Current Affairs 2014: General news of India and the World

Year 2014 has added various events to its timeline. The year was a mix of developments, mishappenings and downfalls. Missing of Malaysian Airlines, ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) project, Ebola outbreak around the world – are a few such incidents that grabbed the world’s attention. And on our way to progress, a few great people departed, saying good bye to the world.

The season of entrance exams for admissions to various undergraduate courses has just begun. The board exams of Class 12 are almost to its end. Keeping a track of events that took place in 2014 might help you make it to your dream college this year.

The exam pattern of most of the entrances exams includes General Knowledge (GK) apart from other sections such as Mathematics, Verbal and Logical reasoning being the others. In GK, candidates are asked questions from history, business, basic science, books, prizes and current affairs. Therefore, having knowledge of the timeline of the year 2014 is very important.

Shiksha.com has divided the timeline of the year 2014 in five section – General, Political, Business, Sports and Entertainment news. In this article the events under General news have been discussed.

Read the article to know the general events that took place in India and around the world in the year 2014.

 

January

India

• GSAT-14 was launched from Sriharikota using GSLV-D5 launch vehicle on January 5, 2014.
• Prithvi II missile was tested at Chandipur test range.
• Notable Maoist leader Gudsa Usendi and his wife surrendered to the Andhra police.
• Namdeo Dhasal, aged 64, Indian poet and activist, died on January 15, 2014.
• The 52nd Dai of the Dawoodi Bohras, Mohammed Burhanuddin, 98, died on January 17, 2014 due to cardiac attack at his home Saifee Mahal in Mumbai.
• Eight girls who were kidnapped from the endangered Jarawa tribe were rescued in Andamans.
• A stampede broke out in Mumbai in which 18 people were killed. The stampede broke out at the residence of the religious leader Dawoodi Bohras Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, who died on January 17, 2014.
• The Agni-IV missile was test-fired on January 20.
• A boat capsized near Port Blair in Andaman killing 21 people who were mostly tourists.
• Widespread protests were triggered after the death of Nido Taniam, a 20-year-old student from Arunachal Pradesh who died after being beaten up by locals at a marketplace in the Lajpat Nagar area of New Delhi on January 29, 2014.

International

• Devyani Khobragade, an Indian diplomat whose arrest sparked a diplomatic row between India and the United States, was charged for allegedly lying in order to obtain a work visa for her housekeeper. Devyani left for India after being indicated for this crime under diplomatic immunity.
• The United States returned three 11-12th century sculptures stolen by art thieves from temples in India. The sculptures were worth $ 1.5 million.
• President Barack Obama was criticised for the manner in which he handled the War in Afghanistan in a book released by former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

 

February

India

• The first 8.9 km of the Mumbai Monorail was inaugurated connecting Jacob Circle in South Mumbai with Chembur in Eastern Mumbai.
• The 12th Delhi Auto Expo was held in India Expo Mart in Greater Noida from February 5- February 11, 2014.
• A ferry capsized in the Hirakud Dam reservoir drowning 31 persons.
• The book written by Wendy Doniger called – The Hindus: An Alternative History was banned by India and Penguin books for “blasphemy”.
• Tamil Nadu decided to free the three men and one woman who were found guilty of assassinating former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

International

• Scientists at the Australian National University discovered the Universe’s oldest known star named - ‘SMSS J031300.36-670839.3’ which scientists estimate to be about 13.6 billion years old.
• The United States registered a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO), accusing Indian laws of discriminating against US solar panel manufacturers.
• An outbreak of measles from the Philippines spread to Australia, Taiwan, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
• The construction of Tân V?-L?ch Huy?n Bridge in Haiphong was initiated by Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguy?n T?n D?ng. The bridge is said to become the longest sea bridge in Vietnam and South-East Asia.

 

March

India

• Indian novelist, politician, lawyer and journalist Khushwant Singh, died on March 20, 2014 due to natural causes. He was 99 years old.
• C-130J Super Hercules of the Indian Air Force crashed near Gwalior killing all five personnel on board. While searching for survivors in Chambal River, a volunteer was killed.
• On March 27, 2014, a total of 24 Indian fishermen were arrested by Sri Lankan Navy for crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line.

International

• South-East Asia’s longest bridge over water in Penang, Malaysia – Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge or the Penang Second Bridge opened on March 1.
• On March 8, Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 airliner en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, disappeared over the Gulf of Thailand with 239 people on board. It is presumed that the aircraft crashed into the Indian Ocean.
• India and the entire South-East Asia region was declared Polio-free by WHO on March 27, 2014.
• The 14th Dalai Lama delivered the Opening Prayer at the US Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on March 6.

 

April

India

• On April 4, second navigation satellite IRNSS-1B of India was placed in orbit.
• In a bomb explosion near Aurangabad in Bihar, two CRPF personnel were killed.
• Supreme Court of India recognised transgender as a third gender in the country.
• Robin K Dhowan took over as the Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy. He became the 22nd navy chief of India on April 17. Earlier Admiral DK Joshi held this post.

