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

E-auction of iron ore

•  The Goa Mines and Geology Department will hold its third e-auction of iron ore on May 12, wherein six lakh tonnes of ore, lying at jetties and the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) would be e-auctioned.

• The State, through MSTC Ltd., has auctioned 1.62 million tonnes of iron ore through two e-auctions in February and March, realising around Rs.260 crore, which would go to the State treasury.

•  These e-auctions are held under the supervision of a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee, headed by U. V. Singh.

•  The Supreme Court, partially relaxing its October 5 ban on iron ore activities in the State, in December last had permitted the Goa Mines Department to auction about 15 million tonnes of iron ore lying at jetties, mining leases, plots, beneficiary plants and port, all under the supervision of its committee.

•  However, on April 21, the apex court lifted its ban on mining activities, but putting a cap of 20 million tonnes for annual production and ruling that since the renewal of all the deemed mining leases in the State had expired on November, 2007, and the operations carried out, thereafter, have been termed illegal, the mining lessees will not be entitled to the sale value of the ore sold in e-auction but to the approximate cost (not actual cost) of the extraction of the ore.

•  Making government the custodian of the money collected through e-auction, the court directed the State to pay 50 per cent of wages of all the workers who were laid off or were not paid salaries since the time the mining operations were suspended.

Metro AG

• German retailer Metro AG plans to have 50 wholesale stores in India by 2020 and make the country one of its 'focus expansion' markets alongside Russia, China and Turkey.

•  India has always been an important future growth market of Metro .

•  The Dusseldorf-based company was the first global player to enter the cash-andcarry wholesale segment in India, back in India. It currently operates 16 outlets in the country.

Prepayment fee on floating rate term loans

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that banks cannot levy charges on individual customers if they choose to close their floating rate loans.

•  Some banks charge a fee if an individual borrower chooses to close his or her loan. This fee varies from bank to bank, and is mostly in the range of 1-3%.

•  In its first bi-monthly monetary policy review on 1 April, RBI had indicated that in the interest of their consumers, banks should consider allowing their borrowers the possibility of prepaying floating rate term loans without any penalty.

• Accordingly, it is advised that banks will not be permitted to charge foreclosure charges/pre-payment penalties on all floating rate term loans sanctioned to individual borrowers.

No Special trade benefits for Russia

• U.S. President Barack Obama intends to withdraw special privileges granted to Russia because the country is too economically advanced to need preferential treatment reserved for less developed countries.

•  Mr. Obama notified Congress that he intends to remove Russia from the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme as Moscow is “sufficiently advanced” to warrant any preferential treatment.

•  Once Russia’s eligibility is withdrawn, which would be effected via a presidential proclamation, U.S. imports of GSP-eligible goods from Russia will be subject to normal, non-preferential rates of duty.

•  The purpose of the programme, which allowed $19.9 billion in imports to enter the U.S. duty-free in 2012, is to assist developing countries to use trade to boost their economic development.

•  Russia has advanced beyond the level of economic development and competitiveness for GSP eligibility. As such, Russia should no longer qualify to receive GSP benefits.
  '

Global 2000'

• MukeshAmbani-led Reliance Industries leads the pack of 54 Indian companies in Forbes' annual list of the world's 2000 largest and most powerful public companies, with Chinese companies occupying the top three slots on the list.

•  The Forbes 'Global 2000' is a comprehensive list of the world's largest, most powerful public companies, as measured by revenues, profits, assets and market value.

•  China is home to the world's top three biggest public companies and five of the top 10.

•  The US retains its dominance as the country with the most Global 2000 companies at 564.

•  Japan trails the US with 225 companies in aggregate.

•  India is home to 54 of the world's biggest companies.

•  Reliance Industries is ranked 135 on the list with a market value of 50.9 billion dollars and 72.8 billion dollars in sales as on May 2014.

•  Reliance is followed by State Bank of India which is ranked 155 and has a 23.6 billion dollars market value.

•  The other Indian companies on the list are Oil and Natural Gas ranked 176, ICICI Bank (304), Tata Motors (332), Indian Oil (416), HDFC Bank (422), Coal India (428), Larsen & Toubro (500), Tata Consultancy Services (543), BhartiAirtel (625), Axis Bank (630), Infosys (727), Bank of Baroda (801), Mahindra & Mahindra (803), ITC (830), Wipro (849), Bharat Heavy Electricals (873), GAIL India (955), Tata Steel (983) and Power Grid of India (1011).

•  Also making the list are Bharat Petroleum (1045), HCL Technologies (1153), Hindustan Petroleum (1211), Adani Enterprises (1233), Kotak Mahindra Bank (1255), Sun Pharma Industries (1294), Steel Authority of India (1329), Bajaj Auto (1499), Hero Motocorp (1912), Jindal Steel & Power (1955), Grasim Industries (1981) and JSW Steel (1990).

Issue of natural gas export

•  A bi-partisan group of 22 American senators have expressed reservation on the export of natural gas to Asian countries such as India and China, arguing that such a move by Obama Administration would result in an increase in cost for consumers and businesses at home.

•  They said the “large-scale exports of natural gas to Asia could also jeopardize America’s goal of achieving energy independence, a goal made more achievable by the recent increase in domestic gas production”.

•  The senators urged Mr. Obama to consider the impacts on American manufacturing and families that rely on natural gas.

•  The recent approval for export of liquefied natural gas from a sixth export facility has meant that the total approved exports now exceeds the amount of gas currently being used in every single American home and commercial business.

•  The exports well exceeds the high export scenario referenced by a Department of Energy study in 2012 that indicated prices could increase by up to 54 per cent and it would translate into more than $60 billion a year in higher energy costs for American consumers and businesses.

U.K. rich list

•  India-born Hinduja brothers have emerged as Britain’s richest, valued at £11.9 billion, in the Sunday Times’ annual list of the super rich.

•  Gopichand and SrichandHinduja run the multinational Hinduja Group with interests across automotive, real estate and oil.

•  Arsenal shareholder and Russian tycoon AlisherUsmanov fell to second place after his estimated fortune dropped to £10.65 billion. He is followed by Laskshmi Mittal with £10.25 billion, registering a growth of £250 million.

•  London now has the most billionaires for any city with 72. The total number for U.K. has crossed 100 for the first time to reach 104 billionaires with a combined wealth of over £301 billion. The next most prosperous city in the world is Moscow with 48 billionaires, just ahead of New York and San Francisco.

•  The Duke of Westminster is the richest Briton with around £8.5 billion and is ranked 10th.

Automatic tax information

•  As they continue their efforts to clamp down on the menace of black money, India and other countries will have to wait at least till 2017 before the new global standard for automatic exchange of tax information comes into effect.

•  India, Switzerland and 45 other nations had agreed upon automatic exchange of tax information, which is seen as a major step forward in global efforts against banking secrecy practices.

