7th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

7th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates


National Affairs

1. Today marks the 73rd death anniversary of Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore.
2. The governors of Chhattisgarh (Balramji Dass Tandon) and Haryana (Kaptan Singh Solanki) met Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, his office informed adding that these were courtesy calls.
3. After hearing a petition filed by Harbhajan Singh, a resident of Haryana and member of SGPC, challenging the constitutional validity of Haryana Sikh Gurudwara (Management) Act, 2014 under which a separate committee was formed to manage the affairs of the Gurudwaras in the state, the Supreme court today directed rival groups SGPC and HSGMC to maintain status quo on the management control of gurudwaras in Haryana till further orders and directed the state government to take all steps to maintain law and order. 
4. With rainfall deficit still prevalent in most parts of the country, government today announced a diesel subsidy for irrigation in states where rainfall shortage is more than 50 per cent to protect the standing kharif crops.
5. The civil services examination will be held as per schedule on August 24, the Government today declared in Parliament.
6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will commission the country’s largest indigenously-built warship INS Kolkata in Mumbai on August 16. The 6,800-tonne warship, which is over three years behind schedule, will showcase a giant leap in shipbuilding technology in the country.

International Affairs

1. Russia has banned fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, milk and dairy imports from the US, the European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway, Russia's prime minister Dmitry Medvedev told a government meeting Today. This ban was effective immediately and would last for one year.
2. US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived New Delhi today on a three-day visit and is expected to discuss regional security situation, defense deals worth over Rs 20,000 crore and joint military hardware development projects with the Indian political and military leadership.

New Appointments

1. Gujarat Governor Om Prakash Kohli today assumed the additional charge as the Governor of Goa. He replaced Margaret Alva, who too was holding an additional charge in Goa. Earlier Governor, B V Wanchoo, quit after his name had surfaced in the VVIP chopper deal case.

Science & Technology

• NASA’s Rover Curiosity, the most advanced roving laboratory on Mars, has celebrated its second anniversary on the Red planet. The unmanned spacecraft landed inside the Gale Crater two years ago to start a multi-year mission to seek out areas where life could or may once have existed.

People in News

• A committee headed by former Home Secy R K Singh constituted by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to review security arrangements in Parliament House
• Harish Chandra Meena, a former DIG in Rajasthan, and Satyapal Singh, former Police Commissioner of Mumbai, are members of this committee.

Business & Economy

• The Union Cabinet has allowed foreign investment in the Railways (100%) for the first time and raised limit for such investment in the defense sector (49%), steps intended to raise funds for expansion of the Railways and encourage domestic manufacture of arms. 
• India's economy is expected to record stronger growth momentum of 5.5% in the current fiscal, underpinned by "solid expansion" in industrial and services sectors, and impetus to economic reforms by the new government, according to a UN report.