Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 19 March, 2014

Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty on Crimea’s accession to Russia after delivering a defiant speech defending his move and blasting the West for pursuing “containment” of Russia and flouting international law.
The treaty was also signed by the Crimean leaders who attended a special joint session of the Russian Parliament in the Kremlin. Mr. Putin said he was confident the Russian Parliament would ratify the pact.
Western accusations that Russia had invaded Crimea was denied. Russian “reinforcements” were in line with a treaty with Ukraine that allows Russia to have up to 25,000 troops at its Black Sea Fleet base in Crimea. Mr. Putin dismissed concerns that Russia could seize other regions in Ukraine.

India and China, signed a memorandum of understanding on IT cooperation, which,was a ‘formal recognition’ from the Chinese government to promote Indian software companies, which have largely struggled to obtain contracts from Chinese state-run companies. Both countries held their third Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) recently.
India also sought Chinese support in substantially raising the speed on three rail corridors and in developing modern stations.
China has rapidly modernised its rail network, which only three decades ago lagged behind India’s. The country has also built the world’s biggest high-speed rail network, where trains run at 350 kilometres per hour on 13,000 kilometres of newly-laid track, running entirely separately from the older rail network. India has sought assistance in raising speeds on three lines, between New Delhi and Agra, Kanpur and Chandigarh.
India has, however, asked Japan for assistance in carrying out a project report considering the possibility of building a high speed rail line between Mumbai and Vadodara. At the SED, both sides signed an MoU to push IT cooperation.
India has asked China to expand market access for software and pharmaceutical companies, and to take steps to narrow the record $35 billion trade deficit.

Goldman Sachs upgraded Indian shares to "overweight" from "marketweight" and raised its target on Nifty to 7,600, citing reduced external vulnerabilities, including a narrowing current account deficit, and potential for gains ahead of elections that conclude in May.
The investment bank added it favours cyclicals over defensives because of expectations of an improving economy and a bottoming out of earnings, according to a report .It also recommended investors to focus on potential election beneficiaries in these markets.
It upgraded auto stocks to "overweight", while retaining the same rating on IT and energy stocks.
Goldman said Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.NS), Coal India (COAL.NS), NTPC (NTPC.NS) and Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL.NS) as public sector companies that could be key election beneficiaries.
Among private sector shares, ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), Larsen and Toubro (LART.NS), UltraTech Cement (ULTC.NS), JSW Steel (JSTL.NS), Indusind Bank and Voltas (VOLT.NS) were seen by Goldman as gaining from elections.

According to a study , sea levels will probably rise more now that the last remaining stable portion of Greenland's ice sheet -- the world's second-largest -- is unstable.
Scientists have known Greenland's ice sheet has been thinning for decades, but for the first time, they've found that's even occurring in its northeast region that had been stable for 25 years. Since 2003, the northeast's ice loss has nearly tripled.
The decline of Greenland's ice sheet, which is second in size only to Antarctica's and covers 80% of Greenland's surface, has been a major contributor to global sea level rise over the past 20 years.

In a temporary relief to the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the High Court of Madras has directed two private television news channels not to telecast for a fortnight any news connecting him to the Indian Premier League (ILP) betting and fixing scandal.
The interim order was given on a petition Dhoni moved , which also sought Rs 100 crore from the television channels, Zee Group and News Nation, for damaging his reputation by airing malicious reports that linked him to the match-fixing and betting controversy, which had erupted after an IPS officer’s deposition to the inquiry committee became public.