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CURRENT AFFAIRS 17th Nov., 2014
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CURRENT AFFAIRS 17th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sat, 22/11/2014 - 12:32
1. G20 leaders decided to set up a Global Infrastructure Hub to help reduce barriers to investment and improve information sharing for channelising funds into the sector. The hub will be Located in Sydney and will contribute to developing a knowledge-sharing platform and network between governments, the private sector, development banks and other international organisations.
2. Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan, a Union Cabinet Minister and a well-known banker in infrastructure finance have been shortlisted as possible candidates for BRICS’ New Development Bank president. It was earlier decided by BRICS nations that the first president of the bank will be from India. The BRICS bank may be inaugurated by 2016.
3. Saina Nehwal clinched the $ 700,000 China Open Super Series Premier tournament after beating young Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the summit clash, in Fuzhou.
4. Young Indian shuttler K Srikanth clinched his maiden Super Series title after defeating two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China in the men’s singles events of China Open Super Series Premier.
5. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was chosen for the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014 for its contribution in strengthening international cooperation in peaceful use of outer space.
6. An 18-year-old Indian American from Philadelphia Neha Gupta was awarded with the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize 2014 for her work to help orphans in India and other vulnerable children.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 16th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sat, 22/11/2014 - 12:25
1. Annual G20 summit of 20 industrialised and major economies was hosted in Brisbane by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Russia's President Vladimir Putin leaves the ongoing Group of 20 summit in Australia earlier than scheduled as some leaders at the summit demanded Russia stop arming rebels in Ukraine.
2. World champion Magnus Carlsen defeated Viswanathan Anand in a very dramatic Game six in the World Chess Championship match at Sochi.
3. Foreign Investment Promotion Board approved the HDFC Bank proposal to raise foreign investment ceiling of the bank to 74 percent from 67.55 percent.
4. Union Ministry of Human Resource Development in its meeting headed by HRD minister decided to use Sanskrit as a third language in schools of Kendriya Vidyalaya (KVs) in place of German language.
5. China launched remote sensing satellite Yaogan-23 which was carried by a Long March-2c rocket, marking the 198th mission for Long March rocket family. The Yaogan-23 will be used mainly for scientific experiments, natural resource surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster relief.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 15th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sat, 22/11/2014 - 12:12
1. Important breakthrough was reached between the United States and India towards the full and immediate implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. The agreement will lower the costs of trade for developed and developing countries alike.
2. India has drafted an UN resolution for an ‘International Day of Yoga’, also known as the ‘L Document’ and it was finalised with 130 countries co-sponsoring it. The resolution would proclaim June 21 as the ‘International Day of Yoga’. It would also recognise that wider dissemination of information about the benefits of practising yoga would be beneficial for the health of the world population.
3. Mitchell Johnson the Australian fast bowler was declared as the ICC Cricketer of the Year and the ICC Test cricketer of the Year. He has won the coveted Cricketer of the Year award for the second time in his career.
4. Central government has launched a modified Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG (DBTL) scheme in 54 districts in 11 states whereby LPG consumers who have not yet availed the benefit will be able to get cash subsidy amount transferred into their accounts to buy Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders at market price. Each household is entitled to get 12 subsidized cylinders a year. This scheme will be implemented in the rest of India on January 1, 2015.
5. Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar has become the first man to be appointed as UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia. He will serve as an advocate for UN Women’s newly-launched HeForShe initiative for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 14th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sat, 22/11/2014 - 12:09
1. Reserve Bank of India may allow small banks to have a pan-India presence as against its earlier draft guidelines that they can operate only in a few districts in a homogeneous cluster of states/Union Territories. This will encourage many players especially NBFCs to take the route.
2. India Post has been planning to apply for a payment bank license and also is keen to apply for universal banking license. The telecom ministry had supported India Post’s ambition to become a full-fledged bank but the finance ministry was not keen due to the government’s financial burden.
3. Government will launch a national innovation initiative Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyaan in schools to inculcate interest in mathematics and science. The initiative would be rolled out by next year. These measures will enable those who come up with innovative ideas to get the funding to turn their ideas into viable business models.
4. Deutsche Bank won Custodian of the Year 2014 award and the ‘Channel Islands Custodian of the Year 2014’ title. The awards were presented to Lisa Haggarty, Head of Custody and Fund Solutions for Deutsche Bank.
5. Neel Mukherjee's book “Lives of Others” is been shortlisted for Costa Book Awards under the Novel Award category. The award will be announced on 5 January 2015. The book is based upon the Naxalite movement of the 1960s and unfolds a family history.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 13th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 19/11/2014 - 14:03
1. Securities and Exchange Board of India would enable a single consolidated view of all investments of every investor in mutual funds and securities held in demat form with depositories from March 2015. Consolidated Account Statement (CAS) for all securities would create one record for all financial assets of every individual.
2. Gujarat government has announced Electronic Policy (2014-2019) envisaging investment of USD 6 billion for the sector and generation of employment opportunities for half a million people by 2020. The government will also to set up 'Gujarat Electronics Mission' under the new policy.
3. Centre has set up a high-level inter-ministerial panel to ensure smooth allocation of 204 cancelled coal blocks. The nine-member Inter-Ministerial Committee will be chaired by Additional Secretary Coal and has members from the ministries like power, steel and law.
4. Securities and Exchange Board of India is to amend its regulations on restrictions on wilful defaulters. It may bar the borrowers with a wilful defaulter tag from raising funds from the market for three years. At present, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and CIBIL communicate the list of wilful defaulters to SEBI.
5. A global panel of industry experts identified 100 of the world’s most innovative and impactful infrastructure projects. Six infrastructure projects in Delhi and Gujarat figure among the 100 most innovative infrastructure investments in the world. It includes Delhi Metro, Yamuna Expressway, Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project and Narmada Canal Solar Project.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 12th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 12/11/2014 - 19:50
1. India’s first net zero energy building -Indira Paryavaran Bhavan has been constructed in Delhi with adoption of solar passive design and energy-efficient building materials . It has been rated under Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment [GRIHA] and has set standards that can be emulated by upcoming buildings in the region.
2. During the APEC summit, the members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) members have agreed to initiate the formation of a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) - a vision steered by China. According to a study, the FTAAP will add an estimated $2.4 trillion to the global economy.
3. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the 49th Jnanpith Award on eminent Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh in New Delhi. Kedarnath Singh was conferred with the country's highest literary award for his outstanding contribution towards Indian literature.
4. Reserve Bank of India is re-thinking its role and function for the first time in it’s over 79 years of existence. RBI is seeing a shift in its role from the bland “monetary stability” (in its current Preamble) to fostering “monetary and financial stability conducive to sustainable economic growth and to ensure the development of an efficient and inclusive financial system” . The change in function is yet to be formally approved by central bank's board.
5. Centre has named actor Rajinikanth as winner of the Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year . He would be receiving the honour at the 45th International Film Festival of India to be held in Goa from November 20 to 30.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 11th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 12/11/2014 - 19:50
1. Moody's expects India to witness, "sustained robust growth" over the next two years . It has a "Baa3" rating with a stable outlook on India, which is the lowest in the investment grade.
2. India has signed a USD 200 million loan agreement with the World Bank to finance the setting up of technology centres to help small enterprises enhance productivity.
3. Reserve Bank of India has tightened norms for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) . It has raised the limit for NBFCs to maintain the net owned fund (NOF) requirement to four times by 2017 to Rs.2 crore. As per new norms, Tier I capital of 7.5 per cent in Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio or CRAR should be raised to 8.5 per cent by end of March 2016 and 10 per cent by March, 31, 2017.
4. Russia has taken away its daily controls on the value of the rouble currency and allowed it to float freely in financial markets earlier than planned. The currency has come under sustained pressure in the face of sanctions over Ukraine and plummeting oil prices.
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has carried out his first Cabinet expansion. Manohar Parrikar, Suresh Prabhu and Arun Jaitley took charge of the Defence, Railways and I&B ministries and J P Nadda is the new Health Minister . The strength of the Union Council of Ministers has now gone up from 45 to 66.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 10th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 12/11/2014 - 19:42
1. Gujarat has become the first state in the country where voters will have to compulsorily exercise their franchise in local body polls as new Governor O P Kohli gave his assent to the Gujarat Local Authorities Laws Bill. The Bill also provides for 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies.
2. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revises the insider trading norms which is expected to be approved at its board meeting. The insider trading norms will define connected persons based on the duty they perform for a company and the legal relation they have with the listed entity and its promoters.
3. India test-fired the nuclear weapon-capable Agni-II ballistic missile for its full strike range of 2,000 km from Wheeler Island off the Odisha Coast.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 'Jeevan Pramaan - Digital Life Certificate for Pensioners' . The proposed digital certification will do away with the requirement of a pensioner having to submit a physical Life Certificate in November each year, in order to ensure continuity of pension being credited into his account.
5. Goa Chief Minister Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar resigned from his position to take up the post of Defence minister in the Union Cabinet.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 9th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 12/11/2014 - 19:38
1. Suresh Raina, Raju Srivastava and Kailash Kher, UP Chief Minister AkhileshYadav were nominated by Mr Modi to take forward his campaign to clean the Ganga.
2. China and Pakistan inked 20 agreements amounting to Chinese investment reportedly worth about $46 billion on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting. Chinese President Xi Jinping termed China and Pakistan as “iron friends” .
3. Chinese President Xi Jinping announced $40-billion fund to build mega Silk Road projects criss-crossing Asia, ahead of the key APEC summit to bolster infrastructure in the region. The APEC summit is being held from November 10 to 11 in the Chinese capital Beijing.
4. India bagged 13 medals including four golds in the rapid event on the opening day of the Asian Youth Chess Championships . The Tamil Nadu trio of R. Vaishali, M. Mahalakshmi and Srija Seshadri won the gold in under-14, under-16 and under-18 girls’ categories respectively. India also pocketed four silver and five bronze medals.
5. Germany celebrates the marking of 25 years since the epochal fall of the Berlin Wall . Chancellor Angela Merkel is leading three days of commemorations for those killed trying to flee the repressive state and marking the joyous breach of Europe’s Cold War division on November 9, 1989.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 8th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 12/11/2014 - 19:31
1. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is tightening norms of the expenses of management in life insurance companies . This will bring down premiums in participating (par) products for customers, since higher expenses would not be allowed in the par product segment.
2. Finance ministry has asked Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to promote awareness among retail investors about the sale of public sector unit stakes (PSUs) to increase their participation in the government's disinvestment programme. SEBI may try to spread awareness through tickers on TV channels, websites and bulk messages.
3. India and Bhutan agreed to collaborate on the noble objectives of the establishment of Nalanda University in Bihar to develop the institution as an international centre of excellence during President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Thimpu.
4. India and Israel have signed three agreements related to homeland security, which cover important areas such as cooperation in preventing organised crime, human trafficking, cyber crimes, money laundering, counter-terrorism and fight against spread of fake currency notes.
5. Odisha government has finalised three locations Gothapatna, Argul and Jatni in the vicinity of capital city Bhubaneswar for establishment of proposed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Odisha . It will soon send a formal proposal to the Centre to choose one place out of the three.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 7th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 12/11/2014 - 19:12
Nov 7
1. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has projected a growth of 5.4 per cent for the Indian economy this year as global recovery continues at a moderate pace. Earlier, it had projected 5.7 per cent growth rate for India. Among the major advanced economies, recovery remains robust in the US, which is projected to grow by 2.2 per cent in 2014 and around 3 per cent in 2015 and 2016.
2. Power ministry has proposed to pool the existing limited supply of domestic gas with imported regasified liquefied petroleum gas to help operationalise stranded gas-based power plants with a cumulative capacity of 16,107 Mw. The proposal will lead to an additional generation of 39,000 million units of power valued at Rs 25,000 crore annually.
3. India will take up key environment and clean energy concerns at the G20 summit in Brisbane from November 14 to 16. It would seek energy efficiency laws as well as changing the energy mix to push for renewable energies. It is expected that PM would make a pitch for bringing down worldwide cost of remittances to India.
4. Sri Lanka has supported setting up of a Saarc Development Bank for meeting infrastructure funding needs of countries in the region at low cost. India had earlier set up a committee to examine the proposal for the bank.
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopted Jayapur village in Varanasi under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY). Varanasi is the Lok Sabha constituency of PM Narendra Modi. Under the SAGY project, each MP is supposed to adopt a village and develop it as a model village.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 6th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 07/11/2014 - 09:45
1. At the India Economic Summit organised by the World Economic Forum, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the government would look at privatising some of the loss-making public-sector undertakings. He also hinted at easier norms for land acquisition and labour law reforms.
2. Union government has reconstituted the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change to coordinate the National Action Plan for Assessment, Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change. The 18-member council retains R.K. Pachauri, Chairperson of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change. The council was constituted first in 2007, but it had not met for over three years.
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was ranked 15th on the Forbes list of world’s most powerful people which was topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin who pipped his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama for a second year in a row. The list also included the names of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani at 36th, ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal at 57th and Microsoft’s Indian-born CEO Satya Nadella at 64th.
4. India and Russia have agreed on negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India & the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan & Russia for the first time. The agreement was mutually agreed upon during the 20th session of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) in New Delhi.
5. Hockey India chief Narinder Batra was awarded the prestigious President's Award by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) at Morocco. The President's Awards were presented to Narinder Batra and Italian Valentina Quaranta for their lengthy and valuable services to the sports.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 5th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 07/11/2014 - 09:42
1. National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has lowered India’s GDP growth forecast to 5 per cent in the current financial year on weak economic fundamentals and uncertainties in growth prospects. It had earlier projected that the Indian economy was likely to grow at 5.7 per cent in 2014-15.
2. Finance minister Arun Jaitley has said that Indian companies are expected to pump in as much as Rs 14,000 crore for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in 2014-15. Under the new Companies Act, certain class of profitable companies are required to spend at least 2 per cent of their three-year average annual net profit for CSR activities.
3. Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung’s recommendation to dissolve the 70-member House in Delhi. Delhi has been under President’s rule since February this year. The decision will pave the way for fresh elections in the capital.
4. Finance minister Arun Jaitley gave India Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 award to Hanumappa Sudarshan of Karuna Trust.
5. Securities and Exchange Board of India has proposed that bank funding to listed small and medium enterprises (SMEs) be given a priority lending tag. The proposal has received an in-principle approval from the Union finance ministry and now needs Reserve Bank of India’s approval. By RBI norms, banks compulsory have to lend 40 per cent of advances to the so-called priority sector. The move will help to ease the financing needs of smaller companies.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 4th Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 07/11/2014 - 09:40
1. Finance Ministry has asked Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan to provide greater flexibility to banks funding stalled infrastructure projects. It has sought to de-link the extent of cost overruns as a condition for classifying any project as a restructured asset.
2. Reserve Bank of India announced an Open Market Operations (OMO) sale of government bonds for an aggregate amount of Rs 10,000 crore. The yield on the 10-year benchmark bond had dropped for a third consecutive session than the earlier-than-expected rate cut by the central bank.
3. According to a study conducted by the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Mumbai recorded the largest number of internet users in India in 2014. Mumbai recorded 16.4 million internet users surpassing Delhi and Kolkata. In terms of growth in the number of internet users, Delhi recorded the highest growth with a 50 percent year-on-year increase.
4. Global rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has cut long-term issuer rating for Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) from “BBB-“ to “BB+” on sharp deterioration in the asset quality. IOB’s non-performing loan ratio rose sharply to 7.3 per cent and the share of gross standard restructured loans outstanding in IOB's loan book is also high at 7.85 per cent.
5. Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography Playing It My Way was launched in Mumbai in the presence of some of his former teammates, celebrities and family members. At the launch he presented a copy to his mentor and childhood coach Ramakant Achrekar.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 3rd Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 04/11/2014 - 09:10
1. Government proposes to install ATM-style touchscreen kiosks in court complexes from where case status and daily orders can be procured in the coming days. It will help litigants to get easy access to court documents by cutting down lengthy procedures. The Law Ministry has also proposed setting up video conferencing facility in all courts of the country and prisons.
2. Nabard has set up a Rs 1,000-crore corpus for lending to cold chains which will ensure creation of the necessary infrastructure for the agriculture and allied sectors. Public, private players, cooperative sectors and farmer producers organisations (FPOs) can avail of the direct credit window at competitive interest rates.
3. World Economic Forum (WEF) with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will organise a three-day India Economic Summit. The theme is "Redefining Public-Private Co-operation for a New Beginning".
4. The Mudgal committee investigating spot-fixing allegations in the IPL has submitted its final report to the Supreme Court, which will take it up on November 10. The report could determine whether ICC chairman N Srinivasan can seek re-election as president of the BCCI. Earllier the court barred Srinivasan from carrying out his duties as president of the BCCI until it had delivered its final verdict, but did not stop him from heading the ICC.
5. Union HRD ministerSmriti Irani has said that the new educational policy of the NDA government is likely to be rolled out next year. It is expected that the government will involve principals, teachers and students in the educational policy deliberations.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 2nd Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 04/11/2014 - 09:04
1. India’s national Museum of Mankind, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGMRS), is set to recommend the Ministry of Culture to announce Pedana as country’s ‘heritage village’. The status of the heritage village would help in conserving the Kalamkari art form in its traditional way, and also gives recognition for the artisans involved in the rural industry. The IGMRS is an autonomous organisation of the Union Ministry of Culture.
2. Spanish government has successfully passed a new copyright law known popularly as the “Google Tax” which imposes fees for online content aggregators such as Google News, in an effort to protect its print media industry. The new law requires services which post links and excerpts of news articles to pay a fee to the organisation representing Spanish newspapers.
3. The Karnataka state government has issued a gazette notification on October 31 renaming Bangalore as Bengaluru. The Union home ministry had approved the name change last month. Along with Bangalore, 11 other cities and towns in the state had their names changed.
4. As per the Reserve Bank’s new guidelines, bank customers in six metros - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore are allowed to withdraw money and/or carry out non-financial transactions like mini-statements at ATMs of banks, where they hold saving/current accounts, free of charge only five times a month. Every transaction beyond this threshold will be charged Rs 20 per use. The number of free transactions at ATMs of non-home banks has also been cut to three times a month from five times.
5. Government will release a new series of national accounts with 2011-12 as base year for computing the economic growth rate. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data based on the new series will be released for three consecutive years from 2011-12 in January next year. At present, the GDP is computed on 2004-05 base year. The new data will present a more realistic picture of the economy.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 1st Nov., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 04/11/2014 - 08:58
1. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the new government will introduce the Right to Services Bill and a citizens' charter so that the common man will get services in a time-bound manner. A committee headed by state Chief Secretary Swadhin Khastriya has been formed and will submit a report within a month to the government in this regard.
2. Mineral-rich Chhattisgarh state would be celebrating its fifteenth Foundation Day on November 1 that would exhibit state's growth since its inception. The event is named as Chhattisgarh Rajyotsava – 2014 and will take place at Naya Raipur - the upcoming new capital city of the state. Parab Chhattisgarh will be the Cultural theme of the three day event.
3. World Bank plans to slash 500 jobs in the next three years globally, even as it looks to create up to 300 new positions in India to meet business needs. The global lender’s decision to trim 500 jobs and cancel about 70 existing open vacancies comes after reviewing its “business strategies” for months.
4. A four-day trilateral Coast Guard exercise ‘Dosti-XII’ among India, Maldives and Sri Lanka off the Maldives coast ended on Oct 31. ‘Dosti’ was institutionalised in 1991 as bilateral exercise between the Indian Coast Guard and the Maldives National Security Service. Sri Lanka became part of the exercise in 2012.
5. Education Ministers of eight South Asian countries have issued a joint statement titled “The New Delhi Declaration on Education” and resolved to collaborate on increased use of information technology and improving the quality of education. Human Resource Development Minister of India Smriti Irani chaired the meeting.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 31st Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 04/11/2014 - 08:54
1. Rashtriya Ekta Diwas was observed on 31 October 2014 to commemorate the 139th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Union Government has decided to observe 31 October as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Integration Day to reiterate India’s strength and buoyancy against adversaries.
2. Government will start linking mobile SIM cards with Aadhaar numbers in the next two months. Centre does not intend to make the process mandatory although it will help them deal with the misuse of technology for diversion of subsidies, various criminal acts including terrorism and extortion as well as for making financial transactions on mobile more fool proof and robust.
3. Internet Giant Google has estimated Indian e-commerce to touch $30 -40 billion by 2020, from only $3 billion to 4 billion at present. Recently Snapdeal has raised $627 million from Japan’s Softbank Corporation which was preceded by $ 1 billion fund raising by Flipkart. Amazon has committed investment of $ 2 billion in India.
4. Lokesh Chandra was appointed by the President Pranab Mukherjee as chairman of India Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) for a term of three years. He replaces Karan Singh who resigned from office on 18 August 2014.
5. Warren M Anderson, the former Chairman of Union Carbide Corporation who was blamed for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy died at the age of 92. Union government had requested the US government to extradite him several times but it denied always since the first extradition request in 2003 citing a lack of evidence.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 30th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 04/11/2014 - 08:51
1. Moody's ‘Banking System Outlook India’ report has kept the outlook on India’s banking system negative. This is mainly because public sector banks have experienced higher growth rates in non-performing and restructured loans, as well as greater weakening in profits, than private sector banks and these trends are unlikely to improve for public sector banks.
2. Government would introduce a Bill in Parliament for setting up an independent regulator for the coal sector. The coal regulator may be likely tasked with determining a mechanism to price the fuel and specify methods to ensure supply of quality coal to the country’s power and steel plants.
3. Cabinet has relaxed norms for foreign direct investment (FDI) in construction development to make the sector more attractive for overseas investors. It has halved the minimum capital requirement for such projects from $10 million to $5 million. The easier rules will help speed up completion of projects which are delayed due to elevated debt levels.
4. Malala Yousafzai won the 2014 World’s Children Prize after a global vote involving millions of children. She received the prize at a ceremony in Mariestad near Stockholm. Indira Ranamagar and John Wood won the 2014 World's Children's honorary awards.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 29th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 04/11/2014 - 08:49
1. Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis was unanimously elected as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party leader in the Maharashtra Assembly. He is to become the first BJP chief minister in Maharashtra.
2. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, India has slipped further down from 101 rank last year to 114 out of 142 countries in the Gender Gap Index 2014. It is mainly down due to deterioration in economic participation and opportunity, as well as educational attainment. However country remains a role model in terms of political empowerment of women.
3. India is ranked 142nd among 189 countries in the latest World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report released. The new rank is a drop by two places from the last year’s ranking. The drop in India’s ranking from last year’s 140 is mainly because other nations have performed much better and it does not take into account the measures taken by the new government.