•  Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) sets the global tax standards and frames conventions against tax frauds, among others.

•  The new standard, expected to be finalised in September this year, provides for exchange of information on bank account balances, interests, dividends, other financial income and sales proceeds to compute possible capital gains.

•  By becoming part of the declaration, these countries have committed to implementing automatic exchange of tax information. The declaration also comes as a boost for India, which is making efforts to get details from Switzerland on alleged illicit funds stashed away by Indians there.

•  Automatic exchange of information would allow for “collecting all bank information on non-resident to pass this information on to the countries of residence of these taxpayers so that they can no longer hide money on offshore accounts.

•  The standard was developed at the OECD and endorsed by the G20 Finance Ministers.

Introduction of minimum wage in Switzerland

• Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to introduce a minimum wage of 3,000 Swiss francs per month (4,500 dollars).

•  77 per cent of voters cast ballots against the measure.

•  At 25 dollars an hour, it would be the highest minimum wage in the world.

•  The referendum was launched by left-wing parties and trade unions, which argued that such a salary was necessary for making a decent living in Switzerland, where the cost of living is among the highest in Europe.

•  The government and employers associations had campaigned against the plan, warning that companies would shift operations to neighbouring countries and Switzerland’s important tourism sector would suffer.

Closure of few iron ore mines

• The Supreme Court ordered the temporary closure of nearly half of the iron ore mines in top producing state Odisha due to non-renewal of years-old leases, in a blow to local steel mills that depend heavily on high-quality ore from the state.

•  Odisha, which allows exports of only half of total iron ore output, produced more than 70 million tonnes in the last fiscal year from 56 operating mines.

•  The move is unlikely to lift global iron ore prices given the limited flows from Odisha to international markets, but it could force Indian steelmakers to source the raw material overseas and soak up some of a forecast global supply surplus.

•  The 26 suspended mines produced about 40 million tonnes.

•  The verdict could force steelmakers to cut output or import expensive iron ore.

Net neutrality

• The U.S. Federal Communications Commission may have jeopardised prospects for “net neutrality,” a principle requiring non-discrimination by Internet service providers between their client websites, when it voted in favour of a proposal to allow ISPs to charge higher fees to those who seek to deliver higher-quality content in the U.S.

•  Effectively giving a green light for plans to create Internet “fast lanes,” with paid priority accorded to relatively deep-pocketed service providers such as NetFlix and YouTube, the FCC passed the proposal by a 3-2 vote among its commissioners, along party lines.

•  While the vote does not signal a final outcome in the deliberations on preserving net neutrality, and the public will now be allowed to comment on the proposal before a final ruling is enacted later this year, the decision flies in the face of intensifying protest by 100 top tech companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon.

•  Their concern is that smaller companies that are unable to pay for high-speed data delivery may face “additional obstacles against bigger rivals,” and the higher prices charged by these websites to overcome these barriers could get passed on to individual consumers.

Most Expensive Billionaire Home

• Reliance Industries Chairman MukeshAmbani’s skyscraper residence in Mumbai is the most expensive billionaire home in the world, according to a Forbes list, which also includes Indian-origin steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s houses in London.

•  Ambani’s 27-storey, 400,000-square-foot skyscraper home ‘Antilia’, named after a mythical island in the Atlantic, tops the Forbes list of the most expensive homes in the world.

•  The house has six storeys of parking, three helicopter pads, and reportedly requires a staff of 600 to keep it running.

US-China trade

• United States Secretary of State John Kerry has described China’s moves to deploy an oil rig in waters disputed by Vietnam as “provocative,” prompting an angry rebuttal from Beijing.

•  The Chinese government accused the U.S. of making “erroneous” remarks that had “emboldened some countries’ provocations.”

•  In recent days, Chinese and Vietnamese vessels have been in a tense stand-off, sparked by China’s deployment of an oil rig in the waters of the South China Sea off the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by Beijing.

•  Vietnam dispatched ships in response, arguing that the waters were within its exclusive economic zone, located around 200 nautical miles from its coastline.

•  China has maintained that it was well within its rights to deploy the $ 1 billion rig in the waters off the Paracel Islands, which it claims. Beijing would, however, have been aware of the possibility of a backlash from Vietnam, which disputes China’s claims. 

Mining : a legitimate economic activity

• As more than 100 mines had been closed down in Odisha due to lack of statutory clearances following unearthing of the illegal mining scam, a high-level meeting recently decided to make mining activity a legitimate economic activity by complying with all statutory requirements through combined efforts of the State and Central governments.

•  The meeting was held at the Secretariat here under the chairmanship of Odisha Chief Secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra.

•  Union Mines Secretary Anup Kumar Pujari, Secretary and Union Steel Secretary G. Mohan Kumar and other officials attended the meeting.

•  Mines & Minerals Development and Regulation Act, 1957 was the governing legislation in the country and all issues relating to lease, auction, prospecting license, renewal etc. should be decided as per the provisions of the Act.

•  Available data shows that there were about 59 operating mines in Odisha, including 41 iron and manganese mines, six coal mines, one bauxite mine, five chromite and six limestone mines.

•  The issues relating to coal, water allocation and energy charges of National Aluminium Company (NALCO) and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) were also discussed at the meeting. Mr. Mohapatra asked the PSUs to settle the issues through mutual discussions without promoting further litigation in these matters.

Myntra acquired by Flipkart

•  Flipkart India Pvt Ltd, the country’s largest e-commerce firm, has acquired rival Myntra.com in the largest-ever deal in the country’s e-commerce market.

•  The current policy does not allow FDI in business-to-consumer e-commerce even as 100 per cent FDI is allowed in business-to-business e-commerce.

•  Myntra co-founder and chief executive MukeshBansal will head the fashion business of both Myntra and Flipkart, and Myntra will operate as an independent entity and retain its website, while Flipkart will continue selling apparel on its site.

•  The Flipkart-Myntra deal comes amid a strong revival of interest in the Indian e-commerce market, but the trigger clearly is the need for consolidation to fight global majors Amazon and eBay Inc.
  NaMo factor and digital economy

•  Most recently, Prime Ministerial candidate NarendraModi made a bold pitch for IT becoming the face of India, and, in the process, coined the Twitter-friendly phrase ‘India Talent (IT)’ + ‘Information Technology (IT)’ is equal to ‘India Tomorrow (IT)’.

•  The Indian political class, after the fall of the Rajiv Gandhi administration, has certainly enjoyed talking about using technology and IT to boost economic growth and bring about development.

•  The greatest failures of the outgoing dispensation, with regard to IT and the digital economy, were most certainly its inability to bring broadband penetration to a respectable level, and its borderline negligent behaviour towards the start-up ecosystem.

•  Sadly, the e-commerce industry has grown only on the back of foreign capital. Sadder still is the fact that some of the biggest e-tailers such as Flipkart and Snapdeal cannot deliver to Congress scion Rahul Gandhi’s constituency Amethi due to a combination of poor physical infrastructure and concern over security.

