Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams - 31 May, 2014

Current Affairs For Bank, IBPS Exams

As part of its 100-day agenda, the Modi government has set the ball rolling on redesigning the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
The objective is to ensure that the assets created under the scheme augment rural productivity, besides providing jobs to unskilled rural labourers.
The Modi government plans to leverage the redesigned MGNREGS for development of villages. The BJP manifesto promised to link the scheme to agriculture.

Signalling a break from the past, the Narendra Modi government has announced the “abolition” of all Groups of Ministers (GoMs) and Empowered Groups of Ministers (EGoMs) “for greater accountability and empowerment.”
Nine EGoMs and 21 GoMs were set up by the previous UPA government to take decisions on various matters such as corruption, inter-State water disputes, administrative reforms and gas and telecom pricing, before bringing them for the Cabinet’s consideration.
During the UPA-II, 27 GoMs and 24 EGoMs were formed with former Defence Minister A.K. Antony heading most of the EGoMs.
The issues pending before the EGoMs and GoMs will now be processed by the Ministries and departments.
The announcement came two days after Mr. Modi unveiled his 10-point agenda with a directive to the Ministers to prepare a list of issues that they will take up in the first 100 days in office, with focus on efficiency, delivery systems and implementation.

Diesel prices were have been hiked by 50 paise a litre, excluding state levies, the second increase in rates three weeks.
The monthly hike in price came after several rounds discussions that the new Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held with state-owned oil firms on continuing with the reform initiated by the UPA government.
The announcement of the hike gave clear indications that the BJP government will continue with reforms of the previous Congress regime.
The UPA had in January 2013 decided to raise diesel prices in small doses of up to 50 paise every month till such time that the subsidy on nation’s most consumed fuel is eliminated.
The hikes are excluding state sales tax or VAT and actual increase will be higher and will vary from city to city.

Sania Mirza and Cara Black trounced Gabriela Dabrowski and Alicja Rosolska to move to the pre-quarterfinals of the French Open.
The fifth seed Indo-Zimbabwean pair needed just 59 minutes to dispatch the Canadian-Pole team 6-1, 6-2 in the second round.
Sania and Cara faced only one breakpoint in the contest and broke their rivals four times. They are now up against Jelena Jankovic and Alisa Kleybanova, who got a walkover from Sharon Fichman and A Pavlyuchenkova.