4. The Road Transport and Safety Bill (2014) is likely to be presented in the Winter Session of Parliament. The Bill has provisions for a unified driver licensing system and unified vehicle registration system linked with insurance across the country and also automated testing to eliminate human bias.
5. Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ING Vysya Bank Shailendra Bhandari resigned from his post. The appointment of Uday Sareen as MD & CEO of ING Vysya Bank is now subjected to approval of Reserve Bank of India.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 28th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 04/11/2014 - 08:46
1. Centre scrapped the selection of six chiefs of public sector banks, recommended under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. The decision follows a high-level panel finding irregularities in the process followed. At present, eight CMD posts and 14 posts of EDs will have to be filled due to the cancellation.
2. According to a World Bank report, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to expand by 5.6 per cent this financial year as reforms gain momentum. The growth is expected to accelerate as proposed measures such as the goods and services tax (GST) will give a boost to manufacturing. In the following years, GDP growth is likely to rise further to 6.4 per cent and 7 per cent in FY16 and FY17 respectively.
3. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is implementing a project by which India's steel re-rolling mills can use advanced energy-efficient technologies called second generation (SG) technologies for energy conservation. The project is a part of the programme, 'Upscaling energy-efficient production in the small-scale steel industry in India', being implemented with support from Australian Aid and the Union ministry of steel.
4. Japanese telecom and Internet giant SoftBank will invest around Rs. 60,000 crore ($10 billion) in India in the communications and information technology space, over the next few years.
5. Government has named three black account holders in an affidavit to Supreme Court. It has said that confidentiality had to be maintained under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and names of persons should be used only for tax purposes. The court needed to consider whether international standards had been violated in its directing the disclosure of names.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 27th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 31/10/2014 - 09:47
1. Labour Ministry has proposed the Small Factories (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Bill to govern wages and conditions of work in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The Bill envisages rules for wages, overtime hours, social security and appointment of factory inspectors in units employing fewer than 40 workers.
2. International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) India Mission Chief has said that among emerging markets and BRICS countries, India stands out for accomplishing the sharpest turnaround in its macro economy since the U.S. Federal Reserve started reversing its zero-interest rates monetary policy. As a result, of all these economies, India is best prepared to deal with the Fed’s monetary policy actions.
3. Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana's first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took oath at a high-profile event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Panchkula. Khattar is the 10th chief minister of the state.
4. Sainath, Al Jazeera English, USA Today and Global Post were among the winners of the World Media Summit (WMS) Global Awards for Excellence, 2014. These are the first comprehensive news awards covering multiple media formats, including press, photo, video and integrated media to honour “truth, objectivity and excellence” in journalism.
5. The book titled Tulsi Smriti Granth on Acharya Tulsi was received by the President Pranab Mukhejee from Dr. Karan Singh who formally released it.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 26th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 31/10/2014 - 09:44
1. The former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh was designated as the head of Future Earth Engagement Committee, a global research platform panel on sustainable development. The Committee was instituted by an alliance of organisations including the UNEP, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
2. Government has announced a new division in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and appointed a joint secretary for “Centre-State” relations to streamline foreign infrastructure investment. The new post will increase engagement between the MEA and State governments to coordinate State delegations visiting abroad.
3. India became the world’s fourth largest steel producer by delivering 62.41 Million Tonnes (MT) output from January 2014 to September 2014. India has been the world’s fourth largest steel maker since 2010.
4. Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will arrive in India for a two-day visit. India and Vietnam will sign three agreements, one an MoU on prospecting by OVL (ONGC Videsh Ltd.) in two more fields in the South China Sea.
5. Left-leaning former President Tabare Vazquez won the most votes in Uruguay’s presidential election. He fell short of the outright majority needed to avoid a Nov. 30 runoff exit polls.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 25th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 31/10/2014 - 09:41
1. Government has constituted an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) think-tank to help draft a new National IPR Policy. The think-tank will be headed by Justice Prabha Sridevan and will advice centre on issues related to intellectual property, implications of demands placed by negotiating partners of proposed free trade pacts and other regional arrangements.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet chief executives of public sector banks (PSBs) to review their performance and would discuss issues relating to benefits of a rate cut, non-performing assets (NPAs) and restructured NPAs recovery, new projects/proposals, financial inclusion and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
3. Kaushal Srivastava is set to become the new Chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Custom (CBEC), the apex policy making body of indirect taxes. He replaces JM Shanti Sundharam.
4. Alan Eustace broke the world altitude record for highest free-fall parachute jump set by Austrian Felix Baumgartner. 57-year-old Eustace is a senior Google vice-president who set the record of jumping from an altitude of 135908-feet.
5. Pankaj Advani outplayed former champion Peter Gilchrist in the World billiards championship final and won his 11th world title. Advani, 29, conquered the Singaporean cueist Gilchrist 6-2 in a high quality final of the shorter format of billiards.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 24th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:55
1. SBI Mutual Fund has launched an inflation-indexed bond fund (IIBF). It is aimed at investors with a low to medium risk profile. Under the open-ended debt scheme, SBI Mutual Fund will invest in inflation-indexed securities and a portfolio of predominantly inflation linked bonds (IIBs).
2. Google Inc is committed to spending $1 billion to lease office buildings over the next 13 to 14 years. The company has been looking to expand beyond its headquarters to accommodate its growing ranks of employees
3. China's $50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was launched in Beijing at a ceremony attended by delegates from 21 countries including India, Thailand and Malaysia. It aims to give project loans to developing nations. China is set to be its largest shareholder with a stake of up to 50 per cent. The new bank is seen as a challenge to the western nations dominated World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
4. Government has set up a cell to speed work and monitor the setting up of the Chabahar port in Iran. Earlier the Union cabinet decided to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV), with equity participation from Kandla Port Trust (KPT) and JNPT. The two ports would sign a contract with Iran's Port and Maritime Organisation for undertaking the project.
5. Tihar Jail Authority set up an e-library for women inmates in Tihar jail. The library aims to help the women inmates to sharpen their technical skills and help them find jobs so that they may not revert to criminal activities.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 23rd Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:50
Oct 23
1. RBI is concerned about unhedged firms which could be a vulnerable link if global markets stumble. RBI is calling on banks with detailed questions about how they are compelling corporate clients to hedge their exposure. If this fails, RBI may consider forcing companies to give detailed financial information through their lenders.
2. Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen has pledged $100 million to to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. It would be utilised to fund the development and manufacture of two medevac containment units to allow the US to evacuate medical professionals from hard-hit West Africa.
3. Malala Yousafzai was conferred with the 2014 Liberty Medal for her continued demonstration of courage and resilience in the face of adversity and for serving as a powerful voice for those who have been denied their basic human rights and liberties. She is the youngest recipient of the American award.
4. RBI has asked banks to partially freeze accounts of customers who have not complied with KYC requirements despite repeated reminders and subsequently close such accounts. The account holders can revive accounts by submitting the KYC documents as per instructions in force.
5. The new government has given direction to all ministries and departments regarding RTI that all replies given under RTI by ministries will be posted online, available for access to all and not just to persons seeking the information from next month. The decision will take RTI to next level by increasing the scale of disclosure and transparency in government offices.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 22nd Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:48
1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for revamping urban governance and linking it to the ‘Digital India’ mission and ‘Swachh Bharat’ campaign. Urban governance includes objectives such as mobile governance, e-governance, solid waste management, waste water management etc.
2. Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched KayPay, a bank agnostic payment product for Facebook users to send money to each other. According to the bank, users can transfer funds by choosing recipients from their Facebook friends list. KayPay is built on top of the mobile based Immediate Payment System launched by the National Payment Corporation of India.
3. Government has issued draft order to merge National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) with its parent, Jignesh Shah-promoted Financial Technologies (India) Ltd, or FTIL. The order comes about a year after a Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis broke out at NSEL.
4. Election Commission (EC) has proposed to make paid news an electoral offence and wants a ceiling on the campaign expenditure of political parties often used to pump in unlimited resources. The proposals seeks to provide a level-playing field for political parties in elections.
5. The first border haat facility on zero line on the Indo-Bangla international border in Tripura was inaugurated. Selected commodities from both countries would be trade during the border hatt period and people residing within a distance of 5 km from the border are entitled to do business at the haat. The facility was opened to boost bilateral trade
CURRENT AFFAIRS 21st Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:43
1. Union Cabinet recommended the promulgation of an Ordinance to acquire the land of cancelled 214 coal blocks mines. It has also approved a plan for e-auctioning the cancelled blocks to end-user private players of coal from the power, steel and cement sectors.
2. Government has allowed private defence manufacturing firms to sell equipment to state-run entities without prior approval. This is expected to increase investments into the defence sector.
3. WHO officially declared the Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria as Ebola free but it said that the country remains vulnerable as long as the virus was raging in West Africa. The announcement follows Ebola free status declaration of Senegal.
4. India and China have agreed to take measures to improve border management. It includes the establishment of a hotline between the two Army headquarters and designating additional border posts for meetings between local commanders.
5. Indian batsman Virat Kohli claimed number two position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings. The list was topped by AB de Villiers and South Africa’s Hashim Amla was at the third position. Indian skipper MS Dhoni was the next Indian at number six in the list.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 20th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:40
1. According to IMF’s latest world economic outlook, India will become a USD two trillion economy this year, while its GDP size would cross another milestone of USD three trillion after five years in 2019. India’s ranking would also improve to seventh largest economy in the world in 2019 from its tenth position currently.
2. Government has set up a committee under T K Vishwanathan, former Law Secretary to frame bankruptcy law to enable entrepreneurs to close down unviable businesses. It would also look into protection of interest of stakeholders and would study the rescue mechanism and suggest ways of improving it.
3. Five year old Indian boy Harshit Saumitra became the youngest person to reach the Everest Base Camp (EBC). He overtakes the record set by Aaryan Balaji, a seven-year old Indian boy. Harshit took 10 days to cover the distance of 62km trek.
4. Indira Gandhi National Open University has launched web-based radio and television channels for the benefit of its students across the country and abroad. These new virtual channels provides access to high quality curriculum based audio-video programmes for students and get an opportunity to interact with experts on various subjects in real time through this new initiative.
5. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) will be merged with the Universal Health Assurance Mission (UHAM) proposed by the NDA government. RSBY insures families of unorganised sector workers for up to Rs. 30,000 of medical care and is expected to be transferred from the Ministry of Labour and Employment to the Union Health Ministry
CURRENT AFFAIRS 19th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:37
1. Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has decided that separate departments will conduct investigation and decide on punishment to ensure more fairness and effectiveness. The decision is based on the recommendations made by international consultant Oliver Wyman.
2. Government has increased the natural gas prices to $5.61 per mBtu and decontrolled the price of diesel. The gas price hike will impact power and fertiliser prices and piped gas consumers. Diesel prices will now be exposed to the volatility in global crude oil prices.
3. International Monetary Fund has reported that China, not the US, is now the world's largest economy. This announcement comes due to a revision in the IMF's estimate of average prices in China. China's growth has been real and the inflation has not been as high as they thought.
4. UK government announced the inaugural Dadabhai Naoroji Awards to Patricia Hewitt, Dame Asha Khemka and actor Madhav Sharma. The award is to honour individuals who have worked to strengthen the UK-India relationship over the years.
5. An Indian joint venture company will develop the Chabahar Port in Iran with an investment of $85.21 million (around Rs. 520 crore) and operate the port for 10 years through a leasing agreement
CURRENT AFFAIRS 18th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:34
1. Environment minister Prakash Javadekar launched the national Air Quality Index (AQI), terming it “one number, one colour, one description” measure. The index is classified into six categories - good, satisfactory, moderately polluted, poor, very poor, and severe. This index transforms various air pollution levels into a single number for a simple description of air quality to citizens.
2. India is examining the possibility of trading in local currency with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. If implemented it could reduce the region’s dependence on the dollar, also cut down conversion losses for exporters and enhance trade between SAARC nations.
3. Government has set up a committee headed by Bibek Debroy, research professor with Centre for Policy Research, to recommend steps to restructure the Railway Board. The committee will also examine and suggest modalities for implementing the Cabinet decision on setting up a Rail Tariff Authority.
4. Indian-origin Singaporean poet and writer KTM Iqbal was named for the 2014 Cultural Medallion, the highest cultural award of Singapore. His achievements include more than 200 children's songs written for Radio Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as seven collections of poetry.
5. Rajiv Mehrishi was appointed as the Union Finance Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs of the Union Ministry of Finance. He replaces Arvind Mayaram, who was appointed as the Union Tourism Secretary.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 17th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:31
1. US-based economist Arvind Subramanian is appointed as chief economic advisor (CEA) in the finance ministry. He is a former International Monetary Fund economist and his task will be to work out a new monetary policy framework in which the government will set the inflation target, to be implemented by a policy panel of the central bank.
2. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in talks with the Centre to set up a financial resolution authority (FRA) which will help in closing financial institutions in trouble, without necessarily merging and taking the losses. Rajan spoke of the need to open the licensing process to establish new asset reconstruction companies to “put distress assets back on track”.
3. The PSLV C26 carried the 1,425-kg Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS-1C) and placed it in its orbit. The IRNSS-1C was the third satellite (of the total seven) of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System with four more planned to be launched before 2015. IRNSS is similar version of GPS in Indian region.
4. The World Bank’s representatives is holding meeting with environmental experts, about the Jal Marg Vikas (Ganges waterways) project announced by the government. National Waterway-1 (NW1) is a 1,620-km stretch of the Ganges from Allahabad to Haldia. The World Bank may offer to provide technical assistance for the initial study, whose outcome would decide investments on the project.
5. Indian scientist Dr Sanjaya Rajaram received the World Food Prize 2014 for his scientific research that led to a prodigious increase in world wheat production by more than 200 million tons building upon the successes of the Green Revolution.
6. UN General Assembly has designated 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming. World Food Day was observed across the world on 16 October 2014 with the theme Family Farming: Feeding the world, caring for the earth.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 16th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:27
1. Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India’s position on food security at the World Trade Organisation remains “intact’’ indicating that there has been no softening of its stand. Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) meeting of the WTO is scheduled in Geneva where efforts would be made by the WTO Secretariat and members to break the current deadlock.
2. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has been named the Euromoney magazine's Central Bank Governor of the Year Award, 2014 for successfully tackling the currency crisis. He took several measures to attract capital flows which helped the rupee strengthen to 60-62 per dollar.
3. Government of India has told American authorities that it will not cooperate with the out-of-cycle review (OCR) initiated by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) as part of its annual ‘Special 301 Report’. The report had blamed India's supposedly slack intellectual property rights (IPR) regime. India believes that USTR action is unilateral but it is geared to cooperate with the Indo-US bilateral dialogue mechanisms.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil the Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev Jayate Karyakram to bring in key reforms in the labour sector. During the launch, Modi will dedicate Shram Suvidha Portal, Labour Inspection Scheme and Portability through Universal Account Number for Employees Provident Fund. The Apprentices Protsahan Yojana, to support one lakh apprentices till March 2017, will also be launched.
5. India and Finland have agreed to double bilateral trade to $2 billion over the next three years. It has signed19 agreements for cooperation across various areas including education, biotechnology, nuclear and radiation safety and renewable energy.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 15th Oct., 2015
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:22
1. Fortune released the list of powerful people titled 40 under 40. The list was topped by Uber's 38-year-old co-founder Travis Kalanick, Airbnb's 33-year-old CEO Brian Chesky and Founder and CEO of Facebook, 30-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, at the number two spot.
2. British lawmakers voted in favour to recognise Palestine as an official state. Although the motion was passed with an overwhelming majority but does not signify an official change in Britain’s position regarding the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The government may not officially recognize Palestine as a state.
3. Lok Sabha MP Kapil Krishna Thakur died in Kolkata at the age of 73. He had received the prestigious Sri Sri Thakur Harichand-Guruchand prize for his sustained work to uplift the Matuas.
4. The world's largest online store Amazon and India's largest listed retailer Future Group have signed a deal to jointly sell goods over the Internet. They will also develop a new line of products across categories to be exclusively sold at Amazon and Future Group's retail stores.
5. ” The Narrow Road to the Deep North”, a novel of Australian author Richard Flanagan has won the 2014 Man Booker Prize. The book depicts the disturbing stories of prisoners and captors on the Burma railway.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 14th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:21
1. India will host first leg of Asia Cup Archery Tournament in Delhi in January 2015. The announcement was made by Archery Association India (AAI). The first leg will be conducted in Delhi in January 2015 while the second and third legs was allotted to Bangkok in March 2015 and Tehran in June 2015.
2. BSE will soon launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF), based on its climate change index in the next couple of years. It had launched the S&P Carbonex index in 2012 giving increased weighting to companies depending on carbon footprint scores.
3. Asia’s oldest stock exchange, the BSE announced the launch of two new indices – the BSE S&P Sensex Futures Index and the BSE S&P CPSE Index. The BSE S&P Sensex Futures Index will track the returns generated by the 30-stock Sensex futures. The CPSE Index will track returns generated by the state-owned companies, barring public sector banks.
4. India has scored 55th rank and improved its position in the Global Hunger Index. It had 63rd position last year. The index is prepared by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), along with Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
5. Groupe BPCE, France's second largest bank by customers and Twitter are collaborating to allow its customers to transfer money via tweets. It will pave a new path in the world of online payments as the social network seeks new sources of revenue beyond advertising.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 13th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:14
1. SEBI has directed all exchanges that do not possess a trading platform with an annual turnover of at least Rs. 1,000 crore and a net worth of Rs. 100 crore, and that do not have a tie-up with a clearing corporation, to exit. Madras, Bangalore, Delhi, Ahmedabad and 13 other stock exchanges are going to shut operations in compliance with a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) order leaving lakhs of investors affected.
2. Goods & Services Tax (GST) that is planned to start by April 2016 may have another hurdle as the finance ministry wants to compensate states for only three years as against five years demanded by the States. The compensation will be based on the recommendations of 14th Finance Commission.
3. A committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has expressed concern over the delay in implementation of quota reforms in the multilateral institution blocked by America's legislature. These reforms were already agreed to by member-countries' governments in 2010 in favour of emerging market (EM) economies like India.
4. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings. He has said that there would be some volatility in emerging markets once the US Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rates, but India is well prepared to deal with market volatility.
5. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has imposed a fine of around Rs 300 crore on Swiss multinational drug company Novartis for overcharging consumers on sale of Voveran, its best-selling painkiller medicine
CURRENT AFFAIRS 12th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 27/10/2014 - 12:13
1. Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Deputy Governor S S Mundra has said the central bank plans to announce the final norms on small and payment banks next month. Small banks would provide a whole suite of basic banking products such as deposits and supply of credit but in a limited area of operations. Payment banks would offer a limited range of products such as demand deposits and remittances.
2. Olympic bronze medalist MC Mary Kom was chosen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of India’s Incheon Asian Games campaign. She had won gold medal in the 2014 Incheon Games in flyweight (-51kg) class. India won 11 gold, 10 silver and 36 bronze in the Incheon Asian Games.
3. Khaled Bahah was appointed as Prime Minister of Yemen by the President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Bahah was serving as permanent representative of the Republic of Yemen to the United Nations.
4. All India National Unity Council honoured poet-diplomat Abhay K with Asia-Pacific Excellence Award for his outstanding individual achievements in the field of literature by penning Earth Anthem and SAARC song and for celebrating local, regional and global themes in his poems and writings.
5. Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been rescheduled after last week's postponement. Governments of developing nations are pressurised to give up its demand for a permanent solution on food stocks.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 11th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 13/10/2014 - 09:27
1. Securities and Exchange Board of India plans to revamp the product labelling framework for mutual fund (MF) schemes. Earlier SEBI had directed MF as an investor safety measure to colour-code their schemes, depending on their level of riskiness. Accordingly, MF products are assigned either blue, yellow or brown colours. The revamping could include further categorisation of equity schemes.
2. Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi won the Nobel Peace Prize 2014 for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.
3. The High court ruled in favour of British telecom major Vodafone Group saying that it didn’t have to pay additional tax of Rs 3,200 crore, as demanded by income tax authorities. The income tax department had said Vodafone India under-priced shares in a rights issue to its parent. The ruling will have a bearing on other transfer pricing cases in India.
4. Government launched India’s first National Mental Health Policy which aimed at providing psychiatric care to patients by expanding the hospital network, as well as primary care centres catering to that discipline. Universal access to mental health care is a specific goal of the government. October 10, observed as World Mental Health Day, would now also be observed as the National Mental Health Day.
5. Bollywood actor, director and producer Aamir Khan was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in South Asia. Aamir Khan will focus on supporting child nutrition to end stunting across the region.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 10th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 13/10/2014 - 09:25
1. Facebook cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss how Facebook could participate in the government's Digital India initiative and he is the third American CEO visiting India after Microsoft's Satya Nadella and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
2. Centre announced the establishment of ‘Japan Plus’ a team to facilitate investments from Japan as promised during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit last month. It will have members from the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) under the commerce and industry ministry and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
3. Government may give the Reserve Bank of India governor veto power over a new monetary policy council that would focus on price stability as its main mission. The formation of an eight-member committee headed by the RBI governor and a deputy will include one government nominee with no voting rights.
4. An internal committee of the insurance sector regulator IRDA has recommended hiking FDI in all insurance sector intermediaries like brokers, surveyors, third-party administrators (TPAs) and web aggregators to 49 per cent from the present 26 per cent. The panel was headed by Suresh Mathur and has submitted the report to Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) chairman.
5. Reserve Bank may lift cap on foreign holding of government debt in two years once the economy has reached its potential growth rate. Currently FIIs have reportedly exhaust over 95 per cent of their $ 25 billion investment limit in government debt.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 9th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 13/10/2014 - 09:22
1. An electronic surveillance system to keep track of punctuality of government officials will become fully operational by the month end. It displays a dynamic, real-time chart of how many people are at work. It is part of new governments efforts to ensure discipline among government employees.
2. The “model villages” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) will be launched on October 11. The model village will have smart schools, universal access to basic health facilities, pucca houses for the homeless, universal PDS for eligible families, e-governance, and Aadhaar cards for all. Under the scheme, each MP will adopt a village every year for all-round development, and the implementation will be aided by his/her MPLAD fund.
3. Government is to reconstitute and revive the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change. It is an advisory body on climate change issues that has not met in the last three years. The Council was established in 2007 and had framed India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change in 2008.
4. The Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha is considering a proposal for the merger of four PSU general insurance companies- New India Assurance, National Insurance, United India Insurance and Oriental Insurance. The merger will enable them to consolidate their market share and prevent them from becoming sick.
5. The World Bank Group launched a new Global Infrastructure Facility to ensure that billions of dollars are channelised to develop world-class infrastructure in emerging markets like India and developing economies. The Group will work with the proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the New Development Bank (NDB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to boost investment in infrastructure projects in the emerging economies.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 8th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 13/10/2014 - 09:19
1. India is likely to retain the top position in the global chart of remittances inflows at $71 billion this year with the growth rate of 1.5 per cent over the previous year, according to World Banks Migration and Development Brief. Globally, remittances are expected to rise 7.4 per cent to $582 billion in 2014, over $542 billion the previous year.
