General Knowledge and Current Affairs : 07-04-2014

     1.    World Health Day being observed today

i. The seventh of April happens to be the day when World Health Day is commemorated across the globe.

ii. The Day is observed on April 7 every year to mark the foundation of World Health Organization, WHO in 1948.

iii. It is seen as an opportunity by the organization to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health each year.

iv. It is rather interesting to note that the theme which the World Health Organization (WHO) picked for World Health Day 2014 is vector-borne diseases (VBDs), and the campaign for World Health Day this year is 'small bite: big threat', the reason being the fact that this is a very important area of concern for public health across the world, especially in India.

v. The World Health Day campaign this year aims at increasing awareness levels about the dangers caused by insect vectors. The bacteria, viruses, and parasites they carry cause numerous VBDs. According to WHO, VBDs make up for more than 17 percent of diseases.

vi. Among these, malaria, dengue, schistosomiasis, Human African trypanosomiasis, Leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and Onchocerciasis, are the ones that are present globally. 

     2.    Sri Lanka win maiden ICC Twenty20 World Cup title

i. Sri Lanka won their maiden Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, beating India by six wickets in the final at Mirpur, Dhaka last night.
ii. The victory ended Sri Lanka's inexplicable losing streak in World Cup final matches, while MS Dhoni and Co., who had won the 50-over World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy last year, missed by becoming the first team to hold all three major limited-overs titles.
iii. Sangakkara was named man of the match, while Virat Kohli was named Player of the Tournament for amassing 319 runs in the tournament.

     3.    60 per cent voting till afternoon in Assam

i. Nearly 60 per cent of the total 64.4 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 3 PM today in the five Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam from where minor sporadic incidents were reported.

ii. Tezpur reported 56 per cent polling, Jorhat 60, Lakhimpur 52, Dibrugarh 52.5 and Koliabor 60 per cent, election office sources said.

iii. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's son Gaurav (Koliabor), besides Congress rebel and independent candidate Moni Kumar Subba and BJP state unit president Sabananda Sonowal (Lakhimpur) are also locked in the electoral battle.

iv. At least 40 EVMs malfunctioned in Dibrugarh, Kaliabor, Tezpur and Lakhimpur constituencies, the sources said adding 29 of them were replaced and snags in the others rectified for voting to continue uninterrupted.

v. "There is no Modi magic, but Tarun Gogoi magic is in Assam. Earlier, I had said we will win ten seats but now I am sure the Congress will get more than that," he asserted.
vi. Besides Congress and BJP, Trinamool Congress, AIUDF, AGP, AAP, SUCI, CPI(M), AIFB and SP are in the fray in the five seats.

     4.    Sun Pharma to acquire Ranbaxy

i. In a landmark transaction for the Indian pharmaceutical industry, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (SPL) on Monday announced that it will acquire 100 per cent of Ranbaxy Laboratories in a $ 4 billion all-share transaction.

ii. The transaction has a total equity value of $ 3.2 billion and a net debt of $ 800 million on Ranbaxy’s books will also be part of the transaction.

iii. The combined entity will create the fifth-largest specialty generics company in the world and the largest pharmaceutical company in India with leadership in 13 specialty segments.

iv. The combine will have operations in 65 countries, 47 manufacturing facilities across five continents and a swathe of specialty and generics products including 629 ANDAs (Abbreviated new drug applications).

v. It will also become the largest Indian pharma company in USA with over $ 2 billion sales and a pipeline of 184 ANDAs.

vi. Both companies said that they had entered definitive agreements under which Ranbaxy shareholders will receive 0.8 shares of Sun Pharma for every share of Ranbaxy.

vii. The exchange ratio represents a value of Rs 457 per share of Ranbaxy which is at an 18 per cent premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average share price and a premium of 24.3 per cent to Ranbaxy’s 60-day volume-weighted average share price as on April 4, 2014. The transaction is expected to close by December 2014 and will be EPS-accretive a year after.

 

     5.    Koyal Rana won the Miss India 2014 title

i. Delhi girl Koyal Rana was Saturday crowned Femina Miss India 2014 at the 51st edition of the beauty pageant.

ii. The first and second runners-up were Jhataleka Malhotra from Mumbai and Gail Nicole Da Silva from Goa respectively.

iii. The trio was selected from the top five finalists of the fbb Femina Miss India 2014 that also included Lopamudra Raut and Nikhila Nandgopal.

iv. Miss India 2013 winners Navneet Kaur Dhillon, Sobhita Dhulipala and Zoya Afroz were on stage at the Yashraj Studio to handover the titled to the winners.

v. The panel of judges are actors Abhay Deol, Jacqueline Fernandez, Vidyut Jamwal, Aditi Rao Hydari, Malaika Arora Khan, fashion designer Manish Malhotra, rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh, Miss World 2013 Megan Young and boxer Vijender Singh.

vi. Rana will represent India at the Miss World international beauty pageant this year.

