Top 5 News Events of 2014: India

With the management season in full swing, apart from studying their entrance exam syllabus, aspirants are adviced to be up-to-date with the latest happenings of India and the world. Candidates are suggested to do this primarily due to the exam pattern of previous years which pays light to the fact that examiners are known to have quizzed students on the current happenings of the world.

 The year 2014, made news in different fields and to help summarise the news worthy events in various fields, we at Shiksha.com have started this series on top five events that happened in Politics, Business, Sports and Entertainment in India and the world.

Kashmir Floods

The state of Jammu and Kashmir as well as adjoining areas received very heavy rainfall from September 2, 2014 onwards. Due to this landslides and floods was reported in these areas. As per news reports from September 5, 2014, the Jhelum River in Srinagar started flowing 4.40 feet above the danger mark which led to death and destruction. The floods in J&K are termed to be the worst the state has experienced in 50 years.

Areas affected by the floods include –Jammu and Kashmir, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab in Pakistan.

Statistics reveal that as many as 284 people in India as well as 280 in Pakistan lost their lives due to these floods.

Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi offered assistance of Rs 745 crore to the State Government, in addition to Rs 1100 crore already earmarked by the Centre for the disaster.

Assam Floods

The state of Assam also fell prey to massive floods in the month of September. The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) shared that around 3.74 lakh people were affected by these floods. The Assam floods affected 204 villages in Goalpara, Kamrup Rural and Dhemaji districts.

The Assam floods claimed 44 lives and 20 of the casualties were reported from Goalpara dictrict, followed by 16 in Kamrup Rural, 6 in Kamrup Metro and one each in the Morigaon as well as Dhubri districts. 

In Goalpara, around 81,500 houses were either fully or partially damaged by these floods.

Managalyaan Mission

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan was launched by ISRO on November 5, 2013 to study the surface of planet Mars. Mangalyaan created history when it became the first spacecraft to reach Mars in its first attempt.

The Mars Orbiter Mission was launched on a budget of Rs 450 crore which is nearly 1/10 of the amount NASA spent on its Mars craft, Maven. The lift-off mass of Mangalyaan was 1,350 kg and its size is approximately equal to a TATA Nano car.

Mangalyaan was launched aboard India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C25 rocket and its expected life is six months.

Mangalyaan had many brilliant minds behind its successful conceptualisation and launch. You can know all about the scientists behind Mangalyaan here.

Nobel Peace Prize to Satyarthi

An Indian children's rights advocate and an activist against child labour, Kailash Satyarthi was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. Satyarthi is the man behind Bachpan Bachao Andolan which he founded in 1980. He has worked towards protecting the rights of more than 83,000 children living in 144 countries of the world till date.

Due to Satyarthi's participation as well as activism, the International Labour Organisation adopted Convention No 182 (on the worst forms of child labour), which is now a principal guideline to be followed by governments all over the world

Coal block Allocation Revoked

As per the latest information the Attorney General has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to spare 40 out of the 218 coal blocks allocations which the court declared illegal with the companies that operate mines. However, this clause can only be applied to firms that are either producing coal or close to doing so.