2. Government is keen to replace Wholesale Price Index (WPI) by comprehensive Producers Price Index (PPI) by the next fiscal to capture price movements and decide on policy measures to effectively control inflation. The PPI provides a broader coverage in terms of products and industries and it also includes services, something which is not a part of the WPI.
3. International Monetary Fund's (IMF) World Economic Outlook has revised India’s 2014 GDP growth projection marginally upwards to 5.6%. It has left its projection for India’s 2015 GDP growth unchanged at 6.4%. The report said growth in India is likely to increase due to rise in exports and investment which may offset the effect of an unfavourable monsoon on agricultural growth earlier in the year.
4. Nasdaq-listed IT company Cognizant has acquired digital marketing company Cadient Group for an estimated USD 30 million. Congnizant see this acquisition will further strengthens and expands it’s digital marketing capabilities.
5. Four specialised agencies of the United Nations -UNDP, FAO, UNIDO and ILO have pledged USD 4 million to implement a livelihood project in Mizoram. The project would include a wide range of issues including food security, livelihood, energy security sustainable livelihoods, income generation and eco-system preservation.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 7th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 13/10/2014 - 09:16
1. Finance Ministry is considering amendments to the RBI Act 1934 to enable the central bank appoint a fifth Deputy Governor and a Chief Operating Officer. The condition is that COO would be from among the two Deputy Governors from the RBI’s quota and he would be a person with at least 25 years of experience in public administration and governance.
2. A new report by the Boston Consulting Group, total jobs.com and The Network has ranked India at 18th position globally on the list of most desirable destinations to work. US has been ranked on the top, followed by the UK, Canada, Germany and Switzerland.
3. World Bank's South Asia Economic Focus report has projected Indian economy to grow by 6.4 per cent in 2015-16 as against 5.6 per cent in 2014-15. The report says India is benefiting from a “Modi dividend” and recovering US economy that would provide a market for Indian merchandise and service exports.
4. Anglo-American John O'Keefe and Norwegian couple May-Britt and Edvard Moser won the 2014 Nobel Prize for medicine for discovering the brain's internal positioning system, helping humans find their way and giving clues to how strokes and Alzheimer's affect the brain.
5. Japanese scientists Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano and American Shuji Nakamura won the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics for inventing a new energy efficient and environmentally friendly light source, the LED.
6. Union Government launched Swachhta Udyami Yojana – Swachhta Se Sampannta ki Aur of National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation. The scheme was launched by the Minister of State for Social Justice and has twin objective of cleanliness and providing livelihood to Safai Karamcharis and liberated Manual Scavengers to achieve the overall goal of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 6th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 07/10/2014 - 12:00
1. According to IMF paper titled 'Food inflation in India- Role of Monetary policy', RBI must increase the interest rates to contain persisting food and fuel inflation in India. It suggested that the government should pursue structural reforms to push growth to potential levels instead of relying on monetary policy to promote growth.
2. Banks have sought clarity from the Finance Ministry regarding taxation of additional tier-I bonds through which they are expected to raise capital to meet Basel III norms. Additional tier-I bonds come with loss absorbency features meaning that in case of stress, banks can write off such investments or convert them into common equity.
3. Finance ministry has begun discussions with the Reserve Bank of India to put in place a committee to set monetary policy that will be geared to an inflation target. The proposal is along the lines of high-level panels such as the Urjit Patel committee and the BN Srikrishna-headed Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission. Currently governor decides the monetary policy and RBI board has an advisory role.
4. Government will propose a comprehensive policy on intellectual property rights (IPR) which would pave the way for setting up special IPR courts comprising experts to fast-track adjudication on infringement cases concerning all forms of IPRs. A separate legal regime for ‘utility patents’ for incremental innovations will also be proposed. The regime would have a less stringent criteria when compared to a normal patent.
5. Centre has prepared a revised Constitution Amendment Bill for the Goods and Services Tax that largely accommodates the demands made by states. The government has set a target of 2016 for the launch of the pan-India indirect tax regime. The GST aims at subsuming most of the indirect taxes at the Central as well as state level.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 5th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 07/10/2014 - 11:55
1. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has asserted that there is no worry regarding the flow of bank credit to the country’s real estate. The credit growth has come at a time when demand has slowed sharply and inventories have been building up. It may not lead to asset bubbles in emerging economies.
2. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan received Global Diversity Award 2014 at the Britain’s House of Commons for his outstanding achievements in the field of cinema and his involvement in philanthropic endeavours.
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch four labour reform schemes, aimed at lessening hassles for employees and creating conducive environment for businesses on October 16. The proposed event is titled 'Shrameva Jayate' and will launch Universal Account Number (UAN) facility for Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscribers, a new inspection scheme, a unified web portal to check labour law-compliance and merging of three welfare schemes.
4. The real estate investment trusts (Reits) proposed in budget 2014-15 might not get a full pass-through status ie., taxes on the income distributed by Reits to unit holders will be paid by unit holders and not the Reits. Reits are listed entities investing in income-producing real estate assets, the earnings of which are mostly distributed to shareholders.
5. Microsoft Corp is demanding $6.9 million interest from Samsung Electronics in a dispute over smartphone patent royalties. Microsoft demands the hefty amount as Samsung delayed interests in protest at Microsoft's planned purchase of rival Nokia's handset business.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 4th Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 07/10/2014 - 11:47
1. Government is planning to merge Forward Market Commission with SEBI to strengthen monitoring of future commodity market. It may alternatively give more powers to FMC which is presently under the control of Finance ministry.
2. According to a UNESCAP report, the gap between the poor and the rich is growing in the Asia-Pacific region including India, China and Indonesia. The Gini coefficient – a measure of income inequality – between early 1990s and late 2000s increased from 30.8 to 33.9 in India; 32.4 to 42.1 in China. During the same period the coefficient decreased in countries such as Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Uzbekistan.
3. World Animal Day was observed across the world on 4 October 2014. The World Animal Day is observed with an aim to improve animal welfare standards across the world through support and involvement of individuals, groups and organisations that care about animals.
4. Rajasthan became the first state of India to start olive refinery. The refinery established in Lunkaransar area of Bikaner and was inaugurated by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
5. Centre is working on a two-pronged strategy to increase its ranking in ease of doing business in India. The first is to get states committed in simplifying and rationalising the regulatory environment at their end. The second step is to give specific instructions to the different arms of the Central government to cut inter-departmental wrangling on clearances
CURRENT AFFAIRS 3rd Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 07/10/2014 - 11:44
1. Indian boxer MC Mary Kom bagged her first ever Asian Games Gold Medal by defeating Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan in the finals of the women’s flyweight category (48-51kg) at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon. She became the first Indian woman boxer to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Games. MC Mary Kom is the five-time world champion and the Olympic bronze-medallist.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the countrymen over radio for the first time in his programme Mann Ki Baat. Mann ki Baat is a new initiative of Modi to reach out to maximum populace. He advocated for use of Khadi products as homage to Mahatma Gandhi and to benefit the poor.
3. President Pranab Mukherjee authorised Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as chief of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) until the appointment of the new Central Vigilance Commissioner. The vacancy had occurred after Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar completed his tenure on 28 September 2014.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign in New Delhi. The Swachh Bharat campaign was launched on the occasion of 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and is aimed at making India clean by 2019, i.e. 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. He asked people to donate (Shramdaan) 100 hours every year or two hours every week for cleanliness. Modi started a Swachh Bharat challenge and nominated nine people to accept the challenge and inspire people for the campaign.
5. A high-powered panel headed by the chairman of National Skill Development agency has been set up to rationalise the multitude of skilling schemes run by the government. It has submitted its report and recommended having a formal definition of skill development, integrating soft skills in each training programme and tracking of all candidates enrolled in such schemes through their Aadhaar number.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 2nd Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 06/10/2014 - 08:53
1. Government has set up four different task forces to lay a road map for upgradation of existing agencies in the financial sector and establishment of new ones, including the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA). The action is based on recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission. PDMA would help the government raise debt and support its cash management function.
2. Chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft Corp, Satya Nadella announced that the company would set up 3 local data centres in the country by 2015. Microsoft will offer cloud services from its Azure and Office 365 stacks to local business and government clients. New initiatives of the government such as Digital India, smart cities and the financial inclusion scheme-Jan Dhan Yojana offer significant opportunity for hosting data and cloud services.
3. According to Times Higher Education's ranking of the world's best universities this year, only two Indian universities - The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Punjab University appeared among top 300. They are placed between 276th and 300th positions. This also means the latter's ranking has slipped from last year, when it was between 226th and 250th.
4. The Deepak Parekh committee, set up in 2010 to look at financing for infrastructure development has submitted its report. It has recommended public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the coal mining and power distribution segments. The report gains significance as SC had recently cancelled all coal block allocations made in 1993. The latest report also provides a plan for reviving investment in key sectors during the 12th Plan.
5. The agreement for the first hydroelectric project developed by a joint venture between PSUs of India and Bhutan was signed. The 600-Mw Kholongchu hydroelectric project in Bhutan is being developed by Shimla-based power public sector unit (PSU) SJVN Ltd under the BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) model.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 1st Oct., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 06/10/2014 - 08:44
RBI's fourth Bi monthly Monetary Policy statement 2014-15 was announced on 30th September 2014
1. RBI has kept all key policy rates unchanged. Repo rate at 8%, CRR at 4%, reverse repo rate at 7%, bank rate at 9%. Despite the recovery of emerging economies like US and decline of headline inflation, RBI has kept rates the same owing to unstable geopolitical situations in West Asia and volatile investments.
2. Domestic growth: There has been a fall in the manufacturing output which was negated by increase in exports. RBIs industrial outlook survey foresees expansion of export orders. Agriculture sector may have a setback as rainfall deficit is seen in major productions zones of north western part of India. However, there is cautious optimism that economy can be built on the back of improved business sentiment and solid foundations through increased investment.
3. Banking and Finance: Banks credit growth has declined due to tight monetary policy and high credit demand. Finance from other non-bank sources such as foreign direct investment and external commercial borrowing has increased. Net bank credit particularly public sector banks is lower because of repayment of loans by entities and borrowing of oil companies is also lower.
4. The policy reviewed the developmental and regulatory measures for banks and financial markets that are being put in place. It emphasises the strengthening of the monetary policy framework; fortifying the banking structure; broadening and deepening financial markets; expanding access to finance; and dealing with stress in corporate and financial assets and putting them back to work.
5. An Early Warning System (EWS) is being put in place to track banks’ critical financial parameters. Deviations from pre-defined benchmarks would trigger more granular oversight in the form of enhanced off-site monitoring, focused discussions, on-site examination and punitive action. In addition, a Central Fraud Registry is also proposed to be created simultaneously as a searchable centralised database for use by banks.
The fifth bi monetary policy review is scheduled on December 2, 2014.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 30th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 06/10/2014 - 08:39
1. Agreement for $1 billion has been signed between IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency) and the US Exim Bank to finance sourcing of components from the US for Indian renewable power project developers during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to US. The investment will be boost to the clean energy sector in India especially for solar energy sector.
2. National highways Authority of India has initiated talks with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for setting up asset reconstruction company (ARC). NHAI wants to revive unfinished road projects through the ARC, which would take over the bank loans extended to such projects.. NHAI has 25% stake in the proposed ARC and will invest around Rs.1000 crore in it.
3. The National Health Assurance Policy would be rolled out in phases in the current financial year. The policy seeks to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on health expenses for the common man. Under the scheme, 50 essential drugs (in generic form) with a package of diagnostics and about 30 Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) drugs will be made available to all citizens at government hospitals and health centres across the country.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the merging of Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, in his address at Madison Square Garden in New York. The proposal would extend the relaxed visa norms and rules governing acquiring of property in India that OCI card holders enjoy to those who also hold PIO cards.
5. Third Global Citizen Festival was held at the Central Park in New York on 27 September 2014. The annual festival is aimed at raising the consciousness of a generation to make change inevitable. The festival was attended by world leaders like United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg and President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim
CURRENT AFFAIRS 29th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 01/10/2014 - 19:09
1. The 41st Chief Justice of India (CJI), Rajendra Mal Lodha retired on 27 September 2014. He retired after serving as the CJI for five months. Justice HL Dattu was sworn in as the Chief Justice of India and was administered the oath of office by President Pranab Mukherjee. He is the 42nd Chief Justice of India and will be at the helms of the Indian judiciary till December 2, 2015.
2. The Finance Ministry has appointed a 15-member committee under the Chairmanship of ICICI Bank Chairman K V Kamath to examine the financial architecture for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. The committee will provide suggestions to improve the share of institutional finance to MSME from the low levels seen currently.
3. Government has cut down its market borrowing by ₹8,000 crore at ₹5.92 lakh crore due to better chance of mopping revenue from other sources. This would mean that the fiscal deficit may be lower than the Budget estimate. The Government aims to keep the fiscal deficit (the difference between earnings and expenditure) at 4.1 per cent in this financial year. Also, more money will be available for banks to lend to the private sector and individuals. This will also help in cutting interest rates.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that next Parvasi diwas will be held in Ahmedabad in January 8-9 next year marking 100 years since Gandhi's return from South Africa. He also announced visa on arrival facility for the American citizens and electronic arrival authorisation for them. Person of Indian Origin and Overseas Indian citizen category to be merged to create a single category to remove the discrepancies and no police reporting for those staying for long durations.
5. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai was sworn in as Afghanistan’s new president, replacing Hamid Karzai in the country’s first democratic transfer of power since the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the Taliban. Ghani Ahmadzai is a former World Bank official and Afghan finance minister. He won by securing 55% of the votes in election.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 28th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 29/09/2014 - 21:10
1. Renowned Hindi author Govind Mishra was conferred the 'Saraswati Samman' for his novel "Dhool Paudhon Par" published in 2008 at a function in New Delhi. Govind Mishra is the second Hindi author who was conferred this honour. This Giving award was constituted by the K K Birla Foundation and is recognised as the highest literary award in India.
2. Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev has been honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award at a ceremony in the House of Lords in London. The award, constituted by the Indo-European Business Forum (IEBF), was presented to the former India World Cup-winning captain for his contribution to the sport and for his work in the field of upliftment of poor and destitute communities through the Khushii society.
3. Tamilnadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has been convicted by Bangalore Special Court in the 18 year old asset disproportionate case and sentenced to 4 years imprisonment with 100 crores fine. She has earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first sitting Chief Minister in the country to be found guilty under Prevention of Corruption Act and is being disqualified as MLA and losing power. Thiru O. Panneerselvam takes over as the next Chief Minister of Tamilnadu following her disqualification.
4. Star wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt won India’s fourth gold medal, while Khushbir Kaur became the first woman from the country to win a medal in 20km Race Walking by clinching a silver medal. India shot up to eighth in overall standings on the ninth day of competitions in the 17th Asian Games in Incheon. China continued to maintain their supremacy with a tally of 207 followed by South Korea and Japan.
5. Tennis players accounted for three bronze medals through Yuki Bhambri (men’s singles and men’s doubles with Divij Sharan) and Sania Mirza and Prarthana Thombare (women’s doubles). Middle-distance runner M.R. Poovamma won a bronze in the women’s 400m race. India is placed eighth in the table with a collection of four gold, five silver and 24 bronze.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 27th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 29/09/2014 - 21:05
1. According to UN study, World population will reach 11 billion by 2100 and it was highly unlikely that global population will stabilize by the end of 2100. The data analysis reveals that, there is an 80 percent probability that world population, now 7.2 billion, will increase to between 9.6 and 12.3 billion in 2100 mainly due to high birth rates in Africa.
2. Prithviraj Chavan resigned as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra after his government was reduced to a minority by withdrawal of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that supported Congress for the last 15 years. Chavan submitted his resignation to governor of the state C Vidyasagar Rao. President's rule is imposed in Maharashtra till assembly elections.
3. At the 3rd meeting of SAARC at New Delhi, Bamiyan was declared as the new Cultural Capital of SAARC for the year 2015-16. The Summit also declared 2016-17 as the SAARC Year of Cultural Heritage. The Summit took place at New Delhi in September 2014.
4. CSIR announced the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards 2014 for ten scientists in recognition of their work. CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award 2014 was conferred upon Avra Laboratories Pvt. Limited, Hyderabad for Development and Commercialization of Irinotecan – a unique drug for colorectal cancer.
5. India is working on a totalisation agreement with the United States during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing US visit. The agreement will allow repatriation of social security contributions of Indian workers to India on their return home. There are 5 lakh Indian workers in US who have deposited 1 billion dollar to US social security system.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 26th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 29/09/2014 - 20:59
1. Government has proposed 'Bharat Depository Receipts' (BhDR) and the new scheme complementary to the existing ADR or American Depository Receipt regime under which Indian companies get listed on the American stock exchanges. A government-appointed panel, headed by M S Sahoo, had proposed BhDRs -a rupee dominated instrument that would be issued by domestic depository against listed equities or other financial assets of a foreign company.
2. Supreme Court cancelled all but four coal block allocations, made by successive governments since 1993 on the grounds of illegality and arbitrary decisions under the Coal Mining Nationalisation Act. SC order may have ramifications for the banks and banks may seek regulatory forbearance if the ruling impacts asset performance.
3. Standard and Poor’s improved India’s outlook to stable from negative due to the new governments push for reforms and its capacity to put the country back on high growth trajectory. It has affirmed the ‘BBB-/A-3′ sovereign credit rating on India and revised the outlook on the long-term rating to stable from negative. This reduces risk of any possible sovereign rating downgrade.
4. Former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden and Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian won Right Livelihood Award. The Right Livelihood Award is also known as Alternative Nobel prize of Sweden.
5. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh of Australia were selected as Bradman Honouree 2014. It was announced by The Bradman Foundation on 22 September 2014. Sachin Tendulkar was selected for Bradman Honouree because he has scored more Test runs than any other cricketer in history.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 25th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 29/09/2014 - 20:58
1. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will issue a discussion paper to formalise and address issues pertaining to the Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) funding. A PIPE funding is purchase of shares in a company at a discount to the current market value for the purpose of raising capital by private investment firms or qualified investors.
2. India's first vocational university has been set up in Gujarat. It is a joint venture between the State of Gujarat and human resources (HR) services company TeamLease. It is based on the 'Community College' model popular in the US.
3. According to Forbes, the 100 richest tycoons in India are all billionaires for the first time with Mukesh Ambani topping the list for the eighth consecutive year. He is followed by Dilip Shanghvi, Wipro’s Azim Premji, Pallonji Mistry and steel baron Lakshmi Mittal.
4. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will be formally annoucning the guidelines for Real-estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) this week. These trusts are like mutual funds that raise resources from many investors which will be directly invested in realty or infrastructure projects.
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched “Make in India” worldwide campaign, aimed to make India a global manufacturing hub by attracting global and domestic investors to invest and manufacture in India.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 24th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 29/09/2014 - 20:52
1. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel to look into implementing non-legislative recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) related to capacity building in banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFC) has submitted its report. The committee is chaired byG Gopalakrishna, former executive director of RBI.
2.FSLRC has said 360-degree feedback is important for a transparent and comprehensive performance assessmentexercise and posts of chief learning officer should be created in commercial banks who should develop a ‘learnability index’, a measure of an individual’s ability to learn. This would be applied as an input to judge “promotability”. It also suggested ways to address replacement of talent within banks by developing an internal expert pool and allow free movement of talent within the organisation.
3.The finance ministry has recommended against higher devolution to states from 32% to 50% to the 14thFinance Commission (FC). The FC headed by former Reserve Bank of India governor Y V Reddy recommends the percentage of central taxes to be shared with states and the criteria. Centre has said it had to meet its long-term payment obligations such as higher salary burden after recommendations of the seventh pay commission and compensation to the states if they make any losses after switching to a Goods & Services Tax (GST).
4. Supreme Court has appointed retired judge Michael Kirby of Australia as chairman of a three-member arbitral tribunal to decide the disputes between the government and Reliance Industries on various aspects of the Krishna-Godavari basin gas pricing.
5.MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX) has received the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)’s approval to rename it Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India(mSXI). It is part of the revamp undertaken by the new management which took over MCX from promoter Financial Technologies India.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 23rd Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 29/09/2014 - 20:52
1.The Health ministry and Department of Pharmaceuticalsare working on a proposal to bring price regulation of medical devices under the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority. NPPA currently monitors the prices of medicines. The proposal aims to have a check on the margins and commissions offered by medical device manufacturers, distributors or wholesalers of these products.
2.The government will sell 10% of its stake in RashtriyaIspat Nigam Ltd (RINL) through an offer for sale. Out of which 35 per cent will be reserved for retail investors and 50 per cent for qualified institutional buyers.
3.During the preparatory committee on a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) which is to meet on September 29 at the World Trade Organization's (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, India is going to demand a parallel agreement on public stockholding for food security purposes. Earlier, India had refused to sign the amendments to TFA that had led to a deadlock for the agreement to come into force.
4.Group of 20 finance chiefs and central bankers warn that low interest rates could lead to a potential increase in financial-market risk, as major economies like US depend on monetary stimulus to bolster uneven growth.
5.Andhra Bank launched ‘Andhra Bank Kisaan Vaani’, a new facility which provides latest technical information on agriculture and allied activities to farmers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana through ‘Green SIM’-based voice message. Green SIM can be used as a regular SIM since it has all the features of the normal SIM in addition to the value-added services. It is developed by Iffco KisaanSanchar Limited (IKSL).
CURRENT AFFAIRS 22nd Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sun, 28/09/2014 - 11:07
1. Securities and Exchange Board of India has sought additional information from Reliance Industries (RIL) on the takeover of Network18 and TV18 Broadcast. The announcement of the take over of two firms by RIL through its Independent Media Trust (IMT) was done in May this year and SEBI is studying the information that had been already filed.
2. The initiative of South Canara District Central Cooperative (SCDCC) Bank Ltd to make primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACS) as part of the payment system under the RuPay Kisan credit card will be taken as a model by NABARD. PACS, under SCDCC Bank’s jurisdiction, directly give loans to farmers. These societies open accounts in the books of SCDCC Bank.
3. G20 nations have decided to create a mechanism for automatic exchange of tax information between various countries by 2017. This will help India in dealing with the menace of black money stashed abroad. Currently information is exchanged based on requests and only in cases of financial crimes.
4. Union Government and the pharma industry will jointly create a trust named Responsible Health Care Trust to promote the brand image of Indian pharma globally and fight malicious campaigns.
