(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) National Events

October- 2014

Justice HandyalaLakshminarayanaSwamyDattu as the new CJI

•  Hours after being sworn in as the 42nd Chief Justice of India at the Durbar Hall of RashtrapatiBhavan, Justice HandyalaLakshminarayanaswamyDattu pledged to be a common man’s judge on the Bench.

•  The 63-year-old Chief Justice was sworn in by

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Sports
September - 2014

India end England tour with narrow T20 defeat

• India’s long tour of England ended on a heartbreaking note as England held their nerves to pull off a thrilling three-run victory in the only T20 International in Birmingham.

• Chasing a competitive 181 for seven, India needed 17 runs in the final over of the match but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni could not

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) In the news
September - 2014

GopalSubramanium

•  Former Solicitor-General GopalSubramanium has withdrawn his letter to the Supreme Court opting out as amicus curiae in the PadmanabhaSwamy temple case.
•  Mr. Subramanium has already swung into action and left for Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala to inspect the temple premises and prepare an additional report on the administration of the temple.
•  Supreme Court sources said the case files had been sent back to him and he was expected to appear in the case in November. They said he decided to withdraw his letter after the court asked him to reconsider his decision.
•  Early this month, he had written to Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha, expressing his decision to bow out as amicus curiae. He had also returned the files concerning the case to the Supreme Court Registry.
•  Mr. Subramanium’s report on the condition of the temple and its assets in Thiruvananthapuram had created a storm.
•  The report had complained of corruption and disregard of ethics in the temple’s administration.

Akkineni

Current Affairs MCQ for Banking  Exams - 10 December 2014

Q. 1

The Delhi government banned all operations by private cab service Uber with immediate effect and blacklisted it from providing any transport service in the national capital in the wake of the alleged rape incident in a taxi plying for it. Uber is hire-a-cab firm of which country?
a. India
b. Russia
c. Japan
d. China
e. The US

Q.2

Which private sector bank announced hiking of ATM usage charges for its saving account holders from 1 January 2015?
a. HDFC Bank
b. Yes Bank
c. Mahindra Bank
d. ICICI Bank
e. None of these

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Science & Tech

September - 2014

INS Sumitra to be commissioned tomorrow

• INS Sumitra , a new-generation naval offshore patrol vessel (NOPV) built by Goa Shipyard Ltd., will be commissioned by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Robin K. Dhowan, in Chennai.
• The state-of-the-art warship will join the Eastern Naval Command in Chennai for maritime surveillance and coastal security.
•  This largest offshore patrol vessel of the Navy will be the fourth in its class, built on an in-house design of the shipyard.
• The ship carries most sophisticated weapons such as guns, heavy-calibre super rapid gun mount, rapid-fire Russian AK630 guns, Kavach chaff launchers and the Sanket electronic warfare system and electronic sensors.

Toyota launches ‘Innova Limited Edition 2014’

• Toyota Kirloskar Motor launched ‘Innova Limited Edition 2014’ for the festive season. Only 1,500 units of the new Innova LE, in an exclusive brand new colour — Bronze Mica Metallic — besides Silver Mica Metallic, will be available till November.
•  It is based on the existing Gx Grade and comes with the options of seven and eight seater in both Euro III and Euro IV engines, a release from the company said.
•  Available in the diesel variant, the price starts from Rs.12,90,947 to Rs.13,00,710 (ex-showroom New Delhi).
•  Innova LE will be available at Toyota showrooms at select cities whereas in other cities, Innova Limited Edition accessory package will be available.

MH17 hit by high speed objects: report

• a

  A Malaysian passenger jet blew up in mid-air over eastern Ukraine after being hit by numerous “high speed objects,” according to an interim report published on the disaster that claimed 298 lives.

• Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 “broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside,” said a highly anticipated report by the Dutch Safety Board.

• The findings appear to back up claims that the Boeing 777, which crashed in July as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was hit by shrapnel from a missile.

• “There are no indications that the MH17 crash was caused by a technical fault or by actions of the crew,” the report said.

• Kiev and the West have accused pro-Russian separatists of shooting down the plane with a surface-to-air BUK missile supplied by Moscow. But Russia blamed government forces for the attack.

NASA to send first 3D printer into space station

• NASA is all set to send the fourth SpaceX Cargo Mission, that would carry among other equipments a 3D printer to the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on September 20.

• Space Exploration Technologies Corp’ (SpaceX) Falcon-9 rocket will launch a Dragon cargo spacecraft loaded with more than 5,000 pounds of scientific equipment and supplies, the U.S. space agency said in a statement.

• It will also carry a small flowering plant related to cabbage that would allow scientists to study plant growth and adaptations in space.

• It will be the fifth trip by a Dragon spacecraft to the orbiting laboratory.

• The spacecraft’s 2.5 tonnes of supplies and materials are critical for the implementation of 255 science and research investigations that will occur during the station’s Expeditions 41 and 42.

• Besides, the spacecraft will carry science payloads like the ISS-Rapid Scatterometer to monitor ocean surface wind speed and direction.

Web portal on Ganga rejuvenation launched

• As part of its efforts to make the Ganga rejuvenation programme a mass movement, the Ministry of Water Resource launched a web portal to connect with the public on the ambitious project of the NDA Government.

• The bilingual website has a provision to receive feedback from the public, where suggestions can be given about the Ganga Rejuvenation Plan.

• The public can also upload files up to the size of 4 MB along with their suggestions, a press release issued in Delhi said.

• Launching the website, Union Minister for Water Resource Uma Bharti said the launch of the website was an important tool to connect the public with the gigantic task of Ganga rejuvenation.

Environment Minister launches online portal for zoos

• Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change PrakashJavadekar launched an online portal for grant of recognition to zoos and monitoring of zoos.

• He also launched an E- archival and retrieval management system for the Central Zoo Authority and a book on “Zoos in India 2014,” an official statement said.

• The portal for grant of recognition and monitoring of zoos envisages maintaining and providing real-time information about the recognition and evaluation process.

• The portal aims to reduce the bottlenecks of manual recognition system and fully automates the recognition process, the statement said.

 First water clouds found outside solar system

• Scientists have discovered the first evidence of water ice clouds on an object outside of our own solar system, about 7.3 light-years away from Earth.

• Water ice clouds exist on our own gas giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune — but have not been seen outside of the planets orbiting our Sun until now.

• The findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters .— PTI

INS Sindhurakshak

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International

September - 2014

Another American journalist ‘beheaded’

• An Internet video posted purported to show the beheading of another U.S. journalist, Steven Sotloff, by Islamic State, which called it “retribution” for U.S. airstrikes.

U.N. troops’ captors set demands

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Economy

September - 2014

Panel set up to conduct forensic audit of NSEL

•  On a plea made by investors, the Bombay High Court, formed a committee headed by a retired high court judge to conduct a forensic audit of the troubled NSEL and liquidate the assets of its defaulting borrowers in the over Rs.5,500 crore payments scam.

•  The three-member committee, headed by Justice (Retd) V. C. Daga, will also have a solicitor and a chartered accountant, according to Advocate AmeetNaik, who represents NSEL in the case.

•  The committee will ascertain the liability that is outstanding against the defaulting borrowers of NSEL, conduct a forensic audit, and monetise the assets, the court said in its order.

•  The committee will determine where the amount has gone, and is empowered to ascertain the assets of company.

•  It has also been empowered to distribute the assets to the duped investors but distribution of funds will require the court’s permission.

World Bank rider for pedestrian project

•  The World Bank has told the Chennai Corporation that its funding of the pedestrian plaza at T. Nagar is conditional. It has advised the civic body to complete a study on environment and the social impact of the proposed pedestrianisation project in that area.

