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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.

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Science & tech

July - 2014

Govt. mulls use of radiation tech to preserve vegetables

• The government proposes to adopt radiation technology developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for improving the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables especially onions, potatoes and tomatoes to address the issue of supply side shortage that often results in price rise.
•  Radioactive technology had been available in the country for some time and already in use in Maharashtra, though on a small scale, Safety concerns should be taken care of as existing norms do not permit radiation above a permissible limit.

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India & the world

July - 2014

Bank in Shanghai, but presidency for India

•  BRICS countries ironed out their differences over the announcement of the BRICS bank and the contingent reserve fund. The two economic initiatives are the major announcements of the Fortaleza declaration.
•  Shanghai won out as the location for the headquarters for the BRICS bank with equal shareholding for all BRICS members. India would assume the first presidency of the bank, which would be named, as per the Indian suggestion, the “New Development Bank”.
•  The NDB, to be headquartered in Shanghai, will have an initial authorised capital of $100 billion and an initial subscribed capital of $50 billion equally shared by the five member countries.
•  What has clouded the bank’s future in recent months is the unexpected move by China to push forward the setting up of another financial institution — the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
•  The AIIB is expected to focus on China and Southeast Asia, while the BRICS bank effort which would emphasise projects in the member countries and in Africa.
•  The AIIB move is being seen as an effort by China to challenge the influence of Japan in the region, as seen in Japanese influence in the functioning of the Asian Development Bank.
•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said that The U.N. Security Council and the IMF are in need of “urgent reform”.
•  He also pitched for a common outlook on global crises such as the conflict in Israel, Syria and Iraq, and called for BRICS countries to help “Afghanistan fight the forces of terrorism.” He said that cyber security was a priority for BRICS countries, and called for a united stand on “zero terrorism”.
•  Mr. Modi invoked mantra of “Vasudaiv kutumbakam” (the global family), and called for more “people to people” ties within the BRICS countries, including a BRICS university, more travel, scientific exchanges and sharing of healthcare facilities.

India links trade pact to food subsidies deal

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Economy

July - 2014

Rs. 2923 cr fine on telcos for violating issuance norms 

• The Government has imposed a penalty of about Rs 2,923 crore on telecom operators in the past seven years for issuing mobile connections without proper verifications.
• TERM cells have imposed penalty on non—compliant consumer application form (CAF) and filing of complaints/FIR against forged cases.
• Major deficiencies in issuing mobile connections were related to missing CAF, missing photo or document proof, subscriber’s acquisition based on forged or fake documents, pre—activated mobile connections, more than 9 connections to an individual in one service area etc.

Govt slaps $579 m additional penalty on Reliance Industries

•  The government has slapped an additional penalty of $579 million on Reliance Industries for producing less than targeted natural gas from its KG-D6 block.
•  With this, the total penalty on RIL for missing the target in four fiscal years beginning April 1, 2010 now stands at a cumulative $2.376 billion.
•  The Production Sharing Contract (PSC) allows RIL and its partners BP Plc and Niko Resources to deduct all capital and operating expenses from the sale of gas before sharing profit with the government.
•  The creation of excess or unutilised infrastructure impacts the government’s profit share and this is sought to be corrected by disallowing part of the expenses incurred.
•  Gas output from the Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas field in the eastern offshore KG-D6 block was supposed to be 80 million standard cubic meters per day but actual production was only 35.33 mmscmd in 2011-12, 20.88 mmscmd in 2012-13 and 9.77 mmscmd in 2013-14.

TRAI warns against raising call rates

•  Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has warned telecom service providers against increasing call rates and other tariffs beyond the base (maximum) rates in a bid to pay off their debts.
•  Base rates or headline tariffs are the maximum call or service rates that a telecom operator can charge to its customers but normally companies charge less than these rates.
•  At present most of the telecom operators have fixed base rate at 2 paise per second. The regulator allows free hand to fix telecom call and service rates as it feels that competition in the market will keep control on tariffs.
•  Apprehensions over an increase in rates were spiked after TRAI recently released its recommendations on spectrum sharing and lowering of leased line rates that could lead to cost savings for mobile operators.
•  “I do not expect headline tariff to change. If they change, as and when they change, then the TRAI reserves the right to go back and look at it again if forbearance should be continued or not.” TRAI Chairman Mr. Khullar said.