5. Voreqe Bainimarama was sworn in as new Prime Minister of Fiji by President Epeli Nailatikau. He had won 60 percent of the seats in the 2014 elections in Fiji.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 21st Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sun, 28/09/2014 - 11:01
1. Scotland chose decisively against independence from United Kingdomin the referendum conducted yesterday. 45 per cent of Scots voted to abandon the United Kingdom while the "no" campaign had won 55.3 per cent of the vote, ensuring a more powerful Scotland within Britain. The Scotland is expected to get even more regional and national autonomy from United Kingdom.
2. State Bank of India and ICICI Bank have signed agreements with the Export Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank) for Lines of Credit (LOC) amounting to $1.8 billion and $1 billion respectively. The Credit will be used for projects involving import of Chinese raw materials, energy, equipment, mechanical and electronic products and any other projects mutually agreed on by the two banks.
3. Election Commission of Afghanistan declared Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as the President-elect of Afghanistan. It was announced after a Unity deal signed between Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah, former foreign minister of Afghanistan.
4. According to a report by Moody, Major public sector banks in India will need to raise Rs. 1,50,000 crore to Rs. 2,20,000 crore ($26-$37 billion) between 2015 and 2019 for the full implementation of Basel III. Banks may raise the amount through the equity markets but low bank valuations will make it difficultto raise the required amount.
5. As per RBIs data, Largest lender State Bank of India has emerged as the leader in mobile banking with 50 per cent market share in this segment. It has over 1.15 crore registered mobile banking customers.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 20th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 22/09/2014 - 09:27
1. Mandolin maestro U Srinivas passed away due to complications developed after his liver transplant. He was 45. Shrinivas, born in Andhra played with great Indian artists such as Hariprasad Chaurasia and Zakir Hussain.
2. President Barack Obama nominated Richard Rahul Verma as US ambassador to India ahead of his meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Verma, an Indian-American, served as assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs at the State Department in the Obama administration.
3. Lawrence J Ellison announced his retirement as chief executive of Oracle. Oracle is a company founded by Ellison in 1977 that has transformed the way businesses use technology.
4. Reserve Bank of India Executive Director P Vijaya Bhaskar asked banks to stay vigilant against smurfing and money muling. Smurfing is a way by which cash is broken into smaller deposits of money to defeat suspicion of money laundering. Money muling occurs when money launderers use someone else's bank account to deposit and transfer money.
5. Assam government launched an 'Angel Fund' to help first generation entrepreneurs of the state to start business start-ups. A maximum loan amount of Rs 5 lakh at 5 per cent interest per annum would be provided for setting up new micro enterprises.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 19th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 22/09/2014 - 09:25
1. PepsiCo Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Indra Nooyi has been ranked the third most powerful businesswoman by the Fortune magazine. ‘The most powerful women in business 2014’ list topped by IBM Chairman and CEO Ginni Rometty and General Motors CEO Mary Barra.
2. Concur Technologies, the US-based company is acquired by German enterprises software maker SAP for $7.3 billion. Concur technologies was co-founded by Indian origin siblings Sudhir Steven Singh and Rajiv Singh in 1993.
3. India and China have decided to resolve their long-standing border dispute according to the pact signed by the two governments in April 2005. Both sides have also decided to start talks on a civil nuclear agreement, to expand their civil nuclear energy programmes.
4. Ma Ying-jeou, The President of Taiwan presented the first Tang Prizes in Taiwan’s capital Taipei. The Tang Prize is treated as Asia's version of the Nobels. This award honours the outstanding contributions to the environment, human rights, medicine and Sinology.
5. The Board of Inquiry (BOI) conducted by Defence ministry recommended decommissioning of INS Sindhurakshak. It recommended that the submarine INS Sindhurakshak is not fit to sail again thus it should be decommissioned
CURRENT AFFAIRS 18th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 19/09/2014 - 12:31
1. Chinese President Xi Jinping on his three day visit to India oversaw the signing of three memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between his country and the Gujarat government for cooperation in various sectors. Companies from the two countries signed business deals worth $3.4 billion.
2. India’s largest no-frills carrier IndiGo signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC). Under the $2.6 billion deal with IndiGo, ICBC, China’s largest commercial bank will finance the airline’s plans to purchase 30 aircraft. P
3. According to the Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2014, India has retained its sixth position in the number of billionaires residing in the country. It is home to 100 such people, with a collective net worth of $175 billion. On the top 40 list of billionaire countries/territories, the US maintained its position as the first (571 billionaires) followed by China (190) and the UK (130) respectively in the second and third positions.
4. Securities and Exchange Board of India is planning to issue guidelines requiring listed companies to file an integrated document called the annual information memorandum. It must contain disclosures about business and statutory information.
5. Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah released his autobiography 'And then One Day: A Memoir'. He had won Padma Shri in 1987 and Padma Bhushan in 2003.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 17th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 19/09/2014 - 12:30
1. Reserve Bank of India has begun to review the performance of those appointed to or candidates for the top posts in public sector banks (PSBs). It follows the arrest of S K Jain, chairman and managing director (CMD) of Syndicate Bank over graft charges.
2. Central government has decided to raise the commission to banks for managing Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs) to two per cent from the one per cent. It will increase the compensation for expenses incurred by banks. DBT money includes subsidy for cooking gas, kerosene and wages paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
3. The country’s largest commercial bank, State Bank of India has cut the interest rate on medium-term deposits (one year to less than three years maturity) by 25 basis points to 8.75 per cent. The revision of interest rates was due to abundant liquidity along with slower credit pick-up.
4. Government has signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for $63.3 million loan to improve urban municipal services in 14 towns in north Karnataka.
5. According to data released by RBI, annual credit growth in the banking system fell to 9.68 per cent. This was the first time since October 2009 (9.01 per cent) that growth in bank credit fell below 10 per cent. Banks attribute it to weak corporate credit pick up despite economic recovery.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 16th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 19/09/2014 - 12:29
1. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) structured as companies were asked to pay minimum alternate tax (MAT) on their gains in Indian markets by the tax department. Presently FPI pays tax only on short term capital gains. The additional tax on long term capital gains will discourage foreign investments into the country.
2. Information technology (IT) services company Cognizant has signed a deal to acquire US-based TriZetto in an all-cash deal valued at $2.7 billion (around Rs 16,510 crore). The deal will be the most expensive acquisition by an offshore-centric Indian IT services company.
3. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation rate fell to a 5 year low of 3.74 per cent in August due to slowing down of price rise across all broad categories. Despite low inflation, RBI may not reduce its repo rate during its September monetary policy review due to the risk of retail inflation caused by weak monsoon.
4. State-run Canara Bank is awaiting government approval to raise Rs 3,500 crore through a qualified institutional placement (QIP). It has already got RBI approval and has appointed merchant bankers.
5. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was appointed as United Nations Messenger of Peace with a special focus on climate change. As a Messenger of Peace he will address the UN Climate Change Summit in the US on 23 September 2014.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 15th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 18/09/2014 - 15:21
1. Sebi is likely to extend the compliance deadline for meeting the new corporate governance norms till April 1. It may relax provisions like requirement of women directors, mandatory use of e-voting facility in shareholder meetings. A committee may be formed to look into practical difficulties in the implementation of compulsory electronic voting (e-voting) at shareholder meetings.
2. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has said reducing the number of free transactions at non-home bank automated teller machines (ATMs) from five to three a month was necessary as banks have to pay for such transactions. However banks can choose to subsidise. The move will reduce the hidden cross-subsidy and make it more transparent.
3. Member of BJP’s national executive Ms. Lalitha Kumarmangalam was appointed as the chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW). Ms. Kumarmangalam is from Tamil Nadu and runs an NGO called Prakriti.
4. Centre has informed the Supreme Court that the Human DNA Profiling Bill was currently held up and hence not able to create a national DNA data bank. Privacy concerns, lack of experts and handful laboratories as the prime reasons for not being able to push the Bill. The bill aimed at profiling the accused of serious crimes, and unidentified dead.
5. The Urban Development ministry is planning to introduce a scheme that will ensure toilets to all the people living in urban areas similar to the scheme for rural areas. The scheme will benefit slum dwellers and people living in unauthorised colonies who do not have access to basic sanitation facilities.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 14th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 18/09/2014 - 15:19
1. The G-20 Labour and Employment Ministerial meet was held at Melbourne, Australia on 10 September 2014 to 11 September 2014. It discussed about how to increase job growth across the G20 , improve productivity and drive growth. G20 Leaders Summit will be held in Brisbane in November.
2. National Hindi Divas (Hindi Day) was observed across India on 14 September 2014. The President of India Pranab Mukherjee presented Rajbhasa awards to recognize the excellent contribution of Ministries, Departments and Nationalized Banks and others in the field of Hindi.
3. Kaushik basu is the second Indian to be elected as president of International Economic Association (IEA). He will continue to serve as Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of World Bank. Amartya Sen became the first Indian to join IEA.
4. Narendra Ambwani was elected as Chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). He succeeded Partha Rakshit. Narendra Ambwani has been a member of the board of governors for seven years and provided active support to self-regulation in the advertising market.
5. Russian hackers have leaked around Five millions Gmail Passwords of Indians. The same Google account password is used across all Google products, such as Gmail, Drive, Plus, YouTube, Maps etc. Google denied the claim and said that its automated anti-hijacking systems would have blocked many of the login attempts.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 13th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 18/09/2014 - 15:13
1. Prominent Bangladeshi Nazrul Sangeet singer Firoza Begum died in Dhaka due to heart and kidney problems. She was honoured with the Independence Day Award in 1979 and the Sheltech Award in 2000.
2. Supreme Court directed the Centre to reinstate Rajeshwar Singh as permanent Deputy Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court censured the Government for not complying with the directions of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) issued on 24 December 2013.
3, As per the 6th Economic Census Report 2013, Arunachal Pradesh has the maximum percentage of hired workers amongst all states, including in segments like education and health. The Percentage of female hired workers in Arunachal Pradesh: 30.3%.
4. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India launched a new payment gateway integrated to the e-filing system of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) . This new facility will be dedicated to the working of the Indian Patent Office as InternationalSearching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The new facility will facilitate payment by means of internet banking, credit cards or debit cards of more than 70 Banks
CURRENT AFFAIRS 12th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sun, 14/09/2014 - 09:40
1. Securities and Exchange Board of India censured BSE for violating rules related to allocations in the Rs 6,000-crore NMDC offer for sale in 2012. The Bombay Stock Exchange had given orders for 45.5 million NMDC shares after the stipulated time - within half an hour of the post-close session, as stipulated under Sebi norms.
2. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has said that abrupt reversal of low interest rates globally could create substantial amounts of damage and it should be done in a predictable and careful way. He was also worried that altering the price of capital for substantial period of time distorts investment decisions and the nature of economies.
3. Government has planned to launch Rs 2 lakh crore ($32.9 billion) worth of infrastructure projects this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided that ministries can approve projects up to Rs 1000 crore (Rs. 200crore earlier) without the Cabinet approval. The decision will allow faster clearances of projects by ministries particularly infrastructure projects.
4. Union textile ministry is finalising a national policy on textiles which will be in sync with the manufacturing policy. The policy aims at bringing investment of $120 billion to achieve $650-billion growth target by 2024-25. The sector may need 35 million workers to achieve this growth target.
5. State Bank of India's first woman chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya been featured in the '50 Most Influential' list by Bloomberg Markets. Ms. Bhattacharya is the only Indian woman to be present in the 'bankers' category of the list.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 11th Sep. 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sun, 14/09/2014 - 09:31
1. Cabinet cleared sale of stakes in Coal India Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation. The stake sales will be completed through Offer for sales via e- auctions in stock exchanges. The disinvestment is expected to fetch Rs. 43000 crore.
2. Subash Chandra Garg was appointed as Executive Director in World Bank. He is a senior IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre and will have a tenure of 3 years.
3. According to UNCTAD Trade and Development report 2015, Indian economy will grow at a rate of 5.6% in 2014 compared to 4.5-5% growth rate of other developing economies. It has predicted China's growth rate to be at 7.5% in 2015.
4. ICICI has launched a new service called 'Cardless Cash Withdrawal' in which money can be withdrawn without having a debit card. The recipient who does not have a bank account can withdraw money by using a reference code sent to her registered mobile number.
5. Government is working on the concept of a digital locker of sorts - an online repository for all certificates and documents issued to the citizens of the country. Documents will be hosted over a cloud to be maintained by the govt.
The project will address the issue of counterfeiting and also save on the cost incurred in storing and maintaining physical documents.
6. According to a report,‘Bulls & Bears-India Valuation Handbook’ by brokerage firm Motilal Oswal, India is the second-highest contributor to the rise in global market capitalisation (market cap) this year. India accounts for 10.25 per cent of the overall rise of 3.9 per cent and US tops the list, accounting for 41 per cent of the rise in global market cap.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 10th Sep., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sun, 14/09/2014 - 09:29
1. Cabinet approved the fifth phase of the Unique Identity project 'Aadhaar'. The government re-approved UID Authority of India’s mandate by extending its coverage to four more states, to cover a billion people.
2. Government has decided not to impose anti-dumping duty on solar panels that are being imported. Imports are necessary as the domestic manufacturing had not scaled up to a level to provide the required number for the solar mission. Also, it would help reduce the cost of solar energy.
3. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed that individuals or corporate entities acting as guarantors to loans could also be identified as wilful defaulters for refusing to clear the dues despite having the means to do so. The rule of not sanctioning loans for a wilful defaulter also applies to guarantors who are not directors of the borrowing company or are non-group entities or individuals.
4. A study released at a G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting in Australia, said that an extra 600 million jobs is needed to be created worldwide by 2030 for the expanding population alone. There might be a global jobs crisis which may hurt the economic growth recovery around the world.
5. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed managing directors and chief executive officers of private banks (including whole-time director on the board) to hold office till the age of 70. The decision will clear doubts on the eligibility of Aditya Puri -HDFC Bank’s MDand Romesh Sobti -IndusInd Bank’s MD and CEO for re-appointments.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 9th September, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 10/09/2014 - 20:18
1. SBI is working with MasterCard, the global payment and technology company on making its cards Masterpass-enabled, a technology that allows your card to be converted into a digital one. It has requested RBI to waive it from mandatory PIN entry for certain transactions for implementing this digital card innovation.
2. SBI has also launched a Multi-Currency Foreign Travel Card that will support up to 12 currencies. The card will provide global emergency, such as-cash delivery, medical and lawyer assistance etc- services to its consumer in addition to withdrawal and transaction facility.
3. A committee headed by Shanta Kumar was constituted to reform the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to improve FCI's efficiency and to check food price inflation. The committee has decided to get suggestions from experts, stakeholders and the general public.
4. The proposed telecom super regulator, Communications Commission, will have six members and a chairperson. It will have powers to regulate communications-linked sectors and also look into licensing. It will work to ensure better service and prevent monopoly. The appellate tribunal will have a judicial member, to be appointed by the government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India.
5. According to Moody’s, the global rating agency, the new norms for Basel-III capital instruments will be credit-positive for Indian banks. The new rules make instruments more attractive and broaden the base for additional Tier-1 (AT-I) bonds to include the retail investor. It will also allow banks to have a higher proportion of AT-1 in their Tier-1 capital.
6. Odisha Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (OUIDF) will get a line of credit of nearly $100 million from Asian Development Bank . OUIDF was set up by the state government to carry out infrastructure projects in municipalities. It is awaiting approval from the chief minister’s office to avail the loan facility
CURRENT AFFAIRS 8th September, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 10/09/2014 - 20:13
1. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said that the government and the Reserve Bank of India will formulate a monetary framework for the central bank with more emphasis on inflation. He also indicated about creating a bankruptcy system to deal with stress and recent measures of labelling 'wilful defaulters' and 'non cooperative defaulters' to deal with borrowers who default on repaying their loans.
2. Central government’s advisory group on power distribution reforms favours state-specific plans, instead of one model for the country. The panel, headed by Prabhu has recommended debt recovery, rate rationalisation and addressing of distribution losses.
3. According to Moody's investor service, United States is to become the world's biggest marketplace for public-private partnerships as infrastructure needs in the country soar while traditional funding for bridges, courthouses and other projects have decreased.
4. Government is planning to bring in changes to ease fund raising which includes relaxation in the depository receipt framework and reforming equity derivatives, currency & commodities segments and liberalising the ECB framework. Centre had recently accepted the M S Sahoo (ex-Sebi whole-time director) panel report that reviewed the depository receipts scheme framed in 1993.
5. India has signed the free trade agreement (FTA) in services and investments with 10-member ASEAN. The agreement will allow free movement of professionals and further opening opportunities for investments. India has already implemented FTA in goods with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2011.
6. Government is working on its first policy on intellectual property rights which will help modernise IP administration and offices; commercialisation of IP; encourage innovation and enhance domestic filing of patents. It will also set up a think tank on IPR to strengthen the country's patent regime.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 7th September, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 08/09/2014 - 20:08
1. Sania Mirza and Brazil's Bruno Soares won the US Open Mixed Doubles by defeating Abigail Spears from the USA and Santiago Gonzalez from Mexico. This success takes one step closer to winning a career Grand Slam in tennis for Sania mirza.
2. According to a study by Assocham, five states - Maharashtra, Andhra pradesh Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh attracted about half of the total investment of Rs 5.5 lakh crore by central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) between 2008-09 and 2012-13. The bottom of the investment destinations include some of the developed states like Gujarat, Karnakata and Haryana.
3. First ever South Africa Week will happen in India from September 9,2014. South Africa will showcase its advanced agriculture and food processing techniques at the South Africa week which aims to promote bilateral trade between the two nations.
4. According to an annual Global competitiveness report by World Economic Forum, India's ranking has improved to 49th place in terms of favouritism shown by government officials to influential corporates. India ranks below china and major BRICS economies. Qatar has replaced Singapore as the top ranked country with least probability of such favouritism and Venezuela continues to remain the worst place on this front.
5. Department of Telecommunications has set up a committee to revive Communications Convergence Bill. The bill seeks to have a regulator for telecom and broadcasting sectors with defined powers, procedures and functions for regulatory and licensing functions and an Appellate Tribunal.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 6th Septemebr, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sat, 06/09/2014 - 22:50
1. State Bank of India has launched two new savings bank accounts for children - Pehla Kadam and Pehli Udaan. Pehla Kadam is a savings bank account for minors of any age operated jointly with his/her parent/guardian and Pehli Udaan savings bank account can be operated independently by a minor aged 10 years and above. Customers will be given a cheque book, a passbook and an ATM Card.
2. In addition to the signing of civil nuclear cooperation agreement, India and Australia has agreed to have cooperation in the areas of preventive healthcare, trauma care, geriatric medicine, diabetes research and mental illnesses. Australia has announced the extension of the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF) for a further four years and also pledged Australian dollars (AUD) 20 million for the initiative.
3. Ravindra Nath assumed the charge of Chairman and Managing director (CMD) of National Small Industries Corporation Limited(NSIC). He succeeds H P Kumar. National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) is a PSU established by the Government of India in 1955 with the objective to provide help to small scale industries (SSI).
4. Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered an investigation against public sector general insurers for alleged anti-competitive practices relating to third-party administrators (TPAs) in health insurance. The allegation is that these public general insurers are not allowing TPAs to function independently and have created their own TPAs to settle insurance claims.
5. Indo-Nepal joint military exercise Surya Kiran-VII concluded at Pithoragarh, Uttarkhand. The exercise aims at developing expertise in counter insurgency, jungle warfare and disaster management under the aegis of the Indian Army. It has also boosted bilateral ties between the two countries.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 5th September, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sat, 06/09/2014 - 22:49
1. Rating agency ICRA estimates public sector banks’ gross non-performing assets (NPAs) to be at 4.7 per cent at the end of this financial year as against 4.4 per cent last year. The gross NPA for the entire banking sector will be at 4-4.2 per cent this year. This is attributed to the increased rate of generation of fresh NPAs this year and may further increase due to decreased sale of NPAs to asset reconstruction companies and decreasing corporate restructuring of loans.
2. Union cabinet cleared a seven per cent rise in dearness allowance (DA) for all the government employees (three million government employees and five million pensioners)with effect from July 1, taking it to 107 per cent of their basic pay. The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula given by 6th Central Pay Commission.
3. Government formed a panel of four ministers on setting up a national environment regulator. The panel will consist of Prakash Javadekar (environment and forests), Nitin Gadkari (road transport), Ananth Kumar (chemicals and fertilisers) and Piyush Goel (power, coal and renewable energy). Earlier, Centre had set up a committee to review various key environment protection laws.
4. Government plans to introduce Farm Income Insurance (FII) scheme to give insurance cover on earnings expected from crop yield. The agriculture ministry would provide soil health cards to all farmers in the country to inform them about strengths and weakness of their farm soil.
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott expected to sign an India-Australia civil nuclear cooperation agreement today. The agreement will bolster India’s plans to increase nuclear energy production and has the potential to double Australia’s uranium exports by 2018.
6. The finance ministry has set up a committee to examine unclaimed deposits lying in the Public Provident Fund and savings schemes of post office and banks. The commitee is chaired by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor HR Khanand will submit its report by December 2014. Finance minister in the Budget speech, had announced an increase in the maximum annual investment limit in PPF by Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 4th Septemebr, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 05/09/2014 - 09:01
1. Former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Kalyan Singh sworn-in as the 20th Governor of Rajasthan. Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court Sunil Ambwani administered the oath of office to Singh at a ceremony held at Raj Bhawan in Jaipur.
2. National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) has partnered with online marketplace Flipkart to give training to its students in areas like creating private lables and marketing of products. The MoU will give the students access to other handloom, apparels, leather and accessory clusters.
3. President Pranab Mukherjee has cleared the appointment of Justice H.L. Dattu as the 42nd Chief Justice of India. He could become the last Chief Justice of India to be appointed under the collegium system of judicial appointments.
4. Tata Consultancy Services has reappointed N Chandrasekaran as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for a five year term. He was earlier appointed as CEO and MD for a period of five years from 2009 to 2014.
5. According to a WHO report, India accounted for the highest estimated number of suicides in the world in 2012. It reports that one person commits suicide every 40 seconds globally and South-East Asia Region has the highest estimated suicide rate compared to other regions.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 3rd September, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 05/09/2014 - 08:58
1. NABARD has brought Cooperative Banking sector onto a Core Banking Solution (CBS) platform through its 'NABARD initiated Project on CBS in Co-operatives.' It will give the country's rural sector access to basic banking facilities such as Any Branch Banking, NEFT, RTGS and access to ATMs.
2. Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has stopped the appointment process of some senior level officers in public sector banks (PSBs) and sought clarification from the Finance Ministry. It has found certain alleged anomalies in the selection process of high level officers in banks.