•  There is little doubt that the UPA-led government viewed technology-aided economic growth through the narrow prisms of technological ‘solutionism’ — implementing technology for the sake of looking technology-savvy and hoping that growth will follow — and fear.

Import curbs on Gold

•  The high import duty and supply curbs on gold had a telling effect on demand for the yellow metal gold in the first quarter of calendar 2014 when demand slid 26 per cent to 190.3 tonnes. Figures released by World Gold Council’s (WGC) India demand statistics showed that in value terms, it slid 33 per cent to Rs. 48,853 crore and 41 per cent in dollar terms to $7.9 billion.

•  Of this, jewellery demand declined 9 per cent to 159.5 tonnes and 18 per cent in value terms to Rs. 37,377.8 crore while investment demand declined 54 per cent in volume terms to 44.7 tonnes and 59 per cent in value terms to Rs. 11,475.2 crore.

•  With the election of the BJP and its declared pro-business approach, there is an expectation that the short-term curbs on gold will be removed. Another factor is the hope that there will be relaxation of the curbs which will lead to a reduction in the prevailing premium.

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

Abuse of power case

 Thailand’s Prime Minister YingluckShinawatra defended herself  against abuse of power allegations in a crucial court case that is one of several legal challenges, which could remove her from office.

•  Ms. Yingluck is accused of abusing her authority by transferring her National Security Council chief in 2011 to another position. Critics say the transfer was to benefit her ruling party and violated the Constitution.
•  The case was lodged by anti-government senators, who won an initial victory in February when another court ruled that the official, ThawilPliensri, must be restored to his job.
•  If Ms. Yingluck is found guilty of interfering in state affairs for her personal benefit or that of her political party, she would have to step down as Prime Minister.

First ‘Born Free’ election

•  South Africans voted in the first “Born Free” election , although polls suggest the allure of the ruling African National Congress as the conqueror of apartheid will prevail even among those with no memory of white-minority rule.
•  Opinion polls suggest there is no doubt about the overall result, with ANC support estimated at around 65 percent, only a shade lower than the 65.9 percent it won in the 2009 election that brought President Jacob Zuma to power.
•  The resilience of ANC support has surprised analysts who a year ago were saying it could struggle at the polls as its glorious past recedes into history and voters focus instead on the sluggish economic growth and slew of scandals that have typified Zuma’s first term.
• Africa’s most sophisticated economy has struggled to recover from a 2009 recession - its first since the 1994 demise of apartheid - and the ANC’s efforts to stimulate growth and tackle 25 percent unemployment have been hampered by powerful unions.
• South Africa’s top anti-graft agency accused Zuma this year of “benefiting unduly” from a $23 million state-funded security upgrade to his private home at Nkandla in rural KwaZulu-Natal province that included a swimming pool and chicken run.

Ceasefire in South Sudan              

• South Sudan’s President has reached a ceasefire agreement with a rebel leader, an African regional bloc said , after a vicious cycle of revenge killings drew international alarm.
•  The deal means “an immediate cessation of hostilities within 24 hours of the signing” and “unhindered humanitarian access” to all people affected by the months-long conflict, said a statement by the political bloc known as IGAD, which is mediating the conflict.
•  Ethnically targeted violence in the world’s youngest country broke out in December, killing thousands of people and forcing more than 1.3 million to flee their homes. The U.N. Security Council has expressed “horror” at recent killings of civilians.
•  U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice welcomed the peace agreement in a statement, saying it “holds the promise of bringing the crisis to an end”.
• South Sudan is a largely Christian nation that broke off from the Muslim-dominated Sudan after a 2011 referendum. The fighting is an embarrassment to the U.S., which has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and has been its strongest international champion.

Self-Rule in Ukraine

•  Security forces and pro-Russian separatists clashed in eastern Ukraine, after an unauthorised referendum showed overwhelming support for independence from the pro-Western government in Kiev.
•  Separatists in Sloviansk targeted soldiers and the television tower with grenades,.
•  Recent vote in the self—proclaimed “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Lugansk was organised by the separatists despite international condemnation and a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin for a postponement.
•  The separatists said voter turnout exceeded 80 per cent, with a “yes” vote of nearly 96 per cent in Lugansk and 90 per cent in Donetsk.
•  Eastern Ukraine’s pro-independence leaders said the next step would be to build government and military structures for a “New Russia” in the region.
•  The Ukrainian government, the European Union and United States do not recognise the vote. Washington criticized Russia for not using its influence to stop the vote. Mr. Putin meanwhile said he would study the results before commenting.

First electric aircraft

•  The world’s first airplane completely powered by electricity has successfully taken to the skies for its maiden flight, and could bring down air travel cost by more than a third, its developer Airbus said.
•  The small experimental aircraft called ‘E-Fan’ took off from an airport near Bordeaux in southwestern France. E-Fan measures little more than 19 feet from nose to tail and slightly more noise than a hairdryer.
•  Powered by 120 lithium-ion polymer batteries, the plane’s first official flight last month lasted less than 10 minutes, though the plane has the capability to fly for around an hour before recharging.

Search for abducted Nigerian Girls

•  U.S. surveillance planes joined an international effort to find more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted by an extremist Islamic sect.
•  The U.S. provided aircraft over Nigerian territory, and was sharing satellite imagery with the authorities.
•  Islamist group Boko Haram said that it was willing to negotiate with the government over the release of the schoolgirls it abducted four weeks ago.
•  The group released a video demanding the release of all imprisoned insurgents in Nigeria in exchange for the teenagers. The girls had converted to Islam, the group said.
•  The government response to the demand was unclear, with one official saying there would be no negotiations, and another from the information ministry saying all options were on the table.

Strike of US drone

•  A US drone killed three suspected militants in north-western Pakistan recently, the first such airstrike in nearly five months.
•  The unmanned aircraft fired missiles on a suspected hideout and a car used by militants in Khyber tribal district near the Afghan border.
•  It was not immediately known which group was targeted but Pakistani Taliban frequently use the route to travel across the porous border.
•  The last drone attack in the country was on December 26. Strikes were halted since then apparently to facilitate the government’s peace talks with Islamist militants.
•  Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last year announced negotiations with Taliban insurgents to end a decade of fighting but the talks appear to be heading nowhere.

Syrian water supply affected

• A cut in water supplies in the Syrian city of Aleppo has been condemned by the head of the United Nations.
•  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that preventing people from access to safe water denies them a “fundamental right”.
•  A statement from his office added that denying civilians essential supplies is a breach of international and humanitarian law.
•  Rebels from the al Qaida-linked Nusra Front cut water supplies in the city nearly two weeks ago.
•  He said that the group has tried to resume pumping water but that supplies are erratic.