Double digit growth for pharma industry in June

•  The Indian pharmaceutical industry, grappling with the addition of more than a 100 formulations in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), which caps the price of drugs grew in double digits in June 2014.
•  Further, domestic pharmaceutical companies grew 12.8 per cent while multinational (MNC) pharma players grew at 2.8 per cent during the month.
•  Indian companies grew 15.3 per cent in the non-NLEM category, MNC pharma firms grew at 5.8 per cent.
•  Due to price caps, profit margins will be reduced and ‘breathing space’ for the industry has been effectively reduced. Manufacturers are expected to re-work their portfolios to include controlled and non-controlled drugs.

Six entities get permission to start airline operations

•  The Civil Aviation Ministry has issued No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to six entities whose applications to start airlines in India were pending for long. These six — Air One, Premier Air, Zexus Air (all national), Turbo Megha, Air Carnival and Zav Airways (all regional).
•  At present, India has eight airlines — Air India, Jet Airways, Jet Lite, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Go Air, Air Costa and AirAsia India.
•  In 2005 three new airlines — Kingfisher Airlines, Go Air and SpiceJet (re-launched) — commenced operations. In 2006, IndiGo joined them offering low fares.
•  In the last two years, air fares have gone up by 20-25 per cent, and this has resulted in a stagnated growth. With the new players, fares will see a correction of 20-25 per cent, which will help the market to revive.

TRAI suggests Rs.2,400-crore plan for two island chains

Current Affairs MCQ for Banking  Exams - 2 December 2014

Q. 1

Who is the new National Security Adviser (NSA) of India?
a. Abhinav Gupta
b. Deven Mishra
c. Ajit Doval
d. Ajit Divakar
e. Anurag Vishwas

Current Affairs MCQ for Banking  Exams - 1 December 2014

Q. 1

Renowned dancer Sitara Devi, who passed away in Mumbai, was an exponent of which classical dance form?

A. Kuchipudi
B. Kathak
C. Manipuri
D. Bharatnatayam
E. Mohiniattam

Current Affairs MCQ for Banking  Exams - 30 November 2014

Q. 1

Which Northeastern state came on the railway map of India with commencement of first train service from this state?

a. Nagaland
b. Meghalaya
c. Tripura
d. Manipur
e. Sikkam

Current Affairs MCQ for Banking  Exams - 29 November 2014

Q. 1

In a surprise move the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) scrapped the gold import curb scheme, popularly known as the 80:20 Scheme. This scheme required trading companies to export 20% of gold imported. When the scheme was imposed by RBI?
a. August 2013
b. March 2013
c. June 2013
d. May 2013

Current Affairs MCQ for Banking  Exams - 28 November 2014

Q. 1

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued final guidelines for payments and small banks that aim to take banking services to more people and small businesses. What is the prescribed minimum paid-up equity capital for both these categories of banks?
a. Rs. 70 crore
b. Rs. 50 crore
c. Rs. 30 crore
d. Rs. 100 crore

Q.2

Which bank would be merged with Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) as approved by the Board of Directors of KMB?
a. ICICI
b. ING Vysya Bank
c. Yes bank
d. HDFC

Q. 3

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) International Events

July - 2014

Israel resumes air strikes on Gaza as ceasefire fails

•  Israel on Tuesday resumed airstrikes on Gaza after an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire failed to stop the escalating violence that has killed 192 Palestinians in nine days of fighting as Hamas continued to fire rockets at the Jewish state.
• Earlier Israel accepted, while Hamas refused the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire.
•  The Egyptian-proposed ceasefire plan was aimed at halting Israel’s deadly nine-day offensive on the Gaza Strip that has killed 192 Palestinians but the Israeli premier had warned that the operation would be intensified if Hamas militants refused to accept the truce.

11 top Ukrainian separatists hit with EU sanctions

•  Ukrainian separatist leader Alexander Borodai and 10 other top rebel officials were hit with EU sanctions. This will include travel ban and asset freeze.
• Ukraine has seen a descent into violence since February, when former President Viktor Yanukovych fled the former Soviet nation following mass protests over his reluctance to seek closer ties with the EU.
•  The separatists have also declared the Donetsk and Luhansk regions independent from Ukraine, with Borodai — a 41-year-old political consultant from Moscow — appointed in May as Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
• New Ukrainian President petro poroshenko called for uprooting of rebels, which led to continous clashes between ukrainian authority and seperatist.