3. HRD ministry has nominated two women scientists Tessy Thomas and Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath to the IIT council, the apex body of 16 IITs. Thomas is the first woman to head India's missile programme. Ravindranath helped establish National Brain Research Centre.
4. Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to set up a time-bound mechanism for clearing loan proposals and cautioned them in carrying out necessary due diligence. The direction by RBI is expected to expedite large projects where credit is indispensible.
5. Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, has launched a major national programme to identify the correlates, causes and predictive biomarkers of preterm birth under its Grand Challenge Programme.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 2nd September, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 03/09/2014 - 08:41
1. State Bank of India (SBI) signed a loan agreement with the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) to set up an export credit line in two currencies worth $152 million. The export credit line consists of 13.5 billion yen and $21 million which will be utilised for energy projects.
2. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased the norms for investing in banks’ additional tier-I and tier-II capital. Indian banks can issue tier-II capital with original maturity of at least five years and Call options on additional tier-I debt will be allowed at five years (as against 10 years earlier). It would ease pressure on the government to infuse capital into public sectors banks to meet Basel-III norms by March 2019
3. Asia's first Ballistic Research Centre will be coming up at Gujarat Forensic Science University (GFSU). The Centre will conduct tests for armoured vehicles of the Indian Army and also provide services to private players who supply vehicles to the VIPs. It will also provide services to other countries.
4. Karnataka launched a scheme ‘Surya Raitha Scheme’ which allows farmers to set up small solar power plants in their farms and sell power to the Karnataka Energy Regulatory Commission. The government will also supply solar pumpsets at subsidised prices to overcome the power crisis being faced by farmers.
5. United Bank of India (UBI) declared Kingfisher Airlines and its chairman Vijay Mallya as wilful defaulters for non-payment of Rs 400 crore of dues. Earlier, Kingfisher Airlines had moved the Calcutta High Court after the bank had identified it as wilful defaulters but the court had dismissed the plea allowing bank to declare them as wifi defaulters.
6. The Tokyo Declaration has resulted in a Special Strategic Global Partnership with Japan emphasising on increased economic and defence cooperation. Japan has promised $33.58 billion over the next five years under the India-Japan Investment Promotion Partnership for the development of economic corridors, infrastructure, transport system and smart cities.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 1st September, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 03/09/2014 - 08:26
1. Department of ayurveda, yoga & naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy in the Union health ministry is to commission a study on ways to boost Indian systems of medicine. It is to help the herbal drug manufacturing industry and raise its export revenue. The National Medicinal Plant Board will oversee the project.
2. Israel announced a land appropriation of nearly 400 hectares in the occupied West Bank near Bethlehem. It has been termed the biggest in 30 years by PeaceNow, an anti-settlement group.
3. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is appointed as a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance which is headed by M Veerappa Moily. Moily was a minister in the Manmohan Singh government.
4. Centre has constituted a high-level committee to review environment laws in order to bring them in line with "current requirements". It is a four-member panel headed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian. The panel has been asked to review five key green laws concerning protection and conservation of environment, forest, wildlife, water and air among others.
5. According to a survey of financial inclusion in India funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and conducted by InterMedia India, Goa has been the top performer in financial inclusion across almost all parameters in the survey. Gujarat, Bihar, Orissa and the North Eastern states lags on the two critical indicators - percentage of adults below poverty line having active digital accounts and per cent of rural women with active accounts. Gujarat stands out of the top 10 with 45 per cent of the adults in the sample having a bank account.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 31st August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 02/09/2014 - 10:02
1. European Union leaders have elected Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk as the new president of their European Council and Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini as the bloc's new foreign policy chief. Donald Tusk succeeds the outgoing European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
2. Noted historian Bipan Chandra died on 30-08-2014 due to age related illness. He was considered to be an authority on Mahatma Gandhi. He had authored several books like "The Making of Modern India: From Marx to Gandhi", "History of Modern India" and "The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India". He was also the former chairman of the National Book Trust.
3. The government will pay the premium on the Rs 30,000 life insurance cover and the National Payments Corporation of India will provide the premium on the Rs 1 lakh accident insurance cover for the beneficiaries of Jan Dhan Yojana.
4. A Partner City MoU was signed by India with Japan to develop Varanasi, Prime Minister's constituency into a smart city on the lines of Kyoto City in Japan. The MoU will serve as framework for Smart heritage city programme between the two countries. This is Prime Minister’s first bilateral visit outside South Asia since he took office.
5. Former Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam is to be the next Governor of Kerala following the resignation of Sheila Dikshit. He will be the first retired CJI to be appointed as a Governor of a State.
6. The foundation stone of the world’s first Natural World Heritage Centre was laid at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun. It's objective is to achieve a more balanced representation of properties from Asia and the Pacific on the World Heritage List, and raising awareness towards protection and conservation of the natural world heritage.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 30th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 01/09/2014 - 09:00
1. Centre is considering a ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes based on the recommendations of an expert panel set up by the health ministry. Electronic cigarettes is a vapour device that delivers a nicotine minus the smoke. It's safety is not yet proved and its use has been regulated in UK and EU. Recently, Punjab banned them.
2. Asian Development Bank will provide up to 7-9 billion loan to the India over the next three years for developing its infrastructure. It will also provide around $30 million for technical assistance grants for building institutions and capacity at the state and local levels.
3. Reliance Industries Ltd plans to invest about $13 billion in energy projects, including a crude refinery at its Jamnagar complex. It would process cheap, heavy crudes that are increasingly available to Asia due to increase in shale gas explorations.
4. Malaysia's airline AirAsia has launched a two month-long free user trial of its on board Wi-Fi service. It is designed to provide low-cost, affordable Internet connectivity to airline passengers on selected flights.
5. Supreme Court may frame guidelines for media over covering criminal cases and briefing by investigating agencies considering the increasing instances of media trials. Trials by media and public condemnation of accused is happening based on the basis information provided by police and prosecutors although the trial remains to conclude.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 29th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 01/09/2014 - 08:57
1. J&K Legislative Council unanimously passed a resolution urging the government to resume the talks with Pakistan to ensure peace and stability in the sub-continent in general and Jammu and Kashmir in particular. It also urged union government to take effective steps for prevention of LoC firing, which has caused huge loss of life and property in the affected areas.
2. Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) launched on 28th August has set a record of creating 1.5 crore new bank accounts on the first day. As many as 7.5 crore households would be covered under the comprehensive financial inclusion programme by Republic day, with at least one bank account for each.
3. Government has set up a high-level committee to look into cases arising out of retrospective amendments implemented in 2012. It was formed to allay tax concerns of foreign multinationals regarding offshore transactions of their Indian assets. The committee will examine the case and will give approval for any action in those cases arising out of the implementation of retrospective amendments.
4.The minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 and a higher wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 for social security schemes run by retirement fund manager EPFO will be implemented from September 1. The decision will immediately benefit 28 lakh pensioners who get less than this amount at present and enhancing minimum wage ceiling for becoming a subscriber of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation is expected to bring 50 lakh additional formal sector workers under the ambit of the body.
5. Competition commission of India has asked the Sun pharma and Ranbaxy to make public specific details of their proposed merger within ten days. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd had announced a USD 4-billion deal in April this year. This is probably the first instance where the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered a public scrutiny of a proposed merger and acquisition (M&A) deal to ensure compliance to fair trade regulations.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 28th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 29/08/2014 - 17:54
1. To promote cycling as a regular physical activity, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said he would reach out to the Ministries of Road Transport and Highways and Urban Development for creating dedicated cycle tracks along roads.
2. Tainted Ministers cannot take refuge with a mere presumption of innocence. By sending a strong message that politicians facing criminal charges framed by a court should be disqualified from becoming Ministers, the Supreme Court has stepped away from the age-old principle that a “person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.” Framing of charges in a criminal trial is a “judicial act”, Justice Dipak Misra, , said disposing of a PIL. He said the framing of charges by a judge was not the same as the lodging of an FIR by a probe agency. Charges are framed in a criminal trial after the judge is satisfied there is prima facie evidence against the accused after perusal of the final charge sheet.
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a committee to identify obsolete laws which hampers governance by creating avoidable confusion. The committee will submit its report in three months, and a Bill will be introduced in Parliament in the winter session based on its recommendations.
4. Centre plans to re-launch the direct benefits transfer (DBT) scheme in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution. The petroleum ministry lifted the existing one-cylinder-per-month cap on subsidised LPG sales.
5. Cabinet has approved the proposal for extension of tenure of M.N. Prasad as Executive Director, World Bank till October 31, 2014. The Executive Directors are responsible for the conduct of the general operations of the World Bank.
6. Moody's, the global rating agency predicts Foreign currency bond issuance from Indian companies and financial institutions to reach a record high this year. Cross-border bond issuance from Indian financial and non-financial institutions reached $15.9 billion for the first seven months of 2014, near the record high of $16.4 bn last year.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 27th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 28/08/2014 - 18:26
1. C.S.Verma was elected as First President of Indian Steel Association (ISA). Indian Steel Association was started by the Major domestic steel producers of India to improve the Quality, Productivity & Competitiveness of the steel industry.
2. Oil Ministry will seek Cabinet’s approval for deregulating diesel prices after retail rates achieve parity with global levels. It has also proposed to cut subsidy payout by upstream firm like ONGC by half.
3. Israel and Hamas agreed to an open-ended ceasefire halting a seven-week war that killed more than 2,200 people. The deal was mediated by Egypt and it allows Israel to ease imports into Gaza, including aid and material for reconstruction. Talks on more complex issues will be starting in a month.
4. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed Governors for four states - Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa. The four Governors are Kalyan Singh- Rajasthan, Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala- Karnataka, Ch. Vidyasagar Rao- Maharashtra and Mridula Sinha- Goa. Sheila Dikshit submitted her resignation as Kerala Governor to the President of India.
5. Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJIL) signed a deal with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for sharing mobile towers and infrastructure. It has also signed deal with Bharti Airtel, Viom Network, Ascend Telecom Infrastructure, Reliance Communications and American Tower Company to utilise their infrastructure.
6. Indo-Russian Air Force Exercise, Avia Indra-2014 started at Astrakhan region, near the Caspian Sea in Russia. It is the first Indo-Russia aerial exercise that involves the air forces of the two countries. The exercise is conducted to boost cooperation between the air forces of two countries
CURRENT AFFAIRS 26th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 28/08/2014 - 18:25
1. Government plans to set up solar power plants along the national border to provide electricity access to armed forces. The proposal is a brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it will set up 1,000-mw plants with indigenous solar components on defence land and supply.
2. The final draft of the free trade agreement (FTA) on services and investment between India and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is likely to be approved during the Asean-India economic ministers' meeting in Myanmar. Two-way trade between India and Asean is expected to reach $100 billion by 2015.
3. RBI is working with the government on redefining as to what constitutes a deposit collected by non bank entities. Central bank discussed strengthening the state- level coordination committees so that unauthorised deposit taking can be dealt with in a better way.
4. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is mulling ways for more stringent enforcement in cases of high-profile violations of insider trading norms. A revision of the insider trading regulations are expected to be put in place in a month.
5. Union textiles ministry is planning to freeze capacity of B Twill jute bags at 2.59 million bales (one bale is 180 kg) for 2014-15. It is based on the recommendation by Jute Commissioner Subrata Gupta who had advocated freeze in capacity since internal consumption of jute bags was lower than the actual capacity.
6. Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose above 2,000 for the first time indicating signs of more corporate takeovers and stimulus for the European economy. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced to 4,566.61, the highest level since March 2000.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 25th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 26/08/2014 - 09:07
1. India launched its first ethanol-run bus in the Nagpur as a part of Green Bus Project by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Four states -Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will be the major beneficiaries from the project as they produce ethanol in large quantities. The project will help reduce import bills and also move towards clean energy.
2. India and Vietnam agreed to deepen cooperation in defence and oil sectors during External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visit the strategically-important country. The new government is following "Act East Policy" with its Asian neighbours.
3. Indian billionaire Gautam Adani plans to invest $2 billion to build a 2,500 megawatt power plant in Odisha state. The Adani group will sign a pact with the Odisha government in four months to set up a new plant.
4. Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan resigned after being shifted to Mizoram abruptly. Mr. Sankaranarayanan term was to have expired in 2017.
5. Supreme Court declared 218 coal block allocations made from 1993 to 2011 as illegal and arbitrary. Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha indicated that a committee headed by a retired apex court judge could be appointed to go into the consequences arising out of the order and examine ways of reallocation of coal blocks.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 24th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 26/08/2014 - 09:05
1. FMCG conglomerate ITC has replaced Tata group’s TCS as the country’s most admired company on a Fortune magazine list. ITC is followed by infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro (L&T), another FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever, carmaker Maruti Suzuki and public sector bank SBI.
2. Reserve Bank of India has announced that settlement of transactions using credit cards online for purchase of goods and services within the country will have to be done through a bank in India and that the payments must be made in rupees. It may hurt e-commerce platforms and taxi aggregators as they route credit card transactions through an international payment gateway.
3. India’s first indigenously-built stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) INS Kamorta was commissioned at naval dockyard in Vishakhapatnam by Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley. INS Kamrota is India’s first vessel in the navy whose all weapon systems are manufactured indigenously.
4 . Weightlifter Ragala Venkat Rahul won India's first medal of the second Youth Olympic Games held in Nanjing, China. Silver medal of Rahul was also India's first medal in Weightlifting in Youth Olympics.
5. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that banks sold stressed assets worth Rs 16,960 crore in 2013-14 to Asset Reconstruction companies as against just Rs 1,320 crore in the previous year. The rise in selling of NPAs has been a concern due to the fact that banks may tend to use this option to evergreen their balance sheets.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 23rd August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sat, 23/08/2014 - 20:13
1. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked the PACL Ltd, a Delhi based company, to refund Rs 50,000 crore to investors and wind up its operations. The money was mobilised through collective investment scheme. PACL collected money from depositors and invested in agricultural land across the country. Sebi said the total number of PACL investors would be around 5.85 crore. Total amount mobilised comes to a whooping Rs 49,100 crore.
2. The government has set up a four-member committee of secretaries (CoS) to review the gas-pricing formula. The CoS will have secretaries of the power ministry, fertiliser ministry and expenditure department as members. The panel will submit its report in three weeks.
3. MSME Minister Kalraj Mishra asked states to contribute Rs 100 crore to Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme under which Rs 1,000 crore collateral free loan could be provided to such units in the respective states. The Ministry is also working on the simplification of process for setting up an enterprise and online registration of MSME units.
4. Kannada writer and one of the most acclaimed public intellectuals in the country, U.R. Ananthamurthy passed away. Dr. Ananthamurthy was a Jnanpith award winner.
5. Arvind Subramanian is likely to be appointed as new government's Chief Economic Advisor (CEA). The CEA’s post has been vacant since last September after Dr. Raghuram Rajan took over as Reserve Bank Governor.
6. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the draft of a charter comprising five basic customer rights. These cover a right to fair treatment, transparency, suitability, privacy, grievance redress and compensation. The Charter spells out the rights of the customer and also the responsibilities of the financial service provider (FSP).
CURRENT AFFAIRS 22nd August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sat, 23/08/2014 - 20:11
1. Thailand National Assembly chose coup leader General Prayut Chan-O-Cha as Prime Minister. It has entrenched the military’s hold on power.
2. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will start a new regime for liquidity management to keep overnight rates close to the repo rate which will compel banks to do more efficient liquidity management. RBI would conduct more frequent term repos and could also choose to sell part of the cash balances of the government for liquidity in the system.
3. T. M. Bhasin, Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Bank, has been elected as the Chairman of Indian Banks’ Association(IBA). IBA is a representative body of CMDs and CEOs of public sector, private sector and foreign banks. It plays an advisory role, and presents views of banking industry to various Union Ministries for policy formulation and to RBI for regulatory matters.
4. According to Global Logistics Markets-Trend Analysis report, the global logistics industry is expected to grow up to 3 per cent per year till 2020. The report indicated new market trends will pose challenges for the industry. The report was released by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Barclays.
5. The Reserve Bank asked NBFCs to maintain a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 50 per cent in case of lending against collateral of shares. Also, they can accept only 'Group 1' securities as collateral for loans of value more than Rs 5 lakh. All NBFCs with asset size of Rs 100 crore and above shall report online to stock exchanges, information on the shares pledged in their favour, by borrowers for availing loans. This will help to curb volatility in stock market.
6. The new entity to replace Planning Commission may have eight members including economists, representatives from the social sector, government, industry and academics. It will advise the government on the approach to reforms and act as a dispute resolution forum for states.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 19th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 20/08/2014 - 15:58
1. The Indo-Pak talks was abruptly cancelled in response to the meeting of Pakistan government with the Jammu and Kashmir separatists. It marks a new phase in the proactive foreign policy by the new government and shows how it might deal with policy provocation in the future.
2. The finance ministry has said that a formal proposal seeking an amendment to the RBI Act is needed to appoint a chief operating officer (COO) by the Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan. The current RBI Act provides for a full-time governor and not more than four deputy governors.
3. India ranked fifth amongst top ten wind power producers in the world by adding 1,700 MW capacity in 2013 according to Renewables 2014 Global Status Report. China was the leading wind power producer by adding 16,100 MW capacity in 2013, followed by USA, Germany and Spain.
4. The government has made ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship a part of the ministry of sports and youth affairs. Rajeev Gupta, secretary, department of youth affairs has been given additional charge of the department of skill development and entrepreneurship that is headed by Sarbananda Sonowal.
5. Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Steel would acquire the entire equity shares held by sponge iron maker Welspun and its net current assets for Rs 1,000 crore. Welspun has an installed capacity of 0.9 MTPA gas based direct reduced iron (DRI) plant at Raigad in Maharashtra.
6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited suggestions on the new institution that would replace Planning Commission through a special “Open Forum” that has been created by the government.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 18th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 20/08/2014 - 15:56
1. Government has asked market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to allow relaxations in rules for follow-on public offerings (FPOs). Centre is to give more importance to the FPO route than the offer-for-sale (OFS) route, to ensure better participation from retail investors.
2. Kerala Tourism department signed an agreement with the United Nations body, Unesco in promoting and protecting the ancient Spice Route heritage in the state. It is a revival of the ancient spice route that connected 31 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.
3. A new set of guidelines will be announced shortly for appointment of independent directors on bank boards. The boards will induct reputed professionals such as economists, management professionals and other experts and will be
free of any political interference. The government has decided to split the post of the chairman and managing director.
4. The government may pay up to 2% commission to banks as an incentive which could help in achieving bank accounts for all by 2016. Banks need such incentive to sustain the cost of maintaining account since all these will be basic banking accounts wherein the depositors will not have to maintain any minimum balance.
5. TCS, the country’s largest software services exporter, would finance hygienic sanitation facilities for girl students across 10,000 schools in the country. TCS pledges a sum of Rs 100 crore towards Prime Minister’s Clean India initiative.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 17th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 18/08/2014 - 18:39
1. India sought investments from Singapore in its infrastructure and connectivity projects similar to that of ambitious Delhi-Mumbai and Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridors. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj along with her counterpart inaugurated the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties between the countries.
2. Planning Commission has been finally decommissioned. It was set up in 1950 as an extra constitutional body entrusted with the function of planned development. It may be replaced with National Development Reforms Commission with new functions and composition.
3. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the commissioning of 6,800-tonne guided missile destroyer, INS Kolkata. The destroyer was built under the Project 15A with a budget of Rs 3,500 crore and is entirely built in India. Project 15A destroyers carry 16 Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles that strike ships or land targets at ranges out to 295 kilometres.
4. Department of Telecom is working on modalities to merge the two state-run telecom companies BSNL and MTNL and also undertake organisational restructuring. The two companies are losing market share due to financial and procurement problems, lack of adequate skills set due to changing nature of technology.
5. Centre has suggested to the states to merge their Water and Sanitation departments to give a push to the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, which seeks to make the country free of open defecation by 2019. The Centre is planning to make the country open-defecation free by 2019 as that would be a "fitting tribute" to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary that year.
6. Modi laid the foundation stone for a special economic zone (SEZ) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai. Central government will set up state-level export commissions to facilitate and promote exports.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 16th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sun, 17/08/2014 - 16:01
1. China inaugurated its second railway line in Tibet which is close to the Indian border in Sikkim. The 253-km railway line links Tibet's provincial capital Lhasa with Xigaze and will enhance mobility of its military in the remote and strategic Himalayan region. It is the second railway line in Tibet and an extension of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the world's highest rail link connecting China's mainland with Tibet.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in his Independence Day speech, the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana scheme. The scheme proposes each MP to choose a small village with a population of between 3,000 and 5,000 in his constituency and develop it as a model village with proper facilities of education, health, cleanliness, and sanitation over a period of one year. It would benefit thousands of villages and also provide inspiration to other villages in the vicinity.
3. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will issue Rs 1,000 denomination banknotes with inset letter R in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005. In addition to extra security features, MG series-2005 banknotes have the year of printing on the reverse of the banknotes which is not present in the pre-2005 series.
4. Unocoin, a Bitcoin start-up from Karnataka, has received $250,000 investment from an overseas venture capitalist. It is described as ‘largest known to date in India's Bitcoin space’. The value of each bitcoin stood at a modest $530 or Rs.32,000 at present after having reached heights of $1,200 in December last year.
5. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India next month will also include a visit by the Chinese leader to Gujarat. Gujarat has been among the biggest destinations for Chinese investment in India and Beijing will set up industrial parks in India, based on its experience in Gujarat.
6. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is the only Indian institution to be placed in the top 500 in an annual ranking of Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). It is placed in the world rank category of 301-400 among the global educational institutions. The ARWU rankings is dominated by American Universities with Harvard University, Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are ranked at first, second and third positions, respectively.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 15th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sat, 16/08/2014 - 10:38
1. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government is scrutinising recent appointments of Public Sector bank heads following the Syndicate Bank chairman's arrest for alleged graft. Usually a panel headed by the RBI governor selects PSB chiefs and is approved by Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC).
2. The government will have nodal officers in embassies to facilitate Indian trade and businesses abroad in a time-bound manner. A mechanism will be instituted for increasing interactions between the commerce ministry and the MEA. Indian missions abroad will be identified and their field offices will be used for the benefit of India’s commerce.
3. During his Independence Day speech at Red fort, Prime Minister announced the formation of a new institution to replace Planning Commission to address the new economic challenges within the country and in the global order.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’ to help the poor open bank accounts. The main features of the scheme include Rs 5,000 overdraft facility for Aadhar-linked accounts, Ru Pay Debit Card with inbuilt Rs 1 lakh accident insurance cover and minimum monthly renumeration of Rs 5,000 to business correspondents who will provide the last link between the account holders and the bank.
5. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje announced launch of a scheme “Bhamashah scheme” which will empower women and bring a positive change in their lives. Under the scheme bank accounts in the name of women of 1.5 crore families will be opened and benefits are directly transferred to their accounts.
6. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to push for deputy governor rank for the additional position of a chief operating officer (COO). At present, there are four deputy governors in the RBI: HR Khan and R Gandhi (both promoted from within the RBI), Urjit Patel (economist) and SS Mundra (banker). As per the existing legislation, the RBI cannot have more than four deputy governors
CURRENT AFFAIRS 14th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sat, 16/08/2014 - 10:25
1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up the Expenditure Management Commission, chaired by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan. The committee will recommend measures to improve operational efficiencies in government spending and suggest a roadmap to reduce the subsidy bill. It is expected to submit its interim report before the Budget of 2015-16 and its final report before the Budget of 2016-17.
2. The Supreme Court has asked both the Centre and Reliance Industries to suggest a common neutral arbitrator in place of the former Australian judge Michael Hudson McHugh. Earlier RIL had named former Chief Justice SP Bharucha as its arbitrator and the oil ministry had appointed former Chief Justice VN Khare as its arbitrator. The arbitration is to resolve a dispute between them over reimbursement for developing the gas field in KG basin.
3. The finance ministry has rejected the commerce ministry’s proposal to withdraw the minimum alternate tax (MAT) and dividend distribution tax (DDT) on developers of special economic zones. It was not accepted on the ground that it would result in loss of Rs 15,000 crore every year for the exchequer.
4. Parliament passed the Constitution Amendment Bill that will facilitate setting up of a commission for appointment of judges, replacing the 20-year-old collegium system. National Judicial Appointments Commission will appoint and transfer judges to the Supreme Courts and the 24 High Courts.
5. Rajni Razdan has been selected as chairman of Union Public Service Commission succeeding Prof D P Agrawal. UPSC conducts the prestigious civil services examination to select IAS, IFS and IPS among others.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 13th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 14/08/2014 - 20:55
1. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recommended defined control of ownership at 20 per cent shareholding in media management and curbs cross-media and corporate ownership of television channels and newspapers. It also suggested forming a commission to look into issues relating to paid news, private treaties and editorial independence.
2. Global rating agency Moody’s predicted India’s economic growth to be at 5 per cent this year and will accelerate further in 2015. In its report ‘Global Macro Outlook 2014-15: Summer Lull: Subdued, But Less Risky Global Growth Likely’, it had also said that India and Indonesia would see “more resilient GDP growth”.
3. Technocrat Nandan Nilekani is co-authoring his next book " Rebooting Government" along with Viral Shah, a computer scientist who co-created a new programming language Julia. The book is expected to be released in December and will narrate ideas on crowdsourcing, hackathons and app ecosystems that can help build more efficient government systems.
4. Loksabha was informed that several recommendations for conferring the Bharat Ratna on hockey great Major Dhayan Chand and they have been forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office. Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the country and is awarded in recognition of exceptional service or performance of highest order in fields of human behaviour.
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a special Central assistance of Rs. 8,000 crore for four major road projects and waived off Jammu and Kashmir’s Rs. 60-crore liability towards the Food Corporation of India during his visit to J&K.
6. Two Indian-origin academicians have won prestigious global prizes in the field of mathematics. Manjul Bhargava won the Fields Medal, also known as "Nobel prize of mathematics" while Subhash Khot won the Rolf Nevanlinna Prize, awarded by the International Mathematical Union (IMU), at the International Congress of Mathematicians 2014 held in Seoul.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 12th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 14/08/2014 - 20:55
1. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has transferred almost its entire surplus to the government, against the usual practice of giving the residual surplus after appropriation to the Reserve Fund and Asset Management Fund. It is as per the recommendations of Y H Malegam committee which looked into the issue of surplus transfer to government.
2. Muthoot Fincorp is set to become one of the first non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to function as a business correspondent of banks. As business correspondent, Muthoot Fincorp will disburse microfinance loans and MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) advances on behalf of banks. It may partner more than one bank subject to regulatory approval.
3. Government introduced the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 in Lok Sabha. The new Bill proposes to establish a six-member body the NJAC, which will be headed by CJI. The composition of the commission has been given a constitutional status.
4. Mr. Haidar al-Abadi was named the new Premier of Iraq after his nomination by the Parliament’s Shia bloc was accepted by the President. He succeeds Nouri al-Maliki to steer the country out of a raging war.
5. Member of India’s first Lok Sabha Reshamlal Jangde died due to age-related ailments. He had also served as a minister in the Madhya Pradesh government. Jangde was among the four MPs of the first Lok Sabha who were felicitated on the 60th anniversary of Lok Sabha in May 2012.
6. The Tata Group, in partnership with Singapore Airlines, announced its second venture in airlines sector with the launch of ‘Vistara’- a full service airline that is expected to start its operations by October 2014. It had already announced the purchase of 30 per cent stake in AirAsia in early 2013.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 11th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 12/08/2014 - 10:24
1. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is set to launch of Real Estate and Infrastructure Investment Trusts, commonly referred to as REITs and InvIT. It has allowed foreign institutional investor (FII) participation and reduced the minimum asset size for a REIT to Rs. 500 crore. The trusts will attract nearly Rs 1 lakh crore to the real estate and infrastructure sector.
2. Reserve Bank of India has allowed Non-resident Indians to buy property in India jointly with their spouse holding foreign passports. It has relaxed the restrictions under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), which make such acquisitions as a special one needing a prior permission from the RBI.
3. The finance ministry is likely to dilute the scope of the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAARs) to boost investor interests. GAARs are intended to prevent businesses from reducing tax liability through legal loopholes and arrangements that are legal in letter but not in spirit.
4. SEBI has notified norms that will allow sharing of Know-your-Client details with entities regulated by other financial sector regulators. This will facilitate a common KYC system for the entire financial sector. KYC information of nearly 2 crore investors in the capital markets is available on the centralised KRA (KYC registration agency) system of SEBI.
5. The Odisha government plans to create a land bank of 50,000 acres, an area that could notionally contain ten 12mt steel plants. This is to boost the development of downstream and value-addition industries in clusters and have a single-window mechanism for clearance of new industrial projects.
6. The multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor being built through the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) is ready for implementation. The corridor connect China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar Port through the POK.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 10th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 12/08/2014 - 10:20
1. Survey of India (SoI) has alleged that the Internet giant Google continued to “pollute” the Web with classified material despite being warned against it. Google had not taken permission from SoI before organising a mapping competition in February-March 2013 in which they asked citizens to map their neighbourhoods. It did not refrain from mentioning classified sites even after having been asked not to do so.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation two hydel power projects in Leh and Kargil in Jammu & Kashmir. These projects are the 44 MW Chutak hydro-electric project in Kargil district and the 45 MW Nimoo Bazgo project in Leh district in J& K. He would also lay foundation stone for the first power transmission line from Leh to Kargil and Kargil to Srinagar.
3. Delhi Police has initiated a pilot project wherein you can reach a police officer and place a complaint over WhatsApp. The new WhatsApp helpline number can be used not only to call and register your complaint but also send a recorded audio or video clip if any police man harasses a person or demands bribe. The new helpline is the brainchild of Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi who wants the force to be corruption free.
4. India's first floating solar power panel will come up on a waterbody beside the Eco Park at Rajarhat New Town in Kolkata by November. The project will be implemented under central funding by the Arka Ignou College of Renewable Energy. The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA), early next year, will also set up a canal-top solar power panel on a link-up canal flowing near Eco Park that will generate 500KW solar power every day.
5. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended the 47th Asean foreign ministers meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, the capital of Myanmar. This is the first time in 17 years after the admission to Asean that Myanmar has Chaired the grouping. The negotiations will be followed by the Asean-India Agreement on Trade in Services and Investment.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 9th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 12/08/2014 - 10:14
1. Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has slapped a penalty of Rs 13 crore on Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on the issue of correct disclosure of diluted earning per share (DEPS)- a key earnings ratio.
2. The Telangana government has issued an order constituting a separate Public Service Commission with immediate effect. The order would enable the new government to make direct selections to the posts under various categories and will help it to carry out other functions.
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel discussed strategic geopolitical issues, including the deteriorating situation in Iraq and the post-poll deadlock in Afghanistan. U.S. wanted to be a partner in India’s military modernisation and recognised India’s need to strengthen its defence-industrial base.
4. Supreme Court has appointed a panel headed by the former Union Law Minister, Salman Khurshid, to suggest ways to end the practice of high capitation fee charged by medical and engineering colleges for admission.
5. The Central Government is planning a comprehensive review of the tea plantation sector policy. The new policy aims to strengthen the various schemes that are now available to the sector to bring vitality to the industry. Over a billion kg of tea is produced and the industry supports 30 lakh people in some of the lesser developed States. Women constitute half the workforce.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 8th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 12/08/2014 - 10:11
1. President Pranab Mukherjee received the first copy of a book, 'Munger Through The Ages', written by late D P Yadav, a former parliamentarian. He was first elected to Parliament in 1971. The book enumerates the rich history and heritage of Munger district in Bihar.
2. West Africa's Ebola epidemic is declared as an "international health emergency" by World Health Organization (WHO). The declaration of an international emergency will have the effect of raising the level of vigilance on the virus.
3. A special committee is formed by the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to suggest measures for strengthening the Security of Parliament. Former Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh heads the committee.
4. Reserve Bank has told that banks need not report immovable property purchases abroad by residents within the stipulated ceiling of USD 125,000. It had raised the remittance limit for individuals to USD 125,000 per year from previous limit of USD 75,000 earlier.
5. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's daughter Daman Singh has penned her parent's biography "Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan".
CURRENT AFFAIRS 7th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 07/08/2014 - 22:49
1. Union Cabinet cleared the proposal to set the composite cap for foreign investment in the defence sector at 49 per cent with management control in the hands of Indians. Some railway operations in projects like high speed rail, freight corridor were allowed to receive up to 100 per cent FDI.
2. Governor of Mizoram Kamala Beniwal was removed by the president just two months before the end of her tenure. Governor of Manipur V K Duggal has been asked to discharge the functions of the governor of Mizoram until regular arrangements are made.
3. Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has launched the construction of a "new Suez Canal" which would run parallel to the original built 145 years ago. The project costs $US4 billion and aims to speed up traffic along the existing waterway and boost the country's battered economy.
4. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) to invest at least 15% (as against 5% earlier) in securities receipts (SRs) issued by them on the purchase of distressed assets from banks. Most public sector banks are selling bad loans to ARCs following the tighter provisioning norms for restructuring loans issued by RBI.
5. The inventor of genetic fingerprinting has been awarded the world's oldest science prize, the Royal Society's Copley Medal. Prof Sir Alec Jeffreys stumbled on a method for distinguishing individuals based on their DNA in 1984.
6. Thousands of homes and businesses across Britain are expected to switch off their lights for an hour leaving a single light or candle burning on 4th August as a part of Lights Out project to commemorate the start of the First World War.
RBI MONETARY POLICY announced on 6th Aug., 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 07/08/2014 - 22:48
RBI Third Bi-monthly Monetary policy statement- August 2014
1. Monetary and Liquidity measures: RBI has taken a cautionary approach inspite of growth revival and moderating inflation. It has kept all liquidity measures except SLR unchanged. Repo rate stands at 8%, CRR at 4% and reverse repo rate is maintained at 7%. It has reduced SLR by 50 basis points and it is at 22% providing more room for banks to provide credit for productive sectors.
2. Domestic economy: It has maintained its growth outlook for this year at 5-6% due to positive growth in industries and exports, conducive environment for investment in new projects and maintenance of fiscal deficit. However it has cautioned that risks relating to the global recovery, late monsoon and geo-political tensions may pull growth to the downside.
3. Inflation: Even when CPI inflation has moderated this month, RBI sees upside risks in the form of administered price increases, uncertainty over monsoon conditions which may lead to high food prices, possible higher oil prices stemming from geo-political concerns and exchange rate movement, and strengthening growth in the midst of supply constraints. RBI is committed to the disinflationary path of taking CPI inflation to 8% by January 2015 and 6% by January 2016.
4. External sector: External sector is stable with decreasing current account deficit, buoyant exports and FDI inflows. Foreign reserves are bolstering due to currency swap arrangements by oil companies.
5. Banking sector reforms: The Reserve Bank has taken a number of steps to enhance efficiency, increase entry, speed up resolution, and improve access to financial services. It has released guidelines for licensing payment banks and small banks, a framework to deal with stressed assets, actions to further the use of mobile phones in banking, and efforts to simplify Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, among others.
The fourth bi-monthly monetary policy statement is scheduled on Tuesday, September 30, 2014.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 5th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 05/08/2014 - 10:17
1. According to Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Technology Market Research, in the April-June period, Micromax has sold the highest number of handsets in the country with 16.6 share of the overall handset market. It is followed by Samsung and Nokia.
2. Centre proposes to set up a Telecom Finance Corporation (TFC), public sector unit under the administrative control of Department of Telecom in the 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-17). It will be registered as a non-banking and non-deposit infrastructure finance company.
3.The prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Awards for year 2014was announced for six awardees on 31 July 2014. The awardees are Hu Shuli - a Chinese investigative journalist, Saur Marlina Manurung- recognised for improving Indonesia's forest people, Omara Khan Masoudi - for protecting Afghanistan cultural heritage, The Citizens Foundation - NGO in Pakistan and Randy Halasan for Emergent Leadership from the Philippines. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honour and is widely regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
4. England topped the medal table at 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. It was followed by Australia and Canada. India stood at the fifth position in the rankings with total 64 medals (15 Gold, 30 silver and 19 Bronze). The 21st Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast in Australia.
5. The Israeli government has accepted an Egyptian cease—fire proposal to stop a monthlong war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. A long term truce will be made between Palestinians and Israeli government in Egypt in next three days.
6. Honda Motors is setting up the world's largest scooter plant in Gujarat to roll out 12 lakh units annually and achieve leadership position in the Indian two-wheeler market.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 4th August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 05/08/2014 - 10:12
1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a $1-billion line of credit for Nepal’s infrastructure development and promised to help Nepal in the field of hydropower, infrastructure, space technology and agriculture. The work on the joint venture Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project would begin in a year and Nepal could export the surplus electricity to India.
2. The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has set up a committee to restructure the University Grants Commission (UGC), apex regulatory body for higher education in the country. The four-member committee will be headed by former UGC chairman Hari Gautam and will address the challenges posed by the manifold increase in the number of universities particularly private universities and deemed-to-be-universities.
3. The Rural Development Ministry has proposed to give a new identity to its flagship programme, Indira Awaas Yojana, by launching it as National Gramin Awaas Mission or Gram. The programme will have a target to build 3.2 crore "pucca" houses for the poor over the next eight years.
4. The Home Ministry is planning for re-imposition of the 74% foreign ownership cap in telecom companies on "security grounds". Earlier UPA government allowed 100% ownership in telecom sector. The move will affect foreign companies that has shown interest in acquiring their local subsidiaries.
5. Muzaffar Ali, a noted filmmaker of India was selected for 22nd Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award. He was selected for his outstanding contribution towards the promotion of Communal harmony, peace and goodwill.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 3rd August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 05/08/2014 - 10:07
1. A memorandum of understanding was signed by E- retailer Flipkart with the labour ministry for short-term training of its new employees. Training areas include online cataloguing, photography, inventory management, packaging and online merchandising.
2. According to the data available with two depositories CDSL and NSDL, nearly 2,000 demat accounts of individuals and companies stand frozen for violations of various securities laws and default in penalty payment under SEBI order. Both NSDL and CDSL maintain about 2.2 crore accounts. Securities like shares, debentures, bonds of investors are held in electronic form (demat form) by the depositories.
3. Prime minister Narendra Modi is on a two day visit to Nepal, first bilateral visit in 17 years. He will have the honour of addressing the Nepalese parliament. The visit holds an opportunity to build a new political level engagement with Nepal and it is expected that a power trade agreement and 900MW Hydel power project agreement will be signed during the visit.
4. K V Chowdary is the new chairman for the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). He is a senior IRS officer who succeeds R K Tewari and has tenure of three months.
5. Indian squash players Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal created history when they defeated the top-seeded English pair of Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro and won the squash women’s doubles gold medal at the 20th Commonwealth Games. This is the country's first ever games medal in the sport.
6. A committee under the chairmanship of the Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatagi has been formed by the Centre to look into the amendments in Lokpal search panel rules. The search panel is mandated to recommend names for appointment of chairperson and members of the Lokpal
CURRENT AFFAIRS 2nd August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sun, 03/08/2014 - 09:23
1. RBI had inked agreement with the government on March 20 for transfer of the government's SDR holdings in its SDR account with the IMF to RBI in a phased manner. According to its recent report, SDRs equivalent of $820 million was transferred to RBI on March 24, 2014.
2. The electronic manufacturing policy has proposed a Rs 10,000-crore Electronics Development Fund to boost the domestic electronic systems design and manufacturing (ESDM) capacity. This fund will be become operational in two months and will be used to promote innovation, intellectual property, research and development, nano electronics.
3. Odisha government has extended the time limit for the banks to open bank branches in 4,597 unbanked gram panchayats in the state from three years to five years. The government had earlier directed the banks to open branches in the unbanked gram panchayats by March 2017.
4. Microsoft Corp has sued Samsung Electronics Co Ltd claiming that Samsung company refused to make a royalty payment on patent licenses after Microsoft's announcement to acquire Nokia’s handset business.
5. The finance ministry has asked SBI Capital Markets to prepare a feasibility report on merger and recapitalisation of public sector banks. As of now, no proposal on merger is sent to finance ministry and it is estimated that the Indian banking system needs about Rs.2.4 lakh crore by 2018 to meet Basel-III norms.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 1st August, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sun, 03/08/2014 - 09:20
1. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will set up a first of its kind Centre of Excellence in Entrepreneurship Training in association with EMPRETEC and West Bengal government. EMPRETEC is a United Nations programme by UNCTAD's Division of Investment and Enterprise to promote the creation of sustainable small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
2. The HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) , compiled by Markit, rose to 53.0 in July from 51.5 in June. Indian factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in 17 months in July due to economic recovery even as input prices rose.
3. According to global employer branding firm Universum’s 2014 Most Attractive Employers in Asia Pacific Ranking, Google has emerged as the most desirable employer among business, as well as engineering and IT students in the APAC region.
4. The WTO talks on trade facilitation agreement failed as the member nations did not agree to the new proposal India had suggested for breaking the deadlock. The new proposal contained interim relief, called the peace clause, which ensures developing countries like India could continue with their public food stockholding programmes until a permanent solution was found and not to be challenged through the WTO dispute settlement mechanism in case they breached the 10 per cent limit prescribed by the WTO.
5. The government will provide broadband connectivity to 225,000 gram panchayats, or village blocks, with 100Mbps speed in the next three years. It is a part of new government's "digital India" policy. Three PSUs— Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Railtel and Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) have been asked to survey 250,000 village blocks.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 31st JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 31/07/2014 - 20:21
1. The government has come up with a new financial inclusion plan that aims to open 7.5 crore bank accounts in rural and urban areas and extend financial services to all citizens by August 15, 2018. It will provide at least one fixed banking point for every 1,000-1,500 households by splitting villages into small service areas and assign them to banks. The banks could either open a branch or have a 'Bank Mitra'(banking correspondent) with a fixed presence for a particular area.
2. The financial inclusion plan will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will provide basic banking accounts with a RuPay debit card, which will have an inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh and overdraft facility of Rs. 5000. The second phase will focus on micro insurance and pension schemes like 'Swavlamban' for the unorganised sector. A credit guarantee fund will be set up to cover defaults on the Rs 5,000 overdraft facility that will be available to the lady of the house. First phase will be completed by August 15, 2015 and second phase by August 15, 2018.
3. The government has appointed S S Mundra, chairman and managing director of Bank of Baroda (BoB), a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He succeeds K.C. Chakrabarti who retired in April.
4. Sixth Economic Census estimated that employment grew at about 4 per cent annually in the eight year period to 2014. The employment grew by over 34 per cent to 12.77 crore workers and the number of establishments jumped up by 41.7 per cent between January 2013 and April 2014.
5. According to the economic census, Maharashtra was the country's top employer with 1.43 crore workers and Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of establishments in the country during the eight year period. Five states, namely, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat account for about 46.63 per cent of the total employment in the country.
6. Former Foreign Minister Mr. Natwar Singh's book 'One Life is Not Enough: An Autobiography' is to be released soon.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 30th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 31/07/2014 - 19:44
1. India’s leading e-commerce retailer Flipkart has raised funds worth $1 billion (over Rs.6,000 crore), the largest-ever by an Indian Internet company. The company would look at acquisitions and focus on Mobile commerce, payments and improving customer and seller experience.
2. India and Nepal may sign Power Trade Agreement and Power Development Agreement during the visit of Modi. India is likely to announce gifting a middle-sized hydropower to Nepal and also review the Indo-Nepal peace treaty of 1950.
3. Law Commission Chairperson A.P. Shah has recommended increase in the retirement age of High court judges to 65 similar to that of SC judge. It has also suggested that the Judicial Appointment Commission to have a full-time Secretariat headed by a retired High Court judge and an investigating team to verify the antecedents of the proposed candidates to JAC.
4. The Telecom department will approach the Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeiTY) to formulate a cloud services deployment roadmap for all government organisations. Deity is already involved in MeghRaj, or GI Cloud, initiative which encourages IT adoption in government and partner with private technology players to develop India as a global hub for delivering cloud solutions.
5. India's largest telecom firm Bharti Airtel, which was started in 1995 has now 300 million customers across its mobile, fixed line, DSL and DTH services. It reached the 100 million customers mark in 2009 and crossed the 200 million mark in 2012.
6. India and Russia is holding consultation to set up Russian assisted 22 nuclear power projects in India. The outcome of the consultation will be discussed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Brazil in July.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 29th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 31/07/2014 - 19:42
1. World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevêdo has called a meeting of G-33 and G-20 countries in an effort to save the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). The WTO General Council, which is the highest decision-making body had got suspended for not being able to build a consensus among the 160-member countries, especially India, to sign the Protocol of Amendment relating to TFA.
2. The 18th Malabar exercise is an annual US-India naval engagement that began on 24th July. The participation of other regional powers, such as Japan this year, has made Malabar into a statement of India's strategic intent in the Asia-Pacific.
3. The amended Sebi Bill mandates setting up of special courts for fast-track resolutions of securities law-related offences. The Sebi Bill has kept the National Pension System (NPS) outside the ambit of the Collective Investment Schemes (CIS).
4. Shimla, first in Himachal Pradesh to get a water automatic teller machine (ATM) dispenser for tourists and locals at its popular spot the Ridge. Piramal Sarvjal has signed an agreement with the Himachal government to run this not-for-profit water ATM which provides a litre of filtered water for 50 paise.
