US names mountain after an Indian-American scientist

United States has named a mountain in Antarctia in honour of an eminent Indian-American scientist whose pioneering biological research expedition has provided critical data about animal populations.

Akhouri Sinha, adjunct professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development at the University of Minnesota, was recognised by the US Geological Survey, which named the mountain Mt Sinha, for his work he did as an explorer in 1971-72

Jennifer Lopez kicks off Brazil World Cup in opening ceremony

he 2014 FIFA World Cup finally kicked off in Brazil on 12th June 2014  night with pop superstar Jennifer Lopez and rapper Pitbull entertaining the crowds in a glittering opening ceremony at Sao Paulo in Brazil

list of Ministers with portfolios

Narendra Modi -- Prime Minister; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space; All important policy issues and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.


Cabinet Ministers

Rajnath Singh: Home Minster

Sushma Swaraj: External Affairs & Overseas Indian Affairs

Arun Jaitley: Finance Corporate Affairs & Defence

M. Venkaiah Naidu: Urban Development Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation & Parliamentary Affairs

Nitin Jairam Gadkari: Road Transport and Highways Shipping

D.V. Sadananda Gowda: Railways

Uma Bharati: Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

Dr. Najma A. Heptulla: Minority Affairs

Gopinathrao Munde: Rural Development, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Sanitation

Ramvilas Paswan: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Kalraj Mishra: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Maneka Gandhi: Women and Child Development

Ananthkumar: Chemicals and Fertilizers

Ravi Shankar Prasad: Communications and Information Technology & Law and Justice

Ashok Gajapathi Raju: Civil Aviation

Anant Geete: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Harsimrat Kaur Badal: Food Processing Industries

Narendra Singh Tomar: Mines & Steel Labour and Employment

Jual Oram: Tribal Affairs

Radha Mohan Singh: Agriculture

Thaawar Chand Gehlot: Social Justice and Empowerment

Smriti Zubin Irani: Human Resource Development

Dr. Harsh Vardhan: Health and Family Welfare

Minister of States

General V.K. Singh: Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge) & External Affairs Overseas Indian Affairs

Inderjit Singh Rao: Planning (Independent Charge), Statistics and Programme Implementation (Independent Charge) & Defence

Santosh Kumar Gangwar: Textiles (Independent Charge), Parliamentary Affairs Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

Shripad Yesso Naik: Culture (Independent Charge) & Tourism (Independent Charge)

Dharmendra Pradhan: Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge)

Sarbananda Sonowal: Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge)

Prakash Javadekar: Information and Broadcasting (Independent Charge), Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge) & Parliamentary Affairs

Piyush Goyal: Power (Independent Charge), Coal (Independent Charge) & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge)

Dr. Jitendra Singh: Science and Technology (Independent Charge), Earth Sciences (Independent Charge), Prime Minister Office Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space

Nirmala Sitharaman: Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge), Finance Corporate Affairs

G.M. Siddeshwara: Civil Aviation

Manoj Sinha: Railways

Nihalchand: Chemicals and Fertilizers

Upendra Kushwaha: Rural Development, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Sanitation

Radhakrishnan P: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Kiren Rijiju: Home Affairs

Krishan Pal: Road Transport and Highways Shipping

Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan: Agriculture & Food Processing Industries

Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava: Tribal Affairs

Raosaheb Dadarao Danve: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Vishnu Deo Sai: Mines, Steel & Labour and Employment

Sudarshan Bhagat: Social Justice and Empowerment

Modi takes charge as 15th Prime Minister of India

Narendra Modi was sworn in Prime Minister of India at the head of a 45—member coalition government after the elections that saw the BJP gain absolute majority in 30 years on 27-May-2014.

Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Uma Bharti, Maneka Gandhi, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani and Harsh Vardhan were among those who were sworn in as Cabinet ministers. 

Anandiben Patel sworn-in as Gujarat first woman CM

Anandiben Patel, a close Narendra Modi associate, was on  23rd sworn-in as first woman Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Army declares coup in Thailand imposes nationwide curfew

Thailand’s army chief announced a military takeover of the government on 22nd, saying the coup was necessary to restore stability and order after six months of political deadlock and turmoil. 

Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said in a statement broadcast on national television that the commission which imposed martial law on 20th  would now take control of the country’s administration.

Naveen Patnaik sworn in as Odisha chief minister

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik was on 21-May-2014 sworn in as Odisha chief minister for the fourth straight term.

Governor SC Jamir administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 67-year-old leader at a ceremony attended by hundreds of party leaders, workers, officials and journalists at the Raj Bhavan in state capital Bhubaneswar.

Pawan Chamling becomes longest-serving CM in the country

Pawan Chamling was sworn in as Sikkim Chief Minister for a record fifth time along with 11 ministers by Governor Sriniwas Patil on 21-05-2014

Last week, SDF won the assembly polls by a two-third majority with 22 of its lawmakers being elected to the 32 member House.

In power since December 12, 1994, 63-year-old Mr Chamling has already completed two uninterrupted decades as the chief minister of Sikkim.

He surpasses the record of former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu of being the longest serving chief minister of the country.Mr Basu had ruled West Bengal for 23 years from 1977 to 2000.

South Korean PM resigns over ferry sinking

South Korea’s Prime Minister Chung Hong-won resigned on 27-04-2014 over the government’s handling of a ferry sinking that has left more than 300 people dead or missing. 

Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said President Park Geun-hye would accept the resignation, but did not say when Mr. Chung would leave office.

Holocaust “the most heinous crime” of modern history : Abbas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas  called the Holocaust “the most heinous crime” of modern history and expressed his sympathy for the victims, a rare acknowledgment by an Arab leader of Jewish suffering during the Nazi genocide.

Pope Francis declares John XXIII, John Paul II saints

Pope Francis declared his two predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II saints on Sunday before hundreds of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, an unprecedented ceremony made even more historic by the presence of retired Pope Benedict XVI.

Justice Lodha sworn in as 41st Chief Justice of India

Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court, was on 27-04-2014 sworn in as the 41st Chief Justice of India by President Pranab Mukherjee. 

The 64-year-old Justice Lodha took over from Justice (retd) P. Sathasivam who demitted office on 26-04-2014 after nine months as the head of the judiciary.

SC says transgenders 'third category'

Transgenders should be treated as a third category and as a socially and economically backward class entitled to job reservation, the Supreme Court said on 15-April-2013. 

Activists termed the verdict "revolutionary" but said social acceptance will take longer because of the stigma associated with them.

Recognising transgenders as a third gender, the apex court bench of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice A.K. Sikri directed the central and state governments to include them for reservation in jobs and education.

The court also said both the union and state governments would frame welfare schemes for them.

Rajendra Singh named "Solar Champion of Change" by White House

White House has named Indian-American professor Rajendra Singh as one of ten "Solar Champions of Change" who are taking the initiative to spur solar deployment across America.

Rajendra Singh is D. Houser Banks Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of Clemson University's Centre of Silicon Nanoelectronics in South Carolina.

White House has named Indian-American professor Rajendra Singh as one of ten "Solar Champions of Change" who are taking the initiative to spur solar deployment across America.
Rajendra Singh is D. Houser Banks Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of Clemson University's Centre of Silicon Nanoelectronics in South Carolina.
- See more at: http://www.ummid.com/news/2014/April/19.04.2014/solar-champ-of-year.html#sthash.GRlEflpc.dpuf

White House has named Indian-American professor Rajendra Singh as one of ten "Solar Champions of Change" who are taking the initiative to spur solar deployment across America.
Rajendra Singh is D. Houser Banks Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of Clemson University's Centre of Silicon Nanoelectronics in South Carolina.
- See more at: http://www.ummid.com/news/2014/April/19.04.2014/solar-champ-of-year.html#sthash.GRlEflpc.dpuf

Nobel laureate Garcia Marquez died

Garcia Marquez, the Nobel laureate whose intoxicating novels and short stories exposed millions outside Latin America to its passions, superstition, violence and social inequality, has died at home in Mexico City. He was 87.


Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century, he was awarded the 1972 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature

Vijay Seshadri has won the prestigious 2014 Pulitzer Prize

Indian born poet Vijay Seshadri has won the prestigious 2014 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for his witty and philosophical collection of poems while The Washington Post and Guardian were awarded for their reports on America's secret global surveillance programmes.


Seshadri won the Pulitzer, considered the most prestigious awards in journalism, for his work '3 Sections'

Robin K Dhowan is the New Navi Chief

Robin K Dhowan on 17-April-2014 took over as chief of the Indian Navy nearly two months after D K Joshi quit the post in the wake of a series of mishaps.

 

Admiral Dhowan, 59, who has been the acting Navy chief since Joshi's exit, has been appointed the Chief of Navy Staff superseding Western Naval Commander Shekhar Sinha

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System(IRNSS-1B) launched

The  scientists of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro)  successfully launched its second Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System(IRNSS-1B) from Sriharikota  in Andhra Pradesh on 04-April-2014.

With this successful launch, the second of the seven satellite system, India inches closer to a select group of countries that have such a navigation system.

The 1,432 kg satellite was blasted off by the  rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C24)  at 5.14 pm from  the launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Center. IRNSS-1B is the second navigation satellite of the seven satellites constituting the IRNSS space segment.

Its predecessor IRNSS-1A was launched in July 2013

Soon after the ejection into the orbit the satellite’s solar panels were deployed.

The satellite control was taken over by the Mission Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka.
IRNSS-1B carries two  types of payloads — navigation payload and ranging payload. The IRNSS  system will provide two types of services — Standard Positioning System provided to all the users and the Restricted Service provided only to authorised users.

Besides applications in surveying,  mapping, archaeology, satellite navigation has also proved useful in the fields of maritime, aviation, automobiles, disaster management operations and tracking services. In June Isro is expected  to launch the country’s heavier rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle – Mark III (GSLV-Mk III).

J & K first to declare all Election booths as 'No smoking Zones'

Jammu and Kashmir  became the first state in the country to declare all election booths in the coming Lok Sabha polls as no smoking zones.

It will now be mandatory for all election booths to display the 'No Smoking Area' warning. Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir Umang Narula issued a circular, directing that all election booths in the state shall be 'No Smoking Zones'.

Sunil Gavaskar to head BCCI during IPL 7 season

The Supreme Court appointed Sunil Gavaskar as an Interim President during IPL 7 and allowed

Vice President of the Board, Shivlal Yadav, will discharge the functions of BCCI president

with regard to all other matters.