Israel troops briefly raid Gaza as offensive rages

• Ignoring international appeals for a ceasefire, Israel widened its range of Gaza bombing targets to civilian institutions with suspected Hamas ties.
•  It was the first time that Israeli ground troops are known to have entered Gaza in the current offensive. But the operation was carried out by special forces and did not appear to be the beginning of a broad ground offensive.
•  United Nations Security Council called unanimously for a ceasefire also called for “the reinstitution of the November 2012 ceasefire,” which was brokered by Egypt, but gives no time frame for when it should take effect.
•  Israel has carried out more than 1,200 air strikes over the six-day offensive to try to diminish Hamas’ ability to fire rockets at Israel. Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, has fired nearly 700 rockets and mortars at Israel.
•  The offensive marks the heaviest fighting since a similar eight-day campaign in November 2012 to stop Gaza rocket fire. The outbreak of violence follows the kidnappings and killings of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, and the kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager in an apparent revenge attack.

US brokers a deal to end Afghan election deadlock

•  Afghanistan’s presidential candidates have agreed to an audit of all ballots cast on 14th june second round poll, in order to end the election deadlock.
•  The announcement was made by the two candidates — Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and Abdullah Abdullah — and Mr. Kerry. Previously, Mr. Abdullah had accused the government, electoral authorities and Mr. Ahmadzai’s camp of being a “triangle of fraud”.
•  The auditing process will start from the Afghan capital, and ballot boxes from the provinces will be transported to Kabul by international security assistance forces.
•  Outgoing President Hamid Karzai was against foreign intervention in the election process, although he agreed with the candidates call for an expedient resolution of the election dispute.

UN chief heads to Middle East to help end conflict

•  Amid an escalation of violence in the Middle East, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will leave for the region to help end the conflict between Israel and Palestinians that has killed more than 300 people, mostly civilians.
•  Mr. Ban is currently reviewing a request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which would place Palestine under an international protection system administered by the UN.
•  Mr. Abbas met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, and both agreed to the necessity of an immediate ceasefire and the urgency of holding a donors conference to start rebuilding the Gaza Strip.

Iran nuke talks to be extended till Nov 24

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) National Events

July - 2014

National Events

• Govt proposes over Rs. 2,000 cr  for Ganga Conservation Mission
• An integrated programme for the conservation of river Ganga called “Namami Gange” with an outlay of Rs 2,037 crores has been proposed.
•  To harness the enthusiasm of the NRI community towards the conservation of the river Ganga, an ‘NRI Fund for Ganga’ will be set up which will finance special projects.
•  A sum of Rs. 100 crore has been set aside for Ghat development and beautification of the river front at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi.
•  The budget also contains the first ever effort to link the rivers across the country with the Finance Minister setting aside a sum of Rs. 100 crore in the current budget to expedite the preparation of Detailed Project Reports.

Govt to continue Aadhaar, provides Rs. 2k cr in 2014-15

• A sum of Rs 2,039.64 crore has been provided for 2014-15 to execute the task of implementing Unique Identification as entrusted to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
•  UIDAI was mandated to collect biometrics of 600 million residents in the country and rest of the population was to be covered under the National Population Register (NPR) project.
•  Cabinet Committee on UIDAI decided that all residents would be issue National Multi-purpose Identity Cards under NPR and UIDAI would generate Unique identification number for the entire population. Both UIDAI and NPR were to share the biometric data collected by them for issuing NMIC and generating unique identification number.
•  The NPR is a comprehensive identity database maintained by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Home Ministry.

Government extends NDA’s senior citizen pension scheme for one more year

• Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana, first introduced by the previous NDA government has been revived again for the period of one year.
•Govt. also proposed setting up a committee to examine unclaimed amounts lying as deposits in accounts of PPF, Post Office and other saving schemes and recommend how this amount can be used to protect and further financial interests of the senior citizens.