•  The study by the Chennai Corporation is also expected to assess the impact of the project on ‘reducing extreme poverty’ and ‘promoting shared prosperity’.

•  The Rs.83-crore pedestrian plaza, part of the T. Nagar redevelopment proposal, had already been approved by the Corporation Council a few months ago.

•  “Funding for the project will not be approved without a proper study of the social and environmental aspects of such an innovative urban infrastructure project,” said officials.

•  Work on commissioning the plaza with a commercial theme was expected to begin this month. But the requirement of a new study is likely to delay the project, they said.

•  The plaza is likely to become operational by May next.

•  The levels of pollution caused by traffic diversions, the increased number of visitors to T. Nagar, the rise in garbage collection and heightened commercial activity will also be assessed. Displacement of hawkers and impact on their livelihood will be part of the study.

Promotional air fares from IndiGo

•  Budget carrier IndiGo started promotional air fares by offering discounted one-way fares starting at a low of Rs.999 (all inclusive one-way fare), a day after SpiceJet started its offer of Rs.499 one-way charge.

•  According to IndiGo, its Delhi-Jaipur flight is priced at Rs.999 one-way, followed by Rs.1,399 Srinagar-Chandigarh.

•  The fares go all the way up to Rs.4,829 for Bangalore-Delhi. The fares are applicable for booking in 90 days in advance. — IANS

China to lay 1,300 km of rail tracks in Tibet by 202

• The extended railway lines built by China in Tibet — 251 km from Lhasa to Shigatse on the west and 433 km to Nyingchi (still under construction) in the east — will effectively link Tibet to India, Nepal and Bhutan

•  These are part of the Chinese government’s mission 2020 for infrastructure in Tibet.

•  The lines are also seen as a “triangular defence” for China, allowing it to rush troops and military hardware to its sensitive southern borders with India at short notice.

United Bank of India declares Vijay Mallyawilful defaulter

•  United Bank of India (UBI) has declared Vijay Mallya and three directors of Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) as wilful defaulters. The development was confirmed by the bank’s executive director Deepak Narang.

•  Besides Mr. Mallya, three other directors — A.K. Ganguly, SubhashGupte and Ravi Nedungadi — have also been declared as wilful defaulters, Mr. Narang .

•  The bank has an exposure of between Rs.350 crore and Rs.400 crore to KFA, which was given by the Bangalore branch of UBI.

•  It may be mentioned that UBI filed a caveat in the Supreme Court against KFA on August 29, 2014, after the Division Bench of the High Court dismissed a KFA appeal against UBI.

•  Earlier, UBI had identified Mr. Mallya as a wilful defaulter, and asked him to appear before the bank’s panel to hear him out before declaring him as a wilful defaulter.

•  Mr. Mallya later moved the court seeking exemption of his appearance before the panel.

Flipkart invests in ngpay

•  e-commerce firm Flipkart has made a strategic investment in mobile payments firm ngpay. Terms of the deal are not disclosed.

•  ngpay was founded in 2008 by Sourabh Jain. Meanwhile, Flipkart also said it would phase out its own payment product Payzippy launched last year.

Basel III capital norms revised

•  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued revised and final guidelines for raising non-equity regulatory capital instruments by banks under the stringent Basel III framework under which lenders can issue Tier-2 capital with a minimum original maturity of five years as against 10 years now.

•  It further said banks could issue Tier-2 debt capital instruments to retail investors, subject to board approval.

Social media helps raise funds for Mumbai Film Festival

•  A fund-raising campaign on social media helped the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), the festival organisers, overcome a crippling financial crisis after their contract with Reliance Entertainment, the sole sponsor for the past five years, expired in February. “Since then, we were searching for the new sponsor. But we were unsuccessful,” said festival director Srinivasan Narayan.

•  The social media campaign helped the organisers raise Rs 1.5 crore in just two days. They are now expecting Rs. 5 crore by October.

•  The uncertainty over the festival’s future triggered a social media campaign, #pledge4MAMI from well-wishers.

• “As the word spread, the entire film fraternity came forward and now the industry itself is taking care of the festival. We are getting commitments from many individuals and we have also opened our website of the contributions from ordinary fans,” Mr. Narayan said.

TCS opens Saudi Arabia’s first all-women BPO centre

India’s largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Sunday said it has opened Saudi Arabia’s first all-female business process centre, which will provide employment to up to 3,000 women in three years. Saudi Aramco and GE are the centre’s first customers, TCS said in a statement in Mumbai. Both the clients have already surpassed their target of recruiting 100 women each, while the total number of those employed at the centre stands at 300, it said.

The Riyadh-based 3,200-sq mt facility will offer customers specialised finance and accounting, human resources, materials supply and office services to improve their operational efficiency, it said. Global auto makers seek friendly policy As India moves towards becoming a hub for production and exports for global car manufacturers, the latter said India needed to make more business-friendly policies if the country wanted foreign companies to invest here. Chairman of Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) Fumihiko Ike, who is also the Chairman of Japan’s Honda Motor Co, added another major challenge was to improve the business environment for investing into India.

 Protection to auto industry cannot be forever: Commerce Secretary In a veiled warning to the domestic auto sector, the Commerce Ministry, said it could not continue providing protection to the industry while duty barriers were coming down all over the world. India is protecting the domestic auto industry from overseas competition while signing free trade agreements with different nations and groups. New VP for Renault India Renault India Pvt. Ltd., a fully-owned subsidiary of Renault s.a.s, has appointed Rafael Treguer as Vice-President (Sales and Marketing).  He has worked in varied roles at different locations with the Renault group. — Special Correspondent Upper age limit set for MDs and CEOs of private banks The upper age limit for managing directors (MDs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) and other whole-time director of banks in the private sector has been fixed at 70 years.

 “Beyond this age (70 years), nobody should continue in the post,’’ the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. “Within the overall limit of 70 years, individual bank boards are free to prescribe a lower retirement age for the whole-time directors, including the managing directors and chief executive officers, as an internal policy,’’ the RBI said. Bajaj Auto launches two supersport KTM bikes Bajaj Auto, launched two supersport motorcycles from the KTM stable — KTM RC390 and KTM RC 200.  KTM bikes have won more than 240 World Championship titles. According to a company statement, the KTM RC390 is priced at Rs.2.05 lakh while the KTM RC 200 is priced at Rs. 1.60 lakh (both ex-showroom Delhi). Both bikes will be backed by KTM’s 140 exclusive dealer network across the country and will be available from September 10 with dealers.

 Micromax launches Canvas Nitro Micromax , launched its latest handset Canvas Nitro powered by an octa-core processor, targeted mainly at young professionals and college students, priced at Rs.12,990. The dual-SIM device, launched exclusively through online marketplace Snapdeal, runs on Android KitKat operating system, and comes with 2GB RAM, 5-inch HD IPS display, leather finish back, 13MP rear and 5MP front camera, 8GB memory (expandable up to 32GB), and 2500 mAh battery. Microsoft unveils new look for MSN in India Aiming to offer a comprehensive and seamless experience to users to access content via its website and apps across screens (PCs as well as mobiles) and operating platforms, software giant Microsoft unveiled the new look of its MSN website in India.

 The preview in India had been made live for users starting Monday and Microsoft was inviting people to try out the new web experience, he said, adding they could also leave feedback on the site. State Bank launches new travel card State Bank of India (SBI) and MasterCard, announced the launch of Multi-Currency Foreign Travel Card through 100 selected branches of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore circles. The card, which is available in retail and corporate variants, will help consumers pay in dollar, pound settling, euro and Singapore dollar initially and eventually be made available in all major currencies.