International

• Around 276 girls and women were abducted and held hostage from a school in Nigeria.
• More than 290 people, majority of who were secondary school students of Danwon High School, were killed when a Korean ferry MV Sewol capsized and sank after the ferry took a sharp right turn and experienced an unmanageable cargo shift.
• An ocean of liquid water under the surface of Enceladus, a moon of Saturn was estimated by Scientists from NASA and the European Space Agency.

May

India

• One woman passenger was killed and at least 14 people were injured in an explosion of two low intensity bombs. The incident took place on a Guwahati bound train which arrived at the Chennai Central railway station on May 1.
• National Democratic Front of Bodoland carried out a series of attacks from May 1- May 3 on migrant Muslims in Assam. Around 32 people were killed.
• Former Chairman and Managing Director of Tata Steel, Russi Mody, aged 96, died on May 16, 2014.
• CP Krishnan Nair, Founder-Chairman of the Leela Group of Hotels, aged 92, died on May 17, 2014 following a brief illness.
• Production of Hindustan Ambassador car stopped by Hindustan Motors.
• Indian police arrested 29 people after National Democratic Front of Bodoland separatists killed 29 Muslims and burned down homes.

International

• The World Health Organisation identified the spread of poliomyelitis in at least 10 countries and announced worldwide health emergency.
• Argentinosaurus named as the heaviest species of dinosaur ever while a sparrow-sized Qiliania named as the smallest.
• A Facebook page called “My Stealthy Freedom”, garnered more than 130,000 likes within a week of being created. On this page women across Iran posted their photos without the hijab.
• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation sponsored a report which was published online by “The Lancet”. This report revealed that 30% of the world’s population was overweight or obese.

June

India

• Mumbai Metro started operations on line 1 from Versova to Ghatkopar.
• Operations of AirAsia India began.
• More than 500 children, aged 6 to 16, who had been trafficked from eastern states into Kerala, were rescued by police.
• In total 24 students from Hyderabad, on an excursion trip to Himachal Pradesh, were washed away in the Beas River. The incident took place after a hydropower plant allegedly discharged water into the river without any prior warning. The incident took place on June 8 in Thalaut on Manali-Kiratpur Highway, 40 km from district headquarters Mandi.
• Almost 19 people were killed when a pipeline belonging to GAIL caught fire in Nagaram village of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh.
• Water cannons were fired by Indian police to disperse hundreds of protesters, angry over the gangrape and hanging of two teenage girls in Uttar Pradesh. The demonstration took place outside the office of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

International

• On June 30, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C23 (PSLV-C23) from Sriharikota carrying five foreign satellites French Earth Observation Satellite SPOT-7 weighing 714 kg, 14 kg AISAT of Germany, NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) & NLS7.2 (CAN-X5) of Canada weighing 15 kg each and the 7 kg VELOX-1 of Singapore.
• A new programming language called Swift was introduced by Apple for iOS and OS X development.
• American hip hop band, the Beastie Boys won the law suit against the makers of Monster Energy drink for unauthorised use of the band’s music in their advertisement. The band received $1.7 million for copyright violation.
• Queen’s Official Birthday was celebrated in the United Kingdom on June 14, with Trooping the Colour (also known as the Birthday Parade) along with the Birthday Honours.
• Barack Obama, The President of the United States, proposed to expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, making the world’s largest marine sanctuary in the Central Pacific Ocean.

July

India

• Air India joined the Star Alliance.
• The first batch of about 80 Indians stranded in Lebanon arrived from Iraq on July 5.
• Odhisha’s top Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, an accused in the Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati murder case, was arrested in Berhampur town of Odisha on July 18.
• Due to heavy rainfall in Malin village in Pune district of Maharashtra state, a landslide destroyed 44 houses and buried nearly 200 persons. The incident took place early in the morning when most of the people were asleep.
• An 11-story building which was under construction collapsed in Chennai, crushing to death 61 people, which mostly comprised of construction workers.
• Around 18 people, which included 16 school children, died after a train collided with a bus in the Medak district of Telangana.
• Around seven people were killed when an advanced Indian Air Force chopper-307 crashed in the in Sitapur area of Uttar Pradesh.

International

• Pelagornis Sandersi, the pre-historic bird, is identified as the largest flying bird yet discovered.
• Save the Children, the aid group warned of a cholera outbreak in South Sudan, which is known to have killed 60 people so far.
• Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 scheduled from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down on July 17 by pro-Russian separatists using a Buk surface-to-air missile. All 283 passengers and 15 crew on board were killed.
• The population of the Philippines reached 100 million.
• A heatwave in Japan caused at least 15 deaths and more than 8000 people hospitalised in one week.
• The World Health Organisation announced a US $100 million emergency response plan to combat the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak which killed at least 729 people.