PM to announce role for Planning Commission shortly

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will shortly announce the role that Planning Commission is going to play in his government
•  The Independent Evaluation Office(IEO), which was set up for assessing the effectiveness of government programmes and institutional policies, recommended that the Planning Commission’s role as an allocator of resources to the states should be taken up by the Finance Commission and the allocation of resources amongst the Central Ministries should be carried out by the Finance Ministry.
•  IEO had also said that Planning Commission acted as a ‘control commission’ and should be replaced by a ‘reforms and solution body’.
  BRICS summit: Narendra Modi leaves for Brazil
•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves on Sunday for Brazil for attending the five-nation summit of BRICS nations on July 14 and 15 .
•  Summit is expected to finalise the setting up of a development bank and seek reforms of the United Nations and international financial organisations.
•  Mr. Modi will be accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, National Security Adviser A.K. Doval, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and Finance Secretary

Arvind Mayaram.

•  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.
•  The BRICS Development Bank is expected to take further shape with a decision to concretise its corpus at $100 billion, about which there was a broad agreement in Durban. It will be a development bank which will give concessional credit to members of BRICS and other developing countries.
•  The Prime Minister will get an opportunity to engage with the Latin American region through meeting the leaders of South America, including heads of state and government from countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

President Pranab Mukherjee asks CPWD to become more dynamic

•  President Pranab Mukherjee urged the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) under the Ministry of Urban Development to focus on areas where innovation and modernisation in the infrastructure sector
•  Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 160 years of CPWD’s service, Mr. Mukherjee urged the organisation to evolve into “a smarter, more dynamic and highly professional organisation”.
•  He asked the Department to aim at providing last mile connectivity of rural roads, health and educational infrastructure, water supply and sanitation and referring to sustainable habitats as the need of the hour and energy-efficient building.
•  He also completed the CPWD for undertaking and complementing challenging assignments in the Rann of Kutch, Thar Desert, in high altitude areas of the Himalayas, North-Eastern Region and also in Afghanistan.

Pay revised wages for MGNREGA, says SC

• The Supreme Court on Friday directed all States to pay workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) revised wages as per the notification issued by the Centre in February this year.
•  It further asked the government to find a way out to end the disparity between the wages paid under the MGNREGA and State-mandated rates under the Minimum Wages Act.
•  As per the February 13, 2014 notification issued by the Ministry of Rural Development, the wages per day to be paid by the States and Union Territories range from Rs. 156 in Uttarakhand to Rs. 236 in Haryana.

Disciplinary action cannot continue after retirement: SC

• Disciplinary proceedings against an employee cannot be continued after his retirement in the absence of a specific clause in the employment rules providing for such enquiry.
•  Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and C. Nagappan said once an employee retires from service there was no authority vested in the employer to continue the disciplinary proceedings even for the purpose of imposing any deduction in the benefits payable after retirement to the delinquent employee.

Parliament passes bill on Polavaram project

• Parliament on Monday passed a bill to facilitate transfer of 205 villages spread across seven mandals in the newly formed State of Telangana to the residual state of Andhra Pradesh for the multi-purpose Polavaram irrigation project.
•  The bill, approved by Lok Sabha last week, was opposed by members of the House from Telangana and the States of Odisha and Chattisgarh on the plea that it would cause unwarranted displacement of 52 thousand scheduled caste families from the three States.
•  The project is a difficult project to implement as it involves massive resettlement. It is on par with Sardar Sarovar Dam (in Gujarat) and Indira Sagar project in Madhya Pradesh.
  SC Constitution Bench to decide on `living will’ to die with dignity
•  A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will take up for consideration a petition seeking to declare the execution of a `living will’ of persons, suffering from chronic terminal diseases and likely to go into a permanent vegetative state, to refuse treatment to pave way for their death.
•  Petition was filled by NGO Common Cause.
•  AG Mr. Rohatgi said the issue had lot of legal, social and moral aspects concerning the humanity as a whole. He said right to die merely because of pain and suffering would not be in the interest of society as it was against public policy.
•  Ruling in `Aruna Shanbaug’s case’ decided that passive euthanasia is wrong.
•  In November 2012 the Law Commission had submitted a report relating to passive euthanasia and `living will’.

States want review of key provisions in Land Acquisition Act

• A conference of state revenue ministers recently suggested wide-ranging changes to dilute the Land acquisition act, and chief among them was to re-examine the consent clause, as ownership of land rests with the government in Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, and also scrap the mandatory social impact assessment (SIA).
•  Kerala felt that obtaining consent of land owners prior to preliminary notification was a herculean task as the identification of land owners at such initial stages may pose a problem.
•  Madhya Pradesh felt that the provision of consent from 70 per cent land owners in case of PPP projects should either be deleted or eased out.
•  States also want to do away with the mandatory social impact assessment (SIA) study prescribed in the act and should be confined to large projects or PPP projects as it may delay the acquisition process, which is called the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, 2013.
•  States also wanted the definition of “affected family” in the act to be re examined as it is very elaborate and includes livelihood losers working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition of land and whose primary source of livelihood is affected.
•  The clause specifying sharing of 40 per cent enhanced cost with original land owners when the land is transferred on higher consideration should be deleted as it leads to disputes, states felt.