Lupin tied up with Merck Serono

•  Lupin has tied up with Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck, to support the expansion of Merck Serono’s general medicines portfolio in emerging markets.

•  A statement from Lupin said the tie-up would address the local needs for affordable, high-quality medicines. While no financial details of the tie-up were available, Lupin said it had an established working relationship with Merck and the agreement could add up to 20 new products to the current portfolio.

•  Lupin will receive an upfront and milestone based licensing fee. The first launches are expected in 2016.

Infosys global partnership with Huawei

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India & the world

September - 2014

India, Japan should jointly work on heritage cities: Modi

•  Prime Minister NarendraModi said India and Japan faced a common challenge in preserving and building smart heritage cities.

•  After meeting Kyoto’s Mayor DaisakuKadokawa, the Prime Minister said that he had learnt how the city was dealing with civic issues.

India-Japan ties will only bring psychological comfort: China daily

•  “The increasing intimacy between Tokyo and New Delhi will bring at most psychological comfort to the two countries,” China’s State-run Global Times newspaper said in an editorial .

•  On the “blossoming personal friendship” between NarendraModi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, the paper said China-India relations denoted much more than that.

•  “Abe’s harangue on the Indo-Pacific concept makes Indians comfortable. It is South Asia where India has to make its presence felt… Sino-Indian ties can in no way be counterbalanced by Japan-Indian friendship,” the editorial said.

•  While mentioning that Mr. Modi had not named China in his remarks in Japan, the paper referred to Japanese and Western public opinion that the comments were directed at China.

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National Events

September - 2014

‘Zero tolerance on rhino poaching’

•  Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change PrakashJavadekar announced that a Special Rhino Protection Force of local youth would be raised to check poaching in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) and other rhino-populated areas in Assam.

•  “There will be zero tolerance towards rhino poaching and our efforts would be to bring down the number of rhino poaching incidents to zero,” he said.

•  Addressing a press conference after two-day visit to the national park, the Minister announced that his Ministry would request the CBI to expand the scope of its ongoing probe into rhino poaching in the KNP by including more cases and fast-track it.

•  A comprehensive plan would be undertaken to ensure free movement of park animals through the six animal corridors across the National Highway 37 passing through the world heritage site.
  Modi offers assistance for PoK flood relief

•  In a humanitarian gesture, Prime Minister NarendraModi on offered all possible assistance to Pakistan for carrying out relief operations in the flood-ravaged Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

•  Making the offer after undertaking a visit to flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir for a first-hand assessment of the situation, Mr. Modi expressed his anguish at the loss that has been caused in PoK.

Home Ministry asks States to fasttrack cases against MPs, MLAs

• The Home Ministry has asked all State governments to speed up cases against MPs and MLAs facing charges which attract disqualification, directing them to seek day-to-day trial in courts, appoint special public prosecutors and ensure regular monitoring.

•  The direction came in the wake of Supreme Court setting a deadline to complete trial in cases involving lawmakers.

•  The step is also in line with Prime Minister NarendraModi’s direction on July 24 asking the Home Minister and Law Minister to work out a mechanism to settle cases against politicians within a year to cleanse politics from tainted lawmakers.

•  Any sentence which attracts punishment of two years and above can lead to disqualification from Parliament or state legislature.

•  According to a March 10, 2014 direction of the Supreme Court, cases against MPs and MLAs which attract disqualification under Section 8(1), 8(2) and 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act needed to be completed within one year of framing charges.

Govt to go ahead with key appointments without LoP

•  The Government has decided to go ahead with the appointments to various statutory bodies like CVC, NHRC and Lokpal without the Leader of Opposition in the LokSabha as a member of the selection committee choosing them.

•  The move comes following a recent reference from the LokSabha secretariat in this regard, official sources said.

•  The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had written to the LokSabha seeking information on the LoP. The secretariat has informed the DoPT that there is no recognisedLoP in the LokSabha, they said.

•  The Government will go ahead with the appointments to various statutory bodies without the LoP, the sources said.

•  LokSabha Speaker SumitraMahajan had rejected the Congress’ demand for LoP status for its nominee.

•  Congress with 44 seats in the 543-member LokSabha has emerged as the second largest party after BJP’s 282 but fell short by 11 to stake claim for the LoP for which it requires a strength of 55.

•  There is no mandatory requirement of the LoP in the selection committee that recommends persons for Central Vigilance Commissioner, Vigilance Commissioner, chairpersons and members for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Lokpal, they said.

•  The appointment of a Central Vigilance Commissioner and Vigilance Commissioner is done by the President on the basis of recommendation from a three member selection committee headed by Prime Minister and comprising Minister for Home Affairs and the Leader of Opposition in the House of the People, as per the Central Vigilance Act 2003.

•  The Act further has a provision that when no such leader (LoP) has been recognised then the selection committee can include the leader of the single largest group in opposition in the LokSabha.

•  “No appointment of a Central Vigilance Commissioner or a Vigilance Commissioner shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy in the Committee,” the Act says.

Government of India can print Re 1 note: Law Ministry

•  Putting to rest the debate on printing of one rupee notes, the Law Ministry has opined that the Government of India has all the powers to print currency notes of this denomination.

•  While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has the authority to issue bank notes of denominational values of Rs. 2, Rs. 5, Rs. 10, Rs. 20, Rs. 50, Rs. 100, Rs. 500, Rs. 1,000, Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 10,000, the one rupee note was printed and issued by the central government.

•  The Government of India also has the sole right to mint coins of all denominations.

•  However, since the RBI was of the view that with the repeal of Section 2 of the Currency Ordinance, the Government of India is not empowered to issue note of denominational value of one rupee, the law ministry opinion was taken.

•  The Law Ministry in its opinion stated that the Coinage Act of 2011, which consolidates the laws relating to coinage and the mints, does not bar the Government of India from printing one rupee notes.

•  Section 4 of the Act provides that the central government may authorise minting of coin of denomination not higher than Rs. 1,000, it said, adding that the definition of coin in the Act makes it clear that Government of India one rupee note is included in the definition of coin.

•  The Act defines a coin as “made of any metal or any other material stamped by the Government or any other authority empowered by the Government in this behalf and which is a legal tender including commemorative coin and Government of India one rupee note,” the ministry said in its opinion.“Further, apart from the metal, the coin may be made of any other material,” it said.

•  The ministry said while repealing the Currency Ordinance, 1940, “necessary provisions for inclusion of Government of India one rupee note within the meaning of ‘Coin’ have been consciously incorporated in the Coinage Act, 2011. Further, the RBI, as per Section 24(1) of the RBI Act, 1934, is not empowered to issue bank note of denomination of value of one rupee.”

•  “Central government is not precluded to issue one rupee Government of India note under the Coinage Act, 2011. The dimension, design, material and standard weight of such One Rupee Note have to be prescribed by the Central Government in terms of Section 4 and 5 of the Coinage Act, 2011,” the opinion said.

•  The printing of notes in the denominations of Re. 1 and Rs. 2 has been discontinued as these denominations have been coinised. However, such notes issued earlier are still in circulation.

Modi greets Malayalis on Onam

•  Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday greeted Malayalis on the occasion of Onam, the State festival of Kerala.

•  He also remarked on the significance of Onam as a symbol of national integration, justice, peace and prosperity.

•  He also said Onam reminds us of the glorious era of King Mahabali and is a day to “reaffirm our commitment to create a just, peaceful and prosperous society”.

•  Onam is celebrated to mark the return of legendary King Mahabali to Kerala who was loved by his subjects for being a just and benevolent ruler. 