Aircraft crash in Laos

•  A Lao military aircraft carrying top officials including its defence minister crashed in the north of the Communist country Laos.
•  The aircraft was carrying about 20 people including DefenceMinister  DouangchayPhichit, the Vientiane governor and other prominent figures, foreign  ministry spokesman SekWannamethee told AFP quoting information from the Thai  embassy in Vientiane.
• There was no immediate confirmation from Laos’s secretive communist  government.
•  In October last year a civilian airplane operated by Lao Airlines plunged  into the Mekong River in bad weather killing all 49 people on board.

5th anniversary of war victory in Sri Lanka

• Sri Lanka’s government marked the fifth anniversary of its civil war victory over ethnic Tamil separatists by displaying the country’s military strength, while preventing Tamil civilians from publicly remembering their dead.
•  The government’s approach highlights the deep ethnic polarisation that remains in this island nation despite the end of the quarter-century civil war.
• President MahindaRajapaksa presided over a Victory Day ceremony in the southern coastal town of Matara where military personnel paraded in the streets with tanks and artillery guns, while fighter jets flew overhead.
•  In the country’s ethnic Tamil-majority north and east, however, military troops surrounded political party and newspaper offices in an apparent attempt to prevent public memorials for those who died in the war.
•  Sri Lanka’s military defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009, ending the long civil war. Heavy civilian casualties and allegations of serious human rights violations, especially in the final months of the fighting, prompted the United Nations Human Rights Council this year to sanction an international inquiry into the conduct of both sides
   

War on Boko Haram

• African leaders at a summit in Paris have agreed on a regional plan of action to combat Boko Haram, the Islamist group that has abducted more than 200 girls and threatened to sell them into slavery.
• In a rare show of unity, the leaders of Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Benin pledged cooperation including joint border patrols and sharing intelligence to find the girls, snatched from Nigeria more than a month ago.
•  Nigeria has faced criticism for not having done enough to protect its people, particularly the girls, and for its slow response to the kidnappings.
•  The country’s President, Goodluck Jonathan, described Boko Haram as a “terrorist organisation” and said it was part of an “al-Qaeda operation”.
•  Nigeria and its neighbours pledged to reinforce security measures for those living in areas targeted by Boko Haram, carry out bilateral patrols and share operational intelligence to find the kidnapped girls and other snatched by the Islamist group.
•  A second summit at ministerial level will be held in London next to report on what progress has been made.

Spouses of H-1B visa-holders to work

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

Super city

• In line with the principles of sustainable development advocated in the Medellin Declaration, Gravity 2.0 Research Foundation recommended that a capital city region be considered rather than a single urban agglomeration for the location of a new capital for the State of Andhra Pradesh post bifurcation.

•  In a representation submitted to the Expert Committee on identification of location of new capital for the State of Andhra Pradesh , the Gravity 2.0 Research Foundation, suggested that the new capital be located in the Visakhapatnam-Rajahmundry-Vijayawada ‘Super City’ ensuring inclusive growth.

•  They also suggested that coastal shipping be promoted and the National Waterway 4 be extended to Visakhapatnam.

Mining ban issue

•  The Meghalaya Government has constituted a one-man Committee to guide the State Government prepare the compliance report to be submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on rat-hole mining ban in Meghalaya.

•  The Committee would be headed by additional chief secretary KS Kropha and the report and other points would be prepared before the NGT holds its next hearing in New Delhi on May 19.

•  The Tribunal, on April 17, in its interim order banned rat-hole mining and transportation of coal in Meghalaya in the interest of people working in the mines as well as for protection of the environment.

•  The order was passed after the Assam-based All Dimasa Student’s Union and DimaHasao District Committee filed a petition stating that the illegal rat-hole mining in Jaintia Hills is polluting Kopiliriver by turning its water acidic. They also placed before the Tribunal two survey reports of 2006 and 2010 in which pH level of the water in Kopiliriver showed considerable difference.

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

April -2014

Awards and Prize

Pulitzer Prize

• Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, already among the most popular and celebrated novels of the past year, has won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. One of the country’s top colonial historians, Alan Taylor, has won his second Pulitzer, for The Internal Enemy — Slavery and War In Virginia.

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

April -2014

India- China Strategic Dialogue

• India has assured China of its commitment to consolidate strategic bilateral ties based on mutual trust as well as sensitiveness to each other's concerns and aspirations, as their top diplomats held the annual strategic dialogue here amid the Indian general elections.

•  Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh co-chaired the sixth round of the Strategic Dialogue with her Chinese counterpart Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin at the picturesque Diaoyutai guest house.

•  The talks were held as the long-running LokSabha elections, hailed as the world's biggest democratic exercise, got underway in India that will form a new government at the Centre.

•  Stating that the annual Strategic Dialogue is being held in less than a year, she told Liu that "it is symbolic of the fact that our relations are growing and our interactions are increasing".

•  China said it was "confident" that India will stay committed to strong bilateral ties irrespective of whichever party comes to power after the polls.
  Temporary Indian workers in US

•  More than one-third of the temporary workers in the US in 2012 were from India, which also accounted for the largest number of non-immigrants residing in the US that year, according to an official report.

•  Out of the 1.87 million resident non-immigrants in the US in 2012, India accounted for the maximum number of 430,000 residents, followed by China with 210,000 residents and South Korea with 140,000, the Department of Homeland Security said in its latest report.

•  Out of the 1.9 million non-immigrants residing in US in 2012, the largest categories were temporary workers (45 per cent, or 840,000) and students (38 per cent, or 720,000), the report said.

•  Slightly more than 50 per cent of the students were ages 18-24, the report said.

•  Among the top 10 leading countries of citizenship, Germany and France led the exchange visitor category, making up more than 60 per cent of the total, the report said.

•  California was the leading destination state, with 270,000 (15 per cent) of the total 1.9 million non-immigrants choosing to reside in that state.

•  The next leading destination states were New York (210,000), Texas (140,000), Florida (100,000) and Massachusetts (90,000).

•  The top 5 destination states accounted for 44 per cent of the total and the top 10 accounted for more than 60 per cent.

•  Compared to the nation as a whole, disproportionately large percentages of the temporary worker population resided in Texas, New Jersey and Washington. This was substantially larger than average percentages of the student population resided in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

Border Defence Cooperation Agreement

•  India and China recently held their first-ever Director General of Military Operations-level meeting, which discussed ways to implement the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement(BDCA)signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Beijing in October.

•  And it was an eight-member delegation led by People’s Liberation Army(PLA)Deputy Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Qi Jiangua, which represented the Communist nation at the DGMO-level dialogue.

•  The two sides exchanged views on various issues of mutual interest such as maintenance of peace and tranquility along the LAC and enhancing mutual cooperation and understanding between the Armies of India and China. Measures for implementation of existing bilateral agreements were also discussed.

