Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 17 March, 2014

Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams

Year-on-year inflation in the eurozone slowed to 0.7 per cent in February, compared to 0.8 per cent the previous month, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat.
The figure is a revision from the initial Eurostat estimate that inflation would remain at 0.8 per cent in February, meaning that price growth dropped further-than-expected below the European Central Bank’s target of just under 2 per cent.
Year-on-year price growth first slowed to 0.7 per cent — the lowest reading since the creation of the euro in 1999 — in October of last year, prompting the ECB to intervene by lowering its key interest rate to 0.25 per cent the following month.
Among the 18 eurozone member states, negative annual rates were observed in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Croatia, Portugal and Slovakia.
The highest rates, meanwhile, were recorded in Malta and Finland, where year-on-year inflation stood at 1.6 per cent respectively in February.

For the second time, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party has found an echo in Pakistan. First it was Arsalan ul Mulk from Gujranwala whose Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was registered by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and now it is a former foreign services officer and lawyer Adnan Randhawa, 34, who wants to follow in Mr. Kejriwal’s footsteps.
Mr. Randhawa applied to the ECP for a formal registration for his Aam Aadmi of Pakistan Party (AAPP). He was formerly with the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), a party which has often been likened to the AAP in India.

Novak Djokovic came into Indian Wells for the first time in four years without a title.
Federer rallied from a break down and a 5-3 deficit in the third set to force the tiebreaker, but he made a slew of mistakes to lose the 33rd meeting between the rivals.
Federer still leads the series 17-16, having beaten Djokovic in three sets in the semifinals at Dubai two weeks ago. Djokovic will remain No. 2 in the world, while Federer will rise three spots to No. 5 in the ATP Tour rankings.
Federer was trying to win a record fifth title in the Southern California desert, and at 32, he would have been the oldest Masters 1000 winner since 34—year—old Andre Agassi won at Cincinnati in 2004.

India and China discussed in Beijing counter strategies to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) being negotiated by the U.S.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia lead the Indian delegation to Beijing for the India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED). On the Chinese side, National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Xu Shaoshi lead the dialogue.
It was realized that there is a need to preserve the primacy of the development agenda in the global mainstream and in leading economic frameworks like the G20 and the WTO.
Indo-China trade was $74 billion in 2011. And it went down to $65 billion in 2013. Both governments have set a $100-billion target by 2015. However, India’s trade deficit with China worsened to $31.5 billion in 2013, according to Chinese data.