N-deal highlights growing energy ties

•  Australia boosted its credentials as India’s core energy partner by signing a deal for uranium supplies, and imparted urgency to the transfer of coal for thermal power plants, facing severe shortage of the resource.

•  Visiting Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot unveiled Canberra’s aspirations by pointing out that Canberra could become an “utterly reliable source of energy, resource and food security for India.”

•  Analysts point out that the deeper engagement in energy and food security could pave the way for a broader strategic relationship between the two countries, which could include a significant defence component.

•  A joint statement on defence cooperation signed last year had emphasised joint forays specifically in the Asia-Pacific region — an area of growing tensions because of rival claims on South China Sea resources between China and other littoral States — as well as the Indian Ocean region.

India suicide capital of Southeast Asia, says WHO

•  India recorded the highest number of suicides in Southeast Asia in 2012, says a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva.

•  The number of victims was 2,58,075 — 1,58,098 men and 99,977 women — that year. Globally, the number was 8,04,000.

•  Suicide by pesticide ingestion is among the most common methods employed globally and is of particular concern in rural areas in Southeast Asia.

SC moots dual citizenship for surrogate children

•  The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government to clarify its stand on the citizenship of children born to surrogate mothers in India, but whose biological mother was a foreign national.

•  “Under the Constitution, a child born here from an Indian surrogate mother is entitled to Indian citizenship. But what happens if the biological mother is a foreign citizen and the child applies for citizenship of that country,” a Bench led by Justice RanjanGogoi asked.

•  Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta acknowledged the problem, adding that in countries such as Germany, surrogacy was banned by law.

•  The Bench was looking into the larger issue on the need for a “comprehensive legislation” dealing with all issues and situations, including the citizenship of a surrogate child, created by new reproductive technology.

•  The problem of citizenship of a surrogate child was highlighted in the case of twin babies born to an Indian surrogate mother and a German father, Jan Balaz, in 2008.

•  The two boys, Balaz Nikolas and Balaz Leonard, were conceived by an Indian woman in Gujarat’s Anand district in January 2008.

•  Justice Gogoi suggested that the government could consider dual citizenship for surrogate children born in such circumstances.

World Media Summit invites entries for Global Awards for Excellence

•  The World Media Summit (WMS) has invited entries for the first WMS Global Awards for Excellence, instituted to honour “truth, objectivity, excellence” in journalism.

•  These are “the first comprehensive news and news-related awards at the international level recognising professional excellence across the print, television, radio, and digital-only platforms.

•  The four awards announced fall under three categories: contributions to public welfare by exemplary news teams and news professionals in developing countries; media innovation; and new media reporting.

India, Australia to sign civil nuclear deal

•  India is set to win another endorsement for its status as a peaceful nuclear power, with Prime Minister NarendraModi and his Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott, expected to sign an India-Australia civil nuclear cooperation agreement here.

•  The agreement, which will enable Australia to export uranium to India in return for safeguards from India on its use, will bolster India’s plans to increase nuclear energy production.

•  India offers the potential to double Australia’s uranium exports to more than a billion dollars by 2018, say experts.

Lokpal search panel gets freedom of choice

•  The Department of Personnel and Training has notified amendments giving autonomy to the Lokpal search committee to shortlist and recommend names independently for selection of Chairman and members of the anti-corruption body.

•  The amendments act as a course correction after the former Supreme Court judge Justice K.T. Thomas opted out from heading the search committee in March 2014, citing lack of autonomy.

•  Eminent jurist FaliNariman too had turned down the post of a member of the panel for that reason.

•  Justice Thomas had objected to the provision that the search committee should only shortlist candidates from a list provided by the department.

•  The amendment made in Rule 10 of the Search Committee Rules removed this roadblock by omitting the words “from among the list of persons provided by the Central Government in the Department of Personnel and Training.”

SC wants to monitor Ganga clean-up

•  Unhappy with the government’s affidavit setting out its plans to clean the Ganga, the Supreme Court said it wanted to monitor the progress made in efforts to restore the river and asked for a roadmap.

•  It is better if you can show us a PowerPoint presentation. Also, fix milestones so that we can assess the progress, a Bench comprising Justices T.S. Thakur and R. Banumathi said.

•  “It seems the Ganga will not be cleaned even after 200 years,” the Bench observed after perusing an affidavit filed by the Director of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, which outlined plans to rejuvenate the river and its ecology.

Toilets mandatory in aided schools

•  The State Cabinet decided to impose strict norms for providing fitness certificates to aided recognised schools by making it mandatory to build toilets.

•  The norms relating to issuance of fitness certificates for aided recognised schools will be amended by including a provision for setting up facilities in addition to the present one related to safety of the school building.

•  Erring schools will not be issued a fitness certificate and would not be allowed to take up new admissions.

India talking to WTO members on food subsidy issue’

•  India is talking to “good number” of countries to garner support on its stand on the food security issue at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) with a view to carrying forward the talks for freer trade.

•  The WTO has resumed work at Geneva from September 1 after a month long vacation.

•  “We will start from where we have left. The bottom line is already made clear. We are willing to talk but achieve the same objectives in whatever manner,” Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher told reporters.

•  He said that it was now up to the WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo to convene meetings in the form of either calling heads of delegation or in smaller groups.

•  At its last meeting at Geneva on July 31, the 160-member WTO failed to agree on a global customs pact popularly called the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

•  India had decided not to ratify WTO’s TFA, which is dear to the developed world, without any concrete movement in finding a permanent solution to its public food stock-holding issue for food security purposes.

•  New Delhi has asked WTO to amend the norms for calculating agriculture subsidies so that the country could continue to procure foodgrains from farmers at minimum support price and sell them to poor at cheaper rates without violating the norms.

•  The current WTO norms limit the value of food subsidies at 10 per cent of the total value of foodgrain production. However, the quantum of subsidy is computed after taking into consideration prices that prevailed two decades ago.

‘Protect rights of minorities’

•  The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has asked the government to send out a clear message to minorities reassuring them that their Constitutional rights would be preserved and protected.

•  The Commission sent a communication to this effect to the Home and the Minority Affairs Ministries after discussing the complaint against BJP member Yogi Adityanath for a “hate speech” he is said to have delivered.

•  According to sources, the Commission has taken a serious view of such speeches; particularly by prominent persons.

Audit of community policing scheme

•  After a successful stint of over six years, the JanamaithriSuraksha Project (Community Policing) initiative of the Kerala Police is set for a professional audit on its effectiveness in bridging the gap between the police and the community.

•  An external agency will study the project in detail and its effect in over 250 police stations across Kerala.

•  The Kozhikode city and rural police officers who head the scheme in various stations will share their experience with the professional agency appointed by the government to review the progress of the scheme.

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) In the News(Person)

August - 2014

Arvind Gupta

•  Former Indian Foreign Service officer Arvind Gupta was appointed as deputy National Security Adviser, a post which fell vacant following the resignation of Nehchal Sandhu.

•  Mr. Gupta, a 1979 batch officer, will also be Secretary, National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), an apex advisory body tasked with suggesting to the government on political, economic and strategic security concerns.

R K Singh

•  Security of Parliament, which was targeted by terrorists 13 years back, is set to be strengthened further with a special committee being set up to suggest measures for it within a month.

•  The committee will be headed by former Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh and will include former Rajasthan DGP Harish Chandra Meena and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh.

Natwar Singh

•  Unfazed by the attacks on him by the Congress leadership for his book which was sharply critical of Sonia Gandhi, Natwar Singh has decided to write a sequel “which will have many more disclosures”

•  To be called ‘My irregular diary’, the sequel is expected to hit the market by next March, the former External Affairs Minister said in New Delhi .