5. Union Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar flagged off the third phase of the Science Express Biodiversity Special (SEBS). It is implemented by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Railways. SEBS is a exhibition on wheels to create awareness about India’s biodiversity.
6. US Secretary of State John Kerry is to co-chair the fifth annual India-US Strategic Dialogue with Ms. Sushma Swaraj. An American think-tank, Center for American Progress (CAP) has launched a programme, "India:2020" which will examine short and long term policy priorities in the India-US strategic partnership that is to be achieved by the year 2020.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 28th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 29/07/2014 - 09:24
1. Wipro company has set up a venture capital with an initial corpus of $100 million (around Rs 600 crore) to explore investment opportunities in start-up companies which focus on niche technologies such as data, open source and industrial internet.
2. China plans to build more highways and airports in Tibet by 2020 and construct a rail network to connect places along the borders with India, Nepal and Bhutan.
3. Four big state-run banks- State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India are identifying takeover targets for consolidation which will allow them to gain access to franchises that would augment their capabilities and build institutions of world class proportions.
4. Morgan Stanley's research report has kept India's Sovereign credit rating same over the next 12-month period. India’s sovereign is currently rated BBB- by all rating agencies; only S&P has India on a negative outlook.
5. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has launched an e-service record book portal for government employees to promote a paperless regime and better human resource management.
6. Indian weightlifter Satish Sivalingam broke the Games record and gold medal by lifting 328kg while compatriot Ravi Katulu took the silver in the men’s 77kg event.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 27th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 29/07/2014 - 09:23
1. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) has adopted new standards for rice exports to protect consumer health worldwide. It has set maximum acceptable levels of lead and arsenic in rice.
2. K.C. Sivaramakrishnan is the chairman of the expert committee constituted by the Centre to study options for the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. The committee has suggested to the Chief Minister developing the Srikalahasti- Nadikudi railway line stretch, Visakhapatam- Chennai corridor and the Anantapur-Kurnool- Chittoor belt as Rayalaseema arc besides the middle region of Coastal Andhra.
3. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on her visit to Nepal expressed India's support, good will and cooperation on wide ranging bilateral issues between the two nations. The meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Commission (JC) involving Foreign ministers of both the countries will take place after a gap of 23 years.
4. Social networking giant Facebook has extended the closing of its landmark $ 19 billion deal to acquire instant messaging app WhatsApp to 19th August 2015. The acquisition will boost the world’s biggest social network presence by adding 450 million users of WhatsApp.
5. Apurvi Chandela won India its fourth gold women’s 10m air rifle event and compatriot Ayonika Paul took the silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 26th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Tue, 29/07/2014 - 09:22
1. Government will sell 10 per cent stake each in Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and 5 per cent in Steel Authority of India (SAIL) in the current financial year. Cabinet has approved the residual stake sale in Hindustan Zinc (HZL) and Balco.
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a website MyGov - a technology driven platform that aims to help citizens contribute in governance by giving their opinions and views on important issues. It will be knowledge repository and later converted into a social audit platform for development projects. It will be implemented by National Informatics Centre (NIC) of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY).
3. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has fined 12 banks, including ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank and Corporation Bank, a total of Rs 1.5 crore in the Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) loan default case. This fine has been levied for not following proper procedures while lending to DCHL. It has exposed nearly Rs.4000 crore.
4. Delhi Government is planning to levy "transport cess" on the sale of every alcohol bottle for the improvement of public transport sector and to tackle increasing pollution in the national Capital.
5. 16-year-old Malaika Goel gave India their first shooting medal with a silver in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event and Abhinav Bindra won gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle l at the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
6. Government is finalising the site 'Princess park' in New Delhi for construction of a “grand” National War Memorial and war museum on the 15th anniversary of the Kargil War.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 25th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 25/07/2014 - 22:24
1. The Cabinet committee on economic affairs cleared a Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, to raise the foreign investment ceiling in private insurance companies from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. It also contains a provision that the management and control of these companies must be with Indians. This will result in huge flow of funds into insurance sector, create employment and increases long term savings.
2. The Union Cabinet cleared the Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill to empower the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to effectively check illegal deposit taking and Ponzi schemes, with a corpus of at least Rs 100 crore. It allows SEBI to conduct search and seize operations, impose minimum penalty on defrauding investors.
3. According to the Human Development Report 2014 released by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India is at 135th rank like last year with no significant improvement. It's HDI value rose marginally from 0.583 to 0.586 on the index. UNDP ranks countries on the basis of key social indicators like long and healthy life, access to education and standard of living.
4. The government is merging and bringing in all skill development initiatives and agencies in other ministries under the new Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. The ministry will be headed by Sarbananda Sonowal, who is also minister of state (independent charge for sports and youth affairs). National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) that was set up by the finance ministry may function under the new ministry.
5. Centre has plans to set up ultra mega solar power projects in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. It also has plans to set up solar parks in Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal and considers to have green energy corridor to transport solar power from one state to other.
6. Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-In) has identified multi-identity virus Bladabindi which steals sensitive personal information of an internet user by infecting their “Microsoft Windows operating system” and spread through removable USB flash drives.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 24th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 25/07/2014 - 22:23
1. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) became the first Indian company to exceed Rs 5 lakh crore in market capitalisation. It may reach a $100-billion market cap in the next two years.
2. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the foreign institutional investors' (FIIs') sub-limit in government bonds by $5 billion with overall limit unchanged at $30 billion. The existing sub limit $20-billion in government bonds was exhausted and this decision will stabilise yields and volatility.
3 India voted in support of Palestine in UN Human Rights Council resolution to launch a probe into Israel's offensive on Gaza. BRICS nations voted in favour while European nations abstained from voting. US was the only nation to vote against the resolution. The resolution follows Israel's bombing of Gaza Strip in a 16 day conflict which killed nearly 600 Palestinians.
4. India may veto the WTO agreement which has to be signed by July 31 by all member countries for its ratification. India is against the 10% public stockholding limit in the Trade Facilitation Agreement which when implemented, will perceive subsidies given to poor under Food Security Act in India as leading to distortion in food prices around the world. India's stand may be backed by African countries and some Latin American nations.
5. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will review telecom service providers' freedom to fix mobile call and service rates if it exceeds the fixed ceiling rates. It has also recommended extension of licence period for direct-to-home (DTH) operators to 20 years.
6. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has planned to train 150 million people by 2022. NSDC has made a skill development management system where data of all trainees is maintained and monitored across the country.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 23rd JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 24/07/2014 - 10:51
1. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed a Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) - a scheme for setting up institutional mechanism to facilitate the financing of trade receivables of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). It will help improve the discounting of both invoices as well as bills of exchange.
2. Reserve Bank of India will designate up to six banks as systemically important, or SIBs, for the domestic financial market. It means that those banks will need to have higher capital per loan than their peers to prevent the financial system from collapsing in case of a crisis. State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank may be those six banks.
3. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks to decide upon the ceiling limit on the quantum of loans that is granted against gold for non-agricultural end uses. The tenor of loans shall not exceed 12 months, a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio should be at 75 per cent against the pledged gold and interest should be charged at monthly rests.
4. Finance ministry is creating an interim office named officer-on-special duty (OSD) which will be in-charge of setting up the office of the debt management agency. Debt Management Agency will manage central government's borrowing and will be formed by next year through an executive order.
5. Tennis player Sania Mirza was appointed as brand ambassador of Telangana by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. As the brand ambassador of Telangana, Mirza is expected to promote the new state’s interests in India and abroad.
6. Commonwealth games 2014 is to held on 24th July in Glasgow in Brazil. India will be expecting a lion's share of medals from shooters, boxers, wrestlers and shuttlers at the 20th Commonwealth Games. Shooter Vijay Kumar will be India's flagbearer in the opening ceremony.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 22nd JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 24/07/2014 - 10:45
1. The Bank of Maharashtra has sought Rs 1,000 crore capital infusion from the government to meet its fund requirement next year. Government's share in BoM is at 79 per cent and it has allowed banks to reduce government holding to 51 per cent in the union budget.
2. President Pranab Mukherjee will dedicate to the nation the first phase of the Rashtrapati Bhavan museum. The museum will narrate the story of the Rashtrapati Bhavan using sound-light-video animations, laser and holographic projections and augmented reality.
3. The president will also release three books on the sidelines of the event in Rashtrapati Bhavan. They are “Thoughts and Reflections’-a compilation of Quotes of the President, “Winged Wonders of Rashtrapati Bhavan” on the birds of the President’s Estate and “Indradhanush”.
4. Indian Railways is acquiring derailment detector devices to prevent mishaps which cause loss of lives. The derailment detectors are fitted on the end of a coach and are designed to immediately apply brakes in the event of high level of vibrations, caused by derailment.
5. The Centre has notified new rules on declaration of assets and liabilities of its employees under the Lokpal Act. Accordingly, the employees have to file returns with details of cash in hand, bank deposits, investment in bonds, debentures, shares, insurance policies, immovable properties possessed by them, spouses and dependant children.
6. The International Advisory Board of SEBI has suggested separate governance standards for ‘big and complex business groups’ and also proposed integration of disclosures made by entities under different regulations to reduce the number of times the same disclosure is to be made by an individual. It has also voiced certain regulations for crowd funding to improve transparency.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 21st JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 23/07/2014 - 08:55
1. A study 'Debt Sustainability at the State Level in India' by RBI showed that state governments' debt position is sustainable in the long run but contingent liabilities, primarily in the form guarantees issued by them, remain an area of concern.
2. Inland Waterways Authority of India along with the Odisha government and Port of Paradip and Dhamra will develop National Waterways 5 which will cost about 2000crore rupees. The waterway will improve shipping and navigation of cargo vessels along the stretches of many rivers in Odisha and West Bengal.
3. Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd has agreed to buy a 15 percent stake in the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) for 4.59 billion rupees ($76.1 million). The bank will purchase the stake from bourse operator Financial Technologies (India)(FTIL) which has been ordered by Forward Market Commission to reduce its stake in MCX to 2% from 26%.
4. The first phase of Financial Inclusion Mission by the new government will focus on providing basic banking services to every household and the second phase will include micro-insurance and unorganised sector pension schemes like Swavlamban. The plan is to provide bank accounts to two adults (husband and wife) in every household with an overdraft facility of Rs 5,000 as well as a RuPay debit card with a personal accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh.
5. Russia has shown interest to work on a $400-billion mega gas pipeline deal with India along the route of the planned TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India). If implemented, it could become the “biggest-ever energy project in history,”.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 20th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 23/07/2014 - 08:52
1. The government has set up an expert committee chaired by RS Sharma, which will study the recently notified rules and issues relevant to cost auditing. It has been formed amid concerns raised by cost accountants over some provisions in the new Cost Records and Audit Rules.
2. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) gave the approval for field trials of genetically modified (GM) rice, mustard, cotton, chickpea and brinjal. The committee is headed by Hem Kumar Panda and the only GM crop approved for release in India is cotton.
3. Bolivia has become the first nation to legalise child labour from age 10. The legislation allows 10-year-olds to work under parental supervision and also attend school. It sets 12 as the minimum age for a child to work under contract.
4. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun scrutinising and analysing details of entities, which are believed to have raised money from the public illegally by posing itself as NBFCs. The list of those entities was prepared by Ministry of Corporate Affairs following Rs. 10,000 crore Saradha chit fund scam.
5. HDFC Securities, a subsidiary of HDFC Bank will offer e-Will writing service which allows individuals to easily draw up a tenable Will online with help from a legal firm. It is first of its kind in India.
6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a gathering of around 20,000 people in New York, which will be broadcast live to crowds in 20 other cities in the United States on September 28. His show will be unprecedented in its scale and political message.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 19th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Wed, 23/07/2014 - 08:50
1. According to the annual Global Innovation Index (GII) survey 2014, India stands at 76th position which is 10 places lower than the last year's ranking. China was the best among BRICS nations at 29th position, Russia at 49th rank and South Africa ranked 53rd position. The rankings are jointly published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organisation and it uses 81 indicators to study innovation capabilities and results in 143 countries.
2. The Union government appointed former Supreme Court judge G S Singhvi as its arbitrator for the case involving Reliance Industries (RIL) and its partners over delay in revision of the price of natural gas from the Andhra offshore KG-D6 block.
3. In the draft guidelines for Infrastructure Investment Trusts, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has allowed them to raise capital from the public with a minimum issue size of Rs 250 crore and can own up to Rs 500 crore in an underlying infra project. The minimum subscription size is reduced to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 10 lakh earlier and the minimum investment by institutional buyers and corporate groups is kept at Rs 1 crore.
4. Union ministry of commerce has planned to set up a medical device testing laboratory near Ahmedabad and to open at least five incubation centers across the country for research and development (R&D) activities. The decisions are taken to boost the medical device and pharma machinery sector.
5. The telecom regulator TRAI has recommended allowing telecom operators to share all kinds of airwaves including those administratively allotted and liberalise the limit on the spectrum that can be pooled in. It will help companies to optimally utilise the scarce spectrum resource and also consumers get better services.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 18th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Sun, 20/07/2014 - 18:49
1. RBI has allowed existing credit card companies, non-banking finance companies, mobile telephone companies, supermarket chains, real sector cooperatives and public sector entities to set up 'payment banks'. The minimum paid up capital requirement of payment and small banks has been fixed at Rs 100 crore, of which the promoters’ initial contribution will be at least 40 per cent. Payment banks can have current and savings deposits but cannot lend and can only invest in government securities.
2. The Department of Information Technology and Electronics ( DeitY) . is launching Hindi language domain names. this Independence Day. .IN domain name will be changed to .Bharat by the .IN Registry, a nodal agency of NIXI. The move could boost Internet governance and access in rural and remote areas. Government further plans to introduce other local languages such as Bengali, Punjabi, Gujrati, Tamil and Urdu.
3. A WTO dispute settlement panel . is formed to examine a complaint by the US against India's domestic content requirements under the country's solar power programme. US claims that the India's solar programme favours domestic industries and is against WTO principles of national treatment to foreign investors.
4. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely presented Rs 36,776 crore budget for Delhi in Parliament as the state is currently under the President's rule. No new tax was imposed and subsidy was given to small power consumers.
5. Seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are collaborating with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to set up India's first home-grown virtual technology university. . The virtual university could provide a degree directly and also tie up with other universities to transfer credits for a degree.
6. The Finance Ministry proposes a major disinvestment plan. which is to be completed in 3 months time after cabinet's approval. It estimates that the sales in the already listed Public Sector Units (PSUs) will raise Rs. 43,000 crore. .
CURRENT AFFAIRS 17th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 18/07/2014 - 15:21
1. Reserve Bank of India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Monetary Authority of Hong Kong for exchange of supervisory information. It promotes greater cooperation by sharing of information about the supervised entities among the national authorities.
2. The US and EU have imposed fresh sanctions on Russia as it continued its provocative and destabilising actions in Ukraine. Sanctions will affect Russia's finance, military and energy sectors.
3. According to First-ever UNAIDS ‘Gap Report’, India has the third-highest number of people living with HIV in the world with 2.1 million Indians accounting for about four out of 10 people infected with the deadly virus in the Asia-Pacific region.
4. Finance ministry is considering an amendment to the Finance Bill, 2014 to double the rate of long-term capital gains tax on debt mutual funds - from 10 per cent to 20 per cent.
5. Government will reserve 10 per cent of the shares sold through the auction route of public sector firms for retail investors along with discounts on the offer price. The reservation will be available only for retail investors who bid for amounts less than Rs 2 lakh. Centre is planning to sale shares in state-run ONGC and SAIL ltd.
6. Centre sought Supreme Court six months time to take a view in the matter of creating a national environment regulator and to comply with a statutory provision in the Environment Protection (EP) Act.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 16th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 18/07/2014 - 15:20
1. Reserve Bank of India, exempts long-term bonds from the mandatory regulatory norms such as the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) and Priority Sector Lending (PSL) if the money raised is used for funding of infrastructure and affordable housing projects. Banks can issue long term bonds with minimum maturity of 7 years till 25 years.
2. BRICS summit on July 15th ended with Fortaleza Declaration which stressed UN's central role in coordinating international action against terrorist activities and its leaders committed to the implementation of the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy.
3. India and Russia have commenced naval exercises 'Indra-14' in the Sea of Japan which will help to check piracy, render assistance to ships in distress and counter the threat from submarines.
4. Two major initiatives New Development Bankand Contingency Reserve Fund had its place in Fortaleza Declaration. Shanghai is the location for the headquarters for the BRICS bank and India would assume the first presidency of the bank, which would be named, as per the Indian suggestion, the “New Development Bank”.
5. Supreme Court urged the Centre to create a DNA data bank, particularly in respect of unidentified bodies and the missing persons, who are subsequently found dead. The profiling will help in finding a link between the unidentified bodies and persons who went missing.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 15TH JULY 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 18/07/2014 - 15:18
1. Government is working on a national food grid similar to that of power grid, which will connect deficient areas with producing regions. It will reduce wastage of fruits and vegetables while ensuring stable prices that can help tame stubborn food inflation. Also, plans would be developed to set up mega marine parks to tap into the potential for marine products.
2. India is having final negotiations with France for acquiring 126 French Rafale fighters under the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project.
3. The government has accepted the PJ Nayak panel's proposal to split the post of chairman and managing director in public sector banks as part of a restructuring. It will increase the minimum tenure of public sector bank chiefs to five years.
4. Diesel prices may be deregulated as early as December if the current trend in global prices continues. Deregulation will lead to increase in domestic price of diesel in par with international prices and oil companies will be relieved from debt burden.
5. Cabinet will take a decision on mandatory blending of 10 per cent ethanol with petroleum. This move will increase the income for sugarcane farmers and at present it is compulsory to blend 5 per cent ethanol with petroleum.
6. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that under the 'Creation of Management Structure for Hazardous Substances' scheme, government is setting up integrated recycling facility for e-waste. It will facilitate e- waste management in the country.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 14th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 14/07/2014 - 19:24
1. Central government plans to expand India Inclusive Innovation Fund to 1 billion dollar, according to Raghunath Mashelkar, chairman of National Innovation Foundation-India. It aims to promote grass root level innovations to deliver solutions for social and economic problems. It invests in healthcare, water, energy and agriculture.
2. Standard & Poor’s has said that the Indian government budget would not have an impact on the country’s sovereign ratings until the agency could see how the measures will be implemented, especially regarding meeting the fiscal deficit target. Budget has fixed fiscal deficit target at 4.1% of GDP for this year 2014-15.
3. Legendary actor Dilip Kumar's ancestral home in Pakistan has been declared as a national heritage by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The project would play an important role to bring people of Pakistan and India closer.
4. Chief justice of Supreme Court justice R. Lodha recently gave his nod to the Law Ministry’s proposal to increase the sanctioned strength of High Court judges by 25 per cent. This would mean the appointment of about 200 more HC judges across the country, with the aim of reducing the backlog of about 40 lakh cases.
5. Germany wins FIFA World Cup 2014 by defeating Argentina, their first trophy since 1990s. Lionel Messi of Argentina wins theGolden Ball, an honor that goes to the most valuable player in the tournament. Netherlands takes the third place by defeating the host nation Brazil.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 13th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 14/07/2014 - 19:23
1. Finance ministry is examining issues relating to merger of PSU banks and decision on it will be taken before the end of the year. SBI first merged its State Bank of Saurashtra with itself in 2008. Two years later in 2010, State Bank of Indore was merged with SBI. At present, the country’s largest lender has five associate banks.
2. INS kamorta is the first anti submarine corvettes which is indigenously built by Kolkata based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers ltd, was handed over to Indian Navy. It is built with indigenously developed special grade highly tensile steel and has bulk of sensors and weapon systems in its hulk. In addition, Kolkata(D63), domestically built guided missile destroyer was also delivered to Indian Navy.
3. R.V Sindhu Sahana, the first indigenously built multi disciplinary research vessel was launched by Union Minister of State of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Jitendra Singh. It serves as platform to launch oceanographic research programmes of global importance with state of art equipments and laboratories in it for online data collection and data processing.
4. Government is set to launch Infrastructure Investment Trusts(InvITs) by August this year to address paucity of funds for the infrastructure sector. Market regulator Sebi will notify these trusts in about three weeks along with the real estate investment trusts (REITs). InvITs will be on lines of REITs and will help project developers to raise long term fund for new projects.
5. The finance ministry is proposing a special fund of Rs 50,000 crore to address funding challenges of power sector projects and is also working on setting up two asset reconstruction companies for the power and roads sector. The ARCs will take over the pending projects so that loans from the banking sector do not turn into non-performing assets.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 12th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 14/07/2014 - 19:21
1. World's tallest bridge is coming up over Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir. It is expected to be 359metres when completed surpassing world's current tallest bridge in China. The 1315 metre long bridge will be 35 metres taller than Effiel tower, when completed by 2016.
2. Delhi is the world's second most populous city with 25 million people following Tokyo. According to UN world urbanisation prospects report, Delhi would continue to grow rapidly to 36 million by 2030 and Mumbai is in top six along with São Paulo and Mexico City behind Shanghai.
3. Following the budget speech in which the government proposed to raise capital for banks by sale of shares, State Bank of India and Delhi-based Punjab National Bank will soon hit the markets to meet their capital requirements. The government currently holds 58.60% stake in SBI and 58.87% in PNB.
4. NABARD launched Rupay Kisan card and Rupay Debit card in Haryana today. It will help cooperative banks to improve their customer service for farmers. Haryana State government is planning to set up Kisan clubs which will act as bridge between NGOs, farmer groups and civil society.
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for Brazil to attend BRICS summit on July 14 and 15. Setting up of a development bank and seeking reforms of the United Nations and international financial organisations is on the summit's agenda. It will provide PM his first opportunity at multilateral engagement. BRICS accounts for more than a quarter of the world's land mass, 40 per cent of its population and a combined GDP of $24 trillion.
CURRENT AFFAIRS - BUDGET SPECIAL - 10-07-2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 14/07/2014 - 19:18
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's maiden budget outlays the clear strategies, policies and reforms which will be undertaken by the new government. He presented the Budget for the year 2014-15 before the parliament on July 10 2014.
Budget highlights:
1) Tax: personal income tax exemption limit has been raised to 2.5 lakh from 2 lakh and for senior citizens it is set to 3 lakh with same tax rates. Investment upto 1.5 lakh has been exempted under 80 c of IT act. No changes has been made in retrospective taxation.
2) FDI in defence and insurance sector has been raised to 49% with the rider of full Indian management control. 5 new IITs, 5 new IIMs set up across states and Jaya Prakash Narayan centre of excellence for humanities to be set up at Madhya Pradesh.
