Current Affairs : 20 June 2014
Written By Admin on June 21, 2014 | Saturday, June 21, 2014
1) Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh to get Jnanpith award:
Noted Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh was chosen for the prestigious
Jnanpith award for 2013 on 20 June 2014. Singh is the 10th Hindi writer
to receive the honour and joins the likes of Sumitra Nandan Pant,
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar among others. He will be the recipient of 49th
Jnanpith award. 80-year-old Singh, who has also written essays and
stories, was born in Balia, UP, and 'Abhi bilkul abhi' and 'Yahan se
dekho' are among his prominent works. The award includes Rs 11 lakh and a
citation, a release from the Jnanpith award committee said.
2) Government hiked railway passenger fare by 14.2%, freight chargesby 6.5%
: The
government has increased railway passenger fare by 14.2 per cent
andfreight charges by 6.5 per cent on 20 June 2014. The increased rates
will come effect from 25 June 2014. As much as 4.2 per cent of the fare
hike is on account of a variable Fuel Adjustment Component (FAC)
approved in last year’s rail budget. The remaining 10 per cent is a flat
hike across all classes. Similarly, freight rates will have a five per
cent hike flat over and above a 1.4 per cent of the FAC.
3) Salman Rushdie wins PEN Pinter prize: Salman
Rushdie is to receive the 2014 PEN Pinter prize, following in the
footsteps of Tony Harrison, Hanif Kureishi, David Hare, Carol Ann Duffy
and Tom Stoppard. The prize was established in 2009 by the campaigning
group English PEN in memory of the playwright Harold Pinter. It is given
annually to a writer who, in the words of Pinter's speech on receiving
the Nobel prize, casts an "unflinching, unswerving" gaze on the world
and shows a "fierce intellectual determination ... to define the real
truth of our lives and societies". Rushdie will be presented with the
award at the British Library on 9 October.
4) India 143rd on Global Peace Index: Ranking India
among 20 most violent places in the world, a global study on 18 June
2014 said the country's economy took a hit of over Rs 1 lakh crore in
containing and dealing with cases of violence last year. In the latest
annual ranking of Global Peace Index, India has been ranked at 143rd
position out of 162 countries surveyed.While India has slipped two
positions, Iceland continues to top the list as the world's most
peaceful place. However, Syria has replaced Afghanistan as the most
violent place.
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