Hari Gautam

•  Finding the University Grants Commission (UGC) ill-equipped to address the challenges posed by the manifold increase in the number of universities — particularly private universities and deemed-to-be-universities — the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has set up a committee to restructure the apex regulatory body for higher education in the country.

•  The four-member committee will be headed by former UGC chairman Hari Gautam and will have as its members C.M. Jariwala (former head and dean of law at Banaras Hindu University), Kapil Kapoor (former pro vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University) and the Joint Secretary in the Higher Education in the ministry as its members.

Arvind Apte

•  The BCCI condoled the death of former Test player Arvind Apte, who passed away after fighting a prolonged battle with prostrate cancer.

•  Arvind passed away in Pune. He was 79 and is survived by a daughter.

•  Arvind, born in Mumbai in 1934 and younger brother of another former India cricketer Madhav Apte, was a reserve opener during India’s tour of England in 1959.

•  An attacking opening batsman with a wide range of strokes, he played only one Test match for India when he was selected for the third Test against England at Leeds following an injury to Nari Contractor.

•  He scored just eight and seven in both the innings of the match, his first and last for the national team.

•  Arvind continued to play first-class cricket till the early 70s and finished with an aggregate of 2782 runs (33.51, including six centuries.)

Rajni Razdan

•  Rajni Razdan has been appointed the next Union Public Service Commission chairman. She will take the oath of office, replacing Professor D.P. Agrawal.

•  Ms. Razdan, a 64-year-old former Indian Administrative Service officer from the Haryana cadre, has been a UPSC member since April 19, 2010.

Justice Markandey Katju

In a fresh controversy, Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju blamed the former Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, for pushing the elevation of a former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice as a Supreme Court judge. Justice Katju, who did not name the judge, in an apparent reference to the collegium’s recommendation to elevate the former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice, P.D. Dinakaran, also found fault with another former CJI, S.H. Kapadia, for failing to prevent this despite being a member of the collegium.

B. S. Sidhu

Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) B. S. Sidhu is involved in a legal battle over an alleged illegal purchase of forest land and the felling of 25 Sal trees on the land.
The case against Mr. Sidhu lies with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), where a hearing shall be held .

Smriti Irani

The controversy over Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani’s educational qualifications has taken a new turn with her assertion that she also has a degree from the prestigious Yale University in the United States.

•  Ms. Irani (38) made the remark at the India Today Woman Summit 2014 here when asked to clear the “mystery” over her educational qualification.

U.R. Anantha Murthy (1932-2014)

•  U.R.Anantha Murthy, the doyen of Kannada Literature and one of the pioneers of Navya movement in Kannada language is no more.

•  A steadfast thinker who withstood many an assault, physical, verbal and virtual, gave a new thrust to Kannada literature and cinema, to move towards the 21st Century.

Arvind Subramanian

•  The Modi Government is likely to name Arvind Subramanian, the Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and senior fellow at the Centre for Global Development as its Chief Economic Advisor (CEA).

B.K.S. Iyengar

•  Legendary yoga exponent B.K.S. Iyengar passed away at a private hospital . He was 95.

•  Mr. Iyengar, who was admitted to the Prayag Hospital last week, breathed his last at 3.15 a.m., doctors attending on him said. He has been on dialysis since Sunday after renal failure. Mr. Iyengar, who abhorred hospitals and clinics, failed to respond to the treatment owing to heart problems brought on by advanced age.

•  Despite two massive heart-attacks in 1996 and 1998, Mr. Iyengar, with his near-legendary regimen and discipline, kept up a punishing teaching schedule, touring Russia and China in recent years.
  Ravi Shastri

•  In a damage-control move, the BCCI has appointed former Test all-rounder Ravi Shastri Director of Cricket in the Indian team for the five-match ODI series against England, beginning August 25.

•  The Board’s dramatic action was a response to India’s disastrous 3-1 Test series defeat against England.

IromSharmila

•  A local court ordered the release of rights activist IromChanuSharmila, under detention for attempting to commit suicide by fasting for nearly 14 years demanding withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958.
  Her agitation was a political demand through lawful means, the court said. Sessions Judge (Imphal east) A. Guneshwar Sharma said, “The petitioner may be released from custody if not required in any other case.”
   

R.N. Ravi

•  Prime Minister NarendraModi-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of former Intelligence Bureau Special Director R.N. Ravi as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee for a period of three years.

•  The Joint Intelligence Committee functions under the National Security Council Secretariat.

• Mr. Ravi, a 1976-batch Indian Police Service officer from Kerala, has been appointed in the pay and rank of Secretary to the Government of India. He retired as IB Special Director in 2012.

Ramesh Chand Tayal

•  The ACC has also cleared the proposal for appointment of senior IPS officer Ramesh Chand Tayal as Central Reserve Police Force Special Director-General.

•  The 1980-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre officer is presently posted as Additional Director-General of the SashatraSeema Bal.

New Governors for 4 States

•  President Pranab Mukherjee appointed Kalyan Singh, VajubhaiRudabhaiVala, Ch. VidyasagarRao and MridulaSinha Governors of Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa, respectively.

•  Manipur Governor Vinod Kumar Duggal will continue to hold charge of Mizoram.

Atul Verma

•  Atul Verma won India its first Olympic archery medal — a bronze — at the Youth Olympic Games at Nanjing.

•  The gold went to Korean Lee Woo Seok, who got the better of D’Almeida 7-3 in the final.

RaghavLakhanpal

•  The Meerut Commissioner in his report on last month’s riots in Saharanpur has reportedly blamed the local BJP MP, RaghavLakhanpal, for fanning tensions, besides accusing district authorities of not controlling the rioting mob.

•  The report of Meerut Commissioner Bhupendra Singh is almost identical to the findings of a Committee set up Chief Minister AkhileshYadav and headed by senior Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav that had come down heavily on the local MP and BJP workers for their role in the riots that left three dead and gutted hundreds of shops.

D.M. Spolia

•  The Ministry of Home Affairs re-appointed D.M. Spolia as the Chief Secretary of Delhi to replace S.K. Srivastava who is currently holding the post.

•  Mr. Spolia, a 1979 batch IAS officer, who was removed from the post by the AamAadmi Party government in January, will take over with immediate effect.

•  He was working as Financial Commissioner of the Delhi Government since January.

BalrajPuri

•  Veteran journalist Padma BhushanBalrajPuri passed away after prolonged illness at a Government Medical College here .

•  Mr. Puri was conferred the Padma Bhushan for his contribution in the fields of Literature and Education in 2005 and also the Indira Gandhi award for national integration on October 31, 2009.

•  He was an author and co-author of about 40 books and approximately 1,000 articles for various dailies in India and abroad.

Rona Fairhead

•  The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Trust, the body overseeing the world famous news corporation, is set to get its first female head.

•  Rona Fairhead, 53, a high-flying executive who sits on the boards of a number of blue-chip companies, announced as the prospective new chairperson of the BBC Trust.
  SajidJavid, UK secretary of state for culture, is expected to officially announce Fairhead as government’s preferred candidate to fill the slot, replacing Lord Patten, who stepped down in May on health grounds.

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Awards and Prizes

August - 2014

Kapil to head Arjuna Awards selection committee

• Former India cricket captain Kapil Dev will head the Arjuna Awards selection committee for choosing this year’s outstanding sportspersons of the country while former hockey skipper Ajitpal Singh is likely to be in charge of selecting the Dronacharya awardees.

•  While Kapil, who bagged 434 wickets in 131 Tests in his 16-year-long career, got the Arjuna award in 1980, former Olympian Ajitpal was conferred the award in 1970, and awarded it in 1972.