3)Industry: Rs. 7060 crore has been allocated to develop 100 smart cities including ponneri, krishnapatnam, tumkur in the southern region. More importance has been given to augument nations road network. Rs.100 crore allocated for national industrial corridor authority.
4)Agriculture: Agriculture university in Andhra, Rajasthan and horticulture university in Telangana and Haryana. Rs. 100 crore each allotted for Agri tech infrastructure fund and National adaptation fund. Aims to create protein revolution as part of tech enabled second green revolution. Kisan vikas patra reintroduced to enable savings for farmers.
5) Social sector : New programmes like Skill India , Digital India will be launched to promote skill development and broadband connectivity respectively. Conservation of Ganges - Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission ‘Namami Ganga’; conservation of heritage structures in cities and towns -National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana; Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana Launched for effective delivery of services for women.
6) Banking: Banks are encouraged to give long term loan for infrastructure; 6 new debt tribunals to be set up; time bound Financial Inclusion Mission to concentrate on weaker sections of the society launched from 15th August; Framework for licensing small banks and differentiated banks to be created by RBI; Rs. 10,000 crore fund allocated for venture capital in the MSME sector.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 10th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 10/07/2014 - 20:02
1. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on 9 July 2014 presented Economic Survey of India 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha.
Highlights of economic survey:
• Economy to grow in the range of 5.4-5.9% for the year 2014-15. Risk factors due external environment, poor investment climate and poor monsoon.
• Reforms needed in the form of low and stable inflation regime, tax and expenditure reform and regulatory framework.
• RBI has identified five sectors -- infrastructure, iron and steel, textiles, aviation and mining as the stressed sectors and banks are exposed to these stressed sectors.
• India’s balance of payments and Foreign reserves improved substantially. World trade showed a recovery from 2.8% in 2012. India is the second fastest growing services sector.
2. Law Commission of India headed by Former Justice A P Shah submitted a report titled ‘Manpower Planning in Judiciary: A Blue Print’ to the Union Government. It recommended recruitment of judges to dispose the backlog, special evening and morning courts and additional courts to ensure timely justice.
3. Supreme Court restrained all State governments from releasing life convicts exercising their remission powers. This ruling comes when the matter relating to the release of life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case is being taken up for hearing by the court.
4. Finance minister Arun Jaitley announced his plans for the rolling out Goods and Services tax from July 1. GST is a nation-wide tax to reform indirect taxes and bring uniformity in the tax system all over the country.
5. Finance Minister said PSB lenders would require Rs 2.40 lakh crore capital by 2018 to meet global Basel III norms. A large part of this fund would be raised through public offers made to retail customers in a phased manner. Government is also examining the proposal to increase the autonomy of Public sector banks.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 9th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 10/07/2014 - 20:00
1. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased the rules of suppliers’ and buyers’ credit for importing rough, cut and polished diamonds to up to 180 days from 90 days with immediate effect. It will provide relief to diamond traders by reducing interest burden and frequent requests of permission for credit payment.
2. Union Rail Budget 2014-15 was presented by the Union Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda on 8 July 2014. It focuses mainly on improving operational efficiency of the existing railway projects and has ambitious modernisation proposals.
Railway Budget Highlights:
• Proposes PPP model for new railway projects and attract FDI source for big projects like Bullet train, Diamond Quadrilateral project of High speed trains. Propsed high speed train at Mumbai-Ahmedabad route.
• Introducing new services and technologies like Wifi in A1 and A category stations and select trains, improved e-ticketing system, digitisation of railway reservation charts, bio toilets, escalators, tourist trains, outsourcing at major stations.
• 4000 women constables and 17000, CCTV monitoring, Ultrasonic Broken Rail Detection System (UBRD) to ensure safety and security of passengers.
• 56 new trains, 10 metro stations with state of art facilities, increasing the speed of existing trains, setting up of railway university and 14% hike in passenger fares are other highlights of railway budget.
3. India successfully test-fired an advanced version of the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from Chandipur-on-Sea off Odisha coast. BrahMos is the first supersonic cruise missile known to be in service with a top speed of Mach 2.8. It can be launched from ships, aircrafts and submarines.
4. TRAI raised the minimum broadband speed to 512 kilo bytes per second (kbps) from the earlier 256 kbps by amending the Telecom Consumers Complaint Redressal Regulations, 2012. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had revised the broadband speed in consonance of the National Telecom Policy 2012 and TRAI recommendations.
5. UN Tribunal, Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) has ruled on the Indo-Bangladesh maritime border dispute of the Bay of Bengal in favour of Bangladesh. The court has awarded a major part of disputed area to Bangladesh thus allowing it to explore for oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal. Both the Countries have accepted the ruling.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 8th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 10/07/2014 - 19:59
1. In a series of steps to enhance safety measures for passengers, Railway Ministry is likely to propose installation of X-ray systems along the tracks to detect faulty parts in trains in the Rail Budget. ‘Trackside X-ray System’ will be installed at suitable locations along railway tracks to detect loose or damaged parts of rolling stock which include locomotives, engine, coaches, and wagons.
2. The HSBC Emerging Markets Index (EMI) , a monthly indicator derived from Purchasing Managers’ Index surveys, stood at 52.3 in June. According to the survey, Manufacturing and services sectors in India expanded at a faster pace than China during June. India registered the brightest outlook for the next 12 months for the third successive month, ahead of Brazil and China.
3. Government has planned to increase foreign direct investment limit in the insurance sector to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent with a rider that voting right of the overseas partner will be restricted at 26 per cent. Insurance Laws Amendment Bill, 2008 is to be amended with certain provisions which includes majority of the company’s shareholders will have to be Indian nationals and foreign shareholders will have no say in the appointment of the CEO of the insurance company.
4. US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Hollande agreed to have measures for imposing new sanctions on Russia if it fails to initiate action toward deescalating conflict in Ukraine. They mandated Russia to stop facilitating the transit of weapons and fighters across the border and ceasing its own military build-up near the border to support violent separatists.
5. Afghanistan declared former World Bank official Ashraf Ghani the winner of last month's presidential election run-off with 56.44 per cent of the vote, according to preliminary results. His close opponent Abdullah Abdullah was a former anti-Taliban resistance fighter.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 7th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 10/07/2014 - 19:58
1. The Serb national Novak Djokovic wins Wimbledon by beating his opponent Swiss national Roger Federer. He wins his second championship and regained his place as the World No 1.
2. SBI enters the digital banking with sbiINTOUCH. Digital banking will include instant issuance of personalised debit cards created through an instant account opening kiosk and instant in-principle loan approval. These digital branches have smart ATMs with cash-in and cash-out facilities and integrated remote teller, remote express. The “remote express” which is manned from another location interacts with the customers through a computer network. You can open an account instantly using e-KYC. Digital banking will cut down on cost and time spent in bank branches.
3. Centre has decided to set up Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) project in Chhattisgarh, which was scrapped by previous government. Four UMPPs, Sasan in Madhya Pradesh, Mundra in Gujarat, Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Tilaiya in Jharkhand have been awarded to the identified developers so far.
4. A Committee headed by former RBI governor C Rangarajan was formed to review the Tendulkar Committee methodology for estimating poverty and clear the ambiguity over the number of poor in the country. It has said that the number of poor in India was much higher in 2011-12 at 29.5% of the population which means that 3 out of 10 persons are poor. Earlier Tendulkar committee gave poverty ratio as 21.5% for the year 2011-12.
5. Supreme Court ruled that Shariat courts, issuing fatwa and order against a person who has not submitted himself before it, has no sanction of law and has no legal status. The fatwas cannot be legally enforced by shariaat courts and becomes illegal if it infringes upon anyone’s fundamental rights.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 6th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Thu, 10/07/2014 - 19:57
1. Chess greats Viswanathan Anand (India) and Boris Gelfand (Israel) have been selected for the Russian Federation’s ‘Order of Friendship’ award. The award recognises foreign national’s contribution to expand bilateral ties and friendship with Russian Federation.
2. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the inclusion of onion and potato under the stock holding limits under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. This would empower the State governments to carry out de-hoarding operations which is expected to rise as the probability of drought situation for the year is very high.
3. Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova won her second Wimbledon title as she defeated Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard. It is the shortest woman’s final at Wimbledon since Navratilova beat Andrea Jaeger in 54 minutes in 1983.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 240MW Uri-II Hydro Electric Project in J&K on his first time visit to Kashmir. The hydro power project can generate an estimated 1124 million units of hydel-energy annually. He also dedicated 25 km-long Katra-Udhampur railway line of Jammu to the nation and named it as ‘Shree Shakti Express’.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 5th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 07/07/2014 - 11:42
1. Centre has not accepted the economist's suggestion to implement inheritance tax, also called as estate duty for the year 2014-15. Government is struggling to increase the revenue stream for the year and is in the process of pre-budget planning.
2. Ministry of Civil Aviation and ministry of tourism is planning to develop low cost airports along tourist circuits. The fund for developing is to be raised through tax free bonds. It will improve connectivity to remote and regional areas.
3. Idea of Reverse SEZ is being mooted by Ministry of chemicals and Fertilisers to utilise the chemicals raw material availability in Myanmar and Iran for the Indian chemicals manufacturing industry. It will provide basic infrastructure for chemical clusters and ethanol blending.
4. In Odisha, State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) has prepared an action plan to provide banking services in all the 4,597 unbanked gram panchayats. Odisha had directed banks to open branches in the unbanked gram panchayats (GPs) by March 2017. SLBC has sought to extend the timeline to five years for covering the unbanked GPs due to infrastructure constraints.
5. Bihar Governor D Y Patil took oath as Governor of West Bengal on additional charge after incumbent M K Narayanan resigned office earlier. he will hold the post as interim arrangement. Besides Narayanan, Nagaland Governor Ashwani Kumar, Uttar Pradesh Governor B L Joshi and Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt have resigned since the new government took over at the Centre.
6. According to latest estimates by a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, India will become third largest economy by 2030. At present, it is the tenth largest economy and by 2030 it will become third by pushing UK to sixth position. China has ranked above Japan for a decade as the world's second-biggest economy.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 4th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 07/07/2014 - 11:41
04/07/14
1. India declined to ratify Trade Facilitation Agreement during the WTO negotiations in Geneva. It rejected it due to the inclining nature of the agreement towards developed countries. Geneva negotiations are a follow up to the Bali ministerial meetings of WTO.
2. Government has appointed R.Gandhi as Deputy RBI Governor for a 3 year term. The appointment follows retirement of Anand Sinha in January 2014. He will handle the department of banking operations and development (DBoD), which was instrumental in forming guidelines for the new bank licence process.
3. Centre formed a committee of secretaries to resolve differences between the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the National Population Register (NPR). Both the authorities have similar objectives thereby leading to a conflict over registration and enrollment of residents. UIDAI, which has given Aadhaar numbers to over 640 million residents, was introduced by the United Progressive Alliance government. The NPR is the brainchild of the previous NDA government.
4. World leaders including US, Russia have come forward to push Ukraine peace deal following the resumption of conflict between pro russian supporters and Ukraine regime. They agreed for peace talks at a meeting in Berlin.
5. Government plans to implement direct cash transfer of LPG subsidy without linking it to Aadhaar platform. The proposal will help in reducing Oil agencies’ growing debt and improve efficiency by directing subsidies only to the needed.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 4th JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 07/07/2014 - 11:39
1. India declined to ratify Trade Facilitation Agreement during the WTO negotiations in Geneva. It rejected it due to the inclining nature of the agreement towards developed countries. Geneva negotiations are a follow up to the Bali ministerial meetings of WTO.
2. Government has appointed R.Gandhi as Deputy RBI Governor for a 3 year term. The appointment follows retirement of Anand Sinha in January 2014. He will handle the department of banking operations and development (DBoD), which was instrumental in forming guidelines for the new bank licence process.
3. Centre formed a committee of secretaries to resolve differences between the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the National Population Register (NPR). Both the authorities have similar objectives thereby leading to a conflict over registration and enrollment of residents. UIDAI, which has given Aadhaar numbers to over 640 million residents, was introduced by the United Progressive Alliance government. The NPR is the brainchild of the previous NDA government.
4. World leaders including US, Russia have come forward to push Ukraine peace deal following the resumption of conflict between pro russian supporters and Ukraine regime. They agreed for peace talks at a meeting in Berlin.
5. Government plans to implement direct cash transfer of LPG subsidy without linking it to Aadhaar platform. The proposal will help in reducing Oil agencies’ growing debt and improve efficiency by directing subsidies only to the needed.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 3rd JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 07/07/2014 - 11:36
1. The Supreme Court directed States to instruct police officers not to make any arrests in dowry harassment offences without first ascertaining viability under parameters laid down in Section 41, Code of Criminal Procedure. It advised against automatic arrest under Section 498A.
2. Centre has accepted the industry’s demand on the simplification of the process for the extensions of industrial licenses. It is the first step towards ease of doing business in India. It extended the period of validity of industrial licenses from two years to three years and relaxed the requirement for companies to go to the Licensing Committee for the extensions.
3. Reliance Media Works (RMW) , global film and media services business of Reliance Capital is to be merged with Prime Focus Ltd. (PFL), a global media and entertainment industry services leader. It will be the world’s largest and most integrated media services group, having facilities at 20 locations with 5,500 people.
4. National Crime Records Bureau data for 2013 shows that road accidents are the biggest non-disease killers of men in the country and suicides the biggest killers of women. The NCRB data is a compilation of all deaths reported to the police in that year excluding the deaths caused by diseases.
5. Facebook had manipulated the news feeds of over half a million randomly selected users to change the number of positive and negative posts they saw. It was part of a psychological study to see how emotions can be spread on social media. It is now being probed by UK committee on the grounds of breaching privacy.
6. Facebook launches 'missed call ads' in India. It allows mobile phone users to click a button that calls brand advertiser and hangs up, then receives a return call. The return call will have pre recorded audio messages about the brand advertised.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 2nd JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 07/07/2014 - 11:35
1. According to a latest list released by the International Shooting Federation (ISSF), Jitu Rai was ranked world No.1 in men’s air pistol. He had won a silver in the Munich World Cup and the gold in the Maribor World Cup in air pistol to move to the No. 1 rank from No. 26.
2. RBI has released guidelines for starting small banks in unbanked areas and mobilize resources. It mandated minimum capital requirement of Rs.200 crore as against Rs.5 crore earlier for setting up small banks. These local area banks is to provide basic banking facilities and will face restrictions in wholesale lending and foreign exchange business.
3. India has sought assistance from France and Singapore on expertise relating to development of 100 smart cities - a pet project of Narendra Modi. India also plans to build heritage cities and Global city by 2019. Smart cities concept followed in Singapore include smart concept for generating energy savings up to 30 per cent and reducing carbon emissions and Smart Energy Grids for electricity demand and supply to interact intelligently.
4. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) upheld France’s controversial burqa ban and rejected arguments that outlawing full-face veils violates religious freedom. It also said that the ban did not violate any of the European Human Rights provisions to protect freedom of though, conscience and religion.
5. HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has raised to 51.5 points in June denoting rise in manufacturing activity. The June data highlighted a marked and accelerated expansion of new export orders received by Indian manufacturers. All three broad areas of the manufacturing sector registered higher production volumes, led by consumer goods producers.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 1st JULY, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 07/07/2014 - 11:34
1. NASSCOM started the third phase of its '10,000 Start-up Initiative'. It was launched by NASSCOM with Google, Microsoft and Verisign to nurture 10,000 start-ups for 10 years. NASSCOM has also launched Technology Startup Registry which will act as a repository of India's technology start-ups in the internet, mobile, e commerce, software as a service and market space place.
2. At the recently concluded United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, it has been agreed to have an international legally binding agreement to curb human right violations by multinational companies. The resolution was moved by Ecuador and South Africa and found support among 20 members of the council, including India, China, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Russia.
3. Bengal Governor M.K. Narayan resigned following the CBI's questioning of him as witness in VVIP chopper deal probe. Narayanan was the former National Security Advisor (NSA) before being appointed as Governor of West Bengal in 2010.
4. The 2014-15 Union Budget is likely to implement India's first-ever exclusive channel named either Krishi Channel or Kisan Channel for farmers, with an initial allocation of Rs 100 crore. The channel will function under Prasar Bharati and will have interactive programmes for the farmer.
5. India introduces a new visa liberal policy for Afghanistan citizens on humanitarian grounds. It will allow them to stay for 2 years and exemption from police reporting for senior citizens and children.
6. India has made request to Swiss government officials seeking names and details of Indians who hold unaccounted money in Swiss banks. Recently Supreme Court directed the centre to form a commitee which is headed by M.B.Shah to probe into black money.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 30th JUNE, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 07/07/2014 - 11:32
1. A global fraud study ‘Global Consumers: Losing Confidence in the Battle Against Fraud' by ACI worldwide and Aite revealed that India stands second in terms of debit card fraud at 32%. UAE tops the list of high rates of fraud(overall) followed by china, India and US.
2. The CII Business Confidence Index (CII-BCI) for the April-June quarter of 2014-15 rose to 53.7 points from 49.9 points of fourth quarter of the pprevious year. It is mainly due to stable government at the centre, moderating inflation, recovery in exports segment and declining twin deficits.
3. China invited India to join its brainchild Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank which aims to fund infrastructure along the ancient silk route and to reduce dependency on western international banks like World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
4. Indian Shuttler Saina Nehwal won the $750,000 Star Australian Open by defeating Spain's Carolina Martin. It is her first super series title in 2years.
5. Indian cueist Pankaj Advani became the first player to win titles in longer and shorter formats of billiard and snooker. He won the IBSF World 6-Red Snooker Championship by defeating Kacper Flilpiak of Poland and has also won seven world titles in billiards and one in snooker.
6. Industrial Finance Corporation of India Ltd.(IFCI) wants to get the status of (DFI) Development Financial Institutions to reduce its cost of funding to infrastructure. It was converted to a government company last year. It also plans to get Rs.1500 crore by selling non crore assets.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 29th JUNE, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 30/06/2014 - 09:21
1. Government is actively looking into the issue of monetising gold following representations from the banking sector to consider gold deposits as part of cash reserve ratio (CRR). Monetising gold will utilise the yellow metal which is sitting idle with the public and also helps in reducing its imports.
2. The RBI had asked banks to remit deposits classified as unclaimed to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF) by June 30, 2014. The DEAF was first announced in the annual monetary policy by the RBI in May, 2013, with a view to use unclaimed deposits with banks for depositor education and awareness. An unclaimed deposit is one wherein an account is not operated for 10 years or refers to any deposit or any amount remaining unclaimed for more than 10 years
3. The Union Commerce Ministry is trying to modify the Price Stabilisation Fund Scheme so as to lower the price threshold at which the fund gets activated. The fund will help traders to stay in business when prices fall below a certain level. It applies for tea, coffee, natural rubber and tobacco commodities.
5. North Korea tested precision guided short range ballistic missiles. The country has been in constant confrontation with South Korea, Japan and the West over its missile and nuclear programmes.
6. Centre plans to provide insurance cover to nuclear power plants and an insurance pool is created with General Insurance Corporation for this purpose. Atomic Energy Commission Chairman R.K. Sinha said this on the sidelines of a function flagging off the first consignment of equipment for the world’s largest high-altitude gamma ray telescope in Hanle, Ladakh, built by the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL).
CURRENT AFFAIRS 28th JUNE, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 30/06/2014 - 09:15
1. The indigenous PSLV-C23 rocket will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre ( SHAR) in Sriharikota on 28th June 2014.It carries satellites of France, Germany, Canada and Singapore.
2. Presidents of the three countries India, China and Myanmar reaffirmed their commitment to peaceful coexistence on the 60th anniversary of the Panchsheel Treaty.
3. Ukraine signed a landmark pact with European Union. The EU pact was important for the country which is sandwiched between Europe and Russia. It was earlier rejected by its ex-president and tends to pull Ukraine out of Russia's influence.
4. National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) proposed setting up of a Rs.500-crore fund for the holistic development of the IT industry. He said India’s share of 50 per cent in the global IT sourcing market translated to an eight per cent contribution to the çountry’s GDP, a figure that would cross 10 per cent in the next five years.
5. SEBI is in the process of framing new rules and regulations for Employee Stock Options (ESOP) of companies and has barred it's buying from the secondary market till the new rules are notified. The new regulations will bring in transparency and improved governance.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 27th JUNE, 2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Mon, 30/06/2014 - 09:12
1. N. Srinivasan was appointed as the first Chairman of the International Cricket Council on June 26, 2014. He was barred by the Supreme Court of India from carrying out his duties as BCCI president due to ongoing investigations into the match-fixing allegations.
2. India has decided to relax visa restrictions for Bangladeshi nationals above the age of 65 and below the age of 13. The decision was taken during External Affairs Minister Ms. Sushma Swaraj’s first bilateral visit to Bangladesh.
3. RBI has asked all banks and financial institutions to take into account ‘Credit Information Reports’ from several agencies while approving loan proposals.
4. RBI has revised asset classification norms for infrastructure firms. It allows banks to treat loan as standard if the commencement of infrastructure project delays by two years. This will help bank to save on provisioning cost as well as provide infrastructure firms easy access to loans.
5. RBI in its annual Financial Stability Report, observed that the economic recovery is facing challenges of adverse growth coupled with inflation. With regard to banks, it noted though the financial system is stable, the gross NPA of PSB's as a percentage of total loan advances is higher than other groups.
6. Centre is yet to define the functions of newly formed Ministry of Skill development and Entrepreneurship. It is headed by Sarbananda Sonowal and will have National Skill Development Authority and the National Skill Development Corporation working under it.
CURRENT AFFAIRS 26th JUNE,2014
Submitted by TC-Generalknowledge on Fri, 27/06/2014 - 21:33
1. Government has decided to extend the excise duty cuts till Dec 31 2014 and approved setting up of Chinese industrial park in India. Excise duty cuts will boost the demand for goods which will increase revenues for the government.
2. Appointment of S. Gopal Subramanium as Supreme Court judge has been deferred by government following which he withdrew his consent for the appointment. S. Gopal Subramanium served as a Solicitor General during UPA regime.
3. India has been placed in 'International Piracy Watchlist' by US indicating unfavourable environment for protecting intellectual property rights in India. It highlighted incidences of software piracies, use of unlicensed softwares by enterprises, camcording piracies and lack of procedure to take down online piracies.
4. RBI has earlier asked all banks to remit unclaimed deposits to Depositor Education and Awareness Fund(DEAF). Today, it has indicated that the interests on these unclaimed deposits will be payable from the day of transfer to the DEAF. Unclaimed deposits are those which are not operated or remained unclaimed for more than 10 years.
5. According to UNCTAD' s 'World Investment Report' on transnational corporations, India has slipped to fourth position as being fourth favoured investment destination for 2014-2016. China, US, Indonesia are ranked first, second and third respectively.
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