Daily GK Updates: 14th Oct 2014

1.    Khaled Bahah new PM of Yemen
i. In Yemen, President Mansour Hadi has named country’s envoy to UN, Khaled Bahah as the next Prime Minister. He was among the three names proposed by the Houthi rebels to end the political standoff in the country.
ii. The rebel group has welcomed the move and said his appointment will help the country overcome the difficulties it is going through. He has earlier served as Yemen’s oil minister before being named as Yemen’s envoy to the United Nations.
2.    PM announces interim assistance of Rs 1000 crore for AP
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced an interim assistance of Rs 1,000 crore for Andhra Pradesh to take up immediate relief work in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Cyclone 'Hudhud'.
ii. He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the cyclone and Rs 50,000 to the injured. 
Iii. The Prime Minister said the Meteorological Department had correctly forecast from October six itself the different aspects of the cyclone like its velocity, direction and time, leveraging the power of technology.
3.    Global Hunger Index Report 2014 released: India Ranked at 55th Position
i. The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI) was released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
ii. It revealed that two billion people were suffering from hidden hunger even though the levels of hunger in many developing countries decreased.
iii. The 2014 GHI was calculated for 120 developing countries and countries in transition, 55 of which have a serious or worse hunger situation.
iv. India improved its position in the Global Hunger Index in 2014 as it climbed to 55th position among  76 emerging economies from 63rd position in 2013. Though, it is still trailing behind countries like Thailand, China, Ghana, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
4.    Ajay Jayaram won Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton tournament
i. Indian shuttler, Ajay Jayaram won the 50000 dollar Dutch Open Grand Prix badminton tournament on 12 October 2014.
ii. In the title clash played at the Topsportcentrum Almere in Netherlands, Jayaram defeated Indonesia’s Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 10-11, 11-6, 11-7, 1-11, 11-9.
iii. This was maiden GP title for Jayaram and with this win, he also became the first Indian to win badminton Grand Prix tournament under the new 11x5 scoring system. 
5.    Mary Kom voted as India's Most Valuable Player in Asian Games 2014
i. Olympic bronze medalist MC Mary Kom on 13 October 2014 was chosen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of India’s Incheon Asian Games campaign at a felicitation of the medal winners by contingent sponsors, Samsung India.
ii. Kom, the first Indian woman boxer to win a gold medal in Asian Games was named as the MVP in a poll conducted by Samsung. 
iii. After topping the list, the gold medalist in the 2014 Incheon Games in flyweight (-51kg) class, Mary Kom received 10 lakh rupees. 
6.    Lyricist Sameer honoured with Kishore Kumar Award for 2012-13
i. Noted lyricist Sameer was honoured with the National Kishore Kumar Award for 2012-13. He was awarded during a function at the legendary singer's birth place Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.
ii. The award was handed over to Sameer by Madhya Pradesh Food and Civil Supplies Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah. 
7.    JP Morgan cut India 2014-15 growth forecast to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent
i. JP Morgan on 10 October 2014 cut its India GDP growth projection for 2014-15 to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent. 
ii. JP Morgan cited that the industrial output of India in August 2014 rose to 0.4 percent compared to the estimation it was very low.
iii. The Reserve Bank of India projects GDP to grow at around 5.5 percent in the current fiscal year ending March 2015.

8. Poet-diplomat Abhay K honoured with Asia-Pacific Excellence Award in Nepla 

9. Global Hunger Index Report 2014 released: India Ranked at 55th Position

10. CPI inflation declined to 6.46 percent in September 2014

  • Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation or retail inflation of September 2014 stood at 6.46 percent as compared to the 7.3 percent in August 2014. The CPI inflation data was released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 13 October 2014. 
  • The retail inflation of September 2014 is the second straight fall, due to lower food and fuel costs. This fall is the lowest since the new series of Consumer Price Index was released in January 2012.
  • The retail inflation of fuel and light cost came down to 3.45 percent from 4.15 percent of August 2014.
  • The retail inflation for over all food inflation dropped to 7.67 percent in September 2014 from 9.35 percent in August 2014.
  • The retail inflation of fruits slowed to 22.4 percent in September 2014 from 24.27 percent in August 2014. There is a price rise in protein rich items like eggs, fish and meat was slower in September against August 2014.
  • The retail inflation is 6.34 percent in urban areas and 6.68 percent in rural areas in September in 2014.
  • The RBI is expected to reduce the CPI inflation 8 percent by January 2015 and 6 percent by January 2016.

11. 59th Annual National Railway Awards

Indian Railways on 10 October 2014 celebrated its 59th Annual Railway National Awards function 2014. Union Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda awarded 132 rail personnel for their exemplary contribution to the country.

The award function was held at Bangalore and D.V. Sadananda Gowda was the chief guest.

Union Rail Minister awarded Harish Kanwar with National Rail Award. Harish Kanwar is a Deputy Director in railway board.
Harish Kanwar has mainly contributed in promoting the inauguration of Pirpanjal tunnel.

About Pirpanjal tunnel

The Pir Panjal Railway Tunnel or Banihal railway tunnel is an 11.215 km railway tunnel located in Pir Panjal Range of middle Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir, India, North of Banihal town.

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