• A source in the sports ministry said the government had issued a notification in writing to all persons concerned. The awards will be conferred on National Sports Day which is August 29.

National Sports Awards – 2014

National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years immediately preceding the year during which award is to be given.

Arjuna Award is given for consistently outstanding performance for four years preceding the year of award.

Dronacharya Award for coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious international sports events.

Dhyan Chand Award for life time contribution to sports development.

Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand Awardees will receive statuettes, citations andcash prize of Rs.5 lakh each.

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar is given to the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development. Recipients of

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar will be given Trophies.

The awardees will receive their awards from the President of India at a specially organized function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29, 2014.

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams)  Sports

August - 2014

India finish fifth with 64 medals

•  The CWG incidents took some of the sheen off the impressive 64 medal haul — 15 gold, 30 silver and 19 bronze — that ensured a fifth place finish in the leaderboard for India after England, Australia, Canada and hosts Scotland.

•  It was India’s third best showing in the Commonwealth Games after the 100 plus bounty at home in Delhi four years back and the 69 medals they picked up at Manchester in 2002.
  Kabaddi goes international with World Kabaddi League

•  It’s quintessentially Indian but Kabaddi is all set to make waves across three continents with the first-of-its-kind World Kabaddi League kickstarting in London .

•  Featuring eight teams, including one from Pakistan, the tournament will be played for four months in USA, England, Canada, UAE and India.

•  The venues for the league include eight international (London, Birmingham, Dubai, New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Vancouver, Toronto) and six Indian (New Delhi, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bhatinda, Amritsar, Mohali) cities.

•  The tournament will follow the double round robin format with a total of 94 matches — 90 league games and four playoffs — and has 144 international players on its roster.

•  Every team will play the other seven thrice before the top four qualify for the play-offs. The final will be played in Mohali on December 14..

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Science and Technology

August - 2014

Drones to guard India’s forests and wildlife

•  Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones will soon fly over India’s forests to monitor poaching, track wildlife and even count the population of tigers.

•  Scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) are coming up with a series of such drones which are being customised indigenously to suit different types of forest landscape.

• Under a joint collaboration with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and international environment body WWF, they are preparing a detailed project report for introducing drone monitoring in 10 wildlife-rich areas across the country.

•  A drone can be put on autopilot mode and sent as far as 40-50 km deep into the forest where it can record images and videos and transmit them on a real-time basis. Its movement can also be controlled through a GPS-based system. Such drones were recently tested successfully in Panna Tiger Reserve and Kaziranga forest.

•  Drones can also be used for night surveillance and tracking of many elusive and shy animals like the red panda and snow leopard, which are very rarely seen by the human eye in their natural wild habitat. Travelling at a speed of 40 km per hour, the drones can be used for around 40-50 minutes.

(General Awareness for Bank's Exams)  India And The World

August - 2014

India And The World

• The two –day 18th BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) Ministerial Meeting will get underway to discuss important issues relating to the current UNFCCC Climate Change negotiations specially on matters pertaining to the Adhoc Working Group on the Durban Platform.

•  The 17th BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change was held in Hanzghou, China last October.

•  The BASIC Ministerial meeting provides an opportunity to Environment Ministers to enhance coordination on important issues in climate change negotiations and to arrive at a common position on such issues. The BASIC Ministers have been meeting regularly since the Conference of Parties in Copenhagen.

‘Developed nations must walk the talk on climate goals’

•  The BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) group reiterated that developed countries should walk the talk on climate change goals, accept their historical responsibilities of polluting the planet and finance technology transfer to the developing world.

• BASIC proposed joint action on various issues including emission targets and other plans to be set out by next year.

• A joint statement issued here after the two-day 18th ministerial meeting said progress after the Warsaw climate talks was reviewed and the 2015 outcome to be adopted at the meeting in Paris should be comprehensive, balanced, equitable and fair in order to enhance the effective implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

• India said all countries should ratify the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol quickly and there should be full operationalisation of the Green Climate Fund. Under the Durban Platform, the countries were expected to increase their ambitions on emission cuts but that is not happening, with some like Japan reducing their targets.

Current Affairs MCQ for Banking  Exams - 7 December 2014

Q. 1

Government of India is kicking off its ambitious divestment programme for the current fiscal year from 5 December 2014 with the sale of a 5% stake in a PSU. Govt. is expected to raise $275 million through this stake sale. Which PSU is this?
a. Bharat Electronics Limited
b. Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL)
c. Airport authority of India
d. BEML Limited
e. None of these

Current Affairs MCQ for Banking  Exams - 6 December 2014

Q.1

Who was named as the next Director General of National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF)?
a. O P Singh
b. O. P. Naidu
c. Naveen Jindal
d. R. Chander Kapoor
e. None of the above

Q. 2

What was India’s rank in the list of corrupt countries released by graft watchdog Transparency International India (TII)?
a. 80th
b. 75th
c. 85th
d. 82nd
e. 60th

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Business and Economy
August - 2014

Black economy now amounts to 75% of GDP

•  Driven substantially by the higher education sector, real estate deals and mining income, India’s black economy could now be nearly three-quarters the size of its reported Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
•  There were no “reliable” estimates of black money generated in India and held within and outside the country, the government commissioned the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) to estimate the black money in India and held overseas by Indians.
•  The capitation fees collected by private colleges, on management quota seats in professional courses, last year was around Rs 5,953 crore.

Two-step authentication must for credit cards: RBI

•  All transactions involving domestic credit cards must necessarily conform to additional authentication or validation process as mandated under the rules.
•  Asserting this, the Reserve Bank India (RBI) has made it clear that the two-step authentication process is a must even for ‘card not present transactions’.
•  The toughening RBI stance on two-step authentication process is primarily aimed to set right an unintended wrong arising out of the so-called customer-friendly payment model followed by certain service providers.
•  By doing so, they have managed to give the two-step authentication requirement a slip.
•  According to the RBI, however, this is resulting in foreign exchange outflow.

Plan afoot to make telcos tighten verification norms

•  The Government is planning to finalise and notify an upgraded penalty structure after its strategy of imposing fines on companies with unverified mobile phone subscribers paid marginal dividends.
•  The Department of Telecom (DoT) has been invoking licence conditions to impose penalties on companies slow in verifying whether subscribers have complied with the formalities of providing their residential address and other details.
•  The Department of Telecom has always drawn short when penalising private companies. Every year about two dozen telecom operators attract penalties for various offences but the actual money flowing to the Government Exchequer has hovered around the 15 to 20 per cent mark.
•  According to DoT, these phone companies have been unable to account for the identity and residence proofs of over 4.5 crore SIM cards. Companies should have paid heed to the country’s national security interests while competing with each other to enrol more customers.

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) International Events

August - 2014

WHO declares Ebola an international health emergency

•  The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to be an international public health emergency that requires an extraordinary response to stop its spread.
•  The WHO announced the Ebola outbreak the largest and longest in history is worrying enough to merit being declared an international health emergency. WHO declared similar emergencies for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio in May.
•  Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own, The current outbreak of Ebola began in Guinea in March and has since spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) National Events

August - 2014

Govt. to consider UPSC exam in all 8th Schedule language

• The Centre on said there was “force” in the argument that the Civil Services Examination should be conducted in all languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and assured the Lok Sabha that this demand would be considered.
•  At present, while question papers are set in English and Hindi and the main examination can be attempted in any language in the Eighth Schedule, the preliminary examination are available only in English and Hindi.
•  As protests continued within and outside Parliament over the Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT), the government reiterated that the preliminary examination would be held as scheduled on August 24.
•  The Union Public Service Commission is yet to clear the air on whether it has accepted the government’s view that the English comprehension skill component of CSAT — paper II of the prelims — should not be counted for merit or gradation, and how this will be implemented.

e-rickshaws finally get the legal stamp

•  The Delhi High Court advised the Delhi Government to organise camps for registration of e-rickshaws to protect the operators from further loss of earnings.
•  However, it refused to lift the ban on them plying on the Capital’s roads till the drivers have licences, registration certificates and insurance papers in their possession.
•  Filing the draft guidelines to regulate the battery-operated rickshaws, the Centre sought two months to finalise and notify them and urged the Court to let the vehicles ply during the this period. But the Court declined.