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

Mamata Banerjee

•  Recently ,West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee threatened to defy an Election Commission of India (EC) order of transferring eight officials and dared the poll watchdog to take action against her for not complying, her administration had to eat humble pie as EC held its ground and asked her government to implement it’s order.
•  But Banerjee accused deputy election commissioner VinodZutshi of playing into the hands of Congress and BJP and sought his removal from the poll panel.
•  She accused him of being a tainted official with criminal cases pending against him. She also alleged that Zutshi was misleading the EC.
•  Of the eight officials that EC wanted transferred, it said seven were found to have favoured the ruling Trinamool Congress party in the run-up to the general election. EC barred these officials from taking any poll-related responsibility.

NarendraModi

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

2014 ICC World Team

• His side may have lost in the final but Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named captain of the 2014 ICC World Team of the Tournament that figures four Indians, including star batsman ViratKohli.
•  Opener Rohit Sharma and RavichandranAshwin are the other two Indian players who feature in the team that was announced by the ICC.
•  Kohli was adjudged Player of the Tournament for amassing 319 runs with the help of four half centuries, including knocks of 72 and 77 in the semifinal and final of the showpiece event.
•  Besides Indians, the team has two players from both South Africa and West Indies, and one representative each from Australia, the Netherlands and champions Sri Lanka.
•  Chosen by a select group of experts, the team was aimed at being suited for Bangladesh conditions, on the basis of performances in the tournament only. Statistics were used but were not the sole basis for selections.

The newest Laureus Ambassador

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

New spy satellite by Israel

• Israel has successfully launched a new observation satellite into orbit, one which is expected to be used to observe Iran and hostile militant groups in the Middle East.
•  The Israeli-made “Ofek 10” satellite was launched in cooperation with state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries. The satellite has already begun transmitting data and visual material. It is expected to be operational within months.
•  Israel is expected to use the satellite to keep tabs on Iran and the region. It believes Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon a charge Iran denies and accuses it of arming militants across the region.
•  Unlike other countries that launch satellites eastward in the direction of the earth’s orbit, to

prevent debris following the launch to land in enemy countries east of Israel. The satellite completes a full orbit around the earth every 90 minutes.

The rising red planet

•  This month, the Red Planet (Mars) looks bigger and brighter than it has for the past six years.
•  That may sound like the Great Mars Hoax — the occasional (and totally false) claim that Mars will loom as big as the moon in the night sky. But in this case, the claim is totally true. This month, Mars will have its closest encounter with Earth since December 2007.
•  The reason has to do with orbital mechanics. As Earth and Mars trace their elliptical orbits around the sun, the distance between the two planets varies dramatically. There are times when the separation amounts to almost 250 million miles (400 million kilometers). On April 14, that separation narrows to a mere 57 million miles (92 million kilometers).

Tectonic plates of Earth

•  The tectonic plates of earth took around one billion years to form.The outermost layer of earth, or lithosphere, was weakened by movement in viscous layers below it. Around four billion years ago, cooler parts of crust of earth were pulled downwards into the warmer upper mantle and it damaged the surrounding crust. It continued until the weak areas formed plate boundaries.
•  To investigate how the plates formed, Bercovici and YanickRicard of University of Lyon in France developed a computer model of earth's crust as it may have existed billions of years ago.
•  The model included a low-pressure zone at the base of the crust which caused a piece of the crust to sink into the upper mantle - mimicking conditions thought to have occurred early in the earth's history.
•  As the process repeated over time, it created a large tectonic plate with an active subduction zone.
•  Prior studies suggested the age of the plates based on evidence of subduction gathered from minerals preserved in ancient rocks.
•  In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate and sinks into the mantle as the plates converge.
•  The oldest such specimens are four-billion-year-old zircons found in the Jack Hills of Australia that appear to have formed at temperatures and pressures that are indicative of subduction.

Varicose veins

•  Varicose veins are a widely prevalent condition where veins, typically in the leg, swell and become twisted.
• The development of varicose veins is not well understood.Women can get varicose veins during pregnancy and it is often seen in those who need to stand for long periods of time, such as policemen and shop assistants.
•  There is also a strong genetic component to it. When both parents suffered from the condition, their progeny had 90 per cent risk of developing it too, compared to a 25 per cent to 62 per cent risk when only parent had it and 20 per cent risk when neither parent had been affected.
•  The researchers decided to look at whether a gene know as ‘human forkhead box C2’ (FoxC2) could be involved. This gene is known to be important for blood vessel development.

Gilead hepatitis C drug patent

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Economy

April -2014

Communicated monetary policies

• Calibrated and clearly communicated monetary policies will build trust and improve business sentiments across the world by leaving little room for speculations , according to the Economic Affairs Secretary ArvindMayaram.
•  Recent risks of very low inflation in euro areas might demand use of appropriate tools in the coming time to thwart deflation tendencies.
•  MrMayaram represented India during the ongoing spring meet of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
•  In terms of exchange rate policy, while flexible exchange rates are desirable, a cautious approach should be followed before going for currency revaluations which can result in trust deficit and currency wars.

Electronic Travel Authorisation

•  The move to grant in principle approval for Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to travellers from 180 countries to India will boost tourism in the country,according to the tourism Secretary ParvezDewan.
•  Travelling to India will be made easy once the ETA to visit the country becomes operational.
•  ETA will allow foreign travellers to apply for a visa from home and receive an online confirmation in five working days, is expected to become operational by October. Barring eight prior reference countries, which include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, government has decided to give e-visa to all the 180 countries.
•  India had considerably relaxed its visa regime and expanded the Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) scheme.
•  India launched the VoA scheme in January 2010 for citizens of five countries – Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore — visiting India for tourism purposes. The scheme was later extended to six more countries in January 2011.

Walmart’s online marketplace model

• In a first for the domestic retail industry, the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, plans to set up an online marketplace model in its cash-and-carry stores in the country.
•  The company is entering the wholesale e-commerce space and will extend the business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce platform to its Best Price Modern Wholesale store members.
•  The platform will provide them with a convenient online shopping opportunity. As an exclusive virtual store for its members, the e-commerce platform will provide a similar assortment of products, as well as special items.
•  Online retail, at present, accounts for less than 1% of the total market in India, but this space is slated to grow at 50-55% over the next three years to reach R50,400 crore by 2016, according to a report by Crisil.

Greek bond issued

•  Greece’s Finance Ministry says its first return to the markets in four years has seen strong demand, with the country raising 3 billion euros through five-year bonds at a coupon rate of 4.75 per cent.
•  Nearly 90 per cent of the sale was to international investors.
•  The bond sale is Greece’s first since 2010, when it became locked out of the international debt market by high interest rates due to a severe financial crisis. It has been relying on international bailout funds ever since.

