Current Affairs 8th July 2014

Current Affairs 8th July 2014

Updated : 08-Jul-2014

Current Affairs 8th July 2014 - Important Points
Current Affairs 8th July 2014 - Details
Union Rail Budget 2014-15
On 8th July 2014, Union Rail Budget 2014-15 was presented by the Union Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda. Following are the highlights of Union Rail Budget 2014 - 2015.
- No increase in passenger fares and freight charges
- 17 new premium trains, 38 express trains and 10 passenger trains to be launched
- Premium AC trains with dynamic fares on Delhi-Mumbai route with shorter advance reservation period
- Passenger rail service to Katra and Vaishnodevi to start shortly
- Railways to expand services to Meghalaya
- Railways exploring low cost option of 160-200 kmph speed trains on select routes
- FDI being enabled for creation of rail infrastructure
- Annual Rail Plan envisaged at Rs 64,305 crore with a budgetary support of Rs 30,223 crore
- Surveys for 19 new lines and 5 doubling of tracks
- Railways to end current year with surplus
- Temperature-controlled storage for fruits and vegetable
- Ready-to-eat meals to be introduced in phased manners
- Efforts will be made to increase speed of trains to 160-200km/h on select sectors. The identified sectors are: Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Kanpur, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Mysore-Bengaluru-Chennai, Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Hyderabad and Nagpur-Secunderabad.
Ex-President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze died at 86
On 7th July 2014, a groundbreaking Soviet foreign minister and later the president of an independent Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze died at the age of 86.
In 1985, he was appointed foreign minister of the Soviet Union under reformist leader Mikhail Gorbachev and was credited with helping end the Cold War. Mr Shevardnadze resigned from the post of foreign minister in 1990 before briefly taking it up again in 1991 as the country was disintegrating.
He was born in 1928 in Lanchkhuti, Georgia. He authored his memoir titled The Future Belongs to Freedom.
India successfully test-fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile
On 8th July 2014, India successfully test-fired the advanced version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Odisha coast. The missile was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur in Balasore. BrahMos missile, which has a range of 290 kilometres, can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kilograms.
BrahMos has been inducted into the Army and Navy, while, the Air Force is in final stages of trial. The induction of the first version of BrahMos Weapon Complex (N1) in the Indian Navy commenced from 2005 with the missile being deployed on-board warship INS Rajput (the first ship with the missile).
Do you Know ?

BrahMos with a top speed of Mach 2.8 which can be launched from ships, aircrafts and submarines. Name BrahMos has been formed from the names of two rivers, namely the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
Supreme Court gets three new judges
On 7th July 2014, three judges were appointed as Supreme Court judges. Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Rohington F Nariman were appointed as Supreme Court judges, as their oath of office was administered by Chief Justice of India, R M Lodha.
Justice Mishra and Justice Goel were the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court and the Orissa High Court, respectively. Justice Nariman was a senior advocate at the Supreme Court and has been elevated from the advocates bar.
Do you Know ?
All Supreme Court Judges including Cheif Justice are appointed by President of India.