold. His silver medal thus became India’s first silver medal in the Games. Prior to this Ghosal had three Asian Games medals, all bronze, in his name.

Explanation: A.J. Dossa was associated with the All India Radio (AIR) as cricket statistician from 1956-57 to 1972-73. He served as the first President of the Association of Indian Cricket Statisticians and Scorers (ACSSI), which was formed in the 1980s. His fame of keeping cricket statistics was such that he was often described as the human computer of cricket.

Explanation: In a communication to the stock exchanges, the bank said that the Central Government in its letter dated 22 September has terminated the term of office of Sudhir Kumar Jain as CMD of the bank with immediate effect. He had been placed under deemed suspension with effect from 2 August 2014 in the wake of his arrest by CBI for allegedly accepting bribe to hike the credit limit of some private companies bypassing rules.