Committee set up to review Parliament security

•  Security of Parliament, which was targeted by terrorists 13 years back, is set to be strengthened further with a special committee being set up to suggest measures for it within a month.
•  The committee will be headed by former Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh and will include former Rajasthan DGP Harish Chandra Meena and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh.
•  The committee would give suggestions on training, adequacy of manpower and other relevant issues. It would also review all security equipments installed and future projections for further strengthening security.
•  In the previous Lok Sabha, a committee on security in Parliament complex, headed by then Deputy Speaker Karia Munda, was set up in the aftermath of the pepper spray attack inside Lok Sabha by a Congress MP that sparked massive outrage.
•  This committee had examined security-related matters, which also included ways to prevent bringing of dangerous and life-threatening material into the chamber of the House by the Members of Parliament themselves..

Government issues alert for early detection of Ebola Virus

•  Union Govt. told Parliament that advisories were issued to the State Disease Surveillance Units to be on alert for early detection and management of travel related Ebola virus cases reported from the community.
•  In view of the reports of outbreak of the disease in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in West Africa, Govt. recommended that non-essential travel to these countries be deferred till such time that the situation is brought under control.
•  Though there is no vaccine or curative therapy for this disease, outbreaks can be contained through early detection and isolation of cases, contact tracing and monitoring, and following rigorous procedures for infection control.

Government to auction coal mines after obtaining necessary approvals

•  The government will auction captive coal mines to companies engaged in production of steel, cement and sponge iron after obtaining necessary clearances and detailed exploration of the blocks.
•  Notice Inviting application was issued on February 26, 2014, offering three coal blocks for mining to companies engaged in production of steel, cement and sponge iron.
•  The Ministry of Coal had offered three blocks for auction for captive use for steel, cement and sponge iron companies — two in Jharkhand and one in West Bengal. The mines have total reserves of 500 million tonnes.
•  Official auditor CAG had earlier said allotment of 57 mines to private firms without auction had resulted in a notional loss of Rs. 1.8 lakh crore to the exchequer.
•  Last year, the government had allocated 17 coal mines to Central and State public sector units, including four to NTPC. It had planned to auction 54 coal blocks with total estimated reserves of about 18 billion tonnes.

SC agrees to hear plea on extending legal limit on abortion

•  The Supreme Court to hear detailed arguments on a petition seeking to extend the legal limit on abortion under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971).
•  The petition was filed by the NGO, Human Rights Law Network, on behalf of two women identified as only Mrs. X and Mrs. Y, who suffered pain and indignity caused by the 20-week limit on medical termination of pregnancy.
•  The petition said this limit extends to even cases of severe fetal abnormalities, forcing women to carry pregnancies to term even where the foetus may not survive delivery.

New Education Policy on the anvil: Smriti

•  Government is formulating a new Education Policy aimed at meeting the challenges posed by lack of quality, research and innovation in educational institutions.
•  Education being a subject in the Concurrent List of 7th Schedule of the Constitution, the responsibility of education lies primarily with the State Governments.
•  However, all States will be advised to develop syllabi and Text Books keeping in view the New Education Policy, taking into consideration State specific concerns.
•  The National Policy on Education (NPE) 1986, as amended in 1992, has been the guiding document for the policies of the Central Government in the education sector.
•  In the last twenty years, the education scenario has been a monumental change with the emergence of several new paradigms like rights based approach to elementary education, the endeavour to extend universalization to secondary education, reshape the higher education scenario and its impact on the innovation environment and providing an impetus to skill development through vocational education.

India’s first moored observatory deployed in Arctic

•  Country’s first multi-sensor moored observatory IndARC was successfully deployed in Kongsfjorden Fjord of the Arctic roughly halfway between North Pole and Norway.
•  This observatory, designed and developed by ESSO-NIOT and ESSO-NCAOR with ESSO-Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, was deployed from the Norwegian Polar Institute’s research vessel R.V. Lance.
• A team of scientists from the Earth System Science Organisation-National Institute of Ocean Technology (ESSO-NIOT) Chennai and ESSO-National Centre for Antartic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) termed the same as a milestone in India’s scientific endeavours in the Arctic region.

Centre constitutes committee to look into changes in Lokpal rules

•  A committee under the chairmanship of the Attorney General (AG) has been formed by the Centre to look into the amendments in Lokpal search panel rules, which were notified by the last United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
• The search panel is mandated to recommend names for appointment of chairperson and members of the Lokpal. This panel has faced some objection in the past, the search panel has to choose these persons from among the panel provided by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
•  As per the existing rules, an eight-member search panel is tasked to draw up a panel of persons for consideration by the selection committee led by the Prime Minister for appointment of chairperson and members of the Lokpal.
•  The government is likely to empower the search committee to also include people from outside the list to be provided by the DoPT for consideration by the selection committee.

PM hopes to link lives across open borders

•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to open a new chapter in India-Nepal relations , while hoping to connect lives across our open borders seamlessly.
•  Mr. Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to pay a bilateral visit to Kathmandu in 17 years. The visit is significant, given he will return to Kathmandu later this year for the SAARC Summit.
•  In his statement, Mr. Modi outlined the areas he hoped to forge agreements on: “trade and investment, hydropower, agriculture, environment, tourism, education, culture and sports.”
•  The two sides are expected to announce a power trading agreement, which will lead to the signing of a 900-MW hydropower agreement during the visit

Modi offers $1-bn package to Nepal

•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed India’s commitment and assistance to Nepal’s development and promising to take the two countries’ relations to a new height.
•  Mr. Modi referred to the Nepal-India relationship as “older than the Himalayas and the Ganga,” even as he announced a $1 billion Line of Credit for Nepal’s infrastructure development. Mr. Modi also promised to help Nepal in the field of hydropower, infrastructure, space technology and agriculture.
•  He assured that the work on Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project would begin in a year. After years of negotiations, work on this joint venture project has not begun. Nepal could prosper by selling electricity to India.
•  The Indian Prime Minister assured Mr. Koirala that the ongoing peace process in Nepal was entirely a Nepali matter and should be concluded as per Nepal’s requirements.
•  In the presence of the two Prime Ministers, the officials signed three memorandum of understanding (MoU) – tourism development in Nepal, Goitre Control Programme in Nepal, and co-operation between the state-controlled television channels – Doordarshan and Nepal Television (NTV). They also exchanged terms of reference (ToR) on Pancheshwar Development Authority.
•  Mr. Modi would offer prayers at the Pahuspati Temple on Monday before heading to the President’s Office to meet President Dr Ram Baran Yadav.

Move to scrap Planning Commission raises Constitutional questions

•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to scrap the Planning Commission has raised administrative and Constitutional questions that the Centre will have to address in the coming days.
•  The first of these is what happens to the ongoing 12th Five Year Plan? “The 12th Plan is an ideologically-neutral, NDC-approved, growth policy document with inclusion and sustainability as its pillars and technically the Centre cannot on its own decide to junk it,” a high-level source said.
•  Second, since indications are that the role of making plan allocations to States for development spending will be transferred to the Finance Ministry, there are likely to be implications of this for India’s federal system. Will the States, especially those governed by the Opposition parties, readily accept allocations from the Union Finance Ministry is the question, says Y.K. Alagh, who was Planning Minister in the Deve Gowda government.

