Current Affairs Updates : 25 October 2014

Written By Admin on October 26, 2014 | Sunday, October 26, 2014

1) Election Commission announced poll dates for J&K, Jharkhand: Election Commission on Saturday announced a five-phase assembly poll in Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand from November 25 to December 20. Three assembly seats in Delhi — Mehrauli, Tughlaqabad and Krishna Nagar — will also have bypolls on November 25, along with the first phase of J&K and Jharkhand election, in an outcome which may have a bearing on whether a government will be formed in the Capital from the existing assembly or it will have to go for fresh polls. The first phase of polling in Jharkhand and J&K on November 25 will be followed by the second phase on December 2, third on December 9, fourth on December 14 and fifth and final phase on December 20. Counting for the two states as well as Delhi bypolls will be held on December 23, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath announced at a press conference.

2) President of India released a Commemorative Postage Stamp on Anagarika Dharmapala: A commemorative postage stamp on Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Anagarika Dharmapala, who is credited to have revived Buddhism in India in the 19th century, was released in New Delhi on 25 October 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Infact it is a joint stamp issue of India and Sri Lanka.Its the first joint stamp issue of India with any SAARC country.Sri Lanka issued stamp on 150th Birth Anniversary of Anagarika Dharmapala last week. Law and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Sudharshan Seneviratne, Member of Parliament Meenakshi Lekhi and Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh were among those present on the occasion.

3) Centre gives nod to defence projects worth Rs 80,000 cr: Defence projects worth a whopping Rs 80,000 crore were cleared by the government which decided that six submarines will be made indigenously and over 8,000 Israeli anti-tank guided missiles and 12 upgraded Dornier surveillance aircraft will be purchased. The decisions were taken following a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, that lasted for over two hours with Defence Secretary, the Chiefs of all three services, DRDO Chief and other senior officials attending it. The bulk of the decisions went in favour of the Navy that was in dire need of up-gradation and capability enhancement.

4) India initiates for 'International Yoga Day' at UN: India has initiated efforts to have June 21 commemorated each year as the 'International Day of Yoga' at the United Nations, aiming to bring to fruition the idea floated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his maiden address to the UN General Assembly last month.

5) Android chief Sundar Pichai to head Google’s products business: India-born chief of Google’s Android unit, Sundar Pichai, will now lead the US-based search engine giant’s global products business as part of management reorganisation. According to industry sources, Google CEO Larry Page is transferring leadership of core Google products to Pichai, who will now oversee products like search, maps, Google+, commerce, advertising and infrastructure.

6) Dhoni buys Ranchi franchise of Hockey India League: After motorsports and football, Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has now lent his support to Indian hockey by becoming the owner of the Ranchi franchise of the Hockey India League (HIL). Dhoni bought the team along with Sahara India Pariwar, who already is the owner of the Uttar Pradesh Wizards side in the HIL. The new Ranchi franchise will be known as 'Ranchi Rays' from third edition of HHIL to be held in January-February next year.

7) AIFF suspended Atletico de Kolkata coach and two players: All India Football Federation suspended head coach of Atletico de Kolkata Antonio Lopez Habas for four matches while two players Robert Pires and Fikru Lemessa have been banned for two matches for breaching disciplinary code during the ongoing Indian Super League. Both the players and the coach were involved in ugly altercations during an ill-tempered match between Atletico de Kolkata and FC Goa at Margao on October 23.