Daily GK Potion – 11th and 12th January 2015
- Stan Wawrinka wins Chennai Open title
- Top seed Stanislas Wawrinka retained the singles title of the Chennai Open with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene in the final.
- PM Modi pays tribute to personal inspiration Swami Vivekananda on National Youth Day
- National Youth Day observed on January 12th which is also observed as the birth anniversary of social reformer, philosopher and thinker Swami Vivekananda.
- Prime Minister said, ” Let us pledge to leave no stone unturned to integrate our youth in India’s progress and ensure youth-led development across the Nation.”
- Misbah-ul-Haq to retire from ODIs after 2015 World Cup, will continue playing Tests
- Pakistan’s Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq has formally informed the PCB that he will stop playing the 50-over format after the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
- Misbah has been Pakistan’s Test captain since late 2010 and the ODI captain since mid-2011.
- Australia wins Border-Gavaskar Test Series Trophy 2014-15
- Grabar-Kitarovic elected Croatia’s first woman president
- Opposition challenger Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic has become the first female president of Croatia, winning by the narrowest of margins.
- She secured 50.5% of the vote with 99% of ballots counted, while incumbent Ivo Josipovic was close behind on 49.5%.
- NRIs can vote through postal ballots
- The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the EC’s recommendation to extend voting rights to NRIs through postal ballots has been accepted.
- A bench comprising Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and A.K. Sikri asked the Centre to inform it about “further steps taken to implement the suggestions.”
- In the report, the committee has said it is of the view that e-postal ballot, where blank postal ballot is transferred electronically to NRIs and returned by post, can be employed after validation of the process and pilot implementation in one or two constituencies.
- Delhi goes to polls on February 7, counting on February 10
- The Election Commission (EC) announced the election date as February 7th, with the counting of votes for the 70 assembly constituencies to take place on February 10.
- Delhi has been under President’s Rule for almost a year since the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) quit power after 49 days following a stunning electoral debut.
- More than 1.3 crore people are eligible to vote across 11,763 polling centres.
- Delhi delivered a fractured mandate in the 2013 polls, as the BJP picked up 31 seats while the AAP bagged 28.
- Govt to sell stake in more than 1 PSU by March-end
- Finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the divestment programme would be pursued on priority and involve more than one PSU during this period.
- The government is looking to sell 10 per cent stake in Coal IndiaBSE -4.54 % to raise Rs 24,000 crore.