INTERNATIONAL

China
Decided
To
Ban
All
Coal
Use
In
Beijing
By
2020
Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau on 4 August announced the plans to ban coal use
in Beijing and five other districts by the end of 2020. The purpose of the ban is to fight increasing
levels of air pollution in Chinas major cities.
Russia
Bans
U.S.,European
Union
Food
and
Agricultural
Imports
Russian President Vladimir Putin on 6 August signed a decree that bans imports of agricultural
products from all countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. Major
sanctions were made by the US and European Union (EU). Ban on the food imports, should continue
for up to one year.
Haider
al-Abadi
Named
As
New
Iraqi
Prime
Minister
Iraqi President Mohammed Fuad Masum named Haider al-Abadi as the new Iraqi Prime Minister on
11 August 2014. Before being nominated for the post of Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi was
deputy parliament speaker.
Ukrainian
President
Dissolved
Parliament
Ukraines president Petro Poroshenko on 25 August dissolved parliament. A snap election to the
Ukraine will be held on 26 October 2014.The date of the election was announced by President Petro
Poroshenko.

INDIA & WORLD

India
and
Nepal
Signed
3
Agreements
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 3 August met Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala in Kathmandhu,
the captital of Nepal. Later, three agreements were signed between India and Nepal, in the presence
of the two Prime Ministers. Under the first agreement, India will provide a grant assistance worth NRs
69 million to supply iodated salt to curb goitre and other diseases related with iodine deficiency. The
second agreement was regarding the amendment of Articles 17 and 18 of the Pancheswor Multiple
Project. The third agreement is about cooperation between Nepal Television and Doordarshan, the
state-owned television stations of both the countries.
India
Ranked
5th
Amongst
Top
10
Wind
Power
Producers
The Renewables 2014 Global Status Report released on 18 August. According to the report, India
ranked fifth amongst top ten wind power producers in the world by adding 1,700 MW capacity in
2013. With 16,100 MW wind power produced in 2013, China was ranked World top wind power
producing country.
India and Czech Republic Signed MoU On Technical Cooperation In Railways
India and Czech Republic on 19 August 2014 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on
technical cooperation in railway sector. This MoU was signed between the Union Ministry of Railways
and Czech Railways (Ceske Drahy) of the Czech Republic and Association of Czech Railway Industry
(ACRI) of the Czech Republic.
Indo-Nepal
Joint
Military
Training
Exercise
Concluded
The militaries of India and Nepal was jointly conducted a Combined Training Exercise, known as
Surya Kiran-VII, from 18 31 August 2014 near Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand.

NATIONAL
Union
Cabinet
Approves
Amendments
To
Juvenile
Justice
Act
The Union Cabinet on 6 August approved the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill,
2014 to amend the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2000. The bill will place minors above the age of 16,
accused of heinous crimes like rape and murder, in the adults category.
PM
Narendra
Modi
Announced
Pradhan
Mantri
Krishi
Seenchayi
Yojana
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19 August announced the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Seenchayi Yojana
to meet the irrigation needs of all farmers across the country. Sum of 1000 crore rupees has been
allocated for implementation of the scheme.
Union
Cabinet
Approved
Rs
1
lakh
crore

Digital
India
Project

The Union Cabinet has approved the Digital India project on 20 August. The project, which has a total
overlay of Rs 1 lakh crore, aims to ensure that government services are available to citizens
electronically and help people gain benefits from the latest information and communication
technology.
PM
Narendra
Modi
Launched

Pradhan
Mantri
Jan
Dhan
Yojana

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 August launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) in
New Delhi. The scheme intends to accomplish the objective of housing for all by providing basic
banking accounts with a debit card with inbuilt accident insurance. The government aims to open as
many as 1 crore bank accounts on the first day itself.

