Daily Current Affairs - 9th October 2014

1) What is the name given to the tropical cyclonic storm building over the north Andaman Sea which is expected to hit the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on sheer intensity on 12 October 2014? –“Hud Hud”

Explanation: The name “Hud Hud” was given by the Indian Met Department (IMD) according to international cyclonic naming conventions. This cyclone is moving in from the Bay of Bengal and is forecast to bring gales of up to 140 kmph with heavy rains and storm when it hits the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on 12 October. ‘Hud Hud’ is expected to hit land between the port city of Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and the resort town of Gopalpur in Odisha.

2) What is the name of the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States who died on 8 October 2014 thus raising enormous anxiety in the country? –Thomas Eric Duncan

Explanation: Thomas Eric Duncan arrived in a Dallas apartment on 20 September 2014 after having spent years a refugee from his native country Liberia. He contact the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia, which is in the midst of a huge Ebola scar along with its West African neighbours Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

3) American scientists Eric Betzig and William Moerner and Germany’s Stefan Hell were announced as the 3 winners of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry on 8 October 2014. They have been honoured for their contribution in which field of Chemistry? – Optical Microscopy

Explanation: The trio of Betzig, Moerner and Hell were conferred for their contribution in the area of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy which helped in bringing optical microscopy into the nano-dimension. This helped to study molecular processes in real time. Betzig is associated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (U.S.) while Moerner is at Stanford University. Hell is Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany.

4) 33 years after founding Infosys, two of its founders bade farewell to the company on 8 October 2014. Who are these two persons? – NR Narayana Murthy and S Gopalakrishnan

Explanation: NR Narayana Murthy and S Gopalakrishnan along with six other persons (Nandan Nilekani, N. S. Raghavan, S. D. Shibulal, K. Dinesh, Venugopal and Ashok Arora) laid the foundation of Infosys in 1981. Infosys is now a $8 billion multi-national IT company and the third largest in India. On 1 June 2013, Narayana Murthy, company’s long time CEO, returned from his retirement to assume office in Infosys as its Executive Chairman. Murthy had the longest run of about 21 years as CEO before passing the baton to Nandan Nilekani and then Gopalakrishnan and S D Shibulal respectively. He will be designated as Chairman Emeritus from 11 October 2014. In August this year, Infosys appointed former SAP board member Vishal Sikka as its CEO and Managing Director.

5) According to media reports, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ordered its supervision team to monitor trading in debt markets by companies. This is the strongest expression of concern shown by the RBI on this issue. What is the primary reason for this move of the RBI? – Reports that many companies are building large trading positions in debt and currency markets

Explanation: Trading in debt markets by companies could pose risks to financial market stability as it exposes the companies to greater price volatility. However, some companies indulge in this trading as this can be a lucrative extra source of profits for them. Companies are legally allowed to invest in markets in India, but it has seldom raised RBI’s concerns until recently, when they have become much more active players.

6) During October 2014 the American Congress has initiated a probe against how many generic drug makers for price escalation of generic drugs that includes top Indian drug companies Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy’s Lab and Cadila Healthcare? – 14

Explanation: On 2 October 2014 the U.S. Congress initiated a probe and wrote to these firms, seeking details about recent hikes in prices of several generic products available in the U.S. market. Apart from the three Indian companies, the investigation includes Teva, Mylan, Actavis, Apotex, Endo, Global Pharmaceuticals, Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Lannett Company, Marathon Pharmaceuticals, PAR Pharmaceutical Companies Inc and West Ward Pharmaceutical Corp. This development is significant, especially against the backdrop of a continuing tussle between India and the US over issues related to intellectual property rights (IPR) and the American regulator increasing enforcements on Indian firms. However, industry officials maintain there is no provision under law by which the Congress could conduct such investigation.