Current Affairs 2nd May 2014

Current Affairs 2nd May 2014

Updated : 04-May-2014

Current Affairs 2nd May 2014 - Important Points
Current Affairs 2nd May 2014 - Details
Supreme Court reconstitutes SIT to expedite probe into Black Money Cases
On 1st May 2014, The Supreme Court of India,reconstitutes SIT to expedite probe into Black Money Cases and directed the government to issue the necessary notification

in three weeks. To provide guidance and direction to the SIT in investigation of all cases of black money in the country and abroad, the Court appointed retired judge
MB Shah as its Chairman and retired Judge Arijit Pasayat as the Vice Chairman.
The SIT's Chairman and Vice Chairman were appointed by a bench of the Supreme Court that comprised Justice H L Dattu, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice M B Lokur.
Important to note :
The central government on 29 April 2014 placed 26 names and documents of account holders in Liechtenstein Bank (LST bank) in Germany in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court.
NBA Bans Donald Sterling "For Life" After Racist Remark
On 1st May 2014, National Basketball Association (NBA) banned Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life and fined him 2.5 million dollars. He was banned over an alleged racist remark on African-American spectators in the stand. The association also claimed that they will force Donald Sterling to sell his team.

World's highest railway tunnel opens in China
The world's highest tunnel for high-speed trains in northwest China became operational on Thursday at an altitude of 3,607.4 metres. This tunnel is 16.3 kms long and is completely linked up, operationalising the line linking Gansu Province and Xinjiang provinces. The construction began in 2009. The tunnel's complete joining means the most difficult part for the Lanxin high-speed railway has been solved, state-run Xinhua reported, quoting an official in charge of the tunnel project. The line is planned to be put into use at the end of this year. It is designed for trains running at over 200 km per hour and will cut the train travel time between Lanzhou and Urumqi to eight hours from about 20 hours.
India back as No.1 in Twenty20 International Team ranking
India climbed up a position and regained their number one ranking in Twenty20 Internationals after the annual update of the International Cricket Councils (ICC)
Rankings, which was announced on 1st May 2014.
In the past 12 months, India lost only one T20I match, whereas Sri Lanka lost four matches. India lost only one match against Sri Lanka in the ICC World T20 final in Bangladesh. The 2013-14 results are weighted at 100 percent whereas the results in 2011-12 and 2012-13 are now weighted at 50. Therefore, performances of Sri Lanka in earlier two years now count for less.
Harappan granary found in Haryana
Archaeologists have discovered a granary with walls of mud-bricks during just-concluded excavation at Rakhigarhi village a Harappan civilisation site, in Haryana. The discovered granary that has rectangular and squarish chambers is in a remarkably good condition. The excavation work was done from January to April 2014.
Important findings :
- Its floor is made of ramped earth and plastered with mud
- Traces of lime, and its presence indicates that it was used in the storehouse as it acts as insecticide
- Decomposed grass have been found in the granary walls, might be possible it was used to prevents moisture from entering the grains
India Successfully Test-fires Akash Missile
India Friday successfully test-fired its Akash medium-range surface-to-air missile from a defence base in Odisha for the second time in two days, an official said.
The indigenously-developed missile, with a 27-km range and an effective ceiling of 15 km, was test fired from the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in the coastal district of Balasore, 230 km from Bhubaneswar.

Akash was earlier successfully tested a number of times within a week from the same defence base including one Thursday.
The 700-kg all-weather missile can carry a 60-kg warhead at speeds of up to Mach 2.5. It can operate autonomously and simultaneously engage and neutralise different aerial targets.
It can be launched from static or mobile platforms, enabling flexible deployment by the armed forces.