Muscle added to IAF Sukhoi

• MRF is set to emerge as a major supplier of tyres for the Indian Air Force (IAF) as the country’s leading tyre maker has now created yet another record of supplying aircraft tyres for the defence.
• After successfully producing and supplying tyres for Indian defence helicopters, the company has now started supplying indigenously developed tyres for Sukhoi 30 MKI, the most advanced fighter aircraft group in the IAF fleet.
• Though MRF has been supplying tyres to various vehicles of Defence Forces, its journey to supply aviation tyres began in 2001. After meeting all requirements and securing approvals from various authorities, it started supplying helicopter tyres for Chetak fleet in 2008. In the same year, it took up the project of developing main wheel tyres for Sukhoi 30 MKI.
•  After completion of the tests, the product has been cleared by CEMILAC (The certifying authority for Military aviation) for commercial production in 2012. These tyres are being produced at its facility at Medak (Andhra Pradesh).

Global trade to increase

• Global trade is expected to increase by 4.7 per cent in 2014, better than the average of 2.2 per cent in the past two years, on the back of projected improvements in the developed economies, according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
•  The world trade growth is projected to accelerate to 5.3 per cent in 2015.
•  Although the 2014 forecast of 4.7 per cent is more than double the 2.1 per cent increase of last year, it remains below the 20-year average of 5.3 per cent. For the past two years, growth has averaged only 2.2 per cent.
•  The sluggish pace of trade growth in 2013 was due to a combination of flat import demand in developed economies (0.2 per cent) and moderate import growth in developing economies (4.4 per cent).
•  On the export side, both developed and developing economies only managed to record small, positive increases (1.5 per cent for developed economies and 3.3 per cent for developing economies).
•  In 2013, the dollar value of world merchandise exports rose 2.1 per cent to $18.8 trillion, while the value of world commercial services exports rose 5.5 per cent to $4.6 trillion.
•  The trade forecast for 2014 is premised on an assumption of 3 percent growth in world GDP growth at market exchange rates, while the forecast for 2015 assumes output growth of 3.1 percent.

March Inflation at 5.7 per cent

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) National Events

April - 2014

Voting through internet ?

• Non-resident Indians may be able to cast their votes through Internet from overseas as the Election Commission recently told the Supreme Court that it is exploring such a possibility.
•  The Commission, however, told a bench headed by Justice K S Radhakrishnan that it is almost impossible to make any such arrangement for NRI to cast their votes from overseas in the ongoing general election as electoral rolls have been concluded in almost all the constituencies.

BrahMos missile test fired

•  The Army successfully test-fired an advanced version of 290 km range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos as part of a user trial at Pokhran test range in Rajasthan.
•  The missile was launched by a mobile autonomous launcher deployed in full configuration with mobile command post at the ranges.
•  The launch was successful and the missile hit the designated target.
•  Both the Army and Navy have already inducted the missile, developed by India in partnership with Russia.

Candidates with criminal past

•  The Congress has fielded the highest number of VidhanSabha candidates with criminal records among all parties, according to an analysis of contestants' affidavits from 70 assembly segments going to polls on April 10 in Odisha.
•  Forty-four Congress nominees, around 63% of its 70 candidates, have criminal history compared to overall 22% of the total candidates with tainted past, the Odisha Election Watch (OEW) and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysis released said.
•  As many as 31 Congress nominees have serious criminal charges such as rape, murder and kidnapping. SubalSahu, who is seeking re-election from Bijepur, has been charged for rape.
•  Among other parties, 17 (24%) of 70 BJD candidates, 26 (37%) of 70 from BJP and four (9%) out of 43 candidates from AAP have declared criminal cases in their affidavits.
•  Of them, 13 (19%) BJD candidates, 23 (33%) from BJP and three (7%) AAP nominees have mentioned serious criminal cases, which can attract punishment of at least five years jail.
•   Altogether 147 of the 673 candidates have criminal cases pending against them. They include 115 candidates with serious criminal charges.

'Know your candidates' tool

•  Google recently announced the launch of a new tool as part of its elections portal offering 'google.co.in/elections', called 'Know Your Candidates'.
•  The new tool will allow citizens to get easy access to relevant information about political candidates contesting from their constituency and their incumbent Member of Parliament. This tool integrates publicly available information sourced from Indian organizations such as the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PRS Legislative Research and Liberty Institute India.
•  The tool will provide information for each sitting LokSabha MP and contesting candidates such as their disclosed educational background, financial details and social media presence (wherever available) including video bios of the candidates provided by Ping networks. Mapped onto Google Maps interface, citizens will be able to find the information by using pin codes of their area or by zooming on their locality on the map. The tool will be updated regularly to provide information about all candidates as they get finalised and will be made available at least a week before the voting day in each constituency.
•  Google created its first elections tools seven years ago when our engineers noticed a huge increase in search traffic around the election period in the United States.
•  Today over 20 countries including Malaysia, Thailand, and now, India have elections pages that aid voters during election periods. Google aims to encourage people to be more participative and engage with candidates. It also allows voters to have a deeper understanding of politics and governance through engagement with the candidates.

Jats in the OBC category

•  Observing that the Centre had sufficient prima facie materials, the Supreme Court has refrained from staying the government’s poll-eve decision to include Jats in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in nine states.
•  The decision by the UPA-II government was seen as an attempt to appease the community, which has strong social and political clout in western Uttar Pradesh and its bordering areas of Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan besides also being present in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
•  A Bench led by Chief Justice P Sathasivam however asked the government to place on record a comprehensive affidavit detailing the reasons to add Jats in the list. The court also said that any decision on providing reservation benefits shall be subjected to its final order on a batch of petitions, some of which favour the inclusion and others oppose it.

Save Vikrant campaign

•  Over 200 defence correspondents spread across the country have recently launched the ‘Save Vikrant Campaign.’ They are planning to meet the Defence Minister, seeking his immediate intervention to stop the sale of India’s first aircraft carrier. The majestic-class aircraft carrier, purchased from Britain in 1957, played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the India-Pakistan War of 1971.
•  INS Vikrant is a symbol of our country’s valour and courage. It was Vikrant that fought many battles on the high seas, notably the 1971 war.
•  The auctioning of Vikrant is a matter of national shame.

Plea to reconstitute SIT on Gujarat riots

• The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea questioning the clean chit given to NarendraModi by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in its probe in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.
•  A bench comprising justices H.L. Dattu and S.A. Bobde also declined the plea for reconstituting the SIT involving retired judges of the apex court, including a person from the minority community.
•  “Reconstitution of SIT at this stage is not good,” the bench said, referring the plea questioning the SIT clean chit given to Mr. Modi.
•  After the bench’s remark, advocate Fatima, who had filed the petition, decided to withdraw it, which was allowed. 

