Daily Current Affairs - 20 - 21th September 2014

1) Pension regulator PFRDA during September 2014 constituted an expert committee to review the investment guidelines for National Pension System (NPS) schemes in private sector. Who was appointed as the Chairman of this committee? – G N Bajpai, Former Chairman of SEBI and former Chairman of LIC

Explanation: This committee will look at the investment guidelines in a “wholesale” manner so as to enable flow of pension monies in new instruments such as long term infrastructure bonds to be floated by banks, infrastructure debt funds and Basel 3 compliant bonds. The committee will among other things also consider moving to dynamic market-based allocation of funds/choice of fund managers. The review of investment guidelines will also help revamp the role of pension fund managers (PFMs) and could allow them to proactively promote pension products.  The members of the expert committee include Deepak Satwalekar, former CEO and Managing Director at HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, S B Mathur, former LIC Chairman, C R Murlidharan, former IRDA Member and Madhavi Das, Executive Director, PFRDA.

2) Scottish voters rejected the proposed independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom (UK) in a keenly-watched referendum held on 18 September 2014. The results of the referendum were declared on 19 September 2014. With this Scotland would continue to remain part of the UK. In which year Scotland joined the UK? – In 1707

Explanation: 55.3% Scottish voters voted in favour of remaining with the UK while the remaining 44.7% voted for independence of Scotland. The question asked in this referendum was – “Should Scotland be an independent country?”. In is worth mentioning that Scotland joined the United Kingdom in 1707 which comprised of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. Later Ireland became independent and came to be known as Republic of Ireland.

3) U. Shrinivas, the Carnatic classical instrumentalist, who passed away on 19 September 2014 at the age of 45, was associated with Western instrument? –Mandolin

Explanation: U. Shrinivas was one of the most famous Carnatic classical instrumentalist of present times. His greatest achievement was his amazing dexterity with a western instrument like Mandolin, on which he played some of the most complex Carnatic compositions. He was better known as Mandolin Shrinivas for his command over the instrument. As a child prodigy, he created waves in the Carnatic music world at the tender age of 11.

4) The first gold medal of 17th Asian Games was claimed by which country on 20 September 2014? – China

Explanation: China won the first gold medal when its women shooters-Olympic champions Guo Wenjun, Zhang Mengyuan and Zhou Qingyuan – clinched the 10m Air Pistol team title. The silver and bronze medals were won by Taiwan and Mongolia respectively. The competitive events started on 20 September 2014 after a grand opening ceremony a day earlier at Incheon (South Korea).

5) Who won the first gold medal for India at 17th Asian Games at Incheon on 20 September 2014? – Jitu Rai (in Shooting)

Explanation: Ace shooter Jitu Rai won the first gold medal for India on 20 September 2014 when he stood first in the men’s 50m Pistol event. Rai accumulated 186.2 points in comparison to Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Phuong’s 183.4 and Wang Zhiwei (China) stood a distant third with 165.6 points. Jitu Rai is the Lucknow-based shooter and he completed a grand double as he had won gold in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this year.

6) India’s first medal of 17th Asian Games at Incheon was won by which player on 20 September 2014?– Shooter Shweta Chaudhary

Explanation: Shweta Chaudhary won the bronze medal in the women’s 10m air pistol at the Ongnyeon International Shooting Range. She shot a total of 176.4 in the final to clinch the bronze medal while the silver went to South Korean Jung Jeehae (201.3) and China’s Zhang Mengyuan (202.2) won the gold.

7) Chinese tennis player Li Na announced her retirement from international tennis on 19 September 2014. She was the only tennis Grand Slam winner from China and had won two women singles’ Grand Slam titles. Which 2 titles were these? – French Open (2011) and Australian Open (2014)

Explanation: 32-year old Li set a host of milestones for tennis in China, including being the first Chinese player to win a WTA title and the first to win a major. She became the first player from China to win a Grand Slam singles title when she won the French Open title in 2011. She retired due to her recurring injuries.