Crowd-sourced ad for I&B Ministry

•  The idea behind this exercise is to involve people in governance and bridge the divide between the rulers and the ruled.
•  With this same end in view, the Human Resource Development Ministry has recently launched an internship programme where college and research students can work in various education departments and help in policy formulation.
•  According to the Ministry, it got 1,000 entries of which 10 were shortlisted by a panel of field experts, artists and academics.
•  This is the second time that a Ministry has crowd-sourced an advertisement for an occasion, the first instance was on World Day to Combat Desertification on the request of Environment and Forests Ministry
  Google ‘polluted Internet’ with classified material: Survey of India
•  Surveyor General of India Swarna Subba Rao has alleged that the Internet giant did not refrain from mentioning classified sites even after having been asked not to do so.
•  The Survey of India, India’s national survey and mapping organisation under the Department of Science and Technology, is the complainant in the case. After initial probe by the Delhi Police, the case was handed over to the CBI as the investigation involved a company which is based in the US.
•  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, especially details related to hospitals and restaurants.
•  As per the National Map Policy 2005, “the responsibility for producing, maintaining and disseminating the topographic map database of the whole country, which is the foundation of all spatial data, vests with the Survey of India”.
•  It was alleged that Google India had launched a nationwide contest and people might have passed on maps and other key details of strategic installations located in other cities and states to the U.S. company, the sources added.
•  For SoI, it was clarified that the company never took any permission before undertaking the mapping exercise, and from national security point of view, civil and military Vital Areas, Vital Points (VPs) cannot be shown in the map/data published in public domain

Women’s quota Bill lapses due to lack of consensus

•  Dashing the hopes of women and all other sections who espoused the cause, the Women’s Reservation Bill has lapsed. After being passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, the Bill, which provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, was sent to the Lok Sabha for approval, but did not see the light of the day for lack of political consensus and will.
•  Article 107 (5) of the Constitution states: A Bill which is pending in the House of People or which having being passed by the House of the People is pending in the Council of States shall, subject to provisions of Article 108 (joint sitting of both the Houses), lapse on a dissolution of the House of People.
•  The Bill was approved in the Rajya Sabha after unprecedented pandemonium leaving the Chairman with no option but to suspend seven members of the RJD and the Samajwadi Party who were adamant on stalling it at any cost.
•  It would now be an uphill task for the NDA to take up the initiative particularly as it is woefully short of majority in the Rajya Sabha for passage of a controversial constitutional amendment Bill.

DGCA issues Ebola advisory for airlines

•  DGCA will monitor whether airlines are keeping a record of all passengers who are returning to India after staying or transiting through four West African countries.
•  With airlines forming the first line of defence against the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has become active in enforcing Government guidelines in this respect.
•  In particular, the DGCA will monitor whether airlines are keeping a record of all passengers who are returning to India after staying or transiting through four West African countries and are passing on the information to Airport Health Officers. This will be tallied against Indian missions in these countries sending in advance details of passengers boarding from the affected countries.
•  The DGCA has also supplied airlines with an announcement format that has to be included in in-flight announcements. The accent is on self reporting by passengers whose symptoms match with the onset of EVD.
•  Passengers are also being provided with a form in which they have to fill their health details in case they have visited any of the four EVD hit countries over the past three weeks.
•  For people heading out to West Africa, the advice is to avoid travel to the EVD affected countries if they are suffering from flue or taking medicines to combat an infectious disease. This is because in both cases there is a weakening of immunity making the person more susceptible to EVD. They will also be asked to avoid visiting hospitals treating EVD affected patients

Six-member National Judicial Commission to select judges for higher courts

• The Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 passed in the Lok Sabha provides for setting up of a six-member National Judicial Commission to select and recommend judges to the High Courts and Supreme Court.
•  The Constitution (121st Amendment) Bill, 2014 and the ‘National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill’ seek to give constitutional status to the NJC, comprising the Chief Justice of India (Chairperson); two other senior-most judges of the Supreme Court; the Union Law Minister and two eminent persons to be nominated by the Prime Minister, the CJI and the Leader of Opposition of the Lok Sabha. One of the eminent persons shall be nominated from amongst the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Minorities or women.
• The object of constituting the Commission is to enable participation of judiciary, executive and eminent persons and will ensure greater transparency, accountability and objectivity in the appointment of judges to higher judiciary.
•  On the recommendations of the Commission, the President will appoint the High Court and Supreme Court judges. However, if for some reason, the President requests the Commission to reconsider certain recommendations and the recommendation is reiterated the President is bound to make the appointment.
•  The Bill mandates the Commission to make regulations specifying the criteria of suitability with respect to the appointment of Judges of High Courts and Supreme Court, the procedure and conditions for selection and procedure for transfer of judges from one High Court to another.

BJP may extend Parliament Session to enable passage of bills

•  The current Session of Parliament may be extended to enable the passage of bills, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu told BJP MPs .
•  Government is keen to get important bills passed like the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, Apprentices (Amendment) Bill, Constitution (121st Amendment) Bill, Repealing and Amending Bill, Factories (Amendment) Bill, the Insurance Bill, the Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill and the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment Bill.

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams)

In the news

July - 2014

Joko Widodo

•  Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, who won the hearts of Indonesians with his common man image, won Indonesia’s presidential election with 53 per cent of the vote
• The numbers were released shortly after his opponent, former general Prabowo Subianto, declared he was withdrawing from the contest, saying there was massive fraud during the election.

Rajan Vichare

• Shiv Sena MP Rajan Vichare, who was caught on camera force-feeding a Muslim employee of Maharashtra Sadan during Ramzan, posted an uncharacteristic message on Facebook on July 21: Walk away from arguments that lead you to anger and nowhere.

Tarun Vijay

• A biography of Prime Minister Narendra Modi titled ” Modi—Incredible emergence of a star” has been published in the Chinese language.
  The biography by Tarun Vijay, a BJP MP and a journalist, is published by Sichuan University’s South Asia Study Centre.

New Governors

•  Former Union Minister Ram Naik appointed as Governor of Uttar Pradesh and veteran Delhi leader O.P. Kohli will move to Gujarat as Governor
•  According to the communique, Keshari Nath Tripathi, a former Uttar Pradesh Speaker will take over the post of Governor in West Bengal.
•  Balram Das Tandon, 87, founder member of Jan Sangh in 1951, was appointed Governor of Chhatisgarh.
•  Padmanabha Acharya, was appointed as Governor of Nagaland.

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams)

sports

July - 2014

Djokovic comes up trumps in a classic tussle

•  Two great players nudged each other to even greater heights to produce a Wimbledon final that will go down as one of the finest in its history. One of them, Novak Djokovic, would eventually lift the trophy having beaten his opponent Roger Federer in five close sets 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4.
•  But the scoreline and the victory seemed to pale before the tennis itself, which was the real winner as these two champions outplayed themselves. This was a match that was undeserving of being assessed by the twists and turns and the thrills and spills, even if there was enough of that edge-of-the-seat suspense which left the audience gasping.
•  When remembered as a great tennis match, the Federer-Djokovic final will not be read like an exciting pot-boiler, but like a literary novel that produced classical tennis of great quality and refinement. Every shot in the book was used and the exchanges forced the two players to constantly innovate, take risks and play boldly, often in an audacious manner.