Daily Current Affairs - 8th October 2014

1) The Indian Air Force (IAF) is celebrating 8 October 2014 as its foundation day in the form of ‘Air Force Day’. The IAF completed how many years of its establishment on this day? – 82 years

Explanation: IAF was established on 8 October 1932 with formation of the No.1 Squadron. It was established as an auxiliary air force of the British Empire and the prefix ‘Royal’ was added in 1945 in recognition of its services during World War II. The prefix was dropped in 1950 when India became a republic.

2) On 7 October 2014 Japanese scientists Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano and American Shuji Nakamura were named as the winners of the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics for inventing what? – LED light

Explanation: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in its statement said that “As about one fourth of world electricity consumption is used for lighting purposes, the LEDs contribute to saving the Earth’s resources.” LED (which stands for Light Emitting Diode) is seen responsible for a massive cut in electricity consumption sue to it being energy efficient as well as environment friendly. The three scientists during the early 1990s made the breakthrough to produce the blue diodes that are a crucial component in producing white light from LEDs. Isamu Akasaki is associated with Meijo University (Nagoya, Japan) while Hiroshi Amano is from Nagoya University (Nagoya, Japan). Japan-born U.S. scientist Shuji Nakamurais associated with the University of California, Santa Barbara.

3) Birth Centenary celebrations of which noted Hindustani classical singer commenced from 7 October 2014? – Begum Akhtar

Explanation: Begum Akhtar’s real name was Akhtar Bai Faizabadi. She was famous for the renditions of Ghazal, Dadra and Thumri and was given the title of Mallika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazals). She was born on 7 October 1914 and passed away on 30 October 1974. On the occasion of her birth centenary year-long programmes have been planned by the Union Govt. Commemorative coins of Rs.100 and Rs. 5 on Begum Akhtar were also released in a programme held in New Delhi.

4) The new Monetary Policy Framework Agreement, which aims to change the monetary policy formulation and will also focus on inflation targeting, is proposed to be signed by which date as announced by the Finance Ministry recently? – 1 February 2015

Explanation: The proposed framework is based on a combination of recommendations by FSLRC (Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission) and the Urjit Patel Committee, along with inputs from the Rajan Panel on Financial Sector Reforms. The Finance Ministry is presently seeking the comments of the RBI on this framework. The proposal will then be placed in the public domain before finalising the agreement. The endeavour is to sign the agreement by 1 February 2015, to show that one of the key Budget announcements has been implemented. The establishment of a modern monetary policy framework was announced in the Union Budget 2014-15 presented by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 10 July 2014.

5) What is the new growth projection for India for 2014-15 as announced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 7 October 2014? – 5.6%

Explanation: In its report IMF clearly stated that India’s economy has recovered from a slump and better exports and investment prospects are visible. The IMF’s year-on-year forecast for India’s financial year to March 2015 represents a 0.2 percentage-point uptick from its April 2014 projection. India’s economy posted two years of sub-five-per cent growth, the longest slowdown in a quarter century.

6) India’s largest ferris wheel was inaugurated on 2 October 2014 at Kalindi Kunj in Delhi. This 200-feet high offers panoramic view of the city of Delhi. What is the name given to this giant wheel? – Delhi Eye

Explanation: At 200 feet, the giant wheel is the tallest in the country. It has 36 air-conditioned cabins that can seat six people each. Soft music plays throughout the ride, which lasts 20 minutes in all. The glass bottom in the cabin offers magnificent views of the city. It is constructed on the lines of the famous such flyers in London and Singapore. In fact, the same Dutch company which created the Singapore Flyer, was hired to construct the Delhi Eye.