Top 10 Current Affairs 19 February 2014 :
1. Hitting out at critics of UPA’s management of economy, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the government has “pulled back” the economy from a difficult situation and put it back on a high growth path.
2. In a major relief to three condemned prisoners in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Supreme Court commuted their death sentence to life imprisonment on the ground of 11 years delay in deciding their mercy plea by the Centre.
3. India and the US have joined hands to crack down on the financial network and fund raising activities of Pakistan-based terror outfits.
4. Malaysia is the world’s friendliest destination for Muslim travellers, according to a survey released today, but Japan has shown most improvement as it ramps up efforts to cash in on a growing market.
5. China attracted USD 10.76 billion in FDI in January, up 16.1 per cent from a year earlier, the government said today, signalling that global investors are still confident in the world’s second-largest economy.
6. For the first time India lost its tag of the world’s largest gold consumer to China, which lapped up 1,065.8 tonnes of the precious metal in 2013, says a World Gold Council report.
7. India’s gold demand remained buoyant in 2013 and rose by 13 per cent to 975 tonnes compared to 2012, despite government putting in several restrictions to curb imports, according to a World Gold Council report.
8. Penalties totalling about Rs 136 crore have been imposed on as many as 1,389 entities by the regulator Sebi for various offences related to securities market.
9. An Indian-origin scientist has discovered an ultra-thin layer hidden deep in the eye that can help treat glaucoma, thus taking a step closer to curing blindness caused by the ocular disorder.
10. India retained their second position in the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings following the Wellington Test, which ended in a draw to give New Zealand a 1-0 series win.