Finding life beyond Earth is within reach: NASA

•  Experts from NASA and its partner institutions have outlined a road-map to the search for life in the universe, an ongoing journey that involves a number of current and future telescopes.
•  NASA’s quest to study planetary systems around other stars started with ground-based observatories, then moved to space-based assets like the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Kepler Space Telescope.
•  Today’s telescopes can look at many stars and tell if they have one or more orbiting planets. Even more, they can determine if the planets are the right distance away from the star to have liquid water, the key ingredient to life as we know it.
•  The NASA road-map will continue with the launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Surveying Satellite (TESS) in 2017, the James Webb Space Telescope in 2018, and the proposed Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope — Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (WFIRST-AFTA) early in the next decade.
•  The Webb telescope and WFIRST—AFTA will lay the groundwork, and future missions will extend the search for oceans in the form of atmospheric water vapour and for life as in carbon dioxide and other atmospheric chemicals, on nearby planets that are similar to Earth in size and mass, a key step in the search for life. .

NCW backs amendments to Juvenile Justice Act

•  National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Mamta Sharma on Wednesday said the Commission would back amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act to ensure proper punishment in rape cases.
•  Ms Sharma reiterated that times were changing and keeping in mind that 45 per cent of the registered rape cases were perpetrated by juveniles, amendments were necessary in the law.
•  Union Minister for Women and Child Development said juveniles committing rape should be tried as adults, the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and child rights groups had opposed it.
•  Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number cases against women at 8252, with Delhi coming second with 2000 cases and Haryana -864 cases.
•  She also called for a Code of Conduct for Parliamentarians.
•  The NCW is also short of funds and last year the annual budget was down to Rs nine crore, half of which goes for salaries. .

Govt to extend Ganga action plan to major rivers

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

Rome Masters

•  Serena Williams won her third title of the season as she delivered a crushing 6-3, 6-0 defeat to Sara Errani to win a third trophy at the Rome Masters .
•  The world number one now heads to the French Open on solid form after winning the week in Rome after withdrawing from a Madrid semi-final last weekend with a thigh injury.
•  Williams becomes the first player on the WTA to lift three

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Science & tech
June - 2014

KLOTHO

•  People who have a variant of a longevity gene have improved brain skills such as thinking, learning and memory. Researchers found that increasing levels of the gene, called KLOTHO, in mice made them smarter, possibly by increasing the strength of connections between nerve cells in the brain.
•  The study was published in Cell Reports. Those who have one copy of a variant of the KLOTHO gene, called KL-VS, tend to live longer and have lower chances of suffering a stroke whereas those who have two copies may live shorter lives and have a higher risk of stroke.
•  The study also found that those with one copy performed better on cognitive tests regardless of age, sex or the presence of the apolipoprotein 4 gene, the main genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.

India’s first cyber lab

•  The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) on May 6 will launch what is touted to be the country’s first cyber lab in a legal academic institution.
•  The lab, co-funded by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, will be inaugurated by ShyamalGhosh, the former Telecom Secretary, Government of India; GulshanRai, Director-General, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and R. VenkataRao, Vice-Chancellor, NLSIU.
•  A release from NLSIU’s Advanced Centre for Cyber Law and Cyber Forensics, said the centre also offers training programmes for bank officials and other professionals who want to gain knowledge of cyber technology and forensics crucial for detection and investigation of cyber crimes.
•  The centre launched its Postgraduate Diploma in Cyber Law and Cyber Forensics in June 2013, which senior police officers, IT security officers and lawyers have enrolled for.
  Implantable device to control BP
•  Not being able to control blood pressure even after gulping pills would no longer be a problem. Soon, an implantable device will reduce blood pressure by sending electrical signals to the brain.
•  In a first, German researchers have successfully reduced the blood pressure in rats by 40 percent with this device without any major side effects.
•  This could offer hope for a significant proportion of patients worldwide who do not respond to existing medical treatment for the condition.
•  The implantable device uses an intelligent circuit to record the activity of the patient, for instance when they are exercising, and adjust the blood pressure accordingly.
•  The device consists of 24 individual electrodes that are integrated into a micro-machined cuff. It is designed to wrap around the vagus nerve, which extends from the brainstem to the thorax and abdomen — supplying and stimulating various major organs including the heart and major blood vessels. 