STATES
Uttarkhand
Govt
Constituted
Committee
On
Industries
Using
Silica
Dust
A high level committee has been constituted by the Uttarakhand government on 8 August with a view
to conduct a detailed survey of the industries using silica dust in the state. The panel would conduct
its study and submit its report within 2 months. The health examination of those working in industries
using silica dust would be carried out to find out if they are suffering from silicosis or other respiratory
diseases caused due to coming in contact of silicia dust.
Delhi
Police
Launched
Whatsapp
Helpline
To
Curb
Corruption
Delhi Police on 10 August launched Whatsapp helpline to curb corruption. Under the facility, a person
can just call and register the complaint and also send a recorded audio or video clips if any policeman
harasses or a person demands bribe.
Tamilnadu Chief Minister Announced Amma
Baby Care
Kit Scheme
Tamilnadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on 12 August announced ambitious welfare scheme called
Amma Baby Care Kit. It is aimed at new born infants. This scheme only applies to the infants born in
government hospitals.
Uttarakhand
Govt
Launched
Food
Security
Scheme
The Uttarakhand government on 16 August introduced a food security scheme on the pattern of the
National Food Security Act. This was decided at the Cabinet meeting. The scheme will cater to the
Below Poverty Line and Above Poverty Line families across the State.
Kerala
Cabinet
Ratified
New
Liquor
Policy
Kerala state cabinet cabinet on 27 August 2014 ratified the new liquor policy. The policy was
contemplated to shut down bars attached to hotels below the five-star category .It was a part of
governments plan to reduce availability of liquor.

CONFERENCES
47th
ASEAN
Foreign
Ministers
Meeting
Held
In
Nay
Pyi
Taw
The 47th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (AMM) was held on 8 August 2014 in Nay Pyi Taw,
Myanmar under the theme Moving forward in Unity to a Peaceful and Prosperous Community. The
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers issued a joint statement urging
the issues of Korea Peninsular and Ukraine including seven points that concerned the international
affairs and South China Dispute. ASEAN comprises ten member countries Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

AWARDS & HONOURS

Jaitley, Karan Singh, Sharad Yadav Conferred with Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley ( for 2010), Congress leader Karan Singh (2011) and JD(U) President
Sharad Yadav (2012) are conferred with Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards by the President
Pranab Mukherjee on 12 August in New Delhi. The awards were given for their invaluable contribution
in discharge of their parliamentary duties.
Indian-origin
Professor
Manjul
Bhargava
Won
Nobel
Prize
of
Maths

Two Indian-origin professors have won global prizes in the field of mathematics with one of them
being awarded the Fields Medal, known as the Nobel Prize of mathematics. Manjul Bhargava won
the Fields Medal while Subhash Khot won the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize, awarded by the International
Mathematical Union (IMU), at the International Congress of Mathematicians 2014 held in Seoul on 13
August.
Army
Major
Mukund
Varadarajan
Honoured
with
Ashok
Chakra
Indias highest peacetime gallantry award Ashoka Chakra has been awarded posthumously to Major
Mukund Varadarajan of 44th Battalion of the Rastriya Rifles (22 Rajput). 55 gallantry awards
(peacetime) were announced on the eve of 68th Independence Day on 14 August 2014. There have
been one Ashoka Chakra, 12 Shaurya Chakras, 39 Sena Medal, one Nao Sena Medal and two Vayu
Sena Medal this year.
Pakistani
Journalist
Asma
Shirazi
Won
2014
Peter
Mackler
Award
Asma Shirazi, Pakistans first female war correspondent and host of popular TV talk shows, was
named 2014 Winner of Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism on 22 August.
Shirazi is the second woman to win the award since its creation in 2008, after Honduran radio news
editor Karla Rivas won in 2011.

SPORTS & GAMES

India
Finishes
Fifth
At
20th
Commonwealth
Games
India finishes 5th with 64 medals (15 gold, 30 silver and 19 bronze) at the 20th Commonwealth
Games (CWG) 2014. Indias total medal tally was thus 64, which is far less than the 19th
Commonwealth Games of 2010 at New Delhi, where India won a total of 101 medals. England topped
the medal table for the first time in 28 years with 58 golds, 59 silvers and 57 bronzes. Australia was on
second position, Canada on third and Scotland was on 4th position. The 2014 Commonwealth Games
(officially the XX Commonwealth Games) were held in Glasgow, Scotland, from 23 July to 3 August
2014. Its the 3rd time that Scotland is hosting this event; the previous two being in Edinburgh (1970 &

