International Current Affairs June 2013-2014 Current Affairs 2013-2014

Who is the new prime minister of Italy ?

Answer: Enrico Letta

Who is the first woman speaker of Bangladesh ? Answer: Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury


Who is the new Comptroller and Auditor General of India ? Answer: Shashi Kant Sharma

Who is the first Indian amputee to scale Everest ? Answer: Arunima Sinha

Who is the first Pakistani women to scale the Everest ? Answer: Samina Baig

India, Aus  defence ties, maritime security

EAGLEJOB MARINE

i. India and Australia decided to boost defence ties and maritime security and freedom of navigation is critical for growth and prosperity of Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean regions

ii. Defence Minister A K Antony who is the first ever Indian Defence Minister to visit Australia, had met Stephen  Smith and held wide-ranging talks on shared strategic and security interests, including maritime security and defence ties.

iii. They agreed to continue ongoing bilateral Naval exchanges to build confidence and familiarity between the Navies and work towards a bilateral maritime exercise in 2015.

iv. It was also agreed to promote the sharing and exchange of professional knowledge and experiences through participation in training courses in each other's military training institutions

v. Both sides agreed to implement these defence cooperation initiatives to further strengthen the strategic partnership between Australia and India

Andhra Pradesh ties with MIT for  better education

i. Andhra Pradesh is set to sign an MOU with the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to tap its vast resources to help give the state's educational system a face lift,

ii. The MOU will help strike the education platform and open courseware of the prestigious institute located in Boston, to develop alternative learning mechanisms in the wake of serious dearth of qualified teaching professionals

iii. The proposed partnership will help Andhra's small and rural colleges to have access to the expensive labs using the iLabs technology of the MIT.

iv. The tie-up will also help in the development of utilisation of Open Software Interface Definitions.

v. "The MIT faculty was pleasantly surprised to learn that Andhra Pradesh has about 700 engineering colleges and assured their cooperation in skill development," 

vi. IT and Communications Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said  “To explore this market, India's first electronic manufacturing cluster is to be set up in Hyderabad”

Ayaz Sadiq elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan

i. Ayaz Sadiq leader of Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) elected as the Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan.

ii. He won with 258 votes out of 313 votes and his opponents, Shaheryar Afridi of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf and SA Iqbal Qadri of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement got just 31 and 23 votes respectively.

iii. PML-N nominee Murtaza Javed Abbasi was elected as deputy speaker of the National Assembly. He got a total of 258 votes. 

Who is the new president of Bangladesh ?Answer: Abdul Hamid


What is the theme of 2013 World Earth day (April 22) ?Answer: The face of climate change


Who is the new Governor of  Jammu and Kashmir ?answer: Narinder Nath Vohra


Who is the new president of ADB (Asian Development Bank) ?Answer: Takehiko Nakao

Lydia became the first Woman to be Elected to FIFA

i. Burundi's Lydia Nsekera became the first woman to be elected to the FIFA Executive Committee (ExCo) for a full term of four years 

ii. Lydia Nsekera is President of the Fédération de Football du Burundi since 2004 and has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 2009.

About FIFA

i. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is an association governed by Swiss law founded in 1904 and based in Zurich.

ii. It has 208 member associations and its goal, enshrined in its Statutes, is the constant improvement of football.

iii. FIFA employs some 310 people from over 35 nations and is composed of a Congress (legislative body), Executive Committee (executive body), General Secretariat (administrative body) and committees (assisting the Executive Committee).

Former Slovenia PM sentenced 2 years in prison

i. The two-time former prime minister of Slovenia, Janez Jansa, has been convicted of corruption and sentenced to two years in prison

ii. Mr Jansa was accused of soliciting bribes as part of a defence deal with a Finnish manufacturer in 2006.

iii. He said the charges were politically motivated and is expected to appeal.

iv. He was forced from office in March amid protests over corruption and recession.

Who is the winner of 2013 Man Booker International Prize ?Answer: Lydia Davis


What is the theme of 2013 World No- Tobacco Day ( May 31 ) ?Answer: Ban tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship


Who is the new Director General of DRDO ?Answer: Avinash Chander

NASA on new mission to study the sun

i. The U.S. space agency NASA is preparing to launch a new mission to study the sun.

ii. The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, will observe the way solar material gathers energy and heats up as it moves through the sun's lower atmosphere.

iii. IRIS is a small satellite with the ability to perform complex solar observations. 

iv. NASA says IRIS will observe a range of temperatures from about 5,000 to 65,000 degrees Celsius, and up to about 10 million degrees Celsius during solar flares.

v. The 181 million dollar mission is set to last two yearsIRIS is set to launch aboard a Pegasus XL rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on June 26.

Former MP Lonappan Nambadan passes away in Kochi

i. Former Kerala Minister and former Member of Parliament, Lonappan Nambadan passed away at a private hospital in Kochi

ii. He was 77. Lonappan Nambadan, who was elected to the state Assembly from 1977 to 2001

iii. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mukundapuram constituency in 2004.

Prasanna new Grand Master 

i. V Vishnu Prasanna celebrated his new Grandmaster status by outwitting seasoned GM Boris Chatalbashev of Bulgaria to stay in joint lead after the end of the fourth round of Grand Europe Albena chess tournament.

ii. Winning his fourth game of the trot, the unassuming Prasanna shares the podium with Sandro Mareco of Argentina with a perfect score.

iii. Having crossed the 2500 rating barrier required to become a Grandmaster as per FIDE rules, Prasanna will be looking for a career best performance on this black sea resort.

Prasanna played out a thorough entertainer against Chatalbashev. Fortunes fluctuated a little in the opening and the queen-less middle game that ensued but the Indian kept his cool after imprisoning a black Bishop at the cost of some pawns.The game lasted 34 moves.

Who is the first US women in space ?Answer: Sally Ride (Recently she won highest civilian honour of USA, Presidential medal of Freedom)


What is the theme of 2013 International Biological diversity Day (May 22) ?Answer: Water and Biodiversity