MERS virus

•  Despite a recent surge of ‘Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus’(MERS-CoV) cases, a meeting of an expert committee called by the World Health Organisation has concluded that conditions for declaring a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ had not been met.
•  The fifth meeting of WHO’s Emergency Committee for MERS-CoV, which was first convened last year took into account the fact that there had been sharp increase in cases since this March, particularly in Saudi Arabia but also in the United Arabian Emirates.
•  Since the virus was first detected in humans two years back, a total of 152 people have now died and 495 have been confirmed to have contracted the virus in Saudi Arabia, according to an Associated Press report. Most cases of the disease have been in the desert kingdom.
•  Egypt, Greece, Malaysia, Philippines, and the U.S. have recently reported isolated cases in individuals who had travelled there from the Middle East. The Netherlands has now reported its first such case.
•  Seasonality could be a factor driving the recent increase. The virus is widespread in camels in the Middle East and north-east Africa, and the animals appear to become infected when young. Increased spread of the virus from camels to humans might be contributing to the outbreak.

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

Juan Carlos Varela:

• Vice-President Juan Carlos Varela was declared the victor of Panama’s presidential election , thwarting an attempt by former ally President Ricardo Martinelli to extend his grip on power by electing a handpicked successor.

•  With 60 per cent of ballots counted, officials said Mr. Varela led with 39 per cent of the votes, compared to 32 per cent for former Housing Minister Jose Domingo Arias, the preferred choice of Mr. Martinelli. Juan Carlos Navarro, a former mayor of the capital, was in third in the seven-candidate field with 27 per cent.

•  The incumbent party has still never won re-election to Panama’s presidency since the United States’ 1989 overthrow of military strongman Manuel Noriega.

Amit Shah:

•  The CBI has sought dismissal of the plea by GopinathPillai, father of Javed Sheikh aliasPraneshPillai, who was among those killed with IshratJahan, to arraign NarendraModi aide Amit Shah and the then Ahmedabad police commissioner K.R. Kaushik in the case. MrPillai had cited the resignation letter of suspended IPS officer and an accused in the IshratJahan case D.G. Vanzara in support of his petition.

•  The agency, in its affidavit further, said that the resignation letter contains general allegations against some persons and not providing any concrete information about the role of Shah in this offence. After receiving the letter, CBI examined Vanzara in the jail. However, he has not disclosed any further details during his examinations”.

•  The CBI also said there was no evidence against MrKaushik to show his involvement in the encounter and so he was made a witness in the case. “During further investigation and evidence collected so far, it appears that MrKaushik was not involved in the conspiracy of killing the deceased.

LalitModi:

•  Following the election of LalitModi as president of Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hits back by 'indefinitely' suspending the association. The cricket board also appointed an ad-hoc body to run RCA's cricket affairs.

•  Modi was elected President of RCA, setting the stage for yet another round of legal tussle between him and the Board, which had threatened to ban the state association in anticipation of this result.

•  The RCA elections were held in December last year but the results were sealed following a Supreme Court directive. And it was opened recently by a court-appointed observer with the former Indian Premier League commissioner defeating his opponent, Rampal Sharma. Ouf of the 33 votes, Modi got 24, while Sharma got five.

• The BCCI had asked the RCA to dissociate itself from Modi, or face action after the latter was banned for life for financial irregularities in the IPL in September 2013.

•  However, Modi – riding on the Rajasthan Sports Act 2005, contested the election for the post of president. The former Commissioner of the IPL was seeking to return to cricket administration.

Nita M. Ambani

• The board of directors of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) has recommended the appointment of Chairman MukeshAmbani’s wife and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation Nita M. Ambani, as a director on the board of RIL.

•  She is being nominated to the board in place of Ramnik H. Ambani, who is retiring at the age of 90 years.

•  Approval of the shareholders will be sought in the 40th AGM being held on June 18.