Interceptor missile test

State Bank of India

Recruitment in Clerical Cadre in Associate Banks of State Bank of India - 2014

:: Apply Online ::

SCANNING THE PHOTOGRAPH &SIGNATURE :

PHOTOGRAPH IMAGE:

• Photographmust be a recent passport size colour picture.
• The picture should be in colour, against a light-coloured, preferablywhite, background.
• Look straight at the camera with a relaxed face.
• If the picture is taken on a sunny day, have the sun behind you, or place yourself in the shade, so that you are not squinting and there are no harsh shadows.
• If you have to use flash, ensure there’s no “red-eye”.
• If you wear glasses make sure that there are no reflections and your eyes can be clearly seen.
• Caps, hats and dark glasses are not acceptable. Religious headwear is allowed but it must not cover your face.
• Dimensions 200 x 230 pixels (preferred).
• Size of file should be between 20kb–50kb.
• Ensure that the size of the scanned image is notmore than 50kb. If the size of the file is more than 50kb, then adjust the settings of the scanner such as the DPI resolution, no. of colours etc., during the process of scanning.

State Bank of India

Recruitment in Clerical Cadre in Associate Banks of State Bank of India - 2014

:: Important Dates ::

• ONLINE REGISTRATION OF APPLICATION : 20.11.2014 to 09.12.2014

• PAYMENT OF FEES - ONLINE : 20.11.2014 to 09.12.2014

State Bank of India

Recruitment in Clerical Cadre in Associate Banks of State Bank of India - 2014

HOW TO APPLY:

GUIDELINES FOR FILLING ONLINE APPLICATION: (Pre-requisite for applying online: Candidates should have valid email ID which should be kept active till the declaration of results). This will help him/her in getting call letter/interview advices etc. by e-mail). Candidates are required to register themselves online through Bank's website www.statebankofindia.com or www.sbi.co.in After registration candidates are required to pay fee through either online(usingDebit/Credit card /Internet banking) or off linemode

State Bank of India

Recruitment in Clerical Cadre in Associate Banks of State Bank of India - 2014

:: SYLLABUS & SELECTION PROCEDURE ::

All eligible candidates should apply on-line before the last date forregistration of application.

a. Final selection will be made on the basis of performance in the online test and interview taken together. Merely satisfying the eligibility norms does not entitle a candidate to be called for test or interview.

b. The test will be online objective type, consisting of

(i) General Awareness
(ii) General English
(iii) Quantitative Aptitude
(iv) Reasoning Ability
(v) Marketing Aptitude /Computer Knowledge.

State Bank of India

Recruitment in Clerical Cadre in Associate Banks of State Bank of India - 2014

:: Eligibility ::

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION: (As on 01.12.2014)

A Degree (Graduation level) from a recognised university, or any equivalent qualification recognised as such by the Central/State Government.

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

International Boxing Federation and IABF

• The International Boxing Federation (AIBA) has reportedly terminated any official relationship with its current suspended member, the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF), for damaging the image, reputation and interest of the sport in the country.

•  According to the official AIBA website, AIBA has not recognized any official activities and did not support the officers from IABF since the December 2012 suspension, adding that after receiving disturbing reports on the way the sport of boxing was managed in India, it has now become impossible for them to continue any association with India.

•  Boxers and coaches will remain protected and authorized to compete at any competition at all levels under the AIBA flag. AIBA also hopes that the IOA will give its full cooperation until AIBA approves a new National Federation for the sake of the sport of boxing in India.

Bopanna: 12th in ATP rankings

•  India's doubles tennis player RohanBopanna leaped four places to 12th in the latest ATP rankings.

•  The Indian achieved the feat after clinching the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title with Pakistani AisamulHaqQureshi.

•  Meanwhile, Leander Paes still remains India's highest ranked doubles player at No.10 while another veteran Mahesh Bhupathi slipped six places to No.47.

•  In the men's singles category, SomdevDevvarman and Yuki Bhambri remained static at 78th and 146th, respectively, while SaniaMirza is No.11 in the women's doubles list.

Cycling academy launched

•  Sports minister Jitendra Singh inaugurated the National Cycling Academy at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex and launched a project to create swimming pools at three separate stadiums in the capital.

•  At an estimated cost of `907.50 lakhs, the project of creating swimming pools will come up at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Indira Gandhi Sports Complex and Karni Singh Shooting Range.

•  On the occasion, Singh also launched a Community Connect Scheme to include sports and recreational facilities in the JNS, IGSC and the SP Mukherjee Swimming Complex.

•  The academy will be financed by the Union government, and the sports ministry through SAI with a long-term perspective of making it a top notch institution, which is financially independent and a self-sustaining venture.

World T20, 2014 host : Bangladesh

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Awards & prizes
March - 2014

OSCARS, 2014

•  With seven Oscars including a history-making best director award for Alfonso Cuaron, the force of Gravity exerted itself at the 86th annual Academy Awards.
   
•  The searing slavery drama “12 Years a Slave” has won the Academy Award for best picture.
   
•  Jared Leto, a strong favourite, won the first trophy of the night for his role of a transgender AIDS patient in Dallas Buyers Club.
   

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

ArjunBahadurThapa

• Nepal’s former Foreign Secretary ArjunBahadurThapa has assumed charge as the Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
• Thapa, who succeeds Ahmed Saleem of Maldives, is the 12th Secretary General of the regional grouping.
• This is the second time Nepal assumed the top post of the regional body since its establishment in 1985.
•  Former Foreign Secretary YadavKantaSilwal held the post from January 1994 to December 1995.
•  The members of the SAARC are: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
•  Thapa, 58, was appointed to the position by the 30th Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers held in the Maldives on February 20.
•  Kathmandu will host the 18th SAARC Summit in November this year.

Sheila Dikshit

Sheila Dikshit, the Congress leader who served three terms as Chief Minister of Delhi, has been appointed the Governor of Kerala.

ViratKohli

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

Prithvi II

• missileIndia has recently successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Prithvi-II surface-to-surface missile from a military base in Odisha.
• The indigenously-developed ballistic missile with a maximum range of 350 km was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar.
• The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Army conducted the test as part of a regular training exercise.
• Prithvi is India’s first indigenously-built ballistic missile. It is one of the five missiles being developed under the country’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.
• The battlefield missile, with flight duration of 483 seconds and a peak altitude of 43.5 km, can carry a 500-kg warhead.
• The missile has features to deceive anti-ballistic missiles and uses an advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring capabilities and reaches its target within a few metres of accuracy.
• It has a higher lethal effect compared to equivalent missiles in the world.

IAF Super Hercules

•  A recent and most modern acquisition of the Indian Air Force from the United States, the C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft, crashed near Gwalior, killing all five IAF personnel on board.
• The wreckage of the aircraft was strewn along the Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan border, near Karauli district, about 165 km from Jaipur. Those killed in the crash are Wing Commander Prashant Joshi, Wing Commander Raji Nair, Squadron Leader Kaushik Mishra, Squadron Leader AshishYadav (navigator) and Warrant Officer Krishnapal Singh (flight engineer), IAF officers said.
• The aircraft took off from Agra for a routine flying training mission. A court of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident.

