General Awareness

Daily G.K. - Top Stories

25 Oct 2014

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Islamic State Richest Among Militant Groups

The Islamic State has fast become one of the world's wealthiest terror groups, generating tens of millions of dollars a month from black market oil sales, ransoms and extortion.
It earns $1 million a day alone by selling crude oil from fields captured when the group swept across Iraq and Syria earlier this year.
IS is now considered the world's wealthiest and most financially sophisticated terrorist organization.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant also translated as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and self-described as the Islamic State (IS), is a Sunni, extremist, jihadist, self-proclaimed caliphate, unrecognised state in Iraq and Syria in the Middle East.
The group originated as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999. This group was the forerunner of Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, commonly known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

World's First 'Dead Heart' Transplant

Scientists have made a dead heart beat again and successfully transplanted it in world's first ever game-changing surgery.
Doctors at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital have described it as the biggest heart transplant breakthrough in a decade, which will have profound implications for reducing the shortage of donor organs.
Previously transplant units relied solely on donor hearts from brain-dead patients whose hearts were still beating, but the clinic has transplanted two hearts which were donated after circulatory death (DCD) - where the heart is no longer beating.
The transplant of DCD hearts comes as the result of combined research between the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and St Vincent's Hospital and the two clinics created a special preservation solution which works in conjunction with a "heart in a box" machine.

Record-Breaking Fall

A well-known computer scientist parachuted from a balloon near the top of the stratosphere, falling faster than the speed of sound and breaking the world altitude record set just two years ago.
The jump was made by Alan Eustace, 57, a senior vice president of Google. At dawn he was lifted from an abandoned runway at the airport here by a balloon filled with 35,000 cubic feet of helium.
Eustace cut himself loose from the balloon with the aid of a small explosive device and plummeted toward the earth at speeds that peaked at 822 mph, setting off a small sonic boom heard by people on the ground.
Eustace's maximum altitude was initially reported as 135,908 feet. Based on information from two data loggers, the final number being submitted to the World Air Sports Federation is 135,890 feet.
The previous altitude record was set by Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner, who jumped from 128,100 feet on Oct. 14, 2012.

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ENVIRONMENT

Highest Altitude Ice Age Human Settlement

The highest altitude Ice Age human occupation anywhere in the world - nearly 4,500 metres above sea level - has now been documented in the Peruvian Andes.
Despite the cold temperature, high solar radiation and low oxygen conditions at the altitude, prehistoric people colonised the remote, treeless landscapes about 12,000 years ago during the terminal Pleistocene.
The archaeologists led by University of Maine researchers discovered the settlement in a place called the Pucuncho Basin at an altitude of 4,355 metres.
Most of the lithic tools at Cuncaicha were made from locally available obsidian, andesite and jasper, and are indicative of hunting and butchering consistent with limited subsistence options on the plateau.
In addition to plant remains, bones at the site indicate hunting of vicuna and guanaco camelids and the taruca deer.

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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Indian E-Commerce Industry to Touch USD 90 Billion

According to estimates, the e-commerce industry is worth USD 13 billion today and is expected to touch USD 90 billion by 2021.
This 700 percent growth will change the way organisations allocate internet advertising budgets in India.
E-commerce is a full-fledged industry today, from being ancillary part of the retail industry less than a few years ago.
In line with the growth of e-commerce, one-third of the world's advertising revenue is also expected to go digital by 2018.

India's Growth Pace to Pick up Fast in the Next Two Years

According to a Reuters poll of economists, India's economy will likely grow at its fastest pace in two years in the current fiscal year as Prime Minister Narendra Modi implements reforms to attract investment.
Hopes of reforms for economic revival from Modi have attracted foreign capital inflows - before the election in May until now - triggering a massive rally in the stock market, making it one of the best performers in Asia so far this year.
India is transitioning away from stagflation conditions, and the much-needed combination of higher real rates, a more friendly investment environment and structural reforms appear to be slowly coming together.