NabamTuki

•  Veteran Congress leader NabamTuki was sworn in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh for the second consecutive term at the Raj Bhavan in Itanagar.

• Governor Lt. Gen. (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Tuki in an impressive function held at Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan in Itanagar.

AdarshGoel

• The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha has recently recommended the appointment of AdarshGoel, Arun Mishra, GopalSubramanium and RohintonNariman as apex court judges.

•  The recommendations are likely to be processed by the new government.

•  This is the first time that two persons from the Bar, the former Solicitors-General RohintonNariman and GopalSubramanium, are being elevated at one stroke.

NarendraModi

• NarendraModi who steered the BJP-led NDA to a stunning victory will be sworn in as Prime Minister on May 26 at RashtrapatiBhavan.

•  Mr. Modi was appointed as the Prime Minister by the President and was asked to advise the names of others to be appointed Members of the Council of Ministers.

•  Stepping out after his meeting with the President, he addressed the media briefly and held-up the formal letter of appointment as Prime Minister.

Naveen Patnaik

•  BijuJanata Dal president Naveen Patnaik was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Odisha for the fourth consecutive term in Bhubaneswar recently.

• As many as 21 other Members of the new Council of Ministers headed by Mr. Patnaik were also sworn-in at a well-attended ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan premises.

•  Mr. Patnaik had become the Chief Minister for the first time on March 5, 2000 when the BJD-BJP alliance came to power when the people ousted the Congress.

Anandiben Patel

•  Anandiben Patel will be sworn in as Gujarat's first woman chief minister in a ceremony attended by her predecessor NarendraModi who will be the country's next prime minister.

•  After MrModi resigned as chief minister, a position he had held for 13 years, his party's legislators elected Ms Patel to be their leader. MrModi's close aide Amit Shah, who does not share the warmest vibes with Ms Patel, was among those who endorsed her name for the chief minister's post.
   

VineetTaneja

• Stepping up the battle in the Indian mobile handset market, homegrown firm Micromax has roped in Samsung India’s mobile and IT business chief VineetTaneja as its new Chief Executive Officer.

•  Micromax, the country’s second-largest smartphone manufacturer, expects the move to help it further strengthen its position in the segment, which is witnessing explosive growth.

•  With over 25 years of experience, Mr. Taneja has worked with consumer brands like Hindustan Lever, Nokia and BhartiAirtel, prior to Samsung. He holds a degree in engineering from IIT-Roorkee and is an alumnus of IIM-Kolkata.

Ahmed Maitiq

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) India & the world
June - 2014

A1 visa

• The U.S. has said the heads of state and government are eligible for A1 visas and no individual automatically qualifies for an American visa ,under the INA (Immigration and Nationality Act). No individual automatically qualifies for a U.S. visa.

• However, the U.S. law exempts foreign government officials, including heads of state and heads of government from certain potential inadmissibility grounds.
  In 2005, the U.S. State Department revoked Mr. Modi’s visa on the ground of alleged human rights violations after the 2002 Gujarat riots.

India-Israel Free Trade Agreement

•  Ambassador of Israel to India AlonUshpiz said that negotiations between India and Israel to forge a free trade agreement (FTA), under way for three years now, are likely to be completed by next year

•  The agreement was a much-needed legal framework to further strengthen ties between the two countries.

•  The bilateral trade of around $5 billion, which by itself was significant given the modest $180 million in 1992, was well below potential.

•  Areas where Israel offered its expertise included water desalination, while affordable healthcare was one where more efforts needed to be put in.
  Then, there was scope for Israel to offer assistance in internal security, from policing to curbing terrorism.

SAARC leaders invited for Modi’s swearing-in

•  Prime Minister-elect NarendraModi has invited the heads of the governments of all South Asian states to attend his swearing-in in a gesture, which diplomats and experts said was without precedent. Though foreign envoys stationed in New Delhi have attended past swearings-in, Ministry of External Affairs sources said, no world leader has been invited to attend what has traditionally been seen as a domestic event.

• The move startled regional diplomats-but also caused surprise in the RashtriyaSwayamsevakSangh, which was not consulted on the decision, BharatiyaJanata Party sources said.

•  Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, the Ministry of External Affairs said, despatched formal invitations afternoon to the Presidents or Prime Ministers of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan’s President, has accepted the invitation but there was no immediate word on which other leaders would attend.