GSLV Mark III

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

March -2014

India-Pakistan-Iran pipeline

• India is looking for an undersea route to source gas from Iran, bypassing Pakistan in the process, that is called “Peace Pipeline”. This pipeline, was now technically feasible after the success of the North Sea undersea pipeline.

• If Iran was looking at the cheapest way to get gas to customers, it would prefer European customers. But what Iran had in mind was providing spillover benefits of the surface pipeline to the region it passes through, especially the Makran Plateau common to both Pakistan and Iran and where poverty has fuelled subversive tendencies.

• And, the sources suggested that the future of the IPI pipeline was entwined with the Chah-bahar port as Iran was keen to ensure that this town and the surrounding region of Sistan-Baluchistan Province also gained from the availability of gas.

• Just 72 km from the Pakistani port of Gwadar being built with Chinese help, the first phase of developing the Chah-bahar port is nearly over.

• India and Iran have held several rounds of talks on sharing operations and developing the port.

• The biggest problem is despite deep energy and civilisational links, India and Iran are unfamiliar with each other’s processes and systems of doing business in other areas.

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) Economy

March -2014

Fourth highest billionaires of the world in India by 2023

• India is projected to be home to the fourth highest number of billionaires in the world by 2023, according to a report which said wealth creation will accelerate in the country over the next decade.

•  The 2014 Wealth Report, an annual global perspective on prime property and wealth by property management firm Knight Frank, projected that the number of billionaires in India will grow by an exponential 98 per cent to 119 in the year 2023 from 60 billionaires last year.

•  India will rank fourth after US, China and Russia in 2023 and will have more billionaires than the UK, Germany and France, according to the report.

•  The report said that by 2024, Mumbai is also projected to figure in the top 10 global cities.

Switzerland no more the perfect spot for tax evaders

• Switzerland may no longer be a honeymoon spot for tax evaders. A new international standard of tax data sharing is set to make things harder for tax haven networks around the world that have in the past included Switzerland and tiny island nations and enclaves. But India would have to frame new laws to make use of the new system.

• The new standard, radically different from the current system, aims to prevent wealth from flowing into financial “black holes” through a systematic global regime of information sharing.

• Banks and authorities using secrecy laws to evade governments trying to hunt down black money hoarders could lose much of their power. Past offenders, who have so far easily escaped by moving assets, will be in a fix when information about them gets leaked.

• However, there are some loopholes. Vast amounts of illicit money are concealed through anonymity of contributors in trusts and foundations.

Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor

• The Maharashtra government formally signed shareholder and state support agreements for the ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, in Mumbai recently.

•  The project aims at generating industrial output of Rs 20 lakh crore by 2042.

•  DMIC is slated to be developed in two phases, with the project cost for the first phase being Rs 17,319 crore. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and DMIC Trust has formed a joint venture to execute the project, in which MIDC will hold 51% stake, while the remaining 49% will be held by DMIC.

• The DMIC projects in Maharashtra would cover nearly 29% of land area and 18% project influence area. Around 26% of the state's population would come under the corridor that covers eight districts - Thane, Raigad, Pune, Dhule, Nandurbar, Nashik, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad.

Natco and Indian patent dispute case

• Natco Pharmaceuticals, the Hyderabad-based drug manufacturer, has won a patent case against Teva Pharmaceuticals of Israel.

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) International Events

March, 2014

Emergency rule lifted in Tunisia

•  Tunisia's president has lifted a state of emergency in force since the 2011 uprising that ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali , despite a string of recent jihadist attacks.

•  The country has been rocked by sporadic violence since the January 2011 revolution, which ignited the Arab Spring across North Africa and the Middle East.

• The end to the state of emergency however "does not limit the capacity of the security services to implement the law and does not preclude any request for military support should it be needed,"

•  Emergency rule amounted to "a restriction of rights, freedoms, the movement of people and goods" as Tunisia's political crisis was ending and security conditions improving.

•  Much of the deadly violence witnessed in Tunisia since the uprising has been blamed on Ansar al-Sharia, a hardline Islamist movement accused of having links to Al-Qaeda.

NATO airstrike

•  The recent NATO airstrike in Afghanistan’s central Logar province killed 5 Afghan National Army soldiers and wounded another 17.

•  If it turns out that a NATO strike killed ANA troops, it is likely to set Afghan President Hamid Karzai on another attack against U.S. and NATO soldiers in his country. The President has been deeply critical of civilian deaths by international forces.

BIMSTEC summit

•  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Myanmar to attend the BIMSTEC Summit, making a strong pitch for giving a fillip to India’s Look East policy and explore ways to enhance connectivity, transport, trade, tourism and other linkages to all the northeastern states.

• Dr. Singh, who is travelling to Myanmar after a gap of nearly two years to attend the two-day summit, is accompanied by National Security Adviser ShivshankarMenon.

•  BIMSTEC is an expression of India’s Look East Policy of the 1990s, coinciding with Thailand’s Look West Policy.

•  The seven members -- India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal -- bring together over 20 per cent of the world population, which is about 1.5 billion, and a GDP of over USD 2.5 trillion.

•  The Summit is expected to discuss steps to bolster cooperation in counter-terrorism. India has led negotiations and finalised the BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

•  India also wishes to see BIMSTEC promote economic and energy cooperation, encourage cultural links and strengthen security contacts.

Israel opens border crossing with Gaza

•  Israel opened a border crossing with Gaza to allow the transfer of gas, after the coastal salient’s only power plant shut down for one day due to lack of fuel.

•  Israel closed its border crossings with the Gaza Strip some time back after the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad launched a massive barrage of rockets from the Strip into Israel.

•  Israel agreed to allow the entry of 500,000 litres of diesel and gasoline for the private sector, 160,000 tons of cooking gas, and 200,000 litres of diesel for the power plant.

•  Since Egypt shut down nearly all smuggling tunnels under its border with Gaza, the enclave is all but entirely dependent on deliveries from Israel, financed by the Palestinian Authority.

Sri Lanka seeks help from NAM

• Sri Lanka has sought the support of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) nations to ward off the U.S. sponsored rights resolution against it at the next U.N. Human Rights Council meet in Geneva.

•  The UNHRC is to vote a U.S. sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka which is widely expected to advocate an international probe into alleged war crimes in the country during the final phase of military battle with the LTTE which ended in 2009.

• Sri Lankan President MahindaRajapaksa’s human rights envoy MahindaSamarasinghe had urged the NAM nations in the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council to stand in solidarity with the island.

• At least 33 in the 47 member UNHRC are either NAM members or nations with observer states.

• India was a leading NAM member who had voted in favour of the U.S. resolutions in 2012 and 2013 against Sri Lanka.

Reconnaissance Aircraft