August

India

• Yoga teacher BKS Iyengar, aged 95, died on August 20, 2014 due to heart failure and renal failure.
• On August 21, Kerala decided to shut down over 700 liquor bars attached to hotels which were rated in the five-star category. Also, the state decided to have Sundays as “dry days”.
• Kannada writer UR Ananthamurthy, 81, died of cardiac arrest on August 22, 2014.
• The Supreme Court of India declared all 218 coal block allocations made from 1993 to 2011 as illegal and arbitrary.
• The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), comprehensive financial inclusion programme, was formally launched on August 28. About 1.5 crore accounts were opened on day 1 by means of thousands of camps, exceeding the first day target of 1 crore accounts.

International

• On August 4, The United Kingdom commemorated the 100th anniversary of declaration of war against Germany in the First World War.
• After Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Nigeria became the third African nation to declare a state of emergency due theWest Africa Ebola outbreak.

September

India

• Mandolin player and composer, U Srinivas also known as Mandolin Srinivas, aged 45, died on September 19, 2014, due to liver failure.
• Disastrous floods hit the Jammu-Kashmir region. The primary reason for these floods was torrential rainfall. The affected regions of the floods were Indian administrated Jammu and Kashmir, as well as Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab in Pakistan. Nearly 284 people in India and 280 people in Pakistan died due to the floods as reported by September 24, 2014.
• ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) entered the orbit of the red planet, Mars on September 24. With this, India became the first nation in the world to have entered the Mars orbit in the first attempt. ISRO’s MOM is the cheapest Mars mission till now.

International

• India and Australia signed a nuclear deal for supply of Uranium by Australia to India for energy generation.
• An agreement was signed between US’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 30, to collaborate on an earth-observing satellite called NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) and future Mars missions.
• More than 200 people died across India and Pakistan due to heavy monsoon rains and flash floods.
• Reports came in that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were expecting their second child.
• MAVEN space probe of NASA successfully arrived in orbit over Mars on September 22.
• The President of the United States, Barack Obama signed a memorandum for expanding the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to 490,000 square miles, making it the biggest marine preserve in the world.

October

India

• On October 2, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a cleanliness drive – Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. This national level campaign covers 4041 statutory towns to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure of the country.
• The Kerala High Court upheld the state government’s decision to close down about 700 bars to make the state alcohol-free by 2023. However, heritage and four-star hotels were allowed to serve liquor apart from five-star hotels which were already exempted.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off a rally named ‘Run for Unity’ from Vijay Chowk to celebrate 139th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• Reports came in that E-Cigarettes are soon to be banned in India.
• India slipped from 2013’s 101 rank to 114 in the list of 142 countries in Gender Gap Report of World Economic Forum.
• India’s 3rd navigation satellite IRNSS 1C launched with the help of PSLV C26 rocket.

International

• The Nobel Peace Prize 2014 was awarded to India’s Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai.
• French economist Jean Tirole won the Nobel Prize 2014 for economics.
• Stefan Hell of Germany and US researchers Eric Betzig and William Moerner won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
• Japanese-born US scientist Shuji Nakamura and Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan won the Nobel Prize in physics.
• US-British scientist John O’Keefe and Norwegian couple May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser won the Nobel Prize in medicine.
• Nobel Prize in literature was won by French writer Patrick Modiano.
• The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian man, died in Dallas, Texas on October 8.
• New Zealand, Angola, Malaysia, Spain and Venezuela have been elected to sit on the United Nations Security Council for two years from 2015.
• Barack Obama, the President of the United States, named lawyer and former political operative Ron Klain as “Ebola Czar” to coordinate US response to the Ebola outbreak.
• An outbreak of cholera killed 51 people in Niger.
• Richard Flanagan’s novel – The Narrow Road to the Deep North, won the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

November

India

• It is found that when it comes to R&D Investment, India Lags behind USA, China, and South Korea.
• India’s Mars Mission is placed in the list of Best Inventions of 2014.
• Medium-range nuclear-capable Agni-II Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) successfully testfired by India.
• Facebook restricted information access to around 5000 ‘hate content’ information pieces in India from January to June 2014. Around 1,773 information pieces were restricted in Pakistan and 1,893 in Turkey.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ranked 15th in Forbes’ list of most powerful persons of the world. Satya Nadella of Microsoft ranked at 64, Lakshmi Mittal of ArcelorMittal was on 57, and Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries on 36.
• Find out which were the top news events which made headlines in India.

International

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that the world faces “severe, pervasive and irreversible” damage from global emissions of CO2, released in the final part of its Fifth Assessment Report.
• The Rosetta spacecraft’s Philae probe successfully lands on Comet 67P.
• Dr Matshidiso Moeti of Botswana is appointed by World Health Organisation as the new Africa Chief as the death toll from the Ebola virus passed 5,000.
• The investigation team for Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 extended its deadline by another nine months to August 2015 due to difficulties in accessing the crash site.
• Russia is planning to launch an ‘alternative Wikipedia’.
• UNESCO declared Machu Picchu of Peru, the Rizal Monument in Manila, the Dampier Archipelago of Australia, and Camino de Santiago of Spain, as World Heritage Sites in Danger.
• It is reported by The World Health Organisation that an outbreak of bubonic plague in Madagascar killed 40 people.