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

New Email Service, ‘Inbox’

Google Inc launched an email service called “Inbox” that will better organise emails and display information such as appointments, flight bookings and package deliveries in a more user-friendly way.
For now the new service is being provided alongside Gmail, which was launched in 2004. It will be available on the Web as well as on Android smartphones and iPhones.
“Inbox” displays real-time updates to emails – for example, showing the delivery status of items bought online. It also shows reminders in a more accessible way that allows users to more easily keep track of chores and appointments.
The new application also enhances features that are already available in Gmail that allow users to view purchases and bank account statements grouped together.

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SPORTS

Sundar Pichai in charge of Google's e-products

Google Chief Executive Officer Larry Page has put Sundar Pichai, one of his key lieutenants, in charge of the Internet company's products.
The India-born executive will have oversight over products such as search, maps, Google+, commerce, advertising and infrastructure, according to a Google spokesman. Six executives who previously reported to Page, including the heads of research, social media and search, will now report to Pichai, according to Re/code, which first reported the change on Friday, citing an internal memo.
The change will free Page from having as many direct reports and product units to oversee so that he can better focus on "the bigger picture”.
Pichai, who has risen rapidly through the ranks since joining Google in 2004, is viewed by many industry insiders as potential CEO material. In addition to his duties overseeing the various products, Pichai will continue to lead Google's Android and Chrome software operating systems as well as Google's Apps business.

Sarita Devi Suspended

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has provisionally suspended Sarita Devi for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games earlier this month. The AIBA also barred her from competing in the World Championships that will be held next month at the Jeju Islands. Along with Sarita, boxing coaches Gurbax Singh Sandhu, BI Fernandez, Sagar Mal Dayal and India’s chef de mission for the Asian Games Adille Sumariwalla too have been slapped with provisional suspensions by the AIBA.
In an unprecedented move, Sarita had refused to accept her bronze medal after controversially losing her bout to South Korea’s Park Ji-na in the semifinals of the 57-60kg category. Instead, she draped the medal around Ji-na’s neck as she broke down on the podium during the ceremony.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is also mulling legal options in case the matter has to be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The SAI has called for a meeting on Tuesday, where Sarita too is expected to be present.
Laishram Sarita Devi is an Indian boxer from Manipur. She is a national champion and a former world champion in the lightweight class. In 2009, she was awarded Arjuna Award by the government of India for her achievements.

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Mangalyaan Earns a Nod from Google

Google Doodle marked one month since the historic entry of India's first Mars mission spacecraft Mangalyaan (also known as the Mars Orbiter Mission) with a graphic depiction of the orbiter in space.
At the time of its successful entry into the Mars orbit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made much of the fact that the low cost mission earned India the distinction of being the only country in the world to succeed on its maiden attempt. The budget of $74 million was barely one-tenth of what it cost NASA to send the Maven spacecraft to Mars.
Mangalyaan was India's first interplanetary mission and put ISRO behind the Soviet space programme, NASA and the European Space Agency as only the fourth space agency to succeed in reaching Mars. In the Asian context the feat gave India an edge over its arch rival China which had failed in its 2011 mission.
With a projected lifespan of six months before it runs out of fuel and its orbit will no longer be able to be maintained, Mangalyaan took over 10 months to complete its journey of 666 million km.

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General Awareness

Daily G.K. - Top Stories

25 Oct 2014

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Islamic State Richest Among Militant Groups

World's First 'Dead Heart' Transplant

Record-Breaking Fall

ENVIRONMENT

Highest Altitude Ice Age Human Settlement

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Indian E-Commerce Industry to Touch USD 90 Billion

India's Growth Pace to Pick up Fast in the Next Two Years

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

New Email Service, ‘Inbox’

SPORTS

Sundar Pichai in charge of Google's e-products

Sarita Devi Suspended

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Mangalyaan Earns a Nod from Google

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