1986). The 21st Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast City, Queensland, Australia
between 4 to 15 April 2018.
Katie
Ledecky
Sets
World
Record
In
1,500-Meter
Freestyle
Katie Ledecky, an American distance swimmer on 23 August created a World Record in Womens
1500 Meter Freestyle at the 2014 Pan Pac Championships on the Gold Coast, Australia. To create the
new record Ledecky swam the distance in 15 minutes 28.36 seconds. She crushed her own previous
1500-metre freestyle record of swimming the distance in 15 minutes 34.23 seconds at an untaqpered
meet in The Woodlands, Texas in June 2014. Ledecky won her fifth gold medal at the Gold Coast
meet after defeating Lauren Boyle of New Zealand by more than 27 seconds.
Jammu
and
Kashmir To Host Football
Federation
Cup In August 2015
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on 18 August that Jammu and Kashmir will host
Football Federation Cup in August 2015.
Himachal
To
Host
First
Paragliding
World
Cup
In
India
Indias northern state of Himachal Pradesh has been selected as venue to host Paragliding World
Cup 2015. This will be the first para-gliding World Cup to be hosted in India. The tournament will be
organized under the auspices of Para-gliding World Cup Association, France.The World Cup will be
hosted in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh from 24 October 2015 and will see around 150 top
ranked pilots of the world besides 500 free flying pilots as participants.

ECONOMY
RBI
Third
Bi-monthly
Monetary
Policy
Statement
2014-15
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its third Bi-monthly Monetary Policy statement 2014-15 announced on
5 August, has kept the Short-term lending (repo) rate unchanged 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%.Estimates GDP growth at 5.5% for current fiscal(2014-15).
Union
Cabinet
Approves
FDI
in
Defence
and
Railways
The Union Cabinet on 6 August allowed foreign investment in the Railways for the first time and raised
limit for such investment in the defence sector, steps intended to raise funds for expansion of the
Railways and encourage domestic manufacture of arms. Under this proposal the government is to
increase the FDI limit in the defence industry to 49% from 26% and from nil to 100% in railway
infrastructure of the country.
RBI
issued
Draft
Guidelines
For
Anytime
Anywhere
BBPS
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 7 August issued draft guidelines for the implementation of Bharat
Bill Payment System (BPPS), an anytime anywhere bill payment system.The draft mentions the
requirements and the basic framework of operating the BBPS, and stipulates the eligibility criteria,
standards for settlement model and customer grievance redressal, roles and responsibilities and
scope for entities seeking to be part of BBPS.
Mukesh
Ambani
Is
Indias
Richest
Man
The wealth research firm Wealth-X of Indias richest individuals latest study report released on 13
August. According to the report, the top five Indian billionaires led by Reliance Industries Chairman
Mukesh Ambani collectively control $85.5 billion (about Rs 5,23,897 crore) in personal wealth,
accounting for nearly half of the countrys total billionaire wealth. Mukesh Ambani remains the richest
man in the country with an estimated net worth of $24.4 billion (about Rs 1,49,474 crore).

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

China
Successfully
Launched
Remote
Sensing
Satellite
China on 9 August successfully launched the Yaogan XX a remote-sensing satellite to carry out
scientific experiments and provide early alerts natural disasters. The Yaogan XX satellite blasted off
on the back of a Long March 4C carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the
countrys northwestern Gobi desert. The launch marked the 190th mission for the nations long march
rocket family.
IBM
Develops
A
New
Chip
That
Functions
Like
A
Brain
IBM researchers have announced on 9 August the development of a new computer chip that is
inspired by the brain, mimicking the way that the mind can recognize patterns utilizing a web of
interconnected transistors to simulate neural networks. The chip or processor is named TrueNorth,
and it contains more than 5.4 billion transistors, yet requires no more power to function than a hearing
aid (just 70 milliwatts of power versus the minimum of 35 watts required by current Intel processors,
with have 1.4 billion transistors).
PM
Narendra
Modi
Dedicates

INS
Kolkata

To
The
Nation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16 August dedicated Indias indigenously designed warship INS
Kolkata to the nation. With this, INS Kolkata was commissioned in Indian Navy at the Naval
Dockyard in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The 6800-tonne Kolkata class warship has been constructed by
the Mazagon Docks Ltd, Mumbai and designed by the Navys Design Bureau.
NASAs
Scientists
Developed
SMAP
Satellite
To
Combat
Drought
NASA scientists, including one of Indian-origin, developed Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP)
satellite that can predict the severity of droughts worldwide and help farmers maximize the crop
yield.The mission is scheduled to launch in November 2014 and will collect the local data of
agricultural and water managers that are needed worldwide.

