General Knowledge Buzz - 15th September 2014

1. Hafiz Saeed free to roam in Pak : Pak High Commissioner.

I. Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit  said Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Saeed is free to roam in his nation.

II. Saeed  is the prime accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack case.
III. Basit's statements came in response to reports that Saeed was in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).


2. India, Vietnam ramp up ties, ink seven agreements.

I. India and Vietnam signed seven agreements, including one for direct flights between their capitals, for scouting for oil, and an extended line of credit for purchase of defense equipment. as they called for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

II. The seven agreements were signed in the presence of visiting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and his Vietnamese counterpart Truong Tan Sang.
III. The air services agreement was between Jet Airways and Air Vietnam while OVL, the overseas arm of oil major ONGC, and Petro Vietnam inked an agreement on exploring two additional blocks off Vietnam.

3. Cognizant to buy IT services provider Trizetto for $2.7 billion.

I. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp said it would buy privately held healthcare IT services provider TriZetto Corp for $2.7 billion in cash.
II. The company said it would fund the deal through a combination of cash and debt and had secured $1 billion in financing.

4. India to enter Mars orbit on September 24.

I. An Indian spacecraft will enter Mars on September 24 for scientific exploration of the red planet after a 300-day voyage through inter-planetary space, an ISRO official said.
II. After cruising through 666-million km across the solar orbit, for over nine months, our spacecraft will be inserted into the Martian orbit on September 24 at 7.30 a.m.
III. The ambitious Rs. 450-crore ($70 million) Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launched November 5, 2013 on board a polar rocket from the spaceport Sriharikota off the Bay of Bengal, about 80 km north-east of Chennai.

5. Yuki goes down, India lose play-off tie.



I. India’s agonising wait to return to the World Group continued as the hosts lost 2-3 to Serbia .
II. Yuki Bhambri surrendered tamely in the decisive fifth rubber against Filip Karjinovic in Bangalore.
III. Krajinovic turned out to be a hero for the Serbians with his 6-3 6-4 6-4 win as the 2010 champions reclaimed their place in the World Group.

6. Microsoft to acquire Minecraft maker Mojang for $2.5 billion.

I. Microsoft Corp said on Monday it has agreed to acquire Stockholm-based games developer Mojang and the company's wildly popular Minecraft video game franchise for $2.5 billion.
II. Microsoft said in a statement it expects the acquisition to be break-even in fiscal year 2015 on a GAAP basis.
III. Gaming is a top activity spanning devices, from PCs and consoles to tablets and mobile, with billions of hours spent each year, said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.