Current Affairs 21st June 2014

Current Affairs 21st June 2014

Updated : 22-Jun-2014

Current Affairs 21st June 2014 - Important Points
Current Affairs 21st June 2014 - Details
Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh wins prestigious Jnanpith Award 2013
Noted Hindi poet Shri Kedarnath Singh wins prestigious Jnanpith Award 2013, which is important news among National Current Affairs.

Shri Kedarnath Singh is 80 years Old and has written many essays and stories. He was born in Balia (Uttar Pradesh).
Jnanpith award includes Rs 11 lakh and a citation.
Do you Know ?
Poet Shri Kedarnath Singh will be recipient of the 49th Jnanpith award and He will be 10th Hindi writer to receive the honour. Other nine hindi writers are :
- Sumitra Nandan Pant
- Ramdhari Singh Dinkar
- Sachidananda Vatsyayan
- Mahadevi Varma
- Naresh Mehta
- Niirmal Verma
- Kunwar Narayan
- Amar Kant
- Sri Lal Sukla
Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal bifurcated to create 20th district Alipurduar
On 20th June 2014, Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal was bifurcated to create Alipurduar district of the state. With this Alipurduar will become the 20th district of the state from 25th June 2014.
Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee made this announcement in the State Assembly. The decision of division has been taken for better administration and also due to long standing demand of people of the district. While the Jalpaiguri Sadar and Mal Bazar subdivisions will continue to be in Jalpaiguri district, the Alipurduar subdivision will be carved out to be a new district.

Kodela Siva Prasada Rao elected as the first Assembly speaker of AP after bifurcation
On 20th June 2014, Kodela Siva Prasada Rao was elected as the first Assembly speaker of Andhra Pradesh after bifurcation. Kodela of Telugu Desam Party was the only person to be nominated for the Speaker of Assembly.
Dr. Siva Prasada Rao, who hails from Guntur district, has been elected from Narsaraopeta Assembly constituency for five times consecutively from 1983 to 2004. He lost to Congress leader Kasu Krishna Reddy in 2004 and 2009. He won from Sattenapalli constituency in 2014 elections by defeating Ambati Rambabu of YSR Congress by a slender margin of 720 votes.
Do you Know ?
Article 178 of the Constitution of India provides for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
Rail passenger fare hiked by 14.2%, freight rates by 6.5%
On 20th June 2014, Indian Railways increased the passenger fare by 14.2 percent in all classes and freight charges by 6.5 percent. The revised rates will be effective from 25th June 2014.
Under the passenger fare hike, there was a flat 10 percent increase in all classes and an additional 4.2 percent increase under fuel adjustment component (FAC)-linked revision scheme has been made. With this one of the biggest hike, the cash-strapped railways will be able to garner 8000 crore rupees annually through the pre-budget decision.