     6.    Iwao Hakamada awarded with the Boxing Belt by WB

i. Iwao Hakamada, the Japanese boxer on 6 April 2014 was awarded with an honorary championship belt by World Boxing Council (WBC). Hakamada was freed from death row on 27 March 2014 after 48 years in prison following a murder conviction. 

ii. On behalf of him, the belt was received by his elder sister Hideko from the WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.

iii. At present, Hakamada is receiving hospital treatment since being released from the Tokyo prison. The green belt has been sewn by a portrait of Kahamada.

Background 

Iwao Hakamada was accused of robbing and stabbing his boss to death along with his wife and two children. Initially, he admitted to the crime but later said that he was forced to confess on the crime. At the time, when he was accused of the crime, was preparing to return to the professional boxing in 1966. 

      7.    Legendary star Mickey Rooney dies at 93

i. Mickey Rooney, the pint-size, precocious actor and all-around talent whose more than 80-year career spanned silent comedies, Shakespeare, Judy Garland musicals, Andy Hardy stardom, television and the Broadway theatre, died Sunday at age 93.

ii. Los Angeles Police Commander Andrew Smith said that Rooney was with his family when he died at his North Hollywood home.

iii. Rooney started his career in his parents’ vaudeville act while still a toddler, and broke into movies before age 10. He was still racking up film and TV credits more than 80 years later a tenure likely unmatched in the history of show business.

iv. “I always say, ‘Don’t retire inspire,’” he told The Associated Press in March 2008. “There’s a lot to be done.”

     8.    India test-fires BrahMos missile successfully

i. The Indian Army today successfully test fired an advanced version of 290 km range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos as part of a user trial at Pokhran test range in Rajasthan.

ii. The missile was launched by a mobile autonomous launcher deployed in full configuration with mobile command post at the ranges.

iii. “The launch was successful and the missile hit the designated target,” Defence Spokesperson Col S.D. Goswami told PTI.

iv. Both the Army and Navy have already inducted the missile, developed by India in partnership with Russia.

    9.    Dhoni named captain of World T20 team

i. The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the men’s Team of the Tournament for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, with India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its captain.

ii. The team includes four players from India, two each from South Africa and the West Indies, and one each from Australia, the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.

iii. Chosen by a select group of experts, the team was aimed at being suited for Bangladeshi conditions, on the basis of performances at the just-concluded World T20 tournament. Statistics were used but were not the sole basis for selections.

iv. The team also contains six specialist batsmen, including Stephan Myburgh from the Netherlands as an opening batsman, as well as three all-rounders, including Dhoni as a wicket-keeper batsman.”

Full squad:

Rohit Sharma (India), Stephan Myburgh (Netherlands), Virat Kohli (India), J.P. Duminy (South Africa), Glenn Maxwell (Australia), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India -- captain), Darren Sammy (West Indies), Ravichandran Ashwin (India), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Samuel Badree (West Indies) and Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka); 12th Player: Krishmar Santokie (West Indies).

    10.  Lee Chong Wei & Shixian Wang win India Super Series Badminton titles

i. Defending champion Lee Chong Wei produced one of his finest performances to retain the men's singles title with a straight-game victory over Chen Long of China in the finals of the India Super Series Badminton in New Delhi yesterday.

ii. World number one Lee of Malaysia defeated Chen 21-13, 21-17 to clinch his third title of the season.

iii. In an all-Chinese women's singles final, second seed Shixian Wang, overcame top seed Li Xuerui 22-20, 21-19. 

iv. China also clinched the women's doubles title with Yuanting Tang and Yang (F) Yu, prevailing over Korean pair of Kyung Eun Jung and Ha Na Kim 21-10, 13-21, 21-16.

     11.  Punjab won Junior National Hockey Title 2014

i. Punjab on 6 April 2014 won the 4th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2014 (Division A) by defeating Hockey Odisha 6-2 in the finals at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. With this win, Punjab had retained the championship title. 

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