PERSONS IN NEWS
A) APPOINTMENTS
K
V
Chowdary
is
new
CBDT
chairman
Senior Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer K V Chowdary (full name Kosaraju Veeraiah Chowdary)
has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the top policy
making body of the Income Tax department. K.V. Chowdary, a 1978-batch officer, on 1 August took
charge of his office. He will have tenure of three months.He succeed R K Tewari. He retired on 31 July
2014.
President
Appointed
New
Governors
of
Four
States
President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 26 August appointed new Governors of four states, namely
Maharashtra,
Goa
,
Karnataka
and
Rajasthan.
The
Governors
names
are:1) Kalyan
Singh
Rajasthan
Governor
2) Vajubhai
Rudabhai
Vala
Karnataka
Governor
3) Ch.
Vidyasagar
Rao
Maharashtra
Governor
4) Mridula Sinha Goa Governor

B)RESIGNS
Maharashtra
Governor
K
Sankaranarayanan
Resigned
Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan resigned from his office on 24 August.He tendered his

resignation in the backdrop of being transferred to Mizoram. He refused to take charge of his new
assignment.

C)DEATHS
Legendary
Cartoonist
Pran
Kumar
Sharma
Died
Legendary cartoonist Pran Kumar Sharma, popularly known as Pran, who created the comic book
character like Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu, died on 5 August in Gurgaon at the age of 75. He was
75. He was born on 15 August 1938 in Kasur near Lahore (now Pakistan). He created the character
Dabbu for a Delhi-based newspaper Milap.

D)VISITORS
Indian
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
Visited
Nepal
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Nepal on 3-4 August 2014. During the visit, Narendra
Modi met Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala in Kathmandhu, the captital of Nepal. The two leaders
discussed various issues including Nepals peace process and constitution-drafting process as well as
economic issues. After the talks, Modi and Koirala witnessed the signing of three agreements.

E)MISCELLANEOUS
Edward
Snowden
Granted
Three-year
Residence
Permit
In
Russia
Former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden has received a residence permit in Russia on 7
August 2014, which is valid for three years. Earlier in 2013, Snowden was granted a one-year
temporary asylum, which ended on 1 August 2014.

PLACES IN NEWS
Two
Ancient
Mayan
Cities
Found
In
Mexico
Jungle
In the month of August 2014 Archaeologists have found two ancient Mayan cities Lagunita and
Tamchen hidden in the jungle of south-eastern Mexico. They discovered the two cities of Lagunita and
Tamchen on the Yucatan peninsula by examining aerial photographs of the region.

ABBREVIATIONS
ASEAN Association of South East Asian Nations
IFTU -

International Federation of Trade Unions

WFI

Wrestling Federation of India

CERSAI Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security

BOOKS IN NEWS

One
Life
is
Not
Enough:
An
Autobiography

Released
An autobiography of the former External Affairs Minister and veteran Congress Party leader Natwar
Singh was released on 1 August. The book titled One Life is Not Enough is penned by Kunwar
Natwar Singh.This book has been in news and controversy since past few days because it discloses
much information about Sonia Gandhi, the President of the Congress Party.

COMMITTEES
Hari
Gautam
Committee
To
Review
The
Status
Of
UGC
A four-member Committee under the chairmanship of former UGC chairman Hari Gautam has been
constituted by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) on 3 August with a view to
review the present status of Universities Grants Commissions (UGC). The committee will suggest
ways to restructure and reorganise the panel to attain better performance in order to meet desired
objectives.

IMPORTANT DAYS AND DATES

World
Humanitarian
Day
Observed
Across
The
World
World Humanitarian Day was observed across the world on 19 August 2014. The day is observed to
recognise humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian
causes. The theme for the year 2014 is The World Needs More Humanitarian Heroes.World
Humanitarian Day is also an opportunity to celebrate the spirit that inspires humanitarian work around
the globe. The events of the day included wreath-laying ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York to
honour aid workers killed in the line of duty. The day was designated by the United Nations General
Assembly to coincide with the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in
Baghdad, Iraq. The bombing killed 22 people, including UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. The Day is
observed annually on 19 August.
August
29
Is
Celebrated
As
The
National
Sports
Day
August 29 is celebrated as the National Sports Day in dedication to the great hockey player Dhyan
Chand.This day is celebrated by organizing friendly matches between different Indian hockey teams
at the Dhyan Chand National stadium in New Delhi.The National Stadium was constructed in the
respect and honor of Dhyan Chand. Major Dhyan Chand was Indias greatest hockey player. He has
scored over 1000 goals between 1926 and 1948. He helped India win 3 Olympic Gold medals
including the first in 1928 (Amsterdum Olympic games) and then in 1932 ( Los Angeles Olympic
games) and 1936 (Berlin Olympic games).