Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 27 May 2014

Modi’s Council of ministers

The following is the list of council of ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Cabinet

Cabinet Ministers

Rajnath Singh: Home Minister
Sushma Swaraj: External Affairs & Overseas Indian Affairs
Arun Jaitley: Finance Corporate Affairs & Defence
M. Venkaiah Naidu: Urban Development Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation & Parliamentary Affairs
Nitin Jairam Gadkari: Road Transport and Highways Shipping
D.V. Sadananda Gowda: Railways
Uma Bharati: Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
Dr. Najma A. Heptulla: Minority Affairs
Gopinathrao Munde: Rural Development, Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water and Sanitation
Ramvilas Paswan: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Kalraj Mishra: Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Maneka Gandhi: Women and Child Development
Ananthkumar: Chemicals and Fertilizers
Ravi Shankar Prasad: Communications and Information Technology & Law and Justice
Ashok Gajapathi Raju: Civil Aviation
Anant Geete: Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
Harsimrat Kaur Badal: Food Processing Industries
Narendra Singh Tomar: Mines & Steel Labour and Employment
Jual Oram: Tribal Affairs
Radha Mohan Singh: Agriculture
Thaawar Chand Gehlot: Social Justice and Empowerment
Smriti Zubin Irani: Human Resource Development
Dr. Harsh Vardhan: Health and Family Welfare

Gorakhdham express

With the recovery of eight more bodies, the toll in the Delhi-Gorakhpur train accident has climbed to 25.
The Gorakhpur-bound Gorakhdham Express derailed and rammed into a stationary freight train near a railway station in Sant Kabir nagar.
Six bogies of the train were damaged in the accident which occurred near Churaib Railway Station.
Preliminary reports had said that fractured rails could have led to the accident.
The UP Home Department said that 40 people are feared killed in the accident.
In his first decision after taking over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a relief of Rs. two lakh each to the kin of those killed and Rs. 50,000 for those seriously injured in train accident in Uttar Pradesh.
He directed the Railway Ministry to ensure that relief operations were carried out smoothly and that all those injured in the Gorakhdham Express mishap were provided the best possible medical care.

New Libyan PM

Libya’s new Prime Minister Ahmed Maitiq and his cabinet swore-in amid objections raised to his election process.
Mr. Maitiq took his oath before President of the Parliament Nuri Abu Sahmain. He will wait for acting Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni to hand over his power.
Mr. Maitiq, a businessman educated in Britain, won a confidence vote in parliament after gaining 83 of the total 93 votes. But some politicians immediately challenged him, calling the vote “meaningless” as only 93 of the 200 lawmakers attended it.
The Libyan parliament has been stuck in a deadlock between the secular groups and Islamists since the 2011 popular protests that toppled the country’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Eurosceptic parties

Eurosceptic parties – both of the far-right and the left — have registered the biggest gains in the recently held elections to the European Parliament. Their performance rides on the wave of a protest vote by the citizens of 28 countries against the damaging post-recession economic policies of their own national governments and of the European Union.
In the United Kingdom, it was the anti-EU and anti-immigration United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) under the leadership of Nigel Farage that stormed to victory with 27.5 per cent of the vote, and 24 of the 73 seats the UK has in the European parliament.
The Labour Party came second with 25.4 per cent and 20 MEPs, Conservatives just under 24 per cent with 19 MEPs, the Green Party 7.87 per cent and 3 seats, the Scottish National Party 2.46 per cent and 2 seats, and the Liberal Democrats faring the worst, with 6.87 per cent of the vote and just one seat.
France and Germany, countries considered the centre of the EU project, both saw a surge in eurosceptic votes. In Denmark, the far-right Danish Peoples Party triumphed, winning 27 per cent of the vote and doubling its MEPs from two to four. In Spain the ruling Popular Party inched past the opposition Socialist party, winning 16 out of the 54 seats against the Socialists’ tally of 14.
In Greece, the left Syriza party led by Alexis Tsipras emerged the victor with 26.5 per cent of the vote, with the New Democracy party winning just 22.7 per cent of the vote.
The turnout in the elections averaged 43.1 percent, a shade higher than the 2009 turnout at 43 percent.

107 th birth anniversary of Carson

Google is celebrating the 107 th birth anniversary of Rachel Louise Carson, an American marine biologist and author by placing her on its doodles on its homepage. Google celebrates dignitaries with acclaim achievements by placing them on its google homepage as doodles.
Rachel Louise Carson was born on May 27, 1907 in USA. Carson was a famous writer and her achievement and acclaim with her writing on global environment movement in the world.
She raised her voice against the synthetic chemical pesticides and opposed the whole exercises focusing on the ill effects of the chemical and pesticides on the ecology and environment.
She was a famous writer also and create awareness among the people regarding the issued with writing.

'Kerala Blasters'

The Kochi team for the Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament, co-owned by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, has been named 'Kerala Blasters'.
The name was announced by state chief minister Oommen Chandy after his brief meeting with Tendulkar .
Tendulkar also accepted Chandy's request to be Goodwill Ambassador of the National Games, to be held in Kerala in January-February 2015.
Tendulkar, who was given a rousing reception at the airport and government secretariat, also called on Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